The Liber Cluster

[Conn Eremon]

Wasn't the word count 500? Or am I thinking of something else?

 

. . . And I was not aware I had an assignment until now. Been mostly skim/skipping the EWC posts.

[Olis]

Wasn't the word count 500? Or am I thinking of something else?

 

. . . And I was not aware I had an assignment until now. Been mostly skim/skipping the EWC posts.

 

:lol:

 

I figured you'd missed a trick somewhere, brother. Most uncharacteristic of you. Maybe I should have given you a poke about it a while back. ^_^

 

Do you feel up to getting your story done by the middle of June? :)

[Conn Eremon]

Why the hell not?

[Nomus Sardauk]

Ha! Word counts mean nothing to me, although honestly I don't recall one ever being set. either way I always end up "adjusting it", Alderaan-style. :sweat:

[Ace Debonair]

-=-= The Burning of Glavor =-=-

 

Glavor is unique amongst the Eighteen Worlds held by the Sereiki Lions, and perhaps, unique amongst the worlds of the Liber Cluster itself.

 

The surface of the world is almost entirely covered with  thick, spongy edible fungus, which once provided regular sustenance to worlds all across the Liber Cluster. The importance of the world goes far beyond this simple campaign - hunger will drive men to do desperate things, and the mere act of shutting down Glavor's supply lines to these distant worlds damns them to slow, but inevitable starvation and rebellion.

 

Glavian fungi is durable enough to bear the weight of a human, but  heavier things like Space Marines, or vehicles, will sink quickly into the spongy floor and become stuck in the depression until the rains engulf them and prompt the fungus to gradually grow back over the depression.

With ability to construct meaningful dwellings or roads on the fungal surface essentially non-existent, settlements are limited to the scant handful of dry, rocky outcrops scattered across Glavor's surface.

 

Now under the ownership of the Sereiki Lions, Glavor provides their armies with it's bounteous food supply, while worlds all over the Cluster slowly starve.

 

The Imperium's campaign to take it back had been hard-fought - the Lions were well entrenched at the planet's poles, and there was limited scope for the deployment of heavy weapons or orbital support without badly damaging the planet.

 

When the Eighteen Worlds Crusade came to retake Glavor - arguably the key battle of the crusade in a greater strategic sense - the roles of the Space Marines were intentionally limited. A task force made of Scout Marines would be used to break open the defences at the North Pole, clearing a path for more conventional infantry regiments to land and move across the planet's surface. The rest of the Chapter's forces would be used to aid in void combat, for the Lions had stationed a considerable defensive fleet in Glavor's orbit.

 

The Angels Exultant volunteered themselves for the mission, as did the Iron Ravagers. Though the two Chapters had worked well together on Cenicika, the two soon fell to arguing - both Chapters wanted their scouts alone to make planetfall. The Iron Ravagers felt that cold, implacable logic and reason would yield better results than the Angels' unyielding rage, and the Angels Exultant felt that only their scouts had the courage and conviction to face the odds and ensure Imperial victory.

 

With neither Chapter prepared to yield to the other, both of them moved to deploy first on Glavor.

 

Accompanying Battlefleet Anvitan, the Battle Barges Iron Will and Sight of Sanguinius deployed forces from their tenth companies to Glavor's surface before turning their focus to destroying the Lions' defence fleet.

 

The battle was fiercely fought, but Imperial victory was inevitable - Battlefleet Anvitan were amongst the most fearsome of the Imperial Navy's forces in the Cluster, and with the support of the Battle Barges they swiftly reclaimed the space above Glavor for the Imperium.

 

In the aftermath of the battle, however, a distress call sounded out from the planet's surface - both parties of scouts frantically reported taking fire from their supposed brothers.

 

Pausing only to roar accusations of treachery and hatred at each other, both Chapters immediately deployed their battle companies via drop pod to the planet's surface, hoping to save their beleagured scouts from destruction.

 

But they had all dropped into an ambush.

 

The scouts had never sent a signal - they had been shot to ribbons even as they made planetfall, and the numerous mortal Ash Wolves regiments that supported the Sereiki Lions had rigged up several heavy gun emplacements that battered both Chapters' forces with perpetual heavy fire.

 

However, accompanying the Ash Wolves were a platoon of men in black, lacquered carapace armour, with an extensive armoury of modified and unsanctioned weapons. They operated in two-man teams with heavy, automated grenade launchers, pinning the Space Marines down under hails of explosive firepower. Later intelligence would strongly suggest this platoon was linked to the shadowy organisation called 'Penumbra', another anti-Imperium faction within the Cluster. It was most likely they who had sent the falsified signals to draw the Space Marines to battle.

