<span class="bbc_u"><strong>Imperial Palace, Planet Brunen</strong></span><br/><br/>Normally a quite place of introspection and serenity, Cardinal Momka' (http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs50/i/2009/293/0/7/Imperial_Priest_by_TuShan.jpg)s palace, for the last two months, had been fortified, garrisoned, armed, and otherwise transformed into a fortress suitable for serving as the central command center of the upcoming war against the soon to arrive Orks. In his main chamber Momka stood alongside the commanding officers of both Brunen and Tango Urilla's planetary defense forces, the commander of The Unrelenting Vigilance (http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/0/08/RamiliesClassStarFort.JPG), representatives of the system's Tech-Magos, and the system's Adeptus Arbites commander Judge Marecellmo. Each of the men and women present in the room had played a pivotal role in the system's preparation for war and would undoubtedly play a further role in its defense and eventual salvation. Briefings such as the one going on had become almost common place, occurring no less than twice a week to insure that information and updates were readily available and would mostly likely continue up until the Orks projected arrival roughly a month from now.<br/><br/>Today's brief was primarily focused on the expected arrival of the crusade forces dispatched to bolster the system's defenses. It was generally agreed that the best course of action would be to destroy as much of the invading force in space as possible. With the presence of The Unrelenting Vigilance in orbit the crusade's fleet could be deployed in defense of Tango Urilla. This would ideally allow for the destruction of the majority of Ork landing craft before they entered the atmosphere of either planet.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Deep in the bowls of Momka's palace a lone adept, Stanley Tweedle, sat at his desk, preforming his daily task with the same lack of interest and focus that had marked his less than stellar 'life' since the very first day he had begun his occupation. He had spent the entirety of his life within the walls of the palace, each day wasted scanning the readouts of the system's sensors. Searching for any signs of the unannounced, unexpected, or unwanted. There had never been any such arrivals and after so many years of tedious work he cared not for anything that occurred outside of his direct existence. So it was with some surprise that he saw a red light, that he hadn't even been sure worked in the first place, begin to flash on his console.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>It had taken all of 20 minutes for the situation to come to the notice of someone who had the authority to issue a real order, another 10 to confirm that the situation was real, 10 more to issue the order, and 2 to dispatch a runner to inform the Cardinal. All in all no less than 42 minutes passed between the time that Stanly had noticed the situation unfolding and the time that a single runner burst into the Cardinal's chambers out of breath and red of face. The young boy, only 16 years of age, knew the importance of the message he carried and had run as fast as he could to deliver it. As soon as he entered the chambers he quickly took a knee and held up the datascroll<br/><br/>"Begging your pardon" he said, still gasping for breath between each sentence "An urgent message from the sensorium." Soft snickers could be heard from many of the people in the room, each one knew well that the boy was probably terrified out of his mind at interrupting the proceedings of those who could decide his fate without any effort at all. Cardinal Momka allowed the snickers to continue without comment and took the scroll from the boy's hands "You may go" he said with a smile, and without paying the boy a second thought....But as he read what the scroll contained the smile died on his lips, his skin paled, and his hands began to tremble ever so slightly.<br/><br/>Judge Marecellmo noticed the change in the Cardinal almost instantly "Is something wrong your grace?" he asked.<br/><br/>In a voice filled with fear the Cardinal responded "Ork ships have been detected entering the system, nearly an hour ago." no sooner had the words left his lips then were the officers present already pulling out voxwands, and other communication devices. Attempting urgently to raise the alert before it was too late. "Their current course and speed will put them within attack range within the next hour."