Inquisitor Eveyln Thrask of the Ordo Xenos was outwardly calm, a vision of patience in compact, dark green body armour. Her face was pale, to a skilled eye she hadn't walked the surface of a world in some time. Her eyes were lit with the purple tinge of the Cadian diaspora and she had strands of long black hair floating over them. Thrask had been appearing as a woman mid thirties in the normal gaze of mortals for some time now. As was common with her class in the Imperium, subtle juvent treatments had been applied. Thrask had hunted Xenos for the Imperium of Man for nearly a century. The only hint that this talented member of the Holy Ordos was tense was a distracted finger tapping on the pommel of the slim power sword slung at her side. Around her the typical warband of an Inquisitor stood to some semblance of attention: the obligatory veteran of some forgotten war cradling a battered lasgun like a new-born, a nervous interrogator fiddling with their cuffs, a silent watchful ex intelligence officer doing her best to blend into the nearest shadow, a twitchy wyrdvane psyker: too unstable to make primaris psyker but too useful to be put down and finally the piece de resistance: A rogue trader captain in all his piratical finery quietly calculating the profit from this latest venture. Every stereotype in one small band.

The reason for this semblance of attention from a rarely impressed bunch was three figures in powered armour standing before them: The left most one rigid in silver plate with a crimson trim, his shoulder pad marked by a white wing with crossed black swords over it, another in the centre mildly more relaxed in pitch black armour with a sliver left arm, an ornate Inquisitorial symbol on the left shoulder. The right marked with a much-battered clenched crimson fist and finally one who stood somewhat taller than those two but clad in lighter armour. Mottled urban style camouflage marked his plate with a snarling, rampant red canid on his shoulder pad, he was the most relaxed of the room's occupants and a slightly sardonic look in his eyes. All three had their helms under the crook of their left arm, a transverse crest marking all but the right most one who had a stylised white H under the right eye lens.

Thrask cleared her throat slightly, 'Honoured members of the Adeptus Astartes,' she began carefully, 'I am honoured by the trust shown by your three chapters,'

'The Deathwatch are sworn to the Ordos Xenos,' said the central one in the pleasant tones of Rynn's World, 'Our presence was duty bound,'

'And we come as part of the package,' the camo garbed Astartes put in, 'the Belli Canis go wherever our brothers in black hunt,' his accent was a harsh bark of some feral world with little knowledge of the stars

The left one most one simply bowed his head, 'As the Emperor wills,' prompting the rightmost Astartes to shoot him a half-amused look. The final voice had been delivered in the soft tones of a country pastor, oddly delicate for such a large figure.

'Our mission,' Thrask made a motion with a free hand and the ex-intelligence officer gave up trying to blend in and stepped forwards to a gently glowing hololith table, a few quick key strokes and a revolving globe appeared, 'is to infiltrate and destroy an attempt by the T'au to subvert one of His worlds,'

The Deathwatch captain leant forwards, 'So this is why you requested a kill team,'

'No,' rebutted Thrask with a shake of her head, 'It's why we requested him,' she pointed at the rightmost Astartes, 'the Canis Belli have a…reputation in this sector for counter ops against T'au worlds and T'au outreach missions,' She nodded a more familiar greeting to the now smiling Astartes, an oddly disturbing look on a transhuman, 'Captain Tarbuck was my personal request,'

Tarbuck narrowed his eyes, 'Counter ops is one thing,' he gestured at the data now streaming down the side of the gently rotating world, 'But if your intelligence is correct, the T'au have been engaging in outreach for the better part of a decade. According to this they already have significant forces planet side. Why haven't they launched a formal invasion of this world? We are Astartes and we will prevail but you'd need more resources to prevent this world from falling.'

'That is the purpose of your brother captain,' she now indicated the monkish figure, 'Captain Salam of the Wardens will provide us with the sanction if necessary. I have operational command but will of course defer to Captain Alverez of the Deathwatch in terms of tactics.'

Alverez and Salam had both been watching the exchange, 'Clearly my Wardens stand ready,' Salam intoned, 'we will of course look to protect those who still remain loyal to His Imperial Majesty,'

'Doubtful of that,' Tarbuck said scornfully, 'the T'au walked in and have practically taken over. Re-education might be possible but throne loyalists are non-existent, if there were any to begin with.' Salam bristled at that last comment before a weary wave from Alverez held his tongue, 'Brothers! Let the Inquisitor finish,'

'The T'au have so far not formalised their conquest,' the ex-intelligence officer spoke calmly, 'we believe that they are still struggling to consolidate their gains from their wider conquest in this sector,' Salam nodded slowly while Tarbuck continued to peruse the data. She continued, 'we believe an insertion of a significant nature would be sufficient to convince the T'au to abandon their efforts and bring the world back into the Imperial fold.'

Alverez frowned, 'two full companies, a sizeable kill team along with fleet borne assets is overkill surely. What knowledge do you have of the T'au forces?'

'Their permanent fleet is small: two Merchant class vessels with maybe three Orca class escorts. Any larger would spark too much suspicion. We suspect a fully equipped Hunter Cadre and a group of Kroot mercenaries. We also believe a large amount of Gue'vesa auxiliaries may also be present.'

'Locally recruited?' interjected Tarbuck,

'We don't believe so. Openly recruiting from the population could tip this world against them.'

'You believe the SDF and PDF are compromised,' Salam stated flatly. He gestured at fresh data indicating the worlds nominal garrison. Non warp capable but with some torpedo capable craft from the SDF with the PDF having a few light armour pieces and heavy weapons platforms.

'Hence the overkill. Our hope is that by directly targeting the T'au and high-level sympathisers we can pull off a relatively bloodless coup. What loyalist elements that remain in the local defence forces will then be emboldened to join us.'

Thrask had been silent but then spoke up, 'In total we have over two hundred Astartes, two strike cruiser class vessels and six frigates. Worlds have died with less.' She breathed out slowly, 'Insertion will be conducted by the Strike Cruiser "Murmillo" from the Canis Belli. Myself, my team as well as our Deathwatch and Canis Belli assets will insert via flyer. The world has frequent comet showers, we can use those to disguise our approach.'

'Surely the strike cruiser will be detected by the SDF not least the T'au?' Salam's brow furrowed. Tarbuck grunted, 'you've not met our ship masters. They'll get us in.'

Salam raised an eyebrow but said nothing more. Thrask continued, 'we'll conduct counter ops. If successful we should be able to topple those who fell from the Emperors light. If not...' she hesitated, 'We will summon our remaining forces to establish celestial supremacy and conduct an orbital assault on the T'au emplacements.' She looked up, 'Further briefings will be conducted in transit. Jump is estimated two weeks side real adjusted. Do you assent to this operation?' A mere formality from an inquisitor but a welcome one to the famously independent Astartes.

Salam nodded his assent with Alverez joining him. Only Tarbuck held off. 'There are any number of worlds needing our aid,' Tarbuck said, 'why this one Inquisitor? What purpose does this world have for the Ordos?'

'Home,' Thrask said softly, 'Captain Tarbuck this world is my home. When Cadia fell my parents made it to this world. I was trained in its scholars, made a life in its towns. When my master came recruiting for the Ordos I was presented with this sword when I left.' She drew her blade, three pairs of trans human eyes picked out the age worn inscription: I am carried by those who sort sanctuary who now shield those who seek it. She faltered slightly took a breath and spoke harshly now, 'It's name to me is as precious as the sanctuary it provided to my parents. This world is known as Kirkwell.'

She dismissed the hololith with a gesture, 'and I'll burn every bastard who tries to take it from me.'