[h2][center]Zeta Mining Complex Council room[/center][/h2]

Sergeant Marius marched into the central council room first. He and his men took their positions arounf the massive holo-table that dominated its center. He growled as he stood, looking  at the fleet in orbit, the Imperium had rolled out in force. The Vanguard was dangerous indeed, luckily they were on the defense here, and if his guess was correct they would not be able to bring the fleet or their heaviest weapons to bear. And now, it was time to wait for his fellow 'commanders'.

Brigadier General Garroway took her place at the holo-table with trepidation, feeling the Space Marine's presence be felt even if his focus was upon the formations depicted on the arcane display of images and symbols suspended in mid-air. Unwilling to let weakness define her, she instead turned to her aide for a pre-loaded dataslate listing her army's assets and what they could contribute. She stood awaiting her God's commands, to be fulfilled to the best of Fallum's ability.

Finally there was Master Vanassa, her body standing stoic, and still before the table arms crossed over her stomach. Glowing blue ocular lenses turned to take in those others that had assembled. "I believe we are all in attendence Astartes, perhaps you would wish to discuss directives at this time." Behind her stood a Enginseer that was tapping his fingers across a dataslate to input any new directives the Astartes might give during the meeting. 

Marius looked at the two other commanders, a Skitarri and a Militia guard General. With his helmet on, they could not see his resting glare as he began to speak. "We are the first line of defense for the Union. This is the first Planet under their attack and with our zeeal this may be the [i]only[i/] one. We have several advantages our opponents do not. For instance,", he pointed at the only hangar they had not collapsed out of necessity, "They [i]will[/i] attack here. The Administratum will not risk the destruction or heavy damaging of this facility, as it is unique. Their fleet will not be able to bring their power to bear, and our enemies will be funneled right here.", he jabbed a finger at the hangar before looking back up to his fellow commanders, "Input as to our strategy?"


Garroway mentally mused on the scene of the fight to come. No flanks, one (very big) way for enemies to come in, and orders to limit collateral damage on this grand facility. Even her militia could handle this. "The 7th Harvest Guard can form the main line of defense. We could assemble a temporary wall or line of fortifications in the hanger, form a three-layered gun line they would have to overcome. If we have time to lay down tank spikes and barricades, we could funnel armor down paths of our chosing. Though how resiliant our defense is may depend on weight of heavier weapons than just my militia's. Can our other forces provide extra heavy support?"

The Skitarii looked to the Enginseer who nodded a bit, a strange series of beeping, and clicks passing between them. Vanassa turned her head back to Garroway, and Marius and begin to speak in a synthesized vibrating tone. "We believe it would be best to set up Servitors as front gunlines, rather than sacrificing the Harvest Guard in their stead. The Servitors would be more than up for the task of holding them down, while we also set up turrets, and perhaps any other defensive machinations you have at your disposal. Also we would suggest local Guard to bolter the frontline defenses. While down the passages we set a series of squads to slow the enemy forces considerably. Allowing them to fall back, and join up with other squads." 

Marius nodded curtly, at least these humans were competent. "Good. We will do what the Skitarii suggest. Garroway, your troops will reinforce the line where needed and man what complex defences that are not manned by servitors. Me and my squad will assault key enemy positions as they set up, as well as sow fear and terror amongst their lines. However,", he pointed at the center of the mining complex, "If we fail, all of you, and your soldiers will re-take the hangar and escape. My squad and I will make our way to the base and planets core, and detonate it. This will insure the Imperium does not recieve the resources here and that we lose as few men and resources as possible. Objections? Additions?", he was extremely curt... possibly rude.

"If we are planning a more interior defense, perhaps it would be best to utilize the mechanized forces I have as a interior reserve." Garroway suggested. "Otherwise, I have nothing more to add My Lord. The Harvest Guard will serve to the best of it's ability." This plan was straightforward in her opinion, but such was the nature of defense as described in the Tactica, relying upon the enemy to make mistakes and to make few oneself.

The Skitarii tapped a finger on the edge of the holotable listening to the two speak, the enginseer speaking in binary in her ear. She gave a few clicks, and beeps back before once more speaking out among the leaders. "While the plan is sound, there are a few things I would think should be changed." She took the dataslate from the enginseer fingers scrambling across the surface as the map pulled up zooming in on the Hangar. "I would suggest that we set up traps in the hangar that would disrupt any vehicles they might bring to bear, but would not upset our own means of escape. Mines perhaps. They should be sufficient in stalling them for a moment's time. Now Another problem would be if they disabled our own ships. We need another exit." She pulls up a small small exhaust port. "This port is large enough for three average sized humanoids to move through side by side, and a single Astartes. We could utilize this as an escape route for important personel in the case of a loss of the hangar so severe we could not make use of it." She finally zooms in on the core. "I also suggest that we do not utilize such High end assets as yourselves Astartes for detonating the Core, rather that we assign a squad of the Harvest Guard to stand prepared for a signal to detonate the core. The squad would be a more acceptable casuality than Astartes." 