<br/><br/>The was no adjuring of the brief, or orders to prepare defenses as both things were obvious and simply a waste of precious time at this juncture. Within moments Cardinal Momka was alone in his quarters. On shaking legs he approached the room's balcony and looked out at the sprawling city below him. Warning sirens were already beginning to blare across the capital and no doubt would be doing so all across the planet within minutes. Against this backdrop of noise the Cardinal slowly looked to the sky as if he'd be able to see the approaching Ork fleet.<br/><br/><em>How could they have arrived so early?!?</em>....."God-Emperor help us all" he whispered under his breath.<br/><br/><hr/><strong><span class="bbc_u">Somewhere in the Brunen system; The Intrepid Crusade,<br/> The Retribution Class Battleship <em>Divine Light</em>, The Strike Cruiser <em>Swift Blade </em></span></strong><br/><br/>The perfect stillness of space was instantaneously shattered as a hole in the very fabric of reality ripped open. On one side of the hole in reality stood the darkness of space, on the other the swirling mass of colors, horrors, and chaos that is the warp. Emerging from this whirlpool were the ships of the Intrepid Crusade.<br/><br/>On the bridge of the Crusade's Flagship<em>Divine Light</em>, General Bracker stood alongside Inquisitor Metalus and awaited communication with the Imperial Swords Captain Batiatus aboard the<em>Swift Blade</em>. As soon as communications came back online the image of Captain Batiatus appeared on a small holo-projector. "It pleases me to see that you and your ship made the journey safely" General Backer said "We will need your-"<br/><br/>"Sir! Urgent message from the system commander" The ship's communications officer called out, interrupting the formalities. A second later the message played.<br/><br/>".....under attack by Orks! I repeat this is The Unrelenting Vigilance to all Imperial forces. The Orks have arrived earlier than expected. We have been boarded! And the system is under attack by Orks!.....If any Imperial forces can hear this we require assistance immediately!"<br/><br/>"Issue orders to the fleet, assume attack formation and make best speed for The Unrelenting Vigilance. Order all regiments to prepare for battle, and someone get us communication with the starfort's commander!"<br/><br/><hr/><br/><br/>The transit time from the Crusade Fleet's point of entry into the system to the range at which the first elements of it's attack were launched was roughly one hour. In that time plans were made, soldiers armed, objectives given, and final preparations made.<br/><br/>As the formation of Imperial warships closed with the already ensuing space battle they were able to see first hand what the situation was. The Ork Waaagh's vanguard fleet had already begun it's attack on the system. The first wave of the attack had consisted of three roks attempting to land on Tango Urilla and a further three trying for planetfall on Brunen. Without the protection of a spacefort or the guns of the crusade fleet to protect Tango Urilla all three of the roks had already 'landed' and the planet's PDF forces fighting a desperate battle to hold back the seemingly limitless waves of Orks spewing from within the roks. Brunen had managed to fair better.<em>The Unrelenting Vigilance's</em>presence in orbit had shielded the planet from the incoming Ork landings. With the first rok, which had tried to go for a straight shot to the planet obliterated by bombardment cannons and lance batteries as soon as it entered range. The second rok, which had attempted to go around the spacefort was finished by a massive torpedo attack at extreme range, but for what ever reason the final rok had moved faster than it's fellows and on a course that took it dangerously close to the spacefort. As it had passed by<em>The Unrelenting Vigilance</em>it had detonated in a massive explosion which had blown out the void shield arrays protecting quadrant 3, leaving this portion of the station vulnerable to boarding actions.<br/><br/>An Ork Kill Kroozer and it's escort ships had moved in to take advantage of the situation, dispatching large numbers of Ork boarding parties. While the escorts had been easily destroyed at close range in the following minutes,  the Kill Kroozer was proving to be a more difficult foe. It was using its overpowered engines to maintain a range so close to the station that destroying it would risk extreme damage to quadrant 3 from the ensuing explosion. And so it was decided that the Imperial Guard would be dispatched to bolster the stations defenders and turn the tide of the battle for the station itself. While the Space Marines would launch a boarding action against the Kill Kroozer.