Inquisitorial Flagship The Word of law Inquisitor Helynna Valeria stood on the bridge of Strike Cruiser, watching the unnamed planet below as if she could see the troops dying from orbit. Her goal was worth however many lives it took to capture this rock. The remaining records showed that hundreds of years ago this planet would tithe 16 Emperor class titans and nothing else every four years. If she could get it operational or better yet recover these Titans she could gain access to the Necron tomb world that had somehow avoided the Tyranids. Of course she questions how they could produce so many Titans but most records had been destroyed or lost to time, the tech-priests with her however were just as keen to know. The Dark Angels would be arriving soon and they would be help the imperial guard push through, if they didn't well a Inquisitor has her ways. She smiled and walked into her war room, she need to speak with her officers. Dark Angels 7th Company Fleet Aboard Battle Barge Ultimate Vengeance Captain Abner had just awoken two Dreadnoughts, Cain and Deckard, brothers before training and both of them having been first company terminators until there deaths, now they would accompany there brothers once more into battle. He left the two tech marines in his company to ready them. He emerged onto the bridge just as they left the warp, he spoke into his vox taking a seat the ship moved in on the planet. "Squads ten through six report to your drop pods. You have the honor being our Vanguard in this fight." With that done he turned his attention forward, Chaplain-interrogator Daniels would be overseeing the hunt for Cypher, as to keep up appearances and hid the truth of there involvement he would meet with the Inquisitor before taking his command squad down and into the fight. if he could secure Cypher, well it would make him quite the legend among the Inner Circle. He opened commutations to the Inquisitors flagship, The Word of law. "I will be aboard shortly, first I will send down my men and scramble fighters to assist the guardsmen below." He cut it off not letting her respond, next he opened a channel to all guardsmen below. "To soldiers of the Imperium, look up and rally, the angels of death have arrived, your salvation is at hand, rally to them and fight with the sons of the first Primarch! Glory to the God-Emperor!" WIth that the drop pods fell and Angels descended from above and onto the battlefield.

Domenico was bored, and extremely uncomfortable. It had been less than 24 hours since the inquisition arrived, and they already had a fair number of the officers on their ship, including his sorry ass. Now that made him uncomfortable, why the hell did whatever inquisitor was running this show want a penal legion colonel on their ship? Well, regardless of why he was there, he had certainly not enjoyed his welcoming committee. As soon as he had stepped on board he was surrounded by tech priests, all yelling about "holy templates" and "perverted, non standard monstrosities" and they had only recently fucked off. He had never gotten much flak over his jury rigged chimera's before, they were rejects, just like the penal legionnaires who drove them. "Guess tech priests were touchier" He thought to himself. He did know one thing, his Chem inhaler was running enough relaxants through it to kill a large child, and that was exactly what he needed right now. Flying made him nervous to begin with, flying surrounded by tech priests in an inquisitorial ship made him a lot more nervous. As he bemused about why anyone gave a shit about his legions presence on world the door to the war room opened, and in walked one hell of woman. He almost whistled, but stopped himself when he saw the inquisition seals and symbols, and sighed instead. "There's our new boss" He whispered to the officer next to him. Then, Domenico put his feet on the table, and leaned back in his chair, he really hoped she wasn't about to shoot him.

Alliance Dreadnought 3rd expeditionary fleet Mt. Tai Admiral Powree sat there, her small battle group just on the edge of the system she was surprised when the council had decided to bring together ships from all there fleets, now she sat on the edge of the system watching these strange cathedral looking ships in orbit. They looked human yet she knew better than to just hail them, they were packing serious fire power, she had assigned two Salarian STG groups and 22nd Lightning Psychos placing them all under the command Vires Decius. It was a stealth op but she had faith, if there was one thing a Turian could do it was follow orders, his job was to protect the Salarian team and bring them back with there findings, what could go wrong? Inquisitorial Flagship The Word of law Valeria looked at the Penal Legion colonel, he was sloppy and undisciplined, she was about to order him to get his boots off the table then shoot him in the leg anyway when her personal vox picked up a message from the Dark Angels Captain, it seemed he would arrive shortly. The Inquisitor glared at the colonel. "Please remove your boots from the-" Before she could finish, a glorious sight unfolded behind her. The entire war room was greeted with the sight of the Seventh company fleet in all it's glory as drop pods fell towards the planet below, fighters and gunships piloted by serfs following them down. The voxes blazed and everyone heard a message, it seemed as if the Emperor himself had sent them the power to destroy there enemies. "To soldiers of the Imperium, look up and rally, the angels of death have arrived, your salvation is at hand, rally to them and fight with the sons of the first Primarch! Glory to the God-Emperor!" Many dropped to there knee's offering prayers to Emperor and Omnisire alike. The Inquisitor simply looked annoyed, she was not one for speeches but to deal with space marines meant dealing with there righteous convictions as well. She turned and watched the pods fall, she smiled her hard face turning soft with a smile, she hated to admit it but there was a beauty to Space Marine's descending that rivaled even the greatest painting.

