Sterbelicht - One Sacrifice At A Time Against The Galaxy (40K)

[aceraptor]

Yeah go for the planet. We've got a job to do. Eliminate the Chaos threat and GTFO.

Even if Neon manages to salvage the Nova Cannon, it'll likely be a action sink for a while to bring back into use.

Also, @HeroCooky is the 21 Neon ships whats left of the fleet that entered the system? How many ships did Neon lose?

 

[Alectai]

The admech leader is possibly dead, so the Most logical Leader in the fleet is gone. Their Mission is to liberate Gathin. With the Imperium how it is, The fact that their fleet can't win means nothing, Because if their own xenophobia isn't enough to push them into firing on us once we land on their planet, The fact that they will probably be shot if they leave right now for cowardice or for not fulfilling their mission is a reason.

The Smart option is for them to hang back and shadow our fleet, Hoping we do leave so they don't need to fight us, Then they can do both, but I will never bet on the Imperium doing the smart thing when it involves not shooting as Heretics.

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The Fleet doesn't work on the same rules that Ground Forces do, just because you can't afford to waste ships like you can manpower--especially for a small polity like this. Tanya going full Charge of the Light Brigade was a staggering tactical blunder that guaranteed a total fleet wipe without gain, not a Brilliant Strategy to make the best of a bad situation.

More importantly, they just got caught red handed nearly killing allied Astartes and denying them a chance to take valuable intelligence on enemy operations or potentially enemy leaders for interrogation, and ignoring all requests to Cease Fire to the point where their Chapter Master almost fucking died. Even the Imperium will be on their best fucking behavior after a fuckup of that caliber, unless they want the Lamenters to actively side with us instead of just using us as "Assets". And making enemies of Heretics is one thing, pissing off apparently Loyalist Astartes and making a blood enemy of them? Much different story.

They do not have the advantage in heavy metal right now to guarantee that no word of this gets out, they will be on their Best Behavior.

They haven't backstabbed us yet, Remember the Cause and Stay on Target. Might actually have a chance at flipping some Defectors out of this if we Stay the Course. Part of the reason that the Imperium kneejerks so hard on non-Chaos Secessionists is because their entire bullshit edifice falls apart if there's a Way Out that doesn't involve selling your literal soul to be eaten and tortured in Hell forever.

 

[Profilozof]

Even if Neon manages to salvage the Nova Cannon, it'll likely be a action sink for a while to bring back into use.

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Imperials, regaining the lost ancient marvels of technology? In the 42nd millennium? Without Guliman or Belasarius?
You are so funny, I wouldn't be surprised if they put a canon in a giant church or make it a church that can no longer shoot.

Also, an action, not a action.

Also, also @HeroCooky can we send some folks to do quite rescue if some not chaos worshipers survived on the hulls of the ships (for example in a room that is pressurised but the oxygen is running out)

 

[Alectai]

Imperials, regaining the lost ancient marvels of technology? In the 42nd millennium? Without Guliman or Belasarius?
You are so funny, I wouldn't be surprised if they put a canon in a giant church or make it a church that can no longer shoot.

Also, an action, not a action.

Also, also @HeroCooky can we send some folks to do quite rescue if some not chaos worshipers survived on the hulls of the ships (for example in a room that is pressurised but the oxygen is running out)

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S&R already seems to have been done.

That being said, the commander of that Gothic-class is probably okay, the ship is fucked, but the way the hit was described, the bridge was probably intact. The Actually Important People live there after all, it has actual protection. Anything short of a Plasma Reactor detonation or a Warp Drive Detonation will be survivable by the command crew. Though they won't be in any position to give orders out until they can move their flag.

 

[frostgiant]

Actually, Double checking, The Nova cannon was mounted on a Gothic Cruiser that belonged to the Admech. That is strange in truth, The only Cruiser that normally mounts a nova cannon is the Dominator, Which it pairs that with devastating Broadsides. The Admech DOES run gothic cruisers, but a gothic cruiser doesn't typically, and actually can't normally run a Nova cannon because Nova cannons are big enough the ship basically needs to be Built around it.

the normal armament for a gothic is 6 torpedo tubes and heavy Lances all the way down its port and starboard sides, along with Lance turrets. This armament leaves it with a mean punch, but actually relatively poor in 1v1's because its gun cycled to slow to win in duels, So gothics are normally paired with Lunars, which makes it a devastating ship because it has a friend meaning it can really leverage it Heavy Lances.