 

The Penumbra forces' primary gun emplacement, drawing energy from a dozen large plasma coils, fired wild, uncontrollable arcs of plasma-charged electricity at the Space Marines. Though inaccurate, this gun was highly devastating, A lucky shot completely incinerated Brother Razlund, the Iron Ravagers Librarian.

 

Enraged equally by the deception that had caught them off-guard and by the flagrant perversion of Imperial technology before them, the Iron Ravagers redoubled their attack, deploying the Venerable Dreadnought Brother Kargian from orbit to destroy the modified plasma battery, and employing the lascannons of their devastators to pick apart the Penumbra grenade troopers.

 

The Angels Exultant, however, were the ones to strike the most telling blow. Exhorted by their Chaplains to unleash their wrath and get vengeance for the slain, the sons of Sanguinius were a deadly nemesis, tearing through Penumbra soldier and Ash Wolf alike in their rage, their cries of vengeance echoing across the now-broken rebel emplacements.

 

But the rebel forces still had one final gesture of defiance to enact. With the flick of a switch, they detonated over six hundred strategically placed caches of extremely high-yield incendiary explosives. Glavor was immediately consumed in a rushing surge of unquenchable flame, tearing unstoppably through the planet's fungal surface. The explosives within the north pole reduced the fortified emplacement to dust and killed more than sixty Space Marines between the two Companies deployed there.

 

Study of the battle suggests the entirety of the final conflict on Glavor was little more than an act of spiteful defiance, a simple attempt to cause as much damage to the loyalists as possible, both on-world and across the Cluster by destroying one of it's key food sources.

 

The surviving Angels Exultant and Iron Ravagers were equally incandescent in their fury, and equally quick to blame each other for the failures of that fateful mission. 

 

Even long after the conclusion of the Eighteen Worlds Crusade, both Chapters would be amongst the forefront of Chapters volunteering squads to assist Inquisitors in hunting down and exterminating Penumbra forces wherever they could be found, but they made a point of avoiding working together again when possible.

 

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

Here we are, one battle, as per request.

It's not my best work and I might come back and edit it up a little later, but right now I'm sick of re-reading it.

 

I thought we could do with a little more Penumbra action, since I've done nothing with them in about.... forever, and I always wanted them to get involved in the later stages of the EWC.

 

Also giving the Ravagers and Angels more excuse to apply their cold, methodical/frenzied, fiery rage to traitors and heretics in future can only be a good thing.

 

Right?

 

EDIT 1/6/2016:

1,045 words. Is that too much? Should I trim it down more?

Anyway, updated to make the two Chapters more on-edge with each other, and show their angry sides off a little more.

 

 

EDIT EDIT:

 

500 words was the word count limit for the Liber Campaign, I believe.

I have no idea if the Cluster stuff ever had one, but 1000 words seems like a pretty good top limit.

[Nomus Sardauk]

Nice one Ace, I love the sheer petty spitefulness of the Lions & Penumbra's fight against the Imperium, they know they can't win in a straight-up fight but they'll take every conceivable opportunity to flip the bird in the Imps' faces as they're crushed underfoot.

[Kelborn]

Sorry for asking, but what is the difference between the Liber Campaigh and the Cluster?

 

Campaign = everywhere in the Imperium

Cluster = smalk region aka Cluster of stars

??

[Nomus Sardauk]

Sorry for asking, but what is the difference between the Liber Campaigh and the Cluster?

 

Campaign = everywhere in the Imperium

Cluster = smalk region aka Cluster of stars

??

Do you mean the Liber Campaign in the Special Projects section? If so, that has nothing to do with this thread, they just share the first part of their titles because the Liber Astartes forum is where they both started.

[Olis]

Sorry for asking, but what is the difference between the Liber Campaigh and the Cluster?

 

Campaign = everywhere in the Imperium

Cluster = smalk region aka Cluster of stars

??

 

The Liber Campaign was a grand, sweeping crusade using a great many DIY Chapters from the time it was conceived (5+ years ago) to create a story (or a series of stories) as the Campaign rolled on to its eventual end. There were three planned 'Acts' iirc and the level of effort needed to herd the Liberites involved was probably more than was feasible, hence the reminder topic I posted earlier this year to reconvene members who took part to finish at least some of the project.

