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Archarus grinned in anticipation as he watched his prey sail past. His plan was simple; kill the crew, and put his own in their place. Then they could get a direct route to the froststeel unmolested, steal as much as they could, and leave before a single alarm went off.

Archarus gave the order, and the vessel was hit with an EMP. It wouldn't last forever, but gave them enough time to take on the ship before they could warn the loyalists. The Warsmith gave a second signal, and stepped onto a platform where his Rending Guard awaited; nameless astartes who would kill anyone upon Archarus' word. Even each other, if that what was asked.

The platform bore the mark of Khorne on it, and kidnapped psykers stood bound on the corners of it. Archarus despised the need for the psykers, and distrusted them immensely, but knew they were the only way for his plan to work.

The psykers cried out in pain as their lives were drained, fueling the platform and teleporting Archarus and his Rending Guard to the disabled ship. The Warsmith ignored the effects of the warp after teleporting, and saw that they had appeared in the ship's command deck.

"If you stand down no harm will befall you" Archarus boomed before the men could react around him. Uncertainty mixed with hatred and fear swept through the men. To fight was to die, but to surrender was damnation for them all.

After waiting a moment longer, Archarus fired a burst of bolt rounds into the nearest man, to emphasize the little amount of power they had against him. The body jerked back, and exploded before it hit the ground.

"I await an answer" he growled.

His response was a lasround hitting his shoulder pauldron, smearing the Iron Warriors symbol emblazoned there. His Rending Guard responded by firing on any human on sight, or tearing them apart with power claws, slaughtering the men by the dozen.

With the command deck slain, the ship did not last long afterwards. Several skirmishes had broken out, and were quickly put down. Once the last shards of resistance were executed, the Warsmith's own crew boarded the vessel, and the ship was sent onwards to Arcturia.

As Julius stood strapped into his drop pod he heard the ship's vox crackle to life as the countdown began. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, LAUNCH". With a jolt the Drop Pod shot down towards the planet below. The plan was for the Ultramarines to secure a foothold on the planet below while the Imperial Guard would be coming down in Thunderhawks and Storm Ravens to support the Marines. It was a decent plan, not covered by the Codex Astartes, Julius had to admit, but this whole Crusade was unusual. Above all else the Primarch had stressed the ability to adapt, and those who would not deviate from the Codex's teachings did themselves no favors. He was brought out of his thoughts when the Drop Pod landed with a resounding thud. Glancing at the Tac screen Julius came to a horrifying realization. The Drop Pods had somehow deviated wildly from their intended landing zone, and they would need to walk all the way back. What was worse was that several of his brother's ident runes had turned orange, indicating injury. With a hiss the door of the Drop Pod came down, and Julius stepped onto the soil of Novus Regulus alongside Tactical Squad Salonius, and beheld a massive horde of feral orks, who were just as surprised to see the Ultramarines as the Marines were. The moment dragged on for a second before Julius barked the attack order and the air was filled with bolt fire. The Ork line wilted back visibly for a second under the hail of fire, and it gave Julius the time to order a fighting retreat. Julius could already tell that their position was not good, they needed to rendevouz with their allies in the Guard, and soon, or the Marines would risk being overwhelmed by the numerically superior Ork force. And so step by step the Ultramarines gave ground before the Orks, even though their every instinct demanded they stand their ground and repulse the Orks. Occasionally one of his brothers would fall to the crude choppas that the Orks wielded, but the fallen were instantly dragged behind their brother's line, and the offending Ork deleted from existence by bolt fire. After some time the Ultramarines were finally able to rendevousz with Colonel Detta and his Histans. They had also been forced off course somehow, and they had suffered some heavy casualties defending their chosen landing zone. Both commanders decided to pull back into orbit and re-asses the situation, something wasn't right here, and they needed to figure out what it was.

Pavus read the reports, the bad news was literally piling up on his desk. All one hundred of the advanced scouting units he deployed were now officially listed as missing and presumed dead. This looked like it would be the end of Faustian scouting missions for a while at least. No new data was gathered, only that the bulk of the units were lost near Nemesa.

Some of the surviving psykers under Pavus’s command thought that perhaps a more powerful psyker could better navigate the consciousness of the Hybrids’ minds. So Pavus reached out to Codicier Victrilo, Librarian of the Wolverines Valiant. However, Chapter Master Harbo’s response on behalf of the Librarian made their sentiment very clear, “Lord Pavus after analyzing data on the effects of the Hybrids, that you withheld from us, I am disgusted you would have the gall to ask this of my chief librarian. While your intentions may be noble I will not risk one of my own. Find yourself another psyker.” Pavus laughed to himself “Well the Wolverines officially hate me. After I allow them to recruit from Trisburge, you’d think they’d be more appreciative.” The Hound spoke surprising the governor as he forgot he was in the room “Astartes do no know the meaning of gratuity.” Pavus looked up to Captain Braddock “Call the council we have much to discuss.”

Pavus sat at the head of the great table surrounded by his captains and advisors. Pavus spoke “We have learned as much as we can learn from simple scouting alone. We must take action.” Captain Reiner spoke “Bout fething time.” The captain was only recently healed from the fight on Kagrenz around his neck was one of the teeth from the creature that bit him. Pavus spoke “We believe that the hive mind is somewhere near Tyrell III but as you know simple marching out there would be a death sentence, its too far and we have no idea how to locate our quarry.” Knight Lord Tennyson asked “What do you suggest my Lord.” Paavus turned to Captain Kassani and spoke “If you would Captain.”

Kassani rose to his feet and began his presentation. “When we first sent our probes out they were lost near Tyrell III, however when we sent our more advanced units half of them were lost in the zone of this world here. Nemesa. We still believe that the hive mind is somewhere near Tyrell III, however Tyrell III is out of our reach currently, Nemesa is not. It is our hope that we will find something on this world to set us on a track to find this hive mind.” Captain Braddock spoke “My lord Pavus, while I would march to oblivion for you. I fear we do not have the man power we would need to strike Nemesa.” Pavus breathed in deeply “I know, I plan to reach out to the Ultramarines…and the Black Templars.” Knight Lord Tennyson “My Lord there is no need for the Templars. My men can…” Kassani interrupted the old man “Your men can go down there and get eaten by some monstrosity. We need both them and the sons of Guilliman.” The knight Lord growled at the old mercenary “And how did you plan to get the Templars to cooperate with us.” Kassani grinned “You forget Lord Tennyson, one of our own is at the Marshalls side.” Tennyson and Braddock went silent as they listend to the man’s plan “Commissar Sheppard is held in high regard by Marshall Karak, and he could convince him to march with us. So it falls on you Captain Reiner to speak with the Commissar.” Reiner spoke “Do we really need to get Sheppard involved, Karak is a rational man surely he would assist us if we asked.” Pavus spoke “You were not at the conclave Tom, he and that brute Aurelius drew weapons on me. No this has to come from a mouth the Templars can trust.” Reiner nodded his head “Aye, alright then I will have a word with him, I’ll need transport to the templar’s ship. None of that vox link gak.” Pavus nodded “Done, see to it he agrees. Council dismissed.”

The men began to leave when Pavus spoke “Would Captains Kassani, Braddock, and Knight Lord Tennyson stay a moment.” The trio remained seated as the rest of the council left. As the sound proof door shut Lord Tennyson snarled at Kassani “Are you mad! You are going to ask for Sheppard’s compliance after you try to have him killed!” The mercenary spoke “No Reiner is asking for Sheppard’s help.” Pavus spoke “Sheppard is our only hope at enlisting the Templars. If he will not comply, then we must look else where for allies.” Braddock spoke with a sense of confusion “My Lord there is still something I don’t understand why do we even care about the hybrids, shouldn’t leave them to the Astartes to worry about?” Pavus grinned “I’m glad you asked. This is about power, if it is I who defeats the Hybrid the other generals and High lords of Terra would be forced to name me Warmaster of this crusade. And when I’m Warmaster, things will be a little different.” Pavus gave a wicked grin as he traced his hand over the map of the Chardon sector. The three men had three very different reactions to Pavus’s statement. Kassani grinned as he was taken by the promises of great personal wealth. Knight Lord Tennyson however felt overwhelmed with disgust, as a Faustian Knight his loyalty and honor was pleged to his Lord Governor, but that duty could not coexist with being a faithful servant of the Emperor. Lastly the Hound, the Hound sat indifferent to the governor’s schemes, his lot was to serve the governor for better or worse, he was neither burdened by guilt nor tantalized by greed.

Pavus spoke again “Dismissed.” The three stood to their feet and pounded their fists to their chests and exited the room. The Lord governor turned his chair and stared deep into the infinite void, It was all there, his for the taking.

It was a sight none in the city had seen before, a display of power and regalia. Through the hab block the party went, citizens gathering as they passed to see the source of commotion and disturbance. At the front of the group was Irmo, clad in loose fitting Priest robes hiding his armor underneath. Across his back was two crossed chain swords, a giant " I " hung from his neck as he sung loudly to the crowds about the Emperors glory. Behind him came five crusaders, each carrying large silver shields with red I in the middle. Their faces hidden by metal helmets and black robes. In the back was was what appeared to be females in full leather, their faces hidden behind masks and their robes hid their power swords from view. In the center strode what appeared to be a man doused in golden light. In the center Inquisitorial Representative Hennard walked, basking in the views of those around him. Not because it gave him pride but because he knew the Emperors light was shining on these people by his presence. He donned his usual artificer armor, golden and silver trim across his black armor. He red robe trimmed in golden lace, his power sword hung at his left and bolt pistol on his right.

It was in the middle of the hab where Hennard stopped the group, consulting the device he kept in his right hand he lifted the grate from the sewer. Irmo stopped his chanting and watched Hennard, with the grate aside Hennard dropped down into the sewer. Quickly following the rest dropped down into the sludge, ruining their immaculate looking clothes. All unstrapped their weapons, this was the enemies zone and they would not go unprepared.

The sewers were no more than 20 feet across and 9 feet high, Irmo could easily touch the moss covered ceiling. The crusaders fanned the front of the troops, hoisting their shields up. It took 2 hours of moving through the sewers before Hennard and his men finally got deep enough to find a trace of what they were looking for. Huddle around a small fire were four beings, from afar they looked like humans but no one lived down here. The figures heard Hennard approach and stood, their bald heads glistening in against the fire.

"In the name of the Emperor, I purge you of this land Xenos" Hennard shouted.

The four creatures screeched back at Hennard, their mouths revealing sharp pointed teeth. Where their hands should be were 3 pronged claws. One turned to reveal a third arm with claws. This one Hennard put down with a bolt round through its skull. The rest rushed forward closing the distance with frightening speed. The crusaders absorbed their rush with ease and shoved their razor sharp claws aside. In this split second the woman in leather came leaping over the crusaders, their dual power swords slicing the monsters to ribbons. A good start in Hennards eyes.

The group continued on like this for an hour, small pockets of mutant hybrids being found here and there, no match for the skilled arts of Death Cult and Crusaders. Suddenly Hennard came upon a large opening in the sewers, piles of clothes and stacks of bones scattered throughout. "This must be their breeding and feeding grounds, prepare yourselves. Weve found their home" Hennard told his men. He looked at his device again and punched in a few commands.

He could here their feet, hundreds of them, drawn to the psychic powers his device was giving out. The Inquistion knew they communicated with some sort of psychic power and it drew them in, he would use this against them. The half human/half Tyranid Genestealers came rushing through the sewers around them. Irmo's chainsword cut down the first to get within closing distant, the mutants face sliced in half. Power swords hissed as they passed through bodies and blood, the shields paint chipping as claws and teeth smashed against the blocked sewer. Their claws never fully developed into their patriachs full potential. Hennards bolt pistol blasted any who attempted to vault over the shields.

The opening was starting to become to choked with Hybrids, both living and dead. It would only be another ten minutes or so before Hennard guessed they would be overwhelmed and his pistol ran out, and there was no sign of the main target, the Patriarch. Again he hit in a few commands on his device, he couldnt risk his specialists waiting for the Patriarch to appear. Behind the mutant Xenos the air shimmered for a moment.

"In the name of the Emperor, NOW!" Hennard shouted, the crusaders ducked behind their shields, Irmo and the rest quickly took cover hunched behind the crusaders and shields. A wall of flame engulfed the sewers and mutants. Flames roared past the shields as the mutants burnt to a crisp. As the flames died, Hennard pulled himself up and looked across the sewer cavern. "Well met Astartes"

Clad in blue Terminator armor with a yellow strip down the center of the helmets stood 5 Terminators of the Wolverines Valiant. Their two heavy flammers sputtering back to idle state. With a slight nod in Hennards direction they were gone in the same manner they came. Angels of Death indeed, no one on the surface would know the Astartes were close. "We are done here, the Patriarch isnt going to show itself"

....................................

About an hour left in their march back to the surface Hennard came across 4 small children in the sewers. They appeared human in every aspect and Irmo went to rescue them when Hennard stopped him. "Your heart betrays your better judgment Irmo, one second" Hennard walked over to the scared children and scanned them with the same device.
"They have been implanted with Tyranid eggs Irmo, they are tainted"
Irmos face quickly went from sympathizing father to hatred. "I will handle this" Irmo replied, revving his dual chainswords.

Hennard walked on, none were above the Emperor, no child would slow his justice.

Korvel mentally prepared himself as he walked towards Lilliana's quarters. Not long ago he had received word from his friends in Raela's retinue that she had een taken into custody by Chapter Master Ryus and his "advisor" for an unknown reason. Korvel had served with the New Order long enough to know that this meant that she would probably either be mind-wiped or killed, and despite what had happened between them Raela did not deserve that. She had to be rescued, but Korvel knew that there was no way his little Interceptor would be able to get close enough to the New Order's vessels without being immediately detected and destroyed. No, he needed Lilliana's aid. Out of all of the Psykers in this sector she was one of the few that would be strong enough to pull off what Korvel had in mind. She would need to open a psychic gate to where Raela was being kept captive, and she would need to go through it, rescue Raela, and then slip back through the portal. That would be the easy part. The hard part would be convincing Lilliana that Raela was worth it, and then hiding the Eldar's knowledge of the rescue from the New Order Then Korvel found himself at Lilliana's door. His keen hearing could only detect slow and steady breathing coming from inside, she was likely meditating, and while Korvel hated to interrupt her he knew that he had no choice, Raela had to be saved from Ryus. Decided he swung the door open and stepped inside.

