"Symbol is a symbol. It is a Legionary symbol, so it best stand or I'll fight through the toughest Xenos or traitors to make sure it stays standing. And it is not glory for myself, it is for the Legion, the Emperor and Humanity. I know enough to know that symbols are as powerful as weapons at times, but one symbol is just as good as another." Pholax shrugged.

Knives in the Night

"It's his way." Lucoryphus picked at the stubborn remnant of flesh clinging to the skull, not quite making eye contact with Aleph as he spoke. "He sees visions of the future, it makes him thoughtful. He sees too much. I don't want to say it's troubling for him as if he were a weak man, but ... You can't judge him by our standards, Aleph. He's a Primarch."

"I wasn't. I only want to understand better, to make sense of what he said to me. You know I respect him, I respect all of you. We may not be brothers, but we're cousins. Luc. We all send blades through flesh. The only difference is when and how."

"True to a point, you fancy Third Legion tart," Luc said, smiling with too many teeth. He really did seem to have acquired a couple extra somehow.

"Ah, what do you know, you Eighth Legion gutter-dwelling backstabber."

The ritual exchange of insults was delivered with broad grins, each having no more meaning than teasing between friends. It eased the tension in the air.

"But, truly, what he said to you meant something, something he wanted you to know. And that means he thought you could understand. Now, or later. It doesn't have to be literal, you know. I would have thought you artistic types would be the first to know that."

"Maybe you're right."

"I'm always right. Pass me the flensing blade."

"Not more poetry, by the old gods of Chemos."

"I thought you loved poetry. Or is it too hard to find a rhyme for 'Phoenix'? Anyway, you forgot one thing, and it's the most important one to remember. Don't go home without learning it, Legionary Aster, else all this will have been a waste of time.

It's not when you kill, Aleph, it's not even how. It's why."



Back to the Fire

"By the Phoenix, not again. SHUT HIM UP!"

Aleph found himself shaken roughly awake, which only made him reach for a weapon more quickly. Alas, his sword wasn't within reach, and nor was the Legion blade he'd taken to keeping under his pillow. He reacted in the only way left to him, with an attempted punch to the face.

The hand that caught his was not that of the foe, but that of a fellow Astartes. And the face - though it might be one of annoyance - bore the signs of concern underneath.

"Dreaming again, Brother?"

"Yes."

"Only, the rest of the barracks has kindly voted me the one to ask you if you wouldn't mind shutting the hell up so we could get some sleep?"

"Yes. I. I was asleep, I didn't know I was making any noise." Aleph felt weak, which he despised, but he couldn't shake the feeling. He dropped his gaze. The other Marine - a decent enough fellow, a Chemosian with a face best described as honest rather than beautiful - spoke more softly now, for Aleph's ears only.

"The nightmares again?" Aleph nodded. "What happened to you out there, Brother? Perhaps a spell with the Chaplains might aid you. They are good for troubles of the mind."

"What did I say?" Aleph was curious, but part of him didn't want to know. To forge a perfect blade, though, one must beat out any impurities.

"You said, and I quote you faithfully, "No, no, don't,", "I cannot believe you! I will not!" and oh yes, the ever-popular screaming. You scream a lot. The register is good, but I wouldn't volunteer for the choir just yet, Brother."

Aleph nodded. It would explain why he woke up so often with a burning throat. "Perhaps I will seek them out, see what suggestions they can make."

"For all our sakes, eh, Brother?"



Sons of the Phoenix Reunited

Aleph set down his palette and took up a finer brush, swirling the applied midnight blue more deeply into the shadows. The canvas before him was a subdued riot, a hazy whirlwind of darker hues where form was glimpsed and design only hinted at a masterpiece to come. Carefully, with the sharpest of his fine, soft pencils, he began to delineate a tall figure, one broad in the shoulder yet gaunt, not so much emerging from the shadows as commanding them to open, like a King addressing a court. Or a theatre curtain rising on invisible wings.

The shipwide vox system blurted out news of the approaching Mandeville point, and the coming meeting Aleph knew would be soon. He felt a flutter of excitement, a brief restoration of the youthful enthusiasm he'd often displayed before his secondment. Well, slightly more again, now. He glanced quickly at the painting. Strictly, mixed media work. If I pin him to the canvas, he stays out of my dreams. Alephoros washed off the paint from his hands and got ready.

Making his way to the deck he could see that Sidon and most of his Brothers were already there, along with a newcomer with a venerable standard. He caught the announcement on the age and importance of the piece, and waited respectfully for the speaker to finish so that he didn't interrupt. Then he saluted Sidon with great respect, glad to see the old warrior was still with them. And then, his Brothers.

