The briefing had gone well, The attack proposed by the Sanguine Dragons was sound enough, if a little aggressive, and the central strike forces squad leaders did not seem present, Chaplain Drake was to be accompanying the main contingent, but Jad still found it strange that they were not in attendance. However the orders for that unit seemed to just be an aggressive charge following insertion by Thunderhawk. Not a well-planned strike like the rest of the Marines strategy.

Indeed when Jad had questioned it, it was dismissed as being all that was necessary given the Tau's known aversion to close quarters combat. And that the flexibility of the rest of the force would cope with any developments. Jad wasn't convinced, but given that he hadn't exactly been forthcoming with them, he couldn't really argue the matter.

Having gone back to his quarters, Jadden summoned the team to explain the plan and get everyone up to speed on the developments. He was sat waiting in the reception area of the hab unit, Wyn had already turned up, but had brought along a load of machine parts to work on during the meeting. Luckily Wyn was only here for support on this occasion.

The team's driver was first to show up, Malcolm Brace, pulled from a hive world where he had been smuggling narcotics across the radioactive wastes between spires, driving a high-speed modified buggy to avoid detection. Got pulled in when the team needed to discreetly get into a corrupt governors chambers to stop the spread of genestealers through the planet, and he proved to be the guy for the job, and the fact he needed busting out of PDF custody helped too. He was a tiny guy, standing about 5' 2" and with literally no muscle on his bones, he didn't cut an imposing figure. But he was a talented driver, capable of navigating the toughest terrain at terrifying speeds, even if he rarely took passenger comfort into consideration.

Next were the gunners, who would be important this time round. First Bartos 'Batty' Clinton, A stout guy, who had acquired a lot of weight since joining the team several years ago. He grew up on a world with perpetual night were life was tough, Bartos had to learn to shoot Club Bats in the dark from a young age. This is why he always wore his goggles, still hadn't got used to bright lights, and was always eating, now the Inquisition had made food more readily available for him. But he could still take down a moving target with startling precision from well outside a weapons usual range. The other was a lithe woman, jet black hair cut short, shaved on one side. Despite her tough exterior, Josla Verde had actually grown up as part of a pleasure worlds nobility. Her uncle a planetary governor in the neighbouring system, she spent her time living in luxury and learning how to hunt big game. She soon grew tired of this and entered pit fights secretly within the servants quarters. After losing a brawl over winnings, she ended up stranded in the slums and had use her skill to survive, this ended when she stowed away on the back of the teams car during a mission. She just never left after that and became part of the team.

Finally the muscle showed up. Stark Varner, ex-guardsmen, built like an ork and twice as nasty. He was the last survivor of his squad during an Eldar raid, he had been protecting a family who had taken refuge in the local chapel. He was an obvious choice for the Team after that, who were in need of some brute strength. Stark has taken to botany, since joining the team, and always tries to claim a few species for his collection during a mission.

'Alright guys, you all know why we are here?' Jad started

'Yeah, Bag 'n' Tag! Come on, we've done this a thousand times?' Josla cut in, whilst working on her nails.

'What's with the fuss, you don't normally call us together until we are getting in the drop ship. What's different?' Mal asked

'This one is different. The target is the resident Ethereal on site a...' Jad checked his data slate for a moment. 'Aun'El Cha'riss Uanta. He is the big cheese in charge of the Tau operation in this and the surrounding sectors.'

'Okay so he's important, aren't they always?' quipped Mal

'A Tau Ethereal is a sacred member of tau society.' voiced Wyn 'He will be heavily protected, and his capture may provoke a large counter attack.'

'Exactly!' Jad Asserted 'This isn't a case of blowing a hole in a group nids and snatching the one that's most intact. This guy will be protected by an elite squad of soldiers, possible there will be Battle suits with him too. We need this guy alive, and as unharmed as possible.'

'Why this guy? Why now?' Varner queried 'There have been thousands of Tau attacks? And literally hundreds of Ethereals we have come across?'

'Yeah, seems like this is a bit much for one guy?' pressed Josla

'I dunno, Vigilem sent me a data pack requesting this guy is picked up, and he will show up to collect once we are done?' Jad answered

'Come on? You always know more than that.' Varner retorted 'Cut the shit! We're puttin' our hides on the line here.'

