The Princess Genevive Saga: An Imperial Knights Quest

[X] To battle!


The Blade of Ares enters into the orbit of Solannor the morning after your conversation with Vali. There is another Imperial ship in orbit, Navy rather than Guard. It is engaged in brutal combat with the Ork ship, a horrific amalgamation of broken parts and machinery. From your viewpoint, it is impossible to see which ship is winning the conflict as both fire at each other, and both seem to resist whatever is flung at them across the void. Almost immediately upon entering the system, General Helios orders you to a strategy meeting headed by himself alongside the officers of the regiment. You decide after some thought to wearing your Knight uniform rather than any dress. You, Alex, and Vali move out to the assigned sanctum. Along the way, you are joined up by the tank commander, Major Damocles. In the past few days, you've learned little of the man, only that he is strict and a new officer who has only recently been promoted.

You give him a smile and a quick curtsy, "Good morning Major."

"Good morning," Damocles replies curtly.

There is silence after that, the four of you finally making it to the sanctum slightly after everyone else. There are many other people in the room, but you have the feeling that only five or so, not including the General, are high ranking officers like Damocles. The rest are retinues and guards. Commissar Pepper is also in attendance, his long coat loose on his lean frame. Strangest of all, however, is an elegant woman in her early-30s, dressed in what you have to assume is traditional Kratosian garb. Helios nods as you enter. "Major Damocles, Princess Eriventa. Welcome. Let us begin." Helios rises and points to the large table, on which is set a map of the planet of Solannor, "Solannor is currently being overrun. Most of the cities on the main continent have already been routed. Luckily for us, the Orks have only just begun to besiege the capital. Currently, the PDF is holding the Orks at a stalemate, and if we lend them support and are able to push the xenos back, we will be able to base operations from there." He looks around to calm nods from everyone assembled, it seems there are no objections to that point. "To that end, we will lead up with a heavy assault on the bulk of the Ork siegers, headed up by Major Damocles and Princess Eriventa."

You feel an immediate sense of pride, such an honorable position for your first deployment, "I am honored, General, I will not fail you."

Helios smiles, "I'm sure you won't, your highness."

Major Damocles gives a salute, "Sir."

One of the ranking officers seems a bit less pleased, "Forgive me, Legatus Helios, but Major Damocles is new to his command, and Princess Eriventa only just arrived. Are you sure it's the right decision to send them headlong into combat."

You are about to give the man who spoke a scowl, but Helios speaks before you can, "Damocles and Eriventa are in command of our heaviest weaponry, tanks and the Knight walkers. In order to get an early foothold, we must hit the Orks with the hardest blow we can."

The man who spoke nods grimly, "Very well, Legatus, I meant no offense." He looks over at you and Damocles somewhat awkwardly, "Neither did I mean any disrespect to either of you."

You smile winningly, "Of course, good sir, you were merely airing a grievance. A false one, I assure you." The last part is added despite yourself, and you hear Alex groan and to your surprise a bit of a chuckle from Damocles.

"I hope it is," the other officer says gruffly.

Helios continues, "Once Damocles and Eriventa slow the Ork siege, the rest of our forces will move in and finish it off. As mentioned, the capital will then become the staging ground for the rest of the campaign." He looks over to a man in a naval uniform, "Captain Picos will command the Blade of Ares and move to aid the Navy against the Ork Hulk."

Picos gives a crisp salute, "I shall not fail you, Legatus."

Helios returns the salute, "Right then, now that all is prepared, Pithia Juno will read the tarot and give us the Portents for this campaign."

The woman, Juno, stands up and places four cards on the table. The Emperor's Tarot, Juno must be a fortune teller of sorts. With a flick of her fingers, she flips the first card. "The Knight," the woman says, "Front-up." There is a murmur across the room, and several looks your way. You feel somewhat nervous. The next card is flipped, and the tension is released, "The Star, front up." The woman says, "The portent is clear, the newly arrived Knights will shine bright in the coming battle." Your heart beats happily, and you hear excited whispers.

