Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40,000 nor do I own the Dawn of War series. Games Workshop owns the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and Relic Entertainment and THQ own the Dawn of War series. Enjoy the story.

Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander stood at the edge of a cliff, looking over his forces occupying Victory Bay. He knew his orders from Segmentum Command, but he also knew of a rather... different adversary he was to face on Kronus: the Blood Ravens. Space Marines. The Emperor's Fist; the Emperor's Finest. He still could not believe what had happened only a few days ago, when the two Imperial forces had met in the neutral ground between Victory Bay and North Vandea.

Three Days Earlier...

"Governor Alexander, I will say this once, and once only," Brother-Captain Davian Thule wore a face radiating displeasure, though this was not uncommon for any Space Marine, "You must leave Kronus. Take your forces elsewhere. I'm sure the Imperial Guard is needed on some other world. Reports are coming in from the Kaurava system about more insurrections, and I am sure the Sisters of Battle would appreciate your help."

"For the last time, Brother-Captain, I will not stand down," Alexander stood several inches shorter than the bulky Space Marine, but somehow seemed intimidating as he looked up at Thule, "My men and I have our orders from Segmentum Command. I am offering to support your forces with your relic missive so long as you allow the Imperial Guard to occupy Kronus after this is all over. Once again, will you accept this deal?"

Thule, sensing he could not sway the Governor-Militant on the matter, shook his head and muttered quietly, "Very well, Alexander. You have sealed your death. May you go with the Emperor's Blessing. You will need it."

Turning towards his Space Marines, Thule ordered them to stand at attention and began speaking.

"Brothers," he said, "We are not traitors to the Imperium. We are loyal to the God-Emperor, and that is why we must do this. Governor Alexander has refused to back down from combat, and so we shall meet him there. You know as well as I do that there are relics hidden under Kronus - relics from the early years of the Blood Ravens. We must secure these in the name of our Chapter, lest we let them fall to the enemy. Make no mistake, I do not cherish fighting the Imperial Guard Forces here on Kronus, but if we must fight them alongside the other heretics and xenos that plague this land, then we shall. For the Chapter! For the glory of the God-Emperor!"

Cheers erupted from the ranks of the Space Marines as Thule concluded his speech. He turned, saluting Alexander, before walking down the steps marking the edge of neutral ground and rejoining his Space Marines. Those without helmets gave Alexander cold looks, but they saluted him all the same. Alexander saluted back, turning to his own men.

"Soldiers of the Imperial Guard," his voice rang out among the scores of guardsmen and tanks, "Segmentum Command has seen fit to give us a mission, one we cannot fail. This world is plagued by xenos and heretics, and we must liberate it in the name of the God-Emperor. The Blood Ravens see to deny us this land, and we shall fight them with the same zeal that we have every other enemy of the Imperium. I respect Brother-Captain Davian Thule, and I respect the Space Marines. But WE are in the right! This is OUR planet! Kronus must always be under the protection of the Imperium, and WE are their hand. I do not like what may be coming, but we shall face the dangers of tomorrow with the Emperor's Blessing at our side! For the Imperium! For the glory of the God-Emperor!"

Alexander's men nodded and cheered as he saluted them and walked down his own steps, hitching a ride on board a Baneblade supplied by the Adeptus Mechanicus. The battle lines had been drawn, and blood was ready to be spilled.

It is the 41st Millennium, and there is no peace to be found on Kronus. It is the 41st Millennium, and there is only WAR.

Present Day...

Governor Alexander was snapped out of his thoughts by a Techpriest, who lightly tapped him on his shoulder with one of his mechanical appendages. He quietly turned around, the alien sun providing a brilliant backdrop as Alexander saluted the Enginseer.

"What is it, Techpriest?" he asked.

"Governor-Militant," he bowed, then nodded at him, "Our fortifications of Victory Bay are nearly complete. The Titan Cannon that we found is fully operational and will be available for use during your campaign. Use caution: the weapon is not 100% fully calibrated, so it may be slightly inaccurate. My fellow Techpriests and I have come to a consensus: minimum 100 meters clear before firing."

"And what of the base defenses?" Alexander turned to look at the imposing Titan Cannon, providing the only visible marker of the base for miles, with trees and other foliage obscuring the rest of the structures.

"The turrets and structures you requisitioned have been completed," the Techpriest answered, his mechanical limbs flailing robotically, "And the local PDF defense forces have been conscripted to defend the base whilst you proceed with your attacks."

"Thank you," Alexander turned to look back at the star one more time, pausing momentarily, "Techpriest, what is your name?"

The half-man, half-robot turned to leave before hearing Alexander ask him for his name. His limbs seemed to flail in confusion. Why such a trivial question?

"I... I have no name," the Techpriest answered, confused, "I am but a humble servant of the Emperor and the Omnissiah..."

