[X] The Storm Avengers claim the
Vengeance-class Grand Cruiser for Midgardia's defence.
[X] The Storm Avengers claim the
Executor-class Grand Cruiser for Midgardia's defence.
[X] The Storm Avengers give the unknown Heavy Cruiser to Forge World Thor.
Gain one Major Favour from Forge World Thor.
[X] 4th Company.
[X] 8th Company.
[X] Thur
-[X] Advanced Campus.
Costs one Honourbound Favour from Forge World Loki.
The Ymir Sub-Sector is in dire straits. The final hold out of the rebellion that was raging when the Storm Avengers arrived in the Asgardia Sector, it is also the only place the rebels have been successful. The heretics had seized control over the sub-sector with only a few holdouts of the Imperial Guard and only their lack of voidships is keeping their heresy from spreading further.
The greatest hold out of the Emperor's faithful is the 7th Company of the Storm Avengers. The Angels of Death have fought valiantly and fiercely against the rebels and yet it hasn't been enough, not to defeat the rebels or even hold them at bay. To this end, they have received reinforcements in the form of two companies of fellow Adeptus Astartes, 2nd Company from their own chapter and the 3rd Company of Iron Sentinels.
Three hundred space marines fought against the rebellion and it wasn't enough. The heretics continued to entrenched themselves, in some places having held their territory for over a decade and the earliest sites of the rebellion had spent more than two decades under heretic control. The last Imperial Guard holdouts were crushed and their reinforcements held at bay as they attempted to land.
The space marines did what they could, but without the hammer of the Imperial Guard backing them up, their effects were limited. They killed countless heretics and destroyed uncounted strategic targets and yet nothing became of such things without follow up invasions.
In the end, the sons of Guilliman weren't able to prevent the heretics from creating a new daemon world from the Shrine World Jotnar.
9 Battle-Brothers are killed. 7 Gene-Seed Recovered. (7th Company).
***
Feliust Horjen was the Arch-Priest on Jotnar, leader of the local branch of Celeste's faithful. The Shrine World had been a bastion of faith to the False-Emperor and now it would become a bastion of faith for the True Saintess. No more would it be a monument to the false god as the holy might of Sabraella Celeste would sweep over the world, transforming it in her image. The faithful would be blessed by her touch while the unfaithful would suffer her judgement for their lack of belief in her righteous cause.
They have overthrown the corrupt and unfaithful rulers of Jotnar, crushed the unbelievers that clung to the False-Emperor before driving back all those that descended from the stars to crush them. It didn't matter if they were ignorant guardsmen, the infamous Vanaheim Valkyries or even the False-Emperor's profane Angels of Death.
They had once had a true Angel on their side, a Daughter of Celeste herself, but the interlopers, false angels who did not come from the Asgardia Sector and didn't know of the True Saintess, had banished her. The faithful of the True Saintess would make them pay for that, that the might of Sabraella Celeste was greater than the fraudulent strength of the False Emperor and his so-called angels.
The Arch-Priest watched as the workers, all of them faithful and many blessed with mutations by the True Saintess, put the final touches of the ritual into place. The grand ritual is the work of years, nay, decades as the preparations are long and time consuming as befitting the power required to unleash the holy power of the True Saintess. The lapdogs would try to stop them if they knew, but the mortal mutts had been purged and the false angels knew not the truth.
None could-what are those explosions. Feliust pauses as booming yet distant explosions go off. Those are not planned and should not be happening. To have such unexpected interruptions when the ritual is so close to completion, it could be disastrous. The end of decades of work.
"What is going on?" demands Feliust as the Arch-Priest looks around, the workers having also paused their work upon hearing the explosions, "Faithful of Celeste, what disturbs our holy work?"
"Xenos, milord," replies the leader of the Arch-Priest's holy guards as she listens to her vox.
"The Dark Eldar?" inquires Feliust as he remembers how those filthy animals took millions of the Faithful.
"No, sir, it is the Orks, sir," answers the soldier, "Warped into orbit and started attacking the planet. Both bombarding from orbit and sending troops to the surface."
"Foul greenskins!" hisses Feliust, his fury and indignation rising, "They shall not stop our holy work. Not when we are so close to completion."
