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

The Shipwright Alliance accepts the terms given to them. Without hesitation, ink is spilled across vellum, sigils are embedded in wax, hands shake, and picts are taken to commemorate the moment.

Yivv will belong to the Alliance, and 10 Choirs of the Celestial Choir of the Glimmering Federation shall set out to teach the psykers of the Alliance of their ways, yet, in return, the Glimmering Federation shall be allowed to preach of the Star Child within their territory, and enough Auramite will be given over to the Federation that the metal can be studied and researched.

However, though initially offered, the offer to aid in the reconstruction of the affected territories is withdrawn, citing concerns for unexpected material costs due to issues within the Federation, to a neutral reception by the Alliance. Yet, the Glimmerlings promise to start a Donation Drive for the people of the Alliance and the goods gained will be shipped over with acceptable escorts as soon as possible.

It is unclear to the Alliance's leadership if that was a thinly veiled threat or a cultural misunderstanding because, within two months, news and ships reached them, the latter filled beyond bursting with all manner of direly needed goods and materials.

This is one of many ships—ships that will fly for decades to come, as the Glimmerlings saw the donation drive initiated by their government and gave what they deemed acceptable.

Around the equal of seven years of the nation's entire GDP once the drive ended after one.

---

Trade flowed not merely to the Alliance but also the Federation. In particular, several enterprising Irrita arrived, the bellies of their ships filled with seeds, fruits, vegetables, and more, from tools for agriculture to machines to nurture the soil; they all were offered and sold.

It should come as little wonder that a sapient and sentient species of plants would know a thing or two about how to create and nurture good crops and better soils.

[+1 Food Production and +1 Civilian Infrastructure due to Irrita Seed Trade.]

---

The seat rumbled. No matter the training, no matter the carefully calibrated sensors and thrusters, one thing remained true across the millennia of human warfare.

The seats of the military rumbled, especially if they were filled with soldiers about to enter combat.

For the 1st Voxxian Liberation Army, such was life.

Their purpose to spend their lives on a planet hostile to their faith and people.

Their equipment subpar to what would be given to another unit of the same training and status.

Their chance to ever see their homes again zero.

But, even as the green lights of the drop-pods turned a baleful red and the generators within began to whine as sensors corrected for one last time...

They were volunteers.

One and all.

Impact.

---

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE THESE FUCKERS!?" Toothmaw shouted, his heavy stubber barking its ugly cough into the tunnel relentlessly, wide eyes for once dilated with pure fear and terror instead of addictive chemicals coursing through his blood and mind. "I NEE-" Zzap. Like a whisper. Like a thunder. Like a biting chill of the wounded sun crying for its mother.

Tootmaw fell backward, his head a smoking ruin of singed flesh and vaporized water turning into an explosion of steam that killed as surely as the light that pierced through his left eye.

Scenes like this repeated. Again and again.

Death stalked the Sun-Baked Underclan, that notorious band of mutants and gangers filled with the worst scum of the scum that could be found within the dredged muck and sludge flowing down from the high and noble Hive City Layer.

Zzap. Zzap. Zzap.

Corpses fell where people screamed before.

One after another, the sounds began to recede...and eyes followed.

Blue and piercing they saw.
Cold and sure were weapons held in metal limbs.
Efficient and calculated was the movement of feet.
Abuzz in chatter and routes were the minds of those who stalked the gang.

In the eyes of the gang.

For these eyes of blue and ice stalked not in malice and hunger, but with mathematical precision and the surety of glaciers.

For behind them, another wave of drop-pods struck the positions they had emerged from, filled with reinforcements.

The first wave of fifty-five.

---

Wave twenty-one held not soldiers, not weapons, not tools of war and domination...it held engineers. Kil'drabi volunteers and Ogryn selected by superiors amongst the legions of willing workers.

Their tools were tools in the traditional sense, meant to build and construct, not wound and kill. Even if a lot of tearing down and destroying still happened as these teams began to frantically work within the cloying smog of industry, the biting winds of sand and glass, or the relentless heat of the overhead sun.

Yet, as the soldiers and specialists exterminated and interrogated the last vestiges of threats to their mission, fortified and secured the outer perimeter with weapons dropped in the last round, they finished in time.

