Though the people of Drixxus and Ixxus were rather disappointed that the Angels of the Emperor would not stay around to govern them, they settled swiftly enough after being told to accept governance and aid from the Candle Keepers. Soon, millions began working somewhat eagerly, if still cautiously, with the Candle Keepers on nearly all matters pertaining to the uplift of their people and worlds, their eagerness growing with the first shipment of machines and goods delivered. Hands filled with medicine and goods freely offered never stay filled for long, after all. What did remain, potentially, filled was the station around which Drixxus and Ixxus circle, the ancient construction of clear human origin if the signals it emits are anything to trust.
And by the Star Child are those adhering closer to the Omnissiah and Motive Force side of the Star Child praying that these signals are to trust, as they identify the station to have been built in 648.M24.
As in...the station was built during the Dark Age of Technology.
...WHAT THE FUCK?! Or so was the typical reaction of everyone who realized how old the station was and that this system wasn't a major Cult Mechanicus Bastion, all focused on studying everything within and without the station hovering between Drixxus and Ixxus.
Once people stopped freaking out, a consensus emerged aboard the fleets above the twin-planets, with most agreeing that the station has either evaded notice so far, or that the Mechanicus has already stripped it of everything of note.
Still, it's a DAoT station.
It must be investigated!
But away from the freakouts of Task Fleet Alpha, two ships were undergoing their own journeys, one its first, and the other now merely one more run across the breadth of a sub-sector without any siblings to aid it.
The first is the Libra, the name-giver of its class, the first Light Cruiser, the first genuine Carrier of the Candle Keepers, and potentially the mightiest carrier humanity has built within the last ten thousand years. Named after an Ogryn Woman who could consistently count to three on her own and chosen as leader by her compatriots because of this massive feat of intelligence, she became well known for using a beacon to guide bombing runs into Ork positions on Corcrat with her squad, a spirit that the designers would like to have the line inherit.
The second ship is the Circinus, having anchored at Cradle Station after another long run into the depths of the stars, with news from the distant systems of Theta-Sigma 44c, Ultima Sigritta, and End of Line. Theta-Sigma 44c is home to a Xeno species that may be hostile to humans. The reason for the possibility is that the Circinus encountered a beacon that transmitted with Imperial Codes that the decimation of the local Xeno population is 621 years overdue. The scouts did not make further inquiries as they soon were targeted by what they believed, at first, to be a weapon strike against them, but later revealed itself to be merely a satellite striking their shields. Nonetheless, they fled, and any contact with the Xenos there must be made by someone with the actual authority granted to negotiate with them. Ultima Sigritta was...lifeless. There had been a colony on that salt world, but now there wasn't. That was the extent of exciting things to be found there. In contrast, End of Line seems to be swarming with ships, some even darting into the Warp during the few days the scouts observed their patterns and identified several vox broadcasts from the trio of linked asteroid stations tentatively named "Three Siblings." After being deciphered, the scouts believe they have encountered what seems to be the local pirate den. Fun!
You Have 3 [Three] Actions. You have 1 [One] additional Action. This is a lie.
(2-Hour Moratorium)
[] [General] Construct Something
-[] Food Production III
-[] Civilian Infrastructure II
-[] Heavy Industry IV
-[] Void Industry VIII
-[] Medical Services III
-[] Military Industry IV
(Gain: A boost in production focusing on the chosen option.)
[] [General] Integrate Perfinda (0/2)
Two planets for the price of one!
(+2 to Food Production, -1 to Everything Else.)
[] [General] RANSACK THAT STATION!
DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! RAAAAAAAA-
(Gain: You take a relaxed gander through the DAoT station.)
[] [General] A Ship Worth The Name (0/4)
The Kil'drabi Battlecolony is a marvel of ingenious and studious engineering, something that all who worked on it can be proud of and remember for their lives, handing down the pride and accomplishment for generations to be drawn upon for strength and hope in bleak days and bleaker moments. Yet, for the Candle Keepers, it is a waste of effort, a massive ship barely scratching upon what it could be, scarcely able to give what it was designed to do, and better off rebuilt at once. The Kil'drabi are heralds of what those who bend to the will of the Star Child could gain, and to let them fly in such a ship is an insult to Their Majesty. Rip out the sub-par and replace it all.