"It's good to see you all again," he said, smiling broadly with genuine good humour as he was embraced and embraced in his turn. "Extrovious, I could swear you're broader now than before, we shall be able to shelter the whole squad in your lee." He reached across and gave Extrovious' shoulder a brotherly punch. Hard muscles bounced it just as expected. "Vitaly, I half expected you to have become one with the Machine! All of you, you've earned much honour for the Third!" He looked around, making sure that Elymas knew he was included in this too. They hadn't spoken often, and Aleph didn't really know what went on inside the psyker's head, but he, too, was a Brother.

"Jendon, Elymas, Pholax, good to see you've made it back to us. Welcome, Arnock. I am Alephoros Aster, but Aleph will do. You honour us with your presence and the relic you bear. May it never fall!"

"So, Brothers, do you think we will see him again this time? Will we watch the Phoenix consume this world in cleansing flames?" Though Aleph did carry a new and finely-made power sword, by his side he still bore the old flamer that had seen so much use against the xenos.

<Jendon - Alpha Legion Secondment> ​

"Jendon, this is Phocron. Execute maneuver 2-Gamma-67," Jendon heard the voice of his acting Sergeant in his vox-bead as he looked down at the small Eldar village. Hidden among the trees, the Apothecary was moving alone but only for a moment, knowing that all around him there were more members of the Alpha Legion present, although they too were hidden and out of sight except during those short moments when he caught glimmer of blue-and-green power armor moving through the thick foliage. Command was simple, find the best position and wait for the command to attack. Alien vilage below them was looking peaceful, with primitive-looking Eldar going about their own business, completely ignorant of the fact that they were being surrounded by the legionaries of the XX. This entire world was filled with such settlements but one by one, the Alpha Legion warriors have taken them out without alerting any of the nearby aliens of their presence. So stealth was of paramount importance but that was something Jendon was already familiar with.

Jendon nodded putting a hand to his Vox beed. "Affirmative." He said before he began moving silently moving silently through the brush he would move with the training and tips he had picked up from his squad mates, Keeping low looking for high ground when spotting and always making sure to remind silent, Even his armor which once held his colors pridefully where now camouflaged by paint for the terrain, and any non needed parts were stripped to move more silently and with agility.

Moving through the shadows like a true master, Jendon found a rocky outcrop right above one of the huts, the rocks hiding him out of sight. Like every member of Alpha Legion's infiltrators, he too carried a stalker bolter and through the scope he could spot other members of his squad taking position all around the village, closing in like a pack of wolves...or many-headed snake. Right below him he spotted three Eldar Exodites sitting around fire, having nothing but simple furs as a way of protecting their bodies and couple of vibro-spears nearby that they probably used for hunting. Not much would it do against power armored super-soldiers. "Position acquired. Execute protocol 12. Hydra Dominatus," Phocron spoke once again and seconds later, Jendon began seeing dozen aliens slumping to the ground all around the settlement, felled by silenced ammunition. Now it was his time to shine and show them that any son of Fulgrim can keep up with these cousins without an issue.

Jendon looked down his scope carefully as he did he began picking his targets going over in his head which to bring down first then second then third, He would have to be careful but knew hitting the vitals were the key to taking out these aliens silenty, Jendon would fire aiming to take them all out quickly and quietly.

Jendon's aim was true, each of the aliens fell before they even knew what hit them. In mere seconds half of the village's population was dead, Alpha Legionaries doing their task marvelously. However not all of them were down, few of them gathered in the center of the village, led by a female warrior riding atop a four-legged reptile monster, probably some kind of a native animal to this planet. Rest of Jendon's squad was slowly clearing the cover, moving in between the hovels and executing Exodites without prejudice. "Phoenix One, gather samples if you need them. Remaining Hydras, dispatch the enemy leader," Phocron's voice was Jendon's constant companion, even amidst the firefight the Sergeant sounding completely calm.

"Affirmative, will be moving forward and obtaining samples then moving on target." Jendon said through the Vox. Moving forward he would stay low approaching a body of a expodite, moving quickly he quickly cycled his narthicanum and injected it into the body of the dead expoite and began retrieving a genetic sample of the enemy,Know ones enemy inside and out and you can attack them in nearly every way, Something Jendon learned while fighting with XX legion, whether using the genetics to manufacture vaccines for human agents tat needed inoculation from xenos diseases, or to use against as a poison against the xenos, or even making one human look like a xeno for infiltration missions, The alpha legion was quite creative with there resources. " Finishing taking the sample he broke a vibro spear and put a part of it in his pocket for secondary sample analysis. "FInished Sample gathering moving to aid in engagement." Jendon said taking his stalker bolter he kept low and began moving forward his sights looking out for any hidden xenos or any that would attempt to aid in the attack on the enemy leader.

