Ch 1: Countdown to war

It is the dawn of the 42nd Millennium and the Imperium of Man is in a constant state of war. All across the galaxy, humans do battle with aliens and traitors. The defense of the Imperium lies in the hands of the billions of Imperial Guardsmen and the mighty Space Marines. They represent the last line of defenses the Imperium has against the galaxy. Everywhere, worlds trembled under the feet of millions.

Yet deep in the Segmentum Pacifica, a single world sits in peace. This world, known as Taresk, was originally a human colony, however its people broke away from the Imperium and ended all communications with Terra. Shortly after the Horus Heresy, an Eldar Craftworld crashed on Taresk. When the two sides first made contact, they initially distrusted each other. Both sides chose to keep to themselves and not interact with one another. Over time however, they eventually grew closer. Later, in the 38th Millennium, a Tau exploration fleet arrived on Taresk. The Humans and Eldar greeted them and allowed them to stay a short period of time. But like the Eldar, the Tau integrated into the planets society. So by the 41st Millennium there were 3 major species on Taresk.

006.M42 Taresk Military base

David Simmons bolted out of his bunk as the platoon Sergeant burst into the barracks. Simmons and his bunk-mate then moved to the foot of their bunk. As soon as the entire platoon was up, the XO gave his daily dose of shouting.

"You slugs need to speed things up! If this was an actual attack, the enemy would be half way to the capital by the time you all got you kits together!"

Simmons's bunk-mate, Private Jones then whispered "And as soon as they see me, they'll be heading for the hills."

Several soldiers nearby snickered at this and the Sergeant, who had also heard, said "That's right, make jokes and laugh while you, 'cause when an invasion starts, you'll all be huddled in a corner cryin' for your mamas."

Another soldier named Private Michells then asked "Sir who would want to attack us?"

The Sergeant turned to face Michells and said "Well, for one, the Imperium."

Most of the troops scoffed at this since many of the Humans on Taresk believed that the Imperium was nothing more than an old legend. What no one on Taresk knew was that the Imperium had taken a sudden interest in the Segmentum Pacifica, and that the Inquisition was massing a force to "explore" it.

Segmentum Solaris

At the very edge of the Segmentum Solaris, the Inquisition was gathering a large fleet. Hundreds of Imperial Navy ships prepared to ferry hundreds of millions of Imperial Guardsmen into the Segmentum Pacifica. In another part of the fleet, Strike Cruisers and other smaller Space Marine ships from a dozen different Chapters waited for the order to move out.

Sitting in the middle of the fleet was the Inquisition's flagship, the Emperor-class battleship Flames of Purity. On the bridge, Inquisitor Maleck surveyed the gathering fleet. The Lord Inquisitors of the Ordo Hereticus and Ordo Xenos had ordered him to lead this fleet to "cleanse" Taresk.

The Inquisition had discovered Taresk when an Inquisitor was browsing through the Inquisitorial Archives. Now dozens of ships waited to enter Warp.

Suddenly, a Warp portal opened and a Space Marines Battle Barge appeared. It then proceeded to the Space Marine rally point Maleck turned to a crewman of the Purity and said "Enlarge the image of that Battle Barge. Specifically it's Chapter emblem." Once the image was enlarged, Maleck was mildly surprised to see the color scheme and emblem of the Ash Dragons.

At that moment another Battle Barge entered the fleet. This one bore the emblem of the Luna Wolves. The Luna Wolves Chapter was formed in the late 36th Millennium. They were a remnant of a loyalist group of their legion, the Sons of Horus, who had been fighting an Ork force in the Ultima Segmentum when the Istavaan IV Massacre occurred. They had retaken their legions old name and now served the Imperium.

Suddenly, Maleck sensed a psychic presence behind him. Without turning from the view screen, Maleck said "It's about time you got here, Xeno merc." The entire bridge crew looked at the Inquisitor, wondering who or what he was talking to. Suddenly, a figure faded into existence behind the Inquisitor. Several of the greener crewmen immediately attempted to draw their side arms. Maleck immediately held up his hand and those drawing their weapons stopped. The figure pulled back his hood and the bridge gave a collective gasp as they realized he was a Dark Eldar. The crewman who had half drawn their weapons resumed this action until Maleck raised his hand to stop them again until Maleck raised his hand to stop them again.

The Dark Eldar then responded to the Inquisitor's statement by saying in a menacing tone "Its Eldenn, Inquisitor."

"I don't care if you're a High Lord or a reincarnated Primearch." Maleck replied darkly. Several crewmen immediately took a step back to put a little distance between themselves and the Inquisitor.

