With a hum in their throat and the smile of an average joyous human on their face, the pilgrim began to walk back to the path to the tomb...
"Why are you smiling?"
And stopped. Looking to the left, where the voice had come from, the pilgrim saw nothing before looking down to see a tiny human female child stare back, big curious eyes set in a face that blended into that look that all cattle to the Greater Powers seemed to have when blinded to its brilliance.
"Go away," the pilgrim said and continued walking on.
"Why?" The child said, walking with them, a skip in her steps with her plain robe fluttering about by her hands deliberately swishing against it.
"Because I said so," the pilgrim replied, looking around for any parents or guardians or whoever this child belonged to.
"Why?" The child replied once more, stopping a step after the pilgrim stopped, looking up at them with bright eyes, rocking back and forth on her heels with her hands behind her back. "You look grumpy. Aren't you happy to visit the island?"
"I am happy. Where are your parents?" The pilgrim said, annoyance slowly turning into ire as they saw nobody here to witness the two of them...
"Away. Why do you have sharp teeth?" She spoke, and the pilgrim stopped looking around, focusing on the child with laser-like precision, suspicion, and plans erupting within their mind as a hand snaked near their concealed weapon. "My mother says that people with stuff like sharp teeth aren't fully people anymore. My other mom says that she means they had their genitals removed," she giggled at the word 'genitals,' looking around with a face the epitome of a child speaking a bad word that they shouldn't say. "Do you still have yours?"
"Do you even know what that word means," the pilgrim asked idly, grasping the knife with their hand as places to store the body began to appear within their mind...nine days over there, two weeks yonder, an hour if left right here...
"Nope!" she said, popping the 'p' as she began to skip around the pilgrim, looking around with bored interest. The pilgrim began to unsheate the knife...and a servo-skull emerged from the foliage above, floating over them, its eyes set on scanning equipment and the various plants in the area.
"Drone," the pilgrim said with mild annoyance and forceful calm, returning the knife to its sheat, paths to getting away and returning to the mission settling within their mind. "Aid the child and return it to its parents."
The girl, however, hopped to the servo-skull. "Hey, mister skulls, what are genitals?" she asked, waving at the servo-skill, which panned its gaze to the child waving below it. Looking at the pilgrim, it looked at the child once more.
+++01001110 01101111 00101110+++ And floated away at high speeds.
"Man, skrzt to you too," the girl said, sticking its tongue out with an added 'bleh!' before turning around, skipping after the pilgrim that had begun to hurry away, catching up in no time. "Why are you in such a hurry?" She asked, looking at the pilgrim that began to analyse the surroundings for spots to dump her body again.
"I wish to see the tomb, and you annoy me."
"Why?"
"Your incessant questions are rousing my ire. Cease and leave."
"Why?"
"I will stab you."
"Why?"
The pilgrim stopped, having found a spot for the body. A hand once more reached for the knife.
Choose One [1] of each Category: (6-Hour Moratorium) [] (Hero)
(The Yeeni Occultist / The Nervous Mutant / The Kil'drabi Pilgrim) [] (Occurrence)
(Distract / Mislead / Disclose)
The pilgrim stopped, having found a spot for the body. A hand once more reached for the knife.
With surety, the hand closed around the hilt as the kid leaned its head left and right, staring with bright eyes. "HAVE YOU SEEN THE SKULL?!" A shrill voice suddenly screamed into the pilgrims' ears, something crashing through the vegetation to their left as it stumbled onto the path.
The only reason the knife hadn't already embedded itself into the dark-robed thing that stood up, looking around with non-human eyes and glinting fangs within a panting maw, was that none of the pilgrims' visions had even hinted at the interloper appearing, its utter existence something unforseen. Thus, it was something dangerous.
"Why?" the child asked in its damnable, infuriating voice as a trio of servo-skulls floated behind the Xenos. Their shape was distinctly non-human, and they were of a make that the pilgrim couldn't immediately place despite their ubiquitousness within human societies.
Frantically looking around, the xenos, a...Yeeni, if the pilgrim remembered rightly, quickly brushed dirt and leaves from their robes, quickly speaking something in a tongue the pilgrim didn't know before speaking within Low Gothic once again. "The spirit dwelling within that servo-skull is astonishingly awake and aware, the mind within acting with far greater clarity than should be possible. As a Dark Occultist, it is my duty to investigate!"
"Why?" the child asked, looking up at the trio of servo-skulls no surrounding them, their gazes switching between scanning the surroundings and the two of them, yet the pilgrim's gaze was fixed upon the Yeeni, the mention of them being a 'Dark Scholar' eliciting more than a passing interest. As far as they knew, the enlightenment of the Glimmering Federation was slow-going and a cumbersome affair, its faith and society far too resistant to the typical tactics and strategies. So what was a cultist doing here? And to openly proclaim themselves as such?
"The matters of the High Arts are not to be divulged to the laypeople," the Yeeni Occultist replied, looking slightly smug at that reply as one of the servo-skulls emitted a series of sad beeps. "Damnit. It got away," they said, sighing as their body sagged. Despite knowing they needed to move, the pilgrim found themselves far too curious to continue with their mission. A few minutes wouldn't harm them.
"You are a cultist?" They asked, raising an eyebrow at one of the floating skulls flying closer with red lenses within its eyes, whirring as it stared curiously...though wholly within the machine and not from any pang within the Warp. This machine was as dead as only matter could be.
"That is right!" The Yeeni Occultist said, puffing up to their impressive height of...half a head taller than the girl. "Bramble Darkclaw, Dark Occultist, first of the Order of the All-Seeing Eye, currently on a mission to catch and comprehend an awakened machine spirit or a soul that clung to their bones to serve from the beyond."
"Why?"
"Because of the implications, young girl! Imagine the ability to find and know when a soul remains in a servo-skull instead of moving on, enabling the whole of the Federation to understand how souls can be bound by their will to objects of bone and power!" They spoke passionately, and the pilgrim was drawn to the goal and the words. They were a fool to talk so openly, yet the pilgrim couldn't fault them for how they coated their words and goal to understand sacrificing and binding souls within the lies of the Droman faith.
"Isn't that sorcery?" The girl asked, smiling as one of the skulls lowered itself to her height.