Lilliana was jolted out of her meditation when the door to her quarters swung open. Her irritation was swiftly replaced with confusion when the door opened to reveal Korvel, whose sheepish expression would have been comical if it had been on anyone else but him. A flurry of emotions ripped through her at the sight of him. The familiar emotions of anger, sorrow, and sadness were there, but there was another one present, and Lilliana was loath to think about it, for to do so would be to open herself up for another betrayal by him. Shoving her emotions down Lilliana regarded him coolly and asked "What do you need so urgently that it required the interruption of my meditation Korvel?" All the while she tried desperately to keep her volatile emotional state from being seen by Korvel. Eldar could very easily detect shifts in emotion, it was entirely possible for two Eldar to have a conversation solely with body language, so Lilliana was careful to keep her expression and body neutral. Then the door closed and Korvel stepped toward her and began explaining his plan.

For the hundredth time Lilliana cursed Korvel's silver tongue. How had he convinced her to go along with this crazy plan? He had convinced her to teleport herself onto the vessel of those who they were trying to secure an alliance with, and steal one of their prisoners. It was madness, yet here she was marshalling her psychic energy for the task ahead. The plan was relatively simple at least. She would open a gate to the holding area where Raela was being held, and rescue her and the Twins, who had a spirit bond with her according to Korvel. Lilliana had only heard of such a Raela and the Twins from their holding cells. Shaking her head again she got to work freeing them and marshalling her energies for the trip back, time was of the essence. Lilliana did not know if the humans would be able to detect the surge of warp energy, but she wasn't going to hang out long enough to find out. After freeing the three from their prison Lilliana opened another gate, and shielded herself, Raela, and the Twins before stepping through and back onto her ship. She let out a small sigh of relief when Korvel was there to meet them, despite what had transpired between them, she was still glad to see him.

[Retconned]

There's not much that can be said when a planet dies. After all, most mortals find it hard to truly imagine the vast size of their own countries and states. To try and visualise every iota of a planet is nigh impossible. Too much land, too much mass.
Planets die. It happens across the galaxy, naturally or not. Stars burst and the planets go with them. Sometimes the planet kills itself, torn apart in gravitational fields, ripped to chunks by tectonic disruption. No-one bats an eyelid. Nature does as it wants. And no-one stops it.
But Exterminatus is different. Humanity rebels against the natural order of things, and seeks to mold the stars to their own whim. In many cases, witnessing Exterminatus means different things to different people.

An Inquisitor sees it as a strategem, a device like a razor, or a dataslate. They feel nothing when pruning away a world, just as if they were trimming back their garden. Exterminatus is a tool to be used when necessary, as are the lives claimed by it.

The Adeptus Astartes see Exterminatus as a weapon. Just as if they were dealing with a single ork, they see the same with a whole army. Where they would ask, "Is it more prudent to use my bolter or a frag grenade?", they ask "Is it better to lance strike, or Exterminatus?" As a desperate guardsmen feels when they throw their last grenade, so does an Astartes when erasing a planet from the sky. Devastation wielded, but not squandered willingly. Exterminatus is a weapon like any other, a weapon of proportion and ultimate victory.

But a civilian, bred to serve the mighty Imperial machine, never leaves their planet. The eke out short, petty lives. They live. They die, without ever seeing anything from beyond their dead orbit. Just like the generations before them. To them, their planet is a mother. An uncaring one, but an essential tether to which they exist. For them, Exterminatus is uncomprehendable. The death of a world itself is far beyond their limited conscious to full understand.
Exterminatus means oblivion.

Exterminatus is death.

Acting-Captain Aurelius gripped harder into the rock face. His shield was slung over his back, his paragon blade in his free hand. On each side of him, five members of Tactical Squad Solinus hung from the rock, bolters at rest. Shadows danced through the natural tunnel bored into the asteroid. Aurelius was plunged into shadow without warning, then birthed back into the light. This was yet another time Aurelius was glad for his visual compensators wired into his helm. The huge rock yawed and pitched through the stars, tantalisingly slowly. Aurelius could feel the enormity of the asteroid lurching and tumbling, as if commanded by some random power.

This was once part of Kagrenz, he thought. Not any more. Kagrenz had been ripped apart, shattered by the Imperium's rage as the Hybrids overwhelmed the planet. There was nothing left where Kagrenz once was. Kagrenz' legacy still lived on, mainly in those who had fought in it's misty swamps and forests. Now even the mists were gone. Only bare, sun-blasted rock remained.
And the Hybrids.

Aurelius didn't know how they had survived this long. All xenologists had predicted the majority of the fleet surrounding Kagrenz to be in retreat, or heavily damaged. Yet, long-range scanners were still picking up vestiges of life in the asteroid field where Kagrenz once was. Aurelius and his taskforce had set down on one of the furthest asteroids, and lay in wait for their prey. Only his lighter armoured squads had been able to deploy properly, with his Centurions waiting in an escorting Stormraven to support the taskforce. Aurelius' Tactical Squads had their boltguns ready and waiting. Sergeant Strabo and his Assault Marines were using their increased mobility to lure any creatures out.
If any creatures were still in here.

Strabo's voice rasped in Aurelius' helm.
"Auspex reading show life in this cavern, Acting-Captain. Looks like something dug into the crust here."

"Understood. Tactical Squad Solinus and I will investigate."

-------------------------------

"I see what you mean, Sergeant."
Strabo was stood beside Aurelius, experimentally swinging his power sword in the low gravity.

"See here, Acting-Captain. Not natural. The size of the gouges-"

"-matches the size of Hybrid talons. Good observation." Aurelius finished the Sergeant's sentence. "There's traces of blood in some of the recesses. Whatever did this was desperate."

Strabo shrugged. "Rightly so. We'll flush it out."

The rest of his squad stood outside another borehole, checking their flamers and bolt pistols. Although the vacuum prevented all noise, Aurelius thought he heard the raspy breath of the flamers test-firing. He peered over the lip of the hole. Chipped and crudely chiseled walls descended into inky blackness. There was no telling how many creatures were down there. Aurelius unhooked his shield and took a deep breath.

"Strikeforce Praetoria, regroup and guard the entrance to this tunnel. Nothing gets out. Squad Ixion and I are going in."

-------------------------------

"How far in did they go?" remarked Brother Vandius. Him and Uncio were leading the exploring party, their flamers periodically discharging to light the way.

"As far as they went. Now shut it." Strabo snarled at the Ultramarine.

Aurelius didn't say anything, but he understood the Assault Marine's concerns. The tunnel was far deeper than anything they had expected. The tunnels constantly changed direction. Aurelius had long since resigned that tossing frag grenades round the corners was useless: there were too many twists and turns. Brother Horatius had already taken a nasty fall, falling through into a side tunnel. His jump pack was damaged, but aside from that, he was fine.

Abruptly, Uncio grabbed Vandius by the arm. The squad stopped moving, and began to unsheathe chainswords.
"End of the line, sir. The tunnel drops off here."

"What?" Strabo grunted. Aurelius switched his helmet's visual in his left eye to that of Uncio. He saw everything the marine saw.

"It just opens out, sir. It seems we've entered a natural air pocket in the crust. Sir."

Aurelius enhanced the image of Uncio's display. The marine wasn't lying. Where previously there had been chipped walls and debris, the tunnel opened out to open space and smooth granite. The other side of the cave was barely visible, only when Aurelius boosted the visual settings. The space was huge, enough to fit a small town in the emptiness.
Uncio looked down to the bottom of the cavern. The walls at the bottom were slick with moisture, shimmering in the faint helmet lamp's glow. The darkness at the bottom was different than normal. It seemed to writhe under the light.
Aurelius was the first to realise what was wrong.

"Contact! Hybrid swarm at the bottom!"
Uncio and Vandius gunned their jump packs, soaring across the cave. Explosions of light and fire blossomed up from the bottom, the savage wrath of dropped frag grenades. The rest of the Assault Marines scrambled out of the opening, and grabbed onto handholds on the cavern walls. The Hybrids scurried up the walls to meet them.

Bolt rounds ripped Hybrids off the walls. Those it didn't kill outright were flung from the walls, drifting in the void. They lashed out helplessly, desperate to rend the Ultramarines firing down on them. The Hybrids were gaining ground rapidly fast. Aurelius knew that bolt pistols would never be able keep the creatures at bay. He cursed himself yet again. He really wished for some bolters right now.
Now flamers were being fired, the two assault marines dousing the points of strongest assault with holy promethium. Charred corpses now floated in the cave, the promethium still burning faintly.
"Engaged!" Sergeant Strabo roared as a Hybrid got close enough. He jabbed his power sword into the creature's gaping maw, and ripped it up. The beast's carcass drifted away, only for Ixion to be attacked by another one of the Hybrids. Now the fighting had reached melee. Hybrids silently screamed as they were torn apart by chainswords, or as they were kicked off the walls. Aurelius bashed one of the creatures off him with his shield, and ran the other through with his paragon blade. The Hybrids' number were starting to thin, but they were beginning to wear down the Assault Marines. He swung again, decapitating another of the Hybrids.

Aurelius fleetingly watched as Horatius blasted a creature apart with his twin bolt pistols. Another drifted behind him, thought dead. Aurelius was about to shout a warning, but it was too late. He saw the flash of razor-sharp talons. It ruptured through the weak point in his jump pack, and before Horatius could react, his pack exploded. Shrapnel ripped through marine and Hybrid alike, wounding the Ultramarines closest to him. The Hybrids were blown away, impaled by white-hot shrapnel.

"Get off the walls!" Aurelius commanded, pushing himself into the empty space. He drifted over to where a Hybrid was lashing out, snarling and screeching. He reached out with a free hand and crushed it's skull mercilessly. The other Assault marines drifted off the walls too, giving them precious time to fire at Hybrids as they sprang from the walls at them. The Hybrids, unable to attack the Ultramarines directly, were forced to leap into empty space to attack. The plan was working: as Aurelius had hoped.

Only one marine faltered. Brother Decius' bolt pistol jammed, as a Hybrid was leaping out at him. He cursed, and fumbled for his chainsword. His hand never made it. The Hybrid smashed into him, and began to rip open his helmet. Decius screamed, trying to prize the creature off. It tore at him with unbridled ferocity. Suddenly, his screaming stopped, the Hybrid's mouth lodged deep in his skull. His blood blossomed away, like a rose.
Aurelius' anger rose, and pushed himself at the Hybrid. Aurelius floated towards Decius' corpse, before ramming his sword into the creature's chest. The Hybrid lashed out at Aurelius, and it's prehensile tail wrenched Aurelius away from his blade. The Ultramarine snarled and drew his gladius instead. The Hybrid opened it's jaws, as if to roar at him, and pounced. They grappled in zero-gravity, with Aurelius frantically stabbing into the Hybrid. He felt the creature's talons ripping into his flesh, slicing past flesh and muscle and armour plate. Teeth locked around his helmet with a crunch. Immediately, Aurelius unlocked his helmet's seal, leaving it in the Hybrid's mouth, before plunging the gladius into it's heart. Still writhing, the creature bit into his arm, serrated teeth ripping up the flesh. The Acting-Captain bit back, ripping open the creature's throat with a feral snarl. The Hybrid struggled, then fell limp.
Aurelius' eyes rolled back as his Neuroglottis began to react to the Hybrid's flesh-memory...

A swarm, blotting out the very stars themselves.
A shell of iron and steel, impenetrable and unyielding. Green fire lights up the darkness.
An eagle, it's claws blunted and it's feathers matted. It crawls blindly into the night.
An ocean of madness and teeth, eyes and blood. It tastes like home.
The blue sky turning white, then black.
A row of eagles. The third was midnight black. The eagle opens it's mouth, and the swarm blots out the stars again.
A shell of iron and steel, impenetrable and unyielding. Green fire lights up the darkness.
An eagle, it's claws blunted and it's feathers matted. It crawls blindly into the night.
An ocean of madness and teeth, eyes and blood. It tastes like home.
The blue sky turning white, then black.
A row of eagles. The third was midnight black. The eagle opens it's mouth, and the swarm blots out the stars again.
A shell of iron and steel, impenetrable and unyielding. Green fire lights up the darkness.
An eagle, it's claws blunted and it's feathers matted. It crawls blindly into the night.
An ocean of madness and teeth, eyes and-WE SEE YOU HADRIS AURELIUS
THE DEEP HAS COME
THE DEEP IS COMING

-------------------------------

"-Hadris? Captain? Can you hear me?" Apothecary Venatio was shining a light into Aurelius' eyes. Concern was written over his face.

"It's Acting-Captain, my friend." Aurelius grunted, as he was reborn into the light.

"Emperor preserve me, at least you still have your humour." laughed Venatio. "You gave us all a bit of worry there."

"What happened?"

"Hybrid tissue samples, you see, are apparently not fit for Astartes consumption. Or consumption of any kind. You entered a psychically induced coma, Emperor knows what you experienced in there. You've only been out for sixteen minutes. Strabo's men called for immediate reinforcement after they caught you. The fighting was fierce, but you can rest easy knowing that there aren't any Hybrids in that rock any more."

Aurelius looked at Venatio. "How many dead? On both sides?"

"Estimates say roughly four dozen Hybrids. Six Astartes dead, three from Strabo's squad, the rest from Solinus'. They've been recovered successfully."

