The Liber Cluster

[Olis]

Like the Conflagrators and Aetheric Swords are over the top, y'know?

Fire? Check.

Zeal? Check.

Doesn't play well with others? Check.

Fire? Didn't we already have that? Stuff it, pile on some more. And the zeal. And the hate. Checkity check check.

[Ace Debonair]

Over the top, but in ways acceptable, and in many ways required, by the 40k setting.

 

Like the Conflagrators and Aetheric Swords are over the top, y'know? Nothing needs to be changed in my opinion.

 

Edit: And honestly, it is less over the top than actual Metal Gear characters and units.

Over the top? The Aetheric Swords?

 

Just because their marines' names so far mostly end with an -ix, have a sort of druidic-leadership thing going on, like a good face-to-face fight and have fancy unique warpaint...

 

Hmm.

OK, yeah, I might have gone a little heavy with the Celtic/Gallic theming.

 

But dammit, I still have nightmares about a forum full of people chanting 'Needs moar Dwarf! Needs moar Dwarf!', and it's been three years (I think) since I wrote the Stonebound up!

 

EDIT:

I now realise Olis has made almost the same good-natured jest in the post above mine.

I'm sure there's some snappy quote about great minds that fits here, but I'm too tired to think of it.

[Conn Eremon]

Hmmm, it seems my 'over the top' comment is being taken in ways I hadn't intended.

 

Perhaps a better term would have been 'exaggerated.' I don't mean things are getting over-themed. I actually very deliberately went for over-themed lore in the initial posts, specifically so people would feel more comfortable creating their own lore. Simply because I wanted this project to encompass all Liberites.

 

But what I meant by that comparison was exaggerated character traits (Everything must burn!/The voices of the dead accompany me!), like how the Metal Gear franchise has characters with exaggerated personalities. Including most of other canon 40k characters.

 

Edit: Ah, just now noticed the 'good-natured' edit. :sweat:

[Ace Debonair]

I'm now fighting the urge to invent a Captain Ocelorix, who dual wields custom-built bolt pistols and likes to tell heretics all about them in exacting detail while ducking behind cover to reload.

 

EDIT:

Damn.

I think that just became a thing, didn't it?

[Conn Eremon]

Too bad it all ends terribly when he loses his arm, replacing it with a bionic salvaged from a fallen Marine of the Pride. Little did he know that the Marine's spirit lived on within the machine!

[Ace Debonair]

So he becomes a renegade who keeps turning up to spout exposition at the other Liber Chapters?

 

Culminating in an EPIC fist-fight with Captain Solidarus of the Eagles of Glory, atop a stolen Battle Barge?

 

 

...Nah, maybe not.

 

 

Might keep the name Ocelorix and the custom guns, though. Maybe.

[Conn Eremon]

But . . . But . . . Mah Arsenal Gear Spacehulk . . .

[Tiberius Cato]

Part two of the Invasion of Baluarte (me thinks we needs a campaign badge)

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

 

"I shall make due haste to my men ,Commodore-captain. When you signal the start of the invasion we will divide our forces in half and make our way to the defense platforms. I bid you farewell and expect to rendezvous with you after we take the city, Commodore-captain." Biddale then left the Strategium, escorted by squad Kenway back to his Thunderhawk.

 

As soon as Biddale was out of earshot Commodore-captain Drake turned to Chaplain Charlen.

"We can not expect them to take the defense platforms without our aid, prepare squads Townsend and Chapman for boarding action. Prepare Honoured-Brother Hawke and Nelson to make planetfall. We shall show these fools we do not need absurd numbers to win a war."

"Right away,Commodore-Captain" Charlen responded, with a a wide grin appearing on his face.

+++++++++++++++++++

Baddale's Thunderhawk had arrived at the hangar of the Eagle's battle barge "Philadelphia"

 

"Welcome back Brother-Captain, the men are nearly prepared for the battle" Brother-Captain Grant's voice had sounded in Baddale's vox.

 

"Very good Brother-Captain.

I require you in the Strategium, I have matters I must discuss with you".

 

Baddale had walked down the corridors of the Philadelphia and upon reaching the Strategium found Brother-Captain Grant waiting for him.