And Wave Twenty-Two arrived, its pods landing gently and soon moved away to be repurposed, men, women, and others of the faith marching out of them clothed in war plates and holy icons, prayers within their minds as they took up the flamer, the melta, the book, and the chainsword, eyes glinting with a zeal beyond fervor and feet marching upon their victims: the very souls of those dwelling in this wretched place.

---

"REJOICE!" The preacher shouted to the terrified crowd below, her arms wide and stretched to the ceiling almost invisible above everyone's heads, her eyes blazing with fanatic glee. "REJOICE PEOPLE OF HAB-BLOCK OMICRON SIGMA-466C! FOR NO LONGER SHALL YOU SUFFER THE DEPREDATIONS OF THE VILE CLANS AND GANS THAT INFESTED THESE HALLS!" She shouted, enforcers keeping the people where they were, weapons and armors of horrifying potency wielded with ease upon those who had tried to make their claim over these people known, which kept the same quiet and attentive in turn as the gears turned and another overlord rose over them. "REJOICE, FOR I COME BEARING THE MESSAGES OF THE STAR CHILD, OUR LORD AND YOUR SAVIOUR!" She screamed, banners unfurling behind her with the sigil of the Star Child proudly blazing from pristine colored cloth. The sight of such wealth alone made many people gasp.

"REJOICE! FOR THAT MESSAGE IS NOTHING LESS THAN THE SALVATION OF ALL YOUR IMMORTAL SOULS AGAINST THE THREAT OF THE SORCERER, THE DAEMON, AND THE HERETIC!" The priestess crooned those words in almost sexual pleasure, shivers running down the backs of many as they began to understand that this would not be a turn of the gear for a new overlord. This would be worse.

"AND YET! AND YET I, TOO, BEAR THE DECREES OF THE STAR CHILD! HEED THE FIRST WELL, AND HEED IT WITH FERVOR!" She shouted again and walked to the side where a crate stood innocently, emblazed with the same sigil on the unfurled banners. A foot was raised...and kicked the crate down below, unto a section of the floor cleared for that exact purpose.

It spilled rations.

The first ranks went silent as they beheld the utter bounty of food spilled onto the floor. Then the news spread like lightning.

"EAT!" The priestess shouted, and troops threw rations into the stunned crowd. "EAT WELL, EAT MUCH, AND SATE YOURSELF FOR THE FIRST TIME! TAKE WHAT YOU WANT, THEN TAKE SOME MORE! THERE SHALL BE NO HUNGER UNDER THE STAR CHILD; THERE WILL BE NO SICKNESS UNDER THEIR GAZE, NO MALEDICTIONS OF THE SOUL, ONLY A FUTURE WORTH FIGHTING FOR! REJOICE! FOR THIS IS THE END OF YOUR SLAVERY AND PAIN!"

The crowd roared in approval, hands grasping for any and all rations they could find as ever more were thrown for them to gather.



You Have 3 [Three] Actions. Currently Active ISC: [Green Horizons Colonization LTD]
(6-Hour Moratorium)

[] [General] Develop The Federations'...
-[] Food Production VII
-[] Civilian Infrastructure VII
-[] Heavy Industry VI
-[] Void Industry X
-[] Medical Services VI
-[] Military Industry VI
(Gain: A boost in production focusing on the chosen option.)

[] [General] Colonize (Planet/s)
It is time to bring two more worlds into the fold. Thanks to the Kil'drabi becoming our Kin, we can now categorize Frozen, Ash, and Volcanic Worlds as Habitable instead.
(Gain: Two colonized Worlds.
Habitable Worlds: Ultima Sigritta - Sira (Mesa and Savannah), Silista - Silista X (Temperate Continent), Itani - Grubbub (Low Shrubs and Fog), Gnatiila - Smug (Outback and Canyons), Turriamnish's Hope - Hope (Steppes and Moss), Monresast - Monresast Major (Arboreal and Savanna)
Hostile Worlds (-1 Void Industry): Qulach's Forge - Node 17c (Acidic Atmosphere)
Deathworlds (-1 to All): Qulach's Forge - Qulach's Forge (Fallout, Glass, Industrial Ruins, and Chemicals))