Finished with the gathering of the genetic material, Jendon moved in position to cover the rest of his new squad. Couple of them moved from the front, chainswords revving they went straight for the enemy leader and her guards, the aliens turning to face them directly. Jendon was already familiar with this maneuver, a simple feint to make the Exodites think the biggest threat was in front of them when in fact, couple of sharpshooters moved from the back, taking aim and firing the moment they caught the alien leader in their sight. Exodite and her reptile mount died in two concentrated salvo of bolts, Alpha Legion not even wishing to spend ammo needlessly. Soon it was over, the xenos were dead or dying and another settlement was taken by the sons of Alpharius. Jendon spotted Phocron coming to the center alongside couple of other legionaries, all of them wearing camo cloaks and looking pretty much the same in their camoflaged armor. "Brother Phoenix, a querry - are you able to extract the sample from the dead beast and with it, create a toxin that can annihilate its populace and anything from its genetic branch. I received intel that many of these creatures accompany the aliens on this planet and it would be perfect if we are able to combat them with such poison?

"Likely I can, It will take some time though to make and then produce. Such a toxin and deploy it, Possibly as ammo may work, Though The amount of time it will take tough, maybe to long for the campaign, for such a thing to hit every species of beast." Jendon said as he went walking over to the beast his narthicanum cycled once more as it took a new sample as it did his diagnoister was already scanning the beasts DNA, Strands were on his hud, as his eyes passed over it he estimated it would take at least a month to get such a serum into a production, As he did he noticed something in the beasts biologic, "Interesting, There maybe something else I can do to help deal with these beasts. Scans show up these beasts seem use pheromones to identify friend and foe," Looking down to the creature Jendon looked over to its ear holes his diagnosters began running scans, memory of the last time he was deployed with his brothers flooded back when Elymas used his powers and sound to crush a great length of foes. " I believe, though we may have another option that, These creatures hearing seems to be sensitive, along with there biogoy they seem to use pheremones to identify friendlies, With a few gland samples here and cloning I believe we can make a device that could turn these creatures upon on there masters or even cause some to go to bezerk, or die when the device is used.

Phocron was silent for a moment, his features hidden behind his plain helmet but Jendin could hear distinctive sound of clicking as the Alpha Legionary spoke over private vox with someone else. Long moment passed and he once again addressed Jendon: "Most...creative. Your idea is approved. Stormravens are inbound our position, but once we're back in base, you can start manufacturing the device. Well done brother."

In the Coming days Jendon would be found in a lab working on the equipment to be used in aiding the campaign, A Creature in a cage was beside him as he worked the Emporer's children apothecary doing scans on the small devices he had made, along with watching a caged reptile. Jendons arm and powered armor scarred from bite marks as he tested his invention various times by using himself to test its effectiveness. "Last Adjustments, and now the pheromones should be working for friend to foe, As jendon Finished the small device he would attach it to his armor and a small mist would exit off of device and onto his armor. As it finished Jendon picked up a stun prod in one hand and put his other ear the bars.

"Alright now if this works he shouldn't maul me again." Jendon said as he put his arm through the bar the beast snarled at him and began sniffing stopping as it did looking at him. "Good now lets see if the berserk device works. Pressing absolution the cage opened from the back side revealing a dummy, Grabbing the next device he would begin setting it to bezerk, as he did he pointed it at the small dummies before pressing a trigger, as it did a sound would ring out Jendon could hear it well with his augmented hearing, it did little to him, but for the reptile in the cage It began screeching and roaring at every side at Jendon at the dummies before beginning to bash its head at the bars. "Bezerker, Device, test working Next, test to targeting. " Jendon said as he did he began pulling the third small pistol like device Connecing it to his armor he activated a targeter on his helmet and aimed it at the dummy betwen the bars. "Device powering from armor small drain has little to notable effects on armor," As Jendon aimed the pistol at the dummy he fired at it a small plinck to one of the dummies notifiied him that hit it. Though not on the spot he aimed. "Targeter needs adjustments." Jendon added as he did he pressed a button activating the pheromones, and sonic device on the that was now lodged on the dummy as the pheremones and sonic device turned on a small mist would once again befall on the dummy and the noise would come back, this time altered. The reptile began once more screeching but this time it was not at anything it was a t the dummy. Charging at the dummy Jendon would record the reptiles attack. "Reptile continues attack even after devices destruction likely due to pheromones still on the target, May present problems if one wants to recover targets body."