 

"Brother-Captain, we must make preparations for boarding action first and foremost, the orbital defense platforms have become our primary objective." Baddale explained to Grant.

 

"Why, Brother? Is it not more important that we take Dorado and seize the planet?"

 

"That is our secondary objective in this mission now. I sensed much anger and contempt from Honoured-Chaplain Charlen during the breifing, and the same from Commodore-Captain Drake. We must do all in our power to make amends for whatever manner we haved erred in the eyes of the Scarlet Sentinels. We can not carry on as brothers, through our glorious Primarch Dorn, if their exist some manner of anger between us." Biddale pause for a moment to allow Grant to take in what he said. "We take the defense platforms and turn them against the enemy to provide cover for the Sentinels' ships to advance. We must ensure their losses are kept to a minimum. We shall show the Cluster that glory is not only achieved through eradicating the enemy, but also through ensuring one's brothers also excel."

 

Grant contemplated what Baddale had said "Very well Brother-Captain, I shall tell the men to bring wargear for defending the defense platforms after we secure it. I hope to see you again when we make planetfall".

 

Grant then left the strategium, heading towards the barracks.

 

Baddale uttered a short prayer to the Emperor and contacted Commodore-Captain Drake "We are ready to begin the invasion when your men are, Commodore-Captain. May your men fight with valour and bring honour to him on Terra. The Emperor protects".

 

Edit: Typos, typos everywhere.

[Machine God]

@1000heathens - The image of Og the Ogryn comes from SLA Industries.

[Reyner]

Is there a list of the Eighteen Worlds floating around guys? I should have a bit of time today to plan the Blades attack on one of them ... Whilst dodging Black Judges lol!

[Sanguine_Knight]

+++++ Chapter Communicae +++++

+++++ Priority Message: Alpha +++++

 

First Captain, Naytan Reinhardt 

 

Upon arrival to the Thravian system, evidence was found of the 4th Company but no Traces of Captain Therrien and our Battle Brothers. Augurs detected a signature similar to that of the strike cruiser Osprey but due to a massive asteroid field surrounding the edge of the sytem further investigation was hindered. We have encountered no resistance and communications in the system have fallen silent. We will make planetfall on Thravis Prime within the hour.

 

+++++ End transmission +++++

 

 

     Captain Reinhardt stood on the bridge of the battlebarge Wings of Redemption, staring at the image of Thravis Prime in the viewscreen. He was resplendent in his ancient suit of tactical dreadnaught armour. It was one of the very few that the chapter had left and Reinhardt had personally performed the rites of purification and appeasement before donning it. He was pensive. He led a strikeforce of twenty veteran Black Falcons from his own First Company along with elements of the Sixth and the Armoured Seventh. It was rare for the Black Falcons to field the First and Seventh together but this mission was of the utmost importance. Captain Samuel Therrien and his Fourth Company had gone missing in the Thravian System and the Chapter had sent Reinhardt to find them. He knew Therrien as a competent if sometimes brash commander but that's not what concerned him most. Therrien as well as most of his company were "New Blood". The Black Falcons recruited from the feral tribes of their homeworld Scythia, the former home of a long dead alien civilization. As part of the induction rites each potential neophyte had to travel alone to the ancient ruins of the xenos cities and bring back a piece of their culture. In the Chapter's early days Battle Brothers would either discard the item or keep it their cell along with their other personal effects. The collection of such items was mainly to show proof that the initiate had made the treacherous journey to one of the ruins and spent the alotted time there. Naytan himself had discarded the broken and rusted piece of xenotech he had found before being taken from Scythia to begin his initiation process. "New Bloods" as they were known by some, were beginning to show the tendency to display their trophies on their armour. It was said they believed it was a gift from the "Sky King" of their people and protected their souls from alien influnce. Some even went as far as fashioning blades from the alien metal they found, to be used in combat. Although the Chapter as a whole allowed this practice to continue, Reinhardt was disgusted by it. He relied on his unshakeable faith in The Emperor of Mankind, and his blessed wargear to protect him, not some xenos trinket. He had on occasion, argued to the Chapter Leadership that the "New Bloods" and their idiosyncrasies would lead them and the Chapter on a path to damnation. High Chaplain Gregorius told him that the matter was being dealt with but at the moment, due to the Chapter's situation, the "New Bloods" would be tolerated. Naytan wonderd if the nature of Therrien and his Company had something to do with the matter at hand. He was sure that he would soon find out. He was woken from his reverie by the voice of one of the Chapter Serfs by the name of Gaylen. "My Lord" the man said. "Captain Dransk reports that the Battle Brothers are prepared for deployment." "Good." Naytan replied. "Tell him I will meet him on the embarkation deck within thirty minutes." He turned to the marine who had been standing with him on the bridge. "Sargeant Holzmann the bridge is yours." "The Emperor Protects" Holzmann replied as Reinhardt turned to leave for the launch bay. We shall see what Therrien is up to, Reinhardt thought as he strode off the bridge.

