I'm not sure about this but here I go anyway. I personally wanted to use Stubbs or Alexander but the problem in that was that they were both Planetary Governors alongside being a General. So I find it highly unlikely that they would be venturing out. That being said; I also liked the Imperial Guards in DOWII:Retribution, especially Castor's metal bawkses and so there we are. Would also like to note now that I probably don't do well at writing battle scenes.

"By the Emperor, what is this?" Lord Admiral Krasus softly asked himself as he beheld the sight before him. A moderate naval engagement was occurring in the space before his Battlefleet; unknown ships of all forms firing and destroying each other. Debris was everywhere in orbit as defeated ships were destroyed and their parts scattered. But those were only insignificant concerns compared to the beautiful planet that the battle was taking place over.

Not a single loyal man or woman in the entirety of Imperium has not heard of Holy Terra, the Throne-world of the Imperium of Man and the original home world of all Man. Like any other servant of the Emperor; he had seen the pictures of Holy Terra. And that world was almost an exact replica of the graceful throne world of the Emperor.

But… it was incomplete. Where was the glorious Imperial Palace that supposedly covered nearly the entirety of the northern hemisphere? Where was the millions of massive hive cities that should dot Holy Terra? Where was the unimaginable fleet that safeguarded the home world from all threats?

"Ship Master Milluis… vox Inquisitor Adrastia; ask her to come to the bridge." He briefly commanded the Ship's Master of the Strictest Purpose, his flagship and personal battleship. The Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus, with the resources and knowledge of the Ordo Hereticus, would be better equipped to shed light on this discovery. For he truly had no idea of how to take in a copy of Holy Terra. Was it inhabited by humans? If so then why have they never contacted the Imperium?

It was when he failed to hear the usual prompt reply and salute from Millius that he turned to face the Ship's Master and found him still staring at what might be Holy Terra with childish awe clear in his eyes. "Ship's Master Millius! Call for the Inquisitor!"

At the much louder prompt, Millius reluctantly broke out his trance and tore his eyes away from the planet. Down below; Krasus heard several of his crewmen also scramble out of their trance and return to their posts at the sound of the Lord Admiral's commanding voice.

"Yes Sir! My apologies for the delay sir!" the Ship Master loudly said as he finally slammed a salute before moving off to vox the Inquisitor. The Lord Admiral chose to forgive his crew's lapse in concentration. It was not every day that one could set eyes upon what might be Holy Terra; in fact, citizens of the Imperium never do see the ancestral home world of the human race.

"Lord Admiral! We're picking up communications from the ships!" one of the officers shouted out from below. Lord Admiral Krasus frowned at the lack of details on what ship exactly was sending over the communications but he supposed that it couldn't be helped. He couldn't identify any of the small ships, on both sides, either. For such large numbers of ships; he did wonder why both sides seemed to only employ destroyers and frigates.

"Put it on screen." He ordered and immediately a large screen appeared before him. On the image was a human in a blue military uniform he had never seen before. Unlike the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Navy was much more uniform and organized as a single organization. So; there shouldn't be any massive deviations such as the uniform the human on screen was wearing.

"This is Admiral Hackett of the Systems Alliance Navy. Unknown Fleet identify yourself." The man tiredly spoke out in Low Gothic. The Lord Admiral narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the words; much was said from the fact he spoke the common language of the Imperium.

"This is Lord Admiral Krasus, Battlefleet Korianis of the Imperium of Man. I would be most interested in knowing how this planet looks just like Holy Terra." Krasus responded. Taking note of his Ship's Master returning to his side with a slight nod towards the door. Without even turning his head; he knew who had just entered the bridge. The hushed silence in the bridge was more than enough of an indication.

"Interesting. I've never heard of this Systems Alliance." Inquisitor Adrastia said in a cold voice which could send freezing shivers up a man's spine. Krasus easily let her take a place beside him; he was perfectly fine with her having the same standing as him even within his fleet. He knew well enough that even someone with a rank like his doesn't challenge the Inquisition without dire consequences.