Jendon said pressing end on the vox cassette he had he would end his observation. Over the course of the campaign the devices Jendon's devices would prove useful until being countered by witchery on the hostiles xeno side causing his pheromone devices that masked legionaries to be rendered null until Witchs destruction, Bezerrk sonic players proved to be useful in situation especially when the xenos began using calvary and patrols with there reptiles being turned on the xenos, Techmarie Calso would find adjusting the targeter to his pack would give him more accurate results aiding jendon and the cell on the planet to use dangerous species on the xeno threat on the planet. Even with the small set backs in the campign due to the xeno witches on the planet the device was considered a moderate success

<Second Part> ​

Jendon stood in a large chamber aboard the Alpha Legion's flagship "Alpha" waiting in silence amidst the candlelight. After the campaign was over, Phocron summoned him here for debriefing. Headhunter Prime, as was his correct rank, said nothing to Jendon other than it was required of him to attend the meeting in short order. He left Jendon waiting for some time before the Alpha Legionary appeared from the shadows, wearing his same full power armor with camoflage. "Congratulations are in order brother. You singlehandedly turned the tide of the ground war in ways we didn't expect. You have shown extra effort and ingenuity with your plan, something we of the XX value highly." "Therefore, I come with a question. Are you willing to take one step further and truly join our brotherhood?"

"Defiantly I am ready o go further and join your brother hood." Jendon said, Joining of anoher legions brother hood sounded quite swell make new battlebrother compratiots and warriors to learn from and improve with.

"Are you sure brother. If you do so, there is no going back," Jendon heard Phocron's voice, but not from the one standing in front of him. There was exactly the same armored legionary appearing behind him, while his face was hidden behind the helmet his voice and demeanor was completely the same like the one standing on front of him.

"Wait, Is there somehing hidden about this that I would need to know, Like does it mean I might have to sever ties from my father legion or have to swear a oath of loyalty to the alpha legion?" Jendon asked a eye brow raised under his own helmet as he looked at phocron.

"Nothing of the sort," replied the third voice, once again another Phocron joined the group, this one also looking exactly the same. It wasn't strange for the Alpha Legionaries to look alike in combat, but nothing close to this was ever seen before by the Emperor's Child. "You are still son of the Illuminator and your oaths tie you to him and your friends. However, if you join this you become a member of a new brotherhood and you have us as your new brothers. In time of need, you can call us to help you and provide you with information you wouldn't know otherwise. In return, sometimes we might ask you to do the same."

Jendon put a hand to his chin. "Alright, Just as long as it doesn't hurt my bothers or my legion sure." Jendon was all about inter legion team work, so working with a alpha legionnaire and having friends to call upon from time to time seemed alright, Besides a little co legion operation could be good for learning new skills from eachother

"Then drink this and join our brotherhood," fourth figure arrived from the shadows, this one slightly taller and bulkier than the other three, but nonetheless looking all the same. He carried a cup of some kind of a dark drink and offered it to Jendon.

"Alright." Jendon said as he did he took the cup, a part of him wondered if one of these Phocrons were possibly there legions priamrch, Jendon had heard whispers that there priarmch, Looked just liked there legionnaires. Taking a drink it was slow at first, A Sharp Bitterness Jendon noted, Nothing, he couldn't Take down, A part of it alcoholic, he noted similar to chemosian wine, He noted another part of it tasting a bit like almond. Like a hint of Poison? to help one feel intoxicate? Jendon thought

It was definitely some kind of a wine mixed with a substance Jendon never felt before. Powerful and intoxicating, he felt a bit dizzy as his metabolism struggled to process the drink. It was no poison, but something far more arcane. "Like Hydra of the ancient Terran myth, we too have many heads. Cut one off and three will rise in its stead. Today, one new head is born," the fourth legionary removed his helmet and Jendon saw a commanding face and eyes that shifted color, never staying the same. "Welcome Jendon to the brotherhood of the Hydra. I am Alpharius," he said and then the first marine removed the helm, a warrior looking almost exactly the same like Alpharius. He offered Jendon a hand in salute and smiled, "I am Alpharius." The other two did the same move, both removing helmets and looking the same like warriors before. "We are all Alpharius and now, you are too."

Reunions​

"In your absence I was ordered to work with other young recruits and to teach them like I taught you all those years ago. So no, the standard being with us now is because of something else," Sidon replied to Vitaly, his business-like looks cracked a bit as he sighed and looked up at the eagle and the symbol of the Legion.

