Arrival of the Astartes

by TheLunarWolf

Something has happened, Existences are changed and the circle is shattered. Warhammer 40k Babylon 5

4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: There comes a Terran... what's a Terran?

Meanwhile on Centauri Prime…

Lord Zel Refa was a happy man. Not only had the Mollari family gotten in trouble, they had done so by losing a prototype cruiser. Oh this was a good day for House Refa.

Emperor's Palace: Capitol: Centauri Prime

Lord Tar Mollari was shamed, shamed in front of the entire court because his idiot nephew had lost a cruiser and there had been no communications in 6 days.

Luckily all was not lost. He had the coordinates to where Carn had been taking the Primus, and he would go there with a small squadron of the new Vorchans and find out just what had happened.

For if something had happened to his nephew, he had to know.

Two days later 6 Vorchan let Centauri Prime, heading toward the last known coordinates of the Primus.

Primarch Class Fortress Battlebarge: Spear of Prospero: In Orbit of Terra

Magnus was getting a headache; damage control and repair was coming along fine, if slightly ahead of schedule. They'd need a lot of dock work for many of the ships, but others were fine with changed pieces and parts, though the Spear's mightiest weapon system, an experimental Assault Lance, would not be working for quite some time. A grand 240 sections of Plasma conduit connected to the weapon was totally fried and in need of replacing.

At least the Mars issue had been resolved quickly; at last reports they had landed near where the great Machine temple back home was located, on the southern edge of Syria Planum, if he remembered correctly. And so far it looked like the ten thousand colonists on Mars would stay and become citizens of the Imperium.

That in itself was good news, but also good was the nearly completed deployment of the modular strongholds carried on the Fist and the Spear, though during the deployments in the beginning of the week they had hit a bit of an issue with an environmentalist group named Green Peace and flightless birds. The new Captain of Horus 1st Great Company had solved the issue admirably though.

It seemed that they had other problems though. When the Fist had landed it had apparently crushed a large organic structure hidden beneath the ice. The remains of said structure were now crawling and intermeshing with the hull of the Fist.

They had tried to cut it away, however after a little while the cutters had zero effect and indeed seemed to accelerate the growth, but before they had to simply cut away the 14 sections of infested armor and hull, which would seal the fate of the Fist when the sections were removed, they sent a Comm. signal to Captain Hazarhun, the Leader of the Thousand Sons contingent on world.

…

Hazarhun approached the yellow-green growth eating into the wall of the compartment ahead. It was moving slowly but from what the Warmaster had told him was starting to pick up speed. Conventional methods to remove it had failed, so Horus had decided to try something else.

Extending his staff, Hazarhun sent a blast of Warp-lightning into the material. Almost immediately yellow energy launched in return, traveling along Hazarhun's own energy and striking him. Oddly enough he felt little pain. Instead he heard something in his mind.

"PAIN! PAIN! HELP!" The voice screamed in Hazarhun's mind. Reacting instinctively, he captured the intruding presence and began to force it out of his mind, but then he stopped. This voice was coming from the growth on the hull. It was intelligent.

"Who are you?" Hazarhun asked.

"I..I..Do not remember..." It stated, a bit fearfully.

"What do you remember then?" Hazarhun asked a bit more forcefully.

"I..remember the Great Darkness, I think I liked it there, I remember listening to the glowersongs…"

"The Great Darkness? Where is that?" Hazarhun asked, though he suspected it meant space.

"We are in the cold place, the great darkness is above the cold place," the Entity stated, sounding very sure. "The other mindtalkers left me in this cold place for so long. Will you go away and leave me in this cold place?" It asked nervously.

"No, we wont leave you in this cold place, but you must talk to my Lord," Hazarhun stated

"That's good, I can talk to him, but he wont hurt me will he?" Asked the Entity fearfully.

"I will speak to him and he will not hurt you, but we must take you to him, so if you would please draw yourself together in this section only." Hazarhun said.

"I will try to do so," stated the Entity.

An hour later they were in business. The entity had insisted Hazarhun stay with it until its talk to Magnus.

It took nearly 5 hours to excise the section fully and hook it up to a sling carried by a thunderhawk.

After 20 minutes of flight up to The Spear they were docked and ready to have the first official talk between the IoM and the Entity.

…

Hazarhun opened the door and stepped out to meet his Father-Primarch.

Magnus the Red cut an imposing figure, even to the captain of his Chosen, standing nearly 10 feet tall in ornate Artificier forged armour. Magnus had foregone all weapons except for an ornately carved silver staff, easily recognizable as the newly designed force staff used during the battle of Geneva. After an update to Magnus about the promise he made to the entity, Hazarhun left the hangar.

Magnus was bemused, but when Hazarhun had explained about the fact that the entity seemed to have intelligence comparable to a small child he knew that Hazarhun had made the right choice, even if it did limit his options.

Magnus stepped into the section of the Fist that this entity had bonded with and surveyed the entity before reaching out with his mind and started to speak with it.

"Entity, do you hear me?" Magnus asked.

"Yes, I hear you," the Entity answered.

"Entity, why were you under the ice?" asked Magnus.

"I was there to be a safe place for the other mindtalkers…when they made the small not-mindtalkers into mindtalkers, I didn't like what they did….it seemed it hurted the not mindtalkers lots and lots…but if I said I didn't like what they was doing the mindtalkers hurt me, please don't hurt on me…" the Entity seemed to shrink and shiver as if expecting a blow from Magnus.

"What did the small not talkers look like? Can you show me, Entity?

Magnus' mind was bombarded with images of human children from all races and breeds, many with bleeding wounds and near death. Other images showed adults in the same condition, and the last few images showed a being in a dark encounter suit and there were accompanied by overwhelming feelings of fear from the now immature intelligence.

Magnus cleared his mind and slowly reached out, calming the panicked Entity and soothing its fears as he slowly drew it back into conversation, asking if it would like to become a great protector of the small not-mindtalkers and the small mindtalkers, as well as all others that could not protect themselves. All the while, Magnus was subtly searching through the mind of this immature entity, searching for hidden programming or a hidden agenda that would pose a threat to the ship or the crew. Finding nothing, Magnus decided to entertain himself with the presence of this strange creature. It might make a nice pet at the very least. Though if it became a threat, it could be easily disposed of by Magnus or Horus.

"Yes…Yes," the Entity replied, a little unsure but then with great strength.

"Good, then I give you permission to meld with this vessel. What will you need to grow and be strong?" The Primarch asked.

"I always felt really good near the warm glowers and their songs, they make me feel strong."

"Good, I will leave you now. You can begin moving out of this pod, and when we reach orbit around the innermost wanderer, Mercurius, I will open these doors and let the glowsong in here," Magnus said.

The entity did not respond, at least not in any meaningful way, except for sending out waves of happy anticipation while starting to nervously creep out of the pod towards the airlock gates, and slowly covering the hangar floor.

…

When Magnus had arrived to the command deck and sat himself comfortably in his command throne, he ordered course set for geosynchronous dayside orbit of Mercurius, but before they could begin moving a sensor station reported incoming news.

"Milord, we have a 'hyperspace' event four thousand km off the aft bow."

"Bring the ship around; I want the first thing those intruders see to be our broadside," Magnus stated calmly

"Milord, four strike cruisers have maneuvered and are prow ward toward the disturbance," the sensor station stated.

"Good, put us behind the line of Strike cruisers," Magnus calmly commanded

As the calm blue vortex flared once, seven small vessels shaped like half-breeds between birds of prey and a cross exited. All were quickly identified by the remnant database salvaged from the Primus wreckage as Vorchan class attack cruisers.

"Communications, did we have any luck with the communications workup in the wreckage?" Magnus asked

"No, unfortunately not. The techpriests said that it uses tachyon particles to send messages, though how it's done is beyond our understanding as of yet. While the techpriests and Adeptus are working on ways to use it, its still encryption based technology, Milord," the communications officer said.

"I see, we will have to go psychic then. Tell the strike cruisers to hold positions," Magnus said. A few seconds later the Primarch's eye glowed with icy ethereal power as he scanned the vessel and quickly found one of the Centauri within that was gifted with minor psychic abilities. He quickly submerged the mind of that being and took over.

…

To the crew of the Vorchan Mollari's Pride it seemed as if they had dropped from Jumpspace into hell; in front of them were the largest ships anyone on the seven Vorchans had ever seen. The largest of the monstrosities out there was at least five times larger then the fleetyards above Homeworld.

