@Flamelord- Supreme Grand Master Asrael -
The Rock was in high panic mode, servitors and marines rushing to their duties as ships and weapons alike were made ready for action. From it's position high in orbit, the advanced scanning equipment of the Dark Angels mobile space fortress had been monitoring the events of the peace meeting. While even their technology was unable to give detailed reports without altering their orbit, they would be able to detect any major occurences and interfere in the case of foul play. And given the events of the past few hours, they were none too happy.
Frowning, Asrael stared at the screens full of data as panicked officials and marines shouted reports in his direction. Not that he was usually such a cheerful person, but these events called for had calls. First it appeared that a truly massive ship had appeared, a weapon comparable only to the Great Crusade vessels prepared for personal use by the Primarchs. And even then most paled in comparison. It was a potentially devastating superweapon, and Asrael was tempted to initiate combat maneuvers the moment it appeared. However, Kaldor had not yet requested backup. Asrael didn't like it, but for the moment Kaldor spoke for the Emperor in matters of war, and he had been given express orders not to intervene without direct orders from Kaldor.
"Prepare all battlecruisers, and ready orbital weaponry. I want the chapter ready for war." Asrael's words were calm but resolute, and they stirred the soldiers around him into an even greater frenzy of activity. He would be ready for anything. And when two Goa'Uld combat craft moved into the forbidden zone, he was inches from ordering an all-out attack. It was conceivable that even an individual of Kaldor's strength had been overwhelmed in combat, but it didn't appear that weapons were being discharged. Some kind of standoff had ensued, and he still didn't have any orders from the 'Commander General'. Grimacing, Asrael waited for events to play out, occasionally giving orders to prepare specific ships or companies for combat.
Eventually, massive weapons discharge was discovered. Asrael stood, about to order an assault, when reports began flooding in of a new opponent appearing. It appeared that it was not one of the local Xenos that had broken the peace, but the Tyranid, an ancient and dangerous foe from the home universe of the Empire. This was bad news. Asrael had faced these creatures more than once in his efforts to stop the Tyranid hive fleets from devouring the galaxy, and no victory had been 'easy'. Any victory of such creatures was Pyrrhic at best. Weapons were prepared, but an orbital strike would also eliminate the xenos leaders. And if these truly were Tyranid, then they would all need to work together in order to repel this threat. That's when his 'orders' finally came.
'Tyranid threat detected, secure ocean perimeter, sweep sector for hive ships.'
It appeared Kaldor lived after all. Asrael might have issues with working under the command of an outsider, but he recognised sensible orders when he saw them, and immediately relayed the relevant commands. They would scour the skies for any hive ships, and ensure they did not spread. The greatest threat of a Tyranid attack was their ability to 'infect' entire worlds, making them completely uninhabitable even as the very terrain was devoured by great devourer swarms. If left unconctrolled, the Tyranid army could double in size less than a week after arrival, a devastating prospect to face.
Borders to other faction lands could not be controlled without breaking peace agreements, so Asrael merely sent them information pertaining to the potential spread of Tyranid organisms, and the mutagenic effect they could have on local fauna and flora. A proper guard would need to be maintained to ensure they didn't spread, and if any one faction were to fail in this duty, all would pay the cost of their negligence. Meanwhile the Imperium deployed several light cruiser vehicles and elimination squads with the goal of destroying any large groups of fauna or flora bordering on the ocean. Thunderhawks carried servitors and supplies, allowing for the rapid construction of auger sentry posts. While it was impossible to wall off an entire ocean, posts such as these could scan large areas for life-forms and inform the fleet of any Tyranid expansion. A fleet could then be dispatched to deal with them before they were able to retrieve any biomass, and in the process damage the main hive.
Of course, such efforts would be completely useless if the hiveships themselves were able to move around unchecked. If a full hive fleet was encroaching, then they could do no more than evacuate and exterminatus the planet before moving to another location, hoping the Tyranid wouldn't be able to track them to the next solar system. However, perhaps even more worrying, there wasn't a single sign of a Tyranid invasion in the skies. No small precursor infection ships, no great fleets, or even space-borne organisms of any kind. Space was as empty and desolate as it appeared. And despite heavy Auger and Astropath scanning of practically everything in the sector, no hidden force revealed itself. Tyranids were not ones for stealth, or at least the fleets themselves weren't, relying on their speed and nigh unstoppable force to take planets, as well as the inability to track their interstellar travel, which was still a mystery to the Empire.
In the course of such scanning, however, something interesting popped up on the radar. Even as Asrael coordinated countermeasures to the confirmed xenos ground forces, a lone official gave him a rather odd report. A warp jump had been detected, of unknown type. The vehicle had been heavily cloaked, and even the Rock's scanning devices weren't able to pierce it. But war- and hyperdrives of all kinds left telltale traces which could be picked up by the Rock's delicate sensory equipment. But if they hadn't been on high alert, they might not even have picked it up.
