Chapter 13

The Cost of Favours

Halos watched with bated breath as the Imperial taskforce passed them by, and for the first time since arriving in this galaxy got an up close and personal look at one of their capital-ships without being fired upon. Barely ten thousand kilometres to their portside was their pursuers, two cruiser analogues guarded by a cluster of smaller picket ships.

The cruisers were indeed a truly formidable sight, and their designs were so different from Alliance shipbuilding methods that to try and compare them for similarities was almost laughable. These ships were built for a singular purpose, and that purpose was to eradicate the opposition with superior firepower and thick defences. Their forms weren't streamlined, and every inch of their bulky frames seemed crammed with enough weaponry to make a lesser foe think twice before engaging.

The fronts of these vessels reminded Halos of a shield or plough, obviously designed for ramming an enemy vessel, long barrels of what looked like anti-ship cannons jutted out from under the plough shaped fore and the Admiral had no doubts about the potential firepower. Beyond the fore was its bulky form, storey tall lance batteries and a myriad of other turrets were represented in line after line, a single high command tower rose up from the back, and its huge engine nacelles flared crimson as the juggernaut continued on its way.

No one spoke, no one moved, no one even dared breathe. The atmosphere was so tense that a pin would drop and the entire bridge crew would be able to hear it. Halos understood their apprehension. They were putting their trust in an unknown entity which could very well have led them into a trap.

The second the Imperial taskforce passed by their fleet Joseph released a breath of air he wasn't aware he was holding, before turning back to Severi. "I want complete com silence until we are sure we cannot be heard."

She raised a black eyelash. "Why are you whispering, Admiral?"

"Seems appropriate, don't you think?" A nervous smile curved up her lips before she nodded and set about the task, calling out to her communications officers to relay the Admiral's order through secure channels to the rest of the fleet. Joseph continued to watch the Imperial taskforce as their forms shrunk with each second, slowly but surely vanishing in the eternal darkness of space.

His fleet had gotten off lucky during that skirmish. Sor'ai reported that a good chunk of the Guardians rear deflector shield had been used up in absorbing the lance battery fire from the Cruisers. Luckily enough none of the Star Destroyers had been targeted and the Star Dreadnoughts shields were already recharging back to their full strength.

But there were a number of unanswered questions. The Admiral knew that the Eldar were once again involved with the situation. He was also greatly interested in what kind of stealth technology they possessed to make a taskforce of warships simply vanish from not just visual sight but sensors as well. The possibilities of such technology were both awe inspiring and terrifying.

Imagine a fleet of Star Destroyers hidden from sight and sensor, completely invisible until the moment they struck. Such an element of surprise could tip the scale of any conflict unanimously in his favour. There were ancient reports of powerful Sith sorcerers being able to do similar things during the Great Hyperspace War millennia ago, though in their case it was casting an illusion to make the fleet look like one huge transport instead of inducing near perfect invisibility.

Then there was the problem with their Tau captives. The Ethereal on the Resolute had surrendered without a fuss and was currently imprisoned in one of the guest suites in the visitor quarters, guarded over by Jedi Master Gabriel Sabbath, Jedi Knight Hossk Trey'lis and a full platoon of his most grizzled SpecForce commandoes. The Ethereal on the Bulwark was another matter. At least three people were reported injured, including Jedi Knight Gabrielle Sabbath, in apprehending him. Luckily no one was severely hurt or killed. The Ethereal had been imprisoned in the brig, and anti-force equipment had been set up to render his abilities mute. He needed to decide on what to do with them.

It took considerable effort not to jump when the voice echoed through his mind again.

- Are you still with me, Mon'Keigh? –

- Yes, I am still here. Thank you for the assistance –

- We did not aide you out of charity –

-Yes, I assumed as much. I am guessing you are Farseer Taldeer of Ulthwe, correct? –

There was a trace of mirth in her voice as she replied. – Hmm, it appears you are smarter than you look –

- Thanks, I guess. So I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you want our help in return for reuniting us with our lost ship –

- You are most perceptive. Yes, in return for leading you to your lost ship I am asking for your help –

- You want us to aide you in conquering the planet? –

- Hardly, our objectives are not nearly so superficial. It was never our intention to take this planet for ourselves –

-Then what is your objective? –

She hesitated for a moment, as if unsure in telling him such information. – There is a great evil hidden under the surface of Kronus, tell me Admiral have you ever heard of the Necron? –

Lord Admiral Xavier Tobias watched from his command throne as the battle played out before him. The Inquisitors arrival was risky and the possible cost to his forces was great, but it seemed to have bore some fruit. The Tau had been taken completely by surprise with at least twelve warships destroyed and an additional seven damaged in the first minutes of the renewed conflict.