 

more to come...

[Wade Garrett]

For some reason, I can't send PMs to Olisredan, so I'm just going to post my revisions, rewrites, etc to the Zavatista battle report in this thread. My stuff's in bold.

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".

Here I'd put something about WHY the Conflagrators had so little faith in the Imperium's ability to hold the planet after they took it. The refinery ships they torched would have fuelled many regiments of the Imperial Guard in their heretic killing campaigns, after all. I feel the Conflagrators would have better reasoning for sending them up in smoke than "Because we're pyromaniacal dicks."

 

 

 

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.

 

 

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 Seikerei Lions fleet, consisting mainly of destroyers and picket vessels, positioned themselves in a highly aggressive formation, yet stubornly 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 colors 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.)

 

Apparently, this is a common anti-piracy tactic of the Kin, and it certainly paid dividends here, as 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 capa assets they possesed 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 18 Worlds could arrive. But with Asault 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, under the nominal control of the leaderless and decimated Hyenas. In the process of being assaulted by the last of the Conflagrators, these forces surrendered unconditionally, lest they burn. Unfortunately for them, the Conflagrators burned them anyway, steel girder stakes erected on the deck of each ship bearing two Hyenas 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.

 

While this is awesome, given what heathens had posted about how elite the Hyenas are, it seems unlikely they'd run up the white flag, especially after several days of getting an up close look of how the Conflagrators handle themselves. I propose that instead of the Hyenas, its the work crews, overseers and slaves, desperate to avoid a fiery death, who mutiny against Hyenas and turn the Ship over to the Conflagrators. Who burn them anyway. "A single act of faith does not wash out a lifetime of heresy."

 

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.

[Teetengee]

I am not sure how the Angels would be dealing with the Reign of Blood, more later.

I think that the time of the Angels fall will be when the remainder of the Doomsayers arrive, as it factors into their fall storyline that a newly arrived ship of Doomsayers is involved. Alternatively, warp time warpage shenanigans.

@ Sanguine Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad it fit in well with what you were thinking.

 

Now onto the Ravagers/Angels offensive. With a little help from a sly fox.

 

 

------VID:Mi560S928 LOADING…------

------AUDIO CORRUPTED: ATTEMPTING REPAIRS.------

       ------REPAIRS FAILED.------

       ------REPAIRS ABORTED.------

------ENGAGING PLAYBACK...------

 

A red and yellow armoured marine filled the screen tearing the head from a Coyote guard. Unattended flames could be seen in the background lapping at the walls of buildings and streaming into the sky. The pict-recorder quickly panned across many similar incidents around the main armoury. It zoomed out allowing a view of the entire engagement, small though it may be. The Coyotes were being driven from the center of the fort structure by roughly 17 marines. A few dead enemy priests lay outside a wrecked enemy gunship. Cogitor feeds running at the side of the image started to light up.

AET Warning, Allow?

 

Once selected the marines lit up in red orange. Additionally an orange dotted line appeared outlining their positioning. Various tactical outputs showed that this line was a circle never more than 127 yards in radius. It’s center appeared to be moving about within the munitions building.

