[X] Plan: Honor the Fallen and Crush the Foe
-[X] Have the Skalds send invitations to every friendly power in the Sector and the Tau and host a Memorial Service with Torvald on Mjolnir. We're to pay our respects to the those that died in the War against the Dark Angels, show solidarity, and reaffirm our vows to defend Asgardia no matter what.
—-[X] In private, tell Osmadiel that in light of the recent attack and the multitude of threats locally, we recommend the Knights of Caliban attempt to ramp up their numbers. Also, tell Ovald that in the next 5 years he can expect a gift of 300 more Geneseed, and if the Iron Sentinels ever wish to get retribution against the Dark Angels for what they've done the Storm Avengers will be there to assist no matter what.
——[X] Furthermore, suggest that we all share copies of our records so that if a similar tragedy were to happen again we can ensure the safety of our Chapters' history.
-[X] Create 700 Test Slaves
-[X] Look into setting up a power generator for the Foundry we found, we need that operational.
-[X] Establish the First Storm Legion, and deploy them against the Heretics in Danlog
—[X] 1st-5th Midgardia Armor, 1st-4th Midgardia Artillery, 4th-8th Midgardia Mechanised, 1st Jostir Mechanised, 1st-3rd Midgardia Sentinels, 1st-3rd Grisnir Wardens, 2nd-3rd Jostir Wardens, 1st Grisnir Aerial, and 1st Jostir Aerial
-[X] Deployment
—[X] 1st Asgardian Crusade: 3rd Company, 2nd Chapter Fleet,
Storm of Salvation
—[X] Homeguard: 5th Company
—[X] Raid against Lukov: 2nd Company
—[X] Patrol: 7th Company, 11th Company, 1st Chapter Fleet,
—[X] Battleship Retrieval: 12th Company, 3rd Chapter Fleet
—[X] Danlog: Traitor Guard: 1st Storm Legion, 10th Company
—[X] Ur'Iso Hunt: 1st Company, 4th Company, 13th Company, 6th Company, 8th Company,
Might of Storms
-[X] Mjolnir Memorial Service Protection Detail: 9th Company
-[X] Production
—[X] 1 Adamantine Mantle (5 PP)
—[X] 3 Vindicators (9 PP)
—[X] 20 Heavy Weapons (4 PP)
—[X] Repair
Storm Invictus,
Tempest of Justice,
Implacable Justice,
Unrelenting Fury, and
Penance Bearer at Forge World Thor and have Additional Shield Generators installed on all (7 Major Favours and 5 Minor Favours)
—[X] Repair Void Gale at Midgardia shipyard
-[X] Sector Development
—[X] Send Material Aid to Mjolnir (20 RP)
—[X] 4 Industrial Complexes (Thur, Minvir, Jostir and Danlan (40 RP)
—[X] Gladius-class Frigate (4 RP)
—[X] Spatha-class Frigate (4 RP)
—[X] Orbital Defences lvl 1 (Folkvangr) (10 RP)
—[X] Additional Shield Generator (Void Gale) (2RP)
-[X] Chapter Organisation
—[X] due to our Veteran Companies fighting in the Void more often than not where Land Raiders can't be leveraged, it has been judged to be more efficient to spread them out to the Battle Companies so they have one and should leaves 1st and 12th with 4 each.
—-[X] Land Raider Phobos
Leonis Ira (8th Company and crewed by marines from it)
—-[X] Land Raider Redeemer
Imperialis Tempestus (3rd Company)
—-[X] Land Raider Phobos
Ferrum Tonitruum (2nd Company)
—-[X] Land Raider Phobos
Storm of Penance (4th Company)
—-[X] Land Raider Phobos
Vaccus Tonitru (5th Company)
—-[X] Land Raider Phobos
Storm Unleashed (6th Company)
—-[X] Land Raider Phobos
Faithful Wrath (7th Company)
—-[X] Land Raider Phobos
Avenging Fury (9th Company)
—-[X] Land Raider Phobos
Hidden Vengeance (13th Company)
Despite a brief delay of a few years, the 1st Asgardian Crusade was soon back on track as the Asgardian Triumvirate attempted to deal with the Greenskins of Grendel once and for all. Countless of Asgardian Auxilia regiments, dozens of Vanaheim Valkyrie regiments, three Preceptories from the Order of the Sacred Storm and hundreds of Astartes descended upon the sub-sector, to purge it of the xenos and reclaim it in the name of the God-Emperor.
