Imperial Stormtrooper: Do not forget that the chronology of Warhammer (canonic) was overturned eight years earlier by the appearance of Tanya. You know the saying: "The flapping of a butterfly in Australia triggers a storm in Canada." And Tanya is not a butterfly...
Msala: Exactly. A goat tied to a stake to lure the Imperium of Mankind's enemies into an ambush and slaughter them all... well, that's the Emperor's idea. Maybe the universe won't cooperate. And if Tanya is not a butterfly, she's also not a goat... moreover a manslayer tigress!
Dan1142000: Your summary is excellent.
Jcthcerebel: Thank you.
Cat Eyes In The Night: Um... a carnage? Warhammer 40k + Tanya the devil = carnage.
Guest 1: Thank you... or so I thought.
Madara95 and Guest 2 and Abdiel Amaro: First of all, let me thank you for your criticisms. As I said before, I'm not really familiar with Warhammer 40k and your help is needed. If you reread the previous chapter I changed some things but not everything you pointed out to me. Why?
1°) I gave Tanya some Pariah abilities and Psykers abilities. I KNOW it's CONTRADICTORY and even IMPOSSIBLE. This is not a lack of knowledge about the Warhammer 40K universe, but a voluntary and committed choice. Tanya received this gift from Being-X, a god. In the original series, Tanya is not "a simple magician who can fly", she is the only one able to operate a Four Core Computation Orb... which explodes when other magicians try to use it ( the thing is completely unstable). It is a MIRACLE that was granted to her by Being-X. This FanFiction has just begun, but you will discover it later, the gift of Tanya (40k) is a balance breaker that explains the importance that she will have afterward.
I repeat, it is a CHOICE, weighed and calculated by the author for the sake of the plot.
2°) For the Emperor's ability to predict the future, I have not changed my writing because... in fact... the Emperor is far from being omniscient. He has spent the last ten thousand years on the defensive, unable to predict the actions of his opponents. I only read one Warhammer 40k novel. But I played several 40k games. And the plot is still the same: "The wicked Xenos/Heretics have stolen/discovered a hidden/lost relic on a world/ a derelict old spaceship of the Imperium, and the Space Marines are sent to save the situation, they are the last bulwark of mankind. Once again, the Imperial Guard/ the Navy was unable to act because they're unprepared for this treat."
For an ultra-powerful Psyker who is supposed to have a very clear view of the future, the Emperor always seems one step behind his enemies. Even the T'au and the Necrons (who have no Psychers!) seem to be doing better than the God-Emperor.
For me, the Emperor's omniscience is just another lie of the Imperium's propaganda.
Oucs. : In fact, in the draft, when the Emperor was paternalistic with her, Tanya replied: "yes, dad"(ironically, of course). So this idea crossed my mind. I rewrote the end of the chapter because... I don't think Tanya be stupid enough to say something that may upset the Emperor! She doesn't want to be impaled at the summit of the Imperial Palace's pyramid!
SomePervyGuy: I honestly admit that the conflicts between what was canonic, what is still canonic, and what has become canonic again leave me perplexed. A good example is the Squats...
Guest3: Thank you. If I write a crossover, it's only logical to maximize the integration of the two universes.
Author's Note: In this episode, the chronology of Warhammer begins to know changes compared to the cannon. Armageddon's third war begins almost a year late because the Warboss Ghazkull Thraka (who is a Psyker) had a vision of a powerful enemy and his first question to his gods was a question: "More dangerous da Yarrik?" and Gork (or Mork?) says "Yeahhh". So Ghazkull take a few moments to think about it (a good foe now, or a more powerful enemy later?) and finally responded "I wait for da powa foe, n' I krush it, and smash it 'coz I'm da prophet of da Orks Gods n' I prove da Orks are da strongest!"
Sorry, Tanya I can't help it, it's Ghazkull's decision, and it's not my fault. * Evil laugh *
The Fall of Tempestus
There are mornings when it's better not to get up.
I think everyone's had mornings like this.
You spill the tea, you walk on the cat's tail, and you miss your subway. You haven't even arrived at the office yet that already you know you're going to have a very bad day.
Although having already lived one life and started another that had been fertile in unfortunate events, Tania was sure that she would remember her awakening that morning for a very long time...
