Sterbelicht - One Sacrifice At A Time Against The Galaxy (40K)

Chyron awoke.

Like a lumbering beast of a high-grav world, his consciousness roused itself from the Long Sleep, and the deepest parts of his mind slowly returned to him, eyes unseeing focused once more as shapes held meaning within his mind, and memories rushed back to him.

For a long moment, he wished, with an aching pain within his soul, to stay there, in the lands of dream and past. He had been with his Brothers there, bolter and chainsword in hand, roaring deathly defiance against the abominations that defied Humanity and the rule of the Emperor. Back in those days when they had numbered in the hundreds, when he could walk the hallways of their ships and meet others on their way to duties eternal and manifold, chapter-serfs long since accustomed to the passing of their manifold masters.

His great frame shook itself loose from its slumber, data roaring back into his skull and into his brain, reports and numbers as quickly read as they were used to plan for the future. At the same time, he looked at the only other Lamenters in the universe kneeling before him with swords before them, heads bowed in like with the other chapter-serfs within the room muttering prayers of protection and jubilation.

Chyron stood to his full height and knew the pull of the Long Sleep once more, already calling him and calling him deeper still. He had little time to impart all that it meant to be a Lamenter upon these Neophytes. Maybe another century before his mind would fracture too much and he would be entirely gone, perhaps half of that if the Red Thirst took him before that. No matter, he had a duty to the Chapter, and he would see it done until the last moment of his death.

"I awaken," he began the ritual that had always followed after his activation, lines and declarations blurring before his mind as he let routing soothe his aching soul at the sight of his Chapter reduced to a mere four Neophytes, though he...wait. He looked once more at their forms and the armaments they wore, and spoke again after ceremony had been done and observed enough. "What are those swords you wield?" He asked, head turning to the side as he looked them over again in more detail, his internal cogitators spitting back answers that couldn't be true.

"These are Power Swords, Matanel Mk.64-Pattern to be exact, honorable Chapter Master. We began with their construction shortly after you went to your Long Sleep," Alpha replied dutifully, holding the sword level to the ground with both hands for him to see, and his mind whirled a bit. Power Swords? Four? For Neophytes? And recently constructed, too? Confusion raced through his mind, and he tried to understand what he was hearing.

"You...constructed four Power Swords?" He asked, and there was a minute shifting in the stances of the four Brothers before him, nervousness bleeding through their bodies where their faces betrayed nothing.

Unfortunately, they must have considered his question a reproach for the number of swords made as Beta spoke up. "Twenty more are within the Chapter Armory," he said steadily, "and twenty more will be produced by the decade's end thanks to the facilities constructed with the aid of the Council. Enough will be made to outfit the Chapter in full with time," he added. It was only thanks to the fact Chyron had been entombed within a Dreadnought that he didn't fall over. Four Power Swords was already a minor boon he had expected to have to make without, but twenty more? And the same again in a decade? Until all of the to-be-made Lamenters would wield such rare and venerable weapons? There was something wrong here, some catch; this was too good to be true. Wait, the Council helped?

"The Council? What have they been up to during my sleep?" He asked, hoping that they were trying to hide more than their unusual attitude toward Mutants, something that would explain this monumental bribe.

"They have recently finished aiding a remnant of the Xeno species known as Kil'drabi establish a small enclave under their guns in exchange for tribute," Delta spoke, and the relevant information rose from Chyron's memories, giving context where only confusion existed before.

"And they have also asked for your attendance when they were informed you would wake," Gamma continued. "The Planetary Governor of Droma III is making demands of the Chapter with blackmail and trickery," he added with distaste in his voice, but Chyron barely listened.

Xenos. Kil'drabi. Extremely minor threat, target of opportunity, do not seek out human populations to kill or enslave, do not practice sorcery or tech-heresy of more than Xenos nature. The Ordo Xenos had a standing order to report the migrations of their fleets to them, and that was all the pretense Chyron needed. He'd keep his mouth shut, blame the lack of communication on the general dearth of astropaths here, and tell the Inquisition that his job was not to do their work for them. His dismissal of the matter of the Xenos and Swords done and justified, he began to turn and lumber out of the chamber.

"Then let us show this arrogant fool why you do not blackmail His Angels."