(Gain: The Kil'drabi Pact of Our New Path Battlecolony is retrofitted to adhere to the technological standards of the Candle Keepers.)
[] [Military] Raise Two Specialised [Light/Medium/Heavy] [Infantry/Mechanized] Unit - [Choose: Sabotage/Assault/Engineering/Demolition/Ogryn]/ Construct A Warp Ship - [Choose a Design]
With a chosen direction, your Military can now focus on giving the Units you will raise the proper training for the right job. Sabotage Units will focus on raiding and disrupting the enemy with lighting raids and plundering logistics; Assault Units will punch through the enemy in weak points and sow confusion with overwhelming firepower; Engineering Units will focus on creating fortifications and using turrets, mines, and barricades; Demolition Units will be comprised out of heavy weaponry squads with plenty of explosives, from mines to rockets; and Ogryn Units will be Ogryns armored in heavy metals and armed with shields and Beatin' Sticks led by men and women with spiffy hats that will not be disobeyed. Infantry Units consist mainly of boots on the ground, while Mechanized Units are equipped with vehicles that increase mobility and durability at the cost of logistics and all-terrain capability. Light Units are better for Low-Logistic scenarios, while Medium Units rely more on regular shipments yet strike a good balance between supply consumption and effectiveness. Ships are produced at these rates: Three Scouts, Two Destroyers, or One Frigate per decade. One Light Cruiser per two decades.
(Gain: Chosen Military Units/Ships.)
[][Military] Design A New Voidship Class - [Available: Destroyer, Frigate, Light Cruiser (0/2)]
From what we can tell, thanks to our history, what information we have available, and what the Kil'drabi and the Governor of Droma III tell us, the difference between a prosperous interstellar polity and one naught but ash is the strength of their navy. At the moment, we have the beginning of a nascent Void Fleet, yet purely defending against our enemies is a great way to get ground down into dust over time; we need to be able to bring the fight to them.
(Gain: A newly designed and built Ship Class.)
[] [Military] Begin Military Operations (Assign Unit/s) (Choose Location/s) (Designate Objective/s)
-[] (1/1) Cradle Medium Engineering Unit
-[] (1/1) Cradle Medium Assault Unit
-[] (6/6) Droman Coral Medium Assault Unit
-[] (2/2) Droman Tideswarm Heavy Demolition Unit
-[] (2/2) Corcrat Heavy Mechanized Assault Unit
-[] (1/1) Budget Arms Light Tank Unit
-[] (2/2) Lamenters Space Marine Squad
-[] (4/4) Lamenters Space Marine Scout Platoon
-[] (4/7) Celestial Choirs
-[] Task Fleet Alpha
(6x Aries-Class Corvettes, 1x Lupus-Class Torpedo Destroyer, 1x Crux-Class Missile Frigate, 1x Sagittarius-Class Artillery Frigate, 1x Libra-class Light Carrier, 1x Taurus-Class Troopship (0/4 Capacity))
-[] Scout Fleet Alpha
(1x Circinus-Class Scout Sloop)
-[] Kil'drabi Auxiliary Fleet
(1x Pact of Our New Path Battlecolony)
-[-] Lamenters Chapter Fleet
(3x Risen Dirge-Class Boarding Ships (0/3 Capacity - Space Marines Only))
There is war to be had and battle to be made. Send troops to resolve issues and squash opposition to the Star Child and Humanity and all Their Protectorates. Or send ships to scout neighboring systems to understand what is happening there.
(Gain: Military dispatched to put down opposition violently. Scouts are dispatched to look at other systems.
Scouting Range: 1 System from Claimed Systems. Scouting Efficiency: ~8.3%
Note: For use outside your territory or in support of forces specified within another Action.)
[] [Psykana] Conduct a Melody (Choose one below.) (0.6/1 - Auto Complete)
The Celestial Choir has been given the means; with time, they shall conduct their songs. They will listen to the Warp and filter out the false whispers from the slumbering guidance of the Star Child. In halting prayer and stumbling humming, the truth will be stripped until nothing but it remains in the hands of those who shall make it anew into power to be wielded by the Choirs to come.