However the Tau had reorganised themselves quickly and efficiently, reforming their battle line and pushing his own forces back, slowly but surely, to their own lines. These lines of battle had been redrawn, with both sides now pummelling each other with long range weaponry including lance and pulse, torpedoes and missiles were being fired in droves and hordes of fighter craft were streaming through the death zone in swarms, attempting to break through both sides firing solution.

Tobias watched as another one of his ships, an Imperial Frigate, blossomed in an explosion of fire and smoke as a Tau Protector-class capital-ship passed by the husk, now exchanging fire with one of his old Cruisers. Further along a small Tau escort was ripped apart by the magnificent guns of one of his Lunar-class Cruisers, the Divine Grace if he remembered.

His ship remained at the rear of the fleet. His flagship, the Emperor-class Battleship Royal Oak was his trump card against the Tau, leading a fleet which consisted of three Overlord-class Battlecruisers, five Lunar-class Cruisers, eight Light Cruisers and twelve Frigates all of varying design. The moment the Tau fleet weakened he would be ready to welcome them with a full salvo of firepower. The right moment needed to be found, and then victory would be certain, for Emperor and Imperium.

At the moment though his attention wasn't on the battle taking place before him, but on his main view-screen, looking at the projection of the man who had kick started this entire affair. "You're plan of action was a risky one Inquisitor, but at least it broke this Emperor forsaken stalemate."

"I am elated that you are happy, Lord Admiral." Jaeger replied dryly. "However there is the small problem that my quarry has eluded me."

"Hmm," Tobias rubbed his chin, noticing with distain the stubble forming from several days. "Indeed, your opponent seems to be a sly old fox."

"Or he has made agreements with some of our enemies, more reason for us to hunt him down."

"If this force is indeed new and possesses a high array of technology wouldn't it be a better alternative to try and capture at least one of their ships?" Tobias asked. He was no xeno lover, like this supposed Alliance seemed to be, but even he could see the possible benefits of receiving advanced technology, even if it did take the Adeptus Mechanicus a couple of centuries to sanction it. "I can think of quite a few factions within our beloved Imperium who might object to your... methods."

He shrugged off the sudden ominous feeling which settled on his shoulders. The Inquisitors eyes were piercing. "Like who?"

"Well the Ordo Xenos will probably make a fuss that an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor decided to do their job for them, plus I can see the Adeptus Mechanicus making a little trouble if you leave nothing for them to salvage." Tobias was a man who liked to cover his bases, and he knew about the intense rivalry between the branches of the Inquisition. He also knew about the almost heretical way the Mechanicus liked to review xeno technology.

The Inquisitor must have known this as well. He wouldn't have survived as long as he obviously had without it. This Alliance may be an organisation of xeno lovers and heretics who had obviously not witnessed the Emperors light but they also possessed some interesting and downright impressive military grade technology.

The thought of a main weapon battery with twice the range of a standard lance battery made the Lord Admiral grin internally, imagine the strategic advantage one could attain from such a weapon being installed into an Imperial fleet. A cruiser upgraded with hybrids of those weapons would be intimidating, but a battleship equipped with such weapons would be fearsome.

"I think I'm going to throw a small force into finding this Alliance fleet." The Lord Admiral looked up at the Inquisitor with a wide grin. "I mean consider how my status would improve if I handed over a fully operational warship to holy Terra. I could see a promotion to Warmaster in my immediate future."

If the Inquisitors eyes could have narrowed further they would have, "You."

"Consider this me continuing to aide you Inquisitor Jaeger, but I am going to capture one of those ships in as good condition as possible." The Lord Admiral rose from his command chair. "Imagine what we could learn from gaining such an asset. There must be more to these ships than a weapon whose range accedes our own. A galaxy wide communication system, enhanced medical technology, by the Emperor anything is possible."