"It was because I was lucky when others weren't. Me, Apox, Abdemon, Rylanor, Thales, Fabius and couple of others who are long gone, we were a squad like you are and the ones who arrived first on scene in the aftermath of the Betrayal, held in reinforcements by our commander. It would turn out to be a prudent decision overall as the Emperor was ultimately rescued, but so few of us survived that it left marks, just like on that standard which my brother who is now entombed recovered from the dead hands of our Captain. From the outside it's pristine, all well and recovered, but you could see cracks, faults in the perfection, if you knew where to look."

"But enough of that," Sergeant shook his head as if trying to cast out the sudden melancholy that gripped his soul, "Stories of an old soldier are irrelevant now. Past is past and what happened happened for a reason. You on the other hand, are the future of the Legion and it is up to you to write a new chapter in history, for better of worse."

"And I see that you've already done your part," he said and the usual look in his eyes returned, not changed even after all these years, "I see that your secondments went well, but then again I count every secondment that your survived a good one. Remember what you learned there but know that you are now back among your true kin. Influences you have are just that - influences. Now, you are once again going to fight the battles the way the Emperor's Children do and one battle ahead is going to be the perfect reminder of that."

Ullanor, First Strike​

None of what they've seen before had prepared them for this. The moment the Emperor's Children force entered the Ullanor system the fighting began. Thousands of ships were already embattled and the small ten capital ships plus two dozen escorts didn't look like as if it would make much of a difference. Orks were simply everywhere, as if their entire race was gathered in this particular place, ready to fight for their wish to dominate the stars. Arrayed against them were might of the three full Space Marine Legions alongside elements from the Legio Titanica of Mars and over eight million soldiers of the Imperial Army, all bearing down on the Greenskins from all sides.

However the sheer size of the conflict became somewhat meaningless as the 4th Squad boarded one of many Caestus Assault Rams that were subsequently launched from "Sovereign's" bays. Inside the hold they were isolated from the outside battle, the only parameters important to them were the distance from their target and the percentage of intact hull's structure of their vessel.

Lord Commander Leonis' orders were relatively simple. Due to their smaller number compared to other Legions, the Emperor's Children would act as a swift insertion force and deploy where needed to help swing the battle in their favor. This meant that they would have to move where the fighting was direst, the fact every son of Fulgrim cherished as the honor earned in such conditions was the greatest. Since the overall conflict raged with incredible intensity, it didn't take long for Leonis to order deployment of his Millennial.

"I want to hear your tactical assessment of the situation, the time spent with other Legions might've given you insight I lack," Sidon said as they all looked at the tactical display in front of them, Ram's advanced cogitator feeding them live picture of the target ahead of them. As the Legions deployed across the system, Ultramarins and White Scars took upon themselves to combat Orks at the outlying planets and tie them up for the main assault which would head straight for Ullanor Prime and the center of alien power. Horus and his Luna Wolves were the ones spearheading this assault, however while there were at least one hundred thousand Space Marines under his direct command, that still wasn't enough to break the Greenskins so the majority of the Imperial Army regiments as well as Titans of Legio Mortis were moving in alongside to support the ground assault.

Orks of course, weren't about to just sit and wait for the enemy to come to them. Right as the ground assault began, the closest planet broke apart to reveal couple of Ork-grade battle stations, brimming with void weaponry that would make the approach of great lander ships quite miserable. There were three of them in total and all three were immediately met by Imperial Navy's guns, however as majority of the Luna Wolves were tied up with landing there weren't enough forces surrounding the planet - which weren't already fighting the Greenskin orbital defenses and their ships - to deal with the approaching threat. Seizing the opportunity, Leonis ordered the Emperor's Children to move in and conquer them before they could fire on the friendly forces. Reaching the proper position and intercepting them was only the first phase of the plan, the second phase would be getting aboard them and taking out whatever resistance they would find. Captain Apox and his company, under which the 4th Squad fought, had the honor of assaulting the first of the battle stations and the Captain, being one of those officers preferring a direct approach, ordered the classic boarding action that saw around thousand Space Marines getting inside the assault rams and going straight for the throat.

There were multiple insertion points available - from the gun emplacements where the majority of their brothers were deploying, to big engine part that, alongside Ork ingenuity, held the station "afloat", to various cracks in the station's superstructure. "Idea is to land, form a beachhead and from it, find whatever passes as station's command center and take its head out, after which the remaining defenses should falter. How to best approach it is up to us. Thoughts?"