"Surely you have a name for the records," Alexander turned to him, his eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"Ah," the Enginseer appeared more comfortable, "My designation is Techpriest Enginseer, and my 'name' is Tavos Archien."

"Tavos," Alexander seemed baffled, "Where did you get your name?"

"It is of little consequence," the Enginseer dismissed the question and turned to leave, but felt Alexander's eyes boring into him, "But I supposed you of all people have the right to know. I grew up on a feral world. Technology was little more than magic there."

He turned to Alexander, "Tavos was my father's name, and his father's. It was one of the feral traditions we had before the Imperium came to our planet... Before the Space Marines came..."

"What planet?" Alexander motioned for him to walk with him back to base.

"Integrous," the Enginseer answered. He thanked the Omnissiah for having his tear ducts removed, so that the Governor-Militant would not see him tearing up at the mention of his home world. He paused for a long while, though Alexander scarcely seemed to notice, before continuing, "The Inquisition ordered an Exterminatus there after some of the more aggressive ferals attacked the Space Marines. I was off-planet at the time, studying on Mars with the other Integrous' recruits for the Adeptus Mechanicus. We were the only survivors of the Exterminatus."

"What of Guardsmen, Marines, other soldiers?" Alexander asked, astonished, "Surely there were other recruits besides Techpriests?"

"Our planet was one of peace," Tavos responded, "We never wanted to fight, so the Imperium saw little use for us. The Mechanicus, however, was impressed with our mechanics skills - better than usual for ferals - and with our reverence for machines, which we worshipped as gifts from gods. They sheltered us... But that is another story."

"I see..." Alexander nodded at him when they arrived at the base, "Tavos, you're a good man. Come with me to my quarters. I have some business to attend to that involves you."

"Of course, Governor-Militant," Tavos followed Alexander past the maze of concrete structures that permeated the once-dead Victory Bay. One of the rather positive side effects of the Imperial Guard's stay on the planet was the revitalization of the planet's economy - Victory Bay being the model manufactorium. Governor Alexander and the Techpriests hoped to restore other factories, currently under xenos and heretic control, back to working condition as a sign of praise and reverence to the Imperium and the God-Emperor, as well as to bolster their burgeoning economy and resources. The Imperial Guard needed more weapons, more ammunition, more armor, and - most of all - more vehicles to continue its war effort.

As they arrived at the imposing Administorium building, Alexander saluted the guards and nodded them to let him by. Tavos shivered as the guards gave him dirty looks. He knew where he wasn't wanted - some of the Imperial Guardsmen were staunch infantry-goers and despised vehicular combat, calling it "cowardly".

Approaching Alexander's main office, they ran into the head commissar and field general of the campaign: Anton Gebbet. A gruff, stubby man, he nevertheless commanded respect and admiration from those who served under him. Though he had executed many Guardsmen, he was not of the same breed nor caliber as the average commissar. He cared about his men, and it showed in the way he acted, the way he spoke - even the way he carried himself gave him an air of dignity that seemed to escape the lower, more gritty officers.

"Ah, always a pleasure to see you, Commissar Gebbet," Alexander shook his hand firmly, "I'm just bringing Tavos here back to my office. I'm assigning him a new post."

"Tavos?" Commissar Gebbet raised an eyebrow, "The Techpriest?"

"Ah, I forgot to introduce you," Alexander stood aside the two men, "Commissar Anton Gebbet, I'm sure needs no introduction. Gebbet, meet Techpriest Enginseer Tavos Archien. He's the main field overseer, but he's part of the Techpriest Council that is overseeing this operation's logistics and equipment."

"Of course, it's good to meet you," Tavos shook the commissar's hand, though his facial twitches betrayed his nervousness. It was a good thing then, he decided later, that he had his breath mask on at the time. Gebbet grinned at him, slapping him on the shoulder.

"Always good to see a Techpriest," Gebbet's smile made Tavos shift uncomfortably, but it was genuine, "So, what's this new post you're getting?"

"Governor Alexander has yet to inform me," Tavos replied, breaking off the handshake and holding his hands reservedly at his back, "I hope he has found my performance with the Adeptus Mechanicus to be satisfactory."

"More than satisfactory," Alexander cut in, "Come Anton, might as well discuss battle plans in my office while I'm signing off on Tavos' new post."

The trio continued down the hallway and arrived at a huge, Gothic-styled door while opened to a spacious office, Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander's office. Inside, a fire quietly burned to the side of the room, surrounded by comfortable chairs, whilst the rest of his furniture was still in huge, metal crates, waiting to be unpacked as soon as the campaign was finished. Though sparsely furnished, the room looked impressive. Alexander approached the center desk and sat down, motioning for the other two to take their seats. Alexander motioned for a nearby servitor to approach him, and filled its built-in writing implements with ink as well as paper. He began reciting off several lines.