'I know how you feel, but that's all I got this time. I may get an update nearer the deployment time.'

'Then why tell us now?' Wyn asked, suddenly paying far more attention

'Because we may have to smuggle the target onto this ship.' Said Jad reluctantly

'What do you mean smuggle?' Batty finally cutting in

'Yeah, you sure this is legit?' Malcolm looking strangely excited at the prospect.

'Yes this is legit, An Ethereal would be an incredibly useful capture. But the Dragons may not take kindly to have a live alien on board, especially if the Tau know and start chasing them down.' Jad was sticking to his guns, but he didn't like the secrecy either

'Then why not tell them?' Wyn obviously on edge now 'They are on our side after all'

'Because they will not tolerate it, and I don't want to be either stuck on planet without escape, or worse having the fight off marines who want the target exterminated.'

'This is Groxshit!' Varner exclaimed standing up. 'We are gonna get our brains blown out the moment that Xeno filth sets foot on the ship!'

'No! We won't.' Jad raised his voice, just enough to silence everyone, but without shouting. 'We are going to drop in, take the target, and stash him here. We will then proceed to assist with the campaign as best we can until the Inquisitor shows up to collect.'

The team did not seem happy, but orders were orders.

'It's not ideal, but at least we know what to do.' Jad continued 'Now stop whining, you are professionals, and you will complete the mission, or so help me you will be begging to go visit the emperor by the time I'm done. Is that clear?'

'Yes Sir!' The group replied. They all knew Jad would tell them more if he could. But for whatever reason, he obviously had orders to keep things secret.

They had a plan then. Not much of a plan, but then any time somebody suggests bonding tape as a viable part of a plan to take down a battle suit, you know you don't have many options. Still Alishia knew that they had to try something, and the hope it provided was helping the men carry on, even if it might be false hope.

Everyone took positions ready to leap out of the truck, Alishia gave to order to Jules and he swung the Truck round in a big arc, the passengers holding on tight as the cumbersome vehicle leant over with the force of it turn. It was now heading straight back at the battle suits, And Alishia was counting on the few seconds the suits needed between jumps to be enough to do some damage. Jules was screaming profanities as he sped toward the two figures ahead. The battle suits had just come into land and were about 100 metres away, one repositioned itself ready to jump away, but second levelled its fusion blaster at the speeding truck, only about 50 metres now, one of the guardsmen at the back bailed out way too early, the impact killing him instantly, the rest held firm. The first battle suit had started launching into the air, just as the first flash of fire erupted from the fusion blaster.

The shot seared the passenger side of the cab, Jules took this as his cue.

'Bail out!' he screamed, as he wrenched the wheel around and pulled the parking brake hard.

The truck turned and leant right over, the passengers in the back sprinted across the truck bed and leapt off the side as the vehicle rolled. Jules dived out the driver's door just as a second shot tore the truck in half, but the momentum was enough, the flaming remains of the truck smashed into the battle suit, slamming it to the ground, the fusion blaster firing a shot wildly into the air. Alishia looked up from her prone position after jumping from the truck. The battle suit had been caught full force by the truck cabin, while the back of the flatbed was still bouncing away trailing fire and smoke. She turned as a dark shadow loomed over her, the surviving battle suit had landed a mere 20 metres behind her. She bounced up to a crouched position and grabbed Jules' power sword. Or at least tried to. The blade had fallen between her and the battle suit. She'd given her chain sword to Corporal Grant for the moment, thinking the power sword would be more useful, and now it was all but useless.

There was a whine from the battle suit as it pointed its massive flamer at her. She ran straight at the power sword, and just kicked it between the battle suits legs. A wash of heat flooded over her as she dived after the power sword. She could hear Grant screaming at the Guardsmen as they finally pulled themselves up off the floor.