"On the contrary!" The Occultist said as the skull buzzed momentarily before a small slip of paper appeared from its mouth. Taking the slip, the young girl looked at the tightly spaced words with slowly unfocused eyes.
"Wait, who is Petal Shimmerdew?" The girl suddenly asked, squinting at the slip.
"Mebutyouneednotdwellonthat," the cultist said quickly, ripping the slip out of the girls hands and eating it, before speaking once more. Okay then. "The Order of the All-Seeing Eye is a sanctioned operation as permitted by the Order of Cerberus to investigate, seek, and understand unconfirmed psychic phenomena, spread awareness of the same, and seek ways to improve the Federation's means to counter Chaotic Influences," they babbled on in an excited fashion and the pilgrims estimation of the cultist rose by a small bit. It was one thing to merely hide, another to worm oneself into a society so thoroughly that they took steps to shield one from the very measures placed to eradicate them. However, they were not in the mood to be 'converted' or 'shown the truth' by a no-name nobody cultist who would not survive the decade.
"That is all well and good, but if you'd excuse me, there is a tomb I'd like to visit." And with those words, the pilgrim walked on, swift steps moving them away from the girl, asking another question as the servo-skulls moved out of the way.
...
...
...they were following them. Why?
"-so you see, the material costs may not be part of the equation on the lower end or for a society that does not possess the factors of self-sacrifice, martyrdom, and duty as we do," the cultist spoke with a lecturing tone as the girl walked swiftly alongside them. "To continue one's duty, or keep performing services for the Federation and the Star Child, beyond death is a most holy and pious dedication. Offering the skull of oneself after death is the most direct way to ensure such happens, as there are no sectors of life that are not enhanced by the addition of a drone to record, write, oversee, investigate, guard, or attack something or someone."
"Still seems weird not to make them out of metal. Wouldn't that be far better, space-wise?" The girl asked as the pilgrim once more tried to raise their speed to escape the duo.
"Interestingly enough, no," the Yeenis said, their steps subtly matching the speed of the pilgrim to their annoyance. This was the fastest they could go before someone would notice they were in a hurry. "The human, and Yeeni or Kil'drabi skulls too, for that matter, are perfectly shaped to be filled with the anti-gravity propulsion and cogitation units required for the functions of a servo-skull."
'Lord Tzeentch, aid me,' the pilgrim thought as he abruptly turned to the left onto another path to lose the duo.
Choose One [1] of each Category: (6-Hour Moratorium) [] (Hero)
(The Nervous Mutant / The Kil'drabi Pilgrim) [] (Occurrence)
(Mislead / Disclose)
AN: Whatever combination isn't chosen will resolve the event with another vote.
'Lord Tzeentch, aid me,' the pilgrim thought as he abruptly turned to the left onto another path to lose the duo.
}HEY!{ And promptly tripped over something on the floor, stumbling to the ground face-first in such utter surprise that they failed to catch themselves. }Is everyone here-wait{ "Is this one okay?" The voice from the thing behind the pilgrim said, the rustling of cloth and moving of limbs coming at the exact moment as the pilgrim realized that their nose hurt like they broke it.
"My nome!" They spat, their eyes widening in slight surprise as bright pink blood dripped down from it instead of the red that should have gushed from any wound they could have suffered. Fuck, did something in the ritual go wron-
"Is this one okay?" The voice said once again, and the pilgrim was forced to look up as they stood up, hastily hiding their bleeding nose with a piece of cloth. Before them stood...a Kil'drabi, if they remembered the name rightly. Those nomads had never been part of their calculations, and the population was too small to bother with corrupting, as growing distrust and xenophobia would not be a factor in the plan. "How many fingers does this one see?" They spoke again, an arm unfolding from their maw to display its appendages.
"Go away," the pilgrim said instead, walking past the Kil'drabi with sure steps and ever closer to simply trying to kill their way through to the tomb, leaving the bewildered xenos behind. They Who Preach Of The Dawn looked after the rude human with some trepidation. One instinct within their body demanded that the wound inflicted be cleansed and healed at once, while another, more conscious part whispered back its trained instincts to let the unwilling leave. One could not be The Healer Of The Flesh if another refused to be One Whose Essence Is Rewoven.
"Excuse me," another voice said behind them, and They Who Preach Of The Dawn looked, seeing a small human child and a Yeeni emerge from the bend in the path. "Have you seen a tall human walk by here? We tried to catch up to give them back the knife they dropped, but they didn't stop," the Yeeni said, and They Who Preach Of The Dawn nodded.
"The Injured Rude One has gone this way, seeking to deny themselves treatment in favor of seeing..." they paused, looking at the path the human had taken, "the...sanitation stations?" Arrus looked into the small mirror she had owned since she was a child, sitting atop one of the public toilets with its lid down as she tried to breathe evenly.
A lilac iris atop a green one stared back, the left side of her face still blessed by the signs of the Miracle of the Saint.
Despite being blessed by the Saint, despite having the unclean part of herself erased and removed by the same and in feathery divine intervention...the Warp did not seem to take kindly to her being ripped out of its grasp.
She had hoped that the splitting of her iris into two, with the pupil splitting in turn, had been nothing but her thoughts and nervousness.
She had prayed that it was nothing but imagination...yet she had taken precautions to ensure nobody had seen it. She remembered the days on her old "home" all too well when she had walked with a face marred by chitin and bone. She had hoped that this place, if there ever could be a place, would be the answer to reverting, or at least halting, the change.
It was not.
The door to the restroom opened, and some other pilgrim stormed in, angry and cursing, and an old instinct made her hold her breath, despite how silly it wa-
The stench of blood hit her. Lights flashed, and words were spoken that made her bones crawl within her writhing blood vessels.
A minute passed as she did not dare to breathe, the steps of someone leaving the restroom locking her every muscle up. Another minute passed before she dared to stand up, trembling hands moving the door to her stall to allow her to peek through and into the small hallway with sinks and more mirrors.
A face slowly dissolved within the sink, dark runes etched into the mirror...and an eye smirked at her in glee as it dissolved.