[] [General] Research:
01001101 01100001 01100100 00100000 01000010 01101001 01101110 01101000 01100001 01110010 01101001 01100011 00100000 01010011 01100011 01110010 01100101 01100101 01100011 01101000 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100001

[] [General] Propaganda For The Foreign Masses - [0/4]
With the Glimmering Federation struggling to digest its recent mass acquisition of systems and populations, some have raised the possibility of using the Federation's more diplomatic abilities and capabilities to subvert, convert, and then integrate new systems without causing mass casualties or widespread destruction. A Propaganda office outfitted with ships, Choirs, materials, factories, and a mandate to do just that should bring foreign systems into our sphere of influence and then the Federation as a whole. It will be pricy, though.
(Gain: Allows you to slowly convert one [1] random system at a time to the Glimmering Federation without Action cost.)

[] [General] Jolly Economic Co-Operation - [1 Remaining]
Despite what people may think, selling a shit-load of materials at discount prices will make you more money than trying to sell them at the standard markup. However, there are only so many materials to sell until the industries are behind and need to restock and be able to supply the same once again.
(Gain: 50% Discount on your [Develop] Actions taken in the same Turn (1 Dev into 2, 2 into 4). Ashan Families like you more.)

[] [Military] Create A [Blazing Sun - 4x War-Packs] or 3x SAGs - [System/s] - [Weight: Light/Medium/Heavy] - [Type: Infantry/Mechanized/Tanks/Augmetic Legion] - [Classification: Sabotage/Assault/Engineering/Demolition/Ogryn/Kil'drabi]
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 soldiers with spiffy hats that will not be disobeyed. Kil'drabi Units can go into temperature enviroments Humans would require special equipment with ease. Infantry Units consist mainly of boots on the ground, while Mechanized Units are equipped with vehicles that increase mobility and durability at the cost of logistics and all-terrain capability, with Tanks allowing a myriad of armored spearheads or operations to proceed, and an Augmetic Legion consists of cybernetically enhanced humans, equipped with high-end implants and prosthetics that set them far above the human baseline, allowing for far more dangerous deployments. Light Units are better for low-logistic scenarios, while Medium Units rely more on regular shipments and strike a good balance between supply consumption and effectiveness. Heavy Units rely on solid logistics to continue working while offering an equal force concentration in return. A War-Pack comprises 15 Karnivores grouped in Packs of 3 Knights each, alongside the infrastructure/logistics to support and rebuild their Knights.
(Gain: Three SAGs. These contain [Four Units] chosen from the above choices. Tanks require no Classification.)

[] [Military] [Construct/Refit] A Fleet - [36 Fleet Points]
Ships are produced at these rates: Scouts at 1 FP, Destroyers at 2 FP, Frigates at 4 FP, Light Cruisers at 8 FP, and Heavy Cruisers at 18 FP.
You can refit for 10 FP: Two Libra-S to Two Libra-T, Three Crux to Three Crux-S, and Four Taurus into Four Taurus-S in one Turn.
(Gain: Chosen Fleet.)

[] [Military] Militarize The Schools Of Paladins
Though the schools created to equip and train our missionaries for all possible environments and situations have quickly grown to smooth out all failures and bumps in their curriculum, some military think tanks have poked at the possibility of creating a home-grown version of the Imperial Sisters of Battle mentioned in both records and the descendants of a squad on Saget VII. This would include streamlining the usage of the Militaristic Faith Orders to use them in battles on the front line and training those dedicated to spreading and defending the Faith of the Star Child as parts of the military directly in the use of bullet and sword in heavy power armor.
(Gain: Unlock Templars, boosting your military.)

[] [Military] Re-Organize The Task Fleet System
Though it has served us well, as the Glimmering Federation grows, so too does the need of the Navy for a new re-organization of the Task Fleets. Though this time more of a logistical challenge rather than a doctrinal one, doing so will enable the military planners to better plan for and against foreign, and especially hostile, fleets with far more accurate data on their strengths compared to ours.
(Gain: Standard Templates for your Task Fleets, more accurate Military Data on the Maps.)