Then the representative from the telepath guild staggered then seemed to grow, the meek and smaller then average telepath was suddenly dominating the bridge with the sheer majesty of his presence. As the Telepaths eyes opened, the crew knew that his body was no longer his own. Someone or something else was looking at them through the telepath's eyes, and his eyes burned with blue-white flames.

"I am Lord Magnus, Primarch of the 16th Legion. Who are you?"

"I am Lord Tar Mollari of the House Mollari of The Glorious Centauri Republic."

"Why are you here, Lord Mollari?" Came the deep resonant voice from within telepath.

"We are here to find one of our ships, a cruiser named Primus," Mollari answered.

"It was destroyed. Leave Mollari," spoke the voice of Magnus.

"Wait!" Mollari cried.

"What do you want?" asked the voice in annoyance.

"I need to know how it was destroyed, and I demand you tell me!" Mollari spat.

"You can demand nothing, Lord Mollari," the voice said calmly.

Suddenly the ship shook and heaved, the captain of the Vorchan immediately screamed for damage report. All the Centauri paled as the sensor officers gave an ominous report. "Captain, Lord Mollari, we have just been scanned."

The Captain sat down heavily in his chair murmuring "Great Maker…"

The Telepath spoke. "Leave Mollari, while you still can."

"Wait! We came here to find out what happened. We mean you no harm. Perhaps we can talk and come to some sort of arrangement?"

The telepath merely looked at him.

"Very well, Mollari. You will gather 8 men, then you will stand in sight of this being."

Lord Tar Mollari was nervous but gathered up two guards and six assistants, and stood in line of sight of the possessed telepath.

The telepath turned to the Captain. "You will power down your combat systems and stand by until your men return."

The captain complied hurriedly and as the lights faded the telepaths eye's darkened and he fell to the floor. Barely a second before the Centauri entourage disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

To be Lord Tar Mollari in this moment was to be in a very bad mental place. He had just been ripped through reality by the will of another being. This being was now sitting in a huge throne at one end of the long table in this room. Guarding the doors were four similar beings, each wearing huge suits of blood red armour.

All of these beings resembled one of the ancient nature gods of the Centauri, from the eras before the Xon wars, except for the largest one. It was different. It was golden hued and with glowing ice blue eyes set into its helmet. He assumed it was the leader.

Lord Tar Mollari had never been a religious man, but he was a noble and as such had been taught the ancient speech and the benedictions for the oldest gods. He slowly spread his arms, palms facing the powerful being and spoke the benediction of the forest god, asking forgiveness and permission to seat himself and his entourage.

Magnus was very amused. This Lord Mollari thought him to be the ancient forest god of his world. Though he did not know the words he had sensed the thoughts and intention of the being who looked so like a Human. He gestured for them to seat themselves, though he issued the command for Mollari to seat himself on the opposite short end.

…

The massive being swept an arm out allowing them to sit but pointed at the opposite chair and a low smooth voice intoned "Mollari!"

Tar quickly swallowed, he had not expected this being to respond to the ancient phrase, but he quickly moved and sat as the doors opened, letting four beings enter, giants in armour of some fashion, though this armour was more mechanical looking than the others.

Magnus acknowledged the new guards from the heavy assault company, in their strengthened Mk III armor, the same type that protected his group of Chosen. It was fairly impressive, retaining the shape of the Mk III armor but with a protection and bulk only slightly less then a terminator suit.

As the four new guards entered, the Chosen guards silently sat down opposite the Centauri, and with little fanfare hidden buttons were pressed and helmets removed.

The eight Centauri nearly fainted as they saw that these Gods were in fact beings not unlike themselves. Lord Mollari swallowed, suddenly wishing he had a glass of water.

…

Magnus watched as the Centauri lord grew still as a glass of water floated into his field of vision, gently setting itself down in front of him.

"Well, Lord Mollari, what did you wish to trade?" Magnus spoke after going through Mollari's mind and pulling the language of the Centauri for future use while putting in enough information in this Xenos' head so that he would understand English, at the very least.

"Whatever it is you need-d, Lord Magnus," Mollari stated quickly, though he damned his stutter.

"Very well, I will supply you with a list of materials we have shortage of and you will tell me where I can buy them. Also, we wish to purchase extensive galactic star maps and information on the beacons in the redspace."

"Redspace? Ah yes, you mean Jump space? Yes, that is easy. They are there so ships won't get lost in transiting Jumpspace, and they've been around since the First Ones," said Mollari, though he was very unsure where this conversation was going. Perhaps these peoples didn't have Jumpgate or Jump-engine technology mastered yet. Perhaps house Mollari might be able to still make this meeting profitable.

"First Ones?" Asked Hazarhun, while the still helmeted Magnus listened on.

"Y...yes, groups like yourself, peoples with power unimaginable. Ancient beings," Mollari stammered slightly, trying to regain his composure in the presence of this being who radiated power like a god.

"How ancient exactly?" The low, dark voice of Lord Magnus asked.

"Hundreds of thousands of years in space, but most are just myth, though the Minbari might tell you about the Vorlons, should you get them to talk to you." stated Mollari.

"Minbari?" Hazarhun asked.

"The Minbari are almost legends. Very powerful. No race goes near them for fear of angering them. It is said that the Vorlons also have some relation to the Minbari as well, though no one can confirm that. The Minbari barely even speak with us, and we have been in space for almost a thousand years," Mollari stated.

"Vorlons?" Magnus asked in a bemused fashion at the description of the Minbari, yet still curious about these 'Vorlons.'

"Ancient and powerful, legends in their own right. Ships that go into their territories simply vanish and no survivors are ever found," Mollari said.

"Interesting," Magnus replied. Sending his thoughts to Hazarhun, the two quickly decided on what would happen next.

"Tell me Mollari," Hazarhun said, stepping forward "in the thousand years your people have been in space, what have you accomplished?"

"The Centauri are among the strongest of the space faring races," Mollari boasted. "Our empire stretches across a quarter of the galaxy! Even the Minbari fear our power."

"You are lying," Hazarhun replied, noting the brief anger which passed over the Centauri's face. "Your empire is crumbling. Your golden age ended long ago. I can see your thoughts; you can hide nothing from me."

"You're a telepath?" Mollari asked, suddenly very nervous. That feeling grew when the man speaking to him grew a broad grin.

"A Telepath? Please don't compare me to those weaklings. I am a psyker, far stronger than a mere telepath." Extending his hand, Hazarhun sent a short blast of warp lightning into a table just to the left of Mollari, shattering it and sending fragments bouncing across the room. "A small sample of my power," Hazarhun said with a smile.

Lord Mollari slowly picked himself up off the floor where he had fallen. His face was full of shock, but he quickly masked it. "I have never seen that power before," was all the Centauri could manage.

"As I said, that was a small sample of my abilities. I could give a larger demonstration. Tell me; are you fond of your ship?"

"Wait!" Mollari shouted. "I believe we can come to an agreement. While our empire may not be as powerful as it once was, its wealth has not diminished. I'm sure we can work out some sort of a trade."

"I was hoping you would say that," Hazarhun said. "And besides, I was never going to attack your ship. It would not have been enough of a challenge."

Mollari, needing a drink, reached into his robe, noticing the slight change in position of the armoured men as they readied their weapons. He withdrew his hand, clutching a bottle of Brivari. "Only a drink," he explained. "Brivari, very good for relaxing."

"I see," Hazarhun replied. Picking up a glass of amasec from a nearby servitor, he handed it to Mollari." Amasec, also very good. Try it."

Mollari took a tentative sip of the dark red liquid. Whatever this amasec was, it had a serious kick! "Perhaps we can negotiate an exchange of drinks as well."

"If you wish," said Magnus, speaking once more. "You appear to be an honourable man Mollari. I shall return you to your vessel. Gather the data on what I asked and contact me again."

"As you wish Lord Magnus," Mollari replied. A moment later he and his entourage found themselves back aboard their Vorchan. Lord Mollari immediately went to work collecting a list of everything his house could afford to trade. Based on what he had seen here, these Terrans were the strongest race the Centauri had ever encountered. If he could get them to sign an exclusive trading agreement with House Mollari…The possibilities were endless.

…

What do you make of these Centauri Hazarhun?" Magnus asked as he leaned back in his chair.

"If what I gleaned from Lord Mollari's mind holds true Lord Magnus, then they have the potential to be of great value to us. They have a strong fleet, but lack the will to truly use their power. That is their main weakness. I also sensed they are divided among several 'Houses.' Mollari will likely attempt to establish a trading arrangement which benefits only his faction of their government."

"Will he betray us?" Magnus asked.