Disclose: (6-Hour Moratorium) [] The Lament
[] The Child
[] The Spirit
[] The Squid
They were furious by now. The planning of nearly a century spent on fulfilling this single contract, and all almost foiled by mewling things better spent for materials to their ascension into true immortality. Hampered by a child. Distracted by a fool. Injured by a pest simply lying on the ground. The pilgrim could not wait until they were off this damned island, free to journey to their next destination and cut loose from all this hidden daggers and cloaks grox-shit into a furious storm of arcane mastery unto the fools who thought themselves masters of their fate. They growled with impatience as the mask applied once more pulled at their face and the echoes of its screams were more annoyance than balm for their mind. A part of them wanted to cut loose, here and now, instead of continuing with the mission to go back and murder the spawn and idiots...but the mission went first.
"Why?"
Eyes widened, a hand grasped for a knife that wasn't there, and arcane sigils began to swirl around the other in their baleful hatred of the thing that once again tried to block their path. Except... "You are not the child," the pilgrim snarled, looking at the human whelp that sat on one of the branches of the trees giving their shadows over the path, legs dangling and swinging back and forth as its head swayed with the tune it hummed. Snarling, the pilgrim loo-"GAH!"
"Oops, should have dimmed that," the thing said as it hopped down from the branch, humming the song as it skipped over to Ssli'sazarl kneeling on the path, blood trickling from their nine eyes and mouths, pain bending them over with their head pressed against the floor as if to ward off further harm. "But then again, you did try to peek, didn't you?"
Ssli'sazarl looked up, their whole disguise shattered and melted, eyes riven with popped blood vessels glared with malice beyond hatred, and spat from their mouths blood and words. "What are you, warp-spawn? One of the others? One sent by my enemies? The Forge Lord? My contract is not yet up, and the conditions for failure have not yet been met. You have no right to interfere!"
Stopping before them, the thing in the guise of a child bent over, hands behind its back, as the face-that-wasn't-one expressed mirth and curiosity. "Oh, but I have. After all, Ssli'sazarl," it said, and they felt their eyes rip themselves open as the guise of the child morphed within the Warp itself to a form that couldn't be. [YOU TRIED TO DEFILE THE GRAVE OF A MAN WHO SPENT HIS LIFE IN MY SERVICE.]
"No...NO! YO-You aren't real! What IS THIS TRICKERY?!" Ssli'sazarl shouted, runes and glyphs snapping into reality as they were brought against the form standing before them...to no effect. "YOU HAVEN'T BEEN CREATED; YOU CANNOT BE! THIS CANNOT BE!" Ssli'sazarl screeched, fear and terror melting into one soup of utter mind-scrambling horror. "THE THORIANS ARE FALSE; THEIR PROPHECIES THE HOPES OF FOOLS DELUDED!"
None of the attacks against the child did anything. There was no effect, no sign of damage, or even any sign that the Warp acknowledged the powers brought to bear against it. [CEASE.] And Ssli'sazarl stopped. No power flowed through their veins; no might answered their calls. They stopped...and fell to their knees, tears streaming down their eyes despite being unable to produce such. [YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO THAT TIME IS BUT A SUGGESTION TO BEINGS SUCH AS I IF WE DESIRE IT TO BE SO. EVEN IF THE COST IS STEEP, ALLOWING THE ONE WHO CAME FROM BEYOND THE SKEIN TO REST WITH HIS WIFE IN PEACE AFTER HIS SERVICE TO MYSELF IS DONE IS A TRIVIAL THING.]
Ssli'sazarl could do nothing but look into the Warp and let his eyes burn as he muttered, over and over, 'This cannot be.'
[YOU KNOW, DESPITE WHAT MY FATHER SAYS, YOUR KIND IS THE ONE I LIKE TO DENY THE MOST. THE KHORNATES ARE THE EASIEST TO FIGHT, BUT YOU? YOU FALL FOR EITHER SELFISH GREED OR SELFLESS HOPE.]
Ssli'sazarl blinked at that, and a laugh rasped from their mouths, eyes blinded by the brilliance of Divinity. "Ar-are you?" They laughed once more, the laugh of one stressed and with a broken mind. "Do you think I will switch sides? That I desire your 'redemption'?" They spat the last word like a curse.
[NO. YOU CHOSE YOUR PATH ONCE TO SAVE ANOTHER...BUT THAT WAS A MILLENIA AGO. NOW? NOW YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A SHELL OF WHO YOU WERE, WHAT YOU TRIED TO BECOME. THERE WILL BE NO REDEMPTION FOR ONE WHO SLAUGHTERED BILLIONS AND GLEEFULLY KILLED MILLIONS THEMSELVES.] Ssli'sazarl felt a hand fall upon their shoulders, and, for the first time in one-thousand-eight-hundred-forty-four-years...their mind was theirs. Wholly theirs. Only. Theirs. [BUT I AM NOT MY FATHER WHO MURDERED THOUSANDS OF SPECIES FOR IMAGINED CRIMES. THOUGH YOU ARE A MONSTER BY CHOICE AND CORRUPTION IN EQUAL MEASURE, MERCY REQUIRES NO EXPLANATION BEYOND THE WILL TO OFFER IT.]
"Mercy is for the weak," Ssli'sazarl spat, feeling the hand upon their shoulder grow firm and hard. No longer a light of gentle warmth.
[AND THUS ONLY THE STRONG CAN GIVE IT. MAKE NO MISTAKE; I OFFER NO SALVATION. ONE OF MY DOMAINS ISN'T RUTHLESSNESS FOR NOTHING. I OFFER OBLIVION. FREEDOM FROM THE CHAINS UPON YOUR BACK, FOR IF I AM UNWILLING TO CAST EVEN ONE SHACKLE OF THE FOUR DOWN, I AM UNWORTHY OF THE FAITH PLACED IN ME BY THE TRILLIONS TO COME.]
Ssli'sazarl stared. Their mind thought...and they hung their head.
[MAY YOUR SLEEP BE ETERNAL.]
Thus, Ssli'sazarl was no more as dawn broke upon the Isle of Avalon. Its premises were soon swarming with thousands of soldiers after a woman alerted the Avalon Wardens about what she had seen in a restroom. The corpse of a heavily mutated xenos was shortly found and swiftly purified before being fired into a nearby star amidst a swirl of controversy and screaming priests and laypeople demanding a hardening of security and more counter-measures against infiltration.