[ ] [Military] Design New Voidship Classes - [Available: Destroyer (1 FP), Frigate (2 FP), Light Cruiser (4 FP), Heavy Cruiser (8 FP)] - [8 FP]
From what we can tell, thanks to our history, what information we, the Kil'drabi, Yeeni, and the archives of our planets tell us, the difference between a prosperous interstellar polity and one naught but ash is the strength of their navy. At the moment, we have the beginning of a proud Void Fleet, yet purely defending against our enemies is a great way to get ground down into dust over time; we need to be able to bring the fight to them.
(Information: Ship Classes requiring more FP than you possess take more than one Action to produce.
Gain: Newly designed and built Ship Classes.)

[] [Military] Begin Military Operations (Assign SAG/s) (Choose Location/s) (Designate Objective/s)
-[] 28x Free Celestial Choirs
-[] Task Fleet Alpha (20/30 Ship Capacity)
(3x Andromeda-Class Command Ship, 3x Proof of Our New Path Battlecolony, 1x Libra-Tertium Light Carrier, 2x Libra-Secundus Light Carrier, 5x Crux-Class Missile Frigates, 2x Aries-Secundus Class Corvette, 5x Words of the Writ-Class Frigate, 2x Scorpio-Class Light Cruiser, 2x Taurus-S Troopship (0/10 SAG Capacity))
-[] Task Fleet Beta (20/20)
(2x Andromeda-Class Command Ship, 1x Libra-Tertium Light Carrier, 7x Scorpio-Class Light Cruiser, 2x Words of the Writ-Class Frigate, 4x Aries-Secundus Class Corvette, 3x Crux-Secundus Class Heavy Frigate, 3x Taurus-S Troopship (0/15 SAG Capacity))
-[] Task Fleet Gamma (20/20)
(2x Andromeda, 1x Proof of Our New Path Battlecolony, 1x Leo-Primus Heavy Cruiser, 2x Endeavour Light Cruiser, 2x Viper-Class Missile Destroyer, 2x Cobra Destroyers, 2x Falchion-class Frigate, 2x Words of the Writ-Class Frigate, 4x Aries-Secundus Class Corvette, 4x Taurus-Class Troopship (0/2 SAG Capacity))
-[] Independent Operations Task Force
(5x Chamleon-Class Infiltration Carrier)
-[] Lamenters Chapter Fleet (7/10)
(1x Andromeda-Class Command Ship, 2x Risen Dirge-Class Boarding Ship (0/2 Companies), 3x Lantern Bearer-Class Commandeering Ship (0/3 Companies), 1x Resurgence-Class Torpedo Hunter, and 1x Bloody Dawn-Class Light Cruiser (0/2 Companies))
-[] Scout Fleet Alpha
(4x Circinus-Class Scout Sloop, 1x Spirit of Discovery Scout-Class Light Cruiser)
There is war to be had and battle to be made. Send troops to resolve issues, squash opposition to the Star Child and Humanity and all Their Protectorates, and send ships to scout neighboring systems to understand what is happening there.
(Gain: Military dispatched to put down opposition violently. Scouts are sent to look at other systems.
Scouting Range: ~10 Systems from Claimed Systems. Scouting Efficiency: 75% Adjacent Systems, 40% Three+ Systems, 10% Five+ Systems.
Note: For use outside your territory or in support of forces specified within another Action.)

[] [Psykana] Conduct Two Melodies (Choose two below.) (0.8/1 - Auto Complete) - [Choose Melody]
The Celestial Choir has been given the means; 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, the 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. As there are 10 Celestial Choirs free to pursue research, the High Council can ask them to pursue a target instead of what comes close. This will, naturally, be lost once they dip below 10 Choirs.
(Total: 30
Uncovered: Technology.
Secret: Slumber, Silence, Perception, and Grounding.
Star Child: Hope II, Compassion II, Humanity II, Mercy, Creativity III, Health II, Unity II, Innovation, Machinery, Logic II, Progress II, Protection II, Justice, Wisdom, The Sun II, The Home II, Death, Ruthlessness, Brutality, and Fire II.
Kil'drabi: Paths, The Void II, Struggle, Community, and Family.
Gain: Two Melodies newly Conducted.)

