Mordeci stood among the jungles of Thenna, a beautiful world covered in luscious forests, pristine lakes, and magnificent mountain tops. They had arrived on Thenna to colonize the planet. There was surprisingly little information on the planet- the few colonists that attempted to colonize the planet had left hurriedly after the planet's natives had arrived. A race of giant, sentient spiders.

Regardless, the had a patrol team ready to go, hoping to find as many of the spiders as they could, and convince them to join the Reich. They had sent two previous platoons into the jungle- both had disappeared with gunfire and screams. There were no survivors, or bodies. The Reich's heavy armor was ill-fir for the terrain, leaving mostly infantry to secure the area.

Mordeci faced towards the Reich's battle-ready soldiers. He saw several familiar faces, but most were troops from Guerre and Sansisk. They had no training and no experience in the jungle. hopefully, however, with he and Krieg present, they could work something out with the natives. The Reich could use the natural resources on Thenna, and the spiders' expertise in rough terrain would be invaluable to the soldiers of the Reich who so far had only fought on open battlefields and in urban environments.

"Men and women of the Reich, today we claim another planet for the Reich, even if we have to fight our way through hundreds of beasts. Grand Inquisitor Krieg and I will be leading a battalion into the jungle to speak to the spiders, but with recent incidents and casualties, we have decided to make this a volunteer only mission. We are not purging magic here, so this is not what your contract holds. However, any that go above and beyond to accomplish this task will be duly compensated if they survive. If they do not, their families will live out their lives in comfort."

Olivia listened as she heard Mordeci speak, his words enveloping all that she could hear. Immediately, in an effort to be noticed by him, she dropped down from the tree that she was sitting in. Hitting the ground with a soft roll, Olivia stood up not caring to brush the dirt off of herself. She strode the last few feet to Mordeci, hesitating eve so slightly before reaching out and tapping him on the shoulder. No one else had even taken a step forward. She was going to be the first. Mordeci would notice her for that, she hoped.

"I would like to sign up," she whispered as Mordeci turned around. "I don't have any family left, so don't worry about the compensation if I die. When do we start?"

"Excellent! Another joins the good fight!" Krieg exclaimed, gesturing for the girl to join the two, "What might your name be, young gal?" As he spoke, two transport ships began to lower from a cruiser's tremendous mass, carrying a very large machine under them with black cables. Slowly, it lowered into the back of the clearing. "Even better," Krieg chuckled, "My project has been completed! Alden sure knows his punctuality well. Mordeci, I present to you the Dominus Thennus! The first of a line of assault Walkers designed to be one-unit armies! It is forty meters tall, so I doubt it will have much trouble with the foliage or the beasts!"

The Grand Inquisitor turned back to the crowd of soldiers. A crew of workers began to pile into the mech after exiting one of the transports. "Now then, seeing that this marvel of warfare is assisting us, now will more of you join the fray? Will you help us claim Thenna for the greater good of the Reich?" Krieg asked. His response was rather mediocre, but several hands did raise up, for they too wanted to spread the glorious reign of the Inquisitorial Reich. Krieg said, "Come up, soldiers! Join us in battle!"

Mordeci glanced back at the young girl, raising an eyebrow. He turned back to face to lines of troops, beginning to laugh rather loudly. He looked at the girl again, then back at the soldiers. "Are you telling me that all you big bad demon killers are gonna be out done by a little girl with knives? Are my soldiers afraid of a bunch of spiders?" he shouted.

Seemingly inspired by both the massive mech and the fact that a little girl had volunteer, he got at least 30 volunteers. A few were grunts, a few were special forces, but most of them were green and had no experience. He didn't care- the mech would make up for it.

"You have ten minutes to gear up. Fall out."

Olivia Listened as Mordeci laughed, the sound ringing in her ears. As she watched other soldiers sign up, she smiled knowing that she had caught Mordeci's attention. As per orders, she pulled out her twin pistols, making sure that they were filled to the brim with bullets. She then checked the pockets of her vest and pants, reassuring herself that she had plenty of bullets and that as long as she aimed well, she wouldn't run out of any. Olivia then checked the edge of her blades throwing them at a nearby tree, watching as the blades sunk into the old wood.

After making sure that her weapons were all in working order, she made her way back over to Mordeci. She remained in the shadowy confines of the trees, always staying behind everyone else. She didn't care for being seen. In fact, that last stunt of hers pushed her away from ever doing that again. Suddenly, she remembered what the other man had asked her. Her name, he had asked her for her name. She wasn't going to tell him what it was, but she thought that she should at least tell Mordeci her name.