Grimes had gotten himself off the ground, and was brandishing a long strip of bonding tape with 2 krak grenades taped to it. He charged the battle suit as its burst cannon sent streams of white/blue plasma through the air. Grimes avoided the volley, jumped and wrapped his arms around the knee joint of the battle suit, securing the taped grenades in the process. He had the pins in his teeth, and he wrenched them out as he pulled away. He ran straight past Alishia, pins still dangling from his mouth, and kept on running until he heard the crack of the grenades.

The battle suit stood balanced on its remaining leg, the other now a smoking stump after being blown apart at the knee. The pilot fired the jump pack, but with a missing leg, the system no longer had enough lift, the battle suit lifted slightly, then speared to the right as the thruster had gone from that leg. The huge mass of the suit crashed to the ground, and dug itself a huge trench, its burst cannon torn off in the process. Alishia paced toward the trench, when a burst of flame erupted from the ground. The pilot was still alive, and the flamer operational.

'Nivvon!' She called

'Yes Ma'am' Nivvon jogged over, his launcher over his shoulder anticipating his orders.

'Deal with this will you?' She said whilst turning away from the wreckage and walking back past him.

'With pleasure.' He said with a grin.

She surveyed the scene, a number of bodies lay on the floor, one hadn't survived the jump from the truck, the others had all been cut down by burst cannon fire. She heard the whump of a grenade leaving the launcher, and a clang as it struck the armoured hide of the battle suit. The grenade explosion was muffled by the gouge the suit has caused, but the second explosion from the suits reactor detonating was huge. The shockwave knocking the group to the floor.

'...EEHHAWW!' Was all she heard as the ringing in her ears died down. Nivvon clearly proud of his work.

'Alright, Everyone group up, we need.. *cough* ..we need to get ready to move out.'

She looked at the group, only 4 men approached her now. 'Where is Sergeant Jules?' she asked

The men looked around, Private Bannerman noticing the sergeant lying face down by the wreckage of the truck.

'Ma'am?' he said nodding in his direction. She jogged over, the men following closely. She knelt by him, and turned him slowly. His face was badly burned, his left eye permanently shut, his shirt melted to his skin across his shoulder and arm. The smell of burnt flesh making her gag.

'Guess I'm not pretty anymore, huh?' Jules croaked.

'I've dated worse, Stan.' she smiled.

'I'll be sure to remember that.' Jules started laughing, but broke out coughing.

'You ready to move out?'

'I'm not sure that's going to be possible..' He whispered

'Sure you will Sir!' Nivvon cut in

'Yeah, I need to tell you how I took out that suit, you were too busy laying around over here Sir.' Grimes added

'Don't think the men want you to stay here.' Alishia joked 'Let's sit you up.'

They slowly lifted the weary sergeant, he winced with pain but tried to cover it up.

'You are coming to Newlaiden with us, that's an order' Alishia added.

The Fleet had begun its approach to Kethrin prime. General Geart had given his pre-war speech across the Vox to all ships in the fleet. A well sculpted piece he had written himself during the warp journey. An inspiring verse to spur his men on, at least he thought so anyway. Poiller entered his study from the central hab section, a data slate in one hand and a large bundle of files under his other arm. As the young man approached, Geart studied him, his uniform hung from his slender frame, and the trousers were somehow far too short and yet far too wide, held up by a belt that had clearly had an extra hole put in with a bayonet so it would do its job. Poiller had barely passed inspection, and Geart took him on himself as he showed an aptitude for logistics, arranging for his whole unit to get extra rations during transit by messing with the order sheets. Geart had caught him during one of his late night jogs he took. He decided not to punish the boy as the work he done one the order sheets really was very clever. No one would have known had he not been caught, and camaraderie with his fellow troops is never a bad thing. But he would never last on the battlefield. His results at the range were the bottom end of average, and his bayonet training even worse, only his kit inspection had gone well.

'The reports have come in from each regiment confirming they are ready to be deployed Sir.' Poiller said in his nasally voice 'And the Sanguine Dragons have entered the system within the last hour.'

'Excellent, any news on the marines forces?'

'They have transmitted this, but only you have the clearance to access it Sir.' he said passing the data slate across the desk.

Geart placed his thumb on the Id tag, a small needle took a blood sample, the lights went green after a moment and information filled the screen. Geart rolled his eyes and handed the slate back. 'Summarise that for me would you?'

