Two Terras

Arrival

Farrah cringed as her high heels clacked loudly throughout the bunker, a tremor run through the building and made her stumble. She barely cared, EDF command had to know this new development. She swung the door open and barely registered the surprised and angry faces of her superiors. Her lab coat flashed as she slammed a stack of papers down on the mahogany table. "Explain this intrusion Farrah." A man with the flag of Finland on his shoulder said. "Long Ranged telescopes just picked up several new signatures." An audible silence fell upon the men and women. They looked at each other. Hope leaving in torrents. "But somethings wrong. They are completely different to the ravagers. Its best I show you." Farrah rapidly tapped the tablet she was holding and synced a pre made slideshow to the wide screen in the room. The images of baroque cathedral like ships filled it, some were smoking from obvious hull ruptures but most were unscathed. Bright plasma fanned behind them as they steamed towards Earth. As they got closer Farrah connected to the telescopes themselves. It brought higher resolution and magnification. And another sense of fleeting hope. The largest ship bore an inscription engraved on its massive prow. It was a type of Latin, reading: "There is nothing better that a man can do than lay down his life in the service of the Emperor."

Castius watched as deck staff desperately coordinated relief efforts on the damaged decks. So far five sections of his vessel had to be vented to extinguish fires. All 5 med bays were up to capacity and engineer teams were still extracting survivors. All in all his vessel was doing well, the other ships in his fleet weren't however. The Intrepid was heavily damaged and had several holes in the midsection, at least one weapons battery was inactive. Castius cringed  at the repairs that would have to be done from the inside. He made a mental note to speak with the Magos, he needed all his vessels in prime condition. Because they were rapidly approaching a planet covered in xenos infestation. "Peggi, contact the fleet. Battlestations." Peggi's head bandaged and her red hair was clumped with dried blood nonetheless the Commodore nodded and set about her tasks. Soon her voice was filtered through every active speaker on the ship. "Battlestations, All hands to Battlestations." Castius nodded and watched as the augur readings filtered in. Large orb ships faced him, they surrounded the planet in loose formation. The Planet itself was coated in sparse areas with large metal interlocking plates. Augur readings noted that they contained hidden power reserves connected to possible weapons arrays. Castius was pondering this when the wailing began. 

The Navigator clutched his head while slumped and sobbing. He wailed the same phrase over and over. "The light, His light is gone. The Light is gone, The Light is gone." Castius shook his head, how in the throne were they supposed to navigate without the Astronomicon. And worse yet, where in the seven hells were they if the Lantern the navigators were connected to was gone. The Navigator continued to wail, until Castius was struck by an idea. He nodded to the two heavily armed and armoured armsmen guarding the Navigator's quarters. They hesitated before nodding and leaving. One left his shotgun by the door, Castius looked at the weapon for a moment before ignoring it. "Navigator, look at me." The man looked up,  Castius ignored the discomfort from his third eye. "Are we alive?" he asked the Navigator nodded slowly. "Yes but the Li-" Castius cut him off. "Then we are here for a reason, who are we but to question the judgement of His Majesty. Perhaps we are too far away from Him to see the Lantern, but we are here nonetheless. Is it not our duty to carry his will wherever we go?" The Navigator looked away, He slowly nodded again. "Good, now stand and do your duty. Never question the Emperor. He sees all." The Navigator stood shakily, doing his best to stand strong. The man walked out leaning heavily on a cane. Castius straightened his uniform and walked out as well, he paused to pick up the shotgun from the door. He handed it to the Armsman who looked at it for a moment before taking it and saluting. "Name trooper?" Castius asked. The man stiffened more. "Gurun, my lord." Castius nodded and fixed the man with a hard stare. "Never distrust the man responsible for guiding us through the depths of the immaterium. Do it again and I'll have you disciplined. Now both of you to your stations, The Emperor Protects."

"Impressive." Peggi said as he entered the Bridge again. Castius smiled. "You heard that?" Peggi grinned and nodded to the rest of the bridge. They were all facing him, reverence in their eyes. Castius sighed. "I left my vox bead on didn't I?" He said, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, top volume for us all too." Castius chuckled and climbed to his command throne. 

"To your stations ladies and gentlemen, we have xenos to kill."