A Time of Reaving IC

[Lysimachus]

Elvrit:

 

Feeling vaguely unsatisfied, Elvrit leant down to wipe the oil and blood from Hvass with a handful of red robe. The task was necessary, but there was less pleasure in killing these fools - traitors by ignorance or inaction - than there was in taking revenge against the murderers of Istvaan.

 

He almost wanted to suggest attacking the Iron Warrior ships… but that would be idiotic, suicidal. Better to retreat and strike again somewhere else. For now, they would have to settle for denying the enemy anything of value from this system. The garrison should be destroyed before the Warriors arrived. All that remained was to begin paying back the Death Guard's account.

 

“I suggest the rest of you head for the Thunderhawk and ready it to depart. Brother-Adept, how can I assist you in putting this sorry vessel out of its misery?”

 

 

OOC: Assuming that setting the engines to blow will require a Tech-Use test, Elvrit will provide an Assist to Hadrian.

 

[A.T.]

Arazakiel

 

"Prudent". The Dark Angel lowered his weapon, there was no excuse that the magos could have conjured that would served more than to waste their time and the gap that separated them from pursuit.

 

Nothing gained but still they deny the warmaster the same. Salt the earth and burn the sky.

[Necronaut]

Placeholder

 

Tech Use Test (to keep us moving along): I51 + 10 (Assist) + ??? = 61(?)

D100: 05

[Black Cohort]

With charge set to scuttle the bulk freighter, you make your way back to the thunderhawk and then back to the frigate.  A junior officer is waiting to guide you to briefing room beta.  The mortal command staff of the ship is waiting.

 

The Navis Nobilite liaison starts as soon as you enter the briefing room.  "Again we have 3 systems we can easily reach from here.  We can still jump to Phelorak, other options are the Feudal world Astess III or Toron Prime, a world with a secondus grade tithe." 

 

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

 

Name: Phelorak system
Type: Mechanicum Outpost
Tithe Grade: Mechanicus Exemptus
Population: unknown
Other Information: Vassaled to the Forge World Mezoa

 

Name: Astess III
Type: Feudal
Tithe Grade: Tertius
Population: 400,000,000
Other Information: Tithe primarily assault regiments.  Remote parts of Astess III have ancient ruins with runes carved into them.

 

Name: Toron Prime
Type: Imperial World
Tithe Grade: Secondus
Population: 219,000,000,000
Other Information: Majority of Data File corrupted

 

[Machine God]

Ashmon

 

He'd noted from the tardiness of the others arrival at the Thunderhawk, that he had missed a firefight. 

 

Not that he cared. 

 

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

 

He stroked his red beard in quiet contemplation as he listened to the briefing and watched the others. 

 

"I would be interested in checking out the Ruins of Astess III, if we have time." 

 

 

 

 

 

[Trokair]

Hadad

 

“Teh”.

 

“What good are some ruins? Will they hold supplies we can use, provide Intel we can plan with, perhaps allies to work alongside?”

 

“I do however agree with going to Astess Three, out of the options it looks like the least tactically viable, and therefore the least like one for the traitors to have already have sent forces to or to chase as to.”

 

“The enemy has been faster to the march then we thought, given the ships that arrived in system. We therefore need to adjust and for that we need a place to retreat to, to plan, recover and gather our mettle so that when we strike at the enemy it will be meaningful damage."

 

"Toron Prime is too large to be ignored by them, so no refugee for us. As for the Martian hold, who knows where their allegiance lies, Terra, Mars, the Warmaster, their Mezoan Overlords?"   

[Machine God]

Ashmon:

 

“What good are some ruins? Will they hold supplies we can use, provide Intel we can plan with, perhaps allies to work alongside?” the Terran asked.

 

 

"Ever heard of Archeotech?"

 

 

[Trokair]

Hadad

 

Hadad laughed.

 

“Do we look like Explorator Archaeologists?" 

 

He shook his head a little and chuckled.

 

"Sure, an Archeotech pistol might be nice, and have quite a punch if what I heard is correct, but it is hardly going to just be available if we turn up and dig a few trenches.”

 

Shrugging he continues. 

 

“I mean, by all means go have a look, if the others agree Astess three is our best option,  just don’t pin any hopes on a few old piles of rock.”

[Lysimachus]

Elvrit:

“We are Astartes,” Elvrit grunted. “We do not need to 'recover' or ‘gather our mettle’. Nor are we children, digging for buried treasure. Our needs are what they were before we came to Phastus. Repairs, resupply, comms and allies. Phelorak can provide all of them. The Mezoan Forges are loyal to the Imperium, I would stake all our lives on it, and their vassals should follow their lead.”

 

He turned to address Nuzry.

 

"Captain, have our augurs confirmed that the garrison was destroyed? The blast should have been large enough to be detected even at this distance."