OOC There are couple of options on how to approach this insertion and I've gathered them in three parts:

1. Assault main gun battery, capture it, prevent it from firing and form the base there from which we'll head into the interior of the station.
2. Assault engines directly and stop the station dead in tracks, after which we'll head into the interior of the station.
3. Your idea on how to best assault the station.

@Jorimel @DeranVendar @Draconion @WanderingJester @Vulpas @Uriel1339 @dx144 @matt23

<Happy Reunions>

@dx144

"I see the XIIth Legion has brought your rough edges into sharp relief," laughs Vitaly, punching Pholax on the pauldron, "Love what you've done with your armour. It's very 'Barbarian Warlord,' brother. By the way - whatever happened to that suit I knocked together for you in the aftermath of our first campaign? As for kills, I really have to bow out of the competition. I spent almost more time building for Lord Perturabo than killing. Once, he had me plan and conduct the reconstruction of an entire planetary capital he had just razed to the ground. He wanted it up and functioning in six weeks. A city of fifty million souls. Six weeks. I barely just made the deadline, and that without sleeping or even ceasing work in all that time. Most of my killing was done very indirectly after the first year. I spent a lot of time designing experimental ordnance-grade weapons and overseeing their field tests. You know what they say about artillerists, particularly battery commanders - their kills don't count."

@DeranVendar

"Brother - did the Thousand Sons cast an Embiggen cantrip on you? I swear you cast an even bigger shadow than before. Oh, don't disparage the XVth's craftsmanship like that, oh-so-massive brother of mine. They're no Salamanders, perhaps, but their attention to detail makes them no mean craftsmen, either. That pole-khopesh, for instance - I can tell even from here it packs a Sollex-Aegis power field. You won't find a better even on Mars, I can promise you. And I strongly suspect the edge is fractal-honed - that's sharper than mono. But I suspect you've already put it to the test. As for Brother Jendon over there, I keep worrying he's going to suddenly announce to us that he's Alpharius," remarks Vitaly with a wink.

@Uriel1339

"Fascinating. A weapon crafted by the hand of a Primarch, among perhaps the very best craftsmen of that august fraternity. I would love to examine it more closely with the proper tools at an appropriate time, if you do not mind, brother."

@Jorimel

"Brother Aleph! So good to see you again!" replies Vitaly, slapping the ebullient warrior on the shoulder in return, "To be honest, I have spent so much time working with machines outside my own body I have had absolutely no time to put machines inside my own body, beyond the bare minimum. Besides, as the Fraternitas Biologis would say, life is the most miraculous machine of all. And as for you..."

He leans closer, discerning the care lines on the youthful Legionnaire's face, the wary, troubled eyes that seem to stare into the middle distance.

"How fare you after your time with the VIIIth? Are they...everything the tales say they are?" he adds in a low, wary tone, as though to speak too loudly of the Night Lords might cause them to materialise out of the nearby shadows.

His practiced eyes roam over Aleph's wargear. Relatively low-key changes - aesthetics in line with IIIrd Legion standards, with the exception of the new power sword at his battle-brother's hip. Very VIIIth Legion, with its bat-and-skull motifs, and of above-average craftsmanship to boot. Beneath the surface...his hands on Aleph's pauldrons detect noticeably less vibration than usual, augmetic senses estimating under 30% as much vibration as standard Legion Mk IV plate. As good as inaudible in all but the quietest of places.

VIIIth Legion stealth mods, or I'm a monkey's uncle. Like the armour, I suspect the VIIIth has left its mark beneath the surface in Alephoros Aster.

<Strategium Meeting>

Vitaly listens in intent silence to Sidon's briefing to the very end, the picture of inhuman stillness as he dedicates a part of his augmetic consciousness to parsing data from fleet streams, even as Sidon gives them a verbal rundown. As the hololith judders and distorts with the vibrations of the Sovereign's guns and hits to its voids, a plan begins to form in his mind.

"Sergeant, if we could indent two teleport homers and a fast transport of some kind for our exclusive use, I might be able to come up with something..."

OOC

Waiting for @Vulpas to post before going further.

Reunions-

Elymas - @Uriel1339
"Indeed Brother, We had encoutnered more of those xenos called the eldar, Seems they have some type of cousins both genetically and factionally interestingly enough, The hydras were given to me from a alpha legioanrie chap taht was quite a creationist, He helped spiffed up my hat after a false flag attack we participated in. Quite a show, While my Narthicanum now has a addtioanl ugprade, while admisntering aid I can also adminster a quite a powerufll adrenline to help aid in the targets health and in combat givign them a bit of edge after being injected and work on brining a brother up into the fight faster, at no expense of there health." Hearing Jendon mention Fabius caused him to smile,

"I actually plan to During this, Campaign A few of my works during my secoundemnt Caught quite the eye from a few of the other apothcaries during my secoundent a few even wanted e to contact Sir Fabius for a few alpha legionaires to secoundment just to learn under him, seems he has quite a name for himself building in a few other legions." Jendon said commenting about Fabius and his own plans.