"Not so long as he is benefiting from us my Lord. We can use Lord Mollari to obtain the materials needed to repair and expand our fleet. In return we can satisfy the Centauri with armor from our Imperial Army regiments and gravity generation technology. That should hold their interest for a time. Long enough to get what we need."

"Very well Hazarhun," Magnus replied. "Make the necessary preparations. I have business to attend to."

"Yes my Lord," Hazarhun retuned, bowing as the Primarch got to his feet and stalked out of the chamber.

…

Magnus road the lift down to the cargo bays, soon coming upon the ever-expanding form of the entity. It had already begun expanding out of the cargo bay and grafting itself onto the outer hull. "Entity," Magnus said with his mind. "Can you hear me?"

"I hear you Lord Magnus," the entity replied. "I have absorbed much knowledge since you left. I thank you and your people."

"Indeed," Magnus said. He had sensed the entity probing the minds of his crew to increase its own intelligence. "What is your progress?"

"The star songs are very warm here. I am growing quickly, but it will be long until I am whole again."

"There is no hurry," Magnus encouraged. "Take all the time you need."

"Thank you. I will help you for helping me. Together we will protect the small ones from the Mindwalkers."

"Yes, we will. Have you remembered anything else about the Mindwalkers?" Magnus asked.

"No, the memories are simply not there. I am sorry."

"Do not be. Simply concentrate on becoming whole; then we will focus on your lost memories."

"I will," the entity replied. "Thank you."

"You are welcome," Magnus replied as he turned to leave. From its thoughts he knew the entity wanted to remember who it was, but it was also afraid. One thing was sure however, its loyalty lay with the Imperium, and with Magnus.

…

Two days later Lord Mollari's small fleet left Sol with the promise of an exclusive trading arrangement in exchange for the right to trade at any Centauri port, though Lord Mollari had recommended a colony relatively near Sol which was run by his family.

The Imperium in return received the promise of vast amounts of metals and other materials with which they could rebuild and enhance both their fleet and the Sol system itself. Both sides were naturally suspicious of the other, but neither would make that first move. Not right away at least.

As Magnus was meditating in his private chambers, he was suddenly assaulted by a feeling of fiery rage and hatred so strong it made him see spots. He quickly forced contact with Horus, forcing the rage away, and after a quick retelling of the events that led to such a deep rage in his brother Magnus ordered the strike cruisers to resume patrols, and ordered a course set for Terran orbit.

2 days Earlier: San Francisco

It was a bright and sunny day in San Francisco. People bustled to and fro, and the streets were alive with the energy of business and the functions of daily life. Sitting at a café, two friends say there chatting as was their habit since they had been teenagers.

"Can you believe that Linda?" A red head beauty asked to her brunette compatriot.

"Actually, I can believe that Jesse," Linda stated.

"You know, if someone had told me a month ago that there was some human empire out there among the stars, I would have said they'd been watching too much science fiction. If someone had told me that Bellatrix, the queen of feminist rights and freedom, would be spending her time trying to bag a man from some interstellar empire, I would say that hell has frozen over," Jesse stated with a smile.

"Looks like hell froze over," Linda said with amusement.

"Well, you have to admit, as big as the pictures of those guys are, you have to wonder if the rest of them are as big," Jesse said with a smile.

Catching the innuendo of that comment, Linda looked at her friend and laughed. Linda then arched an eyebrow and said "Down girl."

Pouting, Jesse looked her friend in the eyes and said "You're no fun at all."

Unknown Location

In six rooms across the planet, holographic projectors all displayed a black room with numbered monoliths that read "SEELE AUDIO ONLY" that were standing in a circle. Out of twelve monoliths, only six were currently present.

"FOUR MEMBERS OF SEELE ARE CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE, AND MEMBERS ZERO-ONE AND ONE-TWO HAVE BEEN CAPTURED," stated monolith 04.

"THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!" Bellowed a distorted voice from the monolith 03.

"SEELE HAS STOOD FOR CENTURIES. THROUGH TIMES OF GOOD FORTUNE, AND TIMES OF ILL. WE SHALL SURVIVE AS WE ALWAYS HAVE. THE PUBLIC FACE OF OUR ORGANIZATION, THE CABAL, MUST NOT LEAD BACK TO US," declared monolith 05.

"WE MAY NO LONGER HAVE THE OPTION OF SEPARATING OURSELVES FROM THE CABAL, AS MANY OF OUR MEMBERS ARE PART OF THE CABAL. THE CABAL HAS BEEN THE PUBLIC FACE OF SEELE FOR DECADES," monolith 11 drawled.

"IS THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN BE DONE?" asked the distorted voice from the monolith 07.

"MOST OF THE OPERATIVES OF BUREAU 13 HAVE EITHER BEEN CAPTURED, KILLED, OR HAVE GONE UNDERGROUND, YET THERE ARE STILL OPERATIVES WE CAN CALL UPON. THE QUESTION IS NOT WHAT WE HAVE TO USE. THE QUESTION IS HOW WE USE IT," stated monolith 04.

"DO ANY MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, THEN, ON WHAT COURSE OF ACTIONS WE SHOULD TAKE?" Queried monolith 03.

"THE FIRST COURSE OF ACTION WE SHOULD TAKE IS TO HIDE OURSELVES SO THAT WE MAY ESCAPE THE WRATH OF THESE XENOS. THE CABAL WILL FALL, LET'S MAKE NO MISTAKE OF THAT. WITH THE CAPTURE OF CHAIRMAN BURNS, WE TOO MAY FALL IF YOU DO NOT ACT QUICKLY," monolith 11 spoke.

"WITH THE CAPTURE OF CHAIRMAN BURNS, WE SHOULD ASSUME THE WORST CASE SCENARIO, THAT HIS SUICIDE CHARGE HAS FAILED TO ACTIVATE, AND THAT HE HAS BEEN FORCED TO DISCLOSE OUR IDENTITIES," monolith 03 said with resignation.

"THE CABAL WILL FALL, AND WITH IT, SOME OF OUR LONG TERM ASSOCIATES, AND THE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS OF SEELE. WE MUST BUY TIME," monolith 04 plainly spoke.

"FROM THE RECORDS OF THE SENATE WE HAVE SEEN THAT THE XENOS HAVE NOT YET TRIED TO REPLACE THE PUBLIC LEADERS FOR FEAR OF REBELLION AND TERRORISM. IF WE WERE TO INCITE THE PEOPLE, WE WOULD DISTRACT THESE XENOS LONG ENOUGH FOR US TO HIDE OURSELVES," monolith 05 suggested.

"AGREED. WE SHALL ACTIVATE WHAT MEMBERS OF BUREAU 13 WE CAN TO CAUSE CHAOS UNTIL SUCH TIME THAT WE HAVE FOUND REFUGE. ALL IN FAVOUR?" monolith 09 put forth.

Six voices then spoke a single word of consent.

"AGREED!"

Geneva: Switzerland, Earthdome

Senator Kensy was not having a good day. While Senator Kensy was ecstatic about the power that the IoM would soon be giving the fledgling Earth Alliance, he was starting to wonder if it was worth the amount of paperwork that seemed to have come with it.

Thinking about the "Big Picture" though, Kensy couldn't help but to smile to himself, though. Since the Adeptus Mechanicus had taken over Mars, Senator Marcela officially didn't have a world to represent anymore. Though technically, Senator Marcela was representing the corporations of Mars more than the people of Mars. And those corporations were screaming bloody murder about that. After all the money, time, and resources they had put into building up those colonies, Senator Kensy didn't blame them for being upset.

Though a few of the more adept corporations has done the smart thing and asked if they could be of 'assistance' to the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars. Surprisingly, almost all of the corporations that asked were told they could be of vital help in the building of the Forges of Mars. It also didn't hurt that those corporations were getting technical knowledge from the Adeptus Mechanicus as part of the deal. Though the part that made Senator Kensy as giddy as a school child were the "Warhounds" that the Adeptus would eventually be making. Snapping himself out of his daydreams, he looked back towards the stack of paperwork on his desk and sighed when his phone started ringing.

Frowning at the ringing, Senator Kensy picked up the phone, expecting the other end to end up giving him more paperwork to deal with. Kensy was quite surprised when as soon as he picked up the phone he heard a very welcome voice on the other end.

"Hey Robert. How's work been treating you so far? No, wait, let me guess here. You're not actually working as much as you're hanging around daydreaming. Am I right? When are you going to get off your butt and get a real job?" A voice said in a playfully taunting manner.

"Bill, that you?"

"Yep, it's you're ole pal Bill. Glad to know that you haven't went off and forgotten about me," Bill said, though his tone of voice said that he was smiling.