"Official Communiqué, Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander," his voice was soft, but steady, "1st Kronus Liberators. To: Segmentum High Command. Forward: Adeptus Mechanicus Headquarters. Begin Message. This is Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander. I have recently come into contact with one of the Techpriest Enginseers assigned to this campaign: Tavos Archien. As I require a field Techpriest to oversee the repairs and construction of my forward bases during the campaign, I am promoting Mr. Archien to the position of Command Squad Lieutenant. His official rank will be as follows: Techpriest Lieutenant Tavos Archien. He is to remain with me for the duration of the campaign, after which I will judge his performance as a field lieutenant and provide a full report and suggestions for his next post. Sincerely, Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander. The Emperor Protects."

Alexander nodded at the servitor to stop writing, and it finished the letter, dropping it gently onto Alexander's desk. Stamping it with the Imperial seal of approval, he ordered the servitor to take it to the communication's office and have it sent out immediately. After the servitor left the room, Alexander turned back to his two guests.

"So, Tavos, your promotion is official," he relaxed in his chair, silently offering them cigars and cognac, both of which they declined, "Alright, down to business then. We'll be heading for the Chaos Marines first. We'll proceed down the Morriah Coast and establish a forward base. I understand that we're the late arrivals here, Anton?"

"Yes," Anton pulled a map from his greatcoat, frowning as he unrolled it on top of Alexander's desk, "I've had my men assemble a full map with force estimates based on the scans our ships did in orbit. As you can see, we aren't having the greatest start. Morriah and the other lower territories are Chaos-controlled. Their main base is in the Deimos Peninsula. Any scouts we've sent haven't returned, but orbital scans show that they may be summoning demons there. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a fully-fledged Warp Gate set up. We'll need to clear them out if we're to have any chance of taking this planet."

"Any suggestions?" Alexander leaned forward in his chair, peering at the map.

"If I may interject, sir," Tavos spoke up.

"Of course, of course," Gebbet leaned back, allowing the Techpriest access to the map.

"My fellow Techpriests have reports from scans that show various units scattered throughout the area," Tavos paused, his mechanical limbs opening up a projector on his left shoulder, which shone a dim overlay of the various squads and vehicles scattered throughout the province, "The Imperial Guard has termed these men 'Honor Guards' and has requested that you make sure to extract them from the territories as you take them over. They'll be automatically assigned to you as soon as they're freed and the territories are under our control. It would be most prudent to sweep down through the Chaos-controlled territories before attempting to attack the Peninsula, as our forces are currently insufficient to mount a full assault."

"Hmm..." Alexander nodded, "Good point. Commissar Gebbet, do you have any attack suggestions?"

"Based on Lieutenant Archien's projections," Gebbet pointed at several of the territories, "I would suggest sweeping down through the Morriah Coast and into the Murad Swamplands. From there, we can expand out to the other Chaos-controlled provinces and then consolidate our hold with a full-out attack on the Peninsula."

"So it's agreed, then," Alexander got up, rolling up the map, "We'll ride out for the Morriah Coast tomorrow morning and set up a base camp. Hopefully the Chaos forces on this planet haven't been alerted to our presence yet, and we'll be able to take the area with little bloodshed."

At the Deimos Peninsula...

"Eliphas! Eliphas!" one of the cultists scurried across the warped landscape of the Deimos Peninsula, carrying important news. He tripped over one of the rocks jutting out of the ground, falling onto his face and scraping much of his skin. Ignoring the pain, he bowed to Eliphas the Inheritor and began speaking, "Master! Master! Scouts have told us!"

"Told you what, whelp?" Eliphas turned around from his prayers to the Chaos Gods. Displeased, he drew his sword, slashing it across the cultist's cheek. The blood he drew satisfied him, but he remained angry and kicked at the cultist, "What did they say?"

"Master," the cultist smiled, his deformed teeth evoking disgust from the Inheritor, "The Imperial Guard. They have landed here!"

"WHAT?" Eliphas flew into a rage, "Those fools are going to ruin everything! Send a detachment of Raptors and Bezerkers at once! Make sure the Guardsmen know the power of CHAOS UNDIVIDED!"

"Of course, master!" the cultist scampered off, glad Eliphas had given him such an important message instead of senselessly slaughtering him. He called out for a Rhino to assist him, but the Chaos Marines inside merely snorted at him and sped off, leaving him coughing and frowning at his bad luck. He thought little of it, however, and began walking towards the Morriah Coast. It would take quite a while for him to get there, especially on foot...

End Chapter 1

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the story. Please don't hesitate to leave a review so I know what I'm doing well on and what I need help with. Thanks!