Aelph - @Jorimel
"Good to see you brother Aelph," Jendon said as he gestured to his brother, "looks like your time with the sons of Kurze didn't effect your complextion, Might I ask how it went with our cousins?" Jendon asked seeing Aelph return one of there swordsmen that lord cautrious took a interest in.



Pholax - @dx144
"Brother Pholax, seems you might have racked up a bigger kill count from the sounds of your boasting but may I ask what the rules are for this, Do bigger oppanenets count and do indirect kills cont, If so I may have been unable to keep up with you, and your time with the Eaters of worlds." Jendon oked a bit as looked to pholax


Vitaily - @Draconion
"Vitaily" Jendon said returning his gesture while clasping his arms. "It actually depends on which your role playing in combat operation depending on the role your doing, Whether your the one up front showing off and getting the enemies attention or your the one in the back taking aim as the enemy charge aiming to take out the visible threat, Last mission I was on i was paying peacock as they say, With a bunch of rebles quite a few of em were taking quite a few pot shots at me." Jendon said with abit of a laugh, Hearing Vitalilies comment on the secretive nature of the alpha legion he smiled.

"I can defiantly tell you quite a few tales, about the alpha legion, I did take a oath of silence for a few things, Though I can tell you about the club I got to join there, Just cant show you there hand shake though." said with a bit of a Laugh, "That reminds me Brother, Vitaily, I wanted to show you specifically about the weapon that will be added to our armory, A gift during my time with a seeker Squad. " Jendon said, as he gestured to his box. Setting it on the ground He went to the cases lock and unflicketted it. revealing.. a new type of bolter twin linked with various modifcations and a scope and what looked to e a fire selector.

"Picked it up from the seeker crews Alpha legions inspired, It to all the legions heard a couple secoundments from the alpha legion are being sent to all the legions with these weapons to teach them how to use best use them in seeker squads to help eliminate enemy command or high priority targets as they say." Jendon said as he let his brothers see the oot he picked up.


Extrovious - @DeranVendar
"ahah Indeed Brother Extrovious." Jendon mentioned to brother Extrovious. "How was your time amoungst The thousand sons Brother Extrovious, I hear they are quite into the art of literature more then paintings. Though i heard about a rumor that they were forming a unit that could even rival palatine blades, heard anything or seen anything similar?" Jendon asked looking to Extrovious a bit curious about the rumor he heard about the thousand sons.





Ullanor First strike- @Draconion
As Jendon looked at the situation his new bolter in hand and his equipment in hand he looked to Sidion as a tactical idea was asked, "A possible idea sir, a Trick I learned from the alpha legion it may be a good idea to possibly use a false flag attack, By first attacking one area and then once the Orks are commited to the attack we retreat and quickly relaunch a attack at our true target, in a fast attack situation it could give us a opening with less pressure to complete the objective, If we say use it on the cannon, or engines we could probably get a few orks attetention before pulling out to our real objective being the command center and launching a all out attack towards there." Jendon said, A classic play the alpha legion used something he learned well, at both being a decoy and a hunter from them.

As He heard Vitaily Jendon Looked to him "Those would likely come in useful for the false flag attack if we did it." Jendon mentioned as Vitaily suggested using teleporter homers.

"If I may suggest a slight modification to that plan," rejoins Vitaly, "We use the cover of the mass assault on the Ork guns to deploy to the enginarium. From there, we seize control of power and steering and lock the vessel on a collision course for the nearest other battlestation. Our brothers attacking the gun decks should also seize control long enough to lock them onto the other battlestations. This accomplished, both sides will cut the connections to the Ork bridge and extract with all possible speed to repeat the process on the next battlestation while they are provoked into fighting our original target. With regards to insertion and extraction for our squad, here is my proposal:

Assuming we can procure a dedicated fast transport for our use, I can modify a missile launcher module to fire teleport homers with grappling clamps. I will fly on ahead as forward reconnaissance to scout an ideal insertion point. The rest of the squad will await my signal in the Sovereign's teleportarium. Once the homer is deployed, the squad will insert via teleportation, and I will drop to join them on the surface while the transport will orbit or land via machine-spirit operation to act as backup exfil. We will carry the homer with us for the duration of the mission. Once objectives are complete, primary exfil will be by teleportation, whereupon the transport returns to the Sovereign, again by machine-spirit. Secondary exfil will be the transport, if teleportation proves untenable. Once aboard the Sovereign, we repeat the process until all Ork battlestations are destroyed."