 

The Liber Cluster itself is a group project in a similar vein but with perhaps a different goal - not only is the number of DIYs limited but the scope of creativity is broader, allowing us to fill in whatever details we see fit and give any number of fellow Liberites the chance to briefly pitch in as required. However, driving onwards has been difficult (much like the Campaign project) with multiple deadlines bypassed or simply failed. The way that I see it, even though this is technically Conn's baby, we need to bookend this project with the end of the EWC (Eighteen Worlds Crusade) and perhaps migrate to a new thread later this year. There we can collate the relevant details and stories, leaping feet first into a new chapter for the Liber Cluster (which I'm of a mind to base around the Untaken if people are game to the idea).   

[Ace Debonair]

Nice one Ace, I love the sheer petty spitefulness of the Lions & Penumbra's fight against the Imperium, they know they can't win in a straight-up fight but they'll take every conceivable opportunity to flip the bird in the Imps' faces as they're crushed underfoot.

I thought it was a nice defiant gesture for the Lions to make.

They don't strike me as the sort to take defeat well!

 

The way that I see it, even though this is technically Conn's baby, we need to bookend this project with the end of the EWC (Eighteen Worlds Crusade) and perhaps migrate to a new thread later this year. There we can collate the relevant details and stories, leaping feet first into a new chapter for the Liber Cluster (which I'm of a mind to base around the Untaken if people are game to the idea).

That sounds good to me, so long as there's room for some more of Penumbra's espionage-based shenanigans too.

 

Although as a Destiny player let me be the first to shoot down any idea titled 'The Untaken King'.

 

EDIT:

Accidentally erased 3/4 of my post. Oops!

[Conn Eremon]

There's some Penumbra-related events I'd like to write, to cap their story off. Could be nice, having a dual threat, from within and without.

 

Anyway, that's all to be determined. When the EWC concludes, so does the thread, temporarily. The Liber Cluster will return post-ETL, with this thread fully indexed and summarized for ease of information and fresh direction to follow up on.

 

A lot will be decided behind-the-scenes during the interim, to better guide the communal efforts that will still be responsible for 99% of the Liber Cluster's lore creation.

[Ace Debonair]

On further thought I really want to have more All-Seers squads fighting a shadowy war against Penumbra alongside the local Inquisition.

 

'Cause let's face it, the more-than-slight-hints-of-the-Illuminati-Chapter needs at least one war where certain key details are intentionally =][= REDACTED =][= by multiple factions with multiple agendas...

 

Oh, so many secrets...

 

 

EDIT:

...Also part of me thinks Liber Conclave Multi-Chapter Anti-Penumbra Taskforces would make a great gateway to establishing a Liber Cluster Deathwatch equivalent.

[Nomus Sardauk]

EDIT:

...Also part of me thinks Liber Conclave Multi-Chapter Anti-Penumbra Taskforces would make a great gateway to establishing a Liber Cluster Deathwatch equivalent.

Didn't we already have two Deathwatch squads, one of which was involved in anti-Penumbra ops?

[Teetengee]

I would really like to see the angels exultant getting along with the Aetheric Swords, and few people else. All this lovely dovey(read: functional alliance) stuff with the Ravagers who Profane the Holy Form of Humanity (particularly since being space marines makes their form reflective of Him on Terra) is making a couple of their chaplains quite ill.

 

Also, I don't really have a great conception of the Heralds of Letum, I feel like they get lost amongst some of the other chapters.

[Conn Eremon]

I agree about the Heralds of Letum, which is why I intend to have them feature more prominently than the Sentinels in my battle. Give them their time to shine.

[Kelborn]

Thanks for clarifying.

 

Seems like all seats were taken, right?

 

Or is there some space remaining for either another participating Astartes chapter or a crusading Imperial Knight Household? If not, its ok. :)

[Ace Debonair]

I would really like to see the angels exultant getting along with the Aetheric Swords, and few people else. All this lovely dovey(read: functional alliance) stuff with the Ravagers who Profane the Holy Form of Humanity (particularly since being space marines makes their form reflective of Him on Terra) is making a couple of their chaplains quite ill.

Leave it with me, I'll make them more antagonistic towards each other next time I get the time to make a proper edit.

[Nomus Sardauk]

@Conn Eremon: Sounds good, the Heralds don't have much written about them and the Sentinels have already had their turn in the spotlight at Barluate.

[Teetengee]

 

I would really like to see the angels exultant getting along with the Aetheric Swords, and few people else. All this lovely dovey(read: functional alliance) stuff with the Ravagers who Profane the Holy Form of Humanity (particularly since being space marines makes their form reflective of Him on Terra) is making a couple of their chaplains quite ill.

Leave it with me, I'll make them more antagonistic towards each other next time I get the time to make a proper edit.

 

It's not just your fault, don't worry, my writes about them weren't exactly antagonistic either.

