Sister Sigrid returned to her seat opposite Celestian Lydia after her patrol of the train. It was her second round, and once again she had seen or noticed nothing worth of reporting. She had a hard time relaxing on the train. To sit hours in prayer, or to be in the midst in battle was of no problem. But to be trapped inside this train, tediously waiting to arrive was not to her liking. The silence between them stretched on, the only sound was of the train making its way. At long last, Sister Sigrid decided to break the silence, and spoke up. "I may be out of order to ask this, Sister, but what are your thoughts about our current mission? I must confess that I am not entirely sure how we are supposed to succeed with the expectations of Lord Keralix.. I know that the Emperor will guide us, but I feel that our forces would be better put to use face to face with the enemies of mankind, and not to play a game of shadows."
OOC: Hey Tiberius.... Nice idea and such, really love it. Just make sure you do not lose to many or any, your Marines are still needed on Lorias for your convenience: Eldar turn - Leader meeting with Shas'O Doran'Ro and Ethereal (no name yet) + main forces attack on Ora's west side Imperium - Reaction regards Shas'Vre's plan execution at Dretia & Communication Towers Chaos - Attack on Koroa Inquisition - talking in the train (no arrival till Koroa is attacked by Chaos) & perhaps a small post about the Sororitas Strike Cruiser heading for (though some update here and there on the black strike cruiser in orbit wouldn't be bad) Tau on pause ; Ultras & Imperial Fist can post here and there some update on their travel ^^
OOC: My marines are tough enough to survive pirates! PS: I'm going to write up a quick account of how Appian, my NPC Sergean, perceived the battle. I'll wait for Ohgr's till tomorrow and write mine up when I'm done studying for countless exams
(OOC: I present my NPC sergeants account of the battle ) Rogue Flagship – Brother-Sergeant Appian – Somewhere in the Ultima Segmentum The breach had been a little rougher than expected, but it was nothing Appian couldn’t handle. The Assault ramp breached at an incline, so anything that wasn’t fastened rolled towards the doors. “One after the other Brothers, we don’t want to get stuck at the door.” He mused. Appian was the first one out, with chainsword and plasma pistol in hand. Although he commanded squads of Devastators, most heavy weapons would be too cumbersome to carry through the winding corridors, which is why he told everyone but 2 of his Brothers, who were equipped with heavy bolters, to pack gear accordingly. Appian was quick to take note of his surroundings. There was a heavy Bolter emplacement 24 standard feet to the right of him and 2 squads of traitorous Guardsmen armed with Auto-guns 100 yards to the left. He set his priorities straight. Appian rolled away from where he was standing, where now hundreds of Bolter rounds were splashing down on where he was just standing. He tossed a frag grenade, and it conveniently landed behind the shrewd, makeshift emplacement. He could hear the beginnings of wails of pain before they were drowned out in a sea of shrapnel and blood. Just as he got rid of the emplacement, he heard tiny plinks bounce off the back of his armor. He chuckled at the fact that the Guardsmen were trying to harm him. He turned around faster than any of the traitors could comprehend and pressed the trigger of his plasma pistol as gently as he could. The trademark ‘thud’ that sounded when he fired was music to his ears. The Guardsman didn’t even have time to scream as his head turned into a sprinkle of grey-matter and blood. But the Guardsman kept coming. Just as they were in jumping distance, Brother Darius, armed with a heavy Bolter, dropped onto the deck of the Cruiser. The Guardsmen stopped dead in their tracks, panic evident in their eyes. But it was too late. They were ripped apart one by one by Brother Darius’ Heavy Bolter, and all but one was left alive. He was not of any use to the traitors though, as all he had left was his left leg, head and torso. All he could do was cry for his mother as the life faded out of him. Appian walked over to the pathetic Guardsman. He stood right over him and put his boot on his head. Appian slowly pressed down until the rest of his boot was planted on the deck. The crunching and wailing would’ve made a normal man sick. By now, every one of his Brothers had disembarked the Assault Ram. “Brother Darius, take Brothers Seneca, Barus, Erebus and Flavius with you and head down that way.” He said as he motioned towards a set of blast doors, leading to the engine room. “I will take the rest of us to the life support systems. You know your roles, so do them well.” He added. “Captain Tiberius always says that.” He thought to himself. Appian was becoming more like Tiberius with every passing day. He didn’t mind, as he saw Captain Tiberius as a sort of role model, a perfect Astartes if you will. He met little resistance heading towards the life support systems. “It seems they’ve put all they’re man power into the engine rooms.” He said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. The built in Vox-Hailer began to sound in his head. It was Brother Darius. “Sir, we are meeting heavy