 

A targeting matrix overlay lit up in green while the tip of a rifle moved into view. The pict-recorder zoomed in until the targeting crosshairs hovered over the munitions building. An ammunitions list appeared in the right in green and scrolled down to select turbo penetrator. The magazine shifted and engaged. Cogitor generated numbers rolled down the left bottom corner of the screen while the crosshairs hovered over a small orange polygon whose vertices were connected by thin lines to the marines around the perimeter. The polygonal overlay contorted, tracking their movements. As soon as it resolved to a point under the crosshairs there was a flash. After recovering from recoil pict-recorder quickly zoomed out surveying the battlefield.

 

The marines were no longer fighting as a group but running towards the nearest surviving member of the Coyotes they could find, seemingly with no regards to their own safety. The face of an Ash Wolves squad leader appeared in the top right corner of the image with dialog transcrived below.

 

---BEGIN COMMUNICATION---

Enemy behavior has changed, Mitan, engage?

Engage. Divide and Destroy Alshar.

---END COMMUNICATION.---

 

The face disappeared before several Ash Wolves came out of a building at the edge of the fort whilst Coyotes began to engage the enemy in hit and run tactics. Ash Wolves cut down any marine drawn into line of sight with a volley of plasma and melta fire; the Coyotes usually got far enough out of the way first. When the Ash Wolves unit arrived at the munitions building they entered cautiously. There were a few seconds of repeated flashes coming from windows followed by the an explosion from an upper corner of the munitions building. The remaining Ash Wolves escaped carrying a strange device and made for the main gates of the fort.

 

The pict-recorder jerked up to see flaming streaks appearing against the grey sky. It then panned down following these drop pods as they slammed indiscriminately into soldier, building, or dirt. Marines in quartered yellow and black with heavy bionics walked out of these pods and eliminated any nearby units with alacrity, synchronicity, and precision. The pict-recorder panned further down to see Alshar’s Ash Wolves unit running toward it across the sand. Quickly rising rocks and dust filled the screen. Just as suddenly the movement stopped and Alshar’s face could be seen in person. His head jerked slightly to the right before his face expanded toward the screen filling it with red. A black gloved hand wiped the gore away before reaching down to pick up the arcane device held by the now headless Alshar.

 

Bobbing slightly, a flat area of rock encroached on by bleached grass rushed toward the screen. Flashes of light and the occasional streaming bolt rushed across. A ship suddenly decloaked on the flat outcropping with the door open. A hand reached out and the pict-recorder was quickly pulled inside. It overlooked the seen before panning down revealing the remainder of Alshar’s squad being picked apart by yellow and black armoured marines with identical iron black faces. The image shrunk into the distance and became suddenly blue tinted and indistinct right before the door closed.

 

 

 

------RECORDING ENDS.------

[Olis]

Apologies Wade, my inbox was full. Time to purge the older messages languishing at the bottom, I think.

 

Anyhoo. Yeah, I believe the revisions and suggestions are good - I'll see about editing the original write-up at some point tonight. ;)

 

 

(Also apologies to Cormac, who also tried contacting me.) 

[Conn Eremon]

(Also apologies to Cormac, who also tried contacting me.)

S'cool, worked out well enough in the end. :tu:

[Nomus Sardauk]

(me thinks we needs a campaign badge)

 

That sounds awesome, more shiny stuff for my sig.

 

-----

 

Biddale uttered a short prayer to the Emperor and contacted Commodore-Captain Drake "We are ready to begin the invasion when your men are, Commodore-Captain. May your men fight with valour and bring honour to him on Terra. The Emperor protects".

 

"Acknowledged Captain Biddale, good hunting" Drake replied as he donned his helmet. He turned and looked out over the Ark Imperial's command deck, each and every crewmen was busy at work readying the great vessel for Warp transit and the battle that would follow. As he watched Drake could not help but feel a sense of pride well up inside him, as Commodore-Captain of the 4th Company he was also the Chapter's Master of the Fleet. As such, he accepted only the best from his crew and seeing them all like this, working like a well-oiled machine, so professional and disciplined, it gave him a greater sense of pride than any commendation or honour ever could. Resting his gauntleted hands upon the hilts of his treasured pair of Power Sabres, he turned to his com officer;

"Isaac my boy, patch me through to the Fleet."