The imperial fleet on its way to Armageddon included the Innomine Veritas an Emperor-class Battleship from the Imperial Navy escorted by several smaller cruisers and light cruisers. This fleet can also count on the addition of several Space Marines ships led by the powerful Omnis Arcanum, a Battle Barge of the Blood Ravens chapter.
It was already a powerful fleet, especially if one took into account the presence of the ships of the Adeptus Astartes, most of the citizens of the Imperium of Mankind never saw any because there were so few. But during the first mission briefing, Tanya learned that a large armada was already gathering around Armageddon and that this fleet was only reinforcement.
In short, she had gone to bed the day before with her head full of mission diagrams, troop deployment schedules, and logistical issues. The arrival on Armageddon was scheduled for the next day, but General Greilf had dispensed Tanya to contribute a token presence.
It must be said that Tanya had dark brown bags under her eyes after participating in all the staff meetings that had taken place until then. And the young Psyker had worked hard to erase the first impression she had made, that of a skinny and malnourished little girl 'disguised' as Iptissimus Telekine.
Tanya had therefore asked questions that no one would have expected to hear from an eight-year-old girl, pointed out organizational errors, and debated several ways to improve the schedule. In her new life, as in her previous one, Tanya demonstrated a kind of genius for 'improving' the performance of 'human material'.
The day before, Tanya had gone to her cabin with a smile (1). Everything was going well! She had managed to win the respect of General Greilf. Of course, the two staff's Imperials Commissar distrusted her... but they were Imperials Commissars, they even had to watch their shadow the bolter in hand, ready to execute it at the first sign of betrayal. Tanya Degurechaff had even made sure to use quotations from the imperial credo holly books in her reports to obtain the adhesion of the chaplain of the 489th Cadian, Father Eleazar. In short, she had shown everyone that she could be useful to the staff and that she was at Sanctioned Psyker who worshipped the 'God-Emperor', prayed three times a day (the norm in the Imperium), and had a mouth full of praise for her superiors.
But above all, she had 'innovative' ideas! At least in the eyes of these fools...
In fact, even as the Imperium of Man had conquered the Milky Way, their knowledge of ground warfare had evaporated! And what they had subsequently rediscovered was roughly what the French must have known at the end of 1918: frontal infantry attack with the support of armored escorts, massive artillery barrages for the preparation of the assaults, use of aviation for deep bombardment and reconnaissance. In other words, the tactics that won the Trench War.
During her previous life, Tanya was passionate about military history, especially the two World Wars. Two days after her arrival on the Innomine Veritas, she gave General Greilf a memorandum of fifty pages. Tanya had titled it: " Tank Tactic." Subtitled: "Using armored vehicles to create a force capable of breaking the front line."
This text she had written about her free time was a summary of everything she remembered about the Blitzkrieg as it had been practiced by the Germans during World War II. Tanya explained that it would be preferable to regroup the tanks into an independent force that would strike the enemy front in two points, rather than deploy the tanks mixed with the infantry to launch an assault on a large area. Once the tanks would have caused two breaches, the infantry would pass through these points without disembarking from their troop carriers. They would be deployed only when they arrived behind enemy lines. Soldiers should complete the encirclement of the opponent before attacking the enemy's positions from behind.
Tanya also prescribed the use of the air force as mobile and fast artillery capable of conducting bombardments on specific points of the front, just before the armored assault. The young Psyker explained that the air force was a more versatile support fire that could move more rapidly from one point of the front line to another than conventional artillery, which was dependent on the presence of practicable roads and was vulnerable to aerial bombardment.
In short, the basics of modern warfare.
General Greilf had been impressed by the imagination of the Iptissimus Degurechaff, but the reincarnate salaryman had no trouble playing the modest... after all, she merely reused the tactics invented before the war by General de Gaulle and perfected during the conflict by German generals like Rommel, Guderian and von Manstein.
By demonstrating her skills as a tactician and organizer Tanya Degurechaff had secured a place in the staff, far from the front, from the mud of the trenches, from artillery bombardments. She'd eat real food, sleep in a real bed.
And above all, if the Emperor was happy with her, it was guaranteed social advancement.
Tanya had fallen asleep and had sweet dreams, dreams of a golden life far from misery and war...
"Red Alert! All hands to battle station. This is not an exercise. I repeat..."