Aurelius cradled his head in his hands, and let out a sigh of anguish. He had sworn that no more would die. He had failed that. "Acting-Captain, are you well?"

"I'm fine, my friend. I just need to rest. Get the strikeforce out."

"To where, my lord?"

"ANYWHERE BUT HERE!" Aurelius shouted, gripping the stone tablet he was lying on. Venatio bowed awkwardly, and left Aurelius alone.

The stone under the Acting-Captain's grip began to crack.
What kind of Captain fails to stand by their oaths?

WE SEE YOU HADRIS AURELIUS

Everything was going smoothly, Detta had to admit. The Devourer had departed shortly after the Ultramarines' deployment, and only was it too late did Detta see that something was amiss. The Ultramarines had disappeared off of the radar, and they had no real way of finding them until they could set up a direct comm link to them.

After a few short words to the pilot of the latest developments, they began to descend towards the vast forest below. The Histans disembarked in rapid order, as did their sentinel support.

While still debating what would be their next plan of action, Detta head someone cry out, "Movement sighted! Northern flank!" Just before a bolt rounds pinged off of the ship's side, and caught him square in the chest.

Instantly the Histans moved into defensive positions, with moving behind the departing ramp and drawing his bolt pistol. As the Histans moved into cover, they saw their attackers; heavily muscled brutes with weapons ranging from spears to axes to jumbles of metal and wire, their excuse for guns.

"Orks sighted! Weapons free, just make each shot count!" Detta yelled into his vox, not wanting anyone to miss the order. To put emphasis on his words, he fired several rounds at the nearest ork, who had strayed from their firing line enough to be a proper target.

His shot didn't go where he wanted it to, but still reduced the alien's arm to a mess of blood and bone. Unfortunately, the ork either didn't care, or hadn't noticed, and fired his sluggas in return. Most shots flew wild, not even managing to hit the Devourer, yet one had found its way into a man's leg. Before it could fire a second volley, several guardsmen returned fire, and a sentinel ensured the perpetrator wouldn't be shooting anyone else.

And so the battle began in full, with neither side backing down. Of course, to do that would ensure death for the Histans. Lasrounds met arrows and bullets, while bayonets met axes. The orks, while more primal than some of their greenskin kin, were just as ferocious in hand to hand combat. One sweep of an axe could cleave a man in two, while a bayonet stab would only be a nuisance to most orks. The Histans had already known this, and the sentinel pilots focused their attention on any ork who got tired of shooting their guns, and sought to use them as clubs instead.

Detta made out Abram at times, who had even charged forwards and brained an ork from behind who had decided to strangle a Histan, while completely ignoring his own weapon. The colonel respected young Abram, and knew that he would make a fine leader, given time.

A stray round nearly taking Detta's head off made him focus back on the task at hand. After throwing one frag grenade at the ork firing line, he ducked behind cover to reload his bolt pistol.

++This is Commander Julius, do you copy, 98th Histans?++

Wordlessly mouthing his thanks to the Emperor, Detta quickly replied. ++Yes. This is Colonel Detta. We could use a hand here. Orks are about to overrun us, and we've already taken heavy casualties.++

++Hold your position, Colonel. We are enroute, but the signal is weak. If you could strengthen the signal, we could arrive all the faster.++

Cursing his luck, Detta shouted at his men while firing at the orks once more. In front of him, a sentinel toppled over, while spewing sparks out and leaking oil onto the grass beneath it.

"Someone get inside the dropship and blast the comms system. We need to get the signal up so the marines know where the frak we are!" Detta shouted, feeling it appropriate to be a little bit more informal than usual.

Vayden, after firing several lasrounds into one charging ork, made a wild dash back to the ramp, followed shortly after by two other Histans who Detta couldn't make out.

The orks, seeing the easy targets, fired at the group, tearing one apart and clipping the other. Vayden stopped to grab the injured trooper, knowing he could do nothing for his other comrade, and dragged him inside the safety of the dropship.

After several muffled words and many attempts at the Litany of Percussive Maintenance, the signal blared out onto the vox, coming in the form of an old wartime song from Hista.

++Got it sir, but Adalen won't make it, not with how bad he's bleeding.++ Vayden said.

++Good work. Attend to Adalen, we can hold our own out here until the marines show up.++

Detta swutch back the astartes' comm link they had given to them. ++Commander, the signal is up. Can you get a bead on us now?++

++Affirmative. It is quite the tune.++ Detta swore to himself as he heard the sound of bolter fire and orks through the vox, and the all too often punctuation of Julius firing at the orks himself.

And so, the battle raged on, with the Histans' training starting to show its superiority, as they managed to make the orks' numbers dwindle, although a staggering amount of also Histans lie on the ground as well.

The Ultramarines' own arrival marked the final death knell for the orks. First came the assault marines, who flew through the air, and cut their way into the orks. Then came the devastators, who watched their brothers' backs. Finally came Julius, who cleared his own path. Seeing this new assault, while also unable to turn their backs on the vengeful Histans, the greenskins finally broke.

The ones with the most cunning fled first, leaving their more stupid and stubborn kin to die by the Imperium's hand. As much as Detta wanted to, he knew he couldn't pursue the orks. No, they had to head back to orbit, and get their wits about them again, while also tending the wounded.

"Perfect timing, as always, commander." Detta said, recognizing Julius as he approached.

"Don't sell your men short. You all fought well. Now, we should head back to orbit, we cannot trust this area to let our guard down in it."

Detta couldn't think of a statement he agreed with more.

No clear warning was given when a group of Auxilia stormed Annala's room in search of her. Sylus had tipped her off to a frantic "bug hunt" by the Chapter Master. She only had started preparing herself before she was attacked. By a rough split-second estimate, she counted four Auxilia coming inside her room and five outside before her door closed. Her first instinct was to grab her las pistol, but that was too far and the distance between her and the first Auxilia were closing rapidly. A well-timed ducked caught the man off guard and she wrapped her arms around his waist. She moved quickly with his momentum and threw him to the ground behind her. A delicate flick of her wrist set her wrist blades into their designated attack position. The next Auxilia was prepared and took the blades to the thigh, roaring out in pain. Another wrist flick retracted the blades and a swift left cross knocked the Auxilia on his back. She spun to face her next challenger and caught a glancing blow to the jaw from his riot buckler. Another smashed into her side and she fell back, trying to catch her breath. Not wanting to end up like his buddies, the Riot Auxilia drew his stub revolver and cocked the hammer back. He pulled the trigger a second too late as a combat boot smashed into the barrel and spoiled his aim. The harsh recoil of the gun combined with the Riot Auxilia's lack of control lead to a broken thumb and he threw the gun up. Annala flipped off her back and caught the weapon mid-air. She fired off two shots into the thighs of the Riot Auxilia before he could recover. She repeated the process with the last Auxilia who hesitated out of fear. By now, the Auxilia outside were hammering at the door to gain entry and Annala made use of a tactic Sylus taught her.

The Auxilia stormed the room to find it black as the void. Each activated their Dark Sight goggles and entered. Annala shut the door behind them and dropped a device to the floor, turning away and shielding her eyes. The Auxilia figured out this was a Flash Grenade too late. After the grenade went off, Annala activated her own Dark Sight goggles and took out her blind prey without resistance. She quickly grabbed some supplies and ran out the door.

* * *

In the event that she was witnessing now, Annala and Sylus had created a back up plan in case all went to Warp. She hid in the one place the Chapter Master could not find her, at least psychically. She sat, head between her knees, in the far corner of Conrax's Vault. Unbenouced to Ryus, more than just him knew how to open the Vault and one of those people, was Ajax Sylus. Sylus unlocked the Vault and knelt next to Annala. She lifted her head slightly as if she were going to ask a question, but did not know how to ask it. He placed a hand on her head and informed her of the current situation.

"The Chapter Master is concerned that the Auxilia may be infected by the Genestealer virus after we lost contact with a Hive that was built to accommodate the refugees of Galor Prime. Apparently, you were high on the hit list-"

"I am not infected, Sylus!" Annala exploded, lifting herself to a sitting position, "I have remained my purest-"

"This is not a matter of purity, Annala. Genestealers are secretive and you would not even know if you are infected," Sylus replied calmly, pulling the priestess close and wrapping himself around her. One of his massive hands rubbed the back of her neck, which she found reassuring, but was ultimately to check for the infection, though Annala was unaware of that. When he found no indication of the virus, he drew her closer and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"We could run away, Sylus..."

"That is a possibility. Unfortunately, I have to lead my brothers into battle and I am not a soul so easy to replace."

"I wish you didn't have to fight..." Annala whispered in his ear, knowing the futility of even saying that. She wished that all could have been as it was before. She could be back in her Cathedral, teaching the masses of Gallor Prime the Imperial creed and teaching Sabbath day school to the young ones. She missed her home dearly.

"I am an Angel of Death, Annala. I am born to fight. I fight for the Imperium."

Annala turned his head a bit and planted a soft kiss on his lips, noting how he needed to shave and then scolding herself for caring about something so miniscule. She returned to her corner and looked over what she had hastily packed to make sure she would not need to ask Sylus. She turned to voice her concerns but he had left, and the door to the vault had been sealed. She sank to her knees and let her tough-girl resolve fade until she was sobbing a river. She fell to her side like a maimed animal and hit her head on something very hard, which only seemed to worsen her mood. She lifted her head to find that it was a Rosarius, no, Sylus' Rosarius. Her tears slowly stopped and she picked up the gold amulet. Chiseled into the front face of the amulet was a jade serpent coiled around a marble skull, who had inlaid ruby eyes that were almost the exact colour as blood. She turned it over and found an etching of the New Order's insignia. Never could she understand why, out of all things, a crescent of a moon and a trio of stars, defined their chapter.

------- On board Crusade Command HQ -------

Castella had given her orders to the Scions under her command, ''Fetch me any information about friendly forces who re-deployed on Julla, as well as reports from the New Order actions there'' a simple order in theory, but because the Administratum being what it is, it was anything but easy. Reports were missing, mislabelled or misnamed, and Scions weren't exaxctly the best at working through all the files. Eventually, enough was found to stage a mission, so far there was only a single regiment deployed, Tallarns. Castella smiled when she read the name, as a section of Tallarns recently finished their training and joined the ranks of the 85th. This would help greatly to bridge the gap between Scions and Guardsmen, as the latter didn't exactly enjoyed the company of the former. She transmitted the information to Gallus, as well as their latest report regarding a skirmish with tau forces.


------- On board the Swift Guardian, in the briefing room -------

The room was filled with Tempestor of various background and various ranks. Notably missing where Gallus seconds in command, but they were needed elsewhere.

''I have received goood information from Tempestor Secundus Castella, the Tallarn 97th, Rough Riders have been deployed on Julla, we will work to support them, officialy Crusade Command wants intel on the Tau commander, they want us to force him into isolation. It would be far better if he was simply dead, while we will gather information about him, as per orders, by the end of this campaign, Voidspider will be dead.''

Gallus allowed himself a small pause, to allow what he said to his subordinates to sink in.

''We will run this mission in a different way than the previous one, we will land with the guardsmen some of you will work with them, while the rest of us will be running our typicial intelligence gathering. Obviously, our new Tallarn Scions will be much needed for this'' Gallus turned to the newly inducted Scions ''I am afraid I will have to dismantle your section, Tempestor Ashraf, I will need your men and your expertise spread along the rest of the men in the desert. You personally will be with me at the Tallarn base''

The Tallarn Tempestor nodded and kept his expression neutral, but Gallus was pretty sure he didn't make a friend with such an order, splitting the section on its first mission and keeping the Tempestor on the back line? No doubt Ashraf was angrier than he let on. Oh well, needs must, though Gallus.

''I am sending in five hundred men this time, with a hundred gathering intelligence at first, infiltrating the Tau lines. We will share what we're learned of the Tau to the Tallarns, as little as that might be. The rest of us down on the planet will be supporting the guardsmen in their operations, either by doing reconnaissance of objectives, giving the guardsmen extra training and assaulting Tau positions. Any questions?''

''Who will do the recce for the guardsmen?'' asked a Tempestor

''Then men attached to the Tallarns will''

''So what about the hundred we sent in Tau territory?'' asked another

''They will be looking for the enemy commander, he has to travel from base to base as we attack them, we will determine what path he will take, if he uses flying transport or a convoy, and we will strike when he's at his weakest. They will also attempt to slow down or destroy possible Tau reinforcements, depending on the size and the terrain. Perhaps even force the Tau to pull back forces from the frontline, if we're lucky. If it turns out we cannot gather information and backstab the Tau efficiently, we will stick to observation, we cannot lose sight of our goal here''

Gallus looked around the room for other questions, but it seems his commanders would come up with them at a later date and dismissed them, the operation would start soon.


------- On board the Swift Guardian, in one of the various training facilities -------

''DOWN'' shouted Riley, who was doing push ups with a bunch of recently rescued guardsmen, he was wearing his full carapace armor, complete with his hellgun mag-locked to his backpack. Riley checked his chronometer, seven seconds, no sign of weakness, at least they were doing good, not even Regiment had the same standard as to what a veteran was. Gallus orders were clear when it came to training rescued troops. Other Scions were merely given a new qualification. Guardsmen that were saved had to go through basic Scion training before being send to either Riley's Fist or the reconnaissance unit. Riley looked at his chrono again, thirty seconds.

''UP'' said Riley

''ONE'' shouted the group, as one. Well at least they had some team spirit, he had seen much worse display, Riley had little doubt that these men would make excellent Scions.

''DOWN''


------- Airspace of Julla -------

Gallus had decided agaisn't having a massive Valkyrie drop his men all around the guardsmen camp, it would create too much confusion, instead, he filled five large haulers with Scions and ordered them down on the planet surface, they would land close to the Tallarn camp and regroup there, after that, Gallus would personally talk to their commander while letting the Quartermasters take of the logistic side of things. Vox message were already and he knew the Tallarn wouldn't be suprised by the apperance of the ships and their Vulture escort.

