A/N: Thank you Skyborne for reading through the speech of this section.

A/N: Since we'll be seeing things during the Age of Strife on Terra. Here are a few terms and technologies that might need to be clarified beforehand.

Grand-cruiser: A classification of warship that attempts to put a battleship's worth of firepower into a cruiser sized vessel. Due to this extra ordinance, these ships are very slow and brittle for their size, for their extra guns add weight to the ship while reducing the number of void shield capacitors and armor they can carry. They are best suited for defensive engagements or in the rear of allied formations; from where they can provide fire support using their heavy weaponry.

In 40K, the knowledge required for the specialized plasma generators necessary to provide enough power to so much excessive weaponry in their 'relatively' compact frame has led to the devolution of this class of ships.

Many have lost the lance and plasma macro-canon batteries they once had, and now carry standard macro-canon batteries or fighter hangars instead. This has not done much to improve their speed, meaning they do badly in fleet engagements as they cannot keep up with the rest of the ships in the fleet. Many are used as solo-raiders, taking advantage of their extra-firepower to out-gun the cruiser class vessels usually used to protect supply convoys. Their speed issue is dealt with by setting ambushes for their prey.


The sun had just set, and the moon was slowly growing brighter as the dusklight faded. Its face, fully uncovered by Terra's shadow, was the same bright white it had been for millions of years.

Grisly pyres littered with human bones, burning plastics, and metals let out black smoke into the sky as they lit the ground with orange light.

Banners of the southern client states and various mercenaries were raised high, showing a million different markings of billions of soldiers, savages, and sycophants.

The desert had been flattened, with excess sand shoveled away. Now, the entire army stood in a colossal basin surrounded on all sides by hastily piled dunes.

Keyser stood before the army on a mound of large white shards from one of the defense walls that the Nord Afrik Conclaves used to defend their cities and homes. The jagged pieces of shattered lenses and focussing crystals made it look like he was standing atop an iceberg that was poking out of the middle of the desert..

The Lord Mashal activated his comms with a mental command, and spoke to all of those before him at once.

"Soldiers of Ursh, soldiers of fortune, soldiers of the southern client states. Tomorrow, this campaign ends." Keyser's tone was deep and firm. He spoke calmly, for his voice was taken into the earpiece of every man and woman before him. Too loud, and he would have blown their eardrums out.

"The fighting itself has only lasted 9 days, but the preparations have taken decades, and the attempts to take this land stretch back centuries. We stand upon ground never tread before, except by the pigs of the Nord Afrik Conclaves. Now, we are the ones who stand here while their bleached bones stick out of the sands."

"We are at the end of an era. An era of loss. An era of failure. But, it is because of that loss and failure we stand here today. Let no man forget the importance of those who came before us. It is through their sacrifice that we have gotten here as well."

"Likewise, all of you standing here with me shall lay the stones that make the foundations for a new era. An era where we can rebuild and regrow. An era of endless glory and an end to our species' wide stagnation."

"One thing stands in the way of all this!"

"Xozer! A city obsessed with genetic purity!"

"Xozer! A city kept safe by luck and inheritance!"

"Xozer! A city whose people know nothing of hunger or thirst!"

"They have done nothing to earn their rewards, yet they milk the artifacts of the ancients to fatten their coffers and themselves."

"There is no bargaining with them. Look at what they do to their own dissenters! They use the gene-tech they abhor as punishment, robbing their own scientists of their ability to think and their political rivals a means to speak out!"

"We are not the same as them! If you wish to show the superiority of your ideas, let them be tested! If you wish to be heard, fight for it! That is the way we have all done things, for we know what it is like to wander days without food or water! We know the suffering of radiation sickness and the slow death of cancer! We don't have the luxury to let ourselves be deluded by farcical nonsense like the purity of genetics! Strength and survival is everything!"

"Humanity's greatest power comes from our ability to use everything and anything to our advantage! Those who do not have the will to claim that power shall be left behind by the ones who will!"

"Imagine what sort of world will be left if Xozer is allowed to rise! A world where everyone's role is pre-determined by their birth, and there is no method to change it! We, the mercenaries and soldiers who stand here would be at the bottom rung of that hierarchical ladder! We came from the slums, the gutters, the savage wastes! We were born into hardship, but we had the strength to claw ourselves out of the alleys and garbage dumps! We took the risk of enlistment, or served as apprentices in warbands! We fought, and won! That would never happen in Xozer! We would have been rounded up and turned into mindless animals like the ones over there!"

