Black Book - Insurrection (PUBLISHED)

[Sigismund229]

Got some more done

As the Drowned fleet ripped its way into real space over Untara Prime, rumours immediately began flying amongst the Imperial Army and even the Scions Hospitalier who were at the world to re fuel. Why had the Warmaster sent the XVI to Untara Prime in such vast numbers? Surely such numbers of astartes being sent to a world far from the frontlines of the Great Crusade was a gross missuse of manpower? However, despite the apparent randomness of the Drowned's appearance, Pionius Santor, joyful at the oppurtunity to see his brother, sent out long range vox hails to the XVI legion ships now closing with the world. Despite this and for reasons best known to themselves, the Drowned did not return the hails, instead maintaining strict vox silence. However, this didn't overly concern the Scions Hospitalier who had frequently served alongside the Drowned in other theatres and knew them to be mercurial and reserved at the best of times, even though rarely outright hostile, the Scions had grown used to the XVI keeping their own counsel and only sharing their intentions with others when they chose.

 

As the Drowned's fleet closed with the world and with the Scions, the final preparations for battle began to take place. Helmets were locked on, weapons sealed against water, squads loaded into boarding torpedoes and specialized kraken drop pods, another gift from Kelbor Hal. With the Drowned fully armed and armoured, the stage was set for an underwater battle on a scale unrivalled by any other engagement of the same kind in the Great Crusade.

 

The first shots were fired by the Queen of the Damned at 00:04 Terran standard, a series of boarding torpedoes that slammed into orbital station 5 and plasma bolts which destroyed the XIX legion battle barge Pureheart. Within minutes of this first shot, the entire Drowned fleet was opening fire, bolts of las and lance weaponry slamming into the ships of the XIX and hundreds of drops pods in the grey-blue of the XVI were hurtling down towards the surface of Untara Prime, carrying within them thousands of XVI legion astartes, eager to confirm their loyalty to the new Emperor in blood. So it was that the battle of Untara Prime began.

[simison]

What was clear was the XIII's hostility. With silence answering them on the vox, the Wardens of Light cast aside their confusion as they regarded the Eagle Warriors as enemy combatants. The Warden fleet returned fire as the heads sought the whereabouts of their primarch, whose fate was still unknown aboard the Travier's flagship. A priority order was dispersed amongst the Loyalists: their number one objective was Gwlachavad's safety. Ignoring all other foes, the surviving Warden ships boosted towards the massive battleship, ready to sacrifice their lives to a man to save their gene-sire. 

 

In the midst of this gallant charge, a shockwave erupted from Gatra V. Eyewitness accounts vary in description, but the common theme was that a 'tear' of some sorts was ripped open in the fabric of reality. All visual recordings of that moment have been deemed classified by the highest levels of authority and have been sealed away from prying eyes. Regardless, the 'tear' was a temporary one, lasting 4.8 seconds before it 'collapsed', as survivors have described it. 

 

Despite the large-scale distraction, all was not lost for the Wardens of Light. Gwalchavad's personal stormbird was spotted fleeing from the Red Comet, a few minutes later. Piloted by the hero Arngrim Valten, the famed Warden demanded immediate support for him and his passenger: the Primarch Gwalchavad himself. Their spirits restored, the remaining Wardens threw themselves into a frenzy as they protected the stormbird, until it safely docked within [Gwal's flagship]. Gwalchavad secured, the Wardens of Light fled from the guns of the XII^th. Only a quarter of the fleet managed to escape the system.

 

When Arngrim was asked how he had survived an encounter with Travier, he replied he hadn't. Although the Eagle Warriors had done all they could to stop Arngrim and the warriors with him from saving Gwalchavad, the traitorous Primarch never made an appearance, nor any of his deranged psyker-priests. Of Gwalchavad, apothecaries attending him reported he had been injected by bizarre, xeno narcotics. They would do all they could to restore their father, but, for the moment, the Wardens of Light were removed from the Insurrection. 

 

[Questions: One, Mikhal, who would be left in command of the fleet? What's Gwal's flagship called? Two, AO, do the librarians of the 13th have any kind of priestly role?]

[MikhalLeNoir]

Oi! The 11th fleet is led by Gwalchavads Flaghship Caledwylch.

But it is destroyed during the Attack. Only a few ships were able to escape. The majority of 25k Astartes died that day. By the way: how strong are the weapons of an imperial battleship? Would be a shot be enough? I mean the wardens could habe their shields down, cuz on gatra were no antiairweapons and the eagles were friends.

 

Sigismund 2nd Story was very accurate in the description.