 

All the above from everyone sounds great though.

 

Thanks for clarifying.

 

Seems like all seats were taken, right?

 

Or is there some space remaining for either another participating Astartes chapter or a crusading Imperial Knight Household? If not, its ok.

No to new chapters, yes to knight households.

[Kelborn]

All right.

 

So how should I proceed? Good thing is that my Household will be my contribution to the Brotherhood of Angels challenge, so I will likely upload their article in the coming days / weeks.

 

I'm a bit afraid of reading 100 pages, to be honest. But before I dive in this project, it would rather clarify what you would need from me.

[Conn Eremon]

Read the 1st page, which has the rules and guidelines, as well as about 90% of already existing Cluster lore.

 

You can create a Knight Household, but it has to be completely new. You can't bring something into the Cluster, but you can create something for the Cluster.

[Kelborn]

Ah ok.

That's important to know, thanks. :)

Then for now, I will cancel my participation.

[Ace Debonair]

 

EDIT:

...Also part of me thinks Liber Conclave Multi-Chapter Anti-Penumbra Taskforces would make a great gateway to establishing a Liber Cluster Deathwatch equivalent.

Didn't we already have two Deathwatch squads, one of which was involved in anti-Penumbra ops?

 

That wouldn't surprise me, to be honest. It's a good idea, after all - not every conflict has to be company-sized!

 

Also, I've edited the Burning of Glavor to try and make the Angels and the Ravagers a bit more foul-tempered.

All thoughts on the new version are very welcome!

[Nomus Sardauk]

 

EDIT:

...Also part of me thinks Liber Conclave Multi-Chapter Anti-Penumbra Taskforces would make a great gateway to establishing a Liber Cluster Deathwatch equivalent.

Didn't we already have two Deathwatch squads, one of which was involved in anti-Penumbra ops?

Found them, the first team is in this story:

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=

Inquisitor Yoshida sighed, but inwardly, not wishing to show any frustration in her current company.

 

She was sat in a nook atop a low building in one of the primitive hive cities of Kyrus. It was raining, and she'd been sat doing nothing in this small space for over three hours.

 

Her present company consisted of one Sergeant Toreus of the All-Seers, a bald, dark-skinned man whose perpetually solemn face was covered in runic tattoos. He was concealed under another overhang, a crack in the tin roof above him causing rain to drip down one side of his power armour.

 

Under Toreus' command were four other Space Marines, sourced from other Chapters of the Liber Conclave, each of them waiting diligently in secure locations around the city and watching for unsual activity. Jevin of the Aetheric Swords, Setari of the Lords Inviolate, Caspius of the Black Falcons and Tybald of the Blades of the Lion - each a veteran of a dozen hard-fought battles and a considerable asset in the war against Penumbra.

 

"Sergeant," came a voice over the coms. "I see Nightmares heading your way, two streets away. They're flanking a group of young women - could be Penumbra operatives, could be another decoy."

 

"Understood, Setari. I will be vigilant." Toreus replied, calmly. Here we go, thought Yoshida. But Toreus remained absolutely still, watching the street below from his vantage point. It was several minutes before the Nightmares came into view, their lacquered carapace armour emblazoned with a purple crescent moon, one of Penumbra's many emblems.

 

Truly enough, they appeared to be discreetly flanking a group of young women on a drunken night out, at least if their attire and banter was anything to go by.

 

As the Nightmares passed them and moved away towards another street, Toreus activated his vox once more, speaking quietly.

 

"Tybald, they're heading towards the space port. Keep watch and let me know when they get close. Jevin, keep watching in case they do something unexpected. Caspius, Setari, head towards the space port. Remain unseen. I'll be joining you shortly."

 

Toreus turned to Inquisitor Yoshida.

 

"Inquisitor, are your men in position?"

 

"They have been for the last half-hour. Don't worry. If it comes to a firefight at the spaceport, we'll have them outnumbered."

 

The Inquisitor and the Space Marine carefully made their way down to ground level and began tailing the Penumbra party from a distance.

 

The Penumbra soldiers took a twisting route that seemed only by coincidence to get closer to the space port. The party they were seemingly tailing were laughing and joking as they went, regardless of the rain, occasionally stopping at odd places to chat to other residents.

 

As unlikely as it seemed right now, intercepted transmissions had shown that one of these young ladies was likely to be Morius, one of Penumbra's deadliest killers.

 

Eventually, the party passed by the spaceport, and ducked into an alleyway. They were observed by Caspius, a skilled marksman from the Black Falcons Chapter, who watched them from a roof across the street, through the scope mounted on his bolter.

