wow that was a long break, back again and I missed a bit.
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.
Yah, considering how long the turns are, ten years each, and how BIG the Hives are... they're not coming back. It takes a special kind of person to go on this mission, knowing all of that. add in getting lesser gear then you would get because of deniability. and damn, the name of them? the 1st Voxxian
Liberation Army? great. Volunters one and all indeed.
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.
Ah, right because of how all our worlds are to a standard at 5 in all infrastructure and we care about our people, along with how our religion is... yah donation drive work and they are a easy low way to mobilize the our society. Of course being many worlds does help at all since by the Shipwrights got what they needed when they viewed the words 'donation drive' as a few scraps and thought as might.
Something good to keep in mind and to remember to view our society as not in wartime or just living their lives and able to mobilize for things like these. And holy shit, 7 years worth of our GDP. wonder if this is because it was the first time we've done this or what? I understand if we push it too often it will decrease but damn that was a good showing.
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.
Ah, right. the complete and utter shit and hell hole that is the underhives. That is the normal conditions and they are rushing to build this up. Also respect to those Kil-drabi for taking this mission and knowing they won't ever go back to their colony ships. Again this shows are approach to the hive and subverting it via caring for people and improving the under hives.
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.
Ah, the preachers have arrived......wait a minute. How long has it been since we made this group and kept them in reserve? just waiting and dreaming of doing this? oh boy. hope this doesn't get out of hand and its just to purge the horrors in the underhive.... oh right its the underhive, nah this is appropriate response and approach.
"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.
Yup, there it is. the Kind of religious fervor and devotion that would needed or part of job where you would leave your home and spend the rest of your life on a world that would hate you and be hostile to your mission/religion. Like I said, specific mindset. and this preacher is LIVING for this moment, to convert and bring the message of the Starchild.
Once again I am reminded of the sheer bleakness and shitty conditions in the Underhives that non-ratty and holed filled colored cloth is a sign of immense wealth.
"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.
Yup, free rations and the promise of just eating as much as you want? they're sold. And that freeze? imagine what went through their minds at the sight of the rations and then the permission to take as much as they want.
I wonder how it will go for the next century or two. I think we might need to give them some more supplies or something in the future but given we included hydroponics and engineering teams, they should be repairing and fixing up what parts of the underhive they can. How are those buggies we designed for the Underhives handling so far?
and hell, if we were the Imperium, we'd assume these were genestealers right away.
[] [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.)
I forgot what are the sizes on a Grand Cruiser again? and yah! the Lamenters rebuilding their Fleet again!
Those are the words of the Supplicants, and they are intoxicating indeed. The idea that one can simply...let go of all their fears, of all their despair and misery, let go of pain and uncertainty, and be always comforted in the knowledge that, yes, they have a purpose, they are worth and worthy of the Divine Grace that the Star Child has given us to usher in its Age...
They will always have recruits. No matter how many cells are struck, how many of their plans to advance the eradication of the self are discovered and destroyed, their experiments saved, and their raids on research institutions foiled...human nature itself is their ally.
Humanity craves purpose. It is what makes us...us. It made us go into the stars, what enabled us to reach the heights we now once again aspire to achieve, and the doom that falls when that search for purpose is twisted and turned into horrors beyond human comprehension.
Yah, very tempting but parts of the human experience that make us humans. A much harder thing to deal with that the Imperial lingering parts of Anti-Xenos. Would be easy to subvert by chaos or like... not really sure how to handle this one.