"Hey, how you been Bill? I haven't heard from you in months. Not since that one land deal you told me about. So, what're you up to? I don't usually hear from you unless you're got a deal for me, a favour you need, or you've got the time to go play a round of golf," Kensy said, hoping to bait his friend in a game of his favourite sport.

Laughing on the other end, Bill said "You know me well friend. I'm phoning 'cause I have a deal you need to see."

"Ok, where are you, and when do you want me to come meet you?" Kensy said happily.

"I'm out here in Spain. I'd like you to come out here in the next three days. Also, bring a few of your colleges with you," Bill said in a matter of fact tone.

"Bill," Kensy started, "Why do you want me to bring along a couple Senators on a Monday, a day you know that we'll be working?"

"Haven't you ever played hooky before Robert? I thought you could use a break. Besides, I wanted to do some golfing, and having a few extra people along for a game of golf never hurts," Bill answered in an almost childish glee.

Looking at the stack of paperwork still on his table, Kensy took a few seconds to think about Bill's proposal, and knowing that he was going to give in anyways, sighed. "Alright Bill, but I swear, if we come out there and you pull out some sort of pyramid scheme on us, I will not be a happy man."

Laughing at his friends mock-threat, Bill responded with a declaration of, "I wouldn't have it any other way Robert."

In a hotel somewhere in Brussels

"Yes, I understand. It shall be done," a slightly older man with graying hair said into the receiver of his cellphone.

"So…" began the slightly younger man sitting next to him, "What are our orders?"

"Well Biggs, it seems like the old men want us to stop by one of the Depots and pick up some fireworks and cause a little anarchy," the older man stated.

Whistling at the orders they had been given, Biggs looked at the older mans face. "Is that so? Damn Wedge, you'd think they want to start World War four while they're at it?"

"Not my place to judge kid," Wedge replied.

"I know. We do what we can to ensure the safety and freedom of all humanity. Doesn't mean I always have to like it though," Biggs said.

Looking at Biggs, Wedge sat up and went to the small refrigerator across the room. Feeling Biggs' eyes upon him, he opened up the refrigerators door and pulled out two beers. Handing one to his slightly younger friend, he raised his bottle in toast and said, "Death to the Xeno Empire then."

Raising his own bottle in response, Biggs touched the bottle in toast and followed suit. "Death to the Empire."

In Geneva; Earthdome

Senator Melissa Claidsdayle was not a happy woman at the moment. Since the arrival of the Imperium spaceships, the President of the Earth Alliance had been killed, there had been a coup, most of the senators had been imprisoned, the majority of the soldiers involved in the coup had been killed (destroying a large amount of property in the process), some secret organization the likes of which had been whispered about by conspiracy nutcases for almost two centuries had been proven to exist, and Mars had been 'claimed' by the Imperium of Man, well, by that other group called the Adeptus Mechanicus.

In short, the shit had hit the fan. What's more, the Senate had just been informed that the Imperium of Man spaceships were currently interrogating some alien vessels that had appeared in the solar system. "Could this day get any worse?" Melissa Claidsdayle thought to herself. Looking over at the empty seats in the Senate, she knew the answer. It figured that the lazy bastard Kensy and his merry band of misfits had got called away on "important business." Snorting in disgust, Melissa Claidsdayle knew he was probably out golfing. Angry at him for not being here, and envious that she herself had not been able to find an excuse to leave as well, she focused her attention back towards the Senate Floor.

Since the President of the EA had been killed, the constitution of the Earth Alliance had to be followed. Right now the Senate was in the process of swearing in the next in line for the Presidency. A man by the name of William H. Harrison. Melissa hoped that this guy didn't die as quickly as President as his namesake of the United States did.

William Harrison was a man of vigour, pride, and stubborn as steel. He didn't want the EA to become the lackey of any others, human or otherwise. Along with the emergency senate proposals that were to be voted on later today, Melissa doubted that the leaders of the Imperium would be very thrilled with the actions of the Senate today.

However, her colleagues felt that the peoples of the nations allied with the Earth Alliance needed to feel that their governments would not be cowed by the IoM; that the EA was still in control. "Ha!" Melissa thought to herself, "What a joke."

She was about to press the button on her desk panel to address the speaker when she felt the building shake, when her world suddenly went white. She saw nothing more after that.

San Francisco:

Linda had been walking with her friend Jesse when all of a sudden the ground began to shake.

Looking towards Jesse, she said the first thing that came to mind.

"An Earthquake?"

"Seems so, let's get the hell under a door or something," Jesse said while trying to run towards the closest building without falling on her ass.

As the two women gathered themselves under the door arches of the building, they looked inside and saw a group of frightened children huddling under the desks. A teacher was trying to calm them, but with the intensity of the shaking, even the adult was scared. Down the street, a series of buildings had started to collapse when Linda pushed Jesse into the inside of the building as the wall, and part of the door collapsed. Linda jumped inside to get out of the way of the debris that fell, but was pinned by a large piece of wood. A brick fell from the wall and hit Linda in the head and her world went black.

In a newsroom in New York:

People were running around frantically. Phones, pagers, and fax machines were all in a flurry of activity. The noise of the office rooms was overwhelming. Looking at the faces of those in the room, you could see some people were crying, some were angry, yelling for more information on exactly what was going on, and some had a blank haunted look on their faces. Whatever had happened, it was huge. In the room of the news room directors' office, shouting could be heard from a group of voices.

"…WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON? THREE CITIES HAVE JUST BEEN NUKED, THERE IS CHAOS GOING ON ACROSS THE GLOBE, THREE OF THE SMALLER NATIONS HAVE ALREADY BEGUN FIGHTING EACH OTHER. SO WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU DO KNOW!?" Bellowed the angry voice of the editor.

"Jeff, calm down," pleaded the voice of his secretary.

"DON'T YOU TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!"

"Jeff," began the voice of a friend, Cal Anders "Calm down. We'll get more work done calm than angry. Besides, sitting there yelling isn't good for your heart."

Looking at the faces of those around him, Jeffery Bastion sighed, knowing that they were right. Sitting down, he put his face in his hands for a moment, trying to regain his composure. After he felt that he had regained enough to begin conversing again, he looked at the people around him and asked "What do you know about what's happened so far?"

"We know that three cities have been nuked, and we know that two small military installations have been hit as well. Geneva, San Francisco, and a small town near one of those military bases. We think the small town may have been destroyed accidentally in the attack on the base in Colorado," Steven Smith said.

"Could it have been done by those aliens?" his secretary asked.

"Well, the places that were hit would make it look so," the voice of Hollison said. "There were a lot of groups and organizations in San Francisco that opposed those Imperium of Man guys. Of course, they'd oppose a ham sandwich if given the chance. Geneva, and Earthdome, were swearing in a new president for the Earth Alliance today. Some guy who didn't like the Imperium. What's more, the senate was going to be voting on some measures that wouldn't be entirely in the best interests of the Imperium, so they would have reason to do this. And the two bases that were hit are where they were making railguns and ammunition. However…"

"However what Hollison?" Jeff asked.

"However, this whole thing stinks like a set up," Hollison finished.

"So you think that someone set this up to make the Imperium hated?" Cal asked, very disturbed by the possibility.

"It doesn't matter Cal," Jeff said. "If the Imperium did this, all of Earth is going to rebel against these guys. And if the Imperium didn't do this, the Imperium would still have to prove that to be the case, and there will always be doubt in the minds of many. After all, in public opinion, you're guilty until proven innocent, and even then, you're not innocent in the eyes of the public."

Looking at the faces of those around him, Jeffery decided he needed to say something here and now. "Let's gather some evidence people. Don't let any of the newsroom reporters say that the Imperium is responsible for this. Not yet anyways. Let's get our facts straight first. How many reported do we have in the field right now that can set up coverage in Geneva or San Fran?"

In Antarctica; Fortress Astartes: Formerly Known as The Fist of Horus

Horus had been having a good day. Beyond the fact they were still interrogating Chairman Burns and Hank Scorpio, beyond the fact that his brother had taken the odd xeno growth that had been found on his ship as a pet, beyond the fact that he had a large stack of paperwork to finish, beyond the fact that there was still a great deal of repairs to be enacted upon the damaged fleet, and beyond the fact that a small flotilla of xeno ships had appeared in-system, today had been very, peaceful, compared to many other days he had had. This was the true first time in centuries that Horus had felt this relaxed, and he planned on making the most of it.