"And I have never heard of this Imperium." Admiral Hackett replied warily. The Systems Alliance Admiral then turned away from them and shouted out orders; fleet orders Krasus realized from the obvious naval jargon. It was then with a resigned look that he turned back to them and pleaded for their aid. "Look… I don't know how or why you're here. But we could really use the help defending Earth."

"Earth did you say?" The Inquisitor asked the System's Alliance admiral with piqued interest. The Lord Admiral too was interested in this; if the ancient records were correct then that was the name of Holy Terra before the Emperor unified the planet under his name. A planet that looked just like Holy Terra and shared the identical names. That could not just be a mere coincidence.

"Yes. That's the planet we're defending now." Admiral Hackett answered cautiously as he caught onto the way they reacted to the name.

"Well of course then. We cannot let Earth be overtaken by xenos now can we?" Inquisitor Adrastia replied amiably. Krasus glanced at her in surprise before resigning himself to the inevitable battle she was setting him up for. As an Inquisitor, she had the rights to commandeer any Imperial forces she liked; so he would be serving under her willing or otherwise.

"Thank you. The entire Systems Alliance will be thankful for this." Admiral Hackett replied followed by a sigh. Evident relief was clear in his tone as the channel between them was then closed.

"Lord Admiral. I assume that you can deal with the xenos invaders." The Inquisitor told him as she turned away to leave. The cold chillness leaving him as the Inquisitor got further away from him.

"And what shall you be doing?" Krasus asked the Inquisitor. He would have thought she would stay on the bridge and observe the battle. That and also wait just in case that System's Alliance Admiral came calling again.

The Inquisitor paused in her walking and slowly turned around to face him. There was a collective pause of breathing in the room and Krasus feared that perhaps he had overstepped. "I shall be investigating our circumstances."

"Of course." The Lord Admiral replied with false calm. His relief hidden behind an impassive poker face.

"Oh. And could you pass on to the Lord General that I want him to secure a landing on the planet." The Inquisitor made a passing request as she left the bridge. It wasn't until a full minute had passed since the door closed that his crew finally started breathing normally again.

"Ship Master?" The Lord Admiral turned to Millius. The man was now quite a distance away from him now and he grimly thought of why he had placed a suspicious gap between him. The blasted Inquisitor and her aura of dread.

"I'll get to it sir." The Ship Master saluted as he turned to get to the vox.

"Sergeant Major, are the men prepared to make landing." Lord General Castor asked Sergeant Major Merrick of the 304th Cadian Shock Troopers. The rest of the men in the Valkyrie had their heads down but it was clear to the Lord General that they were trying to listen in without it being too obvious.

"Their ready sir." Merrick answered tersely from his seat opposite of the Lord General. His trademark Mark XXXV Magnacore Pattern plasma gun resting just slightly above his legs. The green war paint on his face was now hidden behind the standard Cadian helmet he now wore.

"Good. Perhaps they can redeem themselves for their poor performance in Aurelia." The Lord General said with a snort. Merrick grip on his gun trembled only slightly so before his rigid discipline, instilled in him on Cadia, kicked pack in. Castor had all the appearance of an arrogant incompetent commander and if he didn't know better…

"Of course sir." The Sergeant Major said loudly, giving a good look at the rest of the men who chose that moment to duck their heads back down. Aurelia had been a huge mess with just about every Xenos coming to take a shot at the Sub-sector. And if that wasn't enough, Chaos chose that moment to join in with Kyras at their head.

In the end, it had been the Imperial Guard, with Lord General Castor at its head, which had repelled all Xenos invaders, eliminated the Chaos threat, stopped Kyras's 'ascension' and called off the Exterminatus fleet and thus saving what was left of the Sub-sector. Kyras had been ready for many things; but he never saw the bludgeoning hammer of the Imperium until it was too late.

Of course the Blood Ravens got all the credit for the work of the Guard though. The Space Marines always did that. Swooping in at the last moment and stealing all the moments of glory. Bloody magpies…

Still… Castor had proven that he was in fact skilled at war and while he was a huge ass; he was at least competent and honest about it. Got him a nice medal for his work in Aurelia too. Though it would mean piss nothing when he gets himself killed one day.