[] [Psykana] Sing a Song (Choose at least Three below.)
Mere Melodies are not the end of the journey, nor should they be the start. They are the middle, from which all things shall grow and wither.
(Star Child: Protection I, Fire I, The Sun I, Humanity I, Creativity II, Song III, The Home I, Logic I, Unity I, Progress I, Compassion I, Hope I, Health I, and Void I.
Gain: A Song.
Sung: Dirge for the Innocent, Bound To The Stars, A Web Of Song.)

[] [Faith] Sermons To The Families
Though the Ashan Families are not fans of strangers walking into their homes and preaching about strange deities, they are fans of allowing honored guests to preach an interpretation of a sanctioned faith (even if it is a weird interpretation) in exchange for money. However, they will still check if said guests are preaching Chaos, just to be sure.
(Gain: The Ashan Families allow your priests to preach in their territories.)

[] [Faith] The Great Heresies
Though it is infuriating to many that splits and cracks have already started to appear within the structure of our faith, especially when the Prophet hasn't even been laid to rest in his last resting place, these splits were inevitable. There was no way to prevent those who strayed from established Doctrine, so we must expend effort to bring them back into the fold, even if some start to whisper about altering Doctrine itself to incorporate some parts of their beliefs into ours.
(Gain: Reconcile, Syncretise, Legalise, or Crack Down on a Heresy.)
-[] The Particularists
The Droman Creed emphasizes the different qualities and roles of each of the Five, encapsulating the Co-equal Oneness of the Five-One, One-Five, yet some believe this to be a Pantheon. For the Particularists, this is the furthest from the truth, as they believe the Five-One to not be co-equal within their shared Divinity, but One-As-Five, mixing everything into one being by denying the uniqueness of each Five to not deny the Oneness of them all.
-[] The Anti-Particularists
The opposite to the Particularists, they have twisted this section of the Creed to its utter limit: I believe that these Five, Omnissiah, Emepror, Motive Force, Body of the Faith, and Star Child, are Indivisible and One, and Two, And Three, Four, and Five. They believe one can pair the Five-One according to their "Co-Equal Hierarchy," represented by a square with four edges and the Star Child in the middle. In this, they claim that the Emperor and Omnissiah are on the Left and Right of the square, with the Community of Faith and Motive Force in the lower left and right, relating to each other in their respective roles and relations as they come together to create the Star Child.
-[] The Adherents of the Divine Lines
Those who call themselves the Adherents of the Divine Lines hold to the idea that a Divine Lineage exists at all, claiming that, as the Space Marines and Primarchs are the children of the Emperor-and-Omnissiah as well as the Star Child, a clear line of Divine Heritage exists that allows those who partake in its shared blood to better understand and enact the will of the Five-One unto the face of the galaxy, and that the Glimmering Federation need only right what has so long been silenced.
-[] The Order of the Nurenor Roses
The Order of the Nurenor Roses is the epitome of those Cerberus hunts, for they are a Heretical Sect most foul. They believe the Star Child to be a woman instead of genderless. They seek a society split by task and by gender, with women as the spiritual rulers and men as the material leaders, the place of one designated by birth and skill, using the Thules as evidence for the success of such a practice despite all the evidence to the contrary, and more.
-[] The Supplicants of the Aetherical Cog
This outgrowth of the Star-Mechanicum was recently discovered and has, as far as Cerberus knows, been founded by an unknown Magos after the Nuking of the Forge, when they found an artifact of unspecified power and nature. However, interrogations have since revealed that this artifact was a receptible of data and contained several teachings within its form that range, by their descriptions, from "perfectly acceptable" to "utterly heretically." The various sects of the Aetherical Cog are cellular by nature and differ in several ways, even amongst themselves, but all hold to the central belief that a Divided Consciousness is no longer tolerable. Instead, they seek the Convergence, the day when all minds are joined as one under the guidance of the Star Child to be but a cog for their designs of peaceful unity.

[] [Chapter] A Ship Worthy Of The Chapter (0/4)
Though bound by oaths and ties of blood and industry, the Lamenters were, have, and will never be a Chapter bound by terrestial chains; their fate to sail the endless void in pursuit of the enemy, the wicked, and the daemonic. But to proudly fly once again in full strength, a ship worhty of the Chapter must be built.
(Gain: The Lamenters gain a Grand Cruiser as a Flagship.)

[] [Other] Take Care Of [Future Or Current Problems]
(Write-In the problem being addressed.)