But nothing else came of it.
Imperial Syncreticism. These two words hide the depths of danger they represent to the souls of the people of the Glimmering Federation.
It is not merely an honest attempt to bridge the gap between the Droman Creed and the Dogma of the Cult Imperialis but an insidious perversion of all that the Droman Creed tries to create.
The Syncretists cast down the tenets and doctrines of Solitudo Genetica and Cognati Stellarum as the two most prominent examples, arguing against it with the small-minded sights of those who see only with hatred. They desire for all Mutants to be killed, for our Kin to be slaughtered, and for the planets of our Protectorate to be cleansed and settled...even if they do not speak in such terms. Their priests and sermons are insidious, worming deeper and deeper with every decade left unattended, and the Order of Cerberus has slowly shifted over from fighting against the grasp of Chaos to fighting against the rot of the Syncretists in many systems, many formerly of Neon, but not all.
Many of their desired social reforms and programs are insidiously coached in honeyed words that hide what they truly want or would bring about. They are willing to enact the wills of those who preach their hatred with violence: open, hidden, social, or physical; it does not matter. Cults grow within their ranks: those mundane and those Corrupted, seeking to take advantage of those seeking pious lives and belonging, meaning for lives and legacies twisted into servitude for base greed or darker masters.
It cannot be overstated that, should no action be taken, their ranks would swell enough that acting against them would not merely end in unrest across many systems, especially those formerly Neon, but may end up with revolutions trying to futilely fight against the Federation. Millions would die before our rightful and pious light would shine upon those worlds again, but they would die nonetheless.
Action Must Be Taken. (6-Hour Moratorium)
[] (Write-In)
The procession was, at this point, several kilometers long. Hundreds upon hundreds of Techpriests, Enginseers, Biologi, Technicians, and Adepts of all kinds were flocking to the site; holy oils, sacred incense, binharic chants, and a sea of white-blue robes marching in one long line as the local leader of the Star-Mechanicum held aloft the Sacred Fragment of the STC found deep within the bowels of Gathin Major. More things than "just" this one fragment had been found, far more, but aside from a truly mind-boggling amount of vehicles, airplanes, munitions, artillery pieces, maintenance kits, medicine, MREs, and all the little things a high-intensity century-long war could ever require, only two other things that got even close to a Fragment of an STC were of note; an ancient ship beam-artillery weapon design created just before the Great Crusade had reached the world it had been designed upon, and methods by which the cognitive abilities of servitors could be enhanced. Not enough to give them anything that would cause concern, but enough that it would ripple throughout the society and industry of the Federation.
What would ripple through the sectors of industry alongside the finds within Gathin Major was the find that, though an utterly corrupted place and in dire need of several centuries of dedicated cleansing after being subjected to orbital bombardments across its entire surface, the planet Tom within Yivv held tiny deposits of Auramite within its crust. A kilo here, a kilo there, not enough to make something ludicrous like ordinary soldiers equipped with the metal, but perhaps sufficient to aid the spearhead of the Federation with select weapons or equipment coated in a thin layer, like a shield or a helmet.
Yet, as the planet was within the Yivv System, and the last holdouts of Chaos had been shattered mere days ago by the Lamenters sallying out to crush them upon Love's Huff with the forces of the Federation aiding them as more landings had already secured the other two planets of the system, the Mashan sent, once again, an invitation to discuss the future of the Sub-Sector. Refusing that invitation alongside the Shipwright's Alliance would signal that the Federation was content with the borders as they were. It would also deny the same a chance to enter negotiations with a nation of Xenos that, for once, was not a band of refugees, utterly below them in technological prowess, or only dangerous thanks to their large numbers like the Irrita, but a peer, or superior, as far as the Federation could see.
+++Report regarding the Conclusion of Operation GOOD NEWS+++
Current Casualties: [31%] of all sent Ground Troops [2%] of all Lamenters have fallen in defense of Refuge Sanctorum. Unrecoverable: 1x Aries-Secundus Class Corvette
Recoverable: 2x Aries-Secundus Class Corvette
Overall Status:
Success.
You Have 3 [Three] Actions. Currently Active ISC: [New Dawn R&D]
(6-Hour Moratorium)
[Green Horizons Colonization LTD] - Resettlement Initiatives - Increases colonized worlds by 50% if the Action {Colonize Planet/s} is used. [New Dawn R&D] - Anomaly Identified - Uncover Points of Interest (PoI) within and without your territory every Turn this ISC is sponsored. PoI include (but are not limited to) new colonizable systems, Economic Boons, Military Relevant Resources or Locations, and more. [Federation Post] - Messenger Fleet - Reduce the cost of improving Civilian Infrastructure by 50% (rounded down).
[] [General] Develop The Federations'...
-[] Food Production VI
-[] Civilian Infrastructure VI
-[] Heavy Industry VI
-[] Void Industry X
-[] Medical Services VI
-[] Military Industry VI
(Gain: A boost in production focusing on the chosen option.)
[] [General] Colonize (Planet/s)
It is time to bring two more worlds into the fold. Thanks to the Kil'drabi becoming our Kin, we can now categorize Frozen, Ash, and Volcanic Worlds as Habitable instead.
(Gain: Two colonized Worlds.