"You will be branded as a heretic for this!"

"Maybe," the Admiral replied with a smirk. "Or maybe I will go down in history as the man who ushered in a new age of technological achievement and conquest for the holy Imperium. It could take longer than my lifetime to implement, but as long as I deliver a ship to hallowed Terra that will not matter."

"You," Jaeger didn't look angry, he looked livid, absolutely furious. "You will regret this, Lord Admiral, I guarantee it!"

He hit something on the control panel before him and the screen descended into the chaos of static. Tobias leaned further into his leather command chair, breathing a sigh of relief before turning towards the shadows behind him, well aware of the presence in the darkness. "Was that to your satisfaction?"

"Yes," a silky voice replied with an abundance of mirth. "Thank you Lord Admiral, my Lord will be happy with your choice."

"What choice did I have," Tobias muttered, though a smile graced his grizzled features. "Your master and my father had fought beside each other on several conflicts. If I didn't side with you then my old man would turn in his grave."

"Perhaps," the feminine voice replied.

A woman stepped into the open and by the Emperor she was exquisite to behold. She was dressed in a pair of black robes, emblem emblazoned on her right breast marking her as an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos. Her face was heart shaped with pale skin, dark brown eyes and a dainty nose, long, luxurious and feathery raven coloured hair stretched down to the small of her back, accenting her hour glass figure. Yet Tobias knew she was nowhere near defenceless, light armour glinted from the parting of her robes, and he had glimpsed a loose black leather utility belt where a pair of bolt pistols and a combat knife. He also spotted a satchel which held something else.

Unlike the Inquisitor he had just spoken too this one had obviously attained her position in the fires of combat, and that made her and her retinue all the more dangerous. He could still see them in his mind's eye. A battle-sister of the Adeptus Sororitas, a Penitent Witch covered in parchment, and a tall man dressed in a ruby red leather suit complete with sombrero hat.

"We thank you for your help in this delicate matter, Lord Admiral."

"A pleasure milady," Tobias replied as he finally slouched into his command throne. "Just tell that bastard Silvermane that I expect a full crate of Northumberland wine for this."

"What year?"

He chuckled, feeling the tension vanish from him in waves.

"Are we absolutely sure that what the Eldar is saying is true?" Rosso asked with a frown, studying both her superior and fellow Captains.

"I asked Captain Glacius to perform a deep core scan of the planet." Joseph replied simply from his chair before turning to the holographic form of the Bulwark's commander. "What did you find?"

Glacius cleared his throat before responding. "According to the deep core scans we have found a large series of hollowed out caverns under the planet's surface, too numerous and unnatural in design for them to be a natural occurrence."

From her own chair on the table the head professor in the fleet cleared her own throat to be heard. "After Captain Glacius brought the scans to my attention my team performed a number of more thorough examinations and found that the caverns are blanketed by an energy reading. The readings are very subtle and couldn't be picked up on unless you were looking for it but it is undoubtedly there."

"It does seem to coincide with the Eldar's claims." Captain Verge nodded. "However what do we know about these Necron?"

"Just from what information our agents found on Imperial worlds and what the Eldar have seen fit to share with us." Lissana answered, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms as she spoke. "But from what little we have been told the Necron were once a race of people who encased themselves in machines of living metal and began a crusade of annihilation across the galaxy. They were unbeatable and when they ravaged all known life they apparently went into hibernation, only to begin reawakening now."

"If they are machines then we can't rely on conventional tactics. Blasters can only be so effective against machines, especially if these Necron are as hardy as the Eldar claim." Captain Severi frowned as she thought before smiling sheepishly. "That is if we decide to stick our necks into this fight."

"Ionised weaponry might be our best option," Artin spoke up, flashing the Chiss Captain a rueful smile as he added his thoughts.

"No," Halos shook his head. "It might be more effective than blasters but not as effective as we need. According to the Eldar they have tried to fight the Necron with ionised weapons and failed. The Imperium records we gained also speak that similar attempts by them to use EMP weapons haven't been successful either."

"What about Disruptors?" Rosso asked, ignoring the few disapproving looks she received from a few Captains.