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u">Unnamed Troop Transport</span></strong><br/><br/>When the Imperial Guard does anything it does it in bulk, the same is true for the transport of it's men. The lander that the members of 3rd Platoon, all 10 squads of 3rd Platoon, found themselves in was merely one of several hundred other ships all traveling at breakneck speed towards the landing bay nearest the battle lines that had formed within<em>The Unrelenting Vigilance</em>. The interior of the craft was a ruckus of noise, the softly uttered prayers of green troopers, the muttered jokes of veterans, and above all the priests, the only men allowed to stand at this point due to the inherent risks if the ship were to crash, walked up and down the isles between the rows of seats chanting blessings of battle and preaching of The Emperor's glory and the honor in death defending his realm.<br/><br/>The interior of the craft jarred roughly for a reason that no one inside the troop area could know. The pilot saw no reason to inform the troopers that the transport directly next to theirs had just been shot down. At the front of the landing craft Lt. Devri, the platoon officer, was seated next to his standard bearer and the rest of his command squad. He knew that all of his squad leaders knew their objectives....now it was simply a matter of waiting, then fighting, and hopefully surviving.<br/><br/>Sgt. Jenkins was the newly promoted squad leader of 5th squad, next to him was Commissar Glanville and across from him Guardsman Condis his squad's voxman. "when we hit I need you to stay close" he said to Condis, raising his voice to be heard over the din of noise in the transport "And make sure you don't get shot."<br/><br/>"Landing in 3 minutes!" the voice of the pilot blared of the lander's internal speakers.<br/><br/><hr/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Valkyrie 315</strong></span><br/><br/>The Valkyrie carrying 8th squad roared past the slower moving troop landers, along with several of it's sister craft in a tight formation. Captain Alonzo knew he didn't need to tell any of his squad members what their job was, nor did he need to offer any words of encouragement. He had absolute confidence that they would all get the job done...or die trying. They were to drop ahead of the main force, secure the L.Z., and then assist in pushing back the Orks. It would be a hot L.Z. with Ork warriors having managed to push their way into the landing bays already. A red light on the interior wall of the Valkyrie came to life signaling that there was roughly a minute until they hit the drop zone.<br/><br/>40 seconds later the doors on either side of the ship slid open automatically, they were inside the landing bay and within the stations artificial atmosphere. Captain Alonzo was up on his feet "10 Seconds!" he shouted, motioning his men to the doors. "Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Drop!"<br/><br/>As the members of 8th squad, and their fellow stormtrooper squads from all over the regiment, dropped onto the Ork held position Ork warriors below them looked upwards and opened fire!<br/><br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u">Boarding Torpedoes, Launched from the strike cruiser <em>Swift</em> </span></strong><br/><br/>A full spread of boarding torpedoes had been launched by the<em>Swift</em>, these devices were of an ancient design. Pre-dating even the Great Crusade. Many chapters had phased them out in favor of the newer ship to ship drop pods. But the Imperial Swords' combat doctrines favored them due to their greater speed and smaller target profile. Two advantages that their occasional lack of accuracy more than made up for.<br/><br/>The torpedoes were currently rocketing on their way to their target, the Ork Kill Kroozer. The space marines had  two primary objectives, the ship's bridge and it's engine room. Taking these locations would allow for control of the ship, the overloading of it's engines, and the eventual cleansing of its crew<br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u">Bridge of  The Retribution Class Battleship <em>Divine Light</em> </span></strong>.<br/><br/>As the counter attack began General Bracker looked over at the Inquisitor, he wasn't sure what to make of him or his retinue. He was no fool and knew that any force this large would need to be watched over by a member of the Inquisition but it didn't make his presence any less foreboding...many a general had found their lives and carriers cut short due to an Inquisitor finding something in their faith 'lacking.'<br/><br/>"Excuse me my Lords" the ship's captain said smartly, "We lost contact with the secondary generatorium. We currently have our arms-men committed to either our at their defensive positions. Pulling back one of the teams would leave the ship in a high level of risk should we be boarded....there have been no alarms from the secondary generatorium and I request permission to place it as a secondary priority."