Fifty years spent among witches had not been kind to Extrovious' expectations during briefings. By now the Thousand Sons would of laid out at least half a dozen predicted courses; terms like prognostication, psymetry, and other terms that sat ill in his stomach being thrown around as readily as bolts. For once he felt as if he had something to add. For once he did not have to play backseat to witches.

"I concur with Brother Vitaly. Even if the guns are disabled before they can weigh into the fight in any significant fashion, the Orks will be more than happy to simply ram into our fleet. Probably already a consideration of theirs. Cutting the engines will leave these fortresses dead in the water even if we cannot re-plot the course. The finer points of technological meddling and snap modifications are beyond me, and my only comment lies in the fact we are-" He gestures to the confines of the assault ram surrounding them. "- a bit limited on time, space, and supplies for such work."

OOC: Vote for Enginarium

Listening to the strategy that was put forth by Vitaly and Jendon, Arnock could not help but feel the adrenaline starting to flow. The thought of taking down two xeno battlestations in one swift attack made Arnock's fingers twitch. This great war was what he had been waiting for to finally gain the glory and honor he sought to feel deserving of the standard he carried. The time of small skirmishes and battles had passed and he could feel that the Ullanor system would be the stage upon which the glorious dance of death the third legion carried out would be witnessed by others.

"As stated, Orks care little for how they seal a victory and taking their main guns would not keep them out of the fight. However, taking control of their own battlestation and ramming it into another would be a glorious feat that would certainly deal with this issue quickly."

OOC: vote for Engine room

Earlier, Reunions
@Jorimel
"I appreciate you ensuring that you addressed me as well, Aleph. But I'm in no need of acceptance anymore. For I know who I am. And in order to be myself I need to impress nobody, but myself. As for the Phoenix cleansing this world. It will not only be him doing the blazing, but hopefully also your flamer." The librarian winked and smiled.

@Draconion
"As long as you promise not to take it apart. Although I'm sure I could contact my friends at the Iron Hands and get some more information on the materials used. I will definitely attempt to send a letter to Ferrus Manus to add information on the Phoenix's Resolve to our librarium, that way not only you but also other Techmarines of our legion might learn of it." The Lexicanum said, worried that Vitaly's curiosity might include disassembling the staff. But other than that, he found the enthusiasm contagious.

@Vulpas
"That is delightful to hear, Jendon!" Elymas said, clasping his shoulder once more. "I hope you get the opportunity to impress the Chief Apothecary and maybe get to join his inner circle. It would be a grand occasion to not only further your skills but also to push the development of the Emperor's Children in the medical field even further. As far as records show, he is also the only one in the command chain who survived the blight. He might offer the opportunity to teach you about the humanity that burns at the core of Fulgrim's heart." The librarian smiled, wondering if he would ever get the opportunity to meet the fellow Terran who implanted his gene-seed all those decades ago.


Ullanor, First Strike
@Colapse | @Jorimel | @Vulpas | @DeranVendar | @Draconion | @dx144 | @WanderingJester | @matt23

Elymas listened thoroughly and carefully, the crystal in his staff pulsing through different colors as his thoughts changed consistently to a different spectrum. When he made a decision he thumped his staff on the ground to garner attention.

"Whichever plan we follow. We must strike as one." The librarian said as decisive as that of any ruler. "I have fought against the Orks many times with the Iron Hands and I have seen two patterns that never changed. Need for speed. And they only retreat to come back in greater numbers. Many of their vessels have what they call a 'Big Red Button'. Once they hit it all energy is being transferred to the engines. While I believe in our combat skills. I doubt we will be fast enough eliminating every greenskin on their bridge to prevent them from activating it. However, with the engines disabled, it will have no effect whatsoever. Thus, I believe we should focus our efforts on the engines." The librarian nodded towards Arnock, Vitaly and Extrovious.

"An addendum. We should not worry about redirecting the vessel itself, while it sounds good in theory. It would be not just more careful work on our end, but Ork technology is too unpredictable to guarantee it to work. We should focus on annihilating them as fast as possible. Preferably while focusing on their local bosses to incite cross conflict within their own chain of command. Kill one chieftain, two lesser ones will fight for his spot." Elymas shared the intel simply for those who have less experience hunting greenskins and as potential on-the-spot stratagem. It could serve as useful distractions when getting pinned down or if their primary target seems too occupied.

OOC: Vote on Enginarium attack.