Arngrim Valten died against Travier. Travier followed them after the Ritual was over and the news that his beloved brother choosed to leave reached him. Arngrim bought them the time necessary. Sigismunds 2nd attempt was very close to the thing we planned.The Scorpion and only a few Luth were able to escape.

 

Hmm...who was in Command...Zastava Craymon, the burned man.

[bluntblade]

Well, a humble frigate like the Eisenstein survived multiple indirect hits from the Terminus Est

[Sigismund229]

In orbit, the Drowned's victory was swift and achieved with relatively few casualties. The orbital platforms, while fearsome if properly defended and expecting an attack, were caught by surprise and although the armsmen who protected them fought bravely, they couldn't hope to contend with astartes for long. Very few of the Drowned who boarded the orbital platforms fell and those who did, cut down by massed las or shotgun fire, died inflicting casualties of a thousand to one, butchery to do any astartes proud. Any Scions Hospitalier who were on board the orbital platforms were easily cut down using the new ammunition from Mars, their armour not designed to withstand the new armour piercing rounds. While the vessels of the XIX fared little better, they were at least able to escape the opening slaughter, lighting up their warp drives and fleeing. With the XIX legion's fleet beginning to flee the fray and the orbital platforms falling to the Drowned rapidly, the orbital war appeared to have been won in little more than an hour. However, the Drowned had always known that the orbital war would be an easy victory. It was the war underneath Untara's oceans which would be the real test of their mettle as warriors.

 

The main body of the Scions Hospitalier had been located near Omnium's main port, preparing to re join the fleet in orbit now that the formalities had been observed and they had been re supplied, so this was where the main hammerblow of the Drowned's assault fell, nearly 30,000 astartes of the XVI. Crashing down amidst the structures and oil rigs that surrounded the port, the Drowned burst out of their Kraken assault pods bolters blazing, gunning down hundreds of the XIX within minutes of landing and suffering very few casualties in return. Part of the reason for the enormous disparity between casualty figures was that the Drowned had come to Untara knowing they would have to fight and so had come armed with their full array of weapons. By contrast, the Scions Hospitalier hadn't expexted anything more than a quick trip down to the world's surface to re supply and so, while wearing full plate so that they could move without fear of being crushed beneath the thousands of tonnes of water on top of them, they were armed with little more than side arms. Once they realised the gross disparity between the two sides ranged capabilities, the XIX began to close in and engage the Drowned hand to hand, although even here they were badly outmatched by the Drowned, despite some managing to level the playing field by picking up weapons dropped by fallen members of the XVI.

 

However, surrounded on all sides by the brutal sons of Styx, the Scions Hospitalier were ultimately doomed if they stayed and fought, despite their bravery. Realizing this, those few members of the XIX who could boarded the nearest Phaeton, dragging those of their dead and wounded that they could onto the craft with them, escaping into orbit and there boarding one of the few Hospitalier vessels holding on in orbit and preparing to run the gauntlet of the Drowned's fleet. Those who couldn't fought their way free of the XVI legion cordon and made their way out into the vast forest of oil rigs and extraction pipes where they intended to launch hit and run assaults against the Drowned. However, those who made it out into the "open" ocean were merely delaying their fate, as the Drowned began hunting them down and killing them without remorce or mercy. In some cases, the Scions simply ran out of oxygen in their suits and, without the "gills" built into the Drowned's armour, they suffocated inside their armour. Of the nearly 43,000 Scions Hospitalier who had gathered at the Omnium's port, only around 800 left Untara Prime alive.

 

Within the Omnium itself, Pionius Santor and his Depthstrider elite were engaged in a life or death struggle with Sorrosworn Morro and the Pelargich Monarchs. While the fighting had consisted of a series of hit and run engagements amidst the coridoors of the Omnium, it culminated in the battle of Hangar XV-17. As Pionius and his bodyguard were about to board a Phaeton and head for orbit, their intention to escape and rally the full might of the XIX to bring the teacherous curs of the XVI to justice, at the last minute Morro and his Pelargich Monarchs emerged from the hangar's shadows and launched a last ditch assault upon Pionius' bedragled party of survivors. In the bitter fighting that followed, Pionius was greviously wounded by Morro and forced to withdraw, although the rear guard action that followed left all but seven of the Depthstrider's dead in the hangar, their lives sacrificed so that Pionius might live.

 

Secondary to both these actions is Hennahson's assault upon the Crucible of Fire, often nothing but a footnote in accounts of the battle. Attacking it accompanied by 500 Drowned of the Destroyer Cadre, Hennahson had attacked it prepared for a brutal engagement should negotiations fail. In reality, he needn't have worried as the 200 odd Fire Keepers who garrisoned the structure willingly pledged themselves to the Stormborn's cause, estranged from their own legion as they were. They them confirmed this loyalty when they slaughtered a group of Scions who had sought refuge in the Crucible, making the Scions combust within their armour.