But as always, the Orks did not meekly comply with the plans of Mankind. Warboss Ironrekka had met his end at the hands of the Dark Angels mere years before, but as the crusaders arrived, they found Warboss Grotsmasha uniting the Grendel Sub-Sector under his rule. The greenskins were still depleted from the losses Waaagh! Ironrekka had suffered, but they weren't leaderless like had been hoped.
Waaagh! Grotsmasha was still limited as the Dark Angels had wiped out more than half of Ironrekka's fleet and the Greenskins of Grendel had no chance to properly rebuild. While Battlefleet Asgardia has been significantly depleted in the Beowulf Sub-Sector, the xenos defenders could only muster up escorts, roks and a handful of lite kroozers along with the odd kill kroozer that had survived from Waaagh! Ironrekka.
They were swept aside by the Astartes along any orbital defences with the crusade taking their time to bombard the defensive stations from afar. Unfortunately, the planetary invasions were as hard as expected with plenty of eager Orks to find a good fight under Waaagh! Grotsmasha. Whatever depletions to their numbers had been made by the defeat of Ironrekka had been refilled by the rise of Grotsmasha.
Yet the 1st Asgardian Crusade pushed onwards as Knights of Caliban cleared landing zones for the Asgardian Auxilia to land. Great battles were fought as mighty armies clashed for the fates of their worlds with the Auxilia's lines backed up by Space Marines and the Sisters of Battle. It had been several millennia since humanity could call the Grendel Sub-Sector its own, but the day where it could be was to be brought about by the faithful servants of the God-Emperor.
Blood flowed freely, but most of it was alien blood as the Orks failed to gain the upper hand against the liberators. Free of concerns about collateral damage and needing to keep the planet's infrastructure and population intact and alive respectively, the Asgardians could go all out. The void supremacy meant orbital bombardments were used liberally against any major bastions of greenskin resistance or Gargants while heavy weaponry were deployed against the defenders with little restraint.
It was a bloody and gruelling slog, but one that steadily saw more of the Grendel Sub-Sector fall. Grotsmasha and his followers did what they could, but without a navy, there was only so much they could do from Grendel. The greenskins may be unyielding, but the invaders were unrelenting.
***
"Gargant sighted!" reports the leader of their Stormraven flight, "Prepare for drop! Hot approach!"
"You heard that, brothers!" calls Veteran Sergeant Patric Forgeson of Three-Seven as he begins to make his way to the back of the Stormraven, "We are nearing our target. Prepare for a hot drop. The greenskins will not make this easy for us, but that Gargant must be destroyed. For the God-Emperor and the Primarch!"
"For the God-Emperor and the Primarch!" echos Patric's combat squad as the rear hatch of the Stormraven opens up, revealing a howling greenskin horde below around a pair of crude yet unmistakably mighty warmachines.
The only silver lining to the situation is that both Gargants are clearly only partially built though they are still more constructed than Patric would have preferred.
"We are the Avenging Storm!" cries Patric as the veteran leaps out of the Stormraven.
He dodges and weaves against the incoming Ork fire as best as the Assault Marine can, aiming for the closest Gargant along with the rest of Three- Seven. Out of the corner of his eyes, Patric can spot his brothers in Three-Eight going for the other Gargant. The Ork titan-equivalents need to be destroyed before they can be sent to the frontlines, a job for none other than the Angels of Death.