resistance in the Engine room. It’s nothing we can’t handle but it will take a little while longer before we can set the charges.” Appian responded. “Good to hear Brother. Relay the information to Sergeant Noir and Captain Tiberius. Appian out.” Appian and his squad stacked up on the wall beside the blast door heading to the life support systems. Brother Gracchus put a breaching charge on the door, and when it blasted the door open, they swarmed in. The few guards and workers were little resistance. They rounded up the rest of the survivors in the middle of the room. Appian signaled two of his Brothers to plant charges on the life support system while he thought of what to do with these traitors. He decided to check up on Brother Darius in the engine room. „Brother Darius, this is Sergeant Appian, have you planted the charges?” The reply was delayed and distorted. “Yes Sergeant. It took a while and we were ambushed but we managed to plant the charges. Those damn traitors rappelled out of the ventilation shafts in droves.” Appian responded hastily. “Any losses on our end?” he feared the worst, as the response took a while to arrive. “None sir.” Appian breathed a sigh of relief and turned off his Vox-Hailer. He turned towards the rounded up traitors. “Brother Gracchus, give me the flamer.” He said grimly. Gracchus didn’t hesitate and handed him the flamer. He knew what had to be done. “In the name of the Emperor, you have committed high treason and are to be purged. May the Emperor judge you in your time to come.” The pathetic pack in front of him began to wail. It was nothing but irritating to him. He pressed the trigger of the flamer and the wails for help began to distort into cries of pain and agony. The traitors died a slow and painful death. Appian turned to his men. “Are all the charges planted?” he asked They nodded. “Very well, let’s head to the landing bay, we don’t want to keep Noir and Tiberius waiting.” And with that. Appian left the charred remains of the traitors behind. No regrets. No remorse.
"Sister, I do not understand this mission. I would much rather be out. Condemning heretics and Infandels. But we must follow our orders." Lydia herself hated the train. She was also bored. There were things to burn, people to destroy. Those who go against the emperor. All at large, but she was not allowed to fight. With that, she kneeled on the floor of the train and made prayer to the emperor, her celestian squad following her. "Ave imperator sisters"
Inquisition Black Ship DEIMOS Under the authority of Lord Inquisitor Keralix Commanding Officer Holt Anarette +-+- Status report as of XXXX hours -+-+ Maintaining safe distance from remaining Tau forces, ongoing communications with XO of Starbase established. Broadcast has been sent to back-up fleet, arrival expected with the week. Requested Wargear and reserve forces awaiting for further command in Koroa The Deimos shall continue to monitor the Tau activity and provide assistance to remaining forces of Imperial navy. Stations on are full alert in the event of additional Tau forces or arrival of Adeptus Astartes. __________________________________________________ Emperor guide you, Lord Inquisitor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lord Inquisitor Keralix The massive steel engine of the train let out a deafening screech as it docked at the Koroa transit station. Keralix had seen the frustration of his chosen, as the call to action against the xenos was all too great. He was confident in their loyalty, even though they did not share the obsession that was taking hold of his mind. His plan was simple, to stabilize the populace of Lorias through "re-instilling" the faith. With the removal of any taints of chaos he may find (as no planet was free from them), the Inquisitor was confident that the planet would survive. With the peoples' strengthened faith guiding them, there was no chance for defeat. The train's conductor, with his staff following close behind, entered the private car in which the Inquisitor and his retinue had been staying. The conductor was shaking out of either fear or respect, and it was with an expression of awe that he implored that it had been an honor to act as transit for a man of his prestige. Keralix gave the man, along with the fearful staff hiding behind him, his blessing and led his retinue out with due haste. Keralix was often made uncomfortable when given any notion of divination; he was and has always been an Inquisitor, never would he considered himself to be a representation of the Ecclesiarchy. As the Lord Inquisitor, followed by his respected chosen, stepped off the titanic steel train, he was greeted by a small squad of Sororitas that had arrived ahead of them along with the his other requisitions. The twenty Sisters of Battle, there polished armor revealing their inexperience, reveled the presence of him and his entourage. No words were spoken, but upon a polite nod to the group, the sisters grouped by Lydia's side. There destination was obvious, as the golden spires of it could be seen from anywhere in the city. With the never-fading attention of ongoing crowds, the company made their way to the castle-like church at the city's center. The Holy Synod may play a larger role in the Inquisitor's plan than expected.