Helios, however, remains calm, "And the other two, Juno?"

Juno nods lazily, "Of course, Tycho." Slowly she flips the third. "The Sword, face up," she declares. And then the fourth. Blood drains from her face, "Shattered World. Face up." She takes a breath, "This portent is somewhat unclear, however, I believe what it means is we must be steadfast and sharp as a sword. If we don't, the world will die."

Helios nods, breaking the silence, "Thank you, Juno. We will commence our plan at once: Damocles, Eriventa, get to your stations and prepare for deployment. Pepper, Ajax, with me. The Emperor Protects"

Everyone moves at once to battle stations. It is all a rush of motion until you are in your Knight.

O'Donagh briefs you, "The Knights are in excellent condition, My Lords. Beautiful and powerful and ready to slay."

You nod, "Thank you, O'Donagh." Alex and Vali reply in a similar fashion to his words. You feel Righteousness's spirit press against you, ancient voices whispering at the edge of your conscience. You keep control. This is your moment of first blood. You feel the sudden urge to give a speech to your companions before the coming onslaught, perhaps it will give you something of an edge?


[] Speech! (Roll Social)

[] Keep silent, focus on the battle at hand

[] Write-in

[X] Speech! (Roll Social)

"Knights of Etumar! This is our day of first blood!" you start, you voice booming through the vox, "The vile Orks think they can stomp roughshod over this world! They think they can slay the people of the Imperium! They are wrong! Together we shall slay these vile creatures and end their transgressions! For Emperor and Imperium, we live and die in glory!"
[Rolled 7d6, got 24. You, Alex, and Vali get a +1 morale boost to your Knightly Combat Skills]

Alex and Vali let out cheers of excitement, and you feel your heart pounding as pride pulses through your body! The drop-ship carrying the Kratosian army reaches the surface, and you are deployed. Solannor was beautiful, with scenic hills and vistas. Now it is burning and you can see signs of death and destruction everywhere.

General Helios opens up on the vox, "Princess Eriventa, Major Damocles, as discussed, you two will form the vanguard. Move in and hit the Ork siege force in the back with extreme prejudice. We are right behind you and will strike with trucks and ordinance shortly after your initial assault. The Emperor protects, good hunting."

You reply, "Yes, General."

Alex's voice comes through a private channel, "everything good, sister?"

You smile, "Yes, Alex, this is exhilarating. This has been a long time coming."

You can hear the smile in Alex's voice, "Yeah, it has. Let's teach these Ork bastards the power of Etumar's Knights."

In answer you switch to full vox, speaking to Alex and Vali, "We march!" The march of the Knights to their fated foe takes an hour, the decision to land a solid distance from the Ork forces was made to keep the element of surprise. But, it only takes 30 minutes for you to hear the screams and roars of the Orks. And then finally, you crest a hill and behold your foe. The Ork army is massive, to the point that you almost can't even see the walls of Solannor's citadel capital. By some miracle of good fortune, the Ork force is mostly infantry and the citadel's anti-personnel weapons are doing a game job of holding them back. But even with your purely scholastic knowledge of war, you can tell the city doesn't have long. You can hear the Ork's barbarian war screams, the sound of the ordinance, and smash of metal and stone being destroyed. The Ork's heaviest weapons on the battlefield are a series of crude mortar tanks. They also have a good set of trucks and tanks, ramshackle devices that still have good ability to crush infantry and cause damage. You must make a decision.

Target:
[] Crush the Ork Siege tanks, without them, they won't be able to crush the walls.
[] Focus on the Ork armor, they have the ability to cause the Kratosian weapons a lot of trouble
[] Just slaughter some Ork infantry, the Kratosian tanks can deal with the vehicles.

Combat Strategy:
[] Focus on blasting the foe at a range
[] Get in close and tear these bastards to shreds
[] Bombard at a range to soften them up, then charge in
[] Write-in