Changing his position and flaring his jump pack to slow his descent. Patric fires as some of the Orks swarming on top of the half-built Gargant, killing only two, but wounding at least three more. A moment later, he has landed on the Gargant and has to deal with a screaming greenskin as the xenos comes running at him with some kind of construction tool in hand.
With a swift swing of his Paragon Blade, he dispatches the Ork with ease before he disembowels another. Patric looks around for new targets, but the rest of his squad have already dealt with the other greenskins working on the Gargant. Of course, they have no shortage of targets from the screaming mob around them.
"Cover me, brothers," orders Patric, "I shall place the melta bombs."
As the sergeant of Three-Seven, it is his responsibility to carry those deadly and powerful explosives. Therefore it is his duty to plant them to see the Gargant destroyed. He'll just need to plant them at key points for maximum damage and it should be enough to destroy the Gargant. At the very least, he and his brothers will inflict great damage to the xenos warmachine and delay its date of completion.
As he descends deeper into the half-finished Gargant, Patric slays more of the greenskins, a mixture of surviving workers and some of the surrounding horde that have climbed into warmachine in search of a fight. A fight that Patric has no hesitation about giving them as he carves through them with his blade.
"Peder," Patric calls into his vox as he plants the last of his melta bombs, "Charges are set on my end."
"Almost done over here," replies the sergeant of Three Eight, "Do you wish to engage the horde?"
"Yes, let us thin this tide of xenos filth before we pull back to the
Storm of Wrath," agrees Patric as he eyes the nearest opening to the outside, "Three-Seven, disembark the Gargant. We are going hunting, brothers."
He receives several acknowledgements as he fires up his jump pack, flying through a gap in the Gargant's hull. He comes crashing down on a hapless Ork, crushing the alien and knocking several more off their feet.
"For the Emperor!" roars Patric as he rushes into the closest group of Orks, hacking away with his Paragon Blade.
The greenskins are unable to do anything, but die against him as his ancient blade cleaves through their vile flesh. He spots Sjurd unleashing his flamer, burning entire groups of Orks alive at once, and he eyes Klaus as his brother blasts a Nob with his meltagun, sending the surviving Ork boyz into a panicked flight.
Patric spots a pair of deffkoptas coming their way and he is about to call out a warning to his squad when one of the Stormravens does a fly-by. Its lascannons lash out, destroying one of the deffkoptas while the gunship's heavy bolters rips into the other, taking it out with a hail of fire and flying scrap metal. The Stormraven's hurricane bolters lay into the horde, mowing down Ork boyz with ease.
Decapitating an Ork with the flick of his wrist, Patric judges that his squad is far enough away from the Gargant. With a single push of the detonator, a series of booming explosions ripple through the Gargant, practically ripping apart the superstructure of the half-finished warmachine. A moment later, the second Gargant suffers a similar fate as Patric puts a bolt into the face of an unfortunate greenskin.
"Both targets eliminated," reports Patric into the vox, "All Storm Avengers, withdraw to the Stormravens. Our mission is complete. Let us leave before Ork reinforcements show up."
***
One by one, the Ork-infested worlds of the Grendel Sub-Sector fall to the 1st Asgardian Crusade. It will be the work of centuries before the worlds are fully purged of Ork presence, but for now, the xenos have been culled to acceptable levels. Five years after the crusade enter the sub-sector, only five of the fourteen worlds remain under the control of Grotsmasha, the reminder having been reclaimed by the Asgardian Triumvirate.
Losses have been minimal so far. The casualties of the Asgardian Auxilia and the Vanaheim Valkyries have well within predicted rates, easily close to the lower end of casualty projections. The Order of the Sacred Storm have lost a few hundred sisters, but with their modern size, such losses are easily absorbed. Of the Angels of Death, only the Knights of Caliban have only lost any brothers with a handful across three different Orders having fallen in battle.
The 1st Asgardian Crusade rages on, but things are optimistic. Grendel itself won't fall easily and Warboss Grotsmasha will fight to the bitter end, but most of the sub-sector has been liberated. It won't be long before the first of the new colonists arrive and strategic predictions indicate there will be a good chance of the crusade wrapping up before the start of the new century.
