[i]005.M31[/i]

The Ullanor Sector. Once held by humanity, now overrun with the savage Greenskins. The brutish hordes of the aliens swarmed to the battlefields of Ullanor sector and the promise of battle, overwhelming the human defence force with force of numbers and bestial glee. The Warboss leading the charge, known as Urlakk Urg, was almost concerned his forces would not get the fight he’d promised them as the sector fell before the green tide. He and his Nobz had been planning to strip Ullanor bare and move on to another sector when they arrived: the forces of the Imperium of Man, headed by the Emperor himself.

If the Orks were a force of nature, irresistible and inexorable, the Imperial Army and Legiones Astartes were the killing strikes of a deadly beast. Each attack spread the innumerable forces of the Orks thinner and thinner, focussing them into traps and killing grounds, drawing Urg’s forces further and further from Ullanor Prime. But even with the efforts of fully half of the Imperium’s Space Marine Legions and vast numbers of the Imperial Army, it has taken several months of conflict to set the fledgling empire of Urg up for decapitation. The system burns, its star-ways full of shrapnel, its seas full of blood and its lands carpeted in the bodies of the slain. And even with such slaughter on both sides, the forces that surround Overlord Urg outnumber the force travelling to claim his head five to one.

Which, Cancer reflects, is why he and four other Zodiac Guards are personally making their way through the fortress-palace of Urlakk himself, the construct called the Tower of Ullanor. Having teleported in discreetly at its base, they have since slain too many greenskins to bother counting, ascending through floor after floor and wiping out wave after wave of the roaring creatures. Once the horde of Orks ceased to approach them from the front, the upper floors were left mostly empty, all of their inhabitants having charged down to greet them. Collapsing a few flights of stairs behind them, the squadron has since been left almost entirely alone for the final few floors before the Overlord's throne room.

The first of the Armatus to speak during their final ascent is the teal-armoured Libra, confirming the suspicions of every other person in earshot: [color=008282]"I sense a trap. Be on your guard."[/color] What little relaxation has been achieved in the few moments since the fighting stopped are undone, for Libra's gift of foresight has forewarned her kin of ambushes many times since her ascension to the Zodiac Guard. Another, Gemini plated in mustard yellow, glances upward briefly; in his mind’s eye, he sees the twisting energy of the beings above, that of a few hundred Orks, including, somewhere in the mix, the soul of the being who they've come for.

[color=A1A100]"There'th a lot of psychic activity above uth,"[/color] he states, a moderate accent forcing a slur across his "s"es even after so much time spent outside his native homeland on Terra. [color=A1A100]"At a gueth, at least fifty Weirdboyth, and many more besides. Nothing we can't handle, obviouthly."[/color] His fellows nod in acknowledgement: quite apart from the incredible combat abilities of the Zodiac Guard, the speaker in particular wields psyker abilities rivalled by few in the known galaxy beyond their shared father.

Nothing more is said until the oversized doors to the throne room is reached, clad in thick metal that would be impenetrable to a normal man. In response to this challenge, the warrior in dark green armour called Virgo steps forward, hoisting the massively oversized chainsword called [i]Daemonbane[/i] aloft with one hand, then bringing its blade down upon the doorway, triple rows of adamantine teeth tearing through as easily as they would human flesh and shattering whatever barricades lie on the other side of the doorway. The weapon is turned off and withdrawn, only for her foot to kick out at the doorway, destroying whatever resistance remains and sending the doors sprawling open for several feet.

The only visible being on the other side is their target, Urlakk Urg himself, seated upon his throne in full Mega Armour. As the Imperio Armatus file through the gap they have created, into an oversized room that is admittedly grandiose in its own Orkish fashion, the Ork slowly claps his hands, one clad in a Power Klaw as it is, laughing mockingly at the spectacle before him.