Taking another sip of his drink, Horus leaned his chair back and let out a contented sigh. He had just closed his eyes when he felt that something had happened on Holy Terra. Hearing a beep on the console on his desk, Horus sat back up, and activated his desks comm. system.

"Warmaster Horus, we have reports of nuclear detonations occurring just a few minutes ago in Geneva, the city of San Francisco, and two small military bases on the North American continent," the comms. Officer reported.

"What?!" Horus asked, rage shattering the calm that had been there only a few minutes earlier. His bottle of amasec shattering in his hand. "Do we have any reports on who did this yet? And how bad is the damage?"

"The Ardua Astra has done an initial scan of the two major cities before we were contacted. Geneva has been levelled. There are no survivors. San Francisco has been hit hard. The nuke itself had been set slightly underground, hitting one of fault lines that the city sits on. At least half of the city has been destroyed by a combination of the blast and the following earthquake, while the other half has either collapsed or is currently on fire."

"Was this done by those Xenos vessels that Magnus has been negotiating with?" Horus asked.

"No Warmaster, it was not."

Sighing, Horus pulled up a list of vessels that still had functioning shields, ground transports, and the extra men needed for what Horus was thinking of doing.

"I want you to contact the Acheron's Talon' and have them prepare a ground rescue operation. I want every man, woman, and child in San Francisco still alive to be rescued and transported out of that city. I also want to know who is responsible, and I want their heads on my desk on a silver platter."

"Yes Warmaster, it shall be done."

"Comms. Officer, while you're sending those orders out, I also want you to get in contact with any surviving members of Earthdome, and get them aboard this vessel. Send a Thunderhawk out to pick them up," Horus said with a smile, imagining the looks on their faces when they saw their transport.

In Orbit; Acheron's Talon:

"Sir, we have an incoming transmission from The Fortress," the ships comm. Officers stated.

"Put it on screen Lieutenant," the captain ordered.

"Aye sir, on screen now."

Looking at the screen, the captain saw the face of Horus appear.

"What can I do for you, Milord Warmaster?" The captain asked while nodding to his commander.

"There have been several nuclear detonations in the cities of Geneva and San Francisco Captain MacKenzie," Horus stated, fury laced with every word. With each word, St. John Mackenzie's face lost more and more of its colour, his face going blank.

Staring directly at his commander's face, MacKenzie stood as cold and lifeless as a statue, though those in the room could see that he was fighting the urge to throw out a string of curses that would make even the hardened Astartes blush. When MacKenzie spoke, it was with a calm that was utterly frightening. "What are our orders, Milord?"

"You're to have your ground and air companies prepare for a rescue operation in San Francisco. Seeing as how we don't know exactly what the situation is in terms of whether there are hostiles in the area or not, you're to send a few defensive armaments along with the heavy equipment needed to clear away debris," Horus said.

"Aye sir. Is there anything else?" MacKenzie asked in a crisp manner.

"Yes, there are two things shipmaster MacKenzie. We need you to send out a thunderhawk to a…" Horus paused a moment to look down at a data pad, 'Golf Course' in southern Spain. There are a few Earth Alliance senators out there. We have the data frequencies for their homing implants. I would like them transported to the fortress post haste."

"It shall be done Warmaster. And the other thing?" MacKenzie asked.

"How have your crew and yourself been holding up?"

Sighing, the shipmaster shook his head and then dejectedly answered. "They're doing their best, even better than their best, and I am proud of them for that, but even so, morale is low. Most of the crew had families and homes to return to. Homes they may never see again. I can't speak for the other ships or their crews, but even so…"

"I see," Horus said, "Thank you shipmaster. Warmaster Horus out."

"My Lord," MacKenzie said respectfully as the communication ended. Turning to face his crew, he was proud to see them already preparing for the orders they knew were to come. Speaking to his communications officer, he said "Get me the commander of the hanger bay on the line. Get a hold of at least three of the Tech priests, and get orders for our ground teams to assemble in the hanger in five minutes.

We've got work to do people, and God willing, we're going to get it done!"

On a Sunny Golf Course; Spain

Robert Kensy was having a good day. The air was fresh, the sun was shining, the grass was green, and he was three shots under par. It was a good day.

What made this day even better though was the sight of Senator Martel fuming as he desperately tried to get his ball out of a sand-trap. The fact that he was four shots over par wasn't a bad addition to this good day either. It was enough to make Kensy smirk.

Off to the side, Robert Kensy saw Bill Hatherson chatting with a few fellow senators. It had been three days since Bill had phoned. It had taken some persuasion, but Kensy felt the results were worth it. After all, with himself, Senator Juntao, Senator Álvaro, Senator Martel and Senator Clark had all met in Spain for a series of important meetings on the economy. They would need an informal conference to discuss the events that had happened, and the actions that would need to be taken. And what better place for an 'informal conference' than a golf course?

However it seemed they were not going to get a peaceful day, on the horizon but rapidly approaching were a strange boxy aircraft.

As the craft approached it became easily recognisable to the senators as a Thunderhawk, a heavily armed and armoured shuttlecraft of the Imperium. As the craft closed it went into a vertical drop and touched down seemingly light as a feather on the green, crushing Senator Juntao's golfball under an armoured landing strut. Out of the Thunderhawk came the now familiar forms of 10 Astartes warriors.

The lead Astartes, bearing a large submachine gun in one hand and what looked like an overlarge chainsaw turned into a sword in the other, stepped forward and motioned the Senators to come closer.

When the group of Senators had approached, the leader introduced himself. "I am Sergeant Ckrius Jeran of the Luna Wolves. Gentlemen, you will accompany us to the Fortress."

"Why should we accompany you, Sergeant?" Asked Senator Álvaro.

The Sergeant slowly turned his head, pinning the Senator with an arctic glance.

"Because, honoured Senators, as of 12:34 this day, Geneva, San Francisco and one of the main defence yards near the city of Reno, have all been destroyed by nuclear attacks. The Warmaster has requested your presence as you are presently the sum total of the Earth Alliance Senate," Jeran stated.

The senators paled and gibbered lightly before Kensy managed to shake it off to relay a feeble reply. "O-of course we will come, Sergeant." The senators quickly moved into the Thunderhawk and, after being properly settled in the craft, it took off towards the Fortress Astartes at nearly 4 times the speed of sound.

Ground Zero: San Francisco

As the Thunderhawk was taking off from the Spanish golf course several dozen of their brethren were carrying nearly a thousand marines, Imperial Navy SaR teams and several Techpriests, a hundred menials and a dozen Chimera APC's to aid in the search and rescue operations in San Francisco. As the 62 Thunderhawks and 28 Vultures hit the bay area they could immediately see that things geographically were not as they had been briefed. A large section of the northern peninsula up to near San Rafael had been completely submerged and most of the Bay area was rubble and being consumed by flames.

After they had managed to clear a landing site near the ruined wreckage of City Hall, the Astartes and Navy men set out in groups of 8 to find survivors, while the Mechanicus used massive stabilizers to quiet the earthquakes and the Chimera company started clearing rubble and building debris to enable setting up a field hospital and a zone for larger evacuation craft to land.

2 hours after take off from Spain: Fortress Astartes

The senators had all seen Antarctica and they had all seen images of a battle barge. However, what greeted them was a sight none of them would ever forget. Around the massive form of the battle barge lay concentric rings of building and defences. Massive cannons and missile pods where set-up everywhere, and around these buildings were rings of bunkers and buildings connected by an intricate web of tunnels. They later learned that these outer buildings were the Army barracks.

The Thunderhawk touched down in the main hangar of the Fortress, and the Senators where led out of the small ship and saw two rows of Astartes standing as an honour guard.

After the Sergeant had spoken to and dismissed the honour guard they continued.

The odd little group of 10 marines escorting 6 middle aged senators dressed in golfing clothes walked across the hangar into an elevator and finally, after 20 minutes of traversing the dizzying maze of corridors, arrived in the Fortress's Command centre where they could see the massive form of the Warmaster coordinating the rescue efforts in San Francisco.

As the Warmaster raised his head the Astartes escorting the senators came to attention, the Warmaster quickly moved around the table, greeting the senators and dismissing the squad to their posts with a few quick words.

The Warmaster quickly moved back toward the holo map showing the real-time locations of the search teams. So far nearly 300 people had been rescued from the masses of rubble, many needing medical care. One of the earliest finds had been very uplifting for the morale of the search and rescue forces; an entire class of kindergarteners, their teacher, guide and two young women with fairly minor injuries.

The small children had at first been very afraid of the Astartes, but the first armoured monster took its helmet off and showed them he was just a really big man in a suit. The children, and the adults that could walk where quickly taken to the now completed field hospital to be checked for non-visible trauma then sent away to any family not in the city.