Then there is a flash of blinding lightning as several imposing figures appear not quite in the centre of the room. Orks, wearing metal plates fashioned into crude armour and wielding ramshackle weapons that can only be described as unholy abominations.
"Alright Boyz, it iz lootin' time!" roars the towering slab of green muscle as its beedy eyes glance about the grand ritual room, "Kill 'em all an' take der stuff!"
"You animals dare-" starts Feliust as he spits at the intruders, only to have his world ended as one of them guns him down.
***
Even as both Chapters committed their scout companies, the actions of xenos derailed their plans. While the greenskins in the Grendel Sub-Sector had lain idle for a decade, the Orks now once again spilled out of the Grendel Sub-Sector even as the Angels of Death attempted to purge their taint from the Beowulf Sub-Sector.
A minor Waaagh emerged from the Grendel Sub-Sector as half a dozen capital ships with a score of scores made course for the sub-sector capital. In some ways, it was a good thing that Warboss Killfang went straight for Beowulf as of all the worlds in its namesake sub-sector, the Fortress World was best prepared to repel the Orks.
The Iron Sentinels were the first to face Waaagh! Killfang as their strike cruiser containing their 10th Company was ambushed by the xenos fleet. While their sergeants did their best, the lone warship was taken by surprise and the half strength company was made up of new Scout Marines, not battle hardened veterans. The
Iron Fury limped away, but not before the strike cruiser suffered crippling damage and two squads' worth of scouts had died fending off Ork boarding parties. The only saving grace is that the Iron Sentinels survived to warn their fellow servants of the Emperor about the new threat.
With a fresh victory under their belts, Killfang and his fleet continued onto Beowulf, where the defenders were ready and waiting for them, having been forewarned by the Iron Sentinels. With little heed for caution or planning, Waaagh! Killfang throw itself at the indomitable defences of Beowulf.
Barely over half of the Ork transports failed to get past the orbital defences and most of those that did met their ends to the defensive batteries of Beowulf, their broken hulls raining down on the Fortress World. The few that managed to land and the survivors of the wreckage attempted to assail the planetary fortification, but they were too little in number to pose a true threat. Thousands of the Beowulf PDF died manning the defences, but for every soldier that died, several greenskins were also slain.
The battle in the void went just as poorly for the Orks. While they were busy throwing themselves against the defence stations of Beowulf, the
Defiant Light and the 10th Company of the Storm Avengers ambushed them from the rear. Targeting the lite kroozer and pair of kill kroozers that had been identified as former Imperial warship hulls, the Storm Avengers boarded and butchered the crews. With half of their capital ships, including the flagship, out of the action due to needing to repel the boarders, what remained of the Ork fleet was easy pickings for the
Defiant Light. By the time that the battle was over, another kill kroozer and several escorts died to the guns of the strike cruisers and its pair of escorts.
Which left the Storm Avengers to go over their hardwon loot. While reclaimed
Lunar-class Cruiser and
Dauntless-class Light Cruiser hulls were nothing special, Killfang's flagship had used to be a strike cruiser. A strike cruiser that didn't used to belong to the Iron Sentinels, the local Space Marine chapter.
***
"Angels of Redemption," reports Gudmund Freeson, the Techmarine assigned to 10th Company, as he finishes going through the cogitator of the once proud strike cruiser.
"Are you certain?" asks Clin as the captain of 10th Company glares at the crude and ugly additions that the Orks had made to the room.
"Yes," answers Gudmund firmly as he looks over at Clin, his cybernetic eye and organic eye meeting both of Clin's organic eyes, "The original crew attempted to perform a wipe and while partially successful, they were unable to delete all of the data before getting overrun. While I was unable to find any recent information or any of a sensitive nature, I was able to confirm that this warship, the
Angel of Reprisal, has served the Angels of Redemption."
"Well, that settles whether or not we will try to return this warship," muses Clin, "Our own chapter does not have a good history with those cowards."
"May I ask for the details, Captain?" inquires Gudmund and Clin shrugs, deciding that the details aren't a secret.