---

"What do you mean I should accept being blackmailed?" Chapter Master Chyron asked Teeln, Prophet of the Star Child, as the man looked back unafraid and unbowed by the decades that had gone past. Could also have been the juvenat, but that was not important here.

In lieu of an answer, Teeln, Prophet of the Star Child, gestured to the mutant sitting beside him, her gaze a mix between reverential and far away. "The Planetary Governor, Lord High Admiral Shiru, knows that we are here, within the system, even though we have not detected any attempt at spying on us, nor have we had any ship fly under any order other than to be as stealthy as possible. As far as we know, he found us out with archeotech means," she spoke, and Chyron felt his brow crease at that revelation and suspicion. Yet, she continued before he could speak up. "But the important thing is not that he knows we are here, but that he wishes for you to send what forces you can spare to bolster the morale and legitimacy of his side once he begins a purge of the planetary nobility and their supporters. A task that may be more important than we think, or an ask that could end up with us supporting the wrong side, as we have detected subtle Chaos Corruption from Droma III."

Chyron stared. He raised his twin-linked cannon as if to raise a finger, paused, and lowered it. "We are several AUs away from that planet. How did you notice the taint of Chaos from there, much less from a place that isn't already on its way to becoming a Daemon World?"

"We had a lot of free time to refine our control and ability to listen. Well, most of us," she said, a sly side-eye directed at Teeln, Prophet of the Star Child, who looked away inconspicuously. "But the Warp sings of many things if you know what melodies to discard and mistrust. And Droma III hums a tone of pleasure and pain growing louder every month."

"...so we have a developing Chaos Incursion on a planet about to be ripped apart by a civil war, and we have no more information than that its Governor wants to blackmail a Chapter of Space Marines to receive aid in return for silence about your existence? With not even an idea as to who is the side being corrupted?" Chyron grumbled, cursing up a storm about lacking information, when Hymnal Bnuy nodded gravely to both his questions.

He sighed. "Well, all's in a day's work for His Angels. Can I at least count on orbital support should ortillery be required to purge large-scale corruption? And what about additional reinforcements from regular units?"

"We'd need to discuss sending additional units, but I can give a confident yes to the ortillery," Thule-Omicron 55 replied, though she looked slightly sheepish at the next part. "However, we have only seven Scout Monitors available due to industry and logistic concerns, and they are only equipped with a light lance turret. So keep that in mind, especially if close-fire support is requested. We simply do not have the means to deploy more ships or advanced weaponry to the cause," she started, only to be interrupted when one of the Labor Captains spoke up.

"And you know damn well that we'd require a tripling of our current Void Industry to design that Destroyer you desire!"

"Well, it would have been a good idea!" Thule-Omicron 55 snapped back, and Chyron mentally checked out as the Council began to bicker on a low simmer, his mind going over the preparations that needed to be made to ensure his Neophytes would get more from this excursion and live-fire exercise than would presumably be shot from them.

All in a day's work.


You Have 3 [Three] Actions.
[] [General] Instruct SM-001-A To Investigate (Location)
Each has its ups and downs, and each is a challenge. The High-Energy Desert is unlikely to offer more than a look into the system we now reside in, but it will open doors that will not allow others to peek back at us. In contrast to the two, the Inhabited Water World will likely be a danger of exposure and can easily be filled with those unlikely to keep shut about us, but it will have a wealth of information that the other two locations likely won't be able to offer us.
(Locations: High-Energy Desert, Inhabited Water World.
Gain: Knowledge? Warning? Opportunity?)

[] [General] Construct Something
-[] Food Production II
-[] Civilian Infrastructure
-[] Heavy Industry II
-[] Void Industry II
-[] Medical Services
With much of the station freed up, we can begin filling the empty parts again with industry and things we need, from clinics to starch vats feeding us in the void.
(Gain: A district focusing on the chosen option.)

[] [Military] Raise A Specialised [Light/Medium] Infantry Unit - [Choose: Sabotage/Assault/Engineering/Demolition/Ogryn]
With a chosen direction, your Military can now focus on giving the Units you will raise the proper training for the right job. Sabotage Units will focus on raiding and disrupting the enemy with lighting raids and plundering logistics; Assault Units will punch through the enemy in weak points and sow confusion with overwhelming firepower; Engineering Units will focus on creating fortifications and using turrets, mines, and barricades; Demolition Units will be comprised out of heavy weaponry squads with plenty of explosives, from mines to rockets; and Ogryn Units will be Ogryns armored in heavy metals and armed with shields and Beatin' Sticks led by men and women with spiffy hats that will not be disobeyed. Light Units are better for Low-Logistic scenarios, while Medium Units rely more on regular shipments yet strike a good balance between supply consumption and effectiveness.
(Gain: A chosen Specialised Light/Medium Infantry Unit.)

