/ I do not own Warhammer 40K or GATE: So The JSDF Fought There. All materials belongs to their respective owners.

Prologue

In the cold void of space, an alien vessel glided out of the Warp. Severely damaged, the vessel failed to maintain its normal speed. Its solar sails have been torn, and its crew in panic. An eclipse class vessel escaped from the grasp of the Immaterium.

In the bridge, an Eldar farseer stood levitating in the center, surrounded by aspect warriors. Her pupil-less eyes growing bright blue, she was gazing far off into the distant future. When her pupils returned, she made a grim expression.

"Time is short. We must evacuate this ship. Take to the escape pods, everyone."

With an ominous aura, another vessel ripped through Warp. Its engine roaring, the Imperial Vessel rammed her helm into the Eldar vessel, tearing it in half. The crew were thrashed around, and the lights flickered violently.

"Quick! To the pods!" the farseer yelled. The Dire Avenger by her side handed her witchblade and the artifact. A black device with a green glow, it seemed to emit a quiet whisper when held. Then, the ceiling came down, penetrating the farseer's chest and impaling her in the air. The farseer coughed up blood, her bodyguards rushing to aid. The farseer shook her head.

"There is no time! Here," she spoke, handing the device to the seer standing next to her along with her witchblade. The seer looked up with a surprised face.

"Farseer, I cannot possibly wield such weapon."

The farseer shook her head again, handing the witchblade and the device.

"When I am gone, you will lead the people to victory. As my final request, take my spirit stone with you, and bring it back to our craftworld."

Despite the uneasy look on the young seer's face, the farseer put on a forceful smile and held her shoulder.

"I believe in you, Aralith."

With that last statement, the farseer's hand fell helplessly from Aralith's shoulder. The interior of the ship began to fall apart at a rapid rate. Sparks flew from the ceiling and the wraithbone walls trembled. The Dire Avenger Altien took the spirit stone from the farseer's chest and grabbed Aralith by her arm and pulled her away from the bridge.

"To the pods! Hurry!"

The rest of the aspect warriors rushed out from the bridge as it tore itself apart. They forced themselves into the confined space of the escape pods and launched out into the open space. The eclipse class vessel then tore itself apart, shattering it into pieces. The pods flew down to the planet below, a green planet.

Inside the bridge of the Imperial ship, its captain, a rogue trader by the name of Elisef Bellaluche, dressed in elegant and colourful noble dress, stood before the holographic star map with her arms crossed. Beside her was an inquisitor, lord commissar, Astra Militarum colonel, and a few other advisors and an astropath.

"We needed to consider a boarding action!" the inquisitor raised his voice out of irritation, holding his injured side. He was a dark haired, augmented man in power armour appearing to be in his middle age. Elisef simply shrugged her shoulders.

"If we tried, the rest of our forces would have been annihilated, and we'd all be dead. Your plans already costed the entirety of your requisitioned fleet, so I suggest you simply watch from the sidelines on this one. This is the best course of action. You see those?" said Elisef, pointing at the escape pods flying from the wreckage.

"What of it?" the inquisitor grumbled, groaning from the pain.

"Those sneaky Xenos escaped through emergency pods..." the lord commissar murmured, his gaze filled with hatred.

"And no doubt, the artifact with them..." the colonel commented, rubbing his short white beard. His only functional eye focused at the smoking trails left behind by the pods.

"There's just no way those clever freaks would leave behind their precious artifact," Elisef agreed, with her usual cheery voice. The inquisitor cleared his throat and straightened himself up.

"If the artifact falls to that planet, how will we find it?" asked the commissar.

Before Elisef could speak, the inquisitor jumped in.

"That would not be too much of an issue. Our psykers can sniff out the psychic presence of the Xenos. Once they find them, your guardsmen will bring them back for interrogation. We will find the device one way or the other."

The colonel nodded.

"Perfect! Then it's settled. I will land the Imperial Guards down on that planet and provide support from up here. Unfortunately, my army will stay aboard the Indomitus Lex in case of an attack. But I am willing to lend you 10,000 of my mercenaries, if you ask nicely enough. Oh, and after all this, I get to keep this planet, correct?"

The inquisitor reluctantly agreed. The rogue trader smiled like a child.

"How many men do you have left, Colonel?" she asked with a gleeful smile, turning her attention towards the white bearded man in the officer's cap.

The colonel slowly turned towards the lady captain of the ship. Young and prideful, yet she was probably one of the most powerful and influential individual that the colonel has ever witnessed in his lifetime. Their survival in the naval engagement earlier was undoubtedly due to her superior and possibly heretical technology of her void ship.

"There are just about three regiments aboard that are mission capable, numbering just about 10,000 men each, along with their respective heavy weapons, supports, tanks, and transports," Colonel gave his best answer. It was less the quarter of the guardsmen they started with.

"Would 30,000 guardsmen be enough to capture this witch and retrieve the device? Amongst their number is a witch that can foresee the future, their farseer, as the Xenos calls her. The device left to her possession holds great peril," asked the inquisitor with a doubtful voice.

"My lord, my guardsmen have defeated the Xenos before, at their full numbers. They have at best few dozen surviving warriors. My guardsmen will retrieve the artifact without failure," the colonel assured.

"We shall see..." the inquisitor muttered, giving the look of uncertainty. The commissar silently showed signs of discontent.