Habitable Worlds: Ultima Sigritta - Sira (Mesa and Savannah), Silista - Silista X (Temperate Continent), Itani - Grubbub (Lichen and Fog), Gnatiila - Smug (Outback and Canyons), Turriamnish's Hope - Hope (Steppes and Moss), Monresast - Monresast Major (Arboreal and Savanna)
Hostile Worlds (-1 Void Industry): Qulach's Forge - Node 17c (Acidic Atmosphere)
Deathworlds (-1 to All): Qulach's Forge - Qulach's Forge (Fallout, Glass, Industrial Ruins, and Chemicals), Tom - Yivv (Chaos Wasteland, Miniscule Auramite Deposits))
-[] Poke The Weird Ship
(Gain: Information?) -[] Burner Seeker Mines
(Gain: An upgrade to your Mines. These weapons automatically seek out non-friendly ships within a medium radius around themselves.) -[] Unstable Ore Deposits Exploitation, Chemical After-Burner Bottling, and Ancient Imperial Missile Studies
(Gain: Two Missile Upgrade Equipments and Hangar Upgrades.) -[] Snapshot Cogitation Improvements
(Gain: Missiles have increased Breakthrough against Hostile AM-Systems) -[] Tetratek ARc Cannonade
(Gain: Tetratek Advanced-Reach (Grade c) Cannonade Ship Weapon (4 Dp).) -[] Servitor Cognition Auxiliary Enhancement Procedures
(Gain: Improved Servitors.) -[] Novel Infantry-Grade Weapons and Armor Development
(Gain: Infantry Weapons and Armor Upgrades.) -[] Experimental Infantry-Grade Weapons and Armor Development
(Gain: New Infantry Weapons and Armors.) -[] Logistical Infantry-Grade Weapons Development (0/3)
(Gain: Cheaper Infantry Weapons.) -[] Logicstical Infantry-Grade Armor Development (0/3)
(Gain: Cheaper Infantry Armor.) -[] New Boarders for a New Age
(Gain: New Boarding Craft.) -[] Ship Equipment Standardization - [1 DP Equipment] (0/2)
(Gain: Standardize 1 [One] 1 DP Ship Equipment across all new Designs.) -[] Shipyard Automatization
(Gain: 1 Destroyer every Turn.) -[] Academic Initiatives (1/2)
(Gain: +0.1 Research per Action Spent.) -[] Psytech Foundings (0/4)
(Gain: Rudimentary Understanding of Psytech. Not the ability to create it.) -[] Reconstruct The Shattered STC-Fragment (0/12)
(Gain: An STC Fragment.)
Hereteks Refuge - Reduce Research Cost by 20%, Rounded Up. +0.2 Research per Action Spent. (0.2 Research Banked)
[] [General] Propaganda For The Foreign Masses - [0/4]
With the Glimmering Federation struggling to digest its recent mass acquisition of systems and populations, some have raised the possibility of using the Federation's more diplomatic abilities and capabilities to subvert, convert, and then integrate new systems without causing mass casualties or widespread destruction. A Propaganda office outfitted with ships, Choirs, materials, factories, and a mandate to do just that should bring foreign systems into our sphere of influence and then the Federation as a whole. It will be pricy, though.
(Gain: Allows you to slowly convert one [1] random system at a time to the Glimmering Federation without Action cost.)
[] [General] Jolly Economic Co-Operation - [1 Remaining]
Despite what people may think, selling a shit-load of materials at discount prices will make you more money than trying to sell them at the standard markup. However, there are only so many materials to sell until the industries are behind and need to restock and be able to supply the same once again.
(Gain: 50% Discount on your [Develop] Actions taken in the same Turn (1 Dev into 2, 2 into 4). Ashan Families like you more.)
[] [General] A Conference For 621
As was offered by the Mashan, the fate of the Sub-Sector now lays in the hands of the victors. Refusing to attend would be a sign to the Mashan that we intend to hold the current worlds and expect them to do the same.
(Gain: A Conference For 621)
[] [Military] Create A [Blazing Sun - 4x War-Packs] or 3x SAGs - [System/s] - [Weight: Light/Medium/Heavy] - [Type: Infantry/Mechanized/Tanks/Augmetic Legion] - [Classification: Sabotage/Assault/Engineering/Demolition/Ogryn/Kil'drabi]
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 soldiers with spiffy hats that will not be disobeyed. Kil'drabi Units can go into temperature enviroments Humans would require special equipment with ease. 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, with Tanks allowing a myriad of armored spearheads or operations to proceed, and an Augmetic Legion consists of cybernetically enhanced humans, equipped with high-end implants and prosthetics that set them far above the human baseline, allowing for far more dangerous deployments. Light Units are better for low-logistic scenarios, while Medium Units rely more on regular shipments and strike a good balance between supply consumption and effectiveness. Heavy Units rely on solid logistics to continue working while offering an equal force concentration in return. A War-Pack comprises 15 Karnivores grouped in Packs of 3 Knights each, alongside the infrastructure/logistics to support and rebuild their Knights.
(Gain: Three SAGs. These contain [Four Units] chosen from the above choices. Tanks require no Classification.)
[] [Military] [Construct/Refit] A Fleet - [36 Fleet Points]
Ships are produced at these rates: Scouts at 1 FP, Destroyers at 2 FP, Frigates at 4 FP, Light Cruisers at 8 FP, and Heavy Cruisers at 18 FP.
You can refit for 10 FP: Two Libra-S to Two Libra-T, Three Crux to Three Crux-S, and Four Taurus into Four Taurus-S in one Turn.
(Gain: Chosen Fleet.)
[] [Military] Militarize The Schools Of Paladins
Though the schools created to equip and train our missionaries for all possible environments and situations have quickly grown to smooth out all failures and bumps in their curriculum, some military think tanks have poked at the possibility of creating a home-grown version of the Imperial Sisters of Battle mentioned in both records and the descendants of a squad on Saget VII. This would include streamlining the usage of the Militaristic Faith Orders to use them in battles on the front line and training those dedicated to spreading and defending the Faith of the Star Child as parts of the military directly in the use of bullet and sword in heavy power armor.
(Gain: Unlock Templars, boosting your military.)
[ ] [Military] Design New Voidship Classes - [Available: Destroyer (1 FP), Frigate (2 FP), Light Cruiser (4 FP), Heavy Cruiser (8 FP)] - [8 FP]
From what we can tell, thanks to our history, what information we, the Kil'drabi, Yeeni, and the archives of our planets 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 proud 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.
(Information: Ship Classes requiring more FP than you possess take more than one Action to produce.
Gain: Newly designed and built Ship Classes.)