[] [Military] A Task For Specialists (Assign Unit/s)
-[] Medium Engineering Unit
-[] Medium Assault Unit
-[] Light Scout Monitor Ship Squad - (Temporary)
-[] 1 Choir - (Temporary)
There is war to be had and battle to be made. Send troops to resolve issues and squash opposition to the Star Child and Humanity and all His Protectorates.
(Gain: Military dispatched to violently put down opposition.)

[] [Psykana] Hunt down the remaining Psykana Experiments
The Dark Prieshad mainly used their non-production related time for psykana experiments, alongside a dash of biological and demon summoning experiments, the latter of which was sometimes aided by Chaos Space marines that demanded a heavy toll from the people aboard in flesh and souls. Some of the psykana experiments have escaped containment in the chaos of the Waking Rising, and they now hunt the dark and forgotten parts of the station, where they take the souls of the unlucky and those caught off-guard. They need to be hunted down and destroyed, ere they do something worse than merely killing randomly. The Military is confident of only suffering moderate casualties in any attempt to dislodge or hunt the Psykana Experiments. However, Lamenters or Celestial Choir support would further lower that estimation. Additionally, the sections taken by the Experiments have been unusually quiet for years, with no additional victims or breakout attempts detected.
(Gain: Clear the station of Dark Mechanicu Psykana Experiments.)

[] [Psykana] Conduct a Melody (Choose one below.)
The Celestial Choir has been given the means, and now, with time, they shall conduct their songs. They will listen to the Warp and filter out the false whispers from the slumbering guidance of the Star Child. In halting prayer and stumbling humming, truth will be stripped until nothing but it remains in the hands of those who shall make it anew into power to be wielded by the Choirs to come.
(Secret: Slumber, Silence, and Perception.
Star Child: Hope, Compassion, Humanity, Song, Mercy, Creativity, Health, Unity, Innovation, Machinery, Logic, Progress, Protection, Justice, Wisdom, The Sun, The Home, Death, Ruthlessness, Brutality, and Fire.
Kil'drabi: Paths, The Void, Struggle, Community, and Family.
Gain: A Melody newly Conducted.)

[] [Faith] Motive Force And Cradle Slumbers
The nascent Cult of the Star Child has been established, yet it must answer a lot of questions for itself, chief among them the doctrine and truth they shall follow to unite the Omnissiah and the God-Emperor with the Motive Force, or if that will not be needed should Teeln, Prophet of the Star Child, be graced with another vision that would lay this debate to rest.
(Gain: Nail down the technical aspects of the Cult of the Star Child, improving your technological means by proxy.)

[] [Faith] Preach To We Who Yet Wander
Having been brought under the gentle embrace of the Star Child and giving tribute to those who fight in its name for a better galaxy, the Kil'drabi represent the first among many Xeno species we shall show an existence beyond fighting for only themselves. Already culturally compatible with the ideals and tenets of the Star Child, focusing on community and cohesion against the dangers of the void and long travels, bringing them fully into the fold would be a boon for all. Though that will most likely happen naturally over a century or two, just not as thorough as some may like, thanks to their small numbers and frequent contact with us.
(Gain: The Kil'drabi are slowly converted to the Cult of the Star Child and given more resistance to the predations of Chaos.)

[] [Chapter] It's Not Blackmail When You Get Something Too
The Governor of Droma III may think he managed to blackmail the Lamenters into doing his bidding, but in reality, the five of them will crash the civil war by combining it with a learning exercise and a fact-finding mission to see who is getting Corrupted here.
(Gain: The Governor of Droma III gains the aid of five Space Marines. You figure out who is getting Chaos Corrupted, and several Ortillery strikes will likely follow.)

[] [Other] Take Care Of [Future Or Current Problems]
(Write-In the problem being addressed.)
(Gain: Turn to address the issue.)

AN: Adding troops/taking Actions to help in the civil war will shift the outcome by degrees in the direction of the non-corrupted side of the war.