Kalidar War - Decapitation Strike: With the northern Imperial army advancing into the area of the Kalidarian desert known as Macaree's Tablelands, General Iskhandrian called for a halt. To further improve the army's morale, a banquet was held on board Iskhandrian's lavishly furnished Command Leviathan, the Magnificence, to which all the officers of importance were conveyed. The invitation also included the tank commanders of the 7th Paragonian Super Heavy Company and the heroic Lieutenant Bannick.At the banquet's opening, Captain-General Iskhandrian redecorated Lieutenant Bannick and gifted him with a finely-crafted sword. Intended as a gesture of respect, Bannick soon cursed the blade as it tangled with the legs of his chair every time he had to stand up to salute a superior officer. This occurred often, since almost every one present at the table outranked Bannick.Fortunately there were also a few exceptions: the Astropath Prime, Mastraen, and his two cymonculous aides, Maldon and Logan, the battlegroup's senior Navigator, High Chaplain Moktarn of the Ecclesiarchy and the army's two Primaris Psykers. Two Magi of the Martian Mechanicus were also present, completing the group of senior commanders of every Imperial force fighting on Kalidar.Following the official presentations, the guests were seated at the long table of lacquered wood. Captain-General Iskhandrian delivered a speech praising their efforts and the course the war had taken. The general believed that in only three solar weeks they would be celebrating the liberation of Hive Kimeradon and a successful conclusion to the war. Iskhandrian's words were greeted with a moderate amount of applause, as most of the experienced officers present at the table gave the general's optimistic timetable little credit. As the feast began, the guests turned their attention to the multitude of different and opulent dishes served that had been imported at great cost from distant sectors, each accompanied by a rare and exotic vintage.Seated at one end of the table, Bannick and Cortein faced Colonel-Commissar Damartes, commander of one of the Savlar regiments and Commodore Spasduki of the Imperial Navy. Both discussed the reasons why the Savlar fought with such determination until they were joined by an unusually tall and powerfully muscled man. Once the newcomer was seated next to the officers it became apparent that he was not a mortal, but a Space Marine: Brother Arnegis of the Black Templars, Steward to Castellan Thieme.Eating four times the quantity of a normal human, the Black Templar proved eloquent on matters of faith but participated little once the conversation moved on to other matters. An increasingly careless and perhaps drunk Commodore Spasduki began a dangerous line of conversation, deploring the lack of resources available for those who should hold the line while the Segmentum's resources and manpower were primarily going to the Macharian Crusade.Having faced the Blood Axes on Valhalla, the Commodore criticised Iskhandrian's reliance on the outdated precepts of the Tactica Imperialis, and urged him not to underestimate these Orks. At such blatantly seditious talk, Colonel-Commissar Damartes began to reach for his sidearm before the Commodore clarified his views on the matter and the Colonel-Commissar was seemingly placated. Unsettled, Commodore Spasduki tried to leave the table, claiming he was due to report in, but he was stopped by a sudden arrival.Having noticed the tension between the two guests, one of the Astropath Prime's acolytes -- Maldon -- had joined the table, a glass of fine wine in his hand. Maldon reassured the Commodore that even if the Adeptus Mechanicus' technology was reaching its limit on Kalidar, in himself and his fellow Adepts of the Scholastika Psykana the Imperium had the means to establish a fully functioning communication grid on Kalidar. In fact, more Astropaths and Sanctioned Psykers were already en route to reinforce them.The Astropath concluded by raising his glass and toasting their victory. Suddenly, Maldon froze in his movement before repeating the last sentences of his address and toasting again, his arm jerking upwards spasmodically. Veins stood out on the astropath's head as Maldon sought to fight back some kind of seizure. "...To...vict..." the Astropath managed to say through gritted teeth before his goblet of fine crystal shattered in his hand, blood and wine staining the fine tablecloth of the banquet table.Terror filled the Astropath's eyes as Maldon began to shake violently, his head jerking from left to right so fast his face became a blur. Green sparks of lightning cracked from his fingers and across his breastplate. With a loud bang, the thick, psycho-reactive collar Maldon wore exploded, silencing all conversation in the great dining hall. Other psykers at the table began to scream, blood running from their own noses and eyes before they collapsed into their food. The hall was filled with the tumult of chairs being pushed back, swords being drawn and safeties switched off.Slowly, the Astropath rose into their air on a cascade of eldritch energy and green sparkles. Warp-born energies grounded themselves through the raised weapons, searing the hands of their owners who dropped them with curses on their lips. Maldon rose higher, drifting in a circle, his face and neck covered in a black substance: the inside of his had brainpan cooked and liquified, and begun to slowly seep out of his eyes and ears.With an audible crack of splintering bone, Maldon's jaw dropped, his face glowing with greenish energy. Like a puppet jerking on its strings, the dead Astropath relayed his last message in a guttural voice that was not his own. "Hur, hur, hur," the inhuman voice gloated, "I see you, I see you all! There is no escape! This world belongs to the green! You are all dead! All of you! And I am coming for you!"After uttering these words, Maldon convulsed with such strength that he broke his spine. In a fountain of blood, the Astropath's head exploded before his inert body fell onto the banquet table, shattering the plates and glasses still arrayed upon it.At the same time, a klaxon began to wail and an explosion shook the Magnificence, sending the gathered officers sprawling. One of the hall's crystal chandeliers fell crashed into the table before the normal illumination cut out and was replaced by the green glow of emergency lighting. "Attention, attention!" the Vox-hailer called. "All hands to battle stations, we are under attack. Repeat, we are under attack."