 

The six young ladies ducked behind a stack of crates while the soldiers stood guard. After a long moment, they re-emerged, dressed in uniforms very much like the local Arbites, and marched alongside the Nightmares to the spaceport proper. All former traces of their party-happy attitude and seemingly drunken behaviour was gone - they behaved like a disciplined, no-nonsense military unit.

 

"Toreus. They're coming around to the side entrance." Caspius voxed in.

 

"Good," the Sergeant replied. "Exactly as planned. On my signal, squad, eliminate the Nightmares."

 

The Nightmares split up, two of the group entering the space port while the other five spread out, watching the streets nervously.

 

"Proceed." Toreus voxed, quietly.

 

Suddenly, shots rang out. Caspius and Setari, from their vantage points, picked off the Nightmare guards with their bolters before they could identify where the shots were coming from. All around, civilians scattered. The pack of young women reacted with remarkable discipline, diving into cover and drawing las-pistols. They began to open fire as Toreus strode out towards them, his power sword crackling in the rain.

 

The shots found no purchase on the All-Seer's armour, and he quickened his pace. As the women moved to try and flank him, two more Space Marines burst through the door behind them. Two of the women reacted immediately, pulling loose some vicious knives and trying to stab the marines in the neck. Tybald parried a strike from one of them, and hesitated for a moment. Jevin reached across and punched her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

 

"There's a time and a place for chivalry, son of Jonson." Jevin grinned.

"Hmph. Just giving the foe a sporting chance." Tybald sniffed his response, throwing another assailant bodily into a sturdy crate, stunning her.

 

By this time Sergeant Toreus, Inquisitor Yoshida, and a squad of Imperial Guardsmen had moved to surround the surviving Penumbra agents. The six young women, realising they couldn't win, reluctantly surrendered.

 

 

The six assassins were loaded aboard Inquisitor Yoshida's personal transport Chimera, to be taken to an Imperial base for questioning. Toreus paused, staring at the last of the women to be loaded aboard with an intense frown on his face. She squirmed, but seemed unable to look away.

 

"We've struggled to get any purchase in battles with Penumbra, yet you made that look easy. Morius, whichever one she is, is one of Penumbra's deadliest killers - how did you do that?"

 

"Morius... is not just one person." Toreus replied, continuing to stare at his prisoner. "The identity is shared between these six." Inquisitor Yoshida looked bewildered.

 

"What...? How do you know this?"

 

"It was foretold." Toreus sighed, and pushed the prisoner into the Chimera. "I will not say more. I cannot share all of our knowledge with an outsider, no matter how just your cause." Toreus turned and motioned to his men, who formed up behind him.

 

"But be careful not to act in undue haste, Inquisitor. When the time comes to finally remove Penumbra from the Liber Cluster, the All-Seers will offer their aid."

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 

There we go, the last of my planned Penumbra stories.

I'm not as happy with this one as the last one, but I figured I might as well get it posted.

It's probably riddled with mistakes, so I'll probably edit it a bit tomorrow.

And the second team's lineup is listed here, although it was never fully filled:

 

So for current members I have:

Codicier Adar-Malik of the All-Seers

Veteran-Brother Domr of the Doomsayers

Brother-Devotee Clasticus of the Conflagrators

Brother-Captain Dorian Pentecost of the Scarlet Sentinels

and Siege-Brother Eisenhower of the Eagles.

 

For my planned kill team I still need marines from:

 

Iron Ravager

Aetheric Sword

Black Falcons

Blackjaw Kindred

Angels Exultant (Black Shield)

Sons of Calderon (Black Shield Dreadnought)

 

It will be quite the dynamic between all the members. I think the Aetheric Sword will quickly realise the true origin of the Black Shield, the songs of his chapter soothing the battle rage of the Black Shield. The Eagle will probably get on the nerves of the Scarlet Sentinel captain frequently with his tendency to use less subtle means in all circumstances. Tensions between the Doomsayers and the Kindred have come to light recently, so there may be a conflict between the Kindred brother and the Doomsayer with his Conflagrator ally. The possibilites are simply exciting!

Honestly I think I'm gonna take this team (minus the Son of Calderon Dread) and write a story about them, any one wanna fill in the team members yet lacking identities?

[Conn Eremon]

The 500 words was from the initial Chapter development requirement, that in order to submit a Chapter it had to have at least that much to it. I think I used it because both the Sons and Lords I had already written had that many words to them, but it might have come from the Liber Campaign as well.

 

Expanding on the Deathwatch teams in the Liber Cluster would be nice, SangReb. Go for it.