'Of course.' Poiller placed the files on the desk and took the data slate back. Geart rarely read anything he was handed himself, he had even consider giving Poiller his access rights, but there would have been too much paperwork involved, which Geart felt rather defeated the point of the exercise.

'It's a list of available units. Also a basic overview of their assault strategy. Seems they have made plans without your consent Sir?'

'Yes, Marines usually do I'm afraid.' Geart said weakly 'Continue.'

'Urr, they have 8 Squads of assorted infantry, a Chief Librarian Collus is in command it would seem, with a small number of auxiliary officers beneath him, though I'll admit I'm not familiar with most of these titles? Chief Sanguinary-Priest? Does that mean anything to you sir?' he questioned.

'Not really. Doesn't matter though, what else have they brought with them?'

'Okay... 3 Predator battle tanks of mixed specifications, 2 Dreadnought combat walkers and a Land-raider Redeemer.'

'Sounds lovely.' Geart added, disinterested

'They will be assaulting the main Tau force upon reaching orbit, using formation Avalon-3' Poiller raised an eyebrow at this, the information was clearly designed to provide as little information at possible whilst keeping up the facade of cooperation. 'Oh and this you will be interested in, They have an Inquisitorial contingent, who are here to assist our campaign'.

'What?' Geart boomed. Poiller jumped back, surprised by the Generals reaction.'

'An Inquisitorial Contingent Sir' he repeated hesitantly 'Here to assist the campaign'

'They are not here to assist.' Geart was clearly angered by this this news. 'The Inquisition does not assist anybody.'

'I thought they did?' Poiller replied quietly

'No! They have come to take control of the campaign. MY CAMPAIGN! Well I'm not having it, this is all planned out, I'm not having them take all the glory for themselves.' Geart had gone bright red. As far as he was concerned, the inquisition was an interfering and self-serving bunch of bureaucrats who did nothing but waste other peoples resources for their own ends.

'What do we do then Sir?'

'I don't know! We can't tell them to frak off! I need to think, Leave me.'

'Sir?' Poiller clearly wanting to know more.

'NOW!'

Ele'ty had been even more unbearable since the events at the town. Clearly he had never been shot at before, or at least not with him being the specific target, He had demanded Nen'sho pursue the Gue'la vehicle himself, with the entire strike force. This of course, would never happen. Nen'sho had the planet in the palm of his hand. His main force had the Capitol under siege, and he was only clearing out the surrounding settlements because it wasn't viable to attack the most heavily defended city in the system without removing any reinforcements they might have.

He had agreed to send a pair of battle suits after the truck, to keep the moronic Ambassador happy, and to cover up the fact he found the attempt on his life rather amusing. He had given the battle suits 2 of Ke'hrins days to capture or destroy the enemy. They were now moving to the final outlying village of the capitol, an area of agricultural activity the locals referred to as Burron Lammer. Provided this could be cleared up relatively quickly, he could return to the capital and begin the full assault. He was looking forward to this, He had managed to acquire himself 2 Riptides for this campaign, and was keen to show that he was worth the investment. He may not have the reputation of Shas'O Shaserra, but that was only because in wasn't born on a first phase world. He was just as capable as any other commander, and he wouldn't let his origins affect his rise.

'Shas'O. We are receiving information from the fleet.' Came a voice over his comms

'Proceed.' Nen'sho responded

'An Imperial Fleet has appeared at the edge of the system.'

'That was quick? Still it is not unexpected. Have the fleet responded.'

'They have repositioned to a defensive formation, but are otherwise awaiting your orders.'

'Excellent, Advise that the offensive elements of the fleet are at Kor'O Hab'Noji's command. But I want enough support vessels held back to stop us being blown up from orbit should they get through. Understood?'

'Yes Shas'O.' Said the voice. 'One last thing, a supply convoy found the wrecks of two XV8 battle suits you assigned to your strike force. But no losses had been recorded.'

'What? How were they destroyed?' Nen'sho snapped

'It would appear the Gue'la managed to use a vehicle to destroy one and force the other to make a crash-landing and then terminated the pilot whilst it was down.'