[] [Military] Begin Military Operations (Assign SAG/s) (Choose Location/s) (Designate Objective/s)
-[] 35x Free Celestial Choirs
-[] Task Fleet Alpha (30/20 Ship Capacity)
(3x Andromeda-Class Command Ship, 3x Proof of Our New Path Battlecolony, 1x Libra-Tertium Light Carrier, 2x Libra-Secundus Light Carrier, 5x Crux-Class Missile Frigates, 2x Aries-Secundus Class Corvette, 5x Words of the Writ-Class Frigate, 2x Scorpio-Class Light Cruiser, 2x Taurus-S Troopship (0/10 SAG Capacity))
-[] Task Fleet Beta (20/20)
(2x Andromeda-Class Command Ship, 1x Libra-Tertium Light Carrier, 7x Scorpio-Class Light Cruiser, 2x Words of the Writ-Class Frigate, 4x Aries-Secundus Class Corvette, 3x Crux-Secundus Class Heavy Frigate, 3x Taurus-S Troopship (0/15 SAG Capacity))
-[] Task Fleet Gamma (20/20)
(2x Andromeda, 1x Proof of Our New Path Battlecolony, 1x Leo-Primus Heavy Cruiser, 2x Endeavour Light Cruiser, 2x Viper-Class Missile Destroyer, 2x Cobra Destroyers, 2x Falchion-class Frigate, 2x Words of the Writ-Class Frigate, 4x Aries-Secundus Class Corvette, 4x Taurus-Class Troopship (0/2 SAG Capacity))
-[] Independent Operations Task Force
(5x Chamleon-Class Infiltration Carrier)
-[] Lamenters Chapter Fleet (7/10)
(1x Andromeda-Class Command Ship, 2x Risen Dirge-Class Boarding Ship (0/2 Companies), 3x Lantern Bearer-Class Commandeering Ship (0/3 Companies), 1x Resurgence-Class Torpedo Hunter, and 1x Bloody Dawn-Class Light Cruiser (0/2 Companies))
-[] Scout Fleet Alpha
(4x Circinus-Class Scout Sloop, 1x Spirit of Discovery Scout-Class Light Cruiser)
There is war to be had and battle to be made. Send troops to resolve issues, squash opposition to the Star Child and Humanity and all Their Protectorates, and send ships to scout neighboring systems to understand what is happening there.
(Gain: Military dispatched to put down opposition violently. Scouts are sent to look at other systems.
Scouting Range: ~10 Systems from Claimed Systems. Scouting Efficiency: 75% Adjacent Systems, 40% Three+ Systems, 10% Five+ Systems.
Note: For use outside your territory or in support of forces specified within another Action.)
[] [Psykana] Conduct Two Melodies (Choose two below.) (0.6/1 - Auto Complete) - [Choose Melody]
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. As there are 10 Celestial Choirs free to pursue research, the High Council can ask them to pursue a target instead of what comes close. This will, naturally, be lost once they dip below 10 Choirs.
(Total: 30
Uncovered: Technology.
Secret: Slumber, Silence, Perception, and Grounding.
Star Child: Hope II, Compassion II, Humanity II, Mercy, Creativity III, Health II, Unity II, Innovation, Machinery, Logic II, Progress II, Protection II, Justice, Wisdom, The Sun II, The Home II, Death, Ruthlessness, Brutality, and Fire II.
Kil'drabi: Paths, The Void II, Struggle, Community, and Family.
Gain: Two Melodies 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.
(Star Child: Protection I, Fire I, The Sun I, Humanity I, Creativity II, Song III, The Home I, Logic I, Unity I, Progress I, Compassion I, Hope I, Health I, and Void I.
Gain: A Song.
Sung: Dirge for the Innocent, Bound To The Stars, A Web Of Song.)
[] [Faith] Sermons To The Families
Though the Ashan Families are not fans of strangers walking into their homes and preaching about strange deities, they are fans of allowing honored guests to preach an interpretation of a sanctioned faith (even if it is a weird interpretation) in exchange for money. However, they will still check if said guests are preaching Chaos, just to be sure.
(Gain: The Ashan Families allow your priests to preach in their territories.)
[] [Faith] The Great Heresies
Though it is infuriating to many that splits and cracks have already started to appear within the structure of our faith, especially when the Prophet hasn't even been laid to rest in his last resting place, these splits were inevitable. There was no way to prevent those who strayed from established Doctrine, so we must expend effort to bring them back into the fold, even if some start to whisper about altering Doctrine itself to incorporate some parts of their beliefs into ours.
(Gain: Reconcile, Syncretise, Legalise, or Crack Down on a Heresy.) -[] The Particularists
The Droman Creed emphasizes the different qualities and roles of each of the Five, encapsulating the Co-equal Oneness of the Five-One, One-Five, yet some believe this to be a Pantheon. For the Particularists, this is the furthest from the truth, as they believe the Five-One to not be co-equal within their shared Divinity, but One-As-Five, mixing everything into one being by denying the uniqueness of each Five to not deny the Oneness of them all. -[] The Anti-Particularists
The opposite to the Particularists, they have twisted this section of the Creed to its utter limit: I believe that these Five, Omnissiah, Emepror, Motive Force, Body of the Faith, and Star Child, are Indivisible and One, and Two, And Three, Four, and Five. They believe one can pair the Five-One according to their "Co-Equal Hierarchy," represented by a square with four edges and the Star Child in the middle. In this, they claim that the Emperor and Omnissiah are on the Left and Right of the square, with the Community of Faith and Motive Force in the lower left and right, relating to each other in their respective roles and relations as they come together to create the Star Child. -[] The Adherents of the Divine Lines
Those who call themselves the Adherents of the Divine Lines hold to the idea that a Divine Lineage exists at all, claiming that, as the Space Marines and Primarchs are the children of the Emperor-and-Omnissiah as well as the Star Child, a clear line of Divine Heritage exists that allows those who partake in its shared blood to better understand and enact the will of the Five-One unto the face of the galaxy, and that the Glimmering Federation need only right what has so long been silenced. -[] The Order of the Nurenor Roses
The Order of the Nurenor Roses is the epitome of those Cerberus hunts, for they are a Heretical Sect most foul. They believe the Star Child to be a woman instead of genderless. They seek a society split by task and by gender, with women as the spiritual rulers and men as the material leaders, the place of one designated by birth and skill, using the Thules as evidence for the success of such a practice despite all the evidence to the contrary, and more. -[] The Supplicants of the Aetherical Cog
This outgrowth of the Star-Mechanicum was recently discovered and has, as far as Cerberus knows, been founded by an unknown Magos after the Nuking of the Forge, when they found an artifact of unspecified power and nature. However, interrogations have since revealed that this artifact was a receptible of data and contained several teachings within its form that range, by their descriptions, from "perfectly acceptable" to "utterly heretically." The various sects of the Aetherical Cog are cellular by nature and differ in several ways, even amongst themselves, but all hold to the central belief that a Divided Consciousness is no longer tolerable. Instead, they seek the Convergence, the day when all minds are joined as one under the guidance of the Star Child to be but a cog for their designs of peaceful unity.