"We're nearing the LZ. Get ready." The naval pilot of the Valkyire said as he navigated his way through the ruins of the planet Earth. He didn't really understand why they were helping this Systems Alliance fight for their planet. Or what the heck the enemy was. Essentially; it was just another day then.

"Right then…" the Lord General muttered under his breath as the Valkyrie stopped shaking and the back latch was beginning to open. Sunlight shining into the hold of the Valkyrie alongside the easily recognisable sounds of men fighting and dying. "For the Emperor!"

"For the Emperor!" the rest of the men echoed their commander as they charged out of the latch. Sprinting out and finding the nearest cover behind some debris, Merrick spotted several other Valkyries letting off Guardsmen who rushed to reinforce soldiers in unknown armour who he presumed was the System Alliance troops. Seeing as though they gave nothing but a few surprised glances; they must have been expecting them.

The position they were in wasn't too bad either. It was one large plaza with a big half destroyed building at the rear. The entrance points were also limited to a single street and perhaps the buildings; assuming the enemy could crawl through all that rubble.

"Alright men! Form a perimeter around this building! Block up that street! The enemy surely saw us coming, so we don't have much time!" Castor shouted out loudly into his vox. He didn't need to say more as the Cadians moved and started to do so. A few sliding into place beside him in cover. There was then a pause in the Lord Commander's hollowing as the first of the enemy came into the view. That was a swifter response that they had anticipated and… by the Emperor; were they a monstrosity.

It was a mutant. But instead of disgusting flesh disfigurations; it was as if the entire thing was a horrid mix of machine and man. Lines of blue light replaced where its veins should be and it was howling like a banshee as it charged towards them. He was sure that the Tech Priest would have a field day with the things.

The head of the first thing in line exploded. Its body launched back a few meters and slamming into even more of the things. A thin trail of smoke was visible over the Lord Commander's sniper which he wielded with his one mechanical arm. "There. I've got one. I expect every man to have gotten at least several times that by the first hour!"

The Sergeant Major grunted in annoyance as he popped out of his cover. There coming down the broken street was a huge mass of the things now. He was sure that he could take a pot shot and probably hit one. Still training kicked in and he looked closer at the mob as the rest of the men started firing. A wave of red lasers impacting onto the rabble.

As the xenos started getting blasted apart by the concentrated fire of the lasguns; Merrick homed in on one particular xenos at the back of the mass. It was different to the others and seemed to be passing on orders to the rest. That was more than enough reason for Merrick to take him down.

A glowing blue blast discharged from the plasma gun and Merrick felt the ache on his shoulders from the recoil. Ducking himself back down into cover, he then peeked back over just in time to see the leader burst into pieces with an odd mixture of 'blood' and machine. There was a grunt of satisfaction from him at the bloody sight.

"Well done on killing what appears to be their leader Sergeant Major." The fop voice of the Lord Commander said from beside him. Predictably the man himself knelt down in cover beside him now. Merrick ignored him and fingered one of this frag grenades. With a flick of his arm; it was sent sailing into the quickly thinning horde.

"Holy shit but you guys are cleaning up!" Turning his head, Castor found himself staring at the face of an awed soldier. Looking further down; he saw that his regalia was unlike any Cadian regiments he recognised nor was his gun the standard M36 Kantreal Pattern Lasgun that was the standard issued weapon of Cadia.

"And who exactly are you?" The Lord General asked with some curiosity. He suspected that he belonged to the Systems Alliance though his lack of curiosity onto their appearance was odd.

"Private Neilson, System's Alliance 45th Marine Division." The young soldier did a swift gesture with some pride. He assumed that it was a salute of some sort. And his suspicion appeared to be a correct one. Huzzah for him. "What section do you guys belong to?"

"304th Cadian Shock Troopers. We're not System's Alliance." Merrick suddenly answered offhandedly from behind him. The Sergeant Major appeared to now be properly reloading the charge to his gun and likely found himself with nothing else to do.

"He was asking me Merrick." Castor lightly chastised as he took the opportunity to survey the situation. The enemy were clearly not of the strong sort given how easily they were torn apart by Lasgun fire. That they used a massed wave charge against them didn't help them either. A poor show indeed.