Rogue Flagship – Bridge – Somewhere in the Ultima Segmentum The Marines had been deeply underestimated. The makeshift defenses of the bridge had been overrun within minutes of the battle beginning, and not a single marine had been injured or killed. It was now only 50 feet to the traitorous captain. Only he and 2 of his bodyguards remained, the rest was a crumpled heap of reeking death. The rogue Captain was a man of large stature, much like the defected Captain of the support vessel. His fantasy armor was adorned with self-made holy writings and scriptures and was painted a bright gold, much like that of the Emperors fabled armor. Tiberius’ blood began to boil. “Who does this man think he is!” he demanded to himself. “Impersonating the Emperor himself. This is Blasphemy!” Just as Tiberius and his men got within 20 feet of the Captain, a familiar humming noise began to sound. Tiberius instantly raised his fist, signaling his Battle-Brothers to stop dead in their tracks. Tiberius picked up a dead Guardsman’s helmet and tossed it forward. It jolted and flew backwards in a sea of sparks. The rogue Captain let out a hollow, maniacal laugh. “You Space Marines aren’t as dumb as I’d thought they’d be.” He mused. “You’re the first of the boarding parties we’ve encountered to actually notice this thing.” Tiberius responded furiously. “Coward! Come and face me like a man! It will take more than your entire crew to even scratch me. If you claim yourself to be the Emperor, then you will be able to strike me down in a single blow. And that, traitor, I know you cannot.” The traitorous Captain clenched his jaw. Anger was evident in his face. “You dare insult the Emperor incarnate? I will have your head for this! I challenge you to a duel. If you die, these Brothers of yours will be under my command. If I die, I will let you leave.” “Very well.” Tiberius responded coolly. “Now deactivate this shield so I may enter.” The shield powered down as Tiberius stepped through. Behind him, the shield powered up again. “What of your lapdogs?” mused Tiberius. “Are they to die by my hand too?” Something in one of the bodyguards mind must’ve snapped, as he let out a feral scream and began to charge at Tiberius, chainsword whirring. Tiberius didn’t bother to move as he un-holstered his Bolt-Pistol and shot the insane traitor square in his chest. The traitor flew backwards, now grabbing into thin air as to where the right side of his ribcage used to be. He let out a final, painful wheeze as the life left him for good. Tiberius chuckled and shot at the second bodyguard, who was standing mortified a few steps beside his Captain. His head was removed clean off of his shoulders before he could even scream. The dark red blood decorated the traitorous Captain’s face. Tiberius threw away the bolt pistol and took his Daemon hammer into both hands. “Now, I’m ready to rumble.” Tiberius said with a thin smile on his lips. He’s visibly shocked the traitorous Captain, who clearly bit off more than he can chew. But he had one last trick up his sleeve. “I forgot to mention, Marine. If I die, this ship will go down with me.” He held up his left hand. “This is a dead man’s switch. If I let go, this whole place is going to come down around us.” “So be it.” Tiberius replied. He charged forward. His Daemon Hammer spat sparks and energy with a blinding blue light. The rogue Captain did the same, power sword in hand. The rogue swung at Tiberius, who ducked under the swing and parried with a downward strike of his hammer. The rogue rolled out of the way as the Hammer connected with the deck, creating an unimaginably loud rumble throughout the ship. Tiberius had to recover from his swing as the rogue swung at him again. Tiberius had no choice but to parry with the hilt of his hammer. The Force of the swing was more than he expected. Tiberius pushed that Captain away and swung low, aiming for the traitors legs. This time, he wasn’t able to dodge. The ‘Xenobane’ connected with his right leg, and the ground was swept from under him. He smashed onto the deck and began wheezing for air. Before he could recover, Tiberius smashed an armored boot onto his chest-plate. Tiberius tossed a frag grenade at the shield generator. The shield powered down one more time in a fading ‘whizz’ noise. Promptly, the Astartes surrounded the traitor, Bolters aimed at him in a circle of death. The traitor began to speak while coughing up blood. “Come on Astartes…… do it.. kill me and get this over with.” Tiberius replied. “So you can drag us down with you? I don’t think so. I have a much better plan for you. You are coming with us to Lorias, there you will meet with Lord Inquisitor Keralix and he will hopefully deem you worthy of Arco-Flagellation, which is the proper punishment for what you’ve done.” The traitor’s eyes grew wide with fear, but he didn’t say a word. Tiberius turned to his men. “Brother Quincius, restrain this heretic. We are taking him aboard our Cruiser. As for the rest of you, rendezvous in the landing bay within the next 15 minutes. Scavenge anything of use you can find.” Without saying another word, Captain Tiberius walked towards the lift with the traitor and Brother Quincius in tow. He didn’t bother hailing Sergeants Appian and Noir, as he knew that they do their assignments well. He glanced over to the traitor one more time, and a smug smile formed on his lips. They we’re now officially back on their way to Lorias. If nothing disturbed them, they’d be there by tomorrow. And Lord Inquisitor Keralix would receive a traitor to judge aswell. Lorias was waiting for them.