"Those are illegal."

"And for good reason," Flore said with an equal frown. "Disruptors may be powerful and capable of turning any solid object, organic or not to ash. But they are unpredictable and dangerous to both the target and the wielder. They can only fire a few shots before they overheat, and there have been instances where overheated disruptors blew up in the faces of their wielders."

"The Alliance wouldn't even touch on the idea of using Disruptors."

"That's not entirely true." All eyes turned to Professor Lissana. "Before Coruscant fell to the Yuuzhan Vong the Chief of State and Senate began making orders for further research into Disruptor technology. Because blaster and ionised weaponry proved ineffective against their Vonduun Crab armour they wanted to utilise Disruptors as a possible replacement."

"The research was approved by the Galactic Alliance during the war but it stagnated after the ceasefire was declared." Halos finished. "Officially the government wouldn't touch the idea of Disruptors with a ten foot poll, but unofficially they supplied each fleet squadron with a supply of finished Disruptor rifles and grenades."

There was silence for a few moments before someone spoke up. "Are we really going to use those weapons?"

"We are a small force, far away from home in the middle of hostile territory." Joseph said sternly. "We won't last long unless we bring every advantage we have to the table. I am ordering that the Division and Special Forces units we land on Kronus be armed with not just blasters but ion rifles and disruptors. We can't afford to leave anything to chance."

"What is the Eldar plan of action?"

"They're not going to lead a full on attack, instead they've put forward the idea to insert small Special Forces units into the catacombs with several small tactical nuclear bombs. The idea is to set them in important load bearing areas and cave in the tombs." Halos touched a button on the command table, and watched as a holographic image of the catacombs flickered into view, a maze of tunnels and chambers.

"The teams will be made of SpecForce as well as their own elite shock troopers. While they plant the bombs a diversion will be made at the main entrances, here, here and here. Our Division as well as a sizable Eldar force will cram as much heavy weaponry as we can against the entrances and pummel them until we have confirmation that the bombs have been deployed, then we will call a tactical retreat." Halos looked at the Captains. "If all goes well we cave in the tombs and stop the Necron from taking the world."

"So you are deploying troops on the ground." Rosso said with a nod.

"Right, we'll be deploying the 33rd Coreworld Guards, and SpecForce fire squads one, three, nine, ten, eleven and twelve of the 5th SpecForce Infantry Division will be assigned the behind-enemy-lines role." Halos replied without missing a beat. "They will be supported by fighter and bomber squadrons from the Resolute and the Interceptor. Their mission will be to secure control of the skies until our troops are off the field. If worst comes to worst then we withdraw all forces and pummel the site from orbit."

"Why should we care though?" Tills asked with a croak. "Sure these Necron sound like bad news but we do not have the resources to deal with this if we fail."

"From what I hear an active Tomb world is bad news for not just the planet but the surrounding sector as well." Joseph said simply. "If we fail to stop them and they take Kronus then they will have a platform in this sector to launch a harvest upon the surrounding worlds. If they do that then eventually Haven will be within their sights. Haven is our base of operations, but whether we planned it or not there is a population there whose only chance at survival is with our protection."

"He's right," Rosso nodded. "The moment we let those people settle on Haven we became their protectors and benefactors. It is our responsibility to protect them from all threats, present and future."

"What about the Eldar?"

"Once this business with the Necron is settled then we're bugging out and returning to Haven." Joseph replied with a shrug. "It doesn't matter if Taldeer is here to suppress the Necron or conquer the planet. Once the Necron are subdued then we're gone. The rest of them can fight over this world all they want and the victors are welcome to it."

"What about the Tau Ethereals?"

It was a question everyone knew would be raised eventually. What would be done with the two Ethereal's. The one on the Resolute was being treated as an honoured guest, albeit with anti-force equipment set up around his suite, a platoon of Alliance Marines and Jedi Knight Dani Blue guarding his floor. The one on the Bulwark was being treated as a borderline criminal, locked in the Interdictors brig with anti-force gear positioned and a platoon of marines guarding him.