The small Turian ship Relentless hung in the darkness of space, at the edge of the 3rd Expeditionary Fleet. The only nearby ships were two Salarian stealth shuttles, each holdings an STG squad. The two Salarian ships slowly revolved around the corvette as it drifted at a snail's pace towards the strange alien system. All three ships had shut down engines and were currently idling in an effort to conserve fuel while they shared a mission debrief. While the mission seemed simple enough and the orders they received were relatively open ended, it was imperative that they planned everything out to the tee. If just one thing went wrong, the small task force could cause a galactic incident. Inside the ship itself, eight Turian soldiers sat. There were two rows of four, with the two rows facing each other. The small space was bathed in red light; the lights had been shut off to lower their ship's heat signature. The Turians were going about their usual pre-battle ceremonies. Three of the Turians had their heads down, and were praying to their legion's spirits. Each one was holding what appeared to be a lightning bolt - the symbol of their legion, Fulrem, or 'Iron Lightning.' A few of them were chatting quietly among themselves, remembering old battles and discussing the things they missed from civilian life. They were the newest members of the squad; they had been getting to know each other over the last few months. The last two soldiers in the bay, however, sat in complete silence. Each had their eyes downcast, their faces covered and obscured by their helmets. They had been here the longest. They were differentiated from their brethren by their extensive customization of their armor paint jobs. In the front of the ship, hidden behind a metal door, was the cockpit. Vires sat next to the pilot as he discussed the final pieces of their approach to the conflict below with the Salarians. "Alright, let's go over everything before we move out." Vires spoke, his voice strong and authoritative."We're going to enter the atmosphere on the far side of the battlefield, away from the frontlines. We should be far enough away that we won't run into any natives. However, if we do encounter the humans or the other species, we are not to engage unless we are engaged ourselves. Let's try to be diplomatic before we start blowing them away." Decius joked darkly."We'll be travelling through primarily urban territory, however we'll be steering clear of the populated zones. According to our preliminary recon we've obtained from stratospheric drones, the area we'll be landing in was evacuated before being bombed extensively. We shouldn't run into any problems when we land." Vires brought up a holographic map display. He began to mark up the map using his fingers. The information was being sent to the other two Salarin leaders, with only a short delay. The relatively close distance between their three ships made transmitting data via laser did not require comm buoys. "The main resistance we might encounter comes from here: a highway used by the unknown conglomerate of aliens attacking the entirely human force. It seems to be municipal in nature, however we have reason to believe that enemy troops have used the highway before. Furthermore, once we pass that highway we'll be in contested territory - we were unable to get any images of the area, so we'll be mostly blind. Keep your men on high alert. Once we escape this part the city, there's a single ridge that over looks the frontlines. Once there, you two will set up your reconnaissance and communications equipment. You'll be sending your data to the fleet via drone roughly every half hour. You should have ample amount of drones to get the data across in a timely and safe manner. "Once your teams are set up, I'll take a small squad and attempt to recover the fallen drone. Chances are the humans have taken it into their possession. My team will try to take it without making contact; stealth is of the utmost priority." Vires sighed, closing his eyes for a moment until he wrapped up the plan. "Is that it? He asked the two Salarians, who had remained silent during the briefing. "That is all, Captain Decius." One of the Salarians replied. They were concise and to the point; Vires could appreciate that. "Alright, relay the plan to your men; I will do the same. May the spirits watch over us. the Turian waited for the Salarians to cut off the communications before turning off the holographic display and standing up. He made his way into the troop compartment, examining his men. "Alright misfits, here's the plan..."