"That is the reason Xozer must fall. Its existence is antithetical to what we are, to what humanity is. They are a plague on the face of this planet. Like an infected wound they fester behind their walls, growing ever more lethal. This army is the cauterizing knife that shall burn out the pestilence that is Xozer."

"Let not a single hierophant live. Let not a single noble survive. Let not a single citizen of Xozer outside their walls when we bring them crashing down upon their heads."

"The attack will be simple. We shall surround the city and pressure it from all sides. Your captains, commanders, and officers shall guide you to your positions and provide the necessary instructions. Follow their words, for they are your betters in many ways. They shall draw out your full strength, and give you the means to move forwards. Not that they will be behind you."

There were a series of laughs from the soldiers. All of them knew their commanders always lead from the front. They were the fiercest, most aggressive, and most ambitious members of their number. It was only the strict order of succession that ensured the next in line was always prepared to take the former's place whenever they eventually fell.

"I myself will be there on the frontlines…" Keyser continued, no different than the force commanders amongst them. "But, that is why I have called you all here tonight."

"Xozer, despite its many weaknesses, is blessed by many artifacts of the ancients. It will be a hard battle for all of us. Vox-communications might be jammed, runners waylaid. In the event orders fail to find you, I want you to press onwards to the center of the city. Xozer's more important functions lie there. Pushing towards the center will force them to redirect forces away from other positions and towards yours, allowing us to move forwards as a whole. I know this sounds like a fool's errand. Why should any of us, especially our friends in the mercenary bands want to take on more enemies than necessary? That is why I want you all to remember what it is we fight for here. This battle is not only about soil and water. It is about us. It is our way of life. It is about what it means to be human, for you, for me, for all of us! If we fail, then this world will eventually fall into the hands of Xozer and its Nord Afrik Conclaves. They will inherit the earth, and all men and women will be bound at the point of their birth to lives that those in power 'claim' their genetics mandates them to."

"That is the fate that awaits a world where Xozer wins. That is the fate you and I fight to overcome. That is the reason for this war! The reason to fight! The reason to die! I am ready to give my blood, flesh, and bones for this! What say you!"

Keyser lifted a fist, and a billion others rose from the armored armies before him.

"Keyser! Keyser! Keyser!" They shouted in unison, some even tearing off their helmets to scream his name at the top of their lungs.

"Should I fall, I want you to step on my back and use it as a springboard, launching yourself at the enemy! Take my skull, and use it as the stepping stone to place the next foot forwards! No matter the cost, Xozer dies tomorrow!"

"Keyser! Keyser! Keyser!" The ground rang as a billion feet stamped the ground, shaking the sand mounds and sending small rivulets of silica sliding down them.

"Soldiers! Fight for your future! Fight for yourselves! Fight with your trust placed in me and the words I speak this day, and we shall have victory!"

"Keyser! Keyser! Keyser!"

Lord Marhsha Anult Keyser held up his hand, ordering them to stop chanting.

"Move out!" The simple order went to everyone of them, and the banners began to part as the battalions and brigades separated out towards their pre-planned points of attack. Billions of troops waded through the dunes, and started brisk marches that would take them hundreds of kilometers across the desert in less than 10 hours.

Keyser watched them go into the desert night. He traded a few nods, gauntleted handshakes, and salutes with the few soldiers who wanted them as they passed by. Finally, only his core lieutenants, comms officers, and the Tupolev Lancers remained.

"Any final words from Shang Khal?" He asked Wilhym Mardol.

The lieutenant shook his head, but then spoke nervously.

"The oneirocriticks muttered about majiks. They spoke again about sciomancy and the phantasmagorian ways of the hierophants. They dug out their own eyes when they began to scream of swarms blotting out the sky and scratched the skin off their arms saying they were replaced with stone and slough."

Keyser snorted and asked, "Are they dead?" His tone was bored and irritated at the same time.

"Not yet." Mardol replied. "I chained them to their posts to keep them from harming themselves any further, and stopped the bleeding with bandages and tourniquets."

