The Liber Cluster

[Olis]

Fair enough, it is within the realm of reason to have factions that are not Alpha Legion be deceptive andcounter logistical.

Indeed. The Emperor's Inquisition being one that I can think of immediately.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Olisredan

[Conn Eremon]

I would say that the Lions don't seem like they would really go for that level of deception, in my opinion. They seem a tad straightforward to me.

 

Perhaps switch it from a deliberate deception to faulty Imperial knowledge. They see a Marine acting like a lord on this world, who has been witnessed as a negotiator on other worlds, so they assume he is high in command. He is therefore labeled a high target, on an evenly defended world.

 

But, fast-forward a bit from recon and ancient record-gathering, and the world has far more defenses than it was supposed to have. Clearly this marine is important, and must be taken out.

 

Only, what the Imperials don't know is that this Marine is simply overseeing training. The recons showed him and this regiment alone, because they were preparing. All those new forces that appeared out of nowhere were there to train in live-fire exercises, the Marine and the regiment set up as the defenders/target. The Imperials arrive to find the average army they expected, but they also find a bigger army waiting for them, in an environment already set up to handle an attacking enemy. So much for the element of surprise and overwhelming force.

 

So, not only did they bite off more than they expected, but the reward isn't nearly as expected either. Congratulations, that immense army you struggled to get through were recruits, and that Marine leader you hunted down (if you take him) was not so highly placed.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Cormac Airt

[Dizzyeye01]

What about the Lions' take advantage of the faulty knowledge and cause the Imperials' fleet to back off, causing the ground forces to slog their way through and are a battered force once their fleet return? That could work.

[Olis]

...and cause the Imperials' fleet to back off...

How, exactly? Hidden anti-orbit silos?

[Wade Garrett]

@ Olisredan:

 

Rogal Dorn is the Primarch associated with medicine and death, who watches over travelers, including the righteous dead journeying through the Shadowlands to the Halls of the Emperor. Blackjaws perform ceremonies in his name any time they set out, because one never knows when they might find themselves taking the final journey with 'Hands of Stone'.

 

His symbol is a heraldic cross upon a shield, but it may only be worn by the Dreadnaughts.

 

Having been guided back to the land of the living by Dorn, they are held to be the closest to him, regardless of which Primarchs they venerated beforehand.

 

The Chapter's Assessors (Apothecary equivalents) are likewise linked with Dorn and his fellow Lord of Death, the brooding and wrathful Vulkan in Kin beliefs.

 

All Assessors bear a replica of the hammer Vulkan uses to strike anyone who approaches his Gate with (ensuring that only the dead pass into his realm) which they use to administer a coupe de grace on fallen battle brothers before harvesting their gene seed.

 

With fighting blades affixed at the knuckles, elbows, and shoulders of their armor and clad in hooded cloaks of chainmesh, they cut a forbidding appearance even by Space Marine standards, but the Assessors's practice of honing their medical skills on the Kin's mortal specialists and the populace of their recruiting worlds mean those who hold this position are usually more familiar with and understanding of regular humans than is normal for an Astartes.

-------------------------------

 

With Dorn and Vulkan, I was trying to play off the two figures Christian popular belief links with death, the sinister and feared Grim Reaper and St. Peter at the gates of heaven.

 

With a slight twist of the nice guy coming to pick up his charges, and the scary guy lying in wait for you to approach his Ominous Threshold of Doom.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Wade Garrett

[Olis]

So, should they have been thanking Dorn for the safe journey (to the planet across the void and from orbit), or the Khan?

[Conn Eremon]

Way I see it, they should be thanking Dorn for the safe arrival. Before the journey, they would have sought to appease the Khan.

 

Edit: The ship crew and captain, if Astartes or mortals inducted into the Primarch Cults, might thank the Khan.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Cormac Airt

[Ace Debonair]

Cormac:

 

Uh, the whole thing is already based on incomplete Imperial knowledge.

 

I can't actually see much difference between your suggestion and mine, save for replacing the Venet Light Infantry with raw recruits and making the trap less of a deliberate thing and more of a happy coincidence.

 

The way I see it, Khroda's had a long time to get ready for Imperial interference, so surely he's made some plans to put at least the initial encounters on his terms.

[Captain Nameless]

Regarding an attempted Alpha Legion infiltration of the Saneslau Mechanicus.

 

"Acolyte, come here."

"Yes, Magos."

"Hold this aperture open while I reconnect the cables within."

The acolyte dutifully pries open the aperture, while behind him the Magos raises a bladed Mechadendrite and impales the acolyte through the chest.

The Magos smiles and says "You need to cover your tracks more carefully if you intend to deal with the Saneslau Mechanicus."

 

 

(By the way, I edited the Viemarr Eagles a while back. Does it look better now?