Domenico watched the pods fall, he had only seen it once before on a little backwater quite a distance away. It was just as impressive the second time. But, seeing as the inquisitor was entranced by the spectacle, he took the chance to take his boots off of the table. After the space marine captains little speech Domenico looked at the inquisitor, "So, why are we here and not down there? What did you call almost every higher officer onto this ship? Throne, I mean you even had me brought up, I am a penal legionnaire colonel!" Domenico fully expected to not get a single straight answer to any of his questions. That was just how inquisitor's worked, if they didn't want you to know something then you didn't know. They didn't like giving information to anyone, especially men like him. Suddenly Rickert, the senior vox "Officer" of Domenico's command squad tapped him on the shoulder,"What is it rat?" The vox officer whispered to Domenico,"uh, sir the boys found something... some kinda weird tech... they says it don't look orkish or like traitor tech..." Domenico smiled and looked at the inquisitor, "Looks like one question may have just been answered. "

Topside- Elyias The Valkyrie moved swiftly over the landscape below, the only thing contained within was the team of five stormtroopers who sat in the back. As the group neared the ruins of what was left of a city that had been bombed quite heavily. "So what can we expect for resistance?" One of the stormtroopers asked, Sargent Theros spoke over the microbead comm so everybody could hear him. "Resistance will be light, there are a few orks in there area but nothing to indicate a presence like that of the front-lines." Elyias could practically feel the relief of the others around him, running into ork nobz or squiggoths was not high on the list of agenda for the small team. Who couldn't stand toe to toe with the brutes and expect to walk away intact. The Valkyrie hovered over the edge of a still standing building and deployed its ramp, with the efficiency of a well oiled machine the squad deployed. Each member fanning out and covering the other when the Valkyrie took off they went about their job deploying rope off the side of the building and repelling down when their boots hit the ground the moved, they got partly through the city before Sargent Theros raised a fist to stop and then another hand signal for them to find cover. Elyias took cover and peaked out at the two Orks walking past. "Deh baws be a git, he as us eis bestest orks doin nuffin!" One of them said, their manner of speech was enough to make the stormtrooper cringe from his hiding spot but he forced himself to listen to the other. "yea! we deh best orks in deh whole waagh! Oi Morlug yah git get over ere." A third orc joined them and stopped at Elyias' hiding spot. "I gotz to go." The one referred to as Morlug said. "Then do it yah git." The first one said, and with that the third ork proceeded to take a piss into Elyias' hiding spot, the trooper managed to push himself further against the rubble but not before getting a hefty dose of the orks stream all over his helmet and armor. When he was done the trio of Orks left and the troopers filed out. "I heard that's good luck Elyias." One of the troopers said. "Yeah i bet you didn't know wetwork involved actually getting wet sometimes." Another chimed piped in with a sigh Elyias just kept moving. When they finally reached their mission location they set up one of the other troops using her long-las to keep an eye on the nob they were after. He had taken a relic found on the battlefield with him as a trophy and the imperium wanted it back so they had been dispatched. "Command we are in position ready to engage when given the order." Sargent Theros said, sending the vox message out to command who was undoubtedly in orbit with the inquisitor who called them. There was no reply from command meaning the meeting was in full swing so the group just sat and waited. Over the vox they heard the arrival of the dark angels which only brought groans from the troopers. "We do all the hard work and the astartes take all the credit." Said one of the troopers. With the arrival of the dark angels the team was scrambling to get command on the horn so they could take their shot. In orbit- Inquisitorial flagship The Word of Law The whole command structure of the "Stormbringers" imperial guard had been called up to this ship for a meeting and they came, they always obeyed the inquisition and came when they were needed as they were the word of the emperor and they the emperors subjects so they would obey in devotion to the emperor. It took every fiber of Amy Santori's being to not want to drive a knife through the penal colonel's throat, the disrespect he showed the inquisitor was downright rude, as Amy was about to shout at the colonel and tell him to show some respect to the voice of the emperor Nicholas who sat on her left spoke. "Why have you called us here m'lady?" He asked, looking to the inquisitor for a answer.

