Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40,000 it is owned by Games Workshop.

Disclaimer: The Roboutian Heresy is a FanFiction penned by Zahariel. I have received permission from him to set this piece within the universe of The Roboutian Heresy.

The Liberation of Glacies

Prologue

Plasma engines burned bright in the void as a squadron of Fury Interceptors soared fast through space on an intercept course. "All units," the squadron commander, Lieutenant Misaru Katagawa said over the channel. "Enemy units confirmed, distance sixteen light-seconds. It looks like a squadron of Barracudas, so stay sharp."

"Roger!" the squadron chorused.

One of the pilots, Ensign Kenji Akaharu went through last-minute diagnostics of his Fury while listening in on the encrypted chatter between his squadron commander and their mothership. "Course correction on the following coordinates," Katagawa ordered, transmitting a series of numbers and letters. "Maintain speed, and standby to engage."

"Roger!" Kenji chorused with the rest of his squadron, changing course and keeping an eye on the auspex display, which showed the approaching Barracudas and the slowly-dwindling distance. He continued with diagnostics, and finished just in time twenty minutes later as new orders came through the channel.

"Three light-seconds until we enter firing range." Katagawa ordered. "All units deactivate safeties and standby for targeting. Once we enter firing range, paint your targets and fire at will."

"Roger!"

There was a pause, the distance rapidly shrinking, and then…

"May your spirits shine bright and true," Katagawa said the pre-battle benediction. "And strike the enemy from the sky. And should you die, know that the Heavenly Crane shall unfailingly guide you to His Divine Majesty's throne."

"In His Name, we fly for Mankind and the Imperium!"

At once, the auspexes registered the incoming targets, ECM and ECCM suites going into overdrive to shroud them from xenos sensors and to pierce the enemy's own shrouds. "I have tone." Kenji said, his Fury's cogitator selecting and arming a missile as the auspex painted it as a target. "Missile away!"

Almost simultaneously the entire squadron let loose a volley of anti-starfighter missiles, plasma glowing hot in space as they streaked away from the Furies towards the enemy. Behind them the Furies maintained course, Kenji barely aware that his breath was coming hot and heavy inside his helmet, his eyes and attention focused on the auspex screen.

As the missiles closed, the Tau fighters broke formation and launched decoys and countermeasures, explosions erupting across the void as some missiles exploded harmlessly while others found their mark. "We got them!" another pilot shouted.

"Don't celebrate just yet!" Katagawa shouted in reproof. "All units, break formation and reverse acceleration! It's a dogfight! Engage! Engage! Engage!"

Gritting his teeth at the G-Forces that managed to get through his Fury's inertial dampeners, the unit banking vertically over ninety degrees, a Barracuda overshooting and causing the ensign to smile as he opened up his afterburners. "No escape little blue xenos," he whispered as he pursued, keeping the Fury on course behind the Barracuda as the xenos jinked back and forth to try and shake him off. "I have tone. Missile away."

Plasma erupted through space as a missile soared from the Fury, screaming at the Barracuda at high speed. The Barracuda launched chaff and other countermeasures, successfully decoying the missile away, only for a volley of laser beams to rip into its dorsal hull and blow it apart. "And that's one down!" Kenji cheered an instant before alarms screamed in his cockpit. With a curse he banked hard, narrowly avoiding a barrage of bright blue plasma that would have torn his wing apart.

"Xenos shit!" Kenji swore, banking in a wide arc through space nearly full circle before opening his retro-rockets. He nearly vomited from the G-Forces at the sheer and abrupt deceleration, even more so as he closed his retro-rockets and opened up his afterburners as the Barracuda overshot. "My turn!"

He fired a volley from his lascannons, the laser beams missing to starboard off the xenos fighter, the xenos pilot banking hard to port, but Kenji kept on his tail, slowly gaining. A second volley of laser beams missed again, but it was close, and then finally at a distance of less than one thousand kilometers – astronomically-close – a final volley of laser beams gutted the Barracuda and reduced it to a rapidly-expanding cloud of debris in space.

"Got him!" Kenji said with a raised fist in triumph, and then Katagawa's voice came through the channel.

"All units, proceed to the following coordinates to regroup." The lieutenant ordered. "We got them all, now let's head back the carrier to refuel and rearm. Well done, all of you."

"Roger!"