Horus looked at the Senators, his features slowly settling into a mask of grim fury and determination. "Gentlemen, the gauntlet has been thrown. You are what remain of the Earth Alliance leadership. Five minutes ago I ordered the complete harvesting of all information from Senator Burns. In another 20 minutes we will know everything he knew," Horus stated.

"Are there any survivors from Geneva, Lord Horus?" Asked Senator Clark softly.

"None at all, Senator I'm sorry to say," Horus replied.

The men watched as the normally so aggressive man sunk to his knees and wept. Senators Martel and Juntao quietly took the crushed man and sat him in one of the chairs a few metres away.

As Senators Kensy, Juntao and the Warmaster were discussing the ramifications of these assaults and the formation of an interim government as a solution to aid in an effort to stabilize the planet, former Senator C. Montgomery Burns was having his mind sifted thru and ripped apart by the skilled mindtouch of Brother-Lieutenant Minzel of the Thousand Sons. In a steady trickle the true names and faces of the masterminds behind the events became clear.

Minzel had a servitor write down all the names and places, as well as fortuitously enough the codes for these men and women's homing beacons. It seemed they were all extremely important people.

"Good, that will make it easy," Minzel thought, turning his gaze back to Burns, who by now was nothing more than a drooling vegetable after the brutal mindtouch. After the final useful information was taken from the senator's mind, Minzel vaporized the Senator's brain.

"Justice has been Served," Minzel stated coldly. The Lieutenant quickly stepped out of the cell and walked to the cogitator console in the guard room and punched in his access code and a priority call for the Command Centre.

…

After about five minutes of silently observing the rescue efforts and the large swarms of neutral blue dots now moving into the area from all directions, the Fortress's powerful comm. systems had quickly hooked up a comm line to the American rescue chief.

After a few minutes of talking it was decided that the Astartes, Army and Mechanicus forces in the area would be subordinate to him for the duration of the search and rescue operation with the navy forces joining the paramedics. As much as Horus resented the idea of his marines obeying someone outside the Imperium chain of command, he knew they needed good press now, and proving cooperative was a good start.

Just as they had finished that hurdle, the comms chirped happily and announced "Lieutenant Minzel from the Detention block for the Warmaster."

Horus quickly tapped in his access code and without preamble asked "do you have them Minzel?"

"Yes, Milord we have a list of names, addresses and locations," Minzel's voice replied.

"Good, send it here and then resume your normal duties," Horus said. He quickly looked at the list before handing it to Kensy and asking if any of the names were familiar. Kensy quickly scanned the list before growing pale and turning towards the one Earth humans that didn't seem subdued by the News.

"Bill? Why is your name on this list?" Robert Kensy asked his long time friend.

"That's simple, Bob, I was one of the eighteen responsible," Hatherson said, smiling before turning to Horus.

"Warmaster Horus, I surrend-eugh," the words were cut off as the large form of an Astartes combat blade suddenly shot out five inches from his chest.

A second later William Clark was wrestled to the ground and held at bolter point by two of the Astartes as the now dead Bill Hatherson fell face first into the floor, the knife plunged into his back to the hilt.

Horus look at the corpse before smiling a small thin smile then looked at Clark.

"Theft is crime punishable by 2 days in the brig," Horus stated

"It is justified, Lord Horus. My brother and his family resided in Geneva. He had admitted guilt and any court on this world would have sentenced him to death. I did not wish to wait," William Clark stated calmly.

The massive Warmaster looked at the man that had at one time been one of his staunchest opponents.

"Guards! Take him away; confine him to guest quarters, two days for stealing."

2 Hours later

Seventeen of the functioning vessels of the IoM fleet were taking up orbital positions for a single alpha strike. Seventeen lance shots and this conflict would be over.

After the ships had all reported to be in position Horus quietly ordered the only planetary bombardment by starships in the history of Terra. Seventeen extremely high powered maser beams lashed out, annihilating ten mansions, four penthouses and accompanying buildings, two large manor houses and one Castle.

Horus was well aware of the outcry that would follow this, but Kensy and the Senators here were trusted men and all had agreed that the information gathered would be released to the public.

…

After nearly a month of searching and many rescues and tragedies, it was clear that out of the Bay Area's eight million inhabitants nearly 6 million had died, most from the violent Earthquake and its aftershocks. The resulting fires had acted as the Funeral pyre of the Earth Alliance.

The initial quake had measured an unprecedented 12.6 on the Richter scale. The total loss of life in SEELE's final blow came to 7,346,716 people dead.

In the wake of the conflict and the death of SEELE, the Terran Alliance was born giving the continents of Earth the Astartes and the Admech equal say in a grand council, after the publishing of information taken and bought from Centauri.

The recruitment offices had been trampled, the army was quickly recouping personnel lost during the SEELE conflict, the Navy's ranks swelled, the engineering corps quickly sent its veteran corps' to Mars to aid and learn from the Adeptus Mechanicus. The Merchant Marine though lacking in ships now had nearly 40000 recruits…it was decided that a ship would be crewed with merchant mariners and sent to the Deriha system.

1 month after the SEELE issues resolve: Orbital Repair yard Tycho

Captain Elizabeth Devens relaxed in her chair, the creaking of the old but comfortable fabric momentarily overpowering the groans and buzzes of her beloved ship being carved up and remade to act as a trading vessel of all things. "I'm the master of a warship," she cursed to herself. She had fought hard to become one of the few female Cruiser Captains in the Imperial Navy.

Just as she was getting ready to start throwing her less breakable objects around her spacious ready room her main cogitator signalled an incoming message from Admiral Kohath, the commander of one of the main contingents of the Imperium fleet.

Entering her access code, she waited patiently until the Admiral came on screen. He was an old man, with grey hair layering its way down his neck and several scars from his many years of service to the Imperium.

"Admiral, I assume you're calling to tell me why my ship is being torn apart around me?"

"Yes Captain," Admiral Kohath replied. "Your ship has been selected for a mission of vital importance to the Imperium. We have recently established a dialogue with a race known as the Centauri. They have invited us to one of their trading posts. To that end your ship is being refitted to pose as a trading vessel."

"Why refit sir? My ship has more than enough cargo space as it is."

"True Captain, but the Warmaster does not wish to show our full capabilities to the Centauri just yet. That is why we are installing three additional cargo bays and removing the majority of your heavy weapons."

"You're leaving us defenceless?" Captain Devens asked.

"Of course not Captain. Your point defences and heavy plasma batteries should be more than enough, and we are leaving your void shields intact, though you should use them only if necessary. Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment Captain Devens. This mission could lead to the beginnings of our expansion in this place."

"I understand sir, but as a shipmaster yourself I'm sure you can appreciate the feeling of having your ship torn up around you."

"Of course Captain, but if this mission is a success you may just get a promotion."

"I'll see what I can do sir," Devens replied.

"Good, I look forward to hearing of your success. If possible, focus your trading efforts towards acquiring stellar maps and refined metals for our ship construction efforts."

"Understood Admiral."

"Good luck Captain. Kohath out."

Once the Admiral's image had vanished Devens stepped out onto her command deck. Her crew saluted quickly before resuming their duties.

"Hathington, how long until we're ready to depart?"

"Three hours fifteen minutes Captain," the Flag Lieutenant replied.

"Excellent. We should be receiving our navigational data soon. Once we're ready, disengage from dock and move us out to our warp translation point."

"Aye Captain," Hathington replied as he received reports from across the ship on the status of the refit. When it was complete the ship would hardly be recognizable, at least in battle. But if the Warmaster thought the idea was sound, then Hathington had faith enough to trust that, as long as he had the final say in a few things of course.

Four hours later the Falcon's Cry entered the Warp, the jump much smoother than usual. The shimmering realm of energy closed around the Imperium cruiser, the Gellar field glowing faintly as it reflected the ethereal energies and the Strike Cruiser slid through the Immaterium, on course for its first test in this new galaxy.

…

Lord Doji strode into the control centre of his trading station, the crew glancing up and acknowledging him. The bottle of Brivari in his hand meant salutes weren't necessary. "Have we received any further word from the Terrans?" He asked, his voice still crisp and clear despite the half-empty state of the bottle.

"None yet Lord," a young Centauri replied from across the room. His hair indicated he was not of high standing, but he managed his station with expert skill.

"Just how impressive can these Terrans be?" Caral, one of the docking operators asked. "If they are small enough to have escaped the notice of the great Centauri republic they can't be that powerful."