 

"Aye Captain, patching you through now."

 

"This Commodore-Captain Drake to all Sentinel ships, status report."

 

"This is the Strike Cruiser Invincible Will, all systems ready."

 

"Strike Cruiser Red Victory here, eager for war sir."

 

"Hunter Destroyer Revenge responding, we're all set."

 

"Hunter Destroyer Dauntless calling in."

 

"Nova Frigate Valiant, just give the order."

 

"Nova Frigate Warrior, ready to jump."

 

Drake gave a scarcely-seen smile, it was a rare occasion that allowed him to call together this many ships. "Excellent, go to red alert and prepare for battle. Helmsmen, initiate Warp jump on my order. 3... 2... 1... Jump!"

 

With a flash of light, a gaping hole in reality tore open before the assembled ships, who fearlessly plunged headlong into the turbulent energies at full speed, disappearing within as the unnatural gateway collapsed shut behind them.

 

No turning back now.

 

 

---ooo000OOO---OOO000ooo---

 

 

Jarisk Thrant stared absent-mindedly out of his bridge's viewport, as Captain of the renegade Sword-class Frigate Iron Jackal it was his excrutiatingly-dull duty to patrol the space around the Port World of Barluarte for any merchant stupid enough to try and land or leave without paying the Sereiki Lions their due or on the rare occasion, any would-be pirates attempting to plunder cargo that rightfully belonged to the Lions.

Unfortunately however, such occurences were few and far between these days, such was the Lions' power and reputation that none dared risk their wrath, and thus Jarisk spent day after day on monotonous patrols doing a whole lot of nothing. He couldn't hold back a disappointed sigh, so much for the life of plunder and glory he'd been promised.

"Frak me with a chainsword, what I wouldn't do for a little excitement around here..." He whispered under his breath, not noticing the distant flash of light from beyond the viewport.

 

"Sir! Something's dropping out of Warp, something hu-"

 

Jarisk's subordinate never get the chance to finish his sentence, and likewise Jarisk didn't have the time to respond as the titanic prow of the Ark Imperial thundered out of the Warp and straight into the tiny frigate, mercilessly crushing the smaller vessel against it's hull with impunity.

"First blood to us then." Drake chuckled to himself as he watched the tiny frigate detonate harmlessly. "All ships begin the attack, for Emperor and Imperium!"

[Hyaenidae]

I made a swap waaaaay back on pg 21 with Al-Rashid's picture, so he now looks like the pic I'm using for my avatar. Fits my image better of a renegade Astartes.  :)

 

And no, this doesn't mean Al-Rashid is of Wolf stock. I shall keep the secret of his origin to the grave! Muhahahaha!

[deathspectersgt7]

                                                                                 Battle of Lelith Secondous - All Seers 

 

With the Orbital defense platforms secured by elements of 1st and 3rd co's. The few ships that defended the planet destroyed .The next phase of disabling missile and laser silos planet side begins and the assualt begins.

 

day 1 - Space port secured by 2nd co. armour  and the knights of House Grunwald land 4th&5th co. arrive by drop pod and thunderhawks.

day3 - 4thco, captures communication hub. Loss of Capt Hipolit and 3rd sqd. From  heavy fighting with Mech troops and armour.

day4 -  with 2nd and 5th co and 3knights from house Grunwald they assualt the outer disticts of the maufacturing area defended By Mech forces and 1Regiment of coyotes plus junker tanks. The slaughter was great the All  Seers showed no mercy. No one was spared.

 

day5- With the defenders thrown back 2nd co was given the Honor of taking the Stalker Tank factory, When arriving only to find it empty.On further investigation all major weapon platforms are gone. Capt Alojzy and his Command Squad, along with 1st Sqd and Tech Marines Amit & Ianos are killed when the Factory explodes. The whole area is a trap. 

 

A Board the Battle Barge Remorseless Hunter CM Thoth Orders for the Extraction of all All-Seers Back to the Space Port.Planetside the the Mastadons make their presense known and come in contact with elements of 5th co . The timely arrival of Epstolary Alastor and the Red Seers turn the tide.The battle Psychers attack with fire and fury turning Mastadon armour to Slag.

