Catherine was looking at some documents alongside Azariah when a red notification popped up on her computer. "Hey, Azariah? Some little red thing popped up on your computer just now."

Azariah sat up lightning quick, tossing her paperwork to the side, and pulling the computer closer. She opened the notification and gasped. "EMERGENCY ALERT FOR ALL GC CITIZENS! SEVERAL OUTER RIM WORLDS AND COLONIAL WORLDS HAVE FALLEN UNDER SIEGE FROM AN UNKNOWN ATTACKER! EMERGENCY DETECTION OF ANY FORM CAN NOT FIND THEIR ENTRY POINTS! ONLY VISIBLE AND AUDIO INDICATORS ARE AVAILABLE AS A WARNING! IF YOU SEE GOLDEN CRACKS IN THE SKY, PLEASE, EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY! IF YOU HEAR A STRANGE RUMBLING SCREAM, PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!"

Azariah frowned and looked back at Catherine questioningly. Catherine's face was a picture of despair. "Ms. DuLacy? Is this the... Azarian invasion Emperor Basillius spoke of?"

Catherine slowly nodded her head. "It's... It's just like when they first invaded... Oh fuck... They are moving way faster than I thought they would..." as tears began to well up in her eyes, she continued.

"I... You guys aren't ready yet... It's going to be the same... It's going to happen again... I'm so... so sorry... We brought you little fluffers hell. If only I hadn't met you guys, Mael would have kept focusing on us... The Azarians wouldn't have come here."

Azariah's gaze softened at the sight of Catherine crying for her people. She rested her paw on Catherine's shoulder and spoke softly to her. "It wasn't your fault. We were sending missions near your systems, so it was inevitable that we would meet... One way, or the other, we would be fighting this enemy. I'm just glad that we have you to help us. As terrifying as Emperor Basillius was... He is quite reassuring to have on our side."

Catherine looked up at Azariah and gave her a weak smile, nodding her head. Azariah turned back to her computer and continued, "Besides that, your people seem rather kind. Both kindness and strength. What a wonderful race of giants to meet. Now, please, help us."

With that Catherine perked up slightly and gave Azariah a genuine smile, "Thanks cutie... You little fluffers are so adorable... So nice... If only we met you in better times... I..." She took a deep breath and the fires of determination burned in her eyes. "We should send these planets' coordinates to Aurelius. He will organize the fleets and send support where it's needed."

Azariah smiled at her and quickly pulled the coordinates for the affected systems up on her screen for Catherine. "Here they are, Ms. DuLacy."

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Catherine took a quick look at the coordinates and compared them to a star map on her own ocular interface. "Alrighty... I'll send them out to Aurelius now." With a single thought, Aurelius got the priority ping.

He saw that Catherine was the sender and idly wondered if it would be another photo of her and some new alien dog or cat. He sighed and opened the message. His eyes went wide. "The fluffies are under attack, please send support." Then a picture of a space map popped up with circles around several systems.

Aurelius immediately leapt into action. He called a virtual meeting with the Primarchs heading the other fleets that were prepping to assist the GC. Seconds later, they were all on the call. Aurelius quickly pulled up the map. "I've just gotten word through our... delegate. She has given me this star map as a reference for currently threatened colonies of the GC people. Thus, I want each Primarch to ready their fleets. I am authorizing the use of the stellar lancers for Warlord class and above, however, if you find yourselves faced with a group with Priests in the mix, do not hesitate to request reinforcements."

The dozens of Primarchs gave a simultaneous salute and one stepped forward. "By your word Arch Primarch, it will be done. How would you like to divide our forces? There are twenty-two battlegrounds, yet thirty fleets."

Aurelius smiled at him and refreshed the star map with each fleet designation listed. He then showed a matching twenty-two moving to each system while the leftover eight remain as reinforcements. "Simple, yes? As it's an emergency, we are going to brute force it. If there are more than eight requests for reinforcements I will call in a few of the home fleets."

He looked at the thirty Primarchs who all seemed fired up. "As our lord said, we will be fighting with him. So, I fully expect everyone to do their best under these trying circumstances. Start off with the standard anti-horde measures and adjust as necessary. Dismissed." He snapped off a crisp salute and cut the meeting.

He sighed at the sight of his fleet, hanging in the void. "I need to get these critters up to speed so I can join my brothers... I want to fight alongside Lord Basillius more too."

Suddenly his eyes lit up as he had a realization. He shot up out of his chair and straightened his uniform. Once he was satisfied that he looked as dignified as possible he contacted Basillius, who quickly answered with an "Aurelius? Has it begun already?"

"Yes, my Lord. The Azarians have begun assaulting GC outlier colonies. I have already rallied the Primarchs and designated targets for them. On that note, what of my fleet?"

Basillius cupped his chin in thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to ask you to stay where you're at. You are the ace in the hole, Aurelius. Your fleet will be on VIP assassination duty. As soon as a Primarch reports an upper-rank Priest or multiple regular Priests, you warp in and mop up the scene. Don't move for anything less. Anything less can be handled with the mixed fleets."

Aurelius frowned slightly and saluted Basillius. "As you wish, my Lord." With that, he cut the comms and sat down with a heavy sigh and mumbled. "Sometimes I miss the days where I was a grunt, following behind that massive back cloaked in veil fire as he cut through hordes like a scythe through wheat... Now I just have to hurry up and wait."