"The Angels of Redemption had a known history for bailing on their duty and fleeing before the Emperor's enemies," answers Clin, "They should have been censured for it, but they have been able to avoid the Inquisition. The general suspicion is their status as a Second Founding Chapter and their close ties to-"
"Captain," calls the voice of their apothecary, Edvin Metalson, comes over the vox, "I have a situation which requires your attention."
"I will be over there as soon as possible," replies Clin into his vox before turning to his Techmarine, "Sorry Gudmund, but my tale will need to wait for another time."
***
When Clin finds Edvin, he is met with a repulsive and tragic scene. This part of the strike cruiser has been as defiled by the Orks as much as the rest of the warship, but there are dozens of corpses on the floor. Corpses in varying states of intactness and decay, but clearly recognisable as belonging to fallen Astartes.
"They were up on display where I found them," says Edvin from where he is extracting gene-seed from one of the corpses, "Killfang decided to keep them up as trophies, but they deserve more honour than that."
"They do," agrees Clin, "Even if they are Angels of Redemption."
They might be cowards at times, but they are still fellow Angels of Death who remain loyal to the Emperor. Clin doesn't like or respect them, but that doesn't mean he is going to disrespect them beyond what their actions have earnt them.
"You discovered who this strike cruiser used to belong to?" inquires Edvin.
"Aye," confirms Clin, "A Second Founding Successor Chapter of the Dark Angels, sons of the Lion."
"Some of their bodies are in good enough condition that I have been able to extract their gene-seed intact," reports Edvin, "I have been doing so since I do not know how long that will remain the case. Will we be returning it to them?"
"That will be for the Chapter Master to decide," says Clin, glad that such decisions aren't his to make.
***
"This is the Emperor's own fortune," declares Clin as he and Gudmund look at the armoury of the
Angel of Reprisal, the secret vault hidden away deep within the strike cruiser.
"No, the Emperor's own fortune would have been not being surprised by the Orks and losing the warship," replies Gudmund.
"Perhaps for the Angels of Redemption, but for us to find this instead of the Orks getting their hands on it," replies Clin.
"Aye, you have a point there, Captain," agrees Gudmund, "There are enough weapons and other equipment here to fit out an entire company and then some. And then there are those."
Clin knows exactly what his brother is referring to as they both stare at the suits of Terminator Armour lined up in the
Angel of Reprisal's armoury. All Indomitus-pattern and all painted bone-white rather than the traditional green and white of the Angels of Redemption. There has to be entire squads' worth of Terminator armour here and Clin has no idea why the Angels of Redemption didn't use them, but he is grateful that his company found them rather than Killfang or any other Orks.
"So what are we going to do with them?" asks Gudmund.
"Load them aboard the
Defiant Light and bring them back to Midgardia with us," answers Clin, "We can use them and we will not be returning them to the Angels of Redemption so the Chapter Master will decide who gets to make use of them."
No plan voting.
What do the Storm Avengers do with the Lunar-class Cruiser hull?
[ ] The Storm Avengers give the
Lunar-class Cruiser hull to Battlefleet Asgardia.
Gain one Major Favour from Battlefleet Asgardia.
[ ] The Storm Avengers give the
Lunar-class Cruiser hull to Forge World Thor.
Gain one Major Favour from Forge World Thor.
[ ] The Storm Avengers give the
Lunar-class Cruiser hull to Forge World Odin.
Gain one Major Favour to Forge World Odin.
[ ] The Storm Avengers give the
Lunar-class Cruiser hull to Forge World Loki.
Gain one Major Favour from the Loki.
[ ] The Storm Avengers claim the
Lunar-class Cruiser hull for Midgardia's defence.
What do the Storm Avengers do with the captured Dauntless-class Light Cruiser hull?
[ ] The Storm Avengers give the
Dauntless-class Light Cruiser hull to Battlefleet Asgardia.
Gain one Major Favour from Battlefleet Asgardia.
[ ] The Storm Avengers give the
Dauntless-class Light Cruiser hull to Forge World Thor.
Gain one Major Favour from Forge World Thor.
[ ] The Storm Avengers give the
Dauntless-class Light Cruiser hull to Forge World Odin.
Gain one Major Favour from Forge World Odin.
[ ] The Storm Avengers give the
Dauntless-class Light Cruiser hull to Forge World Loki.
Gain one Major Favour from Forge World Loki.