 

Day 10- Unable to make any breachs and the continued stalemate with the forge worlds forces. And no direct coordination with the Doomsayers, The All-Seers lack of will, pull all their forces off the planet. Tech-Marines set charges and destroy the Defense platforms that are in All-Seers hands sending the burning wreakage onto the surface.

 

With the survivors of the All-seers Contingent back in orbit CM Thoth sends a last message to the Doomsayers : Since you were unwilling to coordinate a joint action we are leaving but this is not over. With that the All-Seers fleet opens up with an orbital bombardment on the main spire. with the fleet disengaging the system  the appearence of ships exiting the warp appear. 

 

The All-Seers lose a whole company of Marines and are at a loss at what was supposed to be a Victory . But ends up being a defeat and a loss of honor.Also word has reached the that an Ork incursion into the All-Seers home system is underway. 

 

 

With the lack of support from the Doomsayers the All-Seers will only treat with them in council of the Liber.

[Olis]

DSS - There's a couple of factors you may need to take into account: The forge world will have standing Mechanicus forces and facilities that it's Lion affiliated leaders would use for defence. That is going to make matters far, far harder than what's depicted atm. Also, the topography of the world (and the depth of the hell-forges) is going to prove a challenge. ;)

[Captain Juan Juarez]

In fact, given the production capacity of a Forgeworld I cannot see even a Chapter of Space marines taking it alone - it would need serious firepower and logistical capacity. 

[Olis]

Indeed. Titans, if you can get them, would prove instrumental. The Guard would be needed to counter any skitarii around, too. Assaulting a forge world is a huge commitment. 

[helterskelter]

im not entirely sure if that is DSS's half of our joint action..

[Dizzyeye01]

The following is a video file, recovered by Saneslau Mechanicum forces five years after the Betrayel at Durtuvar. If this file had been found before, it is very likely the Imperial Vanguard along with the Black Falcon forces included would have suffered far lesser casualties and been ready for the treachery planned for them by the Sereiki Lions.

 

 May the God-Emperor protect us all.

-Inquisitor Lana

 

  http://i.imgur.com/4mXNeVP.jpg

 

[Trooper] – Sir! We’ve got one working!

Another trooper, wearing the uniform of the Shdaowblades moves into view, a scarf around the man’s’ neck, non standard. The trooper is dismissed by said trooper who removes his helmet and can be identified as Captain Larik

[Larik] – This is Captain Larik, acting Commander of the Shadowblades and of Taskforce Forerunner. Inquisitor Lana of the Inquisition first led the Taskforce but is currently recovering after recent injuries endured. I’ll…try to keep this brief.

 

[Larik] - Our original objective was to go ahead of the main Imperial Fleet heading into the Liber Cluster. Ever since we entered we’ve lost contact with them and have been doing our best to find out the current status of sub-sectors, various factions within the Cluster…that kind of detail. Our forces contained my own company, the Shadowblades, along with the 78^th Shenac Bladecatchers who provided most of the manpower and was lead by Inquisitor Lana.

Larik pauses, looking away for a moment

[Larik] – We eventually reached Durtuvar, a trade route and one of the closest Imperial worlds’ closest to the Lions’ territory. Greeted like hero’s we were, glad that the Imperium was coming back soon. The Governor made sure of that. Lana, on the other hand, felt something was wrong. Must have been a natural instinct for her, and Inquisitors in fact, to always worry if something looked fine on the outside. She sent the 78^th down planet side to guard the spaceport and watch over the transfer of supplies. A major, Vincen Acuda, objected to this. He fell in line, though I should have watched him. Just when we were starting to relax, betrayal struck.

Larik grimaces, looking away for a moment

[Larik] – The Governor had been bought by the Lions and had allowed what we now know as the Ash Wolves to have forces stationed on the planet. To make matters worse, Vincen seized control of the Bladecatchers and aligned themselves with the Ash Wolves, effectively putting us on the back foot. Inquisitor Lana was planetside when this happened so I sent my men in to get her out of the fire. Not one of us considered just leaving her to die, we’ve worked with her for years and gained our respect, throne she even helped create the Shadowblades, it was her idea. This is where Lana gained her injuries.

