Editing Quest:The Long Night:Volume One:Life in the Storm (section)

==Another invasion==

The threat foretold by Ridcully has arrived. A double-pronged Ork [[WAAAGH]]. Most of the Greenskins are headed for Avernus, but the Trust fleet is mostly concentrated in Alfheim, having detected the enemies headed there first. Not too bad, actually. The Ork fleet in your system consists of fifty [[Rok]]s, one hundred fifty escorts, fifty capital ships and a single Hulk twenty-seven km in length. More than enough to smash through your orbital defences, of course, but you're pretty sure the Avernites can give them a most warm welcome once planetside. The only concern is that they may decide, instead of Avernus, to attack the fourth planet, Cumae, where you've put all your space production facilities in orbit.

Fortunately, that's easy enough to prevent. You simply compose and send the Orks a nice welcome message, describing what kind of Orky and WAAAGHy place Avernus is, and how they should come and visit it to have fun and prove they are indeed propa Boyz who actually have whatever it is Ork Boyz have instead of humie Boyz' bits.

It works perfectly. The Orks do smash through your defences (the Roks and the Hulk are all but untouched, but the rest of the fleet is halved in number) and start landing their Roks. As befits the Greenskins, they charge at your cities exchanging hundreds of their own for every human. A bit worryingly, the Roks keep disgorging Boyz like clown cars. Must be some tellyportas inside connected to the Hulk. The wildlife stays neutral in the conflict.

You manage to wipe out the Roks near your cities, after which the Greenskins concentrate to build a massive fortress well out of your guns' range. Seems like the Warboss (who introduced himself as Garkill the Konqueror) is pretty smart for his kind.

Reports from Alfheim are optimistic enough. Admiral Freyr (your brother-in-law) states that the local Hulk has been boarded by Muspelheim and Avernus elites along with Xavier and Surt. The fleet should be able to come help in a month, the Orks already planetside will take longer.

Then the Orks launch an attack upon one of your cities out of the fortress. About seven hundred million units. The city is left rather battered, and you lose several million men, but not one of that army is left to give his opinion about the battle. Doesn't matter; you're still certain they had all the fun they came for.

At this point, the Orks decide to withdraw and start returning to the Hulk. More surprisingly, a large piece of it suddenly blasts away and lands upon your territory. It contains some survivors from your orbital platforms, along with millions of members from a Xeno race you don't recognize. The Orks build a few Roks in the system, strap them to the Hulk and leave, with Garkill personally promising to come back for another scrap once a new WAAAGH! is ready. You have nothing left to do but talk to the new race. The Xenos call themselves the Quartok and are led by First Councillor Aryz. According to him, they are a relatively young race that was all but exterminated by the Imperium a few centuries ago. Their current colonies are way out of reach, but so long as you are willing to let them stay, they are willing to try letting the past go and getting along with the Avernites.

The Emperor's instructions to Saint Lin theoretically allow coexisting with Xenos, so long as they are reasonable and recognize the sovereignty of Mankind. The Quartok seem to fit the description. You offer them good enough terms, with them getting a district in one of your Hives until a city can be built and requiring to accept Human inspectors for their security. The guys are already Deathworlders to begin with, so Avernus should be acceptable environment to them.