Thankfully the situation on the Bulwark ended with no fatalities, only four people were injured with the worst being Gabrielle Sabbath. The young Knight had taken a beating from the Ethereal, and had suffered a number of injuries including a mild concussion, cracked ribs and some internal bleeding. Thankfully she was the first patient to be placed in a Bacta tank, and was currently resting in the Star Destroyers infirmary, bandaged and bruised but stable.

"For now we keep the one on the Bulwark locked up. The other will remain as our honoured guest until our mission here comes to an end. After that we'll return them to the Tau settlement on the planet." Joseph's face was a mask of stone as he made the declaration.

Lukas Alexander, Governor-Militant of Kronus and commander of the 1st Kronus Regiment peered steadily over the mass of recon reports presented before him. His forces may have secured victories against the Ork hordes to the South and the Tau forces to the North West, but he was also suffering losses.

The Space Marines of the Blood Ravens who had positioned themselves to the North were already threatening his borders, and to make matters worse was the dataslate before him, showing him the information as if it was unconsciously mocking him. With a growl of anger he crushed the slate in his power fist before slamming it against the concrete slab which made his table.

"The expedition to the Thur'Abis Plateau is a failure then," he asked, sucking in a breath. With the Blood Ravens assaulting his positions to the North this had to be the worst information he could possibly gain.

"I'm afraid so sir," the unfortunate Lieutenant who had been chosen as the bearer of bad news replied a little fearfully. "According to reports 6th Company of 2nd Battalion suffered losses of up to forty percent. Worst of all the Kasrkin squads sent to support them haven't reported back since the battle officially started. By the reports we were able to gain it appears that they were all lost."

Alexander ground his teeth at the statement, Kasrkin infantry were some of the best in the Imperium, elite shock troopers born and raised on the fortress world of Cadia, armed with state-of-the-art weaponry and survivors of dozens of military campaigns. Elites from any other planet were exemplary. Elites from Cadia were the hardest, toughest and deadliest bastards in the Imperium.

Losing a Company of men could be contributed to a bad week.

Losing a Kasrkin squad was an unmitigated disaster.

What was almost as bad was that with this failure the Necron scourge could break from their confines and turn the planet into a graveyard. He idly considered that he should have heeded Taldeer's warning, but he dismissed it as ludicrous. The only goal of that foul race was to deceive and destroy, just like her actions at Lorn V which resulted in serious casualties for the local Imperial Guard Regiment and the loss of a hallowed Imperial Titan. Taldeer had proven amply that she was not one to be trusted, just like the rest of her infernal Emperor forsaken race.

"Our only hope is that those Kasrkins are still alive."

"Why do you say that, Governor?"

"Because if they are then the mission isn't a total loss. As Cadians they will never give in, not till their last breath." Lukas Alexander looked at his assorted retinue of lieutenants. "As long as one of them is alive the mission isn't a failure, but for now we need to stop those traitorous Blood Ravens from destroying us, the Necron can wait."

"Yes sir."

The roar of the engines was loud and unrestrained, but to Gabriel it was nothing but after-noise. The LAAT gunship was filled to the brim with soldiers and was but one of a small swarm of gunships descending upon the planet of Kronus with a single intention, a single purpose and a single order.

The Necron must not breach the surface.

Ten thousand men and women were being ferried to the rendezvous point, where the Division would meet with the Eldar army which had been slowly trickling into position over the past several days. The target was the Thur'Abis plateau, situated in the very centre of a great desert situated in the middle of the Kronus continent. It was under this plateau that the Necron army laid and it had to be here that they be stopped.

The Eldar had promised support, it was a mandatory requirement that Admiral Halos had hammered down. Either the Eldar of Ulthwe pulled their weight in this operation or the Alliance pulled out. If his Division arrived to find no substantial Ulthwe forces on site then he would recall all units and leave the system. It was a risky gamble, but it seemed to work. Taldeer, the Farseer in charge of Eldar forces in system had promised that not only would there be an army waiting for them but she herself would be there to lead them. Gabriel had been chosen by the Admiral to lead the soldiers of the Coreworld Guards, granting him the immediate rank of General despite his protests.