Plasma engines burned bright in space, Fury Interceptors quickly eating up hundreds of kilometers in less than half a minute, and then the squadron soared off as one back to their mothership.

"All pilots, line up!"

Outside the simulators, the pilots of Kaga's Twelfth Attack Wing's Sixth Fighter Squadron ran up, still in their pilot suits, helmets held under their left arms while their right hands were raised in salutes. Katagawa strode up in front of them, and then waved their salutes off. "At ease," he said. "Alright, good work in the simulation, though it could still be better. Mizuishi, you took down three enemy fighters, not bad. Akaharu and Mikamaya, two enemy fighters down each, congratulations as well."

The lieutenant paused and smiled wryly. "Don't let it get to your heads though." He said. "It's just a simulation after all."

There was a ripple of laughter at that. "Tsuyoshi, Eto, and Kawashi," Katagawa continued. "Impressive teamwork there, even though you had difficulty taking on the enemy individually, by working as a group, you managed to keep them off your backs and take them down as a team."

"Yes sir, thank you, sir." The three mentioned pilots chorused.

"Speaking of teamwork," Katagawa said, turning to the first three mentioned pilots. "Don't get too caught up in the chase that you get separated as much as you were earlier. It worked out fine this time, but that won't always be the case, understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Good," Katagawa said with a nod. "Always remember, your wingmen are your best friends. Watch their backs, and they'll watch yours. And always engage the enemy in groups of three whenever possible. Now, dismissed."

"Yes sir, thank you, sir!" the pilots chorused, throwing a salute. Katagawa returned the salute, and lowering his arm watched as the pilots smartly turned, and filed off. He continued to look after them, until a gloved hand came down on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Lieutenant Keiko Kawanishi, Commander of the Ninth Fighter Squadron, also from Kaga's Twelfth Attack Wing.

"You have problems with your rookies?" she asked.

"Not as such," Katagawa said with a sigh. "Each of them is promising."

"But?" Kawanishi prompted.

"That's the problem isn't it?" Katagawa asked. "They're rookies. And Glacies is no frontier world. It's a Hive World with heavy industry and the manpower to support that industry. The Tau will fight hard to hold it. Just what is the High Command doing, assigning us so many rookies? Do they really think they'll be enough to match top-notch xenos fighters?"

"Don't let the commissar hear that." Kawanishi warned her fellow pilot. "That's defeatist."

"I'm just being realistic." Katagawa said. "And besides, word is Lady Commissar Nakabayashi had some harsh words with the Departmento Munitorum back on Shin Tokyo. It's apparently related to why the fleet's assembling piecemeal."

"That may be so," Kawanishi said. "But that's way above my or your paygrade. Still, while I sympathize, let's just do the best we can. Get these kids ready for battle, and make sure they learn fast enough to stay alive and win."

Katagawa nodded grimly. "Well then," Kawanishi continued. "It's our turn to use these simulators."

"Yeah, yeah, I got you." Katagawa said, walking past and patting the female officer on a shoulder. "I'll be seeing you later, Keiko."

"Right."

An electronic chime rang through the admiral's office in Kaga's bridge fortress, causing the man seated behind the desk to look up. He pressed a button on the desk. "Who is it?" he asked.

"It's Lieutenant Otonashi, Your Excellency." One of his bodyguards outside the office replied.

"Send her in, sub-lieutenant."

"Yes sir."

A moment later and the heavy doors opened, admitting a young woman in the blue uniform of the Imperial Navy with a lieutenant's stripes. "Good afternoon sir." She said with a salute, the admiral replying with a nod. Lieutenant Mitsuki Otonashi approached, holding out a data-slate which the admiral took. "Status report: all sections report no problems, with compliments from Captain Morisato. The other ships in the flotilla also report no problems, with compliments from all ship captains and squadron leaders. The Lord High Navigator of the flotilla also extends compliments from all representatives of the Navigator Houses present, and reports that barring unusual Warp activity the flotilla will warp-out in-system at 1900 shipboard time tomorrow evening as scheduled."

"Hmm," Admiral Isoroku Takano hummed and nodded in response. He briefly skimmed through the data-slate's contents, before using the gene-coded recognition system to 'sign off' on the data-slate. "Status report acknowledged, lieutenant."

"Yes sir."

"Is that all?"

"No," Otonashi said. "His Excellency the Chief of Staff has requested a meeting, to go over the latest draft of the strategic plan."