(Secret: Slumber, Silence, Perception, and Grounding.
Star Child: Hope, Compassion, Humanity, Song, Mercy, Creativity, Health, Unity, Innovation, Machinery, Logic, Progress, Protection II, Justice, Wisdom, The Sun II, The Home, Death, Ruthlessness, Brutality, and Fire II.
Kil'drabi: Paths, The Void, Struggle, Community, and Family.
Gain: A Melody newly Conducted.)
[] [Psykana] Sing a Song (Choose at least Three below.)
Mere Melodies are not the end of the journey, nor should they be the start. They are the middle, from which all things shall grow and wither.
(Available: Protection I, Fire I, The Sun I.
Gain: A Song.
Sung: Dirge for the Innocent.)
[] [Faith] Monuments for Martyrs, Graves for the Forgotten
The Candle Keepers have been fighting the good fight for nearly 250 years, a fourth of a millennium. In this time, thousands have perished to give people hope, security, and a better life and pave the way for those who come after to stride further and with growing security and pride into the great unknown and black abyss shrinking before the light of the Star Child. Within those 250 years, we have fought against a constant barrage of Orks, worshippers of Chaos, and those who tried to turn traitors to their fellow people, with the first of many Xeno Protectorates established, and its people turned into faithful worshippers and adherents to the Droman Creed. Yet, though now temples ring with the sounds of bells and the hymns of choirs signing united, and our systems teem with the faithful eager to build a better future against the coming of the dark, many had to give their lives to reach this point...and many more will follow. Do these people, who are now forever lost to the soil of worlds and the greedy grasp of the void, deserve to be forgotten? Does their memory not deserve to be honored and remembered? They do, and though some bodies shall never be recovered, their names deserve to be carved for eternity. The only question then arises...where should they be carved into? And how grand would these monuments be if we made multiple instead of one?
(Gain: The Candle Keepers discuss how to honor the fallen and the forgotten. Variable Action Cost.)
[] [Faith] Souls Artificial and Minds Constructed
With five of the Psykana Experiments revealed to be not ravening monsters that wish to kill all soul-bearing life to devour, but wounded, terrified, and faithful beings seeking aid from the only source of comfort they had ever gained (the Star Child), questions have come up from various corners. Did they have souls? They should; the Celestial Choir said they felt a Song of Mercy sung by the Five-One for their wounds and minds. And yet, what nature does a soul constructed by malevolent monsters into crafted flesh-psykana automata take?
(Gain: Nail down the soul-doctrine aspects of the Cult of the Star Child.)
[] [Faith] Technology Given Or Earned
Technology is the most fundamental aspect of creation in the name of the Omnissiah, a motion of worship and change that defies the base existence of nature by pulling everything back until only the cosmic machine remains. Technology is holy; it is worship and an act of pure faith. Yet, what of technology made by the Xenos? We know they will bend to the Star Child and become more than they thought they'd be in Their service, but what of their, and our, technology? Will we make use of what machines they use, and will we allow them to make use of ours? Or will lines be drawn never to be crossed upon pain of punishment? Maybe we will dictate tests and demand proof to give what we have gained in freedom and worship.
(Gain: Nail down the Xeno Uplift-doctrine aspects of the Cult of the Star Child.)
[] [Chapter] A Suit Worthy Of The Name (0/5)
With the business on Drixxus and Ixxus done, Chapter Master Chyron is now convinced that, with the possibility of encountering Chaos Marines as high as ever, the main priority of the Lamenters should be the construction of Space Marine Armor. Luckily, Cradle Station has several blueprints, but Chyron is reluctant to use them due to the connotations the Crusade-era designs carry. Instead, he will use the Chapter and Candle Keepers' technical expertise to build a new pattern of Power Armor untainted by history.
(Gain: The Lamenters gain actual Space Marine-rated Power Armor.)
[] [Other] Take Care Of [Future Or Current Problems]
(Write-In the problem being addressed.)