Also, Wade Garrett, regarding the 50% greater casualties statistic, I was actually thinking of a different book titled Germany's war and the Holocaust.)

[Olis]

Wade, I'll see if I can do a preliminary write up for 'Operation Oh-my-god-the-horizon-is-on-fire' and squeeze in amendments/additions to that little vignette (any strong pointers would be welcome, if any are necessary). 

[Astus]

Dizzyeye: The banner looks great. Thank you for that.

Ace: I like that scenario. Khroda strikes me as the kind of man that would send another Marine to 'negotiate'. When things go badly the Heralds will be willing to sacrifice their lives for victory. The Heralds of Letum's 4th Brotherhood under Captain Keldier stand ready. I'm going to start working on a short vignette like Olis has, to show the initial meeting between the two Chapters.

[Wade Garrett]

Way I see it, they should be thanking Dorn for the safe arrival. Before the journey, they would have sought to appease the Khan.

 

Edit: The ship crew and captain, if Astartes or mortals inducted into the Primarch Cults, might thank the Khan.

Bingo. Except for Her dedicated acolytes (usually limited to the crews of the Chapter fleet, orbital boarding specialists, and a few squads of amphibious assault experts) most Kin would see thanking unyielding Jaghatai for a safe arrival as a waste of time.

 

The Law demands your obedience, not your gratitude.

 

Now, as far as the Kin's appearance goes...the green swamp camoflague image was put up when they were "just" Raging Cajun Space Marines. They've evolved considerably since then, which is why (at Cormac's suggestion) I put up a second image of standard Chapter colors, white with black and gold trim, because WHO DAT! WHO DAT! WHO DAT SAY THEY GONNA BEAT THEM KIN! I liked how that combination looked in the painter.

 

The actual appearance of a Blackjaw Kindred force is considerably more colorful, denoting their specialization, which of the Primarch sects they belong to, and a variety of other information discernable only to one well versed in the Blackjaw chapter cult.

 

Basically, I was inspired by this bit from Unremembered Empire:

 

Guilliman had also heard of secret orders and mysterious hierarchies within the ranks of the Dark Angels; hierarchies of knowledge, trust, and authority, invisible to outsiders. It explained some of their curious insignia, which sometimes bore no relation to rank or company structure.

-Unremembered Empire

 

And given their Space Wolf like tendencies towards informality and use of normal humans in their operations, I can easily see a Conflagrator viewing the approach of their allies like this:

 

Somewhere around the hardpan of the Emperor's Children dropsite, a riot had collided with a triumphal parade. That could be the only possible explanation for the gaudy cavalcade of noise, color, and spectacle that processed into the valley. Ten thousand mortals provided a screaming vanguard for the III Legion, a frantic host of screaming men and women, swirling banners, and discordant noise blasting from instruments that bore no relation to anything crafted by a sane musician.

 

Blooms of colored and perfumed smoke wafted ahead of the host, fanned by glassy eyed ogryns whose contoured body armor had been hammered into their flesh by barbed spikes. Forrix watched with a mixture of anger and horror at the sight of the approaching rabble, a decadent celebration of every perversity and degradation known to man.

-Angel Exterminatus

 

TL, DR: The Conflagrators are a real drag at Mardi Gras and they hate jazz and zydeco.

 

Basically, you've got your Space Wolves informality and crazy pagan beliefs, you've got your Dark Angels specialized formations and semi-secret organizations existing alongside the regular chain of command; and you have something of the Word Bearers zealous belief

in a pantheon, and the XVII's lots of allied mortals, although the Blackjaw's non power armored contingents have more in common with Khorsabad Maw's Ironclad than the "starving loonies with rocks and sticks" the Bearers are known for bringing to the party.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Wade Garrett

[Hyaenidae]

 

Uh, the whole thing is already based on incomplete Imperial knowledge.

 

This. This is the keystone, the focal point to keep in mind. I made the 'Briefing' intentionally full of old information, bits of new information, old truths that may now be faulty, some real, legitimate info, and enough holes to drive a Mack truck through. All of this, compiled by a dusty old man with ink stained fingers and poor eyesight, who lived his entire life in a city sized library full of poorly maintained information, on a planet on the other side of the friggin' galaxy.

 

Everything you have been told is not a lie, but it may not be complete either.

 

EDIT: I will, though, be creating 'Snap Reports', from scout elements, Inquistorial teams, etc, for bunches of new, fun stuff for y'all to freak out about :lol: .

Edited June 30, 2014 by 1000heathens

[Conn Eremon]

Cormac:

 

Uh, the whole thing is already based on incomplete Imperial knowledge.

 

I can't actually see much difference between your suggestion and mine, save for replacing the Venet Light Infantry with raw recruits and making the trap less of a deliberate thing and more of a happy coincidence.

 

The way I see it, Khroda's had a long time to get ready for Imperial interference, so surely he's made some plans to put at least the initial encounters on his terms.