Staying in the shadows, she walked up behind Mordeci, who had been standing at the edge of the woods. Speaking softly, she offered up her name, "Excuse me, my name is Olivia. Olivia Moera."

The machine let out a roar of noise as plumes of smoke began to rise from it's metal pipes. Slowly, its massive leg lifted into the air, before stomping down into the jungle, trampling the trees and brush that stood before it. Krieg watched, impressed, before realizing he never got an answer from the girl. "Excuse me, ma'am," he shouted to Olivia, walking over to her, "You never told me your name. Now, either you tell me, a Grand Inquisitor, or I will have one of my assistants find your files manually, and tell me who you are anyways. Though, that would take far too long, and I believe not listening to orders given by superiors is insubordination. And we all know what traitors get, yes? A firing squad." He stepped back a foot or so, awaiting an answer. 

Meanwhile, the soldiers who had joined the mission had begun to arm themselves with many weapons and armors. They readied themselves for the worst of whatever this jungle could throw back at them. But they did not know that their weapons might not be enough to survive on Thenna...

Mordeci holstered his revolvers, making sure everything was together. He had spare rounds in an ammo pouch. He grabbed his assault rifle, slinging it over his shoulder as her turned to the entrance of the tent, making sure that he had spare magazines in another pouch. He took a step outside, closing the tent flap behind him, looking at the makeshift battalion that had assembled in the clearing, geared up and ready to fight.

The girl from before jumped down fram another tree, introducing herself. "A pleasure, child. I would stay out of the trees- the spiders will be looking to pick off stragglers." he said as Krieg angrily made his way towards them. As Krieg explained his authority to the girl, Mordeci glanced at her.

"You best answer him. Krieg and I have fought together for years- you don't want to anger him." he said, leaving the situation, making his way to the troops. "Alright ladies and gentlemen. As you know, we've sent two platoons into the jungle for recon purposes- neither have returned, and are assumed KIA. Stick together- these things will be dying to pick us off one by one.".

Olivia nodded as Mordeci warned her about staying up in the trees. However, what the man didn't realize was that she too excelled at picking off stragglers. Taking a step forward to follow him, she caught sight of the other man. He had said something about her personal files, which was ridiculous considering that she wasn't even a part of the Reich's military. As such, she also had no obligation to serve that man either.

Shooting him with a dagger filled glance, she turned immediately in the opposite direction and walked behind the tree lune. She then quietly walked around the perimeter of the clearing until she was as close as possible to Mordeci without being visible.

Krieg angrily stomped up to the young girl, gripping her wrist tightly with his gloved hand. Krieg's breathing became ragged and its pace increased. "I will give you one more chance, you ignorant whelp," he hissed, unsheathing his cutlass, "To tell me your name, or else you will wish a firing squad was the one to take you."

Meanwhile, the Dominus continued to trudge into the thick alien jungle, its guns whirring and swerving to examine the surrounding foliage. Inside, the crew worked tirelessly, calibrating systems, readying weaponry, and cleaning the always dirty engines. They were truly this war-machine's heart and lifeblood, and if they were to fall, it would as well.

Mordeci glanced back grimly as the girl continued to ignore his fellow leader. Clearly, she felt no need to respond to Krieg, despite speaking to himself freely. "Consider this a standing order- You will answer any and all questions Grand Inquisitor Krieg asks you. I do not take kindly to insubordination." he said, making his way to the the edge of jungle.

"All volunteers, let's move out." he said, moving into the jungle for the first time since landing with the troops brave enough to volunteer. Their names had all been taken to be compensated.He unslung his rifle, ready to fight. This would be a long trek.

Krieg tightened his grip,before letting Olivia go. He motioned to two other soldiers. "You two, book her for some time in a cell in the cargo hold. We'll deal with her insubordinate ways later. For now, there is a planet to claim! Onwards, men! Into the uncharted! For the Glory of the Reich!" He shouted, pointing his blade in the direction the mighty Dominus stomped, clearing a large path for the soldiers to follow.

The Grand Inquisitor stepped up to his partner and talked lightly. He muttered, "Mordeci, you mustn't be so close to the footsoldiers like that. She stepped up right behind you! She could of killed you if she desired! I felt blades in the wrists of her clothing! That's dangerous both to you and the Reich! If I were you, I would of smacked such a harlot if she ever came so close."

Mordeci laughed as Krieg spoke. "Krieg, these men and women are out here because that young girl volunteered. What she did afterwards is inexcusable, but these troops look up to us as leaders. Why should they fight in these dreaded jungles if even we, their fearless leaders, won't?" he said.

As he spoke, dozens of eyes watched, both above and below ground.