"Sorry sir." Merrick apologised without any real meaning placed behind it. Castor could probably count the number of true and honest apologies from the Sergeant Major on a single hand.

"Wha-?" Private Neilson started. It appears he was not informed of the Imperium's sudden alliance with the System's Alliance and was confused with their unit designation. No matter; he couldn't care less what happened to the Private or what the young man thought of them.

"Engineers! I want a proper defence set up. Heavy Weapons Teams! Find a good position to cover the main street. 2nd and 3rd Squads! I want you to do a perimeter sweep of all the enterable buildings in the plaza. Any entrances are to be blocked off." Castor relayed his orders; half with shouting and half with his personal short range vox… No… It was mostly shouting. It seemed to have a better effect at invigorating the men.

"So… what's this Cadian thing? And are those laser guns?" Private Neilson gushed over the Sergeant Major who gave him an annoyed glare. When the boy refused to leave; he sighed and resigned himself to answering.

"Cadia's our home planet. And yeah, it's is a laser gun. Don't you have those here?" Merrick said with little enthusiasm. He didn't really want to become friends with the locals. Odds were that they would be shipped out when their done and they would never see each other again. Why waste the effort of making friends outside of the regiment.

"No way! If we did; we would be kicking Reaper ass!" The Private replied.

"Reapers? Those things?" Merrick jerked a thumb at the smouldering mess they had made of the machine monsters. They didn't seem all that threatening to him. Though everything would seem puny in comparison to facing off against a Daemon Prince; even if you did have a huge army and a Baneblade behind you.

"Yeah. Pretty tough buggers. That charge you took apart was the biggest group I've seen in a while" The Private said, oblivious to the disdain that Merrick had. Merrick took another look at the Reapers… we're they really that strong or was this System's Alliance just that weak?

"Really? This might just be a cakewalk compared our other combat missions then." One of the other Guardsman interjected into the conversation. A primed Lasgun lay easily within the Guardsman's arm reach.

"What? Your other missions involves zombies?" The Private asked them in disbelief. If the boy thought these Reapers were terrifying then he would shit his pants when he saw the Chaos Astartes and their Daemon pets. Now those were terrifiying.

"Oh you have no idea…" Merrick sarcastically replied with a shake of his head at the naivety of the boy. Daemons, Traitor Astartes, Orks, Eldar, Tyranids. If those walking target monsters were all the Reapers had going for them then they were pretty small fry compared to the other horror's he's faced.

"You serious?" Private Neilson asked them for confirmation. Just to know that these strange soldiers were not playing around with him with tall tales. When he was returned by the completely serious faces of the Imperial Guards did he ask another question. "How do you survive?!"

"Who said anything about surviving? Most don't make it through their first combat. Won't matter though, there's always replacements for us. A Guardsman's life is to die after all." Merrick quoted the Lord Commander. And as much as he hated that statement; it was depressingly true. Unless there was another Black Crusade in the outing, then he didn't expect to see Cadia ever again.

The System's Alliance went silent for a moment as he pondered the thought of facing things worse than the Husks every day of his life until he died. He shuddered at the nightmares. "Wow… How the hell do you deal with this shit all time then?"

"With a Lasgun and balls of Adamantium made from Mars itself." Merrick offered with a grunt. He earned a few chuckles from the other Guardsmen who were close enough to hear his remark. Finished with his Plasma gun, Merrick got back up and strode over to the Lord Commander who was quickly hurrying to some commotion near one of the buildings. Seems like they found something.

"Well, Sergeant Major. Best to see what's going on; eh?" Castor said as he pushed through the throng of Guardsmen from the 2nd Squad. The commotion seemed to be down near the centre and there was an audible sound of a woman.

"Yessir." Merrick dutifully said as he hefted the plasma gun in his arms. The woman's shrieks were growing louder now and if this was what Merrick thought it was… then someone was going to find themselves in a lot of pain soon.