"Don't be so sure," Doji replied. "Lord Mollari said he lacked the words to describe their ships."

"Which likely meant they were too ugly for words," Caral replied, generating laughter from the rest of the Centauri in the room.

Lord Doji moved over to the main window, looking out upon the hundreds of ships plying the system. Nearly every known race traded in this system, from the Brakiri and Drazi to the prideful Dilgar. Great Maker, they had even seen a Minbari Cruiser a few days ago, a truly once in a lifetime event.

The Deriha system was known for the quality of its products, which consisted mainly of metal ores and crops from the southern continent. Though it wasn't much, it was the first step on his journey to the Royal Court. "And now," Lord Doji said to himself, "I get to make the first deals with a new race."

"Lord Doji, I am picking up a disturbance. Distance five thousand kilometers," came a call from the scanner post, the Centauri there furrowing his brow in confusion. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Put it up on the main screen," Doji ordered, watching as a section of space was torn open in a violent flood of ghostly energy. It was like to jump point he had ever seen. Rather than gracefully soaring out of a blue jump vortex, an absolutely massive vessel appeared to tear its way into normal space, ghostly energy of seemingly a thousand colours swishing around it. The vortex lasted only an instant, then all eyes drifted to the ship.

"Great Maker," Doji whispered. The human ship was by far the largest space going construct he had ever laid eyes on. It had to be at least four kilometers long, with a hull made of gunmetal grey armor plating and several spires soaring from near its engines, the central one he assumed to be the command section. Several large hatches adorned its prow, as well a golden rendering of a double headed bird, its wings spread wide and seeming to envelop all around it. For a moment Doji even believed he could hear the bird's predatory cry.

"We…are receiving a signal," came a stuttering reply. "Shall we respond?"

"Yes, of course," Doji managed to choke out. His throat was suddenly dry. The human vessel easily dominated the attention of the entire system. The station's sensors were recording dozens of hails directed at the massive vessel, but it was only transmitting to the station, though it was on an open channel.

"This is the bulk freighter Falcon's Cry to Centauri station. On behalf of the Terran Alliance we thank you for having us. We now request permission to descend to the surface and begin our trading operations."

"Direct and polite at the same time, a good combination," Doji replied. "I would prefer to meet you in person before we begin our exchange however."

"Very well, we will come over in five minutes. Falcon's Cry out."

The Terrans were true to their word. Five minutes later a large shuttle landed in one of the station's many docking bays. As the hatch opened Doji took a moment to adjust a few strands of hair and smooth an imaginary crease in his uniform, which glinted in the light. Around him six security officers stood, hefting their polished rifles. Doji wanted to make sure the Terrans were impressed.

The first two people out of the shuttle quickly shattered any hopes Doji had of intimidation. Two massive armoured figures, each at least three meters tall clad in cumbersome looking grey armor stood at attention on either side of the shuttle ramp. Each hefted a huge four barrelled cannon, raising it in what Doji assumed was some sort of salute.

The next pair to exit the shuttle were more along the lines of what Doji had expected. A man and a woman, both dressed in rich blue robes trimmed with gold descended gracefully. The man was a few inches taller than Doji and seemed to have one of his hands encased in metal. His short brown hair ended sharply at his ears, and Doji took note of the large sword strapped to one side of his waist.

The woman a bit shorter, but her deep blue eyes seemed to demand attention. A cascade of rich blond hair fell down her back in a gentle wave, and her robes more resembled a dress. Doji was surprised when she stepped forward first. "Greetings, I'm Captain Elizabeth Devens of the Terran Alliance Bulk freighter Falcon's Cry. My second in Command Peter Hathington, and Battle-brothers Moreth and Burel of my ship's security detail. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, extending her hand.

"It…It is an honour Captain Devens," Lord Doji managed to reply. "I am Lord Doji, master of this station." He took the Captain's grip, finding it quite form for a woman. It appeared that these humans placed their men and woman on equal standing, quite unlike the Centauri. "If you will follow me, I have prepared a meal for you."

"Thank you," Elizabeth replied. As Doji escorted them through the station they drew plenty of glances, especially the Marines. Finally though, they arrived at a private suite. A meal was waiting on the table, situated to give the diners a dazzling view of the stars.

"Shall we?" Doji invited, and the two humans took their seats. The armoured guards took up positions near the door, their massive cannons pointed slightly down, but Doji suspected they could bring them to bear in an instant. "So, tell me about where you come from?"

For the next hour Doji learned about the world of Earth, its culture and its people, but the humans carefully avoided any discussion about their military strength or the location of their world. Doji found the humans to be good company. They had a sense of humour and even introduced him to a new game they called poker.

"Well then," Captain Devens said as she finished her last bite. "I think we've gotten to know each other well enough to begin our operation. Would it be acceptable for my men to land on your world and begin trade negotiations? We have studied the law information your Lord Mollari provided us and will conduct ourselves respectfully."

"Very well," Doji replied. "I doubt your vessel could approach too close to our station anyway without disrupting the traffic flow." He stopped when the human Captain smiled in a way he found slightly unnerving.

Reaching into her robes, Elizabeth withdrew a small communicator. "Commander Mizaki, you are clear to begin landing operations. Just don't squash anyone," she added with a smile.

"Understood Captain, see you on the ground," came a male reply.

Out in space the Falcon's Cry reoriented itself, angling to that its nose faced the planet. Gathering speed, it prepared to enter the atmosphere.

"What is your ship doing?!" Doji asked. Now he began to understand why the human woman was smiling.

"Landing of course. You did give us permission."

"Yes but…Something that size is incapable of landing on a planet!"

"Not where we come from. It is somewhat complicated, but still easily achieved" Captain Devens replied. "I think we should head to your office if you're still interested in establishing an official trading agreement with us."

"Oh yes, of course." As Doji led the humans up to his main office near the control section, he sincerely hoped no one on the ground would be injured when the massive Terran Alliance ship made planet fall. A single thought filled his mind the entire trip to his office. If one of the humans' freighters was this impressive, what would one of their warships be capable of?

…

Ranger Derall looked up from his cup of jalla as a huge rumbling filled the air around him. He had been stationed on this planet for nearly three years, listening for rumors of the Shadows. The people here had gradually accepted the old Minbari. He simply walked around, talking with people and occasionally getting messages from his wife back on Minbar, except that his "wife" was merely a cover identity for Ranger One, the leader of his order. With all the traffic that passed through this system it was inevitable if the Shadows stirred, word of it would pass through here. In all his time here he had never heard such a sound. It was similar to the landings the shuttles at the spaceport made, but a hundred times louder.

The restaurant quickly began emptying around him. Deciding to see what the fuss was about, he slowly got to his feel, old bones protesting the movement. Once he merged into the sunlight he had to fight to keep himself from falling to his knees. Pushing its way down through a thick cloud bank was a massive vessel, easily several kilometres long and with a golden double-headed bird painted on its underside.

"In Valen's name," Derall whispered, tough he wouldn't have been overheard had he shouted. Quickly making his way through the crown, he headed for his apartment. The Grey Council needed to learn of this. Then he would pay a visit to the ship itself if he could. One thing kept pounding its way through his mind. Who were these new aliens, and what did they want?

…

A massive crowd had gathered around the Terran Alliance vessel. Ramps were opening along its sides and dozens of people who looked almost exactly like Centauri were descending, but it was the massive armoured giants who walked with them which drew most of the attention. The giants moved very quickly despite their armor, moving the crowns back as one of the terrans, a tall dark skinned man dressed in long black robes stood on a box and raised a bullhorn to his lips. "I am Mark Mishanon, lead trader of the Falcon's Cry of the Terran Alliance. I hope you appreciated our entrance. Now then, we will be setting up our trading posts shortly. If you wish to do business with us, please form orderly lines and we will see what we can do. We will also not tolerate any thievery or violence. Any such attempts will be dealt with." As the man lowered his bullhorn the 12 marines together stamped a foot into the metal of the ramps, causing more than a few in the crowd to flinch.

Over the next few hours trading went on at a frenzied pace. The humans brought out seemingly endless supplies of personal armour and samples of gravity generating metal plates. In return they received offers in the form of everything from food stuffs to precious metals. Refined metals and food stuffs received the most attention, though a Centauri merchant walked away with several crates of armor and gravity plating he planned to study and resell later in exchange for star maps of the surrounding sectors.

Traffic through the city rapidly drained as thousands rushed to the landed ship. Other than what they offered, the Terran received extremely generous offers for data on their ship and its systems, but their offers were politely declined. Several became angry, but a few bolts from a Marine's gun into the ground dissuaded any further attempts at violence as well as sparking dozens of requests for weapons technology.