Takano glanced at his desk's chronometer and nodded. "As expected from Genda," he said. "He works fast. Very well, I'll see Genda."

"Yes sir."

The lieutenant saluted, and with a nod and a gesture the admiral dismissed his adjutant.

Reality silently tore apart in wildly-contorting rifts of unreal light that shimmered in millions of colors that existed and did not exist in the universe. There should have been nothing to illuminate in deep space, but around the rifts the light of the distant stars seemed to change, taking on a hostile, repugnant and hostile quality.

Mighty shapes heaved themselves out of the Warp rifts, Geller Fields flickering in translucent patterns as they maintained bubbles of reality around the great ships of the Imperial Navy, protecting them and their passengers from the dangers of the infernal realm that was at once Mankind's curse, Mankind's gift, and Mankind's destiny. Most of the ships were small, two-kilometer long Sword Class Frigates, though the ship at the heart of the flotilla was a massive, ten-kilometer affair: Emperor Class Battleship, Kaga.

"Transition complete." The officer-on-deck reported via intercom. "All sections report no problems, and all ships in the flotilla report the same."

"Good," Captain Takeshi Morisato said before glancing at the admirals and staff officers on the command deck which overlooked the bridge below. Admiral Takano nodded before stepping up to a spare intercom mouthpiece.

"Signal all ships." He ordered. "Reform the formation, and advance toward the rendezvous point. Distance?"

It took a few moments before the officer-on-deck could reply. "Sir," he said. "We deviated from the Warp-Out Point by approximately one-point-one light-seconds. The tech-priests and the navigational logic engines are calibrating, but on regular cruising speeds we should still arrive at the rendezvous point by 0900 shipboard time tomorrow morning, plus-minus twelve standard minutes."

"Acknowledged." Takano said, before glancing at the captain who bowed in acknowledgment. "Signal our forces in-system. Inform them of our arrival, and that we will be holding a meeting aboard the Kaga tomorrow afternoon to discuss the strategic plan for the upcoming operation."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Takano nodded before turning to his Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Kuramichi Genda. "Well we've finally arrived." He said to the rear admiral. "Despite all the delays caused by the Administratum back at Kure and Shin Tokyo, we can finally begin the work of reclaiming this sub-sector. With that said, I must ask once again: can we be certain that no further bureaucratic complications will hamper operations in this area of space?"

"In cooperation with the Commissariat," Genda replied with a glance at Commissar Antonin Cannes, the commissar attached to the admiral's staff. "Then yes admiral, we can expect no further bureaucratic complications to hamper our operations, in particular over the matters of logistics and reinforcement. Barring force majeure of course, and circumstances beyond our control. Our lines of supply and communications are vulnerable to the tides of the Warp being influenced by the Ruinstorm after all."

"Yes, well that much we have to accept as a fact." Takano said with a sigh. "Thankfully at least, the bureaucrats back home won't be any further hindrance."

"Indeed they won't," Cannes said with a wintery smile. "Apart from my and the good rear admiral's efforts, Lady Commissar Nakabayashi apparently called in her contacts with the Inquisition. It seems that the Ordo Hereticus' agents within the Nippon Sector are looking into, ahem, recently-uncovered cases of corruption and incompetence within the Imperial governing apparatus in the sector, with full cooperation from the Lord Regent."

The senior officers all smiled with holy satisfaction at that, though eyes turned to Kaga's captain as he approached. "Yes, what is it?" Takano asked.

"Your Excellency," Captain Morisato replied. "Our ships and other forces in-system have acknowledged our arrival, with Lord General Masanobu and Lady Commissar Nakabayashi among other staff officers extending their compliments."

Takano nodded, and swept his staff officers with his eyes briefly. "Well," he said. "Now that we're here, even if the shooting hasn't started, the campaign has already begun. Let's perform our duty to the utmost, shall we?"

"Yes Your Excellency!"

A/N

And there we go, the first chapter for The Liberation of Glacies. It's a spinoff of my other FanFic, Blood of Ignorance, though this one focuses on the greater Imperial effort in the sub-sector, where Blood of Ignorance is focused on the Thousand Sons and Inquisition operations on Tijuana, a relative backwater in the sub-sector.

Zahariel, thanks again for letting me set this work in your Roboutian Heresy timeline, and thank you for acting as the beta. It's really appreciated!