The skies over Rhandar Minor were lit up by a thousand shooting stars; the few remaing inhabitants that had not got word of the various invasions looked up in wonder. Those that were aware of the true state of affairs and knowledgeable in the ancient techologies knew that this presaged great battles in space. The great factories of the various major cities of Rhandar began pumping out tanks and guns for the invading forces.



Sisters of the Revered Martyr

Veteran Sister Rhadmae took her helmet off, shook out her long flowing hair and spat out sand. It had gotten everywhere, even inside her power armour somehow. But at last they had reached the mountains. The mighty fortress that guarded the approaches to the pass called by local herdsmen Leonid's Gap was theirs. Apparently, in ages past, a hill chieftain by the name of Leonid the Stout had held the pass against a mighty uprising of desert raiders.
The Ecleisarchies' preachers were hard at work amongst the locals, attempting to convince them that they represented Leonid's second coming. Folk Legends and superstitions were being slowly subverted into proper Imperial belief, but it was slow going.

The Chaos Horde of Lord Sherman

Lord Sherman stormed and raged; after emptying two entire bolter clips into the prone captives, the survivors were still not willing to talk. The artifact had to be here somewhere! He was disturbed in his reloading by the arrival of his returning emmisaries from the south. "Ummm....mesage for you sir." muttered the emessary, already cowering on the floor. Sherman scanned the reply swiftly, and a slight smile creased his lips. "Deviant Chaos Sorceror...hmmm...perhaps I am. Well, then time to prove it." After the sound of gunfire had ceased, Sherman ordered a servant to collect the blood for a ritual that would perhaps bring him the aid he sought. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the emmissary attempting to slink away. "Hmmm...and as for you, LEARN NOW THE PRICE OF FAILURE!!!!" The screaming did not cease until dawn two days later.

Celestial Lions Space Marines

Having seen the armoured column on its way and having given sage and stern advice to the troops guarding the capital, Modeus turned to other business....such as a suitable reply to the outrageous request of the Chaos Scum to the North. "An alliance with the foul servants of Chaos, surely you jest. The Celestial Lions will never serve the machinations of a deviant Chaos Sorcerer, we answer no. Do not send your emmisarries before me again for they will be met only with fire and blood."
-Revered Father Modeus of the Celestial Lions
Preperations for the inevitable conflict were underway, and Modeus main concern lay in motivating the locals to a proper enthusiasm for the Lion's cause.

WAAAAAAGH Hackem

"Errr...boss?"
"WOT?"
"Grashnak just called in, said there's a bunch of Marine Boyz headin is way.."
"YEAH? SO? Wish I wuz there, sounds like a good scrap...WOTS THE PROBLEM?"
"E' says there's a lot of em and theyz knockin all the walls down."
"HMM. TELL IM' TO COUNT EM."
"Errr...boss?"
"WOT NOW?"
"Grashnak just got imself blown up. Toebiter says ee's in charge now and the boyz is mostly dead and he's leggin it."
Warboss Hackem shook his head and muttered. "They just don't make Orkses like they used to." Then he smiled to himself. "WELL THEN BOYZ, I GOTS A NEW PLAN, ITS CALLED LET THE PONCY MARINE BOYZ COME TO US AND JUMP EM IN THE OPEN AND ANYONE THAT RUNS ANSWERS TO ME!"

Imperial Guard

The Colonel surved the defensive fortifications his men had errected. Tank traps, razorwire, minefields, booby traps and trenches spread as far as the eye could see. Then he glanced at the orbital readout and grimaced, there were just so damn many of them... 'That's pretty good boys, but as my father always said, theres nothing worth doing that isn't worth doing twice! I want any alien scum that step into here to be dead long before they even see a guardsman!"
The tired troopers turned their weary hands back to their shovels. The locals that they had drafted were bemused, they had never really believed the stories of Glory as a member of the Imperial Army, and had rather expected to spend their days like this, shoulder deep in the mud.

Eldar of Craftworld Zaitor

The Young King had spoken. They would advance and take the fight to the enemy. The northern river delta and the plains surrounding Phelemon were in their hands and soon they would wash the maiden world clean with alien blood. The only worrying thing was the relative inactivity of the so called Imperial guardsmen. They did not directly support their fellow monkeighs in the north, nor did they advance. Their leader must either be very cunning or very foolish. The guidance of the farseers would be useful, but perhaps due to the fight in space, most communications had been cut off.

Black Guard Space Marines

The people of Stugard although sceptical of the Emperor's warriors arrival,quickly began to sing their praise and accept their presence in the city. Enoch spotted an ancient defence laser in a tall reinforced building at the core of the city. He quickly dispatched techmarines to restore it to full operation. Its presence would allow the Black Guard's battle barge Invictus to come close enough to start sending reinforcements down to the city directly. The storm of battle was now drawing near.