You're ready.
You've trained your entire life to be the finest fighter of your family, you've attended the finest military academy of Franc, and you're commanding some damn fine troops. You feel the restraint harness of the shuttle shudder as it approaches the dock. It is an ancient habitat orbiting Neptune's moon of Triton, designated for capture and re-use by the Imperium.
An ancient relic reclaimed by humanity? A fitting first mission for one of your calibre.
"Soldiers of the Franks! Defenders of the Imperium." The voice of Tercio Lieutenant Richelle resounds in your helmet, her soft but hard-edged tones briefly distracting you. "Our ancestors endured Old Night, so that we could be here today. We shall spread enlightenment and reason to mankind as our ancestors did to the savages of Jermani in millenia past. Ready yourselves, children of the republic! Vive L'Empereur!"
The shuttle lands. You immediately get to your feet and get into position to charge down the ramp.
You thank the void seal of your armour as the sight before you reached you. The ancient space station's halls are caked with filth and grime, nearly completely concealing the white panelling beneath. Your armour warns you of the toxins in the air and the ambient radiation. Your suit can process the tainted air, but you'll stick to internal recycling for as long as possible.
The hangar bay's deck is littered with corpses that bear the tell-tale wounds of bolter impacts. A bloody trail starting around a boarding pod, but of the Astartes there is no sign. Confusion clouds your thoughts for but a moment. You were supposed to be received by a squad of fifteen Astartes who'd inserted onto the habitat via a boarding pod, aid them in fortifying the bay, then let the Astartes go on their way into the interior while you held their artery of escape or reinforcement open.
You blink-click to vox the Astartes squad you are supposedly meant to cooperate with. Close=ranged, you do not require the aid of your Vox operator. "Sergeant Khorban, where are your marines?" You vox.
A gruff voice devoid of mirth suddenly broke into the comm with a squeal of static. You can hear bolters, the grind of chainswords, and horrific screaming that you can't be sure aren't Astartes battle cries. "We're not babysitters, mortal. Wait there as we do the real work." A bark of laughter and then the vox dies down.
You inwardly curse the uncouth animals and get about securing the hangar. "Second section, stay in reserve on the left. First and third, target the main access corridor. Rapier section, set up facing the entry."
A Rapier followed by a crew of engineers and a dozen servitors rolls down the lander, accompanied by cargo palettes holding their ammunition and a single levitating stasis casket containing far deadlier payloads. Void-Sergeant Philip signals that the weapon is ready.
As the Auxilia move into position and make ready to sweep the hangar, the deck suddenly starts to shake. Distant roars and screaming fills the air. Distant lights are visible at the other end of the hangar, from the main access corridor.
"Merde!" A trooper shouts as an arm like a support pillar erupts from a deck plate and coils around his feet. The formation wavers for a moment as the massive mutant forces itself up through the deck, smashing the trooper against the ground with a sickening smack.
The troopers around the beast react on instinct, opening fire on the mutant, tearing large chunks from the beast, even as it reaches out for another human.
You take aim with your Volkite and pull the trigger. A beam of concentrated heat impacts its head and quickly burns through, flash-combusting the liquid in its upper torso in an explosion of red steam.
But the distraction nearly spells doom for the section, as more mutants swarm up through the entrance the lead creature made. You whistle a command and your sections form a double line, the first crouching and the second standing behind. Fifty-nine lasrifles charge at the exact same time. A volley of las beams scythes through the mass of attackers, rupturing flesh, searing off chitin, and turning limbs to meat stumps. The attack stumbles for but a moment before the next of the attackers reaches you.
You've never seen such a mass of twisted tainted flesh before, not even in the ruins of Antwer or the Uxemburg charnel pits. Your training kicks in and you perish the thought.
"Elan!" You shout the ancient command. Immediately, each able-bodied soldier mounts their bayonets, forming a wall of steel. You blow your helmet's integrated whistle. The section charges forward, monomolecular spikes thrusting through tainted flesh and firing their weapons just before pulling back.
"Vive L'Empereur!" You fire your volkite pistol as your Sub-Tercio echoes the war cry. The beam turns a mutant into an expanding red mist. With the flat of your power blade you stop a blow from a boarding axe, the disruptor field sparking partially against the axe. You slide your blade upwards, cutting through the metal haft. You kick the mutant back, feel your pistol chime to signal its recharge, and fire it at close range.
The melee is brutal, but the second and third sections, led by Void Sergeants Amelié and Jeanne, have repositioned and are now firing into the melee, concentrating fire on the hole in the floor, unleashing a crossfire into the mass that breaks the charge. The wave breaks and the last mutant is shot as it peeks its head out over the lip.