[color=00a651]"Ha ha haaa! Took ya long enuff, ya gitz!"[/color] the Overlord exclaims, rising from his throne and leaping down to its base with a crash of metal on stone, a full ten meters tall in his armour. [color=00a651]"Oi wuz jus' wonderin' if you lot were too weak 'n' cowardly ta come fight me!"[/color]

[color=008141]"Hardly,"[/color] Virgo interjects smoothly, her oversized weapon casually slung over one shoulder as though it isn't one of the heaviest in the room. [color=008141]"In case you haven't noticed, we've not only slaughtered a tower full of your soldiers, but we outnumber you five to one."[/color]

[color=00a651]"Pah! Wot you zogged were [i]Grotz[/i] compared ta me!"[/color] Urg exclaims. [color=00a651]"If ya didn' notice, oi'm [i]TWOICE YER BLEEDIN' SOIZE![/i] An' on top a' THAT, you lot 'ave made a gigantik taktikal error! OI, LADS! GET OUT 'ERE!"[/color]

On cue, the two side walls of the room fall downward into the floor, releasing a horde of Nobz both armoured and unarmoured into the room, most as large or larger than the Zodiac Guards themselves, and all wielding some combination of oversized Choppas and many-barrelled Shootas. Oddly enough, instead of charging their human foes immediately, they gather round in a loose circle, chanting jibes and taunts at them, interspersed with loud "WAAAAGH!"s on a frequent basis. All of them note the strange alteration in the usual Orkish behaviour of "charge the foe immediately"; even more interesting, however, is the sudden increase in psychic pressure felt by the platoon, triggered by the entrance of the predicted Weirdboyz on to wide balconies just over their heads.

Questions linger for a moment; the one to address them is Pisces, stepping forward in Tyrian purple armour to cheerily say [color=77003C]"Looks like you have a pretty good handle on your minions, Urlakk. The Nobz are restrained, and the Weirdboyz aren't exploding."[/color]

[color=00a651]"Well, that's 'coz I told 'em not to, so'z they'd all be more useful an' grooped up an' that, and so'z you coold apree-shee-ate yer upcomin' dem-ayes,"[/color] Urlakk gloats, strolling forward through the crowd to tower more menacingly over his opponents. [color=00a651]"A' first, oi thort oi might jus' bring in forty a' the meanest, 'ardest Nobz as a persunnal gaard, but then oi thort 'Why stop there? Why not 'ave TWO 'UNDRED AN' FIFTY OV THA GITS?! An' fifty Weirdz, a' that!' Looks like oi made a good choise there, roight?! NOW 'OOS OUTNUMBERED FIVE-TA-ONE, EH?!"[/color]

Urlakk Urg's yells send his self-professed bodyguards into a frenzy, and though they have yet to attack, they are very much on the verge of it. The next phrase uttered by the Zodiac Guard could be the tipping point.

[color=626262]"You didn't bring enough of them, xeno scum."[/color]

The speaker is Cancer: clad in unpainted armour, steel grey as a result save for cherry red visors, with a power scythe in one hand and a chainglaive in the other. His words have quite the opposite effect to what might have been, all but silencing the Orks for its audacity. It is not long, however, before Urlakk begins to chuckle, and then to laugh uproariously at the comment, only to fall dead silent the moment just one of his other Orks begins to emulate him.

[color=00a651]"Yer a cocky li'le bastard, ain't yaz?"[/color] Urg asks in a dark tone. [color=00a651]"Oi think oi'll enjoy poppin' yer 'ead open loik a squig. ROIGHT, LADZ,"[/color] he hollers at his soldiers, [color=00a651]"the grey one iz moine! All the uvvers, ya get twenny five thousan' teef fer each 'ead ya bring me! NOW GO GET 'EM!"[/color]

With an almighty "WAAAAGH!", the Orks charge toward the Imperio Armatus, Choppas swinging and Shootas firing wildly in all directions. At last, the battle begins.

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It's finally here, folks. [s]Finally a Friday...[/s] [@agentmanatee][@Yennefer][@Roosan][@Lord Coake][@Savage][@Hank][@Culluket][@Jbcool][@Sophrus][@Specter189], you can all make your Primarch's first posts now; to those still in the production process, you'll be able to post as soon as they're accepted. To wit, we're only going to need two, maybe three Legions stationed on Ullanor Prime, with every other Legion doing their own thing in the Ullanor Sector depending on what's needed to draw out more Orks. I'll let you guys decide amongst yourselves who's got their Space Marines and Primarchs where.
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