Forgive me, I didn't clarify my thoughts right.

 

The thing that tripped me up is the Marine deliberately masquerading as high on the food chain as a decoy. I can see them preparing, laying traps, tricking the enemy, all that. But I don't really see them going for that level of deception, so I was trying for an alternative that stayed as close as possible. If I'm off base, sorry.:sweat:

 

As for the Venet Light Infantry, I had forgotten their name, but they are who I meant as the force the recruits would be challenging to get some much needed experience, and who could provide the backbone when they form together against the Imperials.

[deathspectersgt7]

All-seers and Doomsayers joint action:

After consulting the Tarot, the All-seers next course of action is decided. A strike cruiser plus escort warp in with perfect precision to the system the Doomsayers are just about to leave. The "Awaiting Doom" is hailed with an urgent message for Kaunaz, beseeching him that the Doomsayers join this contigent of All-seers in defending a key forge world from invaders of an unknown provenance.

Knowing the value of the forge world Kaunaz cannot refuse, and all haste is made for the besieged planet. Entry to the system was met with a small rearguard fleet, and the strike cruisers escorts were blown out of the void before anyone could react. Vengeance was swiftly enacted by the Doomsayers and with great speed did the damaged combined fleet make for the forge world. The leading All-seer, a librarian, scryed the tarot once more, the reading giving details of a key location to aim for. Once more was a message sent.

The combined fleet moved as a shoal, the smaller escorts and numerous fighters peeling from, then rejoining the group, thus minimising damage recieved by any one ship and maximising the offensive potential of the fleet.

Once close enough to the planet, Kaunaz himself donned his artificer armour and took up his prized powered escrima stave. He called together his terminator elite and a teleport locum was established to the Fabricator Primaris' forge. With a concussive bang, and the stink of ozone they were on the surface, and what awaited them defied belief.

Kaunaz, never a man of many words declared the charge. Activating his Iron Halo and spinning his staff in great whorls, he and his elite went to greet their doom the only way a Doomsayer knew how.

 

******************************

 

Requires fleshing out but I have made a start for perusal. Kaunaz isn't going to make it out of this one!

Cool I have to come up with some names for some key Marines and ship names also.

[Wade Garrett]

Wade, I'll see if I can do a preliminary write up for 'Operation Oh-my-god-the-horizon-is-on-fire' and squeeze in amendments/additions to that little vignette (any strong pointers would be welcome, if any are necessary).

The Ancient's withered eyes open wide for the first time in centuries, as he beheld the newly created inferno stretching as far as even the transhuman eye could see.

None of the Lions save perhaps Al-Rashid knew the wizened Astartes's true name or even the Chapter or Legion he originally hailed from, only that the unbelievably aged Marine stood at the center of their Lord's great web of spies and informants, an elderly masters of whispers whom awestruck rumor held learned of events within the Cluster before even the Dark Gods themselves.

 

"Take a note." he rasped to the circle of savant-servitors that constantly surrounded him, vital cogs in maintaining an intelligence network that had taken a thousand years to construct and had grown far beyond what even the enhanced mind of a Space Marine could manage unaided.

 

"The designations given to a Conflagrators operation in pre battle briefings are far less...metaphorical than previously assumed."

 

:D

 

As far as the initial vignette goes, I'd throw in some mentions of how gaudy and mismatched the Kin's armor appears in contrast to the uniformity of the Conflagrators, with perhaps a mention of the numerous mortals mingling among them with far less reserve than is proper for Chapter Serfs.

 

Other than that, I like it. With the Conflagrators, I can see the attitude of some being that it is best to use the reverence the Blackjaws hold them in to gently (for a given value of 'gentle') guide them towards a proper reverence of the God Emperor of Mankind, and some who feel the best approach is to drown them in flamer-spray from multiple angles, and then use Thunder Hammers to finish off any survivors.

 

As far as the Battle on Zavatista goes, I was thinking that your guys would lean more towards "Deny the Lions the resources by torching everything. EVERYTHING!"

 

Whereas the Blackjaw would wish to recapture the Ships and free the slave populations the Lions have been cramming into them for centuries.

 

Regardless, the Kin will storm aboard the huge refineries with a maniacal zeal that draws admiration even from their fellow Chapter.

 

Their grudge with the Lions goes far deeper than any of the other Liberites, with many pages of The Tome of Counted Sorrows detailing humiliating defeats at the renegades's hands.

 

For almost the entirety of the Silence they survived with caution, secrecy, and never engaging in open battle with Al-Rashid's forces save when it was absolutely necessary.

 

A hit and run strike on a picket cruiser here, spiriting a city's population into hiding before the Lions's slave catchers could seize them there....small victories amid a litany of worlds burned, Circles hunted down and butchered, and far too many moments of watching silently as the people of the Liber Cluster suffered and died beneath the Lions claws, powerless to aid them.