OOC: Waiting still for Eldar-Tau meeting post to continue on Ora and the Chaos to finally attack Koroa ^^ (Eldar-Tau can be very problematic I fear as both are "not supposed" leaders... So if stuff comes down to worst is anyone ready to take over Eldar? I can take Tau without problems as long as the Imperium doesn't make me fight myself (Ultramarines vs. Tau, lol))
Bastion Decimas Dretia City – 22:00Hrs Local Time Major Cassius took a long gulp of the cup of recaf that his second-in-command, Captain Brackston, handed him. The night was quiet, save for the distant approach of the Tau. The hum of their grav tanks was a solid reminder as to how bad things were going to get in the near future. A bright green flare lit up the night. The signal! The two officers crouched behind the battlement; as a distant krump echoed up the mountain pass, followed by a fiery mushroom cloud of debris and rock as the southern entrance to the pass was destroy by the PDF Engineers. A second krump, this one much closer and louder, followed shortly thereafter. Its explosion was just as glorious as the first. The Tau advance was stalled. Right on que, the second part of the plan was revealed, as the familiar whistle of heavy ordnance from distant Lorias filled the sky. The mighty, and aptly named, Earth Shaker rounds exploded amongst the trapped Tau forces in the pass below. Each explosion caused a pillar of flame and debris to be cast up into the air, only to rain back down into the conflagration below. A great cheer rose from the defenders. It had worked! The Tau advance would be stalled for days, while they tried to either climb over the rubble or circumnavigate it. Either way it bought Dretia more time. A warm splash caught Captain Brackston in the side of his face. He turned to face the Major, about to scold him for spilling his recaf all over him in his excitement. Major Cassius’s headless body met his gaze. It slumped against him, the unfinished cup of recaf clattering to the rockcrete battlement. Brackston’s eyes widened in panic, and it took all of his courage to muster the strength the scream “Snipers!” over the din. The men on the battlement scrambled to find cover, as they echoed his call. It was still to late for several Lieutenants and Sargents, as they too fell pray to the patient Tau hunters. The defenders' cheers were rapidly transformed into wails of panic, as a massive explosion erupted near the eastern curtain wall. Great chunks of the wall and rock was cast up and into the eastern portion of the city. Brilliant blue ribbons of Ion beam erupted from the eastern defile, hammering amongst the defenders positions. The fiery contrails of missiles exploded amongst the rushing men, as they hurried to defend the newly formed breach. Brackston pushed Cassius’s corpse off him and rushed back inside the command bunker. He smacked the control switch to seal the door behind him. He practically through himself at the Vox operator. “Order an Air Strike! I want the entire eastern side of the mountain brought down on those Xeno bastards’ heads!” The man made the order without question, Brackston’s terrified look the only proof he needed that the risk was needed. ~ High above Dretia, Lieutenant Krosck acknowledged the order gratefully, banking this Valkyrie Gunship hard to the left, the rest of his squadron following suite. The high winds made maneuvering difficult, but they were well practiced in keeping their birds steady. They circled over the eastern part of the city, catching glimpses of the chaos ensuing below. Explosions erupted amongst the hab stacks reserved for the Mining Corp’s senior employees and a sharp Ion beam took out one of the generatorium’s exhaust towers. The PDF were dying in droves. He’d make the Xenos pay. Their target in site, he gave the order to fire. Full payload, as they had only the smallest chance of surviving to make another run. As if to make his words prophetic, the gunship to his far right exploded as it was strafed by railgun fire. Krosck's radar blurped loudly, signalling the arrival of the Tau Barracudas. Too late to stop them all, Krosck mused darkly. He pressed his firing trigger and his Valkyrie shuddered, as his payload of Krak missiles sought out their targets. The rest of his squadron fired a half second after him. They banked away from their loosed ordnance, and were promptly torn to pieces by the tenacious Barracudas. The missiles hit home all the same. One hundred meters above the entrenched Tau battlesuits and tanks, the missiles detonated against the rock. The resulting explosion broke apart the already fragile mountain face, causing the entire ledge to collapse. The resulting avalanche of rock swept down the eastern mountain and buried the entire face, and a good portion of the eastern city wall, in rubble. A great cloud descended upon Dretia, as the city and terrified PDF were smothered in a blanket of dust.