Eldenn sighed and said "Whatever you say, Inquisitor. So what is it you want me to do?"

"I'll explain your job and payment when we get to Taresk." Maleck replied. He then turned to a crewman and said "Report. What is the status of the fleet?"

"All ships are ready and accounted for, my lord."

"Excellent," Maleck said "engage Warp drive."

"Yes sir."

The Imperial fleet immediately activated their Warp drives and transitioned into the Warp.

Eye of Terror

Deep in the Eye of Terror, Dagoth Kel, Lord of Daedra Legion Warband, was planning his next Black Crusade into th. This time he had set his sights on the Segmentum Pacifica. All that was left was to convince some gullible fools into opening a Warp gate, and a planet to start from.

As Dagoth scanned a map of the Segmentum Pacifica, his eyes fell on the planet Taresk. He immediately ordered a Cultist to bring him all information on Taresk. When Dagoth read the information, a sadistic grin slowly spread across his face. Soon, he was laughing manically.

"This is just perfect! They won't even know what hit them until it's too late! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

The Cultist then said "Excellent plan, my lord. It is flawless."

Dagoth, stopped laughing, turned to look at the Cultist, and said "Excuse me?"

M…my apologies, my lord. I merely thought you were speaking to me. I assure you it will not happen agai…"

The Cultist was unable to finish his sentence. In an instant, Dagoth hand shot out and crushed the Cultist's head.

"That's right, you won't." Dagoth growled. He then threw the corpse across the room. The former Cultist slammed against the wall with a sickening squelch. Turning to another cultist, Dagoth said "Tell the Sorcerers to report to me immediately."

Ultima Segmentum

On the edge of the Ultima Segmentum, Waagh! BuzzZaw prepared to invade Taresk. Warboss BuzzZaw had been told of this world by an Eldar prisoner, but only after a series of excruciating torture session. The Warboss was currently sitting on his Trukk watching his boyz preparing for the Waagh!

Unknown location

At the same time, a Tyranid splinter fleet approached Taresk. This splinter fleet was in reality comprised of three Hive Fleets rolled into one. On the lead ship a Hive Tyrant stood in the midst of several Hive Guards. The Tyrant gave a Tyranid equivalent of a grin as it thought of all the bio-mass on Tarek. These thoughts were transmitted throughout the entire splinter fleet, causing many bio-forms to stir restlessly. Soon, the feeding would begin.

Taresk

As these mighty forces prepared to descend upon Taresk, an archeologist and his assistants were excavating a cavern for relics from the pre-Eldar period of Taresk's history. The archeologist was an Eldar from the time of the Tau's arrival.

Suddenly, the floor gave way beneath him, causing him to fall. As he fell, his light reflected off of something metallic. Before he could see it the light smashed on the ground. The assistants were soon huddled around the newly formed hole. One said "Sir, are you alright?"

Yes, I'm fine," the archeologist replied "could one of you hand down a light?"

Instead of handing down a light, one of the group dropped down into the hole.

"I guess that works too. Now if you could point you light over there." The archeologist said, pointing to where he saw the flash.

The light fell upon a metal skeleton lying on the ground. The archeologist immediately stiffened at the sight.

"Necrontyr." He whispered in horror.

Suddenly, the skeleton moved. It stood up, raised a green weapon and fired. The last thing the archeologist saw and heard was a flash of green and a scream. Then everything went black.

The first chapter in what will hopefully be a great story. Read and review.

The last scene was base off of a scene from the book Dawn of War: Tempest

Warhammer 40000 belongs to Games-Workshop.

I only own Inquisitor Maleck, Taresk soldiers, Taresk, Waagh! BuzzZaw, and the Ash Dragons.

Eldenn belongs to my brother.

1/23/13

Hello readers. Sorry for the long delay however I won't be able to update for a while because the next chapter is on my laptop which is at my granparents house and I don't know when I will be visiting them again.

Now about the edit. I've been doing some thinking recently and I realized that Abaddon would not be able to launch a 14th Black Crusade for two reasons. 1) Since the story takes place in the first decade of the 42nd Millenium, he would still be bogged down with the 13th Black Crusade and 2) Even if he wasn't it would take a long time to gather a large force. So naturally I had to replace him. His replacement, Dagoth Kel, is the Chaos lord for my younger brothers Chaos Space Marine army.

For you Elder Scrolls fans, yes I know that Dagoth Kel is the name of one of the Daedric gods. Thats because my brother is a big fan of the Elder Scrolls series. So he naturally thought that a Chaos Marine army named after the Daedra was a good idea.

If you have any questions please ask them.

Read and review. Thats an order.