 

This attack is not a simple purge of heretics for them. This is vindication. This is a reckoning. This is balancing the scales for centuries of swallowing their Astartes pride and letting their wounds scar unavenged.

 

This might be yet another page in the ToCS. It depends on how you and 1000heathens want to play it.

 

I had a couple of ideas for how the Lions might defend their promethium sources:

 

The first is a formation of Assault Marines/Raptors equipped with vibro pikes, trained to quickly navigate the interiors of the Ships and meet boarders with a thicket of spear points no matter what route they try to gain access to crucial areas of the refinery by. (Utilizing plasma, las cannons, flamers and the like in anything but the highest levels of a Ship requires a complete lack of concern for both one's own well being. Oh hi there Conflagrators, didn't see you come in.)

 

I was also thinking they might have psykers who could rouse the carcallapedes (hellgramite meets kronosaurus capable of eating a Land Speeder) native to the chem-seas and command them to rip any invaders apart, but I welcome any input from heathens on the viability of these notions.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Wade Garrett

[Tiberius Cato]

The Eagles and Sentinels will strike the heavily fortified world of Baluarte. Imperial records report it to be a merchant world that has many imports and exports pass through it each day.

 

The local area around the planet is patrolled by a large contingent of the varied fleets of the Lions, with two of Baluarte's moons being outfitted for orbital defense. Planetside, all manners of fortifications exist, artificial and natural. The largest city, Dorado, is carved into a mountanside and has mountain ridges on it's north and south borders. The only way into the city is via air transport or traversing the mountainous terrain leading to the city gates.

 

The main objective for the Sentinels and the Eagles is to secure Dorado and take control of the world. It is believed that in doing so, a large blow will be dealt to Al-Rashid Ibn Khroda's supply lines and his armies crippled.

 

Room for improvement, something I was mulling over in my head that I can use as a base and elaborate on later. Not sure if the ways of the Eagles are rubbing off on me, but I thought that the two chapters would be assigned to a mission of greater than normal importance, given their track record of getting the job done quickly and efficiently. And don't worry, losses shall be substantial; the duo is colliding head on with a force that greatly outnumbers them and is entrenched.

[Ace Debonair]

 

Uh, the whole thing is already based on incomplete Imperial knowledge.

 

This. This is the keystone, the focal point to keep in mind. I made the 'Briefing' intentionally full of old information, bits of new information, old truths that may now be faulty, some real, legitimate info, and enough holes to drive a Mack truck through. All of this, compiled by a dusty old man with ink stained fingers and poor eyesight, who lived his entire life in a city sized library full of poorly maintained information, on a planet on the other side of the friggin' galaxy.

 

Everything you have been told is not a lie, but it may not be complete either.

 

EDIT: I will, though, be creating 'Snap Reports', from scout elements, Inquistorial teams, etc, for bunches of new, fun stuff for y'all to freak out about .

 

 

So in reality the Lions might be much, much more dangerous.

 

Aw, heck.

 

 

 

Cormac:

 

Uh, the whole thing is already based on incomplete Imperial knowledge.

 

I can't actually see much difference between your suggestion and mine, save for replacing the Venet Light Infantry with raw recruits and making the trap less of a deliberate thing and more of a happy coincidence.

 

The way I see it, Khroda's had a long time to get ready for Imperial interference, so surely he's made some plans to put at least the initial encounters on his terms.

Forgive me, I didn't clarify my thoughts right.

 

The thing that tripped me up is the Marine deliberately masquerading as high on the food chain as a decoy. I can see them preparing, laying traps, tricking the enemy, all that. But I don't really see them going for that level of deception, so I was trying for an alternative that stayed as close as possible. If I'm off base, sorry.

 

As for the Venet Light Infantry, I had forgotten their name, but they are who I meant as the force the recruits would be challenging to get some much needed experience, and who could provide the backbone when they form together against the Imperials.

 

Oh, that makes more sense.

 

I don't know about the level of deception being off-key though. The Lions did reportedly use very misleading contracts to maximize their gains and stuff, and Khroda strikes me as the sort of man to have at least some sort of plan for meeting the Imperium's finest head-on.

 

I don't intend for the Lions to use the super-crafty approach every time I write them (not with so many troops available to them  ) but I do think they'd at least make these initial engagements on their terms, which means catching the Imperial forces involved entirely off-guard.

 

Plus, it's as much of a plain old self-preservation tactic as anything. Putting some focus on another marine who isn't Khroda might make the Imperium split their forces when they don't need to. Divide and conquer and all that!

 

Now, all that said, I'm not against changing it if you still feel it doesn't fit. It's not like I need to re-write the whole thing, just a few details.

I'll probably edit things so the troops the Imperium knows about are fresh recruits (and mention that presumably the Venet Light Infantry are off elsewhere doing Khroda's bidding), though, because that's just a plain sweet idea.