Nen'sho cut the channel without a reply. Ele'ty would be made to regret costing Nen'sho more warriors.

The strike cruiser would be with the main fleet within the next 45 minutes. Collus did not intend to stay with them however, the Imperial Guard are too slow a machine and his orders where to exterminate the Xeno threat as quickly as possible. If he waited the Tau would entrench themselves on the planet and the campaign could last months. He would only allow the Navy to clear a path through the Enemy blockade and then proceed to take the planet below. Once this was done he could leave the Guard to secure the planet, while the Marines moved on to defend the Imperium from other threats. This was how the Imperium operated, despite numerous ranking officers within the Guard and Navy thinking otherwise.

Collus stood on the observation deck, watching the planets hanging motionless out of the window. His psyker powers could feel the navy fleet up ahead, all the souls aboard the ships. He enjoyed taking time out aboard the observation deck. It allowed him time to focus, prepare for the task at hand, but the inquisitors errand boy had troubled him. He hadn't done anything, and that was the problem. He didn't seem to have an agenda, or have any reason to be there. While he had questioned his assault plan, he hadn't pushed for more information than was offered. And his mind was a fortress, Collus got nothing from him. Normally he didn't even need to try and people gave off surface thoughts that would tell him infinitely more than conscious words ever could, but Jadden Ledo told him nothing. He wasn't protecting his thoughts, or it didn't seem like it, he just didn't emit much of a warp signature. He wasn't invisible, just dull. Even a baseline human was more visible than he was, And Collus didn't even think he was a psyker, the Warp emanations he had felt before seemed almost natural, if there was such a thing in the warp, But more like burst of energy within the warp rather than the interference of a psyker.

Collus had wondered if he was here to investigate his lost brothers. The Death Company was only spoken of in hushed tones, and only to those who shared gene seed. But then the Inquisition was aware that a flaw existed, and the Sanguine Dragons was no further advanced than the Blood Angels themselves. So why was he there? Collus decided to leave that matter for now and do something more proactive. He activated his vox.

'Captain, how goes our approach?'

'As expected brother. The enemy fleet is breaking orbit and taking a defensive position, I will keep us with the Imperial Fleet until the conflict starts, then take the first opportunity to break through the lines and deploy ground forces. I will keep you informed.' Came the reply.

'Thank you Captain'

Collus had always hated the hours before battle. He found he couldn't meditate during this time, and he couldn't make any meaningful contributions until he was on the ground. All preparation was completed, and it was time to wait. He had already checked on every squad leader, performed the appropriate rituals on his war gear, and sent an astropathic message to the chapter only advising they had arrived in system. That wasn't even protocol.

Chief Sanguinary Priest Maddox entered the deck, Collus giving him a slight nod.

'Still get nervous before battle I see' Maddox joked

'You know it isn't that Brother.'

'I know, just hate sitting still. Which makes your position as Librarian all the more amusing'

'Yes, almost as amusing as a medic who refuses to receive any treatment after battle' Collus joked

'That was one time, and it was barely a scratch.' Maddox laughed tapping the metal thigh he had received because of that injury

'Indeed, the bionic leg was purely an aesthetic choice' Both Marines laughed.

'How are the preparations going? Maddox asked.

'As usual, I was finished before we got here.' Collus sighed

'You should put things off for longer, then you wouldn't spend hours wearing away the valuable mural on the floor here.'

'You know I cannot do that.' Collus smiled 'I need to be prepared, or I become...'

'Intolerable? aggressive? generally unpleasant?' Maddox interrupted.

'Quite, though I see you are as relaxed as ever?' Collus quipped, noting Maddox was not yet wearing his Terminator Armour and battle was only hours away.'

'I was just on my way to the reclusiam to perform the battle rites, I will put my armour on before we begin. I thought you might walk with me?'

'Of Course, What troubles you?'

'Not troubles really, I was just curious about the Inquisitorial guest we have acquired?'

'Your thoughts echo mine. I'm afraid I know nothing more than yourself.' Collus sighed, Maddox was clearly unhappy with his response though.

The Marines continued the discussion as they walked...