Abandoned B-Class planet
General Launentius De’Bonaparke
13th Legion

Four hours had passed since the 13th landed and already they had set up a significant foot hold in the city. Observation posts had been set up around various other squares in the city and normal patrols walked the abandoned streets. 

“ General….first….second and fourth companies have all established observation posts and have started patrols” Colonel Pullings said as he looked over the paper reports he received from the telephone operator. “ Third company has yet to report in, they were sent to the south to patrol the area and haven’t been heard from since…I think its worth checking out..” he said looking up from the sheets. The general nodded and looked around the square for additional troops, walking towards a collection of troops milling around. Before he could reach the group a lone soldier ran into the square, clearly out of breath. 

“ Sir!…” the soldier gasped “ I am a runner from third company…we have found something…..” he said between breaths “ I think you would want to see this sir…”

Abandoned B-Class planet
General Launentius De’Bonaparke
13th Legion
( southern edge of landing zone)

20 soldiers sat and stood outside what looked to be a large temple like structure, quickly brining their attention to both of the officers that just walked up. The temple structure was massive, towering at least 10 stories over the street. It stood apart from the other buildings by being the only ornate structure in the area. Braided gold trimmed the edges of the front entrance and the bricks were made out of a dark black marble which was highly reflective. Laurentius and Colonel Pullings slowly walked up past the troops guarding the entrance and into the temple’s main room, immediately noticing the expansive nature of the temple’s main corridor. “ Queens…grace…” Colonel Pullings said, looking around the room in awe. The room was nearly as big as the building, vaulted ceilings adorned with murals hung above them while stained glass murals stretched the perimeter of the building. Both murals had extremely dark themes depicting men and women drinking a dark red liquid from late ornate chalices. Statues of disfigured humanoid formed littered the interior with sapphire like gems for eyes, some with large beast like claws for hands and others with large tentacle growths around the head areas. The entire scene was quite discerning but the pair pressed on moving towards the center of the large room, moving towards a large bowl set on an altar. 
	“ Quite a feat of architecture Mr.Pullings, I am curious as to what the artwork means…” he said turning around to eye the rear of the room. Colonel Pullings grunted in agreement and eyed the murals one last time before walking towards the door “ I will get the lads outside moving sir…..dont spend too long in this…..temple, I have a bad feeling about this place..” Laurentius chuckled and shook his head, it wasn’t like Gaul to feel uneasy about anything. He understood however, this whole planet did have an uneasy feeling to it, almost as if they were being watched.  General De’Bonaparke shrugged and turned around to face the altar in the center before taking a few steps towards the altar, looking inside the empty bowl at its center. A dark crimson residue stained the inside of the bowl, collecting dust like it hadn’t been used in decades. The coagulated residue crumbled as it was touched, turning into nothing more than dust in his fingers. ‘what was this mystery substance?’ he thought, running his finger along the inside of the bowl to collect a thin layer of crimson dust. He slowly brought his finger to his nose and smelled it, before dabbing the crimson dust on his tongue, immediately the taste of blood because obvious. Laurentius grimaced and quickly spit out the liquified dust, trying to remove the taste from his mouth. “ So they worshiped blood….” he said quietly to himself as he walked past the altar and to the back of the room and noticing a corridor to his right. At the end of the corridor was a large staircase defending into what looked like the basement of the temple, the stairs darkening as they descended further. Taking a deep breath and pulling the plasma flintlock he had stuffed in his belt, Laurentius began descending the steps into the abyss getting a quarter of the way down before an odd feeling came over him.
	The first indication the something was wrong was an dull pain in his stomach that quickly grew into a gnawing painful hunger. Laurentius stopped and quickly made his way to the wall, leaning his upper body against it before vomiting on the stairs. He wretched a few more times before wiping his mouth and continuing on down the stairs, his vision becoming blurry as the pain spread to his head. A horrible headache enveloped him and he staggered down a few more steps before vomiting again, only this time it was blood. “Sh….Shit..” he barely got out before he finally blacked out, tumbling the remaining way down the steps.

“Heir of blood,” a voice whispered, “I sense the ancient blood turning you.” the voice said in a louder tone. General De’Bonaparke slowly stirred awake, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dim orange light he now basked in. It appeared to be an afternoon sun, just before lights end. His fingers felt the smooth texture of a velvet rug and upon further inspection he fond it was a deep crimson displaying obvious opulence. Turning his attention to the rest of the room, the general found himself at the center of a large throne room, surrounded banners and tabards of the same sanguine color. Oddly he could not find a crest or symbol upon any of the decorations. Looking toward the throne, the general found the frame of a woman seated laxly in the extravagant throne. She seemed middle aged, but her face was shrouded and what little was vision in the light was covered with a metallic mask. “ Heir of blood, I am Llandrix Queen of Blood, source of the gift running through your veins. You are thine chosen champion, spread this gift and unlock the knowledge of the pale blood. Power, Wealth…..immortality can all be yours”. Laurentius slowly got to his feet before the pain in his stomach forced him to double over again, bringing him to his knees “ Let thy body be transformed by the pale blood” she said as she pulled a chalice from her form, making it levitate through the air before slowly setting it down in front of the writhing general. “ Have your followers drink from this chalice and they will be enlightened……drink O heir of Blood”. General De’Bonaparke eyed the chalice as the pain in his stomach grew nearly unbearable, staring at the golden ornate chalice before blacking out again.

“ Sir!…..General!…..LAURENTIUS!” a voice yelled as he slowly regained consciousness. Gaul Pullings was kneeling over the general looking rather worried as his general laid on the street. “ You gave us all quite a fright sir, I sent a pair of marines in to look for you and they found you in the basement on the floor”. A quiet chuckle escaped his mouth as he looked at Laurentius eye his surroundings, slowly allowing him to sit up. “ I seem to have…….slipped and fell Mr.Pullings, must of been quite the tumble..” the general said, surprised by the fact that he was feeling no pain. Clearing his throat, Laurentius slowly got to his feet and looked at the large collection of soldiers around him. “ Men of the 13th…..I hereby claim this planet in the name of the Imperium of Nül. Henceforth….this planet will be names…Illyria!”. Soldiers raised their rifles in the air and cheered, capturing a planet worthy of colonization meant prestige for the entire legion. As the crowd dissipated and went back to their former duties Colonel Pullings stayed, pulling the golden chalice from the dream out from behind his back. “ We also found this, its full with that looks like blood….it was next to your person when we dragged you from the basement..”. Laurentius eyed the chalice silently before looking up towards Gaul “ Gather the officers in the Temple Mr.Pullings, we have much to discuss.


In low orbit over the B-class planetoid Illyria
13th fleet

“ Admiral! radiation signatures detected off the port side, 2500 meters out! one large signature and multiple smaller crafts.” The admiral quickly grabbed his spyglass and ran to the port side of the ship, extending the device to its full length before eyeing the ships in the distance. “ Beat to quarters!, prepare for conflict!” the admiral yelled as men ran around on the ship, putting on environment suits and getting to cannon stations. The Nül flag was hoisted high above the main mast to identify the vessel. The other ships in the fleet followed suit, readying themselves for battle.