[] [Chapter] As The Codex Demands (6.5/7)
Once again, unto the fields of training.
(Gain: The Lamenters fill out entirely for the first time in millennia.)
[] [Other] Take Care Of [Future Or Current Problems]
(Write-In the problem being addressed.)
With the conclusion of the 621 Campaigns from all corners of every participant, from the Mashan Temple Authority, the Glimmering Federation itself, the Lamenters, and the Shipwright's Alliance, there comes, naturally, a lull in the fighting. At another time, with other factions and participants, this lull would be spent by the factions involved in paranoia and the re-armament of their navies and troops as eyes, sensors, and senses would be spent to see who would make the first move and re-start the shedding of blood.
This is not that time.
No, instead of paranoia and militaries drawing pointy arrows with troops and ships underneath neat timetables, delegations meet within a specially constructed building on the planet Prolurnis in the Weznicrrit System to decide the borders of Sub-Sector 621.
On one side, the stony delegations of the Mashan Temple Authority arrive from their spherical spaceships in long lines bearing standards and banners adorned with writings both sacred and whispering to the senses of those capable of channeling the powers of the Warp of the silent wards and protections against disease and tricks applied in thread and upon scrolls attached to the bodies of the Mashan themselves.
The Shipwright's Alliance descends upon the world and the meeting place with a procession of armed soldiers bearing their well-worn modified mining suits long ago turned into proper armor. Their marching delegation is bedecked not in finery but in the badges and honors of their offices and long decades of service to their people and cause.
In contrast, the Glimmering Federation has their shuttles of white wings and black accents descend in a roar unto the world, Humans, Kil'drabi, and even Yeeni disgorged in orderly ranks wearing ceremonial cloth and robes, priests walking alongside them with Techpriests humming their binharic cants to their left. At the same time, the ordinary clergy muttered prayers to their right, thuribles swinging with incense in regular intervals as an honor guard of power-armor-clad warriors of the Faith chosen for this task marched to the back of the procession.
And though there are, by technicality, two more factions involved, the Lamenters recused themselves on the grounds of being allied and honored members of the Glimmering Federation. At the same time, the people of Zetraneum did not possess the technological, political, and cultural sophistication, unity, and understanding to stand on any ground more advanced than 'Thanks For The Help, But Now Get Off Our Home.'
With that, and the delegations leaving behind their armed escorts, weapons, honor guards, and malicious intents 830 Steps from the Meeting Hall as agreed by all parties, the 621 Conference Begins.
What Do You Want To Achieve? (6-Hour Moratorium)
[] (Write-In)
Systems held by the Glimmering Federation: Lethysan
-Lethysan XX
-Lethysan XXI
Combined Human Population: ~15.000
Notes: Important Gateway System. It must be held.
Terrore
-Terrore I
-Terrore V
-Terrore V
Combined Human Population: ~40.000
Notes: Will incur -1 to Medical Services and Civilian Industry if held.
Yiff
-Love's Huff
-Broken Lime
-Fixxy
-Tom (Auramite Deposits)
Combined Human Population: ~69.000
Notes: STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT RESOURCE
Systems held by the Mashan Temple Authority Avethread
-Urkae
-Guisodad
-Nagiamnor
Combined Human Population: ~2-9.000
Notes: Likely to be held by the Mashan.
Megoxura
-Vorskrit
Combined Human Population: ~1.500.000
Notes: Certain to be held by the Mashan.
Ghedonion
-Thargin's Haven
Combined Human Population: ~1.500.000
Notes: Certain to be held by the Mashan.
Galinrak Rift
-Zik-Zik
Combined Human Population: N/A?
Notes: Certain to be held by the Mashan.
Murrs
-Dimm
-Wit
Combined Human Population: ~100.000
Notes: Unlikely to be fought over much if demanded.
Weznicrrit
-Sleeforica
-Prolurnis
-Xcrztnvy
-Trecaleum
Combined Human Population: Exterminated by Chaos.
Notes: Candidate for multi-ownership. Trade/Treaty System possible.
Kalikrax
-Holy Herastus
-Holy Herastis
-Home of Horrors
Combined Human Population: ~200.000
Notes: Unlikely to be fought over much if requested.
Systems held by the Shipwright's Alliance: Kapion's Hope
-Refuge Sanctorum
Notes: Shipwright's Alliance Home System.
System Not Held By Any: Zetraneum
-Zetraneum
Notes: Tribal Anarchy Governments, unable to participate in long-term interstellar diplomacy.
>All words or phrases within [] are translated to Low Gothic's nearest recognizable word or phrase.
The Conference of 621 is a very telling, some say enlightening, experience for the Glimmering Federation Diplomatic Corps.
Its demands, requests, hopes, and desires reflect not merely itself but also its history to a degree that the Mashan Temple Authority and Shipwright's Alliance mirror in turn.
The Glimmering Federation came to the table with the demand that Lethysan, Terrore, Yivv, and Zetraneum be effectively turned over to their control, that Weznicritt be turned into a mutually owned system to facilitate diplomatic contact in exchange for the Federation recognizing the Mashan Temple Authority's 'claims' over the anti-Terraward portion of 621, and that Kalikrax be given to the Shipwright's Alliance. The Federation furthermore tried to angle for a general free-movement treaty for civilian ships between the three powers and offered to take the human populations from the Mashan Temple Authority's lands, should they so wish.
In short, the Glimmering Federation arrived at the Conference believing themselves to be not merely a Major Power at the table talking with an equal and a lesser but also a Major War Contributor able to dictate the future through their contributions.
The Mashan Temple Authority and Shipwright's Alliance did not see it that way. At all.
For the latter, the Federation was a welcome but very late newcomer to their desperate generational war that had intensified in the latter stages, with the Federation only coming in at the end to deliver a lethal backstab after the Alliance and Authority had already born the brunt of the might of the United Cults. For the Alliance, the Lamenters were those who had risked, lost, and worked far more and harder than the Federation to see them safe, and their delegation was very aware that, though allies, the Lamenters weren't subjects to the Federation.