 

When the last of the Drowned returned from their hunt of the XIX who remained on the world's surface, fresh scalps that still bled often hanging from their weapon belts, and the Drowned fleet destroyed the Untaran oil fields from orbit, 44,000 Scions Hospitalier had perished upon the world, their armoured bodies feeding whatever wildlife still survived in Untara Primes oceans. However, Morro withdrew ever inwards in the wake of his victory, for he viewed it as a defeat. The reason was that he had only wounded his brother and not even gravely enough to put him out of action for long, leaving the XIX a very real threat. They would meet again. Someday, Morro and his brother would have a reckoning. For now however, the Scions remained in play.

How's that people? Hesh&Slips, does it get you guys seal of approval?

[simison]

Oi! The 11th fleet is led by Gwalchavads Flaghship Caledwylch.

But it is destroyed during the Attack. Only a few ships were able to escape. The majority of 25k Astartes died that day. By the way: how strong are the weapons of an imperial battleship? Would be a shot be enough? I mean the wardens could habe their shields down, cuz on gatra were no antiairweapons and the eagles were friends.

 

Sigismund 2nd Story was very accurate in the description.

Arngrim Valten died against Travier. Travier followed them after the Ritual was over and the news that his beloved brother choosed to leave reached him. Arngrim bought them the time necessary. Sigismunds 2nd attempt was very close to the thing we planned.The Scorpion and only a few Luth were able to escape.

 

Hmm...who was in Command...Zastava Craymon, the burned man.

 

Oh, didn't realize the Caledwylch was also going down in this fight. 

 

So, does the Scorpion have a name or is that all you want me to use in the piece?

[Hesh Kadesh]

I like it; although there are a couple of plot holes (such as the Orbital Stations), and the timings involved; from identification on arrival, considering the vast distances involved ther should be a day or so of warning.

 

That defense grids intended as being basically a quadrant of a Ramilles were disabled with such ease seems a bit washout. Essentially, the Drowned's plan would be to gib Pionus. Taking the infrastructure like the Crucible and the Defence fortress meant that the planet could not be turned into a smouldering wreck.

 

With the Districtas Facilitas acting as refueling stations, taking out the heavy resupply vessels and possibly a Gloriana vessel (if Slips has any complaints about losing one, it doesn't have to be although I'd rather the Drowned's opening gambit not be a complete failure! Either way, do you have a name in mind?); bisecting the main fleet lf the XIX which is what allows Morro to go planetside and hunt; as Pionus can no longer teleport out, and instead has to wait until an extract vessel can break through the Drowned's lines (given that stopping free enemy movement is one of their tactics) and then get back into space, and then extract.

 

I love the description of Radio silence though! And the fact that the Drowned are just bastards!

 

Demus, do we have a name for our Fire Keepers Psykers nominal leader?

 

But yes, Sigi, I love what you've laid the groundwork for, I'd add more but I have a new gym I need to attend at 6am tomorrow, so 5am start. It's 00:05 now. Uh oh! Nightall.

[Slips]

I'm cool with Losing a Glorianna with the Caveat that it goes down like its namesake the Hell's Heart (cudos if you get that easy reference).

[bluntblade]

I'm cool with Losing a Glorianna with the Caveat that it goes down like its namesake the Hell's Heart (cudos if you get that easy reference).

Moby Dick? I really must read it sometime.

[Hesh Kadesh]

Call me Ishmael.

[bluntblade]

Does Mastodon's "Leviathan" feature much in yours or Slips' writing soundtrack?

 

"Blood and Thunder" is too good a war cry to pass up, after all ;)

[Slips]

I actively listen to Mastodon in General soooooooooooo :P

 

And yes, "FROM HELLS HEART I STAB AT THEE!"

[Hesh Kadesh]

Nah, I'm more of a Belieber.

 

'You have shattered a brotherhood. For that there can be no mercy. No forgiveness. No respite. We will fight you to the last. And we will fight forever unto the depths of whatever hells you consider to be yours.'

"Good. For today I send you there"

*Rams the Ship, cutting it in half*

[bluntblade]

Trireme-class Battleship, anyone?

[Demus Ragnok]

Demus, do we have a name for our Fire Keepers Psykers nominal leader?.

Korah Izhar, Fulcrum Prime of the Ember Host

[Athrawes]

All this talk about ships and specifically Gloriana Class Flagships has gotten me thinking, in this timeline what happened to the Vengeful Spirit?