Inquisitorial Flagship The Word of law Valeria turned glaring at the Colonel, she did hate his rudeness but he was smart, well smart enough to fix chimera's so he could drive back the ork's. She was a radical herself, a collector Xeno's tech to use to defeat there enemies, still she needed to show him who was inchrage. "You are here because I tell you to be, however the reason for this meeting is simple. We have discovered that this planet has Titan manufactorums that we must secure. However we have recently heard news concerning us, a piece of tech that runs on Alien concepts was reported by skull probe. I want you all to secure any strange Xenos items and for transport. If any of you wish to remain you may, Captain Abner will coming aboard shortly to meet with me. If any of you need relief or support I would suggest asking him." She turned taking a seat on her Inquisitorial throne, her agents and acolytes busying themselves as she watched waiting for Captain to arrive. She waited to see what officers remained and who left, perhaps she would take a few of them with her when she went back to war against the Necron's. They held the key to stopping the Tyranid hive fleets, she would have it. Thunderhawk gunship Lion's Wrath Abner stepped aboard the Inquisitors ship, he was greeted by a sea of Tech priests and navy men who paraded him towards the bridge. He arrived to find the Inquisitor waiting, sitting in her room, normally he would have his his vanguard with him but today he had only two brothers with him. Brother Librarian Amos and Company Champion Lebbeus walked each of them dressed in full war gear. They greeted the Inquisitor with a nod, Dark Angel were not known for there high opinions of Inquisition then looked at those around the room. They looked between the officers as if passing judgments already, Abner stepped forward. "I am Captain Abner, to who do I have the pleasure of working with? The Inquisitor gripped her throne, she looked pissed that Space marine had simply nodded to her then set about speaking to the officers she had called her. Abner gave a slight grin under his helmet, he enjoyed watching the Inquisitor squirm.

"You want to know our names? Did you here that lads? The emperors true sons, want to know who we are!" Though his mind told him it was a bad idea, the inquisitor's answer had pissed him off a bit, and he wanted to make her as angry as humanly possible. So, he got out of his chair, walked up to the space marine captain and did something he would probably get shot for, and offered his hand for a shake. Though he kept the biggest, dumbest grin he'd ever made on his face, Domenico was absolutely terrified. All the relaxants in the Imperium couldn't stop the cold, nervous sweat that had broken out on his brow. He couldn't believe he was high enough to have done that, and it just got better. "I'm colonel Domenico Di Giamberadino, Regimental commander of the 1523rd Ferian penal legion, at your service my lord" Domenico was fairly certain the inquisitor was going to shoot him, actually the space marine would probably just crush him, or snap his neck or something else terrible. But now he was committed and emperor be damned he wasn't turning around till the space marine shook his hand, kiled him, or ignored him.

The Captain looked Colonel over, he was brave no doubt even those high or chem's retained enough sense not to approach the Astartes. "I look forward to watching your men fight Colonel, Redemption in the eyes of the Emperor is a worthy goal. Forgive me if I don't shake you hand however I power armor it hard to judge one's strength. Now I believe we should leave the Inquisitors ship and head down to battle. We shall command from the front as the Emperor wills, if you would you may join me in personal shuttle down, it can fit all of you and your command crew easily." Finally he turned to acknowledge the Inquisitor. "If you have need of me I will be planet side, winning your war and doing my duty and if you attempt to order MY fleet let me remind you that Brother Librarian Amos will contact the Rock, the Dark Angels are here to kill the heretics and Xenoes and leave. If you attempt tell us otherwise I'm sure Grand Master Belial wouldn't mind explaining further. He was here for one purpose and one purpose alone, to hunt Fallen Lord and to seek repentance for his brothers sin's. Unknown Forgeworld, Ork territory Cypher stalked quietly through the battlefield, he was searching for the guardsmen he spotted earlier, no doubt they lay up ahead, he found them sitting upon a hill, he heard one of them moan about how the Asartes took all the credit. So he spoke up, greeting them with a joke of sorts. "Yes I've come to do your job, fear not Guardsmen. The Dark Angels are here to assist, it you who deserve the credit." He smiled placed a hand on each of his pistol. "I come with a warning, it seems Chaos forces are headed this way no doubt to steal your prize, I suggest you hurry your mission along. The Chaos Space marines are much tougher than your average Ork." He spoke from experience. "I you wish I shall lead them away and buy you time. Unless you think I would steal your glory with that."

Domenico thought his heart had just burst, or maybe he was delusional, but he wasn't. A space marine had just asked him, HIM, to ride to the front with him. Domenico stood up straight,"Of course, I'll uh, gather my command squad." he then withdrew his hand and began ordering his squad to prep, and get their lazy asses up out of their nice comfortable chairs and get their collective criminal boots stomping. As they were leaving, Domenico walked up to the inquisitor's throne, and said,"Some men in my regiment just picked up some weird looking xenos tech. They say it ain't orkish at all. I'll vox you the coordinates once rat tells them to me." With that, he winked at her, waved at the other officers, and followed the space marine captain out.