"Good." A smile could be heard in Keyser's voice. "They still need to answer to me should their ramblings about non-existent Nord Afrik flyers swarming the skies prove false. Death by their own hands is too kind a fate. I have suffered their mad ravings for long enough. Majiks are nothing but trickery and lies. Only the weak and unfocussed fall before it."

Keyser then turned to his Vox officer, oneirocriticks ignored, and assured that there were no last minute changes to the strategies made by Shang Khal. "Call the Roma." He ordered "Have their fighters on standby, and order them to begin providing air cover once the outermost laser defenses have been destroyed, or if they spot any Nord Afrik flyers."

Finally, he turned to his troops. One of them brought his steed to him; a six-legged creature that had the shape of a horse under its thick armor. However, instead of hooves it had wide gripping claws. Its limbs were obviously mechanical from the way they whirred and occasionally hissed as hidden hydraulics moved. The only organic components inside it were part of its brain, and some of its blood vessels that went through a counter-current filter and a nutrient-oxygen bath to keep it alive.

"Lancers..." He said quietly as he jumped aboard. "We must be the first to enter the central portions of the city to secure the artifacts. The future of Ursh rests on your shoulders. Do not let the other battalions beat us."

All the other lancers saluted as his lieutenants got on their six-legged cyborgs.

"Tomorrow, this campaign ends, and the next one begins." Keyser said and the lancers laughed. It has always been like that, ever since they were just a mercenary band. They weren't called dogs of war for nothing. They sniffed out conflict and carnage, like starving mongrels looking for scraps, for that was the only time they got paid. Even now, as part of the official forces of Ursh, that hadn't changed.

"There is no end to war." Keyser said softly. "That is the beauty of it." He turned to his men as he unbuckled the weapon attached to the side of his steed. It looked like an oversized mace with a thick handle the width of a grown man's thigh and about as tall. Yet, despite its blunt appearance, this weapon was a lance. The tip was shaped like a drill bit from an oil rig. Multiple conical gears, each with several rows of serrated teeth, ground inwards. They sucked in air from the front and shot it out the back. Keyser revved its engines several more times, making sure the bearings and axles that held each gear were all aligned. Each pull of the trigger let loose a mechanical roar that dulled to a hungry growl as the weapon's parts spun down.

"We all want something that lasts forever." Keyser spoke as he stowed his lance, finished with his tests. "An eternal means to slake our thirst and fill our bellies. War will do that for us. Blood and skulls is all it asks for in return."

"For Khorne!" One of the lancers called out. He was the most devout of them. Although all of the Tupolev Lancers were forced to hear the Wrathsingers' sermons at least once when they became part of Ursh's official army, this one made it a daily ritual whenever they were off duty.

"For Khorne." Keyser nodded, and the optics in his eyes seemed to glow with orange flames.

—-

Shang Khal watched the Tupolev Lancers leave with the rest of the troops. Only his honor guard, and several dozen Red Engines as well as the sacrifices needed to run them remained at the command post. The remaining weapons, mortars, guns, and atomics had been carried off by the armies moving to the positions he had briefed them about.

There was no need for centralized reserves. The sheer size of Xozer meant that if any of the armies on the far side of the city fell, there would be no time to replenish it from the command post.

Additionally, Shang Khal hoped this placement of troops would nullify the effect of any final suicidal charge by the hierophants against him and the command post.

With his forces so dispersed and communications bound to be disrupted, it was unlikely for any commands made here would reach their target in time. So, Shang Khal abandoned all central commands, leaving Keyser and the other commanders in control.

There were no major issues with that. Strategy and tactics operated on two different levels. He had already told Keyser and the others what needed to be secured and protected. It was now their job to figure out how that would be done.

What this meant for Xozer was that any attack on the command post would be made in vain. The attacks on their city would not stop, nor would it falter. Those on the front lines would keep fighting, even if they managed to kill Shang Khal and destroyed what little remained here.

In a sense, he was the bait for any of Xozer's remaining flyers, if they had any. The skies had been clear, even after the Roma patrol plane had been destroyed by Xozer. He would have expected at least a drone or two to fly over, but nothing came. The lack of any aerial vehicles was starting to make him wonder if the oneirocriticks had spoken falsely.