 

It was always described as being a singular vessel even among other Gloriana Class ships? It was called a Scylla-pattern Gloriana and it was said that only one was ever made (In the same sentence it was described as instantly recognizable due to the ships preeminent majesty and immense size compared to other lesser Gloriana Class ships.

 

Since the Gloriana class ships were part of the Emperors fleet before being gifted to the various primarchs, it stands to reason that each legion would get one of the 18 cannon glorianas, so whose Legion would have been given the Vengeful Sprit?

 

The Phalanx is another question, as it was a dark age relic orbiting Inwit.

 

Additionally for the lesser Glorianas, who got Endurance, Red Tear, Invincible reason, conqueror Fidelitas Lex? As some of those names (specifically Invincible Reason, Pride of the Emperor and Fidelitas Lex off the top of my head) were kept from before the Primarchs met the Legion and so it stands to reason some of those non legion specific names might still exists in our timeline?

[bluntblade]

Maybe that should be a question for The Armoury. If we take the pre-eminent ships like the Spirit and Terminus EST and determine which Legion claims them.

[Sigismund229]

I like it; although there are a couple of plot holes (such as the Orbital Stations), and the timings involved; from identification on arrival, considering the vast distances involved ther should be a day or so of warning.

 

That defense grids intended as being basically a quadrant of a Ramilles were disabled with such ease seems a bit washout. Essentially, the Drowned's plan would be to gib Pionus. Taking the infrastructure like the Crucible and the Defence fortress meant that the planet could not be turned into a smouldering wreck.

 

With the Districtas Facilitas acting as refueling stations, taking out the heavy resupply vessels and possibly a Gloriana vessel (if Slips has any complaints about losing one, it doesn't have to be although I'd rather the Drowned's opening gambit not be a complete failure! Either way, do you have a name in mind?); bisecting the main fleet lf the XIX which is what allows Morro to go planetside and hunt; as Pionus can no longer teleport out, and instead has to wait until an extract vessel can break through the Drowned's lines (given that stopping free enemy movement is one of their tactics) and then get back into space, and then extract.

 

I love the description of Radio silence though! And the fact that the Drowned are just bastards!

 

Demus, do we have a name for our Fire Keepers Psykers nominal leader?

 

But yes, Sigi, I love what you've laid the groundwork for, I'd add more but I have a new gym I need to attend at 6am tomorrow, so 5am start. It's 00:05 now. Uh oh! Nightall.

First off, thanks!

 

Second, about the orbital stations: yes they have a day or so's warning that the Drowned are coming but only that they're coming. They won't expect them to show up and be like "Hey, this is mine now" about the orbital stations

As for destroying the oil fields, the Drowned can't garrison the world so what's to stop the loyalists just coming back and starting to use the world's facilities again if they don't destroy them?

[Chief Captain Redd]

I think Niklaas should get the Phalanx straight up.

 

If one of the Gloriana class ships is given to Daer'dd it'll become unrecognizable, and being as the Iron Bears already have The Dragon and The Emperor's Leviathan it'll be a third tier ship for us (man the Mechanicum must seethe with Daer'dd around) though it'll far from go to waste it'll flourish and be a bad ass with some new systems.

 

Random request: I didn't see anyone mention them, but I was hoping to have Garro and Khârne amongst Terran legion recruits for the VIth I think they'd fit in our legion pretty well.

[bluntblade]

Raktra might have dibs on Khârn, but I don't believe Garro's been mentioned. Same goes for Sejanus, ___ Aximand, Torgaddon and Vipus. Though of course we don't want the Broverse Astartes crowded out.

 

Ships could always change hands, I guess. And there's always the possibility of them being lost to enemy action.

[MikhalLeNoir]

I think Hectarion has Garro as his son.

Khârn I have no idea which shipyard on the wardens fleet he is actually cleaning ;)

[bluntblade]

I like the idea of Khârn being a holdout against Raktra's vicious ways. Maybe have him exiled for it a la Dantioch? And even invert him earning Angron's respect.

 

"You can break every bone," the Terrain captain spat, a stray tooth rattling on the floor. "and you can strip the skin from my back, but you won't hear me surrender. I will not set aside my honour- not even for you."

 

Raktra's face contorted behind the mask. "You really are the worst of your kind, Terran. Honour is weakness made pretty. Get out and never stand before me again. If you can walk. Otherwise you leave out the airlock."

[Sigismund229]

Been editing the stuff you've written Simison and decided to collect the various bits of writing together to make it easier for Grift to find the edited bits.