"Fortify. Secure for advance." You repeat the objective, whistling the commands while making hand gestures and moving behind the line, keeping your soldiers moving. Just as the École spéciale militaire de Imperialis taught you. You can hear your Void Sergeants conveying your commands to the other sections.
You frown at one of the sergeants under Void Sergeant Jeanne's usage of Imperial Gothic in giving commands to his troops instead of Française. The gutter-snipe Jeanne should be teacher her men better. You make a note to report the sergean to the Academie Franç and have him caned once for each word as the Code Militaire dictates.
(Choose at least one punishment.)
[] Have the man shot on the spot
[] Have him flogged as well for good measure.
[] Withhold his wine ration for three days. One for each word.
[] Downgrade his rations to nutrient paste for three days. One for each word.
[] give him the dignity to choose between nutrient paste or no Wine, he knows what he did wrong.
Five minutes later, the full layout of the hangar becomes clear. The hangar is accessible through a main access corridor down which the Astartes disappeared. The first and second sections have the hallway under crossfire, while the Rapier is loaded with frag shells, even as the Phosphex pod is set down and kept at the ready.
You glance to the far left, taking in the possible threat to your defence, The starboard wall is torn in a dozen places, patched up with sheet metal, dodgy welds, and glued with blobs of hardened mucus. Your combat engineers believe they can secure the side passages, but can make no guarantees.
"Raise the Argent Heart" You command your Vox officer. He nods, adjusting the bulky equipment attached to his void armour, he makes a hand signal to confirm the signal is coming through. "Hangar Beta-Twenty is secure. Requesting reinforcements to secure the beachhead."
There is an audible click as the return signal is received. The Vox Officer's helmet betrays no emotion as he ensures your message is transmitted. "Acknowledged. Be advised. Sub-Cohort Gamma, Tercio Delta, has secured all sub-tercio objectives, and is the target of the primary landing. Reinforcements will arrive with the next available shuttle."
You nod in approval. The attack is proceeding well if the primary landing is already happening. Although a part of you is disappointed that you were unable to secure the honour of securing a landing space for the main assault.
"This is Squad Tertius. We require reinforcements. The mutant overseers have brought up heavy weapons and aberrant beasts. I am down three marines. Transmitting my coordinates."
Your helmet's heads up display shows a hololith of the station. The marines are far ahead of your positions, down labyrinthine passageways and forced into what looks like a dead end. Your orders are to hold the landing zone, but if the marines perish, it will look very badly on your record, and you will be the next target. Cogs turn as you calculate how fast you can get to the marines, and if you should just let them all get eaten or not.
If you are to aid the marines, then you'll need to leave before the reinforcements arrive. You glance at the starboard wall which is still being closed off further. The work looks solid. But you can't be completely sure it won't be breached. The surest path would be to send a section in and hold it at the point the side tunnels originate from.
You make a split-second decision.
7th Verdyn Chemical engineers Cohort
Sub-Cohort Quintus
Tercio Primaris
Sub-Tercio Delta.
-First Lasrifle Section. You are in command of this Section.
-Second Lasrifle Section. Led by Void Sergeant Amélie Beaufort
-Third Lasrifle Section. Led by Void Sergeant Jeanne
-First Rapier Destroyer section. Led by Sergeant Philip "Pip" Bernadotte
*Equipped with a quad mortar that can fire either frag shells or Destroyer Weaponry. Will use Frag Shells unless ordered to use Destroyer Weaponry. Uses the Destroyer Weapons trait.*
Orders:Your orders are to hold the Hangar so it can be used as a landing site for troops moving into the habitat. Launching a pre-emptive attack on the mutants attacking the marines falls within those orders.
Engagements:
[]Main Access:
You are defending a long hallway and numerous vents and other passages from the riled mutant population inhabiting the habitat. The firing lanes are good, but enough mutants can pass through that a single Section might not be able to hold the enemy at range alone.
-Write in which Sections you will deploy.
[]Starboard wall:
The starboard wall is littered with holes and passages, but these all originate from a central corridor. If you do not guard it, you will have to hope and trust in the barricades and barriers put up by your troops to keep the mutants out.
-Write in IF you will deploy troops and if so, how many.
[]The Depths:
The Revenant Legion squads at the heart of the station have called for assistance, mentioning mutants with relic weapons capable of killing Astartes. A force sent to assist will not be able to aid in holding the main access corridor.
-Write in IF you will deploy sections if so, how many.
Plan Voting.
Make a single plan how you will use your available sections, where you will deploy them, and how. You have a split-second decision to make in-character, so keep that in mind when writing out your plans.
Two Hours moratorium.