With the sirens roaring, the red lights turning, in each room, Tanya awoke with a startle. Dressed in an instant, she wanted to go out into the corridor but collided with crewmembers that ran in all directions.
In the corridors, we could hear the sounds of explosions that were ringing inside the enormous ship. Despite its size, void shields, and thick armor, the Innomine Veritas was violently shaken.
The space combat, measured on the scale of an eight-year-old girl in a passageway of an Emperor-class Battleship, looked like a kind of natural cataclysm. Tanya felt as helpless as the victim of a volcanic eruption. At times, fire struck the hull while damage reports and instructions were heard on the loudspeakers. At other times, thunder was heard in the corridors as the ship's powerful Macrocannons responded. There were also long lulls as the Innomine Veritas maneuvered out of the reach of her enemies.
It seemed to last for hours...
Then the sirens began to roar again:
"Attention, attention, all personnel to evacuation stations. Everything..."
The Iptissimus Degurechaff would never know the end of the message. Another explosion was heard and the light disappeared in the area where Tanya was. In fact, all the life support systems had just stopped working and Tanya found herself floating in the middle of the corpses and debris. For a moment, she saw only darkness, and then emergency lights lit up.
When the light returned, she discovered a landscape of desolation. Miraculously, Tanya was not injured, but the passageway had been ravaged by the last explosion.
Despite her terror, the reincarnate salaryman tried to regain control. Unlike other wounded or panicked survivors, Tanya Degurechaff was not without resources. Even floating in weightlessness, the little girl was a Psyker. By telekinesis, she 'pushed back' the nearest bulkhead propelling towards the communication node at the end of the passageway.
She looked for a circular hatch painted in red and spotted it without difficulty. Fortunately, the escape hatch was easy to access with an opening system powered by an independent battery. She quickly slipped into the duct, closing the passage behind her.
Just as Tanya was closing the heavy steel flap the dying ship seemed to rush like a mad horse.
Projected away by the explosion, Tanya opened horrified eyes when she saw the hatch take a red color before and starting to drip tears of liquefied metal, melting under the effect of infernal heat!
Rapidly descending the emergency ladder, she reached a large circular room where several evacuation ducts led. Between each passage were the circular doors leading to Escape Pods. Several had already been used. But the place had suffered the consequences of the last shot, half the room was melted and there was unbearable heat in this small space. A charred corpse was floating in weightlessness.
Projecting herself with a kick in the direction of the nearest escape pod, Tanya opened the airlock. But before she could cross the hatch... she found herself frozen midair, even the flames had stopped moving!
Tanya Degurechaff recognized the phenomenon. After all, she had already experienced something similar:
"Being-X!"
A voice seemed to sound in the room, coming from nowhere and reverberating in infinite echoes:
"I made you aware of misery, abandonment. Then I plunged you into war, putting you before your immediate death. I thought in adversity you would discover faith. Yet even though your death seems inevitable, not once have you called me to your aid. Why?"
"So you're the reason I'm going through all this, Being-X?"
"No, you're the only one responsible. All you have to do is call me and I'll help you. I told you when I sent you into this world, only my miracles will keep you alive."
"Never, never, never!"
Tanya's anger did not seem to impress the so-called Creator:
"You claim to be rational and educated. You claim to have convictions supported by science. But you lie only to yourself, Tanya. The truth is that only irrational pride pushes you to challenge me. Listen, this time again, I will save you. You don't deserve it, but my mercy is infinite."
While the whole room was still frozen in time, Tanya regained her mobility. Stunned, she found herself thrown inside the Escape Pod. Without understanding it, she fastened the harness and pressed the ejection button. The whole procedure was automated. And the cone of the Escape Pod was propelled inside a metal tube before bursting into open space under the hull of the Innomine Veritas.
The 'voice' of Being-X resounds again:
"You will land not far from a place called Tempestus, one of the Hive Cities of Armageddon. You will have to look for Dr. James Dantes, a rogue scientist working on a terraforming system. Recently, he had dreams. He had visions telling him that it was possible to repair the damage suffered by the ecosystem of Armageddon and transform this world destroyed by the greed of men into a new Garden of Eden. I sent him these visions. Nevertheless, his quest cannot succeed without your help."
Tanya clenched her fists in anger:
"And why should I obey?"
"Tanya looks up."
Involuntarily, Tanya complied. Right in front of her, a little higher than her head, was a window that showed the space and... the Innomine Veritas.