"What appears to be the problem trooper?" Castor calmly asked as he finally entered the small clearing in the centre. Stopping by his side, Merrick leaned out and spotted a xenos that was held tightly in the grip of a Guardsman who in turn was held at gun point by a System's Alliance soldier. The sight of the xenos revolted him beyond words. It looked like a human woman except that it was a shade of blue and with weird tentacle things instead of natural hair.

"I caught this xenos trying to sneak into the perimeter through one of the buildings sir." The Guardsman reported to the Lord General. A Lasgun was placed down on the back of the head of the xenos and it looked like he was just barely restraining himself from shooting.

"Please! I was just trying to get away from the Husks." The xenos pleaded with him. Merrick narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the speech. The humans here speaking Low Gothic was one thing. But random xenos speaking it as well?

"This bastard here is trying to execute a civilian." The System's Alliance soldier spoke up angrily. His own odd gun was pressed harder into the unprotected nape of the Guardsman. That he was also facing 8 other Lasguns trained on him didn't seem to lessen his resolve to save this filthy xenos any less.

"She's an alien!" The Guardsman holding the xenos justified himself. And in Merrick's opinion; that was a good enough reason to shoot her and be done with it. Even if the xenos didn't mean harm didn't it wouldn't come back to hurt them later. It might even bring some its friends with it too.

"And!?" The System's Alliance soldier rebuked. Given his proximity; the man was pretty much spitting onto the Guardsman he was holding up. Yet amidst his bravado; there were cautious glances to all the guns trained on him and a simple pull away from ending his own life.

The Lord General stayed silent for a moment. Knowing Castor; he was probably mulling over how to best resolve this. Whether it ended peacefully or with three bloody corpses was up to him. "Calm down Gentlemen. Trooper stand down. You too."

"But sir-"The Guardsman tried to protest as his Lasgun trembled over the head of the xenos. He was then cut off by Castor.

"Allow me to teach you something Guardsman. The Imperium is already beset on all sides by enemies and we do not need to go out of our way to make more of them just yet. So Stand DOWN!" Castor started off quietly before escalating to a full demand to the offending Guardsman. His own sword was now out in his hand now and it was directed towards the Guardsman in a threatening manner.

"…Yessir." The Guardsman reluctantly obeyed. His Lasgun lowering from the xenos's head while the blue xenos scrambled away on all fours. The rest of the squad stepped away to make room for the alien to escape and there was more than just a few wary and hateful glances sent towards it.

"Thank you…" The System's Alliance soldier quietely said as he slowly tried to back away out of the group. His escape was cut off by the Cadians who didn't budge to let him pass by. Once again they found themselves staring at each other though, thank the Emperor, they weren't preparing to shoot each other again.

"Lord General! There's a vox for you from the Inquisitor!" The Guardsman with the vox caster suddenly spoke up. Holding out the communicator; Castor gruffly took it from his hands and listened while making another one of his off comments. "Hmm… and what would Adrastia want this time?"

Right… he had tried to forget that the bitch of an Inquisitor was aboard the Strictest Purpose. He couldn't imagine that she was just calling the Lord General for mere pleasantries. And if she was going to join them again then he was going to bloody find himself another squad to attach himself to. The Inquisitor's last words to him on Cyrene shadowed over him like a knife.

"Well I guess that changes everything." Castor announced as he carefully handed back the communicator. He then did another flourish with his blade, the deadly blade swinging dangerously close to them.

"Changes what sir?" The Sergeant Major tentatively asked the Lord Commander. Castor was a man that preferred the direct method of approaching things, warfare and otherwise. It was unlike him to be ambiguous on things.

"Why, we will have to do this." Castor calmly said as he took a sudden step towards the System's Alliance soldier who was in the process of turning back around. With a swift slash, Castor snipped the man's head off his shoulders, drawing nary a drop of blood on his blade. His coat wasn't as lucky as crimson blood spurted out from beheaded body.

"My apologies. But orders are orders." Castor apologized without much emotion as he let the body collapse onto the ground. He then turned to face his surprised squad before giving the orders he wanted fulfilled. "To all Imperial forces, any non-Imperial personnel are to be considered hostile including the indigenous humans. Any humans that surrenders are to be taken prisoner while any who resist are to be shot."