Master Sergeant Alexander Atreides was standing on the bridge of the Undaunted Spirit as it was nearing the end of its trip through the warp, the Drop Trooper was already in full carapace armor, helmet tucked under his arm. Warp travel always unnerved the man somewhat. It wasn't like a drop where you could salvage if something went wrong with your gear. He heard the horror stories from surviving armsmen and guardsmen who had fought off daemonic incursions, hell, he knew how bad daemons could fight. He'd rather be down at the drop trooper's barracks, finalizing organization. But, as head of the Drop Trooper division of the 122nd Airborne, he had to be up here to deal with the officers and play niceties. The overall commanding officer of the 122nd was Air Marshall Fredrick Sturmburg, or for folks outside the 122nd, Air Marshall was the equivalent of a Colonel. Beyond that, and Marshall instead of Major, the ranks worked out the same as other Guard regiments. Air Marshall Sturmburg was a good man, far as Atreides was concerned, smart, didn't let politics cloud his judgement in combat, didn't throw Atreides or his men into the grinder lightly. Respectable, at least. Sturmburg was holding an archaic watch, watching the hands on it move as it ticked down to emergence into realspace. Nodding to the comms officer, the man got onto the shipwide band. "All hands, prepare for shift into realspace. I say again, all hands, prepare for shift into realspace." Atreides braced himself on a railing, this bit never excited him. Within moments of the relayed message, the ship tore a hole back into realspace, the Ironclad led the Naval patrol into its positions, other ships moving into screening positions around the aging model of ship. The Undaunted Spirit Began to move, while Air Marshall Sturmburg opened a hailing frequency towards the Imperial Fleet and its current leading vessel, and assuming the hail was responded to, he would begin earnestly, Sturmburg speaking with little flair or wasted verbage. "122nd Astryan Airborne, aboard the Undaunted Spirit, reporting from Astryan System as requested. Air Marshall Sturmburg, and Master Sergeant Atreides, standing by for further orders."

"This is Captain Decius to Specialists Rae and Molras of the STG. Keep your shuttles in a tight formation behind the Relentless, I don't want you two taking any unnecessary damage if things get heavy. Activate cloaking fields and prepare to enter the atmosphere." Vires commanded from the co-pilot's seat on board the Turian Corvette Relentless. The ship was old, yet it had the most state of the art cloaking device ever developed; even the famous Normandy lacked a visual cloaking field. The trio of alien vessels began to form a triangle; the formation was soon established quickly and efficiently, and in record time. The Corvette's engines blasted out streams of blue energy as it began to rocket forward through the cold depths of space towards a strange new world. Vires stared at the holographic projections of the planet below, his expression stoic and his body language unreadable. He was preparing himself for the absolute worst. They had no idea what could happen down there; for all Vires knew, the humans would kill them all on sight. It was already assumed the even more alien forms of the green skinned creatures and their grotesque, monstrous counterparts were hostile. Most spec ops veterans would say something along the lines of 'I've been through worse' here. They'd all be lying. The planet below appeared to be burning. Smoke billowed up into the lower atmosphere as the Corvette broke the stratosphere and began its descent. The two shuttles followed close behind, careful to match the corvette's speed. When the corvette sliced through the cloud layer, and the surface of the planet became visible, the Turian piloting the ship next to Vires gasped."Are we really going down there, Captain?" The pilot asked after a moment, glancing at Decius."Orders are orders, Airman." Decius replies instantly, not looking his pilot in the eyes. Under any other circumstances, such doubt from a Turian would be unthinkable; especially a commando. But in a place like this...? The corvette lowered itself between buildings effortlessly, landing in the middle of what appeared to be some kind of square. The tall structures around them were ruined and burning; the only indication that anything was alive on this barren rock was the constant sounds of laser fire, and the barking of machine guns. The Blackwatch troops poured out the back of the corvette as the ramp was lowered. The Turians spread out, keeping their Phaestons at the ready as they checked for any hostiles. The pilot and Captain Decius exited the cockpit and followed suite. Moments later the two shuttles landed side-by-side near the corvette, and the STG filed out and into the small enclosed area. Vires lifted his omni-tool towards his face and began to speak. "This is Captain Decius to Admiral Powree; we're planetside now and establishing a perimeter around the ships. We'll be launching drones in a few minutes - expect the next visual update within the hour."