Time suddenly resumed its normal course.
And she saw the gigantic Emperor-class Battleship shatter in two, struck by a huge spaceship. In fact, she was rather a mess of roughly assembled metal sheets. The shield plates were painted in bright red or with black and white checkered patterns. The space monster was propelled by a multitude of primitive reactors that had enabled her to spur the Innomine Veritas, passing through the middle of the battleship, breaking her in two, and sending both parts of the wreckage adrift whereas a series of explosions ended to annihilate her. The figurehead of the Xeno's ship represented a brutal humanoid face with a lower jaw with sawblade teeth. The on-board radio broadcast a multi-frequency message of Heavy Metal music accompanied by brutal voices:
"Ei Boyz! Iz you ready?!
We'z gunna give'em a propa Waaagh!
I can't hear you!
Louder! Louder!
Here it comes, boyz!
(Chorus :) WAAAAAAAGH!
We's da best! I don't jest!
Gork and Mork by our side:
We will stomp! We will Krush!
Tear you dow and smash your pride!
We'z da the biggest n'da baddest!
Dats all becoz green is bestest!
We always lookin' for a fight!
Coz' all you're good at is to die!
Shut yer trap and git to fightin'!
No more time for boring yappin's!
We wuz maded for the winnin'!
Top of being rather cunnin'!
We may not know how to rhyme!
We both know that ain't a crime!
Quit yer stallin', git right here!
I'll teach ya panzees what is fear!
(Chorus :) WE'Z DA ORKS!
DAKKA ON!
FOR GORK AND MORK!
HEAR OUR ROAR
WAAAAAAAGH!
As the song turned into a cacophony of so-called 'music", Being-X resumed the conversation:
"If I hadn't stopped time so you could run away, Tanya, you'd be dead. Go find James Dantes if you want me to keep protecting you."
The presence of Being-X disappeared and Tanya looked through the different portholes. Everywhere Imperium ships were facing Orks ships. It was a very violent battle, still undecided. Wreckage and explosive residue marked the location of destroyed ships and space fighters formed compact swarms lacerated by laser fire and punctually marked by explosions.
In the following years, much was said about the tragedy caused by the return in realspace of the reinforcement fleet just within cannon range of the fleet of the Warboss Ghazkull Mag uruk Thraka. A member of the Adeptus Mechanicus calculated that this event had a chance in ten to the 6nd power. As for Commissar Yarrik, he did not make the mistake of underestimating his old enemy. For him, the Orks gods had once again guided Ghazkull Thraka.
But Tanya's opinion was very different:
"Damn you Being-X!"
Thus began the Third Armageddon War...
Tempestus was a classic hive-city, a level pile-up reaching an incredible height. The buildings were gothic spire-like towers that defied gravity. Everywhere chimneys spewed smoke.
Around the city stretched scorched earth murdered by pollution, the rivers were nothing more than open sewers laden with green mud where floated garbages. Tubes of all sizes converged towards the city. Some carried liquids, others were in fact transport tubes used by conveyors, trains, or by highways.
However, that day was not like any other for the inhabitants of Tempestus.
Since the earliest times, it has been said that the great disasters were announced by a sign in the sky. In fact, disaster was a word being formed on the radical 'aster', from the Latin Astra (star).
Superstition?
Perhaps in the distant past...
But in the sky above Tempestus appeared a trajectory of fire... an object fell at full speed, falling from orbit and igniting the atmosphere in its path, a vision of apocalypse capable of bringing to the surface half-forgotten beliefs, buried by centuries of civilization.
Especially since the object that was heading towards the ground was not a simple asteroid, it was an Ork's Rok. The spacecraft landed with the elegance one could expect for the crude 'teknologee' of this barbarian race... striking the ground with incredible violence and tracing a long furrow in the ground.
The shock was violent and probably killed a good part of the crew of this huge troop transport, but it didn't matter. The Orks never seemed to suffer from attrition. The more we killed, the more they came. Ork was the most populous species on the Milky Way.
For a few hours nothing happened then... the Orks came out of the wreckage en masse and headed for Tempestus.
A thick wall of concrete surrounded the base of Tempestus. From afar, fortified towers reinforced the rampart. Each tower was surmounted by a Vanquisher turret. On the battlements, each weapon site was occupied by heavy bolters and Guardsmen finished taking place behind the slightest embrasures.