The landing went well, and the men quickly organized themselve back into their sections, some of them unloading the equipement that would be needed for the campaign. Gallus left them to their work and waved his command squad forward, this squad now included Tempestor Ashraf. They entered the camp and Ashraf asked the men on duty who and where their commanding officer was.

''Colonel Amir, he should be in his tent''

''That's where we'll go then'' said Gallus

"Do not worry, little brother," Fairfax spoke softly into Edward's ear as they embraced on the loading platform, "you will soon be back with us, plus you won't be alone in your travel."
Edward nodded, "I know, I'll be with our guests."
Seneschal Edward and the Lucky Farthing were tasked with returning the rescued Histans to their regiment. The agreed meeting point was the planet Sandfall, whilst the lord captain, the Sovereign, and his regiment were to approach nearby planet Trisburg, and negotiate their arrival with the local governor to somehow secure an inspection of the local Imperial Guard regiments.

"That's not entirely what I meant." the Lord Captain gestured to his eye, indicating the scouting Guinea's ever vigilant monitoring of threat.
"It's what meaning I choose to take, considering recent events." Edward smiled weakly. For once, less than reassured by the presence of the unseen.
Fairfax chuckled, "You could always take your dog with you."
"Stop it." his brother's smile fell slightly.
Fairfax looked away, apologetic, "I'm sorry. It's good that you have a friend. Or whatever he is to you. I just can't get over the idea of him being civil."
Edward chuckled, "I think nobody is quite as surprised as him."
"A tamed dog," mused the lord captain, "mayhaps you missed your true vocation."
"Rey," Edward looked concerned, "just promise me you'll take this seriously."
"Alright alright, I'll stop teasing-"
"Not him! The campaign! You can't treat this like one of your negotiations. You can't smooth talk and joke your way out of everything." the seneschal searched his brother's face for signs of understanding.
Fairfax met his worried expression with a calm smile, "I promise, and you are not so far away that in the unlikely event that I find myself out of my depth, I can't speak with you." he ruffled Edward's hair, "I would have you promise me in turn that you calm down. The Histans will not want to meet a strung out wreck."
"Yes sir." Edward saluted with a grin, and turned to board the shuttle waiting for him.

"Emperor watch over you, Histans. I hope that you find your comrades in better circumstances than you left," Fairfax's voice gently cut through the hum of the Arvus' engines over the intercom, "if we can offer further assistance, do not hesitate to ask. The Sovereign and House Fairfax have your back."
In his seat, Falkon nodded, and raised his hand to the small window, in a half-wave to the lord captain and his crew.

"You shouldn't have sent him with them."
Fairfax turned his head to see the glowering commissar saluting back to the shuttle as it began to taxi away into the airlock.
"You won't even know he's gone. The Farthing is light and swift. He'll be safe enough, Garth." Fairfax smiled at the usually frosty man's concern.
"It's not Seneschal Fairfax that I'm worried for," Selka rolled his eyes, "one less competent mind here means one more weak point that can be exploited."

"Throne, Commissar, we are performing a regimental inspection, not entering a full scale war." Captain Dekkal sighed beside him.
Selka gave him a tired look, "We shall see. Diplomacy gets us so far. What happens if we uncover something they do not wish us to see? Then you'll find how far civil words get you."
"Aye, but there's little point going in there expecting the worst." Dekkal replied cheerfully.
Both Fairfax and Selka turned as one to stare at the captain, then looked at each other.
"Eamon," said the Lord Captain, quietly "there is every point. This is an inspection to detect mutants and possibly xeno infection. It could get back to the ship. It could spread off planet. This is one of the most dangerous situations you'll ever encounter, and yet we must approach it with good grace and civility."
Dekkal immediately stopped smiling, "I hadn't considered it that way. Like an infectious disease. I apologise for my flippancy, Lord Captain."
"Do not apologise, but ensure your men also understand the present threat," Fairfax gave a meaningful look to Selka, "you can frighten them all you wish, but if they do not understand why they should be wary, mistakes are likely to be made."

*

Aboard the shuttle, Trooper Lars looked over at the unusually solemn seneschal. Around them, the Histans were making light talk, happy to finally be moving, and the prospect of seeing their regiment again was lifting the mood considerably.
"You're troubled, Seneschal." Lars slipped out of his strapping, and slid down the bench next to Edward.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to spoil your reunion. I will endeavour to cheer myself up by the time we arrive." the seneschal raised his head and gave a half smile.
Lars shook his head, "No, it's fine. This is a time of mixed feelings for all of us," he gestured to the group, speaking quietly, "we focus on the positive, but it does mean there's a lot of things to face upon return. We have had no news of who else survived or perished. As we both know, the short range communications across the crusade are kept so brief and vague. We are ghosts, our friends don't even know which of us are returning as of yet. For both sides there will be joy," he looked around the small cabin, "and disappointment."
Edward nodded, "I understand."
"Then what troubles you, Seneschal?" Lars looked back at the tall man, shortened greatly by his burdens.
"Edward. I am worried about what may happen in my own absence." Edward replied quietly.

"Your Lord Captain seemed competent, and well aware of the threat."
The seneschal nodded again, "That he is. Whatever shall happen would do so with or without my presence," he looked at the small window of the Arvus, out into the black, "but you understand that if anything were to happen, I feel I should be there."
"Ah," Lars considered for a moment, "of course. I'm sorry for my prying."
"Not at all, it's good to speak freely!" Edward smiled, "Throne knows there won't be enough of that in days to come."
As the shuttle docked with the Farthing, and the passengers disembarked, Lars thought about the days to come. If only restrained speech were our only worry out here, he mused.

Breaking his concentration, Seneschal Edward called out to the group, "Welcome to the Lucky Farthing, Histans. It may not be as grand as my brother's vessel, but I think you'll like it. It's my home for many months of the year, and I bid you to make it your own for the next day while we travel," he shrugged, the brief speech over, "your equipment will join us shortly, and then we will begin short burst travel speeds. We have no formal barracks, so I recommend you make the most of your guest quarters for rest, or there's an excellent bar on K deck. Serves spiced liquor and hot food." without waiting for response, he stepped away, and began speaking to the shuttle navigator, leaving the men to settle in.

*

"How do we convince them to allow an inspection?" Fairfax put it simply.
"Well sir, if we announce it, then obviously they have time to squirrel away and conceal most irregularities." Dekkal leaned on the table of his small office.
It was a far more functional room than the grand meeting halls of the Rogue Trader. Fairfax liked it, as despite appearances, he was not a dyed in the wool exhibitionist.
"Then we lie." Selka put down his drink on the table with a solid thunk.
"How do?" Dekkal replied, curious.
The commissar smiled, "Tell them we are recruiting."

The small Faustian shuttle craft docked with the massive war ship that was the Emperor’s Vengeance. Captain Tom Reiner of the 11th Faustian Fusiliers waited as the docking doors opened. The Captain walked entered the Templar’s ship and was relatively surprised to see a retinue of three Astartes in full plate waiting to great him. Reiner spoke confused “Uhh, greetings lads.” Brother Sargent Ulf inspected the captain over without saying a word. Tom spoke to fill the void of uncomfortable silence “Your Sargent Ulf correct? I remember you from Sheppard’s wedding. Not sure if you remember me but I was at your side at Gallor Prime?” Ulf remembered the man but chose not to acknowledge him, no agent of Pavus was welcome guest in his mind. Reiner continued to speak “Well, I imagine you meet a lot of Guardsmen like me, so I don’t hold it against you if you forgot.” Reiner tugged at his beard unsure how he should continue “Oh, I wanted to thank you for all those delicious mushrooms you sent us. I couldn’t get enough of them.” Still silence from the Templar. Reiner waited there for a minute and was considering just walking pass he guards but that could prove hazardous to his personal health. Just then a new voice called out “At ease Ulf, Tom is a good friend of mine.”

Ulf turned to face Commissar Sheppard and spoke “If you say so Sheppard.” Ulf turned to Reiner and spoke “Don’t misbehave aboard this ship, there are so few veterans of Gallor Prime, it would be a shame to lose another.” The black plated marine turned and headed down the corridor. Reiner spoke as the astartes disappeared down the corridor “What did I do to earn his scorn, we got on just fine last we met.” Sheppard spoke through a sigh “Templar and Faustian relations are at an all time low as you probably already know. But none of that right now, its been months since I last went drinking with the famed “Reiner the Ruffian” I need to make sure you haven’t lost your edge.” Reiner laughed “Aye, your one of the few men I know that can almost keep up with me.” Sheppard slapped the man on the back as they headed to the officer’s lounge “Its been too long Tom.”

Marshall Karak passed the officer’s club and through the metal bulkhead doors could hear drunken song of the two.

“Oh you’ve heard about Cadians with their las guns and their Spears,
about them Tallaran Raiders the heroes of recent Years,
also I might mention the ogryn Grenadiers
but none of them were in it like the Faustian Fusiliers.
You've heard about the vostroyians and of the deeds they've done
And of the other regiments that many victories won
But the pride of the Emperor's armies, dragoons and Carabiniers
Was that noble band of warriors, the Faustian Fusiliers.”

Karak entered the room as two clinked their mugs of ale together. Reiner turned to the Marshall and spoke the alcohol urging him to drop much of the formality, “Marshall, Commissar Sheppard here is going to go fat if you keep him here teaching recruits the shooty side of a las gun and how to tie their boots.” Sheppard struck the captain. Karak knew of Reiner they had met only briefly, he didn’t think him a threat, but Karak could not afford to trust none of those who would call themselves loyal to Pavus. Still Sheppard trusted him, and that had to count for something. The Marshall soke “Captain, I doubt you came here only to drink my ship’s Amasec supply.” Reiner laughed “I wish, but alas I ain’t.” Karak spoke curiously “If I might ask why are you here, I only let you aboard on Sheppard’s request, I would like to see I was not wrong to trust him.” Reiner spoke “Well I was only supposed to tell this to Sheppard, but seeing as this involves the both of you I guess I’ll be out with it now.” Reiner reached for his mug and looked over to the Marshall “You don’t mind, right my lord.” Karak shook his head “Go ahead.” Reiner laughed quietly “I’ll need the liquid courage for what I ask.” Reiner took a drink from his mug. “Pavus ordered me here to persuade Commissar Sheppard to ask you to back the the Faustian units as we push on to Nemesa.” Sheppard’s anger was apparent “That bastard would ask for my help after what he did.” Reiner rebutted “Sheppard, I realize that you two haven’t got along with Pavus since the destruction of Gallor Prime, but…” Sheppard interrupted “This has nothing to do with his coup, he sent assassins for Petra.” Reiner’s eyes widened “No, he wouldn’t.” Sheppard growled “He did Tom, and he sent assassins after the Lord General.” Reiner spoke “Sheppard I’m sorry, I had no idea. Pavus will be dealt with. But I was down on Kagrenz when the Hybrids came, I barely made it out of there with my life. We need to stop them Sheppard no matter the personal cost, make no mistake they will consume this sector if we do not destroy them.” Karak spoke “Why Nemesa?” Reiner spoke “Simply put we’re hoping to find some trail that would guide us to the Hive Mind.” Karak spoke “You want us to march blindly into Hybrid space, on a hope of finding something.” Reiner nodded “Aye, it would seem to be our only option if we want to halt the beast.” Sheppard spoke “Tom you ask for much.” Reiner nodded “I do, but know that I am willing to throw down my life to stop the xenos, I would ask the same of you all.” Karak spoke “I thank you for your openness Captain, you deserve to follow better men then Pavus.”

Lord Governor Hannibal Pavus read the letters that piled up on his desk, they were not as negative as he expected, while none promised definite aid, they were not no’s. Pavus shuffled the papers around on his desk until he found a letter from his brother Marcus, the Planetary Governor of Trisburge. Apparently some of Kriger's peons are to do an inspection of the latest bunch of recruits. Pavus thought it odd, but would make no fuss over it. It was likely Kruger was taking estimates of the Faustian numbers, in case they should end up in open conflict a fatal mistake Pavus had no intention of making. Still Pavus ordered his brother to make their ranks look bigger then they really were. Hannibal admitted he was impressed by the recent change of productivity that Trissburge underwent, his brother really grew into his role as Planetary Governor.

Lilliana had just about had enough of Korvel's schemes. He wanted her to enter the Inquisitor's mind, something that appalled Lilliana to the nth degree, and find a way to bring the Inquisitor's memory back. She nearly did it on impulse just to appease him, but remembered she was supposed to be mad at him and wanted him to know she was mad.

Such an ungrateful bastard. I save the Inquisitor so he can have closure and then he wants me to snoop in her head. Is this some adolescent fantasy? Where was my closure, Korvel? You left me and never came back, you... you...

Lilliana scattered the runes in front of her out of anger. Why were men so stubborn when it came to apologizing? He could have told her why he left and all would be well and she wouldn't have to get so frustrated. Lilliana wiped the moisture from her eyes and stood. She inched towards the door, pleading to herself not to go help Korvel. When her will gave in and she reached the door, she knew that she'd regret this.

* * *

Inside the room she set aside to hold the Inquisitor, she could not discern if she found the current state of the Inquisitor humourous or depressing. The Inquisitor had her mind locked into a state that rendered her nothing more than a child. The Dark kin she called, "The Twins" were dumbfounded at the state of their handler. Korvel seemed equally as such, which was what Lilliana found amusing. The stupid look on his face was one of the many things Lilliana enjoyed about his personality... or used to enjoy anyway. Lilliana approached the childish Inquisitor and sat beside her. The Twins tried to sit on either side of Lilliana, but she sent them away with a signal of her hand. Her patience would last longer without them. She placed a hand on the Inquisitor's head and looked for the answers to unlocking it.