[Hyaenidae]

 

 

So in reality the Lions might be much, much more dangerous.

 

Aw, heck.

 

Umm, maybe? I mean, at the end of the day, this is Cormac's baby to guide along it's path. My original plan with the Lions was to create a Blood Pact on steroids, sans the chaos worship. A serious, gritty, no holds-barred professional enemy for the group to bang their heads off for a while. I'm honoured to have the status of "One bad dude", but I'm still only chillin' on eighteen planets, within an entire cluster consisting of hundreds of plantets chock fulla tek-heretics, chaos worshippers, pirates, xenos empires, reavers, and maybe even a few species the Imperium has never faced before. 

 

Y'all are goin "Charge the Lions", while the Lions are saying, "screw the resurgent Imperium, what direction is that Ork horde coming from?!?"

 

I'm just enjoying playing Urlock Gaur right now. Cormac is playing Zeus, and is carrying the thunderbolts. Which is good because:

 

1. My idea of politics is convincing my friend to go get me a beer...and...

 

2. My idea of deception is shooting that same friend with a paintball gun when he comes out.

 

If you just put one and two together, and realized I didn't get that beer, you know why I'm just staying on the tactical side of this crusade 'o' laughs, and letting Cormac make all the decisions.

[Captain Juan Juarez]

 

 

1. My idea of politics is convincing my friend to go get me a beer...and...

 

2. My idea of deception is shooting that same friend with a paintball gun when he comes out.

 

 

I approve of your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

 

The thing to look at is the long-term strategic goals:

 

We know about the Imperium - they want what they see as theirs and if they can't have it they deny it to another - but what do the Lions really want? An empire or something more mysterious. They have to have goals or otherwise they are just the fantastical Big Bad.

[Aegnor]

Y'all are goin "Charge the Lions", while the Lions are saying, "screw the resurgent Imperium, what direction is that Ork horde coming from?!?"

Oh, that gives me an idea for the Angels Exultant-Iron Ravagers joint op.

 

Question to Cormac, Teetengee and/or the room. What is the time period of this mini crusade again? Is it pre the Angels fall or after it? If after, then the concept of a joint op will obviously require some minor adjustments.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Aegnor

[Wade Garrett]

Random remarks INCOMING!

 

I don't know about the Lions having a "merchant planet". Al-Rashid strikes me as the type to operate more like this:

 

Now, whenever he wanted something, Huron Blackheart simply reached out with the might of his loyal Red Corsairs, and he took it. His greedy, grasping claws closed around objects, people, and entire star systems and stole them away. Occasionally, though, he would come upon a treasure he could not simply claim.

 

When this happened, he would be roused from the shadows in which he now existed and he would hunt down his quarry in an entirely different manner. He would sit down with the agents of the most powerful and influential and he would talk.

 

He would barter and negotiate, bringing his considerable charisma and cunning to the fore, and he would make more deals. His reputation preceded him wherever he went, and many wisely shied away from reaching any sort of arrangement with the Tyrant of Badab, fearing for their lives. But there were many more who boldy sealed their agreements with him in blood.

 

Sometimes, Huron Blackheart even kept his word.

-The Bitter End, by Sarah Cawkwell

 

Basically, for the Lions to cut a deal with you, you have to have something they want or need, and be heavily armed enough that they can't just take it from you. Which is a fairly uncommon combination. Again, MY opinion.

 

Second...exactly how big is this Cluster? I'm not demanding an exact figure, more of...five hundred worlds? A thousand worlds? Two thousand? I've been under the impression that it was closer to the small numbers, and thus 18 worlds made Al-Rashid a significant player, or am I way off base?

 

Third, I saw someone asking how the Saneslau Mechanicus would treat the Imperial Guard.

 

Bearing in mind that I am not the sole arbiter who can declaim "Yea verily, like unto this manner and no other" for Saneslau:

 

With an air of courtesy that is only dropped under extreme circumstances and an obsession with getting everything down in writing.

 

They are well aware that the Mechanicus Orthodoxy and the Inquisition are looking for excuses to break them, and being able to point to the signed contracts and say "Look, we honored our end of the deal!*" is one of the ways they protect themselves.

 

*'Our end of the deal' subject to amounts of 'Exact Wording' and 'Read the fine print' that would make Queen Mab of the Unseelie Court and Wolfram & Hart proud. Saneslau Mechanicus and its represenatives, affiliates, agents, employees, accept no liability for losses incurred due to this.

 

And as far as them killing off an Alpha infiltrator they'd discovered....no no no. You don't kill a known enemy operative. What you do is, you keep them around and feed them all the information (and misinformation) you want their controllers to have.