Mordeci glanced around, listening to the jungle. "They say that when you're expecting an ambush, you should listen for strange noises and look for strange signs of creatures. But in my experience, the opposite it true." he said. Something was off. "Listen."

The troops halted, the massive mech stopped. They muttered to eachother. One spoke up.

"Sir, what do you want us to hear? There's nothing." he said.

Mordeci's face was grim underneath his mask.

"Exactly."

With that, all hell broke loose. All around them, spiders sprinted sprinted out of the trees, grabbing soldiers, hauling them off as they scream. Below them, the underbrush seemed to come to life as soldiers were dragged into tunnels. Mordeci opened fire, firing into the ground.

"Below us! They live in the tunnels below us! Radio for reinforcements, immediately!"

Krieg was about to respond, when suddenly the jungle around them went silent, and the clearing was filled with the primitive screeches of the indigenous spider beasts, the screams of poor souls as they were drug into early graves, and the guns of the lucky few who did not get pulled into the fangs of a horrid insect. The Grand Inquisitor slashed a smaller spider that pounced at him, spilling its yellow-green blood and guts across the grass before them. "Hold your ground, soldiers!" Krieg shouted, stabbing his cutlass into an Aivug-strain, which split a spinneret open, spewing sticky web onto both Krieg and the injured spider, which began to try and drag the man back into the safety of the jungle.

Meanwhile, the mighty Dominus Thennus began to rumble back to life. It stepped slowly backwards, stomping down on the Aivug by accident, letting Krieg free himself slowly. However, several Nyx began to climb up the legs of the Dominus, letting ot clicks and minuscule screeches as they shambled upwards. However, several soldiers came onto a deck on the back of the walker, each holding assault rifles. These soldiers began to fire down upon the Nyx spiders, easily ripping them from their places on the Mech's legs. However, a massive Kax began to rise from a large hole in the middle of the clearing, stomping its furry clawed legs towards the threat to its existence. The small arms fire did little to its advance.

Mordeci lifted his rifle, but before he could fire on the spider that was dragging krieg back, it was squashed like a bug by the Mech's foot. He raced over, helping him up, standing at Krieg's back. He fired into the Kax, aiming for the face. These men were too spread out. They needed to group up. "Form a defensive circle around the mech! Don't let them separate us!" As the troops formed up, dozens of spiders ran and jumped at them, only to be halted by the gunfire of the Reich.

Behind the spiders' lines, a small amount of gunfire opened up, a small squad of elite troops making their way to the defensive lines. "Make a hole!" Mordeci shouted, firing more into the spiders' ranks, green ichor flying into the air, splashing onto the troops as spiders began to close in. The defensive line opened up to allow three elite witch hunters to enter. Mordeci crouched, reloading his gun as he spoke.

"Where the hell are the rest of our reinforcements?"

"We aren't reinforcements, Grand Inquisitor. We're all that's left of the second recon team. The same thing happened to us that happened to you. We only survived because I chased one of the burrowers into its den to save these two. I am Inquisitor Markus, at your service. Now, if you don't mind sir, I'd like to get to shooting. I have a lot of men to avenge, and not very much time left to do it."

Mordeci noticed a large wound on the man's chest, oozing with blood and venom.

"Very well. Fight well, Inquisitor."

He grinned, grabbing another sub machine gun from a dead grunt.

"Of course, Grand inquisitor. My life for the Inquisition!"

The Kax, letting out a roar as it stomped forwards, merely annoyed by the gunfire, stabbed its fangs into a soldier, as several Phe jumped into the action, being quickly gunned down. Some of the remaining soldiers were beginning to flee, yelling "Retreat!" as the arthropods descended onto them as they scattered. The loyal ones stayed in the ever tightening formation, as several Aivug began to move out from the brush, firing webs into the Dominus' joints and feet.

The machine was essentially trapped in place, its feet stuck to the earth as several Phe began to leap at the crewmen. Quickly, the unarmored, unarmed humans were quickly killed. One of the man-sized arachnids bumped into the control panel of the legs, causing the mighty walker to try and move. However, this only led to the Dominus' tilting and falling to the ground, exploding and killing several dozen of the smaller kinds of spider. This only hindered their advance for a few moments, as more of the invertebrates rose from the jungle floors to assault the troops of the Reich.

Krieg looked on in horror as the Thennus fell to such a backwards race. He slashed another Phe spider away with his blade, before pulling his revolver and firing at the Kax. "Mordeci!" He shouted over the frenzied gunfire and screeching, "We must fall back! Our lines are thinning rapidly! They will not survive until reinforcements come if we are to stay!"