It was possible that this was a Tyranid ship, moving to a different world. Perhaps attempting to devour that world to construct a new hive vessel, and then to return to this world with a new army. Or perhaps it was a newly constructed ship, sent out to regain contact with the main hive fleet, and to bring them to this world. The Tyranid method of movement left no traces, however, and as such the chances of this being a Tyranid vessel were low. Potentially worse, however, would be a xenos vessel infected with the Genestealer Gene, unknowing pawns of the hive mind, ready to lead their civilisation into chaos. And even if this somehow had no relevance to the Tyranid whatsoever it was a potential threat, which could not be ignored.
"Trace the jump, I want to know where they went, when, and the size of the warping force." He gestured to several trusted tech priests, who immediately began analysing and configuring the data, even while others attempted to acquire additional information. Turning towards one of his many subcommanders, he issued his next orders. "I want the Fist of Heaven and the Devastation prepared for combat. The Fist of Heaven will remain in our hangars, the Devastation will be deployed. No escorts. I want a full company of marines on that ship, in additional to a full complement of servitors." It was a large orders. The chapter was hardly in any shape to deploy in such numbers, and nowadays every ship was a commodity. The Empire fleet was small in number, but they made up for it in individual quality. And one ship would be more than enough to deal with any threat that might be present, besides an actual Hive Fleet.
As the Devastation emerged from the Rock's hangar, it was a glorious sight indeed. At the front was a massive adamantine plate, presenting the imagery of a massive battleram, and absorbing frontal attacks. Beneath this wall of metal was a massive energy lance weapon, for long-ranged frontal assault. Along the sides of these frontal compartments stoof rows upon rows of high-powered macro canons, weapons that are to bolters what cruise missiles are to hand grenades. Hundreds of these guns could rip through enemy ships in mere moments, firing shells the size of cars at high speed. On top of it's large, cathedral-like design sat a massive Nova Canon, followed by it's brother a couple of hundred meters behind and placed slightly higher. These immense weapons of mass destruction had barrels nearly 100m long, and their long-range combat potential was practically unmatched. Behind these two canons sat a castle-like construction that functioned as a sensory array and communications terminal. More interestingly was what lay beneath the Nova Canons, in the middle of the ship. There sat the immense combat hangars of the Mars-Class Battle Cruiser, filled to the brim with fighter craft. These smaller ships were still terrifyingly capable, deployed to harass enemy ships after the heavier weapons disabled the enemy's shields, as well as fending off enemy fighter squadrons. Behind the hangar bay lay a large series of weapon cannons, reserved mainly for the heavy-duty massive energy canons that formed the secondary block of main ship combat weaponry, together with the macro canons. The two groups firing together formed a broadside that could wipe out entire fleets of lesser ships. This was also where the Torpedo Launch Tubes were located, allowing the ship to bring it's many specialist torpedoes to bear against slow-moving distant targets, in addition to deploying a special variety of drop pod intended to pierce enemy armour and deploy squads of armed space marines inside. Far below, mounted on what almost appeared to be a dorsal fin, were laser-based Lance weapons, firing a high-powered but highly concentrated burst of energy intended to melt through enemy armour and disable crucial systems. These weapons might not be as effective against Void Shields as the sheer barrage force of the main weapon banks, but they would turn armour to mush, and could cripple enemy ships with their focused bursts.
All in all, the Devastation numbered a crew of 100.000 servitors, not including the odd 100 Space Marines, tanks and war machines the ship carried into battle. This was necessary, considering the ship's impressive length at 5.4 km, a size comparable to the Anubis Mothership employed by the Goa'Uld. Compared to the power of this Battle Cruiser, practically any other galactic navy fell short. But it was also it's size and power that formed it's main disadvantage - scarcity. Even before their relocation to Arcadia ships of such calibre had been scarce, but now they were impossibly rare, and a logistical nightmare to deploy in bulk. Only about five had made their way to Arcadia at all, and the Rock lacked the sheer manpower to deploy them all. Regardless, the fact that such a weapon had been deployed would certainly garner some attention from any other factions watching the skies.
Purple energies gathered around the ship as a massive portal seemed to form in front of it. The cruiser sailed into the purple storm, geller fields fully active as it temporarily dropped into the Warp. It would use a short hop through this nightmarish realm to follow the Goa'Uld ship, using it's space-altering properties to 'skip' the conventional direct route. While this was slightly slower than the Goa'Uld's more practical warp drive, they wouldn't have much time before they discovered this ship emerging wherever they had chosen to move, potentially guns blazing.