 

Finally, I want the xenos menaces of the Cluster to include an Ork Warboss named Grimlugg Trukksmasha.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Wade Garrett

[Captain Nameless]

 

 

And as far as them killing off an Alpha infiltrator they'd discovered....no no no. You don't kill a known enemy operative. What you do is, you keep them around and feed them all the information (and misinformation) you want their controllers to have. 

 

Ah, I see. I guess I need to think a bit more deviously when writing of the Saneslau.

 

And as for Grimlugg Trukksmasha, would he have a lot of vehicles or a lot of anti-tank weaponry, or lots of both?

[Dizzyeye01]

I feel we need to decide on the Actual Cluster itself eg how big it is etc so we know what we have to work with. Considering the fact that at the start we have 17 chapters sent here there must be hell of a lot of problems here.

[Olis]

Attack on Zavatista

The following operation on the refinery-world of Zavatista Lesser was planned to consist of three phases:

• Assault

This phase involved gaining orbital and air supremacy, leading onto boarding the vast refinery-ships sailing on the chem-oceans.

• Decimation

In this phase the Conflagrators and the Kindred were to meet and annihilate any resident Lion forces, preferably without destroying the refinery-ships. Seizure of the refinery-ships was named the overall objective.

• Rescue

At the insistence of the Kindred, any Imperial citizenry found during the operation will be evacuated to Kindred ships and the two mass conveyors accompanying the task force.

Little known to the Kindred, the Conflagrators drew up a fourth phase, anticipating the strategically vital Zavatista to be retaken by the Lions in the future.

• Conflagration

Beginning on the very refinery-ships that have been liberated, the Conflagrators were to conduct a 'scorched-earth' mission. First the ships would be burned, then they would be sunk. The Conflagrators, at this point, would retire to orbit where, should any infrastructure survive, their vessels would direct orbital strikes to annihilate whatever is left. Setting the chem-oceans alight was described as "likely and unsurprising".

The reasoning behind this, as much as the Conflagrators themselves are willing to impart, is down to simple strategy: Zavatista lies deep within the Eighteen Worlds, deep enough that efforts to retake the world were entirely likely and indeed expected. Rather than tie down Imperial forces in defending a strategically important planet, it was decided to render the world unimportant for the rest of the campaign.

Force dispositions: Conflagrators - 112 Astartes + mission assets
Blackjaw Kindred - 140 Astartes + mission assets
Imperial Guard - 4 Regiments (Muldacian 20th Heavy Infantry,
Pallias 3rd Indentured,
Rusk Mechanised Urbanite Division,
Vorden Drop Troops 'The Golden Dogs')
Estimated mission time: Ten Days.

+Pict Capture: Aft structure, Command Deck, Refinery-Ship Annapurna Gate on Zavatista+

In the Void
As with many Imperial operations over the course of it's history, no plan survives contact with the enemy.

Immediately upon exiting the Warp, the Imperial fleet was confronted with its first obstacle, an orbital station of unknown provenance. The Sereiki Lions fleet, consisting mainly of destroyers and picket vessels, positioned themselves in a highly aggressive formation, yet stubbornly refused to give battle, seeking to entice the Imperial forces into the range of the station's numerous defense batteries.

In response, heavier vessels of the Conflagrators and Blackjaw Kindred forged ahead of the main fleet, plowing through the blockade of lighter vessels to launch boarding torpedoes at the defense platform.

At this point, the Lions played their second trick. Several hitherto undetected ships (later determined to be local defense monitors, lacking the ability to translate into the warp but eminently suitable for these types of engagement) powered up and began approaching the bulk troop transports and assault craft carriers from behind.

While the mission briefing had indicated Zavatista would be mainly defended by Al-Rashid's Hyena elite guard, the warriors aboard these monitors were deadlier by far. Due to the importance of its promethium output to their continued operations, the Lions had stationed an allied Astartes warband, the Untaken, as a permanent garrison over the refinery world.

The monitors housing them seem to have been custom fitted for Astartes boarding operations, with their armament consisting solely of a single spine mounted heavy cannon meant to lower the target vessel's shields for the instant their Astartes contingent needed to board and gut them. The monitors and their crew would have wreaked havoc among the transports and support vessels, but one of their targets was more than it seemed. As macro cannon shots hammered into one of the gargantuan bulk transports, the entire hull broke apart, revealing the elegant lines of an Astartes Strike Cruiser in the colours of the Blackjaw Kindred. (Analysis of IFF transmissions would later identify this vessel as the Golden Hind, a ship of the Scarlet Sentinels which had been reported lost in the hrud migration over Jusendo-XV. How the Kindred acquired it is as of this time unknown.)

Facing a common and indeed effective anti-piracy tactic of the Kin, the monitors - craft designed for quick ambushes in the void - proved lamentably incapable of standing up to an enemy Strike Cruiser. Meanwhile, kill teams of Conflagrators were burning their way towards the heart of the station, as the main force of the Imperial fleet moved to engage the bulk of the Lion fleet.

