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TBH, I'm too lazy/easily distracted to write an extended fanfic, so I'm just gonna post some random shorts (duh!) that come to mind from time to time. Feel free to post your own short stories as well.

"Valerian is such a troll."

Fleet Admiral Valerian Stern sat on his command throne on the bridge fortress of the Emperor-class Battleship Solar Macharius, reading an extremely long and dry report regarding the Imperium's state of readiness. A cup of recaf, long since grown cold, sat on an elegant yet solid desk beside the throne. The Solar Macharius itself and its Escorts were patrolling the inner regions of a sector bordering the Damocles Gulf and the Tau Empire, while the fleet's other elements were patrolling the outer regions. It wasn't so bad, the Admiral and his soldiers had to admit; ever since the Astartes had rolled back the Tau expansion that coincided with the 13th Black Crusade, things had been relatively quiet. Of course, insurgents bred like vermin in this backwater of the galaxy, and so Segmentum Command (with the quiet insistence of the Inquisition's Sector Conclave in general and the Ordo Xenos to be specific) had posted Valerian and his fleet to the area. Fresh from the fighting around the Eye of Terror, it seemed they had hit the jackpot, as their role now seemed to be limited to rattling the saber at rebellious, backwater yokels and to remind the Tau who was the true power in the galaxy. Practically a vacation in every sense of the word...and soldiers being soldiers, they inevitably grew bored.

Valerian's musings on how all things had both positive and negative effects were disrupted by the arrival of his XO, Commander Kasuga Shinra. "Yes, commander?" he queried before she could say a word. "Admiral..." she replied crisply. "...one of our Escorts detected and recovered something from the void."

"Oh?" came the reply.

"Yes, it would appear to be another Tau message drone..."

"Damn it!" snarled Valerian as he rose from his seat. "What the hell do those damned Tau think we are? Garbage collectors? Its obvious their drones would be so easily detected and captured, so why the hell do they keep sending drones into this area of space?" Valerian grumbled for several moments before calming down to think rationally. Kasuga didn't mind; she knew her CO was only letting out his frustration. She understood it as well; everyone in the fleet was growing frustrated from the lack of action. "Did it have anything of value?" Valerian finally asked.

"No sir, I'm afraid its the usual propaganda and seditious broadcasts." she replied.

"I think its about time to teach the Tau what happens when they keep sending trash into our area of space." Valerian said darkly. "Can we trace the drone's trajectory?"

"Yes sir. It was launched from a Tau Space Station over a Tau border colony in the adjacent sector." Kasuga paused, and coughed discreetly before continuing. "With all due respect sir, I'd like to remind you that while the Inquisition and the Administratum have given us leave to deal with Tau insurgents in the area as we see fit, we are to do so in a manner that would not provoke a Tau counter-attack." In response, Valerian's face grew crafty. "Is that so now? The drone hasn't been destroyed, has it?"

"No, sir. Its been disassembled, but it hasn't been destroyed." she replied.

"Good. Bring the drone to the flagship and get me Magos Domino."

Several days later, at the Tau Space Station launching the message drones..."Aun'vre! Aun'vre!" called a young Air Caste attendant as he approached the Ethereal overseeing the Space Station. "Yes, what is it, young one?" responded the Ethereal.

"One of our messenger drones has returned. Apparently, it crashed on an unexplored world, and was discovered by a space-faring race yet to be discovered by the Gue'la. They repaired it, and sent it back to with message for us." the Air Caste responded eagerly. The Ethereal's eyes narrowed in response. "Are we certain this is no trap by those gue'la animals?"

"Most certainly. Our own Earth Caste engineers are certain that the repairs are of a subtlety beyond the gue'la and their Imperium..." the Air Caste paused as he listened to a message from his comlink. "It appears that the message has been decoded and is ready to be heard. The Fio'la in charge would like to know if you wish to hear it first-hand." After a moment of consideration, the Ethereal nodded. "If our engineers believe it is safe, then I would hear this new message from this new race who may yet be enlightened to the Greater Good."

A few minutes later, the Ethereal and his attendants were standing before the drone, as Earth Caste engineers prepared to play the message. The holo-screen flashed to life...then darkened. And came to life again...and the Tau were startled to hear a gue'la speaking from the translator device. "Hello aliens. This is Admiral Valerian Stern of His Majesty's Imperial Navy. Clean up your own trash. Please and thank you." Then the screen died again, leaving the gathered Tau in consternation...only for the screen to come to life again. With trepidation, they watched the gue'la words appear with deliberate slowness on the screen. "Revenge is a dish best served cold."

Moments later, the entire Space Station, along with the Hero-class starship and six Defender-class starships and countless other smaller craft docked with it, exploded into nuclear fire.

Several days later, Fleet Admiral Valerian Stern sat on his command throne on the bridge fortress of the Emperor-class Battleship Solar Macharius, reading an extremely long and dry report regarding the Imperium's state of readiness. A cup of recaf, long since grown cold, sat on an elegant yet solid desk beside the throne. The Solar Macharius itself and its Escorts were patrolling the inner regions of a sector bordering the Damocles Gulf and the Tau Empire, while the fleet's other elements were patrolling the inner regions. Valerian's musings were disrupted by the arrival of his XO, Commander Kasuga Shinra. "Yes, commander?" he queried before she could say a word. "Admiral..." she replied crisply. "...we've received an astropathic communication from the Sector Conclave." She finished before handing a data slate to her CO.

From Inquisitor Anna Stern,

Good work dealing with that Space Station. The Tau are in an uproar, and while a few Fire Caste fanatics wanted to strike back at us for what you did, the Ethereal Caste refused to sanction such an act due to lack of evidence. Apparently, they'll be reorganizing their local forces due to incompetence regarding maintenance (they've dismissed the Space Station's destruction as a plasma reactor accident). Keep up the good work, and the Emperor be with you.

Sincerely, mom.

After a few moments, Valerian handed the data slate back to Kasuga, and said "Well, that explains a few things."