Still, he continued to make his preparations for them regardless. He may have organized things so his death would have no meaning, but that did not mean he wanted to die.

Any flyers that attacked here would be easy prey for the Roma fighters. The command post was far away from the defensive emplacements of Xozer. There would also be no fear of friendly fire with Keyser on the front lines. Therefore, the counter attack of the Roma should be swift and simple.

Victory was all but assured to Shang Khal, but the general did not stop thinking of possible scenarios and eventualities.

Finally, Shang Khal turned away from the basin and back to the palanquins carried by the gene-brutes.

If all else failed, he personally would have to march into Xozer to recover the artifacts. The Wrathsingers would need to be made ready when he did.

—-

(Far away from Terra, on the fringes of the human federation.)

The Bucephelus emerged from the Warp, haloed in golden light as it left the whirlpool of purple energies behind with the thousands of other ships under its command.

The rest of the ships which had been pulled out of the Warp were positioned on the far side of a fleet of Grand cruisers and other smaller classifications of vessels. A blue planet covered in water with several cities large enough to be visible from orbit was off to the side. Boarding craft were inbound to the Bucephelus's ships, but the sudden emergence of it and its main fleet sent them scurrying back to their carriers and hangars.

"Fire." The golden giant gave the order, and the fleet sandwiched in between the ships it had accidentally pulled out of the Warp, and the fleet that had just emerged was showered with torpedoes, macro cannon shells, and lance blasts.

Out gunned ten to one, and forced to disperse due to the torpedoes that were roaring towards them, the fleet of Grand cruisers returning fire was disorganized and scattered. Holes appeared in their volleys, allowing the golden giant's ships to leisurely maneuver into position to avoid being hit by the enemy's shells. Void shields were given ample time to recharge between scattered lance beams that failed to overwhelm them in the first volley.

"Push through them, and enter the planet's orbit."

The Bucephelus broke ranks, and thundered towards the planet. The defense fleet noticed and began to concentrate their fire on the massive ship, but its shields shrugged off all of their weapons like raindrops. Torpedoes, bombardment shells, plasma blasts, and lance beams only rippled the dark blue and purple shields void shields surrounding it.

Finally, the Bucephelus entered the planet's orbit. The defense fleets fire petered out before then, unwilling to commit friendly fire upon their own homes. The planetary defense guns picked up where they left off, but even their more numerous shells and laser beams failed to penetrate the shields of the Bucephelus. Soon, the golden giant's flagship had left the firing arc of their land-based defenses, and was now thousands of kilometers above their blue oceans.

"Open planet-side silo doors." The golden giant ordered, and ordinance silos on the port side flank of the Bucephelus opened up.

"Deploy Volkite warheads."

Several spherical objects the size of a two-story house were launched, scattering over the ocean's surface before sinking beneath the waves.

"Proceed to the next body of water."

The Bucephelus repeated the act 5 times, deploying Volkite warheads across the entire planet. Meanwhile, Commodore Agesilaus got his comms officer to activate an open channel, and handed the microphone to his Lord.

When the Bucephelus finished deploying its payload of weapons, each one capable of converting all the water around it into an explosion that could wipe out continents, the golden giant spoke.

"This is the Humanity Restoration Fleet." His tone was grim, jaw tight and brow furrowed. "Surrender now. Send all of your command staff and officers to your home planet, and I will give you mercy. Resist me, and watch your planet die before you join them."

One by one, the defense fleet's ships ceased firing on the golden giant's fleet. After a further moment, the comms terminal beeped and the officer in charge sent the reply message to the central holo projector.

A grizzled man with white hair glared at the camera transmitting his image.

"We surrender." He said bitterly. "But what assurances of safety do we have? What are your terms?"

The golden giant snorted then turned to the Commodore. Agesilaus grimaced, then barked an order to his crew.

The several dozen dorsal tri-barreled lance turrets of the Bucephelus opened fire, cutting the ship which had answered him into several dozen pieces.

"There are no terms." The golden giant broadcast his message as the defense fleet's flagship was consumed in an orange explosion. "You have taken enough of my time. There is none left for debate. This is my last warning to you all. Abandon your vessels immediately and return to your home planet. Now, obey or die."