With their ambush thwarted and the linchpin of their orbital defense cordon falling silent, the Untaken and Hyena commanders seem to have elected to make a stand on the planet's surface, ordering their ships to deploy all ground capable assets they possessed and flee.

In hindsight, their strategy seems to have been to hold the Imperium at bay and buy time until reinforcements from elsewhere within the Eighteen Worlds could arrive. But with the Imperial Assault Fleets hitting multiple targets in the renegade pocket empire and the Conflagrators pushing the Imperial advance forward at a murderous pace, this proved to be an impossible task.


On Zavatista
Led by squadrons of craft in the colors of the Lions most notorious aerial units, including the bat winged fighters of the elite Kingkillers, as well as waves of the non Euclidean "Death Blossom" class torpedo bombers Imperial picket vessels had already learned to fear, the air-power on display gave command on the Ashmaker pause for thought. Dozens of flights launched from each city-sized ship, denying the air completely to the astartes and their allies for sixteen hours while dogfights and brutal multi-wing clashes brought dozens of craft down. The Conflagrators, not commonly known for their patience, circumvented this obstacle by launching a drop-pod assault on three of the sixteen refinery-ships of Zavatista.

Each refinery-ship, heavily armoured and thick with anti-air emplacements, brought down many of the first wave of pods. The deathwind drop pods proved largely ineffective against void shielded turrets but still mowed down dozens of defenders. The second wave came down with little better luck, the Conflagrators losing precious astartes they could ill afford to waste to the sky-trained batteries. However with marines onboard, the turrets proved less effective, succumbing to melta bombs and man-portable heavy weapons one by one allowing the third wave to deploy nigh uncontested.

The Kindred followed suit, keen not to let their cousins fight unaided while the rest of the task-force waited for the skies to clear. They too launched an assault on several refinery-ships, using Land Speeders to approach their targets underneath the fire arcs of the anti-air emplacements, skimming the chem-ocean skilfully. This did come at a price - several beastmasters amongst the Lion forces called upon the denizens of the chem-oceans to defend the ships. Drawing large centipede-xenoforms to the Kindred as they approached, the beastmasters brought down a number of Speeders but fewer than they had hoped. The Kindred forced an entry near the water-line and struck from there at vital systems. Much to the admiration of their brother chapter, the Kindred forged onward despite their casualties.

Garrisoned on Zavatista was a vassal warband of astartes - The Untaken - and a sizeable contingent of the Hyenas led by a lieutenant named Skas Verrisken. Verrisken himself died in the opening hours of the engagements, thought to have died in the firestorm upon one of the three refinery-ships the Conflagrators had attacked. The Untaken, however, proved significantly harder to kill.

Unknown to the Imperial forces at the time, the appearance of these space marines threw back the assault toward the landing sites, penning in the Conflagrators and the Kindred alike. On one refinery-ship the Conflagrators were wiped out in their entirety, thirty-four Astartes brought low by a company-strength force of The Untaken. Fittingly enough, these marines were gifted a death-pyre by the vessel burning until it sank, lighting up a four-thousand square kilometre swathe of chem-ocean. Fleeing aircraft indicate the garrison and significant portion of the populace escaped the destruction of the refinery-ship, making best speed for the nearest uncontested vessel.

All of this occurred within the first day. The following week saw control of the air slowly being taken by the Imperium, craft by oil-stained craft. It was on day three that the regiments of the guard made planetfall on the remaining uncontested ships - just four of them sailed unmolested by this time. Each regiment was assigned a vessel to take and began their landings en masse, directly into the teeth of anti-air positions and the last of the Lion's airpower. As the assault continued, more and more of the defences quietened, demolition charges ruining them and making the skies safer for the following units. For each dropship destroyed or forced to land in the chem-oceans, a prayer was taken up by the Command Echelon in orbit. More than a hundred prayers sang out on the Ashmaker at the culmination of the landings.

The two surviving vessels the Conflagrators assaulted fell on day four, the structural damage and ruination of the heavy mechanics rendering them all but unusable - they were, however, in Imperial hands. Of the ships the Kindred had assailed, one had failed to fall but the four others sat dead in the water unpowered. The Kindred had struck at the Generatoria on the lowest levels, endured cramped conditions and brutal tunnel-fighting to take the objective, depriving the ships of electrical power to defend or move.

A second vessel was destroyed on day five, detonating catastrophically from within. The entire southern pole burned, marking the death-site of the Muldacian regiment. Two other ships, overtaken by the flames, sank on day seven. Emperor help whomever did not escape the slow death this brought.

On day eight, with the skies clear, interdiction runs began in earnest. Whatever enemy units and emplacements that still contested the surface of the surviving twelve refinery-ships were mercilessly gunned down or bombed asunder. With six vessels still either in enemy hands or otherwise contested, the depleted Imperial forces forged inside the four where control was challenged by Hyena and Untaken units, eager to avenge the dead.