 

Part I: Betrayal

 

[Character Quote]

 

The first blow the Arch-Traitor struck was not one against superficial flesh and steel but one of spirit. For though Icarion the Stormborn had made his choice to entwine his destiny with that of vile Chaos, he believed in the purity of his own cause. It was a decision driven by his ideology that he manipulated the 17^th Expeditionary Fleet to come to the heart of his new, counterfeit Imperium. For at the command of this vaunted fleet was none other than Pyrrhicles the Paragon, Equerry to Warmaster Alexandros. It was Icarion's hope that he could persuade the half-astartes to join the Stormborn's cause and to open a path to bring the Warmaster to Icarion's banner. It was not to be.

 

Although he possessed an uncontested advantage in legionnaires, Icarion would face an Imperium that grew in loyalty to the Emperor in no small part due to the Warmaster's tireless work to adjust newly-compliant worlds and to strengthen the various institutions governing the galaxy. Although a space marine was worth a hundred men in battle, Icarion foresaw his forces being bogged down in unending waves of human auxiliaries while loyalist Astartes provided the hammer blow. Thus, it was with absolute necessity that Icarion increase his advantage in terms of legion strength if he were to successfully subdue the millions of worlds he hoped to counter. To that end, he devised a plan to shatter the loyalist legions in a series of ambushes and remove several Primarchs who's fidelity to the Emperor was too absolute. Whether by fickle fate or planned insight, Icarion approached the Warmaster at a critical moment. At the time, Warmaster Alexandros had completed the compliance of the Fasho Birkuno System at the head of the Halcyon Wardens and was preparing to return to Terra for the celebration of the 246th anniversary of the Great Crusade, the ceremony taking place on the seventh month and the eight day starting on the ninth hour.

 

The Trap's Laid

 

Barely a day after Icarion's departure from the Warmaster, the Stormborn sent out his secret orders. The hour had come. Each legion who would stand with the Emperor would be ambushed by a legion whose loyalty was pledged to Icarion. It was imperative that the Traitors' first strike be as debilitating as possible to the loyalist legions, aiming to strike both at the core and the Primarch in an effort to cripple combat ability and to decapitate leadership. To Coch'ise and his Ghost Walkers would fall the task of slaying Niklaas and his Fire Keepers, while the Stormborn unleashed the Stygian Jackels to hound the Void Eagles. Azus and his Dune Serpents would find themselves under assault by the Warriors of Peace and the Warbringers. Raktra would vent his rage against Hectarion and his sons as Morro and Pionus would battle beneath the waves. Finally, for the indomitable Daer'dd, Icarion deployed both the Godslayers and Grave Stalkers to end him. In a single day, Icarion sought to topple the Imperium's Astartes defenders.

[Chief Captain Redd]

I like the idea of Khârn being a holdout against Raktra's vicious ways. Maybe have him exiled for it a la Dantioch? And even invert him earning Angron's respect.

 

"You can break every bone," the Terrain captain spat, a stray tooth rattling on the floor. "and you can strip the skin from my back, but you won't hear me surrender. I will not set aside my honour- not even for you."

 

Raktra's face contorted behind the mask. "You really are the worst of your kind, Terran. Honour is weakness made pretty. Get out and never stand before me again. If you can walk. Otherwise you leave out the airlock."

Yeah, pre Nails Khârne seems like a perfect Iron Bear, boisterous that can back if up, strong willed, level headed, and breaks his gear regularly. I realize I may or may have not taken the entire remains of the Wolves ;). But I hope I can have Khârne clad in Iron Black and Burnished Copper. He'd be a perfect fit for Chief Captain of a Clan Company of Slayers.

[Sigismund229]

 

I like the idea of Khârn being a holdout against Raktra's vicious ways. Maybe have him exiled for it a la Dantioch? And even invert him earning Angron's respect.

 

"You can break every bone," the Terrain captain spat, a stray tooth rattling on the floor. "and you can strip the skin from my back, but you won't hear me surrender. I will not set aside my honour- not even for you."

 

Raktra's face contorted behind the mask. "You really are the worst of your kind, Terran. Honour is weakness made pretty. Get out and never stand before me again. If you can walk. Otherwise you leave out the airlock."

Yeah, pre Nails Khârne seems like a perfect Iron Bear, boisterous that can back if up, strong willed, level headed, and breaks his gear regularly. I realize I may or may have not taken the entire remains of the Wolves ;). But I hope I can have Khârne clad in Iron Black and Burnished Copper. He'd be a perfect fit for Chief Captain of a Clan Company of Slayers.

Well one of the Crimson Lions clans is rumoured to contain Vlka Fenryka ;)