After swimming the empty fog of the Inquisitor's mind, she found one subtle phrase that repeated itself through several important memories: The last pieces of the puzzle are the same. To a simple Mon'keigh, this might have been a challenge; to Lilliana it was quite clear. The answer to unlocking the Inquisitor's mind was inside the Twins. The part after that though, got complicated. It would seem that the Twins and the Inquisitor shared a collective soul, or mostly. The Twins actually possessed very little of a soul as if they were the automatons of the human Mechanicus. Should she be able to pull the soul fragment from the Twins, it may be enough to restore the lost memory of the Inquisitor. She told Korvel the next part required the utmost concentration and he took himself and the Twins outside. She now had the time to enter the Immaterium quickly and connect the soul fragments back into the Inquisitor. Time was of the essence as she did not know if this would attract the unwanted attention of She Who Thirsts. What she was doing in the Warp was driving her physical body into a full blown sweat. She kept her thoughts focused and was able to connect the pieces in what she assumed was hours in the warp.

She opened her eyes and could not believe what they had shown her. In front of her was not the Inquisitor, but an Eldar, or nearly so. The being was definitely female and resembled the Inquisitor in every way shape and form, right down to the bronzen-skin, but she was ultimately an Eldar. The Eldar-like being rose from her prone position and looked down at Lilliana, who's heart was racing inside her chest. Never in her centuries of life had she witnessed such a well played trickery as this. The Eldar-like being gave Lilliana a smug look that she was sure only belonged to the Harlequins. The being spoke in perfect Eldar tongue and addressed Lilliana.

"I bet you never saw that coming."

Colonel Detta stood at the entry ramp, staring out of a port at the Farthing. A beautiful ship, he had to admit, but the Colonel vastly preferred the grasslands and rivers of Hista. He smiled, knowing it would take something quite special to find something he liked more than his homeworld.

Detta was flanked by Abram and Vayden, hardly surprised that they had conned him into joining him for the meeting. The Rogue Trader hadn't mentioned what it was they wanted to talk about, but had been very insistent that the Histans were to be there. And so, the trio stood there, waiting anxiously for the events to come, while ignoring the handful of other Histans with them that filled their area if the station with idle chatter.

Lars stood by Edward, waiting for the ramp to open and let them leave the Farthing. Edward had been a good host, and let them feel at home onboard, but it was still lacking something irreplaceable; the extended family that was his regiment. The trooper wondered how the rest of the Histans had handled their 'deaths', yet knew what they would look like when they found them alive and well. Hopefully their joy would make them forget that not everyone had survived on the Knife.

After what felt like an eternity, Lars heard the an old tune from Hista. Ironically enough, it was the same one that had lead the Ultramarines to the Histans' salvation not too long ago.

The song reminded him of a particularly pretty lady he had to leave behind on Hista, on the night of his recruitment. They had danced to the song for hours, and it wasn't hard for him to remember her.

At last the ramp began its descent, and each Histan was hushed as they tried in vain to see beyond the ramp, to catch a glimpse of their comrades waiting for them.

Colonel Detta smiled at the song, thinking it was simply a way to play on their patriotism and loyalty to Hista. No doubt before offering them an offer for arms, which would spiral into hours of bargaining and conniving that he would rather not get into. Still, it was a nice touch, he had to admit.

A collective gasp came from the Histans as they recognized who lie on the other side of the ship, and Detta forgot about any thoughts of bargaining.

Lars, Falkon, and the rest of the survivors of the Knife of Hista all marched down the exit ramp with their heads held high, but most couldn't stifle their grins at seeing their comrades once more. Vayden let out a burst of laughter at seeing the Histans, reminiscent of a schoolboy with how happy he was. Edward walked alongside Falkon, who was at the back of the group.

"It's been a pleasure, seneschal" Falkon said.

"Please, it's Edward. And if you need anything, anything at all, give us a call. We are going to be helping this crusade out, after all."

"I wish you the best of luck in your travels, Edward. Perhaps we will be a part of the same battles, then? There are plenty of enemies to go around." Falkon said.

"Likewise, Corporal. Likewise."

Any form of order among the Histans was all but lost when the first of the names were called out, as troopers began to recognize their comrades, and were certain they did not see ghosts before their own eyes after all.
"Derek!" One voice shouted, gesturing to one slovenly trooper who had a flamer slung on his back.

"Merik!" Said another.

"Kaetel!" Said a third voice.

Soon both parties were entrenched in their own private conversations with their comrades, happy to see each other alive and well.

"Dead men do walk" Isos said upon seeing Lars.

The vox officer only grinned, and gave a salute to his Sergeant. "Trooper Lars, reporting for duty, sir."

"You won't believe it, but we've got news you cannot wait to here." Isos said, returning his friend's grin.

Before the situation could get any more out of hand, Detta drew all of the Histans' attention. While the others had embraced their refound comrades, the colonel had done a headcount, and while grateful of how many Histans had not perished on the Knife, it also brought sadness as his hope for others was crushed once more.

"Histans of the 98th! Prepare to embark in 5 minutes! There will be time for talking there." The Histans had all been silenced as their Colonel spoke, and almost hesitantly left the station and headed towards their ship.

Falkon exchanged a few last words with Edward before rejoining his regiment on their walk to their ship. Edward stayed at the ramp and watched the Histans departing, and knew that the effort had been worth it to return them to their regiment.

It was then that he saw only one Histan staying behind. "I'd like to thank you for this, seneschal." Detta said, while reaching his hand out to shake Edward's.

Edward reached out in turn with his own hand. "I'd do it all again in an instant."

"I hope my boys didn't give you much trouble. They can be a bit heavy on the rations if you don't limit them."

Edward chuckled, "I noticed. They ran out of brewvikk awhile ago. Unless we took them to Hista itself, sending them back to you would have been the only way to raise their morale from that heartbreak."

Detta laughed at that, but his mood changed to something more serious. "This entire regiment owes you for this. If you have need of our services, do not hesitate to contact me. If it's within my power, I will make sure we will be at your side, fighting with you."

Edward simply nodded, before glancing at his chrono and saying "It's time for you to rejoin your men. I'm sure they will have plenty to talk to you about."

Detta nodded, before thanking Edward again, and marching off towards his regiment. It was only then did Edward get back on the Farthing, and prepare to meet his brother again.

Aboard the massive bulk of the Emperors Vengeance Karak looked down on the world riddled by orks, mushrooms and now genesteakers. "Tangir, reports from the surface, what did they find out" Tangir thought for a escond, news was not ideal but there was one gem of hope he would save till last. "Sir, the Efforts by Spannerous and his team have yielded exactly 1074 years of mushroom quotas, 2 million records on mushroom types and farming and exactly nothing on the Orks in the area of the planet they are located. dead loss on that front. The Efforts by the archive team are running a blank too, nothing on the Orks, though combining the two we know more about Mushrooms than anyone probably in the entire galaxy." Karak groaned, a failiere " So we found information on Mushrooms on a planet that specializes in mushrooms, yet nothing on a invasion. Fething farmers, next item. " Tangir consulted the data pad and summered his information " the efforts to track the Orks using the trackers failed, worse, they triggered the in built alarms and likely know we are actively hunting them and will be making to counter and go deeper into there hides in the mountains, i already ran the reports on the area. The local rock is extremely tough volcanic formed and contains veins of adamntium ores. Its basically a bunker Marshall"

"damn it, so there falling back to hides protected by thick hard rock and will be tough to breach the natural formation. main route in is a via a pass, and not the easiest to navigate without support. let it be said, there dumb as rocks but they know how to fight, what of Drax, what has he found" The Orks home was tough to breach, they had chosen the spot well, it was no wonder they had lasted so long on the planet. " Drax reports some success, it has managed to effect the flesh to a great degree but it still has yet to be solidly proven and its ability to penetrate the outer hard Armour is not reliable. however as several lab servitors proved its is extremely effective at the destruction of human tissue. we have created a weapon but it seems to be effective on the wrong target. however as a last resort it might still be useful tp purge the genestealers if nothing else" Karak breathed, one thing right, for once they had got one success "Pass the news of the weapon on to HQ, tell them we have made some progress" Tangir was glad to leave and go to comms, he hated delivering bad news, despite years of working in the role, the Marshall hated failures.

The Data would be sent to crusade HQ, maybe another scientist might have luck whilst they worked on it also. it was a desperate weapon but one they needed, however right now if it could be got in a ships hull it could still do damage to there ships fleshy cores.

"also Tangir send a message to the Scions, and other guard regiments. Shipments of Mushrooms are on standby should they need food supplies, we have tons spare on the planet and guard always need food"

****
Shepard was sat in a waiting room nervous, of all thing things, he had faced he was now scared as he waited for Petra to return from the tests, all routine but after past incidents the medicare staff where taking special care and being extremely thorough in monitoring the baby. Petra walked out, She did not mind the care but they seemed to spend too long waiting in the Medicares center of late. " Nothing wrong at all, everything is fine Jack, how is the Captain doing, i heard he had visited. "" Shepard breathed easy, medicares made him nervous. "I always hated the waiting, despite all, this still makes me nervous, i cannot, " Cutting him self off, " our Ruffian, He is doing well, recovered from his wounds after the evac,, though" Whispering " Pavus sends him as a envoy, seeking help, don't tell anyone but things in the Crusade might not be going well for them" Petra was surprised but did not overtly over react, " Dang, That and the rumors of the trouble back home, a bad harvest on the main agri world, i tried to keep it from getting to the troops but secrets are hard to keep on ships. "

"Not that one, i tried to stop it but its a hot house here, come one lets go back via the Officers mess and see what the cooks have on today, at least unlike the fuasteens we have something other than Mushrooms" Shepard laughed and as they walked down to the mess, life was not perfect but compared to the bad days, today seemed pretty good,.

[REDACTED BY THE ORDO HERETICUS]

"Recruiting?" Dekkal laughed.
"You tell me of a guardsman who wouldn't jump at the chance to travel in a Rogue Trader's private regiment. Tell me you wouldn't be tempted, had we met under different circumstances?" Fairfax's eyes glinted, a strange smile on his face, "And, if there is indeed something amiss, some intentional infection or heresy creeping in, then who of those responsible would turn up their nose at the chance to get that off planet, traveling depths of space that not even the Imperium touches?"

"They'll know that we'll be screening," Selka rubbed his chin, "it may seem too obvious."
Dekkal exhaled through his nose, lost in thought, "Selective screening. Meet the officers, have them choose, go through with it," he tapped the table, "on the ground."
The Lord captain raised his eyebrows, "And up here, it's my territory, my rules. Run a total screening, record and separate any affected."
"Exactly. Then space the lot of them."
"Garth, no. Not all of them will even know." Dekkal looked alarmed.
The commissar snapped, "We can't be lenient, Eamon! What would you have us do? Send them back with our blessing? Release them into a safe habitat? If one is compromised, all of them are as good as dead. All of us are, everyone aboard this vessel."
Fairfax closed his eyes with a look of regret, "Garth, you are correct-"
"Lord Captain, I will follow you, but I'm not happy about this. It will not sit well with everyone else, either." Dekkal spoke quietly, kept his head raised, and his face calm as he cut across Fairfax.
"Anyone who does not wish to take part in this may stay on the civilian side of the lock-down!" Selka growled, "Last last thing we need are bleeding hearts compromising the mission!"
Dekkal's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to respond.

"Enough." Fairfax stood up, causing the two men to freeze. He fixed the pair with a frown, "Garth, you're no use to anybody in a mood like this. Go and clear your head. I don't want to hear from you again until you can keep a calm tongue in it," he turned his attention to Captain Dekkal, "and Eamon, you must remember your duty as a soldier, and that it will involve actions that you're uncomfortable with. If you can't make your peace with Garth, then you both will be removed from your responsibilities. I cannot have you two bickering like children with an assignment like this at stake."

The captain and the commissar bowed their heads, the scolding having achieved its purpose.
"I have an address to record and transmit. After that you are both welcome to join me," he gave a meaningful pause, "together, or not at all. Dismissed." Fairfax pointed to the door calmly.

As Selka and Dekkal slunk out, and walked slowly down the corridor to the barracks, the commissar raised his head, "Did he just dismiss us from your own office?"
"Shut up."
"I like him more now." Garth gave a small smile.
"Shut up."

Captain Horatio cracked his cruel whip upon the laborers back. The former PDF commander and head disciplinarian at the new monument shrine in honor of the prince of despair barked “Look at that, you fethed up the jaw line Lord Dionysus will not be pleased.” The slave recoiled from the lash dropping his chisel at the foot of the near complete marble statue “I’m sorry my lord, please allow me to fix it.” Horatio laughed “No you will start anew.” “But my lord, this is my third attempt.” “Did I ask for an excuse? No I don’t believe I did, now get back to work or if you like I could go fetch Lord Dionysus and show him how flawed you are.” “No my lord I will start fresh and I will I promise to get it right this time.” The cruel overseer gave a wicked smile “I’d hurry he will be here tomorrow.” “It will be done my lord I swear.” Horatio was about to say something to the pathetic artisan but something in the night sky caught his eye.

A ork in crude purple plate mail approached the driver and spoke brutishly “What is it boss.” Horatio looked closer at the sky and then shouted “Battle stations!”

The roks shook violently as they charged down to the surface of Gondof’s pass. Nox revved his engine inside the pod, around him was nine of his honork guard Da Ladz of Anorky. Dok Krusha accompanied the Mek to tend to any wounds the mek may sustain. Bullets pinked and ricocheted off the pod’s hull but did nothing to halt the furious pod’s decent. Then the pod crashed furiously into the earth, slowing barely enough to not damage the occupants, however it felt similar to being head butted by a grox. The pod’s hatch blew free from the troop hold and Nox shouted manically “ERE WE GO!”. The DoomBlitza sped out the pod, its shields deflecting the barrage of fire the cultist gave him. Nox fired unleashing the fury of his twin linked Dakka Gunz and cultists were mutilated by the 65mm rounds. Another pod crashed and from it sprang Ronin and his unit of Blood Axe Storm Boyz. They took to the shks and crashed into the chaotic ranks with unmatched aggression.