But the fortified position was not limited to the outer wall. Beyond the rampart lay a vast military base occupied by tanks' sheds and barracks. All the buildings had a flat roof on which was installed a piece of artillery, Thunderer Howitzers or Hydra anti-aircraft quad-guns.
The soldiers defending Tempestus belonged to the famous Armageddon Steel Legion, very recognizable by its uniform with a toxic-resistant trenchcoat protecting them from the acid rain typical of their home planet, their typical helmet special straps for the attachment of their also typical Rebreather. The Guardsmen were armed with M36 Pattern Lasgun.
On the rampart, an Imperial Commissar wearing his signature long black coat, red uniform, and a flat cap was easily recognized among the soldiers. The man watched the Orks hordes spewed out by the crashed Rok. He lowered his binoculars and turned to the Thunderer howitzers that lined up on the roofs of the buildings. The gunners were already firing, opening the breech, loading a shell, firing, starting again. At each detonation, the tube of the howitzer spewed a shell into a grey cloud which -at the end of a curved trajectory- fell into the mass of the Orks advancing towards the city. Each shell was to kill dozens of Orks, but the horde seemed neither slowed down nor weakened by the hell of fire and iron falling on them.
The Imperial Commissar turned to General Oberst, commander of the hive-city defense:
"We can't let the enemy get close to the city and get within range. Let us not be locked up in Tempestus."
Oberst agreed:
"My men are ready to strike back!"
The huge gates of Tempestus opened to let out a column of Leman Russ tanks followed by Chimera troop transports.
As the Leman Russ deployed and stopped to form a line of defense... the Chimeras stopped behind them, letting down the men they were carrying.
The men did not have time to build a line of defense, already the turrets of the Leman Russ were starting to fire, and the heavy bolters on both sides of the armored vehicle shot burst after burst, projecting piles of metal casings on the ground.
The red rays of the Guardsmen's lasguns soon joined the tanks' salvos.
The Orks that emerged from the artillery barrage were chopped by this powerful defensive shot. Some Killa kans - primitive barrel-like walkers with a gripper and a circular saw managed to get within range. The 'bigshoota' (a kind of machine gun) that equipped the mechanical monsters did some damage in the ranks of the infantry, but the walkers were quickly eliminated by direct fire from the Leman Russ, the Ork armor could not do anything against anti-tank guns.
The Armageddon Steel Legion had managed to stop the first assault wave.
The first Ork's assault wave was made up of infantry supported by walkers. The second wave was much more dangerous. The sound of Heavy Metal and combustion engines preceded a cloud of dust raised by a mechanical horde rushing forward without any organization. The Battlewagons buffered each other and occasionally formed congestion, but they advanced towards Tempestus.
The 'mekboyz" Orks had built some of the worst mechanical nightmares of the Milky Ways. At the sight of these abominations, perverting their ideal, the followers would probably start to cry, afflicted by the outrage received by the Omnissiah. Imagine that a band of crazy mechanics dismantled some dune buggies and construction machines (Excavators, Loader Backhoe, and Road Rollers) that rusted in a breakage. Then that they tried to reassemble new machines by mixing the pieces, then they covered the resulting DIY with weapons, adding armor pieces hastily welded and completing the 'repairs' by painting in red the finished product.
The result was hideous... but effective!
When the Orks vehicle rush collided with the mechanized regiment deployed in front of the city, the Orks losses were initially very heavy. The shells fired from Tempestus turned a good number of Orks vehicles into burning wrecks while the Leman Russ destroyed the survivors.
Nevertheless, the Orks continued to advance without worrying about the losses. New vehicles kept coming out of the crashed rok...
And the defenders began to suffer losses. The Battlewagon's heavy weapons (Rokkit Launcha, Mega Blasta) hit the tanks and the troops' transports, while the Big-shoota fired at the infantrymen who sheltered behind the tanks or in individual holes.
The arrival of Vultures seemed to briefly loosen the grip of the Ork horde. Coming from the Northeast, the Imperium gunships plowed on the tide of hideous vehicles, releasing volleys of missiles. The explosions raised and overthrew dozens of battlewagons and the number of burning wrecks doubled in a few moments.