As soon as the vox finished, sounds of renewed fighting sparked. Though this time it was absent of the inhuman screams of the Reapers and was replaced by a sound Merrick was all too familiar with: the dying screams of man. "I thought you said the Imperium didn't need more enemies, sir."

"That I did Sergeant Major." The Lord Commander affirmed for him as he casually walked back to the main defences. There were some human bodies littering the area now and not all of them were System's Alliance.

"So why did we…?" Merrick started to ask before being but off by Castor.

"The Inquisitor's orders. You'll be hearing the reason why soon enough." Castor interjected his Sergeant Major. Of bloody course it was the Inquisitor's orders. Whenever something like this happens, it was always the Inquisitors fault.

"So we don't have a choice?" Merrick surmised. The powers of the Inquisitors included being able to conscript any necessary Imperial assets to accomplish their task. This stretched from the humblest of Guardsmen to the mightiest of the Space Marines. And while it was rumoured the latter could get away with not obeying; he wasn't a Space Marine. He was just a single man.

"We always have a choice Merrick. It's just that one promises probably death while the other is certain death." Castor slowly said with deliberate words. Once again; the Lord General had an uncanny knack for putting the depressing truths to words.

"Fair enough sir; we don't have much of a choice then." Merrick reworded his question with resignation. He didn't even know why he was even having this discussion.

"That we don't Sergeant Major. That we don't."

"Lord Admiral Krasus! I'm getting several reports that your ship has been firing upon ours. What is the meaning of this?!" Admiral Hackett nearly screamed into the comm, his face drooping from severe sleep deprivation and the stress from his heavy duty. And as if the huge Reaper armada beating down Earth wasn't enough; it now looked like their sudden allies were now turning on them.

"SSV Omaha was just destroyed by another Imperium ship, sir!" one if junior officers reported from below. The report was followed by a measure of black curses. That 'Inquisitor had promised that their fleet would aid them defend Earth but now it seems her words meant nothing.

"Lord Admiral Krasus respo-" he started to try to raise the massive Imperial ship again before being interrupted.

"I'm sorry Admiral. But I have my orders." was the terse reply he received from the Imperium's Lord Admiral. Hackett felt cold sweat drip down his back at the confirmation. So that was it? The Systems Alliance would have to weather the Reapers and the Imperiums fleet.

The Reapers were already more numerous and advanced compared to the Systems Alliance with bigger ships and bigger guns. And the Imperium trumped the Reapers in both of those and could that cut apart Reaper ships like a knife through butter. Between them both...

"Admiral Hackett! A broad signal is being sent from the Imperium flagship." The operator shouted out loudly.

"Play it." Hackett immediately ordered. He had to somehow persuade them to stop attacking the System's Alliance. Play up the Reaper threat and get them to focus on them for now. He had to do something to preserve the System's Alliance!

"This is Lord Admiral Krasus of Battlefleet Karenia to all those that can hear this message. Upon review of the System's Alliance history by Inquisitor Andrastia of the Ordos Hereticus; the System's Alliance is not under the Imperium of Mans banner and is thus an independent nation." Hackett felt a building dread at the words. He already had an inkling of where this was going to lead to.

"As such, the Imperium of Man now declares war against the Systems Alliance and all those that would defend it. We lay claim to their planet of Earth and all affiliated colonies in the Emperor's name. Any humans who surrender and accept the Imperial truth shall be spared. Any that resists shall face the hammer and shield of the Imperium."

I personally feel that my very brief battle was pretty weak and that there wasn't enough mention of the Emprah. Also Regarding the Ork chapter I'm still unsure of how it should be written. As in:

Gorgutz 'ead 'unter smashed da puny 'umie ovah and ovah again on da 'eavy rock wit all da gor and gutz waz spillin outta da body.

Or:

Gorgutz 'ead 'unter smashed the puny human over and over again on the heavy rock with all the gore and guts spilling out of the body.

I kind of want people's opinion in which one would be better. Since the first is clearly more realistic from an Orks POV but hard to read for all you unOrky people while the second is more readable but less… Orky.