[ ] The Storm Avengers refit the
Dauntless-class Light Cruiser hull into a Strike Cruiser (No Launch Bays, Prow Heavy Lances).
Costs one Major Favour from a Forge World Thor.
[ ] The Storm Avengers refit the
Dauntless-class Light Cruiser hull into a Vanguard Cruiser (Prow Lances).
Costs one Major Favour from Forge World Thor.
[ ] The Storm Avengers claim the
Dauntless-class Light Cruiser hull for Midgardia's defence.
What do the Storm Avengers do with the Angel of Reprisal?
[ ] The Storm Avengers give the
Angel of Reprisal to the Iron Sentinels.
Gain one Major Favours from the Iron Sentinels.
[ ] The Storm Avengers give the
Angel of Reprisal to the Carmine Talons.
Gain one Major Favours from the Carmine Talons.
[ ] The Storm Avengers keep the
Angel of Reprisal for their own Chapter Fleet.
Gain 55 Indomitus-pattern suits of Terminator Armour.
Gain Blade of Swift Absolution
: Master-crafted Power Sword (Increased Initiative, Additional Attack)
Gain 100 Power Weapons
Gain 100 Specialist Weapons
Gain 100 Heavy Weapons
Gain 32 Gene-Seed (Angel of Retribution).
***
Despite the ongoing conflicts, your warrior-women brave the dangers as your Skalds open up communication with the other four forge worlds in the Asgardia Sector, sending diplomatic parties to each of them.
Forge World Loki is the most friendly. Specialising in the construction of vehicles, Loki is the traditional ally of Odin and their support is a major part of Odin's first amongst equals status within the forge worlds of the Asgardia Sector. Unlike their orthodox allies, Loki is anything but traditional. Eschewing the conventional way of doing things, it is an open secret that Loki's tech-priests are borderline hereteks though they do make more than a token effort to maintain the pretence of being far more traditional than they are. Nevertheless, the alternative patterns that Loki specialises in are widely suspected to be local innovations and not STCs like they claim.
Freya is a more conventional forge world like Odin. Specialising in the production of heavy weapons, Freya is known for their exotic and esoteric designs as their weapons are famous for having little extras that make them better than their conventional counterpart. What isn't mentioned so much is how this obscure and arcane technology also makes their weapons harder to maintain and more likely to break down.
Nonetheless, the Vanaheim Valkyries welcome the advanced weapons of Freya as the guardswomen have ties with the forge world dating back to the time of Sabraella Celeste. Freya and the Vanaheim Valkyries worked closely together to defeat the False Saintess, leaving Freya with a friendship with the former and an enmity with the latter.
Baldur is the most traditional and zealous of Asgardia's forge worlds. Home to Legio Fulgaran, Baldur is the only one of the forge worlds with the ability to produce new titans and Baldur bases itself around its capability to make more god-machines. As part of their zeal, Baldur is the only forge world to hold Mars above their own needs as all of their fellow prioritise local concerns above those of Holy Mars.
Sif is effectively the pet forge world of the Order of the Sacred Storm, specialising in making the local variants of the equipment used by the resident Adepta Sororitas as well as all of their other equipment. While they maintained some pretence of being faithful to Mars whilst the Imperium remained in the Asgardia Sector, Sif has since discarded its masks in favour of openly proclaiming their loyalties to the Order of the Sacred Storm, the Sif Sub-Sector and the God-Emperor. Which is different to worshipping the Omnissiah despite the Emperor being the Omnissiah.
With the exception of Odin and Loki, the Forge Worlds of the Asgardia Sector have never been friends and have vied with each other as rivals. While not so apparent with the Imperium breathing down on them, the withdrawal of wider Imperial authorities is showing the cracks in prior enforced peacefulness.
The war between Sif and Baldur may be the first conflict between the forge worlds of the Asgardia Sector, but it is unlikely to be the last.
***
This turn is going to be a three parter rather than a two parter for a change. Anyway, you get to know some of the Forge Worlds better, crush a budding Waaagh at Beowulf at the expense of not reclaiming any worlds and you are bailed out by the Orks at Ymir. The next update will be covering the homeworld diplomacy and the Rogue Trader puppet search to wrap up Turn 4.
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.