I think That The Cruiser that died is a Fraken-ship Refit job by the Neons. A gothic cruiser is a fairly standard cruiser, So it's fully possible that a Ship that normally mounts a nova cannons such as a Dominator, An ark mechanicus or some form of Battlecruiser has been rendered Cripples or unsalvagable, and what we ran into is a Battlefield refit, Savaging a Gothic cruiser to fit the Nova cannon into it to get the gun back into the fight.
That also explains why they had a nova cannon free to come try and deal with this, when normally every nova cannon would be on the main front. Its possible that the gothic just came from a Salvage/Refit yard, where it was being frakensteined with that nova cannon and was in the process of traveling back to the front when chaos took Gathin, or hadn't even left its moorings yet before being retasked for this.

 

[Profilozof]

S&R already seems to have been done.

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Ah, fair I thought that it was about our destroyer, not the imperial losses.

And of course.......Alpha Legion coming in from behind, Hydra Dominatus.

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wait a minute... he teleported across the systems... masters of disguises... interested in federation... HOLY STARCHILD END OF THE LINE IS AN ALPHA LEGION BASE
Or soon will be or at least is puppeted by the Hydra

 

[blankmask]

Damm. That no-selling of the corruption. That's what I'm here for.

[] Planet!

We are the better age. Also Chyron is being his very lucky self.

@HeroCooky how many Space Marines do we have?

 

[RaptorusMaximus]

More importantly, they just got caught red handed nearly killing allied Astartes

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My understanding of the reading was that they did kill a significant number of Lamenters when they slagged the Slaughter-class.

Also, Khorne is undoubtedly laughing his ass off at our expense right now.

Guess we'll just have to try again at some point in the future. That almost certainly won't be the only Slaughter Class we'll run into out here in the Inperium Nihlus.

 

[Alectai]

My understanding of the reading was that they did kill a significant number of Lamenters when they slagged the Slaughter-class.

Also, Khorne is undoubtedly laughing his ass off at our expense right now.

Guess we'll just have to try again at some point in the future. That almost certainly won't be the only Slaughter Class we'll run into out here in the Inperium Nihlus.

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Yeah, they're a dying breed but we should get another shot before long. Either way, they're going to be on their best fucking behavior and likely willing to make concessions to prevent this from becoming a Blood Feud, and the last thing they want in that case is to be the ones who back out on a Ceasefire against forces that were here to dislodge a common foe.

 

[Ryzer]

You know we might even plant the seeds of doubt in their own Soldiers when they see that we actually have some decent MRE that is not any of that grog thing that the Imperium must give their own soldier, like fuck if given the choice to chose between us or Neon solemnly on the food given to the soldiers, Millions would join us for tasty food and we even have cookies for them after a well fought battle.

 

[Alectai]

Oh! Question when you get a sec @HeroCooky .

Any chance you'll be updating the Void Ship informational sometime today? We still need to get the new DP from reverse engineering the Imperial stuff sorted out, and if there's any new Components unlocked from the captured ships, I can get started Planning.

I know the Infidel is a Heavy Torpedo Ship, the Original Prototype that trying to reconstruct created the Falchion (Which was actually an excellent ship, just not really in Imperial Doctrine to spam when Cobras were cheaper and Swords were better escorts). the Idolator has excellent accuracy and good Lances and definitely has some Xenotech in it, and that third one...

Man, what even is that one? I'm curious. It can't be the Iconoclast, that's in the Warbook. It's got to have some useful gimmicks though or they wouldn't bother fielding it.

Finally, we bagged one of the Light Cruisers, but apparently we don't know what it is? It obviously isn't a Pestilaan or we wouldn't have bothered capturing it, but a Hellbringer would be known.

 

[frostgiant]

I feel like People are underestimating how hard and deep religious Fervor and Hate can run, and how HARD it can be to deprogram a person in a cult, let alone a cult that has been ingrained in societal norms for literal millennia, but ok, I still think we can win the fight if we land on the planet even if they push the issue, So I am not going to argue super hard against it.