All of the Jedi had received similar ranks, though only he gained the rank of a full four-star General. Rachi had gained the title of Lieutenant General, Jaden and Gabrielle had received the ranks of Major Generals, Hossk and Dani were made Brigadier Generals. Luckily they were able to stop him from forcing a rank on Alana and Marie. Gabriel understood that although they had around fifteen army Divisions within the fleet they didn't have very many men to lead them, the mission was only supposed to be a test flight after all, not a long term exploration assignment into hostile territory. The Divisions were only originally there for security purposes, and because of that the Alliance army had given Halos full command authority.

He thought about his twin at that moment, but shook it off. Gabrielle was alright, she was alive and resting in the medical wing of the Bulwark. He suddenly had an urge to rip that smug Tau Celestials head off with his bare hands but stopped himself with a deep, calming breath. Gabrielle was his sister, his younger sister, albeit by a few minutes. It was a natural reaction that he would feel overprotective of her, but knowing his sister like he did she would definitely scold him for losing his cool, especially before a battle began.

He brought his mind back to thoughts on the new hierarchy of the Alliance fleet.

The only other person available for a command role was Abraham Mathews, the SpecForce Colonel Halos had elevated to the rank of Commander-in-Chief of Alliance Ground Forces. Even though Gabriel and his fellow Jedi had taken military roles it was Mathews that they reported to, and that was fine with him. The man had more experience at leading than the rest of them had in their little fingers. That still left him second-in-command of a fighting force numbering roughly a hundred and fifty thousand men and women at arms, and that didn't include the Alliance Marine and SpecForce units, which altogether added another hundred thousand to the mix.

It was all a little overwhelming.

He really needed a strong caff.

"Two minutes to drop point!"

Gabriel shook his head, dispelling his insecurities in a heartbeat. He was the commander of this Division now. His goal was to get the job done and get the people under his command home with minimal casualties. His mission was to stop these Necron from making it to the surface.

That was his goal.

That was his mission.

And he would complete it without fail.

Failure was not an option.

Success was the only option.

The moment the main wave of gunships reached the rendezvous point they saw that the Eldar had indeed mustered a sizable force. A small army of three thousand soldiers had assembled to support them, mainly Guardians, but Gabriel also saw a number of elite units including all-female Howling Banshees, Fire Dragons, Striking Scorpions, Dire Avengers, Shining Spears, Dark Reapers, Swooping Hawks and Warp Spiders.

As well as these lines of soldiers were a number of heavy support units and vehicles, Fire Prisms and Falcon Gravity Tanks, Jetbikes and Support Weapons. His gunship was one of the first to land and disgorge its compliment of infantry onto the field. As Gabriel hopped out of the LAAT he looked up in time to see another twenty gunships break through the cloud cover, alongside a small number of Titan Dropships, no doubt carrying AT-AT and AT-ST walkers As well as SD-series Battledroids.

Companies of men and women were already assembling on the ground with military precision, standing in columns twenty across and five deep as he passed them by with a small number of elite bodyguards and advisor's. The ground beneath him shook ever so slightly, and without turning he knew that the infamous AT-AT walkers were being unloaded from their dropships. If there was one unit the Alliance could use against the forces of this galaxy it was the infamous All Terrain Armoured Transport, one of the deadliest vehicles in the arsenal of the Galactic Alliance.

The newly promoted General strode through the assembling army, well aware that two SpecForce troopers, in their signature black armour as they flanked his left and right. Battalion commanders joined his little procession as he continued on his way. The General paid them no mind as he kept walking, seeing a small cluster of figures approach them. The Farseer was easy to make out among the welcoming committee, fully dressed in her field armour, black cape billowing in the wind as she walked.

"Farseer Taldeer," he greeted with a short bow.

She nodded her head, though it was difficult to make out thanks to her helm. "General Sabbath, I am pleased your Admiral has assembled such a force."

"And he is pleased that you have done likewise." Gabriel replied simply. "Even as we speak SpecForce fire teams are being dropped in the agreed upon positions. Admiral Halos stresses that he hopes your Rangers will be there to meet them."

"They will be there General," the Farseer didn't miss a stride. "Now we have a diversion to prepare."

"Of course," Gabriel easily kept with her pace, surprised that he was able to do so. The two commanders started walking, their retinues following them closely. "The intel you supplied us said there were three main entrances into the underground catacombs, which means we'll have to split our armies into three forces. The best course of action is to cram as much firepower on those entrances and cut loose once we see the first glimmer of metal."