Pause

[Larik] -  We managed to get out of there, though we had to jump into the Warp with no idea where we were going. Our-my plan is to regroup with any Imperial forces. Hopefully with the supplies we have, we’ll be able to hang on long enough. Mark my words though, the 78^th Shenac Bladecatchers are traitors who will be killed to the last man. Vincen Acuda will suffer for this betrayal, this I swear.

Larik stands up, pulling his helmet on

[Larik] – I leave this here in case I and my men don’t make. If you’re watching this then spread word to any Imperial forces: Durvatur is  not  in Imperial hands. This is Captain Larik, signing off.

 

[FILE END]

[Olis]

There's a few grammatical and spelling points that I'd like to point out (because I'm in a nitpicky mood): 

 

[Larik] - Our original objective was to go ahead of the main Imperial Fleet heading into Liber Cluster. 

 

You missed 'the' ahead of 'Liber Cluster'. 

 

Ever since we’ve entered we’ve lost contact with them and been doing our best to find out the current status of sub-sectors, various factions within the Cluster…that kind of detail. Our forces contained my own company, the Shadowblades, along with the 78^th Shenac Bladecatchers who provided most of the manpower and was lead by Inquisitor Lana.

 

The first 'we've' should be 'we'. Also there should be a 'have' in front of 'been'. I'm a little perplexed at to why the Black Falcons aren't mentioned here.

 

Larik pauses, looking away for a moment

[Larik] – We eventually reached Durtuvar, a trade route and one of the closest Imperial worlds’ closest to the Lions’ territory. Greeted like hero’s we were, glad that the Imperium was coming back soon. The Governor made sure of that. Lana, on the other hand, felt something was wrong. Must have been a natural instinct for her, and Inquisitors in fact, to always worry if something looked fine on the outside. She sent the 78^th down planet side to guard the spaceport and watch over the transfer of supplies. A major, Vincen Acuda, objected to this. He fell in line though I should of watched him. Just when we were starting to relax, betrayal stroke.

 

'Stroke' should be 'struck'. There should be a comma after ''He fell in line'' and 'of' should absolutely be 'have' (which is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, nothing personal).

 

Larik grimaces, looking away for a moment

[Larik] – The Governor had been bought by the Lions and had allowed what we now know as the Ash Wolves to have forces stationed on the planet. To make matters worse, Vincen seized control of the Bladecatchers’ and aligned themselves with the Ash Wolves, effectively putting us on the back foot. Inquisitor Lana was planetside when this happened so I sent my men in to get her out of the fire. Not one of us considered just leaving her to die, we’ve worked with her for years and gained our respect, warp she even helped create the Shadowblades, it was her idea. This is where Lana gained her injuries.

 

No apostrophe is needed at the end of 'Bladecatchers'. I humbly suggest changing 'warp' to 'throne'. Warp is something that a heathen would say, not a loyal Imperial soldier.

 

 

Pause

[Larik] -  We managed to get out of there, though we had to jump into the Warp with no idea where we were going. Our-my plan is to regroup with any Imperial forces. Hopefully with the supplies we have, we’ll be able to hang on long enough. Mark my words though, the 78^th Shenac Bladecatchers are traitors and will be killed to the last man and Vincen Acuda will suffer for this betrayal, this I swear.

Larik stands up, pulling his helmet on

[Larik] – I leave this here in case I and my men don’t make. If you’re watching this then spread word to any Imperial forces: Durvatur is  not  in Imperial hands. This is Captain Larik, signing off.

 

[FILE END]

 

You used two instances of 'and' in the Vincen Acuda sentence. I suggest replacing the first one with  the word 'who'. I'd also suggest replacing the second 'and' with a full stop, actually. 

[Dizzyeye01]

Cheers, I'll make the edits in now

 

Also just to say while the file was found after the Betrayal, this Taskforce was sent during the Silence in an attempt to find out new information about the Lions and the current situation within the Cluster. Think of Taskforce Forerunner as the scouts before the second coming.