Unknown Forge World, Ork territory They had been sitting around for the better part of a few minutes when a unknown astartes met them, he was a odd one with two fine pistols and he was alone. "Sarge don't these guys normally travel in packs?" Elyias asked. "Yeah they do but that doesn't matter right now. If what he says is true then we need to get moving orders or no orders." Theros said, everybody just nodded. The marksmen put her finger in the trigger guard of her long-las and fired the shot going straight through their targets eye and boiling his brains. "Go get the relic Elyias you stink, or it's just you being you again we'll cover you from here." The Sargent said, and Elyias went with it. The trooper crossed the grounds checking his corners and his back as he moved, when he finally got to the corpse he removed the relic from it and started to head back but a Ork slugga boy slammed into him and sent him sprawling. "I can feel yah, andz i dun like it!" The ork shouted raising his choppa to cleave the trooper in half, in a panic the trooper reached for his pistol and narrowly dodged a downward swing finger in the trigger guard Elyias fired wildly his hotshot las-pistol searing off flesh until the ork fell smelling of burnt flesh and the general ork stink. With a sigh the trooper picked up his fallen las-gun and proceeded back to the group a flush of adrenaline still running through his system giving him the shakes. "Thanks for the help guys." Elyias said. "Sorry we couldn't get a good shot on it." Theros said, and with that the team started gathering their gear and getting ready to move back to the where their valkyrie was supposed to meet them. "May the emperor watch over you space marine." Elyias said, and with that the team left fading back into the ruins of the city. In orbit- Aboard The Word of Law The gathered command staff just looked at each other as the hulking space marine walked into the meeting, the emperors own sons have interrupted the meeting and they asked for names so Nicholas gave them. "I am Nicholas Ailio commander of The Stormbringers Imperial Guard battle group, the man to my left is Amory Tremellus commander of the 122nd, and to my right is Amy Santori commander of the 3rd Stormtroopers. It is a honor to meet you." He said and bowed his head in respect, but if the space marine captain heard them he didn't say anything to them instead offering them a ride back planetside which they gratefully accepted gathering their things and followed him out.

Thunderhawk gunship Lion's Wrath They left the Inquisitor fuming mad, she had half a mind to declare them all traitors and shot. That would do her no favors she sighed and relaxed, she would have what she wanted soon. Abner turned to look at his compatriots as the pilot took them down to the front. "Thank you for joining me Guardsmen, I do not approve of the Inquisition's presence her's especially, she has a vendetta against another Inquisitor, she's a radical and borderline Heretical for her use of Xeno tech. Now as to the front, show me where your men need support the most. I have gunships and transport for your wounded if you need them, five squads of my and my personal squad are yours, tell where we are needed most." He spoke respectfully, in truth he found the guard a refreshing change, they valued the Space Marines, the Inquisition and there forces saw the Space Marines as tools and personal armies to order as they pleased, he would take no orders from those not his equal. The Gunship moved quickly, it took them down into the atmosphere and landed them in the begins of a base, all five squads were present having returned from there drop points with no causalities. He looked over at the commanders with him. "I believe we should get to work, we have Titans to reclaim for the Emperor." Alliance Dreadnought 3rd expeditionary fleet Mt. Tai Powree leaned forward watching pods fall from the ships, perhaps carrying troop? As more and more images and data were collected on these strange ships it scared her more and more. Some were bigger than the Mt.Tai and that worried her, if they turned out to be hostile well... She refused to imagine the devastation. She received a transmission from the Captain however and set her men to work, the images that they would recover would tell us the true strength of these new warriors. She only hoped it would not be as Dark and depressing as there ships appeared to be. "Alright Captain proceed with the mission. Do not cause an incident there fleets fire power could greatly out class our own." She stated calm as she stood folding her hands behind her back, the wait began. Unknown Forge World Cypher nodded as the Guardsmen left, he felt sure they would be already right now he need to go. The Dark Angels had come for him and he needed to finish his business here, business with Involving a fleet in distant orbit. He set off in search of there recon team, he had a feeling they would send one. They reminded him of the Tau and Eldar in the sleekness he had seen of there ships. He smiled pulling his ragged hood up as strolled off into Chaos controlled territory, those he met giving him a wide berth, no one ever truly knew what side Cypher was on. It made him a danger to all who crossed his path, yet only Chaos Marines and Dark Angels knew this.

