This is the Ultimate Showdown...

[jgkitarel]

Then again, who out there doesn't want to see Luthor finally be killed off for real?

Not that it's gonna happen. He's the most dangerous villain in the DC'verse.

[Lightwhispers]

This one is due to me getting irritated by some excessive Warhammer 40K wank.

The setup: The Void Engineers (yes, the entire convention) have a year's prep time, decent intelligence, and can be certain of taking over a planet and the surrounding Warp as their foothold. They invade the WH40K galaxy, and, unfortunately (for them and for the galaxy), cannot retreat.

Discuss.

[Chuckg]

Sadly, quantity has a quality all its own. Despite their respective differences in abilities, they're just too outnumbered.

It's not like the crapsack of this crapsack galaxy has a focal node you can just take out, and then the entire structure collapses. Its ubiquitous and multilayered. They are literally taking on the entire galaxy, and the Imperium of Man alone can lose entire planetary populations, in the billions, just in rounding errors.

Now, if you threw in something like the Culture, or another mature ultratech galactic civilization that in addition to ridiculous power edge also had ridiculous #'s to compete with, something fun might happen. Just make sure that they're also resistant, in one way or another, to Chaos corrupting their souls from the inside...

[Zankaru Zelladonii]

No sentient being can resist chaos.

There are only degrees of denial.

[Chuckg]

No sentient being can resist chaos.

The God-Emperor of Man would like a word with you. :P

So, for that matter, would the Tyranid, the Tau, the Necrons, the... you get the idea.

[Lightwhispers]

Not to mention that the Void Engineers are practiced at taking out Lovecraftian monstrosities on a par with Chaos, and have reality-shaping abilities such that, when they get set up, they can make it impossible for Chaos to exist in an area. Or, say, disallow the Orks' "technology" from working. As I see it, they can get a nearly-impenetrable defense, but yeah, they don't really have the numbers to deal with the Imperium. The best bet there might be to wake up the Emperor and divide the galaxy between them. (Yes, Sphere-magic in a Paradox-free 'verse is ridiculously broken.)

The Necrons or the Tau would have the best chance of getting through defenses, since they don't use the Warp, but likewise, they are also vulnerable to relatively "precision" strikes. (Planet- to system- level annihilation.)

[Chuckg]

... egad, that is a viable strategy I had not considered. The Void Engineers do indeed have sufficient power to enter Sanctum Prime and rejuvenate the Emperor.

At which point, well, Chaos be fucked. :)

[Tempest Kitsune]

Methinks that rejuvenating the GEoM might actually make things bad for the Empire first, since he'd be doing a serious session of cleaning house after he woke up.

[Chuckg]

"And lo, did the Engineers of the Void become beloved of the Emperor, returning from their eons-long sojourn away from Terra of the ancient past in time to restore the Emperor from the wounds inflicted upon him by Horus.

"And then they did replace the Adeptus Mechanicus in the eyes of the Emperor, having shown vastly greater abilities at commanding the Machine Spirits, and also being untainted by the C'Tan, who had one of their number slumbering bound within Mars. In a completely unrelated series of events, Mars had a very minor case of planetary vaporization.

"[redacted by order of the Ecclesiarchy] ... concluded the Imperium's internal reorganization."

"And then they all punched Chaos in the nadgers a lot, and lived happily ever after."

[jgkitarel]

Keep in mind that the GEoM put the Void Dragon on Mars for such a purpose, and it wasn't until the Adeptus Mechanicus broke in and screwed it all up that things started getting, iffy amongst them.