The ork incursion was met with a strong reprisal hordes of cultists met the green skins with a wild barrage auto fire. But they began to break when the bikers made their furious charges into their ranks. Nox mowed down any who were in his path, none could escape the wrath of Da Doom Blitza. Captain Horatio shouted to his men “Fall back.” Then the cultist and purple clad orks began fleeing by the hundreds as more ork drop pods rained from the heavens. But they fell into Gadnuk’s trap. The Kommando and Kaptin BloodTalon had deployed ahead of the main force using the Doof’s tellportin powers to set an ambush for the fleeing enemy. Rather than kill their foe Gadnuk offered the cowardly cultists a chance to surrender, most were happy to do so, little did they know they were just going to be sold to a new master.

Horatio and a few of his men had ran into the hills, the captain was disgusted at the sight of his men surrendering to orks. Horatio was a man of no smile pride and being routed by orks was an insult he could hardly stand, still the captain had to flee too many orks to defend against staying here would only get him killed, he may still yet die, as the Emperor’s Children did not look fondly on those who fail them.

Gadnuk and Nox searched the battle field for survivors, they found only one a ork resting at the foot of a marble statue, clad in purple plate. Nox got on his knee too look the near dead ork in the eye, the WarpRida spoke “Whats yer name lad.” the ork growled in pain “Zog you.” Gadnuk kicked the ork and spoke “Show some zoggin respect, you talkin to da great Nox WarpRida herald of Mork.” The ork scoffed “Der aint no mork and der aint no Gork, ders only Slanesh, da God of urting.” Nox laughed and kicked the wounded ork “You see I’m da only god of urting around ere. Why do you follow deez gitz.” The ork coughed blood and spoke “Dey give us what we want, dey find us good fights, dats enough fer us.” Nox spoke “Did you see what append ere today, deez gitz ran off, don’t sound like dey desereve to be leadin no orks.” The ork laughed and groaned in pain “Maybe, but Boss says we follow dem, and aint none of us going to say anyfing to him.“ Gadnuk questioned “Who’s yer boss.” The ork pointed to the great statue he rested on. The marble ork was an effigy to muscle and ugly, the ork was posed wielding a klaw with a skull in its clutches, his left arm rested on the choppa on his hip. Gadnuk read the plaque out loud “Dionyorksus The Grave Reaver” Nox looked to the dying ork and spoke “You seem like a right loyal git, so I’ll give you da honor of dying at yer bosses side.” Ronin ran up to Nox and placed the looted Melta Charge in the dying ork’s lap. Nox set the bomb’s charge and left it in the orks care. Nox then retreated to a moderately safe distance. The purple clad ork struggled to flee the bomb but he was simply to damaged to move. Then the metla charge detonated crumbling the statue and turning the loyal ork into a red and green stain.

The Doof approached the statue’s wreckage and lifted a surviving piece of statue. The shaman looked at the marble orks face, he spoke with a laugh “Dis git don’t look so tuff, look at dat weak jaw line he gotz.” Gadnuk looked over to the Doof “Don’t be so confident Doof, deez ladz seem dead ard and der backed by chaos boyz.” Ronin spoke wiping blood away from his brutish sword “He’s right boss, dis iznt going to be like Havishan.” Kaptin BloodTalon laughed “Sure it iz, were gonna find dis Dionyorksus kill him and show hiz boyz who da real boss iz.” Gadnuk spoke “Your call Boss how do you want to proceed.” Nox examined the ruined bitz of statue “Derz more den just orks and chaos ladz on dis planet, lets go hunt us some knife ears.” Dok Krusha smiled “Set yer Git Findaz fer pansy, cuz itz stomping time.”

The city street was deathly silent. Nothing moved and all was quiet. Then one of the shadows broke off from the wall and began to slowly cross the street, jumping from cover to cover. The shadow was then revealed as an Eldar Ranger. After crossing the street the Ranger slowly turned around and flicked s series of hand signs back across the street. The remainder of her squad and a few Hassassins darted across the street, secure in the knowledge that it was safe to do so. They were the vanguard for the approaching Eldar and Human fleets, ordered to scout the area and locate the foe, the better to destroy them. Ranger Thirianna turned to the leader of the small Hassassin squad, who identified herself as Annala, and gestured towards a nearby apartment block that overlooked the city center. Annala nodded, and the small party advanced into the building and took up firing positions throughout the building. Scans from the Eldar destroyer in orbit revealed that several of the factions on the planet were about to converge on this area, for what reason Thirianna knew not. She just knew that it was a chance for them to weaken their foes before the bulk of the Eldar force arrived in orbit with the New Order. They would take advantage of the ensuing fight to eliminate as many opponents as they could. As Thirianna settled into her sniping position her keen ears detected the sounds of the approaching foe. Voxing a soft warning to the rest of her squad Thirianna made a few final adjustments to her long rifle before hefting it and scanning the surrounding streets. It would not be long now before the hated foe would feel the wrath of the Eldar

Thirianna watched the battle that was occurring below with a smirk. None of the fools below had even considered looking through the surrounding buildings to see if there were any foes waiting there, they were far too engrossed in killing each other. Thirianna intended to make them pay for their short-sightedness. She began looking through the scope of her long rifle for a suitable target. Then she found one. At the far end of the courtyard she could see a group of Ork bikers surrounding another of their kind riding a massive bike. Just looking at the ramshackle machine filled Thirianna with righteous repugnance. The Orks did not deserve to live in this galaxy, and it would be her pleasure to remove some of them from existence. She then cursed as she realized that she didn't have a good shot at the Ork's leader, the wind was too great and he was secure behind several of his companions. She sighed as she realized that she would have to settle for killing some of his bodyguards instead. With a whispered order all of her friends settled their cross-hairs on the Orks and fired. 5 of the Bikers jerked and fell off of their bikes as the lethally accurate fire tore out their throats or exploded their fuel tanks. The Rangers weren't alone in their fire; however, as the Hassassins opened up with their stalker-boltguns on the Ork leader, but Thirianna cursed as she saw their rounds bounce off of the massively armored bike, the few that didn't hit the bike were deflected by an energy shield surrounding the Ork. Thirianna realized they couldn't stay here, even the Orks weren't stupid enough to let a sniper fire on them unopposed, and with another whispered order Thirianna's Rangers and Annala's Hassassins evacuated the building and melted into the shadows. Thirianna had a sneaking feeling that she was not done with the Ork's leader yet, there would be another chance to engage him she thought, as she and her squad moved to the safehouse they had established.

The chosen conference room was far too flashy for Detta's tastes. Gold trimmed curtains overlapped each other on the walls, with exotic looking creatures making the rugs, only being a part of the furnishings to make the entire place more unique. No doubt it was meant to impress the Colonel, but it only gave him disgust. At least now he knew he wouldn't be dealing any sensible nobles, if such a thing existed.

"Lords, what I ask is not much. We only need information so that we can do our duties to the Emperor, and to the Imperium. It will not take much of your time." Even such a small and unspecific statement made the nobles before him burst out in fits of giggling, their bloated stomachs and double chins swaying as they did so.

He'd seen Penal Legions give more respect to him than this.

"Give you information? You can't even handle a measly ork. How can you deal with something that's an actual threat?" They chortled.

It was at this point that Julius made his appearance. His armor slightly bloodied, having just come from the apothecaries checking on the wounded. The space marine, even through his power armor, had fatigue written all over him. "What is this? Laughter? At an Imperial soldier who fought and watched his men die, to protect this miserable mudball? You dare insult him? To his own face?"

The nobles nearly choked upon seeing the armored giant before them. "H-h-how did you get in here? Th-the guards-"

"Have allowed a loyal servant of the Emperor to do his duty. Unlike the other inhabitants of this room, it seems." The marine thundered, nowhere close to be in the mood for this.

"Mister... Julius, is it? I do not believe that your esteemed title has allowed you to realize who is in charge of thi-" one particularly stupid noble said, trying to reassert his imbecilic control over the situation.

The man stopped saying whatever he was going to, and squeaked in fright as Julius took two long strides towards on him. "Nobleman. I do not need you telling me my place. Now, before I lost my patience, what that entails I doubt you could possibly imagine, will you tell us what information you have regarding the situation here?" The commander put on hand onto the noble's shoulder, and while not putting any actual pressure into it, made the man quiver in fright. Had it not been for the events leading up to this, Detta would have found it all rather amusing.

Finally sense was put into the noble, and he finally began to say something of use. Detta wasn't sure if that was the first time the man had done so or not.

Nox and his entourage walked triumphantly out of the Imperial cathedral, Nox wore a large pointed hat one worn by High ranking Bishops of the Ecclesiarchy. Nox and his men walked down the great steps of the cathedral his ladz of Anorky laughing at their plunder and hijinks. Nox spoke doing is best human impression “Da Emperah says dat all you gitz needz to obey me cuz I got a big zoggin hat.” The honork guard laughed “Good one boss.” Dok Krusha laughed “Did you see dat one in da robes, he was shouting for da Emperah to save him. Wuz right funny when we gutted him.” The orks reached the bottom steps where their bikes were parked. Nox spoke “Come on ladz, dis world aint gonna conquer itself.” Nox sat atop his stead as his men eagerly mounted and brought their vehicles to life with the roar of the throttle.

Nox and his twenty most loyal and venerated guards rode through the destroyed city streets. It was a fine day for them, a day full of riding and slaughter that would end in feasting and drinking, none would ask for more. Nox had allowed GoreSkull and Kurtvex to take point positions on the ride home, the two nobs had won Nox’s favor after slaying a demon Slaanesh early in the day.

The street narrowed and the ladz of anorky were forced to ride three by three. To clear the crumbling buildings and various debris of battle. Two of nox’s guards blurted behind him “oi watch where yer riding ya git you almost chipped ma paint.” The ork growled back “Quit yer griping, or I’ll put a chip in yer skull.” One of the guards drew a blade and spoke “I’m gonna gut you like a zoggin…” The ork was cut off as a shuriken from an elder rifle whizzed through his skull ejecting him from his bike. GoreSkull shouted “Sniperz” Kurtvex was then hit by a dozen shots and was cleared free from his bike. Nox activated the DoomBlitza’s force field and the honork guard raced to get into the shield’s protective radius. More of Nox’s men fell and the mek angrily searched for the location of the would be assailants. Dok Krusha shouted into his communicator “Diz iz Krusha, Honork guard under fire.” It was Gadnuk’s voice that came as a reply “Copy, me and some ladz are en route to ya, stay put.”

In less then a minute already over half of Nox’s elite were dead. GoreSkull fell and Nox got a quick look at the fatal wound. The mek looked to one of the destroyed buldings and on his’s Gitfinda picked up movement. Before Nox could announce his target the DoomBlitza pivoted on its rear tire and began firing at the general location of the movement. Soon enough all the bikers began firing randomly at the building. The massive amount of fire that struck the building collapsed the already war-torn structure. Then ork reinforcements arrived a horde of Dakka Jets came swooping unloading their guns into the concealed enemy’s position. The battelefield went silent and Nox looked around. Fourteen of his twenty honork guard lay dead, and he didn’t have the slightest trace of his cowardly foe. Nox dismounted his bike and approached one of the collapsed buildings. He searched the rubble for a courpse and only found a pool of red blood. Nox got to one knee and dipped a finger in the blood and proceeded to taste. Nox spoke “Das Eldar Blood.” Dok Krusha approached his boss and spoke “Boss yer arm.” Nox examined his arm and saw a single shuriken lodged into his green flesh. Nox remove the blade from his arm and threw it to the ground. The dok spoke concerned “Ere boss let me patch you up. Nox held up his hand “No leave it, I want it to fester. Remind me of today next time I catch some zoggin knife ears.” The Dok spoke “What now boss.” Nox looked to the rising sun in the west and spoke “Now we go find some Eldar, and then we make them suffer.”

Killkroozer Sun-Blasta traveled warp-speed into the Charadon sector. It's crude, ancient form made from an amalgamation of atleast three, perhaps four ancient spacecraft broken free from a larger space hulk. It was then patched up, Loaded down with Gunz and Kannons, and painstakingly re-wired into the cruiser it is today. There was a day that all of Zombaz Ug's boys would not fit in the Sun-Blasta, but those days have gone with the poor wierdboss's mind, which went in the most peculiar fashion.

Zombaz stared at the wall. His mouth agate, drool flowing freely, his eyes soulless. Snivvle the Grot watched as his master was reduced to merely more then a vegetable. The unnaturally pale boss-nob Moganog finally breaking the silence "Oi, 'es in one o' 'is 'moments' again, Me sees. some o' da Flashgitz caught 'im doin' it, y'know, good larf they had too."

Snivvle sighed "Dey been gettin' longer 'n' longer, dese dayz." he squeaked.

"'az 'e been goin' to ta Doks 'zap derapy'?" Moganog asked.

"It ain't been 'elpin' no more, an' Boss sayz id just hurtz, so he won't go eider."

"Shame. Wuz fun ta watch, id wuz."

While snivvle and Moganog were looking away, Zombaz silently broke free of his trance and turned to Snivvle and Moganog. "No. Id not fun." he said, more matter-of-factly then you might think is possible, and completely monotoned. He startled the two. "Oh, boss! we finkz you wuz in yer 'moment!' again!" snivvle said.

"I didn' know dat." Zombaz replied, stating the obvious. "We know, boss, we know..." Said Snivvle, remorsefully. At that, a loud obnoxious tone played, followed by the Flyboss's voice; "Sir, we id approachin' 'Echison Seven!' Preparin' ta drop oud o' da warp in T minus fivty 'ourz!" Moganog smiled. Perhaps in this war, his boss would find the cure to whatever his horrible ailment is...

[Regimental briefing aboard the Reforged Sovereign - Captain Dekkal leading, Commissar Selka in attendance]

Dekkal stepped forward, "For the safety of those on board, all non-military and service sections of the Sovereign will be on total physical lockdown for the duration of our contact with the planet Trisburg. That means if you have family or associates in the civilian and trading areas, you have eighteen hours remaining to contact them, spend time wit them, and make it clear you'll be out of contact until we return," he raised his hand amidst the groaning to signal he had more to say, "overlapping resource areas such as the service kitchens, recycling points and maintenance will remain open and under armed guard at all times, within a second perimeter. Do not abuse this opening, and if you care for your loved ones, you'll keep them from doing anything that would compromise security." he stepped back, looking quietly concerned that he was understood.
The commissar narrowed his eyes, and backing up his comrade, spoke quietly, "Penalties for those found in open areas without permission will be treated as trespass without compromise, and judged to military standards, despite this being a civilian trading vessel. Am I understood?"
A chorus of quiet agreement rise from those assembled.

Selka growled, "Regarding those who are to be deployed. Nobody on the planet surface is to travel alone. At all times you will be in groups of five or more. At all times you will be in communication with Captain Dekkal or our secondary command, reporting in at regular intervals. And when I say at all times, unless you need both hands to piss, one will be on your vox. Do you understand?"
The stunned troopers nodded as one. This was far beyond their usual responsibilities.
Selka closed his eyes and held in the sigh. He knew it was pointless to drill them. No amount of yelling could change a man's instincts. Hopefully fear and self preservation could get them so far, however.
 "Are there any questions?" Dekkal scanned the room, looking for uncertainty, "There is no punishment for asking for clarification. We'd all much rather hear a doubt now than later on."
A solitary hand raised, "What if we do become separated? Do we return to the port?"
The commissar shook his head, "Kendal, yes? If you become separated, activate your personal beacon and remain where you are, or the nearest clear area. A retrieval group will come for you. If you lose your beacon, then we will have secondary meeting points established that will be checked periodically, and you must return to one of those. Do not return to the port alone; You will be denied access, and if your activity is deemed suspicious, there will be no leeway given." his arm brushed gently against his side arm, in what seemed an accidental gesture, causing pale light to shimmer on the muzzle. All eyes present caught the gesture, and all understood.

The silence in the hall was now that of unease and fizzing anxiety.
"Well gak."
Selka snapped his head around at the offending expletive, and barked, "Sergeant Cheshire!"
"Well it is." the young man shuffled his feet.
The commissar closed his eyes and winced, "Yes, it is," he opened them again, "we are not facing haphazard Orks, or primative Xenos. We are dealing with humans, and that means every thought, every method we employ, is just as likely to occur to them. We have two advantages, familiarity with our home, should it be compromised, and the guidance of the Emperor in our duty." he smiled sincerely. It gave a little encouragement to the men around the hall, and their thoughts turned to the next eighteen hours.

Watching the troops mill out of the hall, Dekkal murmured to his nearby commissar, "Reckon we can keep this together?"
"I've absolutely no idea," Garth answered honestly, "but if we go into it assuming we can't, then we've already failed."
Dekkal shifted uncomfortably.
"You have somewhere to be?" Garth turned his head slightly.
He nodded, "My family is going to be on the other side of the lockdown." 
"Then you should go, I can sort this out." the commissar waved a hand at the slight mess of the hall, and stray troops waiting to speak to one of the pair.
Dekkal looked up at the commissar, "Do you have anyone, Commissar?" he asked, wondering aloud.
Something akin to pain briefly passed over Selka's face, before fading, "Not aboard the Sovereign, no."
"You're lucky then, they're out of harm's way," the Captain nodded, "I must admit it's a curse and a blessing to travel with my own."
The commissar remained silent. 

*

Lord Captain Fairfax sat and stared at the vox set, before lifting the heavy handset. He respected the physical technology, a tangible means of communication, amidst a universe of invisible connections. He seldom got to use voc in day to day life, but Trisburge could not be assumed to have compatible holo-tech to that aboard the Sovereign, and their head astropath had just recently appeared with the grave news that the entire astral choir were experiencing severe headaches. Fairfax elected to not press the psykers into their duty, as pain is often a sign of needing to stop.

He sipped his drink, and began the recording.

"Greetings from House Fairfax, this is Lord Captain Reynard Fairfax, aboard the Rogue Trader Vessel the Reforged Sovereign. This message is intended for the planetary governor of Trisburg, if incorrectly addressed, I do apologise. We are using long range vox repeater as our lead astropath has suddenly taken ill. We are hoping to rectify this situation shortly."

Fairfax looked to one side, where the pale, hooded figure nodded, a delicate hand resting on a cane for support. The Lord Captain smiled and gestured for her to sit and rest, but she stood attentively, quietly embarrassed by her inability to perform her duty.

"We come to you with dual purpose, Governor. You will be well aware by now of the crusade waged against various forces in your sector, and though we are yet new arrivals, we have been tasked in passing to report on the progress of the forces you are mustering in preparation. With your permission, we would view your assembled forces in person, and to thank them for their dedication to the cause. We would also appreciate a copy of your enlistment records for the most recent calendar month. These would be gratefully received upon our arrival.
On a more personal aside, we are also in the market to hire a regular platoon from Trisburg to travel aboard the Reforged Sovereign as an addition to the existing regiment. Both they and their families would be afforded accommodation, wages, and in time, travel beyond the boundaries of even the Imperium itself. We are not asking to poach your best soldiers, merely those with a willingness to venture with us. I trust your regimental staff with the ability to select men and women who would make the most of this opportunity."

Fairfax felt deeply uneasy at his lie, but delivered it warmly. If the governor had any seasons under his belt, Fairfax knew that he would realise a request of such a manner was extremely unusual, when it would be well within the Lord Captain's powers as a Rogue Trader to simply demand the recruits.

"Pleasant day to you Governor, we will respectfully await your response before descending.
Emperor be with you."

He flicked the handset back onto the holder, and nodded his gratitude to the vox officer, whose hands became a blur of activity, sending the data on to the transmitters.

"Come on, Angela, I'll walk you back." Fairfax stood and stepped to psyker and extended his arm for her to lean onto.
"It is not necessary, Lord Captain, rest is all we need." she smiled patiently.
He shook his head, "If you are unwell, then your comrades will be concerned. The least I can do is check in on you all," he returned the smile, "plus, I have the time. I told Captain Dekkal and Commissar Selka to only return to me when they can be peaceable. We could be here for days."


*

Dekkal made his way back to his barracks cabin, having visited his family. Usually it was at the guards' discretion as to where they stayed during rest. Dekkal much preferred to stay amongst the civilians when off duty, finding the barracks far too quiet.

"You asked if I had family." Garth stood leaning on the doorway of his own room as the captain passed.
"Hm?" Dekkal halted, surprised.
"You asked if I had family." the commissar repeated.
"Oh Throne, Garth, has something happened to them? Is that what this stink of a mood is?" Eamon span quickly and stepped to his comrade's side.
Garth exhaled slowly, "No- Not yet, it's ...complicated."

"Tell me," the captain led the commissar into the small room and sat him down, "we have the time."
So Selka explained how it had come to pass that he was aboard the Sovereign, adrift in time, and how both he and his family were yet to be born. Dekkal listened patiently and with a grave expression somewhat advanced for his years.
"I'm so sorry, Garth. I had no idea. And here I was saying how lucky you were." Dekkal looked ashamed.
"You could hardly have guessed." Selka shook his head.

"What causes you to think of them now?"
"It... Doesn't end there. You think me inhuman, that I would wipe an entire regiment if one man was compromised. I owe you an explanation why." Garth looked at Dekkal, his expression sombre, even by his standards.
"You don't need to," Eamon shook his head, "I know that face; that walk. A man reminded of his loss."

"Around five years after I was first stationed with my regiment, dissent started on my homeworld. Small cells at first, easily stamped down. I returned on request to help oversee the PDF there. Cultists they called them, worshipping some deity that slowly drove them insane," Selka swallowed, the years peeling back, or in this case forward, a very strange sensation, "one got into the regiment. So we removed him. Then a couple more. We dealt with them. Then a few more, and every time, we took them out. What we didn't realise was those few were the head of the boil. The few who got caught. By the time we realised, the entire regiment was rotten from the inside out with them."
Eamon listened, as the sense of foreboding of how this would end began to build.
"I arrived on base one morning to find a coup. Those freaks had lynched the command staff who remained loyal, intimidated and beaten any remaining good men into turning," he closed his eyes, "they tried to get me, but I saw them coming. I bolted, managed to make it back home. They were waiting for me there." Garth stared at the wall of his room, unblinking. His voice became almost monotone as he recalled, "I couldn't fire, they had hostages of my family. Three of them beat our youngest daughter, forced us to watch. Then set fire to our own house with us all inside, said they'd unlock the doors if I'd swear allegiance to their hell god. Of course we couldn't. It would have damned our souls, a fate worse than burning. My wife begged them to just let our children out, but they laughed as we choked. Mimicked her voice," he grit his teeth, "we accepted it, we knelt, we held one another, and we prayed for a swift end as the house burned."

"But you're here now?" Dekkal asked, without meaning to.
"The ceiling went, I don't remember what happened after that. Next thing I knew, I was being pulled from the rubble by my neighbour. She and a small militia had taken out the gang at our home. It was too late for my family, they were killed in the collapse." the commissar went silent for a little while.
Dekkal knew better than to press him, and waited patiently, understanding the pain of the memory. His own small world had been saved by the intervention of Lord Captain Fairfax, but not before a great many losses.
Selka continued, "The remaining group of good people, the last of us, looked to me. And so we went into the city. Found the same there. Rioting, fires, murders in broad daylight. The whole country was turning into living hell. Probably the world. We fought our way through, and most of us made it to the spaceport. The cultists were burning the shuttles and transports, trying to trap everyone there. Cut off the planet," he growled, "I won't say it was clean, but we got clear. Made it into orbit just as the last few private vessels were fleeing. The first ship nearly turned us away before they saw my uniform, realised the gak I would cause if it got out." He laughed humourlessly, "I was put back into active duty almost immediately, and after a few years, a few poor choices, ended up here, the one good strike of luck that's happened to me since."

"That's... Terrible." Eamon looked at his comrade, a deep sadness in his chest for the man, despite his many flaws. He asked, as the thought occurred to him, "But if your family are gone, how will you see them again in the future? Won't you just lose them again?"
Garth smiled tiredly, "I know. But if give anything to see things again like they were, just for a day. And who knows, maybe things would happen differently this time around."
"You wouldn't be tempted to try and change the future? Stop it all?" Dekkal tilted his head.
"I would," Selka nodded, "it's all I think about some days."
"You're not worried about the Inquisition?" the captain's eyes widened.
"Inquisition?"
"The Ordos Chronos. Rumour has it they still exist in some capacity. They'd have an interest in people like you, Garth. In fact I'm amazed you've never met one. Bloody lucky."

Selka went very quiet and very still. Perhaps too lucky, he mused. It was a grand coincidence that Fairfax picked me up so shortly after that mess with warp travel. He shrugged, "Anyway, you see why I feel how I do about individuals being responsible for the fate of a larger group. If we had wiped the regiment after finding the first cultist, it's likely the rot would have struggled to take hold."
"I can see, and understand, even if it makes me uneasy," Dekkal conceded, "we are made by our experiences, after all."
"That's all I can ask for." Garth nodded.

----- A shooting range aboard the Swift Guardian -----

''Cease fire, clear weapons, ready for inspection! '' shouted Riley, his trainees did well, all things considered, they started off with ten hundred meters dashes in armor before doing as many push ups as they could in a minute and half, not the toughest training one could do, but the point wasn't to tire out the future Scions, not too much at least, but merely to get their hearts racing and ensure they could still shoot straight when out of breath. The results were under average compared to their usual range days, but thi was acceptable, the men being trained there would need very little additional training before they'd be sent to the advanced reconnaissance training.

Riley flicked on the safety on hi own weapon a maglocked it to his backpack. While recruits had to clear and hand back their weapons, qualified Scions, especially officers, were allowed to keep their weapons on them. He felt a pair of arm surround his belly and managed to suppress his reflex to grab for his knife, only one person would grab him like that.

''Hey hon'' he said

''Hey you, doing good? Done shouting at those poor sobs'' anwered Sara

'' I am '' said Riley, before planting a kiss on her lips

'' The officers mess is open, c'mon lets get something to eat ''

Riley half nodded before following his wife. He never really enjoy the mess hall of the ship, with its formal rules and regulations, he knew entering it with weapons and armor was frowned upon, but needs must, and Sara didn't care about it much, but Riley could shake off the impression of being constantly stared at with contempt by ranking crewmen.

'' Food should be good today, we managed to get decent stuff from Crusade HQ '' she said

'' Beats our ration, for sure '' answered Riley

'' Well you never really complained about them before, not seriously at least, can't be that bad ''

'' They're really not, its just that, after thirty years of eating the same ten or so ration choices, you get a bit sick of e'm ''

'' Mhmm well we got a transmission earlier today, the Black Templars apparently have way too much mushrooms, they're offering them to the guardsmen in need ''

'' Let them, we just arrived here and we're certainly not starving '' answered Riley, his expression darkening at the mention of the Space Marines

'' Don't take tthat expression with me, Rileyy I know you're not fond of them, but or Emperor's sake, at least keep that in mind if your unit ends up lacking food suplies ''

Riley relaxed himself before answering '' Alright, sorry, I will, I doubt Gallus will agree to it, but I'll mention it ''

'' Good, you two can be quite stubborn about it ''

'' Don't push it, will you? I am off-duty tonight and I want it to be a nice evening ''

Sara smirked '' How convenient, I am also off-duty tonight, that's suspiciously well-timed, Tempestor Secundus ''

It was Riley turn to smile '' Being in charge has its advantages, c'mon lets finish eating, there's bound to be something we can do to forget war or a few hours ''

Cadet Alenko was sat in his small office, unlike the senior officers it barely had room for a desk and a sofa but the fact he now had his own office was something even if it was behind a rather loud air shaft that ran behind the rear wall. Shepard Knocked and entered the open office, "Alenko, im down on the planet today, reviewing the PDF Commissars and the 217th PDF regiment so you are now going to be running the void drill at 15.00, notes on my desk if you need help and senior Serf Amon is going to be on hand. " Noting it down on a pad quickly. "Void drills Sir, 15.00, Amon, the one with the beard and the augmented left eye? " "aye that’s Amon, and good job cadet, i saw you holding hands with a certain lieutenant this morning on way to the mess, good job cadet,, told you that things would work out., by my crono, i have a shuttle to catch shortly. Thats a easy drill Alenko, just go with what the void master does" Shepard left in a hurry, the Shuttle bay was 700m away and he was cutting it rather close, Saying goodbye to Petra had been tougher than he remembered, now leaving two behind he was less inclined to take heroic risks and rather come home alive rather than a heroic sacrifice.

On the Bridge the Marshall was looking over a map projected on the planning holo table, " the Korps are going ot make the armoured advance on the western ridge of the plantation, the Gorgons are proof against anything the rebels have at current, PDF troops are to block the road at point Delta, Order them to let no one pass, shoot to kill any who try. Reserve force is to hold back at rally point Bravo and Charlie. Templer support to wait at north west clearing, if needed they are to strike fast and breach the wall near the warehouses on the eastern wall. That is the plan, communicate the information to the ground team SGT Tangir, In this case we do not tell until we begin, i want to chance of them getting warning" "aye Marshall, i shall send the package to Chaplain Vargos and deliver your message to the trader"


****

TO Lord Captain Reynard Fairfax... Reforged Sovereign

FROM Lord Marshall Karak, Emperors Vengeance

Encryption Sigma 75...Signal strength 89%

Greetings Lord Captain, i shall cut to the facts at hand as i am not one to waste time.

You are a legal stationed trader and as such are always open to offers of trade and enterprise.
On the Planet 'Echison Seven i am currently orbiting there is a rather large excess of Mushrooms, long life, durable and ideal for rations.

The offer here is obvious.

Good luck in this crusade and contact SGT Tangir to inform if you are agreeing or against this proposal.

Lord Marshall Karak out.

Channel closed.

****

Down on 'Echison Seven as Lord Commissar Shepard inspected the rows of men, machines and Officers assembled in the main parade grounds of the capital several hundred miles west the large force of Death Korps. PDF and Marines assembled and readied to punish and being order the rebellious Plantation worked who had overthrown there overseers and declared a strike of production. such actions would not be tolerated as Officers looked through there array of binoculars, telescopes and scanner. A PDF Col was the first to speak " Looking by the flags flying its not local cults, none we know of" A grim mask clad captain of the Death Korps was quick to pick up on the situation "The defenses are weak. we crush them. I hope the PDF are up to there task" Wait just a minute, My men will do there jobs. lets hope your fatalistic grey coats are steadfast you claim them to be" The Col Responded. There disagreement was cut short by Chaplain Vargos, his size and armour instantly bringing the Officers to order. "Gentlemen, we have a mission. You will all undertake your roles with success. now to your men. We attack in 20 minutes. Dismissed"

The Assault began as the force of Gorgons and support tanks laid down a fusillade of bolter and mortar rounds into the walls and auto cannon shells sent chunks of dust and shrapnel flying into the air. The main breach finally crumbled when the massive Eathrshakers shells impacted and formed a wide breach in the outer walls for the Gorgons and massed Death Korps to traverse.

Inside the Walls the Rebels watched the massive tanks breach the wall and smash aside the barricades inside the square like matchwood, Ramps slammed down raising sharp dust clouds and the gasmask clad Korps stormed out showing no quarter. Las guns, flamers and bright bursts of plasma driving the rebels back slowly towards the central administration building. Massed gunfire drove the first wave off and the remaining rebels retreated to the final Bastian. In the Warehouses a group of fighters had taken shelter and tried to surrender only to met with volleys of las fire and death.

The Death Korps Captain looked up from his shelter behind a ruined machine, “Vox, we need the guns, fire on the main gate. High explosive” “Yes Sir, Earthshakers, Main gate, Fire at will” Several Kilometres behind the Battery of four guns manned by Death Korp crews rotated their guns and loaded shells and then with a booming flash fired. The impact was spectacular as they soon tore the gatehouse apart and the ruined bent and buckled gates lay on the floor.

The Captain raised his sword, and lead the charge forwards whilst they had the rebels dazed and recovering from the shelling. So loss’s would happen but it was within the parameters of the mission. Within the Administration complex the battle was savage but the Death Korps training and inhuman nature soon turned the tide as they cleared the last buildings and intelligence teams sifted through the place, bodies and documents to examine the site. In the Courtyard the harsh crack of bolt pistols as several groups of the rebels caught sneaking out where executed.

****
“Marshall, message from vargos. Objective complete, enemy destroyed, site contained and cleared of any rebel taint. No sign of Xeno or Chaos. Documents and data being checked out now” With a press of a stud the map of the plantation was closed and the lights in the room where dimmed. “Excellent, the result was not in doubt. What report from Shepard concerning the PDF” Sifting in the pile of data slates and scrolls at his station, “Marshall, Shepard reports they are free of corruption. He has replaced several Commissars on issues of age and physical issues but the situation on the regiment is good. He also reports they make a fine Mushroom soup. “

Laughing the Marshall turned to head to the chapel to thank for this sucesss, “Very good, Mushrooms, do these people think of anything but the damned shrooms”

Back aboard after a long day, several flights and alot of Paper work Shepard was reclining on the sofa with a caffine reviewing cadet Akenko’s report. “Cadet did well, First time solo and he did good. Few minor things but nothing i cannot sort out in time. He is coming on” Petra came over, taking the report and placing it on a side table. “You already worked all day, tonight your off duty. Thats a order” She joked, “Your good at training, you taught Alenko well and more importantly, i saw him and the Lieutenant together at lunch, told you my intuition would work out”

Laying back with his wife, baby on the way and a strong mug of caffine, He began think that life seemed to be working out, despite all the wars, chaos, and coups, life was indeed worth living.

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

Greetings in turn, and our gratitude; you honour us with your time expended on this matter.

I am interested in your proposal regarding the trade and sale of mushrooms, and shall send our secondary vessel to you to finalise on this matter. It may be a short while, as it has just returned from attending other crusade duties at the moment.
I regret that I can't personally attend, but I shall send a group of trusted staff. Something on this nearby planet is giving them a severe headache and they would welcome the expedition.

Please do not think that I take this venture any less seriously through my lack of personal attendance.

Emperor be with you,
Lord Captain Fairfax

+++ End Transmission +++

Warboss Narlug grinned in anticipation for a good fight. They just arrived out of the warp to some unknown planet called Novus Regulus. It looked like a promising place to get stuck in. There were some orks waiting on the planet below to submit to him, and some humies to fight out in space around it. Narlug could barely wait. His first order of business, however, was to get the greenskins on the planet to join his waagh. The fight with the humies would have to wait.
As the space hulk they were riding on, Fist of Gork, rode in, it fired thousands of pods with four orks each to the planet below. As the pods flew, by the combined power of the 98th Histans and the Ultramarines, they were decimated. Only half of the pods ever reached the ground, but Narlug didn't care about them. "They shoulda' been stronga'" is what he would say to casualties. As his pod landed, he tore the door off and stepped onto the planet below. Time to find the nearest warboss and show him who's the real boss.

TO Lord Captain Reynard Fairfax... Reforged Sovereign

FROM Lord Marshall Karak, Emperors Vengeance

Encryption Sigma 75...Signal strength 89%

we have received your message and await your arrival. One time code package has been sent for your identity to the long range scanners to expedite a safe and quick approach.

I am SGT Tangir, Marshalls equry and your main point of contact. The Marshall is busy so i shall handle preliminary ,messages and such. The Marshall shall see your Envoy in person Aboard our ship, all due respect to rank are extended.

SGT Tangir out

Message closed.

Thirianna waved the Rangers toward the Webway portal. Farseer Lilliana had ordered the Rangers to leave Gondorf's Passage behind. . The humans were going to burn this world to ashes, deeming it unredeemable from the masses of Orks and Cultists that were currently infesting it. The thought made Thirianna's blood boil, one of her team members had been injured during the ambush on the Ork leader, and the thought of leaving so soon enraged her. She shoved the anger to the back of her mind, she had her orders and she would follow them to the letter. As the last of the humans stepped through the portal and disappeared a cry went up from one of her comrades that had been on sentry duty. More humans were on the way, this time servants of She Who Thirsts. Thirianna's blood ran cold, how had they been found? The Eldar had taken painstaking care to ensure that the location of their escape route hadn't been found, so how had the cultists zeroed in on them so soon? Thirianna shook herself mentally, now was not the time for such thoughts. She houted to her comrades to hurry up their alterations, they did not have long before the cultists would arrive on station, and the small unit of Rangers would not be able to hold off the hordes that were coming after them. One of her comrades, Aron, let out a triumphant cry as the Webway gate flickered to life once more and the Rangers all began sprinting towards the portal as the first of the cultists ran around the bend and, seeing the Eldar trying to make their escape, fired upon them with their auto pistols. The Eldar ignored the fire heading their way and continued to sprint towards the Webway portal. Just as Thirianna reached the portal she heard a cry of pain come from Aron,and Thirianna turned around just in time to see him collapse to the ground clutching his leg. A lucky shot from one of the humans had clipped him! Thirianna began to move towards him to help him back up, but she was driven back to the portal by a hail of fire. Aron shouted to her to leave, to leave him behind, and with tears in her eyes Thirianna turned back around and leapt through the portal after the last of her comrades. Her last sight of Gondorf's Passage was Aron firing his shuriken pistol desperately at the approaching cultists before the Webway portal snapped close, trapping the cultists and Aron on the planet. Thirianna slumped against the wall of the "Flame of Isha" and let out a great cry of anger and grief at the death of her friend. As she stood there she took some comfort in the fact that all of the cultists would soon be dead. Aron deserved far better than the lives of those wretches, but it would be a start. Thirianna vowed that the humans would pay for what they had taken from her, and Farseer Lilliana walked into the room and nodded to Thirianna, as if she knew what the Ranger was thinking, and she approved. The Eldar of Iybraesil were not done with the forces of Chaos yet, not by a long shot.

"Greetings from House Fairfax, this is Lord Captain Reynard Fairfax, aboard the Rogue Trader Vessel the Reforged Sovereign. This message is intended for the planetary governor of Trisburg, if incorrectly addressed, I do apologise. We are using long range vox repeater as our lead astropath has suddenly taken ill. We are hoping to rectify this situation shortly.

We come to you with dual purpose, Governor. You will be well aware by now of the crusade waged against various forces in your sector, and though we are yet new arrivals, we have been tasked in passing to report on the progress of the forces you are mustering in preparation. With your permission, we would view your assembled forces in person, and to thank them for their dedication to the cause. We would also appreciate a copy of your enlistment records for the most recent calendar month. These would be gratefully received upon our arrival.

On a more personal aside, we are also in the market to hire a regular platoon from Trisburg to travel aboard the Reforged Sovereign as an addition to the existing regiment. Both they and their families would be afforded accommodation, wages, and in time, travel beyond the boundaries of even the Imperium itself. We are not asking to poach your best soldiers, merely those with a willingness to venture with us. I trust your regimental staff with the ability to select men and women who would make the most of this opportunity.

Pleasant day to you Governor, we will respectfully await your response before descending.
Emperor be with you."

Harald Marcus keyed the playback button yet again. He'd lost count of how many times he'd replayed the message.

It had been several weeks since his friend Pavus had last dropped by to survey the troops. Never, never, in all that time, had Pavus ever mentioned about these... buffoons.
House Fairfax, Marcus scoffed, who in the bloody Warp did they think they were? He had half a mind to let Pavus know, and tell these Rogue Traders to jek* off.

There was something wrong, terribly wrong. Why in jekking hell would these Traders demand to see his recruitment manifests? And their Astropath just -happened- to be ill? A likely story. His men had no right to be inspected at all. Sure, Marcus had noticed the improvement in hand-to-hand combat in an alarming amount of the new recruits, but he mostly attributed that to the nutrient rich mushrooms he'd been giving out to the Hive's peoples. And the slightly less legal drugs he'd pumped into the waterworks.

"It was irrelevant!" Marcus swung around in his swivel chair, gesticulating wildly. "And nothing has gone wrong! Marcus, you're such a jekking genius."
"I know." The governor took another drag from his pipe. Blue smoke trailed out.
His words hung in the empty room, like the countless tapestries on the walls. Even Marcus didn't know what half of his drawings were of. But they were masterpieces.
They had to be.

And the matter about taking his men. Those, much as Marcus may have been interested, weren't his men to give away. Only men from his personal...
"Yes..." He relaxed in his chair momentarily as he thought about the situation. "Yes," he murmured, absentmindedly stroking his impressive sideburns. "Yes, Marcus can make this work."

He reached over to the vox console with a spindly finger.
"Yes, could I have Squad Yurim up here please? And send word out to the recruiting Sergeants to move the recruits' holiday forward a few days. Yes, exactly when we're being 'visited'." Marcus fiddled with the vox cord as he swung in his chair. "No, I'm not delirious Katherine. No, I haven't urinated in the- No I haven't- KATHERINE. Just send up Yurim's squad. And the other stuff. Or our Emperor's Day plans are being -cancelled-. Mmh? Good, good. That's what I thought. Thank you."

He sighed in mock exasperation as he placed the vox horn down again. He dragged on his pipe again.
"Some people..." he muttered. "Sometimes, I think only Marcus is the sane one around here."

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*jek = Trisburgian curse word, used in the same context as feth