The Air Marshall was not willing to sit and wait for long, there was a world to reclaim in the Emperor's name, and he wasn't going to have the 122nd Astryan Airborne only a footnote for having sat around waiting for a response or orders. Looking over to Atreides, Sturmburg nodded to the man before dispatching orders. "Master Sergeant, mobilize the Drop Troopers and prepare to deploy. We need your men to find a suitable ground base of operations to sortie from. The Marauders and Thunderbolts still have the ability to deploy from orbit, so we can still maintain air cover from here with them." Atreides nodded, making a brisk walk off the bridge before breaking into a smooth run, already on the vox with the Drop Troopers in the barracks. By the time the man had arrived, troopers were already on their way out, heading for the various flight decks built into their ship, where assigned Valkyries and Vulture escorts were on standby. Once a suitable operational facility was located, they would operate and deploy from there. Planetary scans revealed a highly elevated power station, currently on the border of Chaos held territory, that supplied nearby forges and also provided near total control over any who dared approach by land. That would be the fatal flaw in its defenses. Sturmburg remained in orbit to coordinate the aerial assaults while attempting to raise the other Imperials, so he could minimize the potential for friendly fire incidents, and begin joint arms actions against the Orks and Chaos heretics. Master Sergeant Atreides was watching the Space Marine deployments from the main hanger bay, leaning on one of the Valkyries as the first wave was almost embarked, his command squad moving their gear into the Valkyrie, which would drop off what couldn't be carred by hand after the plant was secured. Atreides could respect the drop pod approach, even if the Asartes were far better equipped than his men and women. A tap on the shoulder by his second in command alerted him the first wave was ready. "All Valkyrie pilots, stand by for deployment." The Master Sergeant stepped on board, as the engines roared to life and each craft's hatch shut and sealed against the void, creating the internal atmosphere most troops relied on until entering orbit. Drop troopers still had their own O2 systems hooked up just in case a stray AA round breached the hull. Once all pilots sounded off ready, Atreides gave the signal to launch the Valkyries, briefing the drop troopers as the first wave of transports shuddered and launched. "Alright ladies and gents, you know the stakes already. The heretics and greenskins want this place, we're here to give 'em a swift kick off world. For that, we need a surface side operations base. We found ourselves a border power plant, chaos held currently, that provides some rather marvelous overview of any approaching foes, be they by land or sometimes air. But they, Emperor willing, won't be looking too far up. We hit 'em from the inside out, set up our defenses, and let the Valkyries bring in heavier automated turrets to take over and our vehicles for further excursions. We jump high, engage the grav chutes low, minimize exposure time. Standard drill, really. Make me proud, Troopers, and let's raise some hell." There wouldn't be a roaring amount of blind bravado and chest pounding, they were all consummate professionals and experts, and some veterans, in their field of warfare. Like his own command squad, men and women were doing final checks on their weapons, from autoguns and hunting rifles to heavy stubbers, lascarbines, and mortars. Atreides own squad carried mostly autoguns, two of the ten regular Troopers carrying las carbines instead of autoguns, his second in command had his hunting rifle, while Atreides still favored his tried and true combat shotgun. The Valkyries were almost in position, the Troopers standing up to prepare to jump, double checking each other's grav chutes one last time. Atreides verified one of the troopers while another checked his own. All good to drop, and as they waited, he could hear vox reports as the first men and women made the jump, but before long, the hatch on the Valkyrie swung open, the high altitude sucking the artificial atmosphere clean out. By twos, each trooper jumped, Master Sergeant Atreides last to leave alongside his squad sniper. Most normal men and women, Guard or not, would find jumping out of their transport more than a handful of feet above ground suicidal, downright insane, or very likely both. Most weren't trained like the 122nd trained its Drop Troopers, however. It was another day jumping into some Chaos controlled hellhole to stick it to the daemon worshiping freaks. Atreides prayed that this border territory didn't have any daemons already summoned, they tended to complicate matters greatly. Even falling at terminal velocity, it took what felt like hours to begin properly zeroing in on their target. Atreides could see weapon fire beginning to spark off from troopers swooping in on grav chutes, unaware and unprepared Chaos heretics being cut down from the furious assault. Hitting the key altitude, Atreides barked his orders. "Troopers, deploy chutes and get to the walls, use the cover against them, Staff Sergeant, any leaders you spot leading the Heretics, put a round through their skull with your rifle. Corporal, cover and spot. The rest will be on me!" Atreides activated his grav chute, slowing his descent rather than trying to arrest it all at once, which was a rookie mistake. They weren't designed for that, but done properly, he was able to coast right onto the power plant outer barrier, wall he called it, and with a roll was on his feet without any ill consequences. Other troopers were landing, and while it literally rained hell on the heretics, Atreides vaulted off the wall and hit the ground running, other troopers following to take advantage of the shocked and disorganized heretic resistance. Atreides counted at least two heretics he personally dropped, buckshot tearing them down like so many targets at the range, and volley's of autogun and lasfire covering the heavy stubbers and grenade launchers as they began pouring fire into the main heretic holding point. Heading up to a vantage point, Atreides grabbed a trooper with one of the long range vox sets along the way, hauling him up to set a temporary communication link with the orbiting 122nd Airborne, opening a shaky communication line to inform Sturmburg of their process, before ordering the Staff Sergeant in charge of the vox to scan for Imperial chatter and patch him through, but until then, he moved down to continue organizing the purge of the power plant. Standing orders for Traitor Marines were simple, withdraw, and if pursued, krak grenade and focused fire on joints and other not heavy armor plated. Eye sockets, mainly, if joints failed. If they didn't pursue, bring up grenade launchers and heavy weapons to saturate the positions before moving in, preempted with krak and frag grenade deployment. Meltas were popular, and many Trooper squads had at least one melta for clearing out Traitor Marines. The operation took barely an hour before the Power Plant was swept from top to bottom, the preliminary sweep at any rate. Located a decent travel time, by ground, away from the nearest bombed out city made it a secure position, but patrols and sentries were to be organized. Marching into the control center of the power plant, which had been converted into a Guard command post, Master Sergeant Atreides began dispatching orders. "I want Drop Section Omega on sentry duty, get the walls manned, heavy weapons set up with overlapping fields of fire. As supply drops arrive, augment as necessary to free up Troopers to reinforce the walls and defenses. Section Zeta, combat engineering, get the walls patched and reinforced, use the drops to help Omega get the defenses in place. And make sure some of it is set up for AA, we don't know the full Chaos air power yet. Or greenskin, for that matter. The rest of you, full resweep of the plant. I don't want any nasty surprises. Foxholes, tunnels, anything suspicious or unusual, investigate after reporting. Vox operator, tear down and set up in the communication building, take your guards with you. Reroute communications here, and let me know if you can raise any of the other Imperials. Move out!"

"What do you mean you don't know who has it? No, it is not a hood ornament. No... no you can't... I swear Gasser if you scratch it up anymore... alright... ok, ok I get it. We will be there in less than 5. Hey, we may be bringing... guests" Domenico put the vox receiver back on rats box. He sighed, he should have expected Gasser's treatment of the weird xenos tech, the man wasn't known for his forethought, but when you needed shit done he did it. Like quickly grabbing a little piece of new xenos tech from another regiment, by any quick and relatively quiet means necessary, of course the Lord space marine didn't need to know that. Domenico made his way over to the captain, "Before I join you in reclaiming any of the titans I have urgent business to attend to. My men picked up some weird xenos tech and inquisitor's orders are to secure it so I'm about to make my way their with a decent chunk of my regiment to bring to a more secure location. You can come with if you wish, but it won't be as glorious as capturing a titan on your first cycle here, but it's important. I'm off in about an hour, gotta mobilize you know? It's up to you." With that Domenico turned and moved to his chimera super truck for last minute systems checks, he was the driver so it was his job. He was certain the space marine would decline his offer, in a way he hoped the captain would, it would give Domenico more breathing room to work the way he did. But space marines were unpredictable, and either way it was gonna be dangerous, Gasser had somehow managed to get pinned down in a crossfire between ork and chaos forces. Once again in the twoend long career together Domenico would be saving his ass, he smiled when he thought about that. "Great yea, 5 hours, I'm sure I'll still be breathing by then" Gasser groaned, putting his own vox man's communicator back on the pack. He looked around at his boys sorry barricade. They were stuck between two vicious battle lines in a tiny ruin surrounded by the units super trucks. While they weren't real good at keeping heavy stuff out if you were in them, standing behind one side was far safer. He had had the xenos... thing dragged to the center, where it was safest. It was so weird, all smooth and shiny and... neat. It reminded him of Tau tech in that respect, but it was just so different. If he had to guess what it was, Gasser had his money on some kind of surveillance bot... or something like that. Another regiment had found it and Gasser... procured it on Domenico's orders. It kept their regiment to valuable to just throw at enemy lines. Gasser sighed and shouldered his plasma gun,it was gonna be a long 5 hours. And the People And orks Shooting At them Weren't gonna kil thrmselves... probably.