Nevertheless, after firing their last Hellfire missile, the remaining Vultures could only turn over the battlefield firing with their lascannons. As the Orks retaliated with missiles and rapid-fire guns, the Vultures eventually retreated to avoid unnecessary losses.
The assault had slowed down a bit but had not stopped. Once the reinforcements that continued to disembark the Rok had replaced the losses suffered, the Orks had no trouble submerging the remaining Steel Legion emplacement.
Of course, the Orks still had to take Tempestus.
The assault on Tempestus began even before the last Guardsmen were eliminated. And the plan of the Orks was as simple as brutal... the Battlewagons stopped and all the weapons turned to the positions of the Imperial Guard, energy rays, rockets, and shells began to fall like hail.
It was very fast, nothing could resist such a volume of fire.
The defensive turrets exploded, the battlements were leveled, and the defenders massacred.
The long-range shells fell among the howitzers of the second defense line. Within a few minutes all the gunners had been killed. The barracks and hangars had been reduced to rubble.
The last hope of the defenders was that the front door would hold. The thick armored vault-like doors were surrounded by bunkers, plasma turrets and remote-controlled heavy bolters.
The first assault on the gates was easily repelled, and the Ork infantry entered such a dense area of fire that the Greenskins did not even have time to point their weapon that they were already dead.
It was at this time of the Battle of Tempestus that the Orks revealed their greatest asset:
Three Gargants...
The Gargants were the Ork equivalent of a Titan, they existed in many variants... in fact, as the Orks did not know the mass production, there were no two identical Gargants.
But the three mechanical monsters advancing towards the great gate of Tempestus belonged to an intermediate class of these machines, larger than Killa Kans or Deff Dread (respectively the equivalents of Guardsmen's Sentinels and Space Marines' Dreadnoughts) but smaller in size than Imperator or Warmonger-class Titans.
These were Stompas-class Gargants, the equivalent of Warhound or Reaver-class titans.
They had an almost comic aspect. They looked like caricatural fat men with prominent bellies and ridiculously small legs waddling forward. But the head was surrounded by a kind of sawtooth collar, and the left arm was an absolute mess of juxtaposed weapons: guns, missiles, and even Shokk-Attack Gun (guns that firing Snotlings... that is to say a subspecies of small Orks... uh yes... you read correctly, these guns were firing living Snortlings as projectiles!). As for the right arm of the Gargant had a close-range weapon, a huge chainsaw of more than twenty meters long!
In the list of means of attack of the Gargants, we could also add the horde of Orks which sang and had settled on their shoulders and heads, brandishing all kinds of heavy weapons, from rockets launcher to flamethrowers, passing by some machine guns.
And these mechanical nightmares painted in red were heavily armored and protected by a void shield, plasma fire and artillery shells hit the air a few meters from the Gargants, stopped by a bubble of violet energy.
The Gargants - mechanical incarnations of Gork (or was it Mork?)- advanced towards the city gate surrounded by religious frenzy... that is to say a concert of Heavy Metal howled with all the power of the speakers installed on the Stompas.
After having bombarded the gates' defenses until only smoking ruins remained, the Gargants rushed to attack the metal with a giant chainsaw. The relentless force of the monsters eventually caused the armored panels to fall and the Stompas entered Tempestus.
The Steel Legion had gathered its last forces for a last stand.
Gathered behind sandbags and concrete blocks, the defenders fired at the Gargants and the infantry with lascannons, heavy bolters, plasma guns, and individual lasguns. The last 150 mm howitzers joined the defense.
But all this was completely useless, the Gargans chopped defenders and defenses in a few seconds, reducing them to an undifferentiated pool of charred flesh and crushed metal.
The battle had a witness, a little girl dressed in a black dress of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica.
Okay...
Joining Tempestus to find a 'heretic' scientist who was hiding from the inquisition by taking advantage of the anonymity offered by a city-hive of several million individuals was already not easy.
But the situation had changed from 'not easy' to 'impossible mission'...
Because, now, she had to play hide-and-seek with a horde of psychotics freaks. But Tanya Degurechaff had no doubt as to the identity of the person responsible for her misfortune:
"Curse you, Being X!"
(1) Driving away all the crewmembers she encountered... if you have ever seen Tanya smile, you must understand!
Author's note: Tanya's first day on Armageddon, an Ork invasion, a military disaster, a hive-city ravaged with millions of dead... what a boring day at the office, only routine.