Marius stared at the Skitarii for what may be considered an unhealthy length of time before responding, "I apologize to the General Garroway, but I do not believe ordinary militia have the resolve required to end their lives in the core of this world. However, to appease you, one marine will remain back no matter what. Brother Arakis", a marine with his jump-pack and a bolter stepped forward, "Will retreat through this port with you and the humans. The rest of my remaining squad will remain to detonate the core.", Brother Arakis nodded at his sergeant. The sergeant then turned back to his allies, "Now-"

Master Vanassa clicked several times and held up a hand. "The flaw is still there. The Astartes assets are of the upmost importance, my Magos has given a underlying directive to ensure the survival of as many of the Astartes as possible. Therefore I will assign a squad of hyspassists to the core to detonate it as their primary objective should our defenses fail. Will this appease you? They will stand even more resolute than anyone else I believe as their directives will not falter."

Again, Marius stared at the Skitarii for an [i]uncomfortable[/i] length of time... like he was sizing her up... or imagining her dead, "This will appease me then. Your squad of hyspassists will detonate the core if we fail. [i]Now[/i], General Garroway, I understand you have data on what forces of the dying Imperium we will be facing?"

Garroway scowled at the presumption of the cyborg, questioning the will of a living God. Focusing more on the task at hand, she turned to her dataslate to bring up the profiles she had on the enemy. "According to a grain merchant that happened to slip upon their logistics manifests, we are facing at a minimum a Penal legion, a armored regiment called the 23rd Perdition Armored, the 14th Vultis Bloodborne drop regiment, and a company of enemy space marines from the Black Banshees. While their regiments are smaller than our field armies, they are either high-strength or have considerable supply reserves for a prolonged campaign, so twenty to thirty thousand troops at a minimum. Unfortunately, the primary manifest for the unholy marines was not in the trader's access, but his contacts said there was a single Astartes vessel among them."

Marius tore his gaze away from the Skitarii to nod at Garroway, "We are heavily outnumbered, as expected. Regardless we know where they will be coming from and we have our plan. Me and my squad will engage the Space Marines where we must.", he stood up from leaning on the table and made the Union salute to the other Genrals, saying, "For the Union.", before turning on his heel and lleaving the room followed by his men.

Master Vanassa turned towards the Enginseer, and began tapping her fingers on the dataslate as they discussed who was going where. "General Garroway, if you would like to join in the discussion I will gladly put what we are putting on the dataslate upon the hologram so you are not left out... I would suggest not standing too close to me as I do not believe your body would be capable of handling my radiation output."

"Thats not all she's outputting." Grumbled Kaltin, earning a sharp elbow from Garroway as she tapped the runes needed to allow the dataslate's cogiators to accept the tech-priest's connections.

"We need to consider ways to safely extract from this base if it does come to having to evacuate." Garroway said, suppressing her own sympathy for her XO's words as she reviewed the display. "The enemy holds orbit and our ships will need time to arrive. Perhaps we should relocate all the shuttles we have to someplace outside the base perimeter to ensure they are intact when needed."

"Ah yes I was going to suggest just that General. Though I would not relocate all the shuttles as there will not be the possibility of all Troops being able to escape. We should howerever place two shuttles near the exhaust port where we can extract Important Persons and officers, such as yourself, me, and the Astartes. The rest of the shuttles would have to remain in the hangar, should they be destroyed, and should we have to leave the mining complex all other troops would be considered acceptable losses once detonating the core."

"Acceptable losses? Servitors may be replacable, human troops are less so. Our Lords have decreed our evacuation should the most dire scenario occur. We must be ready for a prolonged campaign, senseless expenditure of lives when the task can already be completed without their loss would be counterproductive. Furthermore, if the facility is kept, the cargo shuttles there will be critical for production after battle." Respect for the land crawlers of home equally applied to the shuttles used here, for they both served humble yet critical purposes.

Master Vanassa seemed to have to stop, and compute for a moment. "The vast amount of troops that would need to pass through the exhaust port would be incredible. The evacuation of every troop would be very improbable, and likely cause the shuttles stationed by the exhaust port to be in the most grievous danger if they were all stationed there. 

"Any more danger than being left in the line of fire should they remain in the hanger and in the gunsights of invading Imperial troops?"