In the eyes of the Mashan, raiding enemy logistics was a strategically and tactically sound decision, but not one worthy of much [recognition], with the systems conquered by the Federation being either those with minimal ground combat and thus little risk or part of an already collapsing and rife with internal strife enemy. [Stories worth of little paper.] The Federation was a welcome Third Front, but not one that would be of no grander standing than the Alliance.
Though the Alliance and Authority had no problem leaving Lethysan and Terrore in the hands of the Federation, their plans for Yivv, Zetraneum, Weznicritt, Kalikrax, and Murrs were different.
Claiming ancestral ownership and guardianship, alongside historical losses and loss of life incurred in the Long Retreat from these systems, the Shipwright's Alliance put forth demands for Weznicritt, Kalikrax, and Yivv to be returned to them, with adequate compensations to be given to both the Authority and Federation in turn, with a request to return Zetraneum and Murrs under the Alliance, as the first system had been part of a failed colonization attempt a millennia ago that they intended to correct and uplift before Chaos made itself known in the Sub-Sector, and the latter was home to sub-terranean data-banks that they dearly wished recovered as they contained ancient historical records of great religious importance.
For the Mashan Temple Authority, the mere insinuation that they were incapable of, or deliberately treating their human populations as anything but [fellow sophonts in the worldspace], even if requiring very different sets of conditions and treatments for body, spirit, [layer of the body where nerves communicate], and mind than they, required more than a moderate amount of discussion to, somewhat, smooth over. Their delegation subsequently shot down the idea of opening borders for civilian trade and ships between the Alliance, Federation, and Authority.
For territory, the Authority did not gainsay returning Weznicritt and Kalikrax, yet was hesitant to return Murrs or support pressuring the Federation to return Yivv and Zetraneum to the Alliance. Their hesitancy to return Murr stemmed from the discovery of several species of animals and plants that they could use for [Holy Scriptures] and [Holy Sigils] to write down [Living History and Forgotten Days]. They offered to repay the Alliance with a set percentage of all minerals mined upon the planet for a century, no less than 100.000 tons of refined metals per year, and full access to a ship to recover their [Living History Holied By Their Dedication And Remembrance]. As for pressuring the Federation to return Yivv and Zetraneum, while it would not matter much to them, there was a layer of, very much, unspoken strategic understanding for them that if the Alliance held the systems, two deep strikes could be initiated by each party, while if held by the Federation, only a single system needed to be conquered to cut off their presence within the Sub-Sector.
The discussions continue for all sides, even if the fates of Weznicritt and Kalikrax seem all but certain for two sides.
Diplomacy Continues: (6-Hour Moratorium)
[] (Write-In)
(What do you attempt to offer to either side to sway them to your proposals? What do you threaten, if at all, if certain things are not done? Do you support one of the others' Proposals?)
Shipwright's Alliance Proposals:
-They demand that Weznicritt, Kalikrax, and Yivv be returned.
-They request that Zetraneum and Murrs be returned.
-They will offer 'Adequate Compensation' for the liberation of these systems.
-They are open to a Civilian Trade Agreement.
-They are open to establishing an Embassy within the Federation.
Mashan Temple Authority Proposals:
-Weznicritt and Kalikrax are returned to the Shipwright's Alliance.
-They wish to retain Murrs, but are willing to allow a recover mission for the Holy Data-Banks and offer a minimum of Refined Metals or a set percentage of all mined metals upon Murrs, whichever is higher, in return for a century.
-They are opposed to a Civilian Trade Agreement.
-They are open to establishing an Embassy within the Federation.
With a continuation of the Conference, so too comes an apology and explanation to the Mashan Temple Authority regarding the unintentional insult given to them. The idea that any non-human species would interact with humanity on any level beyond utter genocidal hatred has long since been instilled into nearly every human culture and polity for well over ten millennia. The uncountable number of xenocides that the Imperium's xenophobic stance in both politics and faith created, urged on by cycles of violence and despair, has not helped matters for those humans who interacted in a non-hostile matter with Xenos. Even those who tried to deal fairly were eventually crushed or forced to act in hatred and betrayal against those they once treated fairly. The history of the Kil'drabi is rife with such interactions. As far as the Glimmering Federation is aware, ex-Imperial worlds and populations cling tightly to the stances of the Imperium and Ecclesiarchy even now.
In return, the Authority apologizes for its overreaction to a miscommunication and agrees to leave the matter to the side so that both of our people can walk into the future unburdened by undeserved feelings. A general agreement to trade, in a more limited form that disallows Federation Traders to leave the stations they would dock at to sell their wares, is also proposed and shortly enters negotiations between the two delegations.
As for the underlying belief that the Glimmering Federation was not involved in the war to a major degree, the diplomats of the delegation turn to long, grueling, and soul-crushing sessions of meetings with fine food and drink between all involved parties or one-on-one talks, minds and opinions swayed one kilo gained at a time, laying a groundwork for goodwill and far more hospitable treatings between the three present nations in the future.
That being said, the Shipwright's Alliance did not drop their demand for Yivv. The Glimmering Federation didn't budge on that matter either.
Not when the Alliance offers to relinquish all claims on Zetraneum. Negotiations continue, and moods sour as quickly as it becomes clear that the Alliance knows something that they should not. It is suspected when they offer to give up half their claims in the system. And then it is all but confirmed when they offer to relinquish all claims, for all planets, except for Tom, which they seek to purify and turn into a cemetery world for their people, the bones of three billion martyrs and dead heroes a fertilizer that had long ago been made into a rallying cry for their people.
Weeks go by, and it all ends when the Shipwright's Alliance outright declares that they know about the Auramite within Tom. They know that this is why the Federation does not wish to relinquish a system over a Sub-Sector away from their nation's Core Systems, and they make no attempt to hide the fact that they do not wish for it. They demand that planet. The Federation can have the rest of the system, but that metal is theirs by right of spilled blood and the weight of sacrifice. It is vital for the construction of Irrita Compass Needles, something they offer no explanation beyond saying that 'It aids our ships in the traversal of the Warp.'
It is when the delegