Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

Spoiler:

I have a fairly good idea who is on that dataslate

 jhe90 wrote:

Spoiler:

if i have time, want me to help and lure the magos out for you. you get a free run. just say you foresaw it or such?

The orks of WAAAGH Warp-rider had begun the systematic genocide of every non-orkoid on Wuldgrund. The Eldar and Humans that inhabited the planet were being driven to the verge of extinction. However desperate times like these create unlikely alliances. The Eldar lacking the man power to face the orks and the humans lacking the technology have forged an alliance to survive the massing green skin menace. Together they have recaptured Fort Lion Heart. Fort Lion Heart is a the most critical location the planet as it is built on the only ground stable enough to hold any permanent construction as the shifting tectonic plates make permanent construction virtually impossible. It is accurate to say whoever controls the fort controls the only foot hold on the planet.

Nox Peered through his telescope at the proud Fort Lion Heart, that ancient bastion that served as a testament to the ingenuity of the Imperial fortification. The Mek lord collapsed his telescope and grinned he looked to his mass of orks gathered, he wanted this fortress to make as his own personal throne, a seat of power in the new Chardon empire he was building. An Empire that would be built on the ashes of the great Arch-Arsonist and any other git that dare face him. Nox looked to the horde of bikers and Lunmower riders “You ladz see over there, dem omiez and Knife Ears are afraid of us. Dey are hiding in dat fortress, they think they are safe, that if they sit and hide maybe da big bad orks will go away.” The crowd of orks laughed. “I won’t lie to you boyz, dem gitz aint gonna want to fight proper. Dere gonna try and dakka us away before we can get to chopping. So eres some advice don’t get shot. Now are you ladz ready to WAAAGH!” the orks WAAAAGH!ed in reply “Den ere we GO!”

The horde of bikes and beast were off. Hundreds of orks racing to get stuck in racing for the wall that held their prey. But before the orks could get close they were met with a wall of enemy fire from the fortress, auto weapons Eldar Shrunken weapons decimated the advancing horde, They didn’t even make it half way to the walls before they began retreating. Nox growled the aliens intended to make him work for his prize. No matter he still had many more orks to throw at them.

Gadnuk spoke from behind the Mek “Yer doing it wrong.” Nox turned to his most trusted advisor and spoke “What do you mean, if I send enough boyz at dem dey will run out of stuff to shoot us wif.” The Kommando replied “yeah eventually we would get through, but at what cost, we got to be smart on how many boyz we put in da grinder. I’ve seen WAAAGHS! Fail because their warboss didn’t know da first thing about taktics. You can’t just be cunningly brutal, you gotta be brutally cunning too.” The Mek was curious “What did you have in mind” Gadnuk grinned “A right killy strategy.”

Lilliana picked up the scouting report they had received from the Rangers on Gondor's Passage. So far initial reports were promising. The Rangers had managed to land on the planet completely undetected, which wasn't that hard considering the report mentioned that the planet was currently in a state of all-out warfare with several Chaos Cults that had sprung up. Most of these cults were Slaneeshi in nature unfortunately, and the gaze of She Who Thirsts was currently locked on the world, meaning that any sizable Eldar Warhost would be detected almost immediately and attacked. This Lilliana could not allow, but she also could not afford to let Archarus live, this planet was the only stable route to where he was cowering, so the Eldar needed to take advantage of the opening. But how? According to the report the planet's astropathic choir had been silent for a long time now, leaving the planet unable to call for help. The leaders of the human military presence on the planet were also very concerned about it apparently. Lilliana sighed and decided to meditate on the problem, maybe that would help her figure out a solution to this issue.

Lilliana walked across the camp to where her warriors had made their temporary home, if there was to be any potential action they should know about it. She knocked softly on the door to where the Guardians made their quarters. A few seconds after she did so the door opened and she looked upon the shocked visage of Guardian Uldrad. "Farseer" he stammered out after a moment "you honor us with your presence." After another moment he remembered that he should probably open the door and let her in, as he did so Lilliana strode in and softly said "there is no need to stand on tradition here Uldrad, I came here to discuss something with you all." For a moment the Guardian was too shocked to speak, she actually knew who he was! Lilliana strode to the center of the room and looked around slowly at the assembled might of the Eldar. In an ideal time none of these brave souls would need to fight in this war, but the ravages of war and time had made their involvement a necessity. Lilliana took a deep breath before starting "A route to Archarus has been discovered...." before she could continue the assembled Guardians cheered, the whims of fate had brought them to this system and the knowledge that they were one step closer to their goal was a boost to their morale. Lilliana allowed them their moment before continuing "unfortunately the route takes us to a planet that is currently at war with the forces of She Who Thirsts." At that moment one could have heard a pin drop. Lilliana sighed and then continued "I wish there was another way but all evidence points to the fact that this planet is the only gateway to where that coward is hiding, we have no choice if we wish to get to him." The assembled Guardians sat there quietly as they waited for her to gather her thoughts and continue. She finally did "I swear to you that I will do my utmost to find a way to divert as much attention from our forces as possible when we have to go in, I will not spill one more drop of Eldar blood then I have to!" By the end of her statement she was practically shouting, and all present could tell she was near her wit's end. All was silent for a few moments, then one of the Guardians, this time a female named Korellia stepped forward and said "No matter what, we're with you Farseer, no matter the cost." Lilliana was shocked, she had expected that information to be too much, but yet again the sheer resiliency of her race surprised her. She left their quarters that night with a new sense of determination burning. She would do the best she could to spare them from the horrors of She Who Thirts. She swore it.

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

Spoiler:

Yes, WK posted a huge one this time. Keep it up

 War Kitten wrote:

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

Spoiler:

Yes, WK posted a huge one this time. Keep it up

Spoiler:

Yep, I'm trying to make my posts worth a little bit more and include a little bit more. I see stuff like you and Chazz and Smudge post, and I'm trying to make my posts longer and more content filled to make them better. I'm also trying to not post all of my updates at once. Yesterday was Julius and his marines. Today is Lilliana and her forces. Didn't have any success with Indrael in locating the Magos, so I probably won't post anything for him till something actually happens.

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

 War Kitten wrote:

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

Spoiler:

Yes, WK posted a huge one this time. Keep it up

Spoiler:

Yep, I'm trying to make my posts worth a little bit more and include a little bit more. I see stuff like you and Chazz and Smudge post, and I'm trying to make my posts longer and more content filled to make them better. I'm also trying to not post all of my updates at once. Yesterday was Julius and his marines. Today is Lilliana and her forces. Didn't have any success with Indrael in locating the Magos, so I probably won't post anything for him till something actually happens.

Spoiler:

Stuff like mine? I don't really think I am that good

 War Kitten wrote:

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

 War Kitten wrote:

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

Spoiler:

Yes, WK posted a huge one this time. Keep it up

Spoiler:

Yep, I'm trying to make my posts worth a little bit more and include a little bit more. I see stuff like you and Chazz and Smudge post, and I'm trying to make my posts longer and more content filled to make them better. I'm also trying to not post all of my updates at once. Yesterday was Julius and his marines. Today is Lilliana and her forces. Didn't have any success with Indrael in locating the Magos, so I probably won't post anything for him till something actually happens.

Spoiler:

Stuff like mine? I don't really think I am that good

Spoiler:

Better than me at any rate

 War Kitten wrote:

Spoiler:

I spend like 20 minutes, and I should probably spend a lot more than that when I'm writing something. I'll shoot for an hour next time, but ATM I don't have much to post. Basically rolled neutral for both Kagrenz and my detachment on Gondorf's Passage. Nothing of note happened on Kagrenz (saw some movement, but the camera died). And on Gondorf's Passage I managed to attract a horde of Orks to the planet (who then died horribly to the cults on the planet). Hopefully the next round goes better.

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

 War Kitten wrote:

Spoiler:

I spend like 20 minutes, and I should probably spend a lot more than that when I'm writing something. I'll shoot for an hour next time, but ATM I don't have much to post. Basically rolled neutral for both Kagrenz and my detachment on Gondorf's Passage. Nothing of note happened on Kagrenz (saw some movement, but the camera died). And on Gondorf's Passage I managed to attract a horde of Orks to the planet (who then died horribly to the cults on the planet). Hopefully the next round goes better.

Spoiler:

Dude... 20 minutes? If you put a couple of those blurbs into one post, even if each one was for a different character, it would be great

 War Kitten wrote:

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

 War Kitten wrote:

Spoiler:

I spend like 20 minutes, and I should probably spend a lot more than that when I'm writing something. I'll shoot for an hour next time, but ATM I don't have much to post. Basically rolled neutral for both Kagrenz and my detachment on Gondorf's Passage. Nothing of note happened on Kagrenz (saw some movement, but the camera died). And on Gondorf's Passage I managed to attract a horde of Orks to the planet (who then died horribly to the cults on the planet). Hopefully the next round goes better.

Spoiler:

Dude... 20 minutes? If you put a couple of those blurbs into one post, even if each one was for a different character, it would be great

Spoiler:

Aren't you the one who told me not to post so much? And yes I know, 20 minutes is a disgrace, but I typed most of it in between assignments for College the last few weeks, so give me some slack here. I'll do better next time I promise

Julius sighed, the cameras he had ordered placed at the den had picked up nothing that he could report back to the Guard. One of the cameras had picked up what had appeared to be a flash of movement, but by the time it had turned to scan for the source it was already gone. What was worse was that when they had gone to recover the cameras they had all somehow become waterlogged and useless for further use. Yet again Julius had no idea what he was fighting, and for the first time in centuries, he felt something akin to helplessness. It was not something he liked to feel, as a Space Marine he was used to always being in control of the situation, but here? Here he fought a foe that so far no one had seen and remained breathing. A foe that had already killed several of his brothers with no reprisal. Julius sighed again and wondered what he would tell Pavus. While the Governor had no authority over Julius he could still make the lives and work of the Marines difficult if he wished too. Julius realized that he needed to find these fiends before anything worse happened on this cursed planet. This he could not allow. He would find these fiends or he would die in the attempts.

The Ranger aimed down the scope of his long rifle and smiled as he saw the oncoming horde of Orks round the bend. The ships in orbit had been able to lure a small Ork fleet over to this planet, in hopes of distracting the forces of She Who Thirsts long enough to land more substantial forces on the planet to attack Archarus. The Ranger snapped himself out of his reverie. Something was wrong, but what? He scanned the horizon for threats, then he saw it, and his blood ran cold. A massive horde of demons and cultists were now charging at the Orks, and while they had expected some sort of reaction to the Orks' presence, they had hoped that it would be delayed long enough for the Eldar to begin their operations unnoticed. At the sight of the oncoming horde the Orks laughed and charged them back. They never had a chance. Within minutes all of the Orks were dead, and the reverie of the great enemy drifted up to where the Ranger was hiding. It became painfully obvious to him that if they were to lure another army to this world, they would have to reveal themselves, and it was nothing something that the Ranger was looking forward

The Eldar rangers had watched the port for some weeks now, it was totaly changed. the small trade port had changed beyond any previous security level. miles of wire, earthen trenches, ditches and moats had been built. manned by many auto weapons, light morters and observations posts for the artillery that was dug in inside the thick curtain walls. treading carefully past newly laid minefields the Ranger looked at the walls. Tall figures in bulky armour, Space marines directed the defenses among groups of human officers. No, No any attack now would not be a wise move, sense grids and various scanners and sentries ment getting even this close was difficult. a large war host would be detected miles out and pounded by the many guns that manned the inner and outer defenses. Sending a report to the Farseer, No, Assault on the base was unwise. suggest alternative place to attack the magos.

Deep in the Valleys, there was a region where fliers had trouble navigating, the mountains gave off odd magnetic that confused sensors and wind effects ment you could flown down, up, or just into one of the many rocky slopes. no fliers flew here for good reason. here the Magos made one of his homes. A large convoy of modified baneblades rolled out of the hidden site, dozens of others joined in the form of highly specialized and upgraded military designs, from artillery to anti air the convoy was a one unit army able to match almost any threat to a certain size. The magos had been lured out by reports of eldar bodies and gear captured, such was worth leaving his secure hide for the space port. Though not alone, the convoy was well armed and with servitors, battle robots and tanks numbered nearly 1000 strong. THe largest of the formation was protected by shields and advanced plating far tougher than a normal tank of its class.

The Magos was paranoid, was he right to be?

Up on high ridge, the Eldar Ranger shivered, it was cold this high up but gave a great view of any comers. Her eye was drawn to a convoy far below, just visible down the high power scope was the symbol they hunted, a red human armored design, bearing a large cog symbol and seemed to slightly flicker in and out of focus, a shield perhaps? "Ranger post ion to starlight. large human convoy on the move headed to port. suspected target."



In orbit over the Planet Ivan watched the senser feeds, they concentrated on the cave found by the Ultramarines, Nothing was amiss down there, rock and water samples proved normal. well normal for this cursed world, pouring over old senser data they found nothing that matched the reports, or blips in the logs when compared to attacks. "damn, nothing again, if it was not for the real bodies id say it was myths and fireside story" "aye Ivan, it is unsettling, a foe that seems not to exist, a foe we cannot track or see.i shall take a team down to the main base and gather more samples, maybe there is something we overlooked" Sighing, "be Careful Brother, to lose you to a ghost would be a dishonorable end to a fine warrior" "yes, but im too stubborn to die" laughed vargos slightly, though Ivan could detect a very real note of unease in his voice.

Contacting Crusade Command
Contacting...
Craft Unidentified. Enter Access Code
*******
Craft Identified: Long-Range Patrol Helios-Class Ship (Eye of Gamartes)
Contact made.

Patrol Ship Eye of Gamartes, reporting in.

I'm not sure if this has been recorded by another craft, but it seems the Crusade cartographers in the region have missed a planet?

We actually never scanned for it. My Master of Scanners, Fygs, saw the planet, and requested we move closer. It never showed up on our long-range scanners, only becoming visible upon entrance into the main system.
Visual identification showed it to be near completely white, as if covered in cloud formation. Fygs' scans supported this, claiming that the entire stratosphere and several layers down were covered in thick water vapour. He deduces that this world may be home to life in the stratosphere, particularly aerial creatures, and that the surface is probably stagnated.

It is my request that a team be authorised to search the planet for valuable minerals and ores, preferably my own? Our cargo holds are regrettably low, following your Adept Vardus' miscalculations. Our co-ordinates have been transferred over Astropathic link.

ADDENDUM: I am afraid to report that our Astropath is having some difficulty receiving messages. She complains about some kind of distortion and pain upon looking Rimward/Spinward, toward the unidentified planet and beyond, towards Tyrell III. (As normal, attempts to hail Tyrell III are in vain.) This is causing her a great deal of distress. I am not yet sure if this is Warp interference, her incapability, or another situation.
RE: New Astropath placement?

Yours in service, Captain Draggan.

Contact ceased.

EXTRACT FROM DAILY CRUSADE REPORT: SUBSECTION 12: SCOUT UNITS

Escuchon-Class Ships Lomez Fidelis and Telesto's Wrath report anomalous activity facing Rimward-Spinward. They both report Astropathic disturbances. Given both ship's proximity to the Mare Dracarian, Warp-resistant wards and medication have been proscribed to the Astropathic staff in the region.
Lectures to be given on Warp proximity allowances.

Helios-Class Ship Eye of Gamartes fails to respond to status report request after permission given to explore unidentified between Kagrenz and Tyrell III. The ship's Captain, Greg Draggan, is not known for such undisciplined behaviour.
Punishment to be dealt upon resumed contact.

 Sgt_Smudge wrote:
Contacting Crusade Command
Contacting...
Craft Unidentified. Enter Access Code
*******
Craft Identified: Long-Range Patrol Helios-Class Ship (Eye of Gamartes)
Contact made.

Patrol Ship Eye of Gamartes, reporting in.

I'm not sure if this has been recorded by another craft, but it seems the Crusade cartographers in the region have missed a planet?

We actually never scanned for it. My Master of Scanners, Fygs, saw the planet, and requested we move closer. It never showed up on our long-range scanners, only becoming visible upon entrance into the main system.
Visual identification showed it to be near completely white, as if covered in cloud formation. Fygs' scans supported this, claiming that the entire stratosphere and several layers down were covered in thick water vapour. He deduces that this world may be home to life in the stratosphere, particularly aerial creatures, and that the surface is probably stagnated.

It is my request that a team be authorised to search the planet for valuable minerals and ores, preferably my own? Our cargo holds are regrettably low, following your Adept Vardus' miscalculations. Our co-ordinates have been transferred over Astropathic link.

ADDENDUM: I am afraid to report that our Astropath is having some difficulty receiving messages. She complains about some kind of distortion and pain upon looking Rimward/Spinward, toward the unidentified planet and beyond, towards Tyrell III. (As normal, attempts to hail Tyrell III are in vain.) This is causing her a great deal of distress. I am not yet sure if this is Warp interference, her incapability, or another situation.
RE: New Astropath placement?

Yours in service, Captain Draggan.

Contact ceased.

EXTRACT FROM DAILY CRUSADE REPORT: SUBSECTION 12: SCOUT UNITS

Escuchon-Class Ships Lomez Fidelis and Telesto's Wrath report anomalous activity facing Rimward-Spinward. They both report Astropathic disturbances. Given both ship's proximity to the Mare Dracarian, Warp-resistant wards and medication have been proscribed to the Astropathic staff in the region.
Lectures to be given on Warp proximity allowances.

Helios-Class Ship Eye of Gamartes fails to respond to status report request after permission given to explore unidentified between Kagrenz and Tyrell III. The ship's Captain, Greg Draggan, is not known for such undisciplined behaviour.
Punishment to be dealt upon resumed contact.

Captain Julius watched as the Black Templars Thunderhawk came in for a landing. He had received word from orbit not 5 minutes before that the Templars were dispatching some squads down to the surface to assist in the prosecution of the campaign on this planet. Leading the small force would be Chaplain Vargos, whom Julius had not seen the since the death of Brother Aurelius. It would be nice to see him again, for the list of people outside of his company that Julius could trust was far too short. Behind him was arrayed the brothers of Tactical Squad Aventus, arrayed in their masterwork MkIV plate just like their captain. Although the Templar's assistance was appreciated, Julius and his brothers wanted to show that they were still strong, that this wretched planet had not yet beaten them. So each brother's armor and weapons were polished and cleaned till they shone. After a moment the Thunderhawk landed on the Skyshield Landing Pad with a hiss as it's landing gear settled onto the platform. After another moment the assault ramp at the front eased down and several squad of Templars trotted out onto the pad. By the looks of it, the Templars had dispatched a squad of Scouts, 2 of their "Crusader" Squads, and one of their veteran squads, named "Sword Brethren" if his memory served him well. The Templars assembled themselves into formation as one more figure stomped down the ramp after them. To say that Chaplain Vargos was intimidating was an understatement, several of the Guardsmen who were watching visibly shyed away from him, as if they were afraid that he would punish them for their sins. Over his shoulder was slung a massive 2 handed sword, built after the old "zweihander" style of Old Earth. Such things did not dissuade Space Marines however, and Julius stepped forward and shook Vargos' hand in a warrior's handshake.
"Welcome to our little slice of Paradise Brother Vargos" Julius said "your presence is appreciated." Vargos chuckled as he saw the reactions of the nearby Guardsmen "Aye, I just hope we can do our part to assist in the prosecution of this campaign, I was worried that you would have killed all the worthy foes by the time we got here." Julius laughed softly "worry not Brother, there are still plenty of foes here to engage, we just need find where they cower and burn them out." With that the two warriors walked towards the Ultramarine's barracks, to further discuss the situation on the ground.

"And so that is what we are facing down here" Julius concluded as he and Vargos stood in front of the holo-table, looking at a representation of the surrounding area. "A foe that so far we have not even seen once, but somehow was stealthy enough to kill 10 of my brethren and some Guard Sentries without a single shot every being fired." Vargos nodded as the gravity of the situation hit him. "Aye" he said after a moment "this whole situation seems unnatural, this whole planet does in fact. It's as if it does not want to give up it's secrets." They lapsed into silence as they continued to look at the holo. Several minutes passed without either of them saying a word, both of them lost in their thoughts. After a while Julius said "Let me show you what we've discovered, just off the main track my Scouts discovered a den of sorts, Sergeant Voth believes it to be a resting place for the foul creatures on this planet. I can take you there if you wish." "Aye I wish it" Vargos replied after a moment "if we're to prosecute this war we need to know as much as we can about our opponents." Then the two jogged off towards the Motor Pool, both of them issuing orders over the vox for their warriors to assemble, there was work to be done.

Ajuran sat in his private quarters, processing some of the information he had been given during his visit to Kagrenz. He had made use of the opportunity to catch up on several older reports from the other active forces, and to request some more supplies to repair and rearm the Wrath of Pollo.

A knock on the door broke him out of his concentration.

“Brother-Captain.”

Ajuran recognized the voice as belonging to Brother Khair, one of the Tactical Marines of Squad Antioch. A man of few words, with an innate understanding of the intricacies of mechanical equipment, it was often joked in his squad that he should have become an Iron Hand instead. The fact that he chose to wear his ancient MKIII helmet and power armour at all times, even indoors, didn’t help much to stop his comrades teasing him about it.

“Enter.”

Khair stepped into the room, his ancient MKIII armour creaking slightly as he walked towards the Captain’s office.

“Ah, Brother Khair. What news brings you to my quarters?”

The Marine slowly stepped forward, unhooking a dataslate from his belt.

“These are the reports you asked for, Commander. The other Chapters are moving deeper into the Central and Western front as we speak”, Khair spoke in his usual stern tone.

A strange sensation bubbled up in Ajuran’s gut. As Khair leant towards him to give him the data-slate, he felt as if something was wrong with the way Khair moved. He couldn’t quite lay his finger on it, until the marine’s hand reached out to hand him the data-slate.

His thumb.

Khair’s thumb always twitched whenever his hand moved, as a result of an injury he sustained while fighting an Ork Nob.

This isn’t Khair.

“Excellent”, Ajuran replied, as he tried to keep his composure as he accepted the data-slate. “Has the bridge received any comms from Artabas or Primus?”

“Negative, Commander. The bridge keeps hailing them, but no response thus far.”

“That is most troubling”, Ajuran continued, still unsure of how to handle the current situation. But he had an idea.

“But what is also very troubling, my friend, is that you still have not learned to take off your helmet every once in a while”, he joked, secretly already reaching for the Boltgun strapped to his thigh.

“How you don’t get into trouble with our friends in the armoury is something I’ll never understand.”

Khair laughed heartily as his hands reached for his helmet. “Trust me, that won’t be much of a problem anymore.”

Before Ajuran even had the chance to reach for his weapon, Khair leapt over the table, pushing him back into his chair as Khair pulled his bolter and aimed it straight at Ajuran’s bewildered face.

“I wouldn’t, Brother. I don’t want to have to kill you just yet.”

Ajuran swallowed. The Bolter hung millimeters from his forehead, its barrel blocking most of the sight on his opponent.

“Who are you?”

“It matters little. What matters is that you have made a little mistake, Brother.”

“Where’s Khair?”, Ajuran spat, desperately tracing the corners of his vision for a way to escape his predicament.

“Unconscious. Or dead, I didn’t have time to check”, the Marine replied starkly, his eyes locked on Ajuran’s.

“Whoever you are, I swear I will-“

“Hush now Captain, don’t make promises you can’t keep”, the Marine continued, as he pointed to the dataslate on the table.

“On the dataslate you will find the coordinates of a rendezvous point. My masters expect you there within three days. Do not keep us waiting.”


“Why would I even want to meet you? I don’t even know who you are!”, Ajuran retorted angrily.

The Marine laughed.

“But you do know us, Captain. You just do not know it yet”, he replied, before slamming his bolter into Ajuran’s right temple, rendering him unconscious as well.

Above the planet in orbit the Olympians advanced senor arrays began to activate , dozens of systems began come to life and data stream,s soon flowed into the cogitators and advanced logic engines that took up so much of the ships bulk, feeding in the local data, air, water and soil samples the process soon began reducing down the signals and cutting through some of the damned fog. The Marine manning the controls began to input the secondary and mapping data and soon the screens began to clear, data began to clarify as the sweep was completed, only it was not good news. Sensor blips showed what looked like rough locations of the unknown enemy gathering round the base, trails of packs moving from the far edges heading to the base and one blip lit up, a cave 400km from the base glowed white, there was maybe hundreds, even thousands as the interference jammed the sensor suite. Geo scanners confirmed the caves went deep underground and many of the blips had gathered. the Caves looked different, but something was not right there, was it the same beasts, or something far worse?

"Ivan, you better come see this sir" limping over, Ivan saw the screen and quickly relised what it ment. "Feth, get a message to Vargos and Julius right now, send them the data. keep watching that feed," was knowing worse than not, now he saw many beasts, if they where the beast they hunted, how would they kill them?



******

Back to the Fungus front!

The Templer fleet had been chasing for the best part of a day, tracking the blips they had detected what seemed to be incoming ships and 4 Strike cruisers and 2 Battle barges had been dispatched to intercept.. Emperors Vengeance and Sigmounds wrath had set a course and where fully armed for war, this fleet had lured them here, only they had miscalculated as the trap was for them instead. Marshall Karak was clad for war in the Ancient suit of Armour gifted to him by the Ultramarine's, Alongside his Honour guard where all clad in the same mighty Armour though each now stood shorter than the Marshall in his titanic war plate. "fleet reports ready for action sir" "Excellent Tangir, inform all Captains, tell them Plan Delta, fire on my command"

The Eldar had lured them here, only they had under estimated them as not was this a fleet of Humans but Marines vastly superior in experience and age,. They would soon pay dearly for there arrogance.

On board the Eldars Flagship Her Captain looked down at the plot, something was not right, the Human fleet was not moving as planned, the Ork fleet they had attracted was too slow and they risked facing the Imperial warships themselves. She looked up at the crew, they had trusted her, with there very souls, now she risked everything. "Activate the cloaks, we need to hide, the war fleet we lured is moving too fast and the other too slow, hide the fleet"

Only the Eldar plan was less than certain, for the past few days they had worked hard on sensor data and now had a crude way to track there ships, even there cloaks now would not prove invisible only grey the targeting systems, a mass barrage of enough rounds would still hit home. from previous encounters they knew the fast and agile ships packed a powerful weapons ability but hulls where weaker, vulnerable to the massive guns now loaded with huge solid macro shells of dense inert metal, crude but would punch through there hulls like paper, the Macro cannons slower but massive shells would prove a kill with but a single hit.

Waiting, waiting was the hard part as the crew was on high alert, everyone was tense, and the massive blast doors where sealed ready for combat.

The Fleet was approaching, they did not know that there cover was blown, cloaks would not hide them as they let them close the range, hoping to sneak by and let the orks fight for them. soon as they reached the optimum range the fleets guns began to fire a massive barrage of rounds, thousands of projectiles filled the void in seconds and raced towards the elder. On the flagship the Captain looked, and saw almost in slow motion the majority miss but a few still hit there mark. a smaller Destroyer class was hit by a solid shells, its forward sections, weapons and control station was smashed by sheer force. She felt there spirits die. even as the sadness washed over her another round slammed into her own shields, the shield held but reports of micro fractures flashed across the screen, the sheer impact force was so large even the shield could not contain. it all.

Only this was not the case, her vision had proved right, she had only sent a small number of slaved ships ahead, the one hit had broken with the pack and paid the price. so the humans did know how to track them, the slaved reports came in, all destroyed, even the crude sensors aboard could track them at this range then. Now she opened a comm link. Dumb brutes but it must be done, "you know what chases us, your sensors are not as idiotic as we thought, well done Human, you can learn it seems." As she waited, the image of a brutal looking warrior in massive black Armour, cold fury visible and 3 metal studs set into the giants forehead. "You, at last we catch you. not such a smart race after all, Burned by orks, now facing my guns, why should i let you live xeno" Templers, as expected, such anger though, wait she relised, the orks who destroyed a Imperial warship a while back, now she could work a angle. "oh but i have one card to play, the Orks, you hunt come. so decide, do you hunt the savage or the ghost"

The Marine paused, obviously not such a idiot. they had badly underestimated them, and she had nearly cost many Eldar there very souls. there would be much penance for this, though very few dead, she had multiple damaged ships, minor mostly and some injured, but unlike primitive human healing, they would soon recover. "another time xeno, stay out of my way, next i see you there won;t be Orks to save your kinife eared heads, No Pitty, No remorse, No mercy" the figure spat at them, savage, but smart, almost had destroyed them all as they escaped while the Human ships turned to face the coming Ork attackers.

So very close. She swore to herself never to underestimate the humans again, some still had enough brains to be dangerous.

The battle vs orks was a brutal one, far opposite to to the Eldar, ships rammed, both fleets exchanging close volleys of massive ordinance that would cripple lesser ships, fierce boarding actions where fought with savagery of Orks matching the fury of vengeful marines for there brothers deaths. as the Battle began to turn in the Templers favor multiple small ram ships plowed into a hanger bay, unloading many orks and small war machines aboard. Striding from the bridge alongside his guard to lead the defense he gave his orders. "Prepare to repel boarders, all hands to boarding stations, show no qauter or you shall revive n none"

As the moved quicky to the area, across a hanger bay they saw a small group of serfs, Fausteen kights, the 7th and catchans holding a choke point lead by Petra and Shepard. soon as the Marshall arrived, only a few stood vs 300 oirks who turned to meat the new challenger. "oi ladz, seem we have some real fighters krump now" letting out a roaring waaargh as they charged. "No Pitty, No remorse" As the Marshall ans his honor guard lead a counter charge. The massive armour he wore turning aside crude ork bullets like rain on a tanks hull. The Ultramarine did not disappoint. Seeing such events, Shepard steeped to the front and charged the orks, it was reckless, but he could not let the Marshall fight this alone, Petra thanking the new armour as it turned aside the crude ork blades in ways that would have wounded or killed her before. The scene was repeated across the ship as the boarders where soon slain to the last ork.

The Marshall Approached Shepard having a wound bandaged, and Petra examining the cuts in the Armour, only a few light wounds and bruising, she ached but was alive. "Lord commissar Shepard, That was brave, we make a Templer of you yet. " Taking a small Badge locked to the armour, and pressed into his hand. "Let it be shown you have shown Loyalty to to the Chapter and we mark it as such." surprised by the gesture, "thankyou Lord Marshall, i i " "Go enjoy some free time with your wife, training is suspended for a few days, take it easy Shepard." Before he left Ulf turned, his armour covered in gore, deep scars cut into the ceramite plates and a crack in the red lenese of helmet on his waist. "Damn good work, remember your not a marine in body eh" gesturing to his wounded arm "but you have the heart of one, " Giving a approving look whilst he turned to follow his Lord.

"Shepard, seems like your the one needs armour not me" Petra joked as she finished bandaging the cut . "you never tie it right, left, under then right" Shepard slightly shocked by the battle and gift looked down at the small chapter symbol in his hand. "who is ment to be the Commissar again" he jokingly replied as they walked to the medical bay to have it cleaned properly. "you soon learned to obey orders from a senior officer" she joked flirtatiously.

 War Kitten wrote:

Spoiler:

Now the question is, did I lure you close enough to Gondorf's Landing for you to go have fun with the cults that are there? That was the whole point of these shenanagins, and according to Smudge my lure worked a tad too well. I did get the Magos though, I'll post that later, along with my report for Julius and Vargos

The squad of Rangers assembled at the chosen spot. They had been tracking this Magos for many long weeks now, and it was finally time for them to execute their plan. The location for the ambush had been chosen carefully, and many redundant plans had been laid in place just in case of failure. But they would not fail, they COULD not fail. Not now, not after all the sacrifices that had been made to get to this point. The Rangers all moved to their assigned positions and waited for the convoy to arrive. They did not have to wait long. Just as the last Ranger got into her assigned position several vehicles bearing the symbol of the so called "Mechanicus" drove around the corner of the canyon and began to drive towards where the Rangers hid. They had to time this perfectly, or else the Magos would escape yet again. The lead Ranger held up 5 fingers, then began to count down as the vehicles drove ever closer to the chosen location. When the countdown hit 0 carefully placed explosives detonated, crushing the front and rear vehicles in the convoy, effectively trapping the survivors in the canyon. It would become their tomb as well. A few squads of Skitarrii spilled out of the remaining vehicles and took up defensive positions around the vehicle in the center of the convoy. The Magos would be cowering there. The lead Ranger smiled, they would not have to eliminate the mon'keigh alone, as he heard the roar of engines coming ever closer. Several Crimson Hunters roared by overhead and unleashed a storm of pulse laser fire onto the assembled humans below, sending most of them crashing to the canyon bed in a puff of evaporated blood and metal. Then the Rangers added their own long rifles to the symphony of death, sending the last few Skitarii crashing to the ground with their heads or necks blown out. The Ranger smiled and then relayed a message to Indrael that he could now deal with the Magos.

Indrael strode toward the surviving vehicle slowly, as if he was savoring his triumph. And, in a way, he was. Far too many lives had been lost in their quest to eliminate this foolish mon'keigh, and he would enjoy taking his revenge. Just as he approached the exit ramp of the vehicle it dropped down and a surpisingly human looking man in red robes fell out of the vehicle. "This is the one we have been hunting?" Indrael wondered to himself "the one who has caused Iybraesil so much grief and pain?" The Magos stood up, and when he noticed the approaching Warlock he began to babble something in his own language, but Indrael did not allow him the opportunity to continue, before the human could even blink Indrael's singing spear was planted into his chest. The Magos just seemed to stare at the weapon embedded into chest for a second before he began to fall. indrael allowed himself a small smile as te Magos' soul was torn from his body and cast into the warp. His kin had been avenged, but there was one more thing to do yet.

The body of the Magos was planted oh so carefully in front of the main base of the mon'keigh on this planet. As a warning to those who would dare incite the wrath of the Eldar.