"A simple tactic, yet a sound one," Taldeer nodded.

The holding bay of the Gunship was quiet save for the continuous roar of her engines and the lesser cry of the wind. That was the idea for a vessel carrying a black ops team. All communications had been shut off, all running lights turned off and all heavy missile pods removed to make her lighter and faster.

Major Falkirk placed the black helmet over his head and sealed it shut at the neck. There was a moment of darkness before the helms internal systems came alive with a kick of static and a flicker of colour. The flicker gave way to a full coloured three hundred and sixty degree view of the interior of the dark Gunship, before being switched to the blacks and whites of night vision. The SpecForce Major flicked his sights from night vision to infrared to full colour again.

With that checked he confirmed that his information systems were in working order, bringing up schematics of maps and the cams from his own men. Unconsciously he ticked everything off as he checked the data flooding into his helms transceivers. Night vision check, infrared check, maps and schematics from satellite images and deep core scans check, Trooper cams check, squad comlink... "Give me a Hoorah if you hear me!"

"HOOORAH!"

Check

Armour. He looked at his hand and made a fist. The armour he wore was standard issue for all cleared SpecForce combatants, fully suited for behind-enemy-lines activities, plates and fatigues were a mat black with red trim. There were no symbols on the breast plate or shoulders, completely incognito other than the white symbol of the Alliance etched onto his helms forehead. It was designed for infiltration and reconnaissance.

Weapons. A new T-97 blaster carbine was clutched between his knees, safety on and a fully loaded clip of ammo inserted. A trusty old DH-17 blaster pistol was holstered to his waist as well as a vibroknife and satchels holding grenades and plastic explosives.

With a final check of his armour he picked up his carbine and gripped onto the loop tightly, looking around him at his fellow Troopers, all fully armed, helms hiding whatever their faces showed, fifteen men, a full squad in the SpecForce, all ready and waiting for the gunship to slow to a hover. There were another five squads out there, all moving in to their insertion points.

The LAAT slowed to a hover. The green light blinked on and the sliding doors on both sides slipped open. There was a howl of wind and then the elite soldiers exploded into action. Jump cables were clipped and unrolled, falling into the darkness below. Falkirk was one of the first, clipping onto the first cable and abseiling down until his feet were met with solid, rocky ground. He fell into a crouch, un-slung his blaster and waited as the rest of his squad slid down from their cables.

When the last man unclipped himself the gunships engines flared and it took off into the night, noise dying down until it was nonexistent. It left fifteen men in a circle, crouched and standing, helms set to night vision and blasters at their shoulders ready to fire at a moment's notice. In the middle of their protective huddle was a small device, about a meter in diameter and reaching up to waist height.

"So where are our guides?" Falkirk whispered, eyes alert for any sign.

There was a slight flicker of static before a new voice pierced through their supposed secure squad comlink, musical and effeminate, but still obviously male, "Ten meters ahead of you, Mon'Keigh."

A shimmer in the night was their only warning before five figures appeared before them, hooded and cloaked, piercing through their robes were the long barrels of rifles, intricate and streamlined. Falkirk guessed they were long ranged sniper rifles, yet other than that they could make out no other features in the dark.

"You're the Ranger squad I presume." The Major inquired, slowly lowering his carbine and rising to his feet. A simple hand gesture and the rest of his squad also lowered their weapons, though they were still ready to use them at a moment's notice.

The lead Ranger nodded his hooded head, "And you are the SpecForce Commandoes we were told to wait for. Come, time is short and we have no time to waste."

Falkirk tilted his head to the side, "Lead the way then."

Author's Note 1: Star Wars and Warhammer 40K are the property of Lucas Arts and Games Workshop respectively. I make no profit from posting this story.

Author's Note 2: Am I the only one who has been having trouble updating my stuff, for about a week all I kept getting was an Error Type 2? I eventually got so fed up with it that I looked online, should have done that days ago. For anyone whose having the same problems it's in the address on the address bar. When it comes up saying 'Story_Edit_Property' simply change the 'property' to 'content'. It worked for me, thank you Yahoo answers :)