 

[Machine God]

Ashmon:

 

"I was only offering an opinion. We are as you say Adeptus Astartes. Until recently we were on a Great Crusade seeking out technologies that had been lost and returning it to the Imperium, that was one of our remits."

 

"Lands Speeder was Archeotech and now it is in widespread use."

 

 

 

 

Edited August 27 by Machine God
typo

[Lord_Ikka]

Kraith

 

"You would be staking our lives on the Mezaon Mechanicum if we went there. As of now, we have no concrete knowledge that the main forgeworld is loyal, yet alone an outpost. My thought is that it would be easier to infiltrate either of the other two systems than to try to go up against possible Mechanicum sensoria. Astess raises regiments of Imperial Army troops, they will have supplies that we can use and as a feral world will not have the elaborate infrastructure to wade through to gain what we need. Then we can check on the technologists from a stronger position."

[Black Cohort]

"The charges will not detonate for another hour."

[Lysimachus]

"Then can we delay our departure long enough to confirm that the Iron Warriors could not prevent the garrison being destroyed? I do not want to engage that fleet, but I would like to be sure that all our efforts thus far have actually accomplished something."

 

 

[A.T.]

Arazakiel

 

"Until we know the disposition of the fleets this vessel cannot be risked for a prize so minor as an armoury."

 

The Dark Angel considered the options, "Astess is the most likely location of military orbital assets. The Warmasters hubris saw him throw away such an advantage at Isstavan but it will not be so elsewhere."

[Necronaut]

The Basilisk

 

Hadrian, his task complete aboard the doomed bulk hauler, stood again aboard the bridge of the Tribute, intently reading the hololithic data spools as long range auguries from the frigate’s sensorium were processed, analysed and translated into the runes of the XVIIIth Legion. The others were engaged in an increasingly lively discussion about where they might strike next. He was half certain, actually only a 48.2% probability by his reckoning, that the brothers from the Xth Legion were going to come to blows, so different in temperament and outlook were they. 

 

He grunted to himself in exasperation at the sluggish response of the Iron Warriors and turned to face the others.

 

“I do not care where we travel. These sluggards,” he gestured at a hololithic representation of the IVth Legion vessels while rasping at the rest of the squad, “are highly unlikely to do anything of interest prior to our departure. It is my belief that while the synod of Mezoa is likely beyond reproach, I cannot speak to the adherence of their outposts to central dogma, nor their loyalties. As such, while trrekking to Phastus would be my preference, it poses a terrible risk to this ship and our cause.” 

 

He growled, half to himself, at his indecisiveness, but he was as much the senior XVIIIth Legion officer aboard the ship as he was its caretaker, and the alliance of these disparate loyalist astartes still seemed tenuous at best.

 

“I will defer to the vote of this council and develop plans with Captain Nuzry accordingly.”

[Black Cohort]

Captain Nuzry spoke, "If I understand your thoughts correctly, then it would appear that we will chart a course for Astess."

[Trokair]

Hadad

 

With their destination set Hadad stood to leave the conference room, pausing at the threshold he looked back at the other Legionnaires.

 

“If any of you need assistance with arms and armour maintenance I do have some training beyond the basic that I assume we were all thought by our legions.”

 

“Captain Nuzry, Techmarine Basiliscus, likewise if there is anything I can do to assist with the repairs just say the word. I have no training in the arcana of Mars but what little I do know in the maintenance of wargear is at your disposal.”

 

 

Spoiler

OCC: I am going to be away for a fortnight from this weakened and wasn’t sure how quickly the game would progress to our next destination, so thought it best to make Hadad useful while I am away. Some pre-emptive Trade(Armourer) rolls if anybody wishes to incorporate Haddad into a scene or some such.  

Trade (Armourer) Skill Test

Ag: 40 + 10 (Armourer +10) = 50

D100: 65

D100: 01

D100: 17

  

[Black Cohort]

with the Salamander frigate burning for the warp line, the Iron Warriors didn't even try to chase it down.  They also didn't rush to get into orbit.  To those who didn't know the Iron Warriors it might seem like indecision.

 

The navigator liaison informs you that the estimated time in the warp to Astess is a little over 4 terran standard days.

[Black Cohort]

About half way into your warp voyage Captain Nuzry informs you that all temporary repairs are complete, any further work would require a naval or Mechanicum dockyard.

[A.T.]

Arazakiel

 

Arazakiel had spent much of the journey in contemplation. The many pict images and vox tranmissions recovered during the battle, fragmented though they were, carried much in the way of identifiable information. Normally the work of a remembrancer so sift through such things... perhaps some still remained aboard, but this task he took for himself that he would know those who had forsaken the Emperor by each individual act and word.

 

The repair work had been completed a day earlier than anticipated. While the wider crew had worked on the star vessel others had been assigned to the thunderhawk preparing it more thoroughly for breaching actions. Twice they had been delayed by minimal defenses and twice that delay had cost them a prize, no more.