And No, some better rations are not going to cause mass defections. The few that something like that does cause doubt are going to be dealt with by the Imperiums own Internal security against such, Like commissar's, priests etc etc. The Imperium Runs on Hate, and Hate is perfectly willing to eat that which doesn't hate hard enough long before that hate can turn into something else.

 

[Toboe]

Honestly, the weird thing is, a 5 should have been semi-good for them given how much Warpy shit was being flung around and how they were an Iconoclast-flavored option for Elites, but apparently it still blew up in their faces.

Unless, uh, "Massive losses at the hands of the Imperium" was, in fact, good for the Star Child's ambition because it pushes them even more clearly into our camp?

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Maybe doesn't count, as they aren't close enough to us/Starchild, yet.
Or it really is cynical enough that it counts because good for Starchilds forces.

Or its just that that was purely magnitude, ignoring special numbers.

More importantly, they just got caught red handed nearly killing allied Astartes and denying them a chance to take valuable intelligence on enemy operations or potentially enemy leaders for interrogation, and ignoring all requests to Cease Fire to the point where their Chapter Master almost fucking died. Even the Imperium will be on their best fucking behavior after a fuckup of that caliber, unless they want the Lamenters to actively side with us instead of just using us as "Assets".

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I would be suprised if that didn't push Lamenters to side with us.
It only barely didn't push them to go all out against Neon as is.

Only that the Lamenters upon the ship barely managed to flee with some numbers intact, their demands to cease firing unheard until only a third emerged from the Slaughter to return and tell the tale, their ire now roused against those who would kill them when the ship had almost been within their grasp.

They should thank the God-Emperor that Chapter Master Chyron barely escaped the final explosion of the corrupted ship; otherwise, they would have attacked to the last.

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@HeroCooky
How hard did the Lamenters go with it?
Had they died here, would there still be Space marines capable of rebuilding the chapter, or would they have lost too much irreplacable?

 

[sheep-dodger]

Mostly because Fuck Chaos and this would net us goodwill instead of suspicion, which might be turned into a longer ceasefire, which favours us. Peace is time, time is progress, progress is victory.

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I highly doubt that any kind of formal ceasefire with Neon is in the cards, they are Loyalists after all, and we are not only aliens, but also heretics, mutants and witches.

That being said, the commander of that Gothic-class is probably okay, the ship is fucked, but the way the hit was described, the bridge was probably intact.

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We should consider the following: it'd be extremely funny if we could steal the enemy commander during salvage operations

 

[NotteBoy97]

This is the second time the Alpha Legion helps us out.

guess they like the cut of our jib.

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He could had let us loot his ship through
Though to be a bit more serious him taking out the Nova Cannon probably saved us and it was only the Imperium drinking the Khorne juice that got us to lose the Slaughter and our Lamenters

 

[Alectai]

I highly doubt that any kind of formal ceasefire with Neon is in the cards, they are Loyalists after all, and we are not only aliens, but also heretics, mutants and witches.

We should consider the following: it'd be extremely funny if we could steal the enemy commander during salvage operations

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Lol, funny, but we can't expect it.

But yeah, have to take the High Road, even if it makes us vulnerable. Someone's got to do it.

 

[Profilozof]

Had they died here, would there still be Space marines capable of rebuilding the chapter, or would they have lost too much irreplacable?

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My friend, we restarted them with a dreadnought and a dozen geneseeds; we will rebuild them.

 

[aceraptor]

Oh! Question when you get a sec @HeroCooky .

Any chance you'll be updating the Void Ship informational sometime today? We still need to get the new DP from reverse engineering the Imperial stuff sorted out, and if there's any new Components unlocked from the captured ships, I can get started Planning.

I know the Infidel is a Heavy Torpedo Ship, the Original Prototype that trying to reconstruct created the Falchion (Which was actually an excellent ship, just not really in Imperial Doctrine to spam when Cobras were cheaper and Swords were better escorts). the Idolator has excellent accuracy and good Lances and definitely has some Xenotech in it, and that third one...

Man, what even is that one? I'm curious. It can't be the Iconoclast, that's in the Warbook. It's got to have some useful gimmicks though or they wouldn't bother fielding it.

Finally, we bagged one of the Light Cruisers, but apparently we don't know what it is? It obviously isn't a Pestilaan or we wouldn't have bothered capturing it, but a Hellbringer would be known.