Finally the Terrans had sold everything they had brought, much to the surprise of Captain Devens. As she relaxed in her command throne with a bottle of Brivari she had received from Lord Doji she gave a sigh of contentment. "I think that was an excellent day," she said to her command crew. While a good part of the crew was composed of humans from Earth, Devens, the senior crew and security personnel were part of the original crew. She was one of the very few female Captains in the Imperial Navy, and had worked hard to attain her position.

"Indeed," Lt. Heruman replied from tactical. "I'd say we made quite the impression. Word of our capabilities should reach many of the nearby worlds soon, and they will believe they have seen our strength."

"But they still know nothing of our power," Devens replied. "Open a link to Commander Hathington."

"Yes Captain?" Came the reply a moment later. Hathington had chosen to remain on the station in order to barter with Lord Doji for the components to construct what everyone around here called a "Jump Gate."

"Were your negotiations successful?"

"They were. I'll transmit the list of payment to you now."

Devens reviewed Doji's price. It was high, but for such advanced technology it was acceptable. She was thankful in that moment that one of the Earth Senators had chosen to load several crates with various oddities from Earth. "You never know what the tastes of your next customer might be," he had said. Now it looked like he had been correct.

"Very well; we'll transfer the components by shuttle. Good work Commander. Devens out."

…

K'loth watched nervously as the timer counted down the time until the exit to normal space.

"Are you sure your informant is reliable?" Correl, the leader of the Brakiri component of his pirate fleet asked.

"He can be trusted," T'lor replied. "And while I agree such a well defended system would normally be avoided by us, this new ship is simply too tempting a target. If we can capture it imagine what we might find, and what we can do with it."

"I agree. Still, I have contributed substantially to our partnership. I expect a proportionate share of the spoils."

"Of course my friend," T'lor replied, hiding a frown. The Brakiri were merchants, not raiders, but the power of their ships, especially enhanced with his heavy weapons, was undeniable.

"We are ready to jump to normal space," T'kal called out from the helm.

"Very good, all ships jump! May G'Quan protect us," K'loth whispered.

…

The Falcon's Cry had departed the Centauri station waypoint and begun a hard burn for the warp translation point.

"Ten minutes to Warp point Captain," Hathington called out. Suddenly alarms began sounding across the command deck. "Sensors are detecting multiple jump point forming, three thousand kilometres ahead. Based on the data we obtained, we're reading 20 Narn vessels, 7 Brakiri cruisers and 13 Drazi Sun Hawks. They're arming weapons and launching fighters. Orders?"

"Well now, it seems we're going to get a chance to test out our new combat systems after all."

"Message from Lord Doji. He's scrambling his defence fleet to assist us."

"Tell him not to bother. Activate all weapons and bring Void Shields up to full power. All hands, battle stations!"

As alert klaxons began blaring through the ship Captain Devens smiled. She had always been a show off, and now she was going to get a chance to show an entire system what even a watered down Imperium ship was capable of.

…

Lord Doji watched as the Terran freighter swung around to present its broadside to the incoming pirates. "What are they thinking?" He asked himself. The Terran Captain had told him they required no assistance.

"Lord Doji, the Terran ship has just activated some sort of energy field. Our sensors can no longer scan them."

"What!?" Doji exclaimed. He watched in amazement as 80 armor plates on the Terran ship, 40 on either side, retracted and from each hole extended a quad barrelled cannon. As the pirate fighters moved in the turrets came alive in a storm of fire and light. Each turret sent streams of explosive shells and stuttering pulses of light into the nearly 200 enemy strike craft. Nearly a third were obliterated in the first thirty seconds as the turrets tracked them with blinding speed. It was almost as if the turrets were slowing down to fire, like they were used to far speedier targets. The remaining fighters began a deadly dance, their fire harmlessly impacting on Void Shields. Across the system you could practically hear the intakes of breath as the Terran shields lit up.

"My Lord, the enemy capital ships are moving up."

"What is the reaction from the Terran ship?"

"They are moving…Directly toward them."

"What are they thinking?" Doji asked.

…

"Enemy capital ships have entered range," Hathington called out.

"Open main ports. Let's show them our big guns," Captain Devens replied with a smile. "Time to show these people who's boss."

Eight massive armor plates slid along the hull of the Falcon's Cry, revealing the massive barrels of the ship's compliment of plasma cannons. As the enemy vessels began opening up, the Terran freighter allowed them to fire a few volleys. The ship shook a bit, but the only thing that was broken was Captain Devens' drinking goblet.

"Ok, I've had it! All batteries, open fire!"

"Yes ma'am!" Tactical replied. A moment later space itself appeared to catch fire. Huge bursts of plasma, each one hotter than a sun, tore into the enemy fleet. With each hit a ship was torn to shreds or simply vanished. Explosion after explosion lit the space around the Terran ship. It was a god of death, swatting aside the puny mortals who dared challenge it.

Within a minute the firestorm faded, leaving behind the wrecks of nearly twenty enemy ships. The rest had been completely vaporized.

…

On the Centauri station the occupants were frozen.

"Great Maker," Lord Doji whispered. "If one of their cargo transports can do that, what are their warships capable of?" As Doji stared, the Terran freighter vanished into another cloud of ghostly blue energy, fading into nothing. The Terran Alliance had left its mark, and the entire galaxy would soon realize space had new masters.

…

Anla'shok Derall quickly made his way to the small apartment where he kept residence. It was not much more then a bed and a food storage unit, but it was enough. Making sure the blinds were shut and after scanning for listening devices, Derall activated his stellarcomm unit and waited.

After nearly an hour, the screen flickered and the image of Derall's superior appeared. An old Minbari male, the man had a thick beard and a scar running from his right cheek up to his eye.

"Entil'zha," Derall spoke in reverence. "I have urgent news."

"That much is obvious, or else you would have used our standard message channels," the head ranger replied. "What is this urgent news?"

"A new race has entered this system. They call themselves the Terran Alliance, and their technology is beyond anything I have ever seen. Their ship, which they designated as a freighter, was larger than even then a Sharlin War Cruiser, and even more, was able to affect a landing on the surface."

"That is not possible," the Entil'zha replied.

"Yet I saw it with my own eyes. The ship also possesses extraordinary offensive and defensive systems. They are able to generate some form of energy shield, and were able to destroy a large pirate force single-handedly. I have collected all the information I have been able to gather. It should reach you within three weeks, sooner if one of our ships can retrieve it en route."

"Very well; I will bring word of this to the Council. Until then, remain vigilant and gather what data you can."

"Of course Entil'zha. Vigilance through all darkness."

"And forever shall the watchers stand against that darkness."

"I will contact you again if I learn more," Derall said as he ended the transmission. He knew he had to learn where these Terrans had come from. They could represent a threat to the Minbari, but he could not shake the feeling he had seen a ship like that before.

…

Entil'zha Neeral slowly stood, his old bones protesting the movement. In his decades of service to the Rangers he had seen more than most had dreamed. He had watched for the darkness and the return of the Shadows. On his countless missions into the astral void he had fought the Drakh, an evil servant race of the shadows. One of them had given him the scar he now wore proudly as a mark of courage.

Stepping into a lift, he allowed it to transport him to the very bottom of the Rangers' Fortress headquarters. The beautiful crystal pillars down here were tarnished with age, and ancient glow lamps flickered slowly, but the power was still here. It was an invisible force, yet solid enough to be felt by anyone treading here. It flowed through the walls and permeated the air.

Finally reaching a pair of immense crystal doors, Neeral placed his hand at the centre and watched as patterns of light radiated out, illuminating the ancient runes transcribed by Valen himself. The doors slowly opened and Neeral stepped inside. The interior was dark, with only a single pillar of light descending from the vaulted ceiling, illuminating a massive suit of armor.

"Great Valen, the time has come at last," Neeral intoned, slowly stepping forward into the light. This close the scale of Valen's Armor truly became apparent. Neeral's head barely came up to the suit's chest plate. The colour of dark stone, engraved with many holy litanies and texts. The Armor of Valen was one of the Minbari's holiest relics, and had been entrusted to the Rangers by Valen after the defeat of the Shadows a thousand years ago. "The messenger has made its appearance. Soon the fires shall begin."

The pillar of light flickered and a small opening appeared in the floor. Reaching down, Neeral withdrew a black box, intricately decorated with a winged skull insignia upon its lid. Opening the small thing, Neeral's breath caught in his throat. Making a low bow to the armor, he quickly made his way out of the chamber. The Nine had to be informed.