7 Battle-Brothers are promoted to Veterans. (3rd Company)
***
The prize of a battleship, even a rare and likely outdated design like the
Oberon-class, is no small thing. Denying one to the Archenemy is of vital importance, but the chance to claim one back for those who serve under the God-Emperor? The opportunity cannot just be ignored even if the deed is risky.
So when the Carmine Talons passed on word of the
Oberon-class Battleship which once belonged to the Warhounds of Shrouded Steel, your Chapter had to take advantage of the information. A salvageable battleship hidden away in an asteroid belt had to be recovered if possible or destroyed if not so long as the Ruinous Powers did not reclaim the mighty vessel.
Given the danger involved in going so deep into the territory of Hell Forge Heimdall and its allies, you chose to send 12th Company accompanied by the warships of the 3rd Chapter Fleet. The terminator-clad veterans with archeotech weapons under Nikolas Stormson should be enough to see victory over the heretics.
Under Captain Nikolas Stormson, the Storm Avengers came up with a two-fold mission plan. 12th Company would strike at Heimdall's petty empire with hit and run raids to draw out the defenders and focus attention on them. With the enemy distracted, 3rd Fleet would slip in and retrieve the
Oberon-class Battleship with the
Ardent Storm being deemed sufficient to deal with the heretics if 3rd Fleet was discovered.
The plan goes smoothly, likely due to the sheer amount of flexibility built into the simplistic plan. Aboard the
Thunder of Retribution, 12th Company goes on a rampage across the Heimdall Sub-Sector. They lay waste to mining sites, fuel refineries, minor outposts and tertiary factories as the veteran Space Marines slaughter their way through all of the Hell Forge's direct forces.
In response, the Steel Hunger and their lackeys, the Warhounds of Shroud Steel, leap into action with dozens of warships being mobilised to hunt down the lone strike cruiser and her escorts. With the hunt fully on, Nikolas pulls back to the Garm Sub-Sector to begin striking new targets there. The bulk of the enemy response force drawn out of the Heimdall Sub-Sector, the 3rd Chapter Fleet swoops in to complete the mission.
None of the heretics even notice 3rd Fleet as they enter the asteroid belt, moving towards the location that the Carmine Talons gave your Chapter. It takes a bit of searching, but it isn't long before they find the
Oberon-class Battleship. After that, it is just a matter of bringing it back to Asgardian Triumvirate space and letting 12th Company know that the mission objective has been achieved.
Open receiving the news, Nikolas makes the call to withdraw as the Steel Hunger has begun to close the noose on 12th Company. Already one of his battle-brothers has fallen while several more are injured. Rather than press their lack, the Captain of 12th Company orders the
Thunder of Retribution to make a quick and clean getaway before the heretics get the upper hand.
1 Battle-Brother is killed. 1 Gene-Seed Recovered. (12th Company)
What do you do with the retrieved Oberon-class Battleship?
[ ] Give it over to Battlefleet Asgardia.
Gain 1 Honourbound Favour with Battlefleet Asgardia.
[ ] Give it over to the Mechanica Sororitas.
Gain 1 Honourbound Favour with the Mechanica Sororitas.
***
Across the Asgardia Sector, the Astartes of the Asgardian Triumvirate mobilise to deal with the lesser threats in the sector. The Storm Avengers and Iron Sentinels both send their 10th Companies to deal with the Traitor Guard in the Danlog Sub-Sector while the Iron Sentinels send their 5th Company to handle the pro-Imperium revolt in the Saga Sub-Sector.
The Order of Coldwing moves to crush the Celeste Chaos cultists in the Thrud Sub-Sector while the 7th Company of the Storm Avengers moves to handle a similar uprising that has appeared in the Tyr Sub-Sector. Meanwhile the 1st Chapter Fleet of the Storm Avengers clashes with the forces of Hell Forge Heimdall as the hereteks launch raids into the Muninn Sub-Sector.
At Danlog, things were mixed. Overall, it was a victory with the PDF proving themselves capable enough that they could have held the line without Astartes support. As things were, the Storm Avenger scouts provided support that made victory both quicker and cleaner with less devastation to the invaded worlds. By the time that the 1st Storm Legion arrives, the battle is already won with the Gardian soldiers providing aid to the clean-up operations. The Iron Sentinel scouts would have provided their own aid, but their strike cruiser,
Iron Fury, never arrived. Instead, the vessel and the Astartes aboard were lost to the warp, their fates unknown.
Within the Saga Sub-Sector, the arrival of the Iron Sentinel breaks the stalemate in favour of the Asgardian loyalists. With nothing that can withstand the onslaught of the Angels of Death, the pro-Imperium rebels are systematically rushed. While it will be a few more years to hunt out the last few holdouts and bastions of resistance, Captain Dane reports that the bulk of the rebellion has been broken with no chance of a comeback. A few regiments of Asgardian Auxilia are being sent over to reinforce the local PDF, but the situation no longer requires any sort of Astartes intervention.
In the Thrud Sub-Sector, the Order of Coldwing sees similar success against the Chaos cultists there. While the local PDFs had already broken the stalemate by the time that the Knights of Caliban had arrived, the Space Marines helped turn the victory into a mop-up as they shattered any attempts by the heretics to rally. Within a handful of years, the Chaos cults had been either purged or driven back underground, bringing a state of peace back to the sub-sector.
In contrast, the followers of the False Saintess on the Fortress-World Tyr were fresh and still had the advantage of surprise. They almost got the upper hand over the local authorities before the
Talon of Ragnarok came swooping in with 7th Company aboard. Under Captain Scottus Lightson and the veteran core of the company, 7th Company showed why they had earnt a reputation for putting down heretical uprisings.
What was looking like it would be a victory for the rebels was swiftly reversed. In a matter of months, 7th Company had halted the heretical advance and within a year, they had brought the uprising to a stalemate. When two years had passed, the Storm Avengers had turned the tides and it was now the cultists who were on the defensive as the Tyr PDF launched multiple counter-attacks led by the Angels of Death. While it would take another couple of years to finally put down the uprising, the path to doing so was firmly on track.
Internal threats aren't the only danger posed by the slaves to the Dark God in the Asgardia Sector. Hell Forge Heimdall continues to launch raids into the Asgardian Triumvirate, this time attacking the Muninn Sub-Sector. Supported by over a dozen warships of the Steel Hunger, the Dark Mechanicus descends upon the loyalist sub-sector.
Rising to meet them are the warships of the 1st Chapter Fleet. With the
Unyielding Defiance leading the way, the Storm Avenger warships clash with the invaders, moving to meet them at every turn. The Iron Warriors of the Steel Hunger do their best to shield their Dark Mechanicus allies, but these sons of Guilliman are some of the foremost experts on void warfare.
Matters are compounded by the fact that the forces of Heimdall are still weakened by recent fighting. While the heretic forces are able to make more than one landing, each time sees the local defenders throw back the invaders. Harassed by the Storm Avengers and facing prepared foes, the raiders of Heimdall are forced to retreat as they suffer grievous losses with little to show for it. A retreat that sees further defeat as the 1st Chapter Fleet is able to slip its Vanguard Cruisers past the warships of the Steel Hunger on two occasions, both times annihilating the Dark Mechanicus troop transports.
2 Scouts are promoted to Battle-Brothers. (10th Company)
6 Scouts are killed. 5 Gene-Seed Recovered. (11th Company)
6 Scouts are promoted to Battle-Brothers. (11th Company)
***
The first half of the results. Your battleship retrieval went well and the 1st Asgardian Crusade is continuing apace with steady progress being made despite the Greenskins of Grendel not going gently into the dark. Otherwise, a bunch of minor fires are put out across the Asgardia Sector.
Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.