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BTW the Lamenters took the ships. Not us directly. Those ships will likely be sanctified and modified to become part of the chapter fleet.

I'm guessing Chyron is planning on making a Vanguard light cruiser out of the captured light cruiser.

Though it'll take a lot of cleansing and disinfecting of Chaos taint.

 

[Toboe]

We should consider the following: it'd be extremely funny if we could steal the enemy commander during salvage operations

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Just imagine the enemy commander being seduced by the results of the laspistol reverse-engineering + chocolate rations.

My friend, we restarted them with a dreadnought and a dozen geneseeds; we will rebuild them.

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A dreadnought that was around since the time the Lamenters went against the Imperium for the Astral Claws.
Depending on how much of their troops they send here, a total wipe could have meant noone who has learned enough to teach survived.
If only neophytes were left in our systems with the rest fighting, a wipe would have meant we have neophytes growing their geneseeds and with some luck maybe geneseed backups.
Could we have build a Space Marine chapter without a Space Marines knowledge?

 

[IronBig21]

Okay but could you imagine our own version of Sisters of Silence? Maybe they could have a dancer motive and an off switch(or at least a dial) to their blankness

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Having our own Sisters of Silence/Pariah squad would be baller, though I'm not sure if we could find a way to get them to adjust their Blankness, maybe we could if we reach Med V?

Then having a Dancer theme would be neat as well, just hope Slaany not the Eldar will come in and hit us with a Cease and Desist though.

wait a minute... he teleported across the systems... masters of disguises... interested in federation... HOLY STARCHILD END OF THE LINE IS AN ALPHA LEGION BASE
Or soon will be or at least is puppeted by the Hydra

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Huh.......having Alpha Legion as our new neighbors.........

So long as these guys are all 100% Rogue Loyalists that could work, especially if we could somehow recruit them.

Good lord, having even a single Alpha Legion cell on stand by would be amazing, these guys are all literal super spies and espionage specialists, we could literally sneak them into Tzneetch's lair and he'd be none the wiser.

 

[NotteBoy97]

We should probably do at least some Gunboat 'Diplomacy' with the 'pirates' (honestly not sure how accurate that description is even without Alpha Legion in the area) one day. Issue is we need all our fleets on the Neon front for the foreseeable future.

 

[ConfusedCanuck]

So I am very tempted to loot at this point Neon will be able to take the planet by themselves and I'm all for them bleeding for it.

And naturally the lamenters take losses it's there curse though this will bind them further to us in turn.

 

[blankmask]

I feel like People are underestimating how hard and deep religious Fervor and Hate can run, and how HARD it can be to deprogram a person in a cult, let alone a cult that has been ingrained in societal norms for literal millennia, but ok, I still think we can win the fight if we land on the planet even if they push the issue, So I am not going to argue super hard against it.

And No, some better rations are not going to cause mass defections. The few that something like that does cause doubt are going to be dealt with by the Imperiums own Internal security against such, Like commissar's, priests etc etc. The Imperium Runs on Hate, and Hate is perfectly willing to eat that which doesn't hate hard enough long before that hate can turn into something else.

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This is all true and I agree with it. However you're forgetting that we're not trying to tell them that the emperor isn't a god or other such things. We're telling them that the emperor is a slightly different flavor of god. So we're slightly better off than you might think, in that we're not atheists and scientists trying to deprogram them, we're priests trying to convert them to our sect of what, fundamentally, is the same religion. It's like a protestant trying to convert a catholic, not an atheist trying to convert a catholic.

It's still very hard and they're still a rabid turbo fascist cult, but we're slightly better off in that we're agreeing with the broad framework of their beliefs.

 

[IronBig21]

So I am very tempted to loot at this point Neon will be able to take the planet by themselves and I'm all for them bleeding for it.

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Hold back your loot goblin urges.

We're only here for Chaos.

 

[ConfusedCanuck]

Hold back your loot goblin urges.

We're only here for Chaos.

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Chaos with there fleet elements gone is more of less handled I feel and we all know Neon is not working in good faith here given they willingly fired on that last ship killing our space marines. I don't feel we should be working in good faith if there not and so I say we loot what we can then land on planet and let neon take the initial losses.

It's honestly now just a matter of time before the planet is retaken and brought back into Neon fold.