Here The Untaken still proved a difficult foe to get to grips with but in the cramped spaces of the refinery-ships' interiors there was not enough room for manoeuvre or the usual tactics favoured by Lion forces. On the sixth day of fighting, Imperial progress was briefly shaken by the renegade Astartes deploying previously unseen Tactical Dreadnaught Armor assets, with Untaken in the relic war suits launching numerous small unti harassment strikes. Although it is doubtful the soldiers initially confronted by these shock attacks would have agreed, the coordinated offensive was ultimately a failure, with Terminator specialists among both the Kin and the Conflagrators claiming that neophytes among their Chapters could have made better use of the heavy armor. All such boasting quickly died out when it was discovered that under cover of the teror assault the bulk of the Untaken had fled the fighting, abandoning Zavatista and braving the fleet cordon in a bid to escape. Several lifters were shot down by Imperial flights but a significant portion of the group achieved orbit, commandeered a Naval destroyer and burned the engines hot for the system's edge. Any attempts to halt them failed.

Two refinery ships remained, largely undefended except for the last of the leaderless and decimated Hyenas. In the process of being assaulted by the last of the Conflagrators, the overseers, slaves and work crews surrendered unconditionally, lest they burn too. Unfortunately for them, the Conflagrators burned them anyway, steel girder stakes erected on the deck of each ship bearing two bodies each, tied back-to-back. The blackened corpses swaying in the wind offered a macabre sight to any allied units that boarded the ships afterwards, the rictus grins of the dead offering little respite to these battle-weary men.

True to plan, these ships surrendered intact began to burn. Conflagrator fire-bombs gutted the Command Centres and the Enginariums, setting ablaze the interiors and blowing out any ammunition stores the flames reached. Soon after, six more vessels burned. The refinery-ships and the chem-seas surrounding them proving untenable for Imperial forces to stay and consolidate their holdings. The Kindred, exasperated by the pyromaniacal actions of the Conflagrators, evacuated as many souls as they could from the burning ships. Kindred search teams found and disarmed each discovered fire-bomb in turn, saving the last four refinery-ships from fiery doom.

With just a quarter of the infrastructure intact at the end of the campaign and the imperial forces having suffered near to sixty percent casualties, the Conflagrators were lambasted by the surviving Naval and Guard officers for reckless endangerment of the task force. The Kindred remained conspicuously quiet. They knew the avatars of Vulkan did whatever was deemed necessary, sure of Vulkan's guiding hand. The Conflagrators, whose hand was stayed by the mere presence of the Kindred on the last ships, parted ways with the task force and returned to Cardinalis.

At the following Conclave, the Conflagrators rejected and denied assertions of careless behaviour, shouting down other advocates with reminders of the Conflagrator dead, those Kindred that had fallen in the fighting and the apparent retaking of Zavatista Lesser by Lion forces just one year later. They argued that they were justified of every action taken, every body burned and every refinery-ship sunk. Not every delegation took them for their word.


[Addendum] - The Untaken.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aC8DSc3Wd64/UjohonqO9tI/AAAAAAAADyM/fe4E49NdjYQ/s1600/rn_marine2.jpg

Armoured primarily in Corvus battle-plate and armed with a wide variety of weaponry, The Untaken display unorthodox fighting methods, such as three-man strong kill-teams and apparently suicidal assaults by individual marines and squads. These assaults, though suicidal, are often used to eliminate high-value targets such as vehicles, officers or enemy groups. Curiously enough these tactics appear to mesh well with the high-mobility doctrines of the Lions, especially the 'strike-and-fade' mentality and the ambush strategies often witnessed.

They are a mercenary band supplied by whatever means they can, often relying on scavenging weaponry or stealing whatever they must. Even on Zavatista The Untaken were witnessed taking weapons and armour from fallen enemies, augmenting their own equipment as best they could. What few terminator suits the group had seem to have been lost during the fighting in the depths of the refinery-ships.

It is unknown when or why The Untaken became a vassal unit under the Lions but it stands to reason that the warband itself is of multiple-company strength, as evidenced on Zavatista. One theory, put forward by the Saneslau Mechanicus, is that these marines are the missing chapter last contacted in the Regahl Strip, forty years before the Silence took hold. Gene-markers back up the assertion, however three other missing/destroyed/lost candidate chapters also conform to the genetic markers of the sample, rendering the claim spurious at best.




Wade, this is a rough write-up (although it has taken me two hours to bash this out), any additions or suggestions for refining this is welcome. Also, I am relatively sure my maths with the number of ships remaining at each mention is correct but if I have faffed it up, tell me.




Additions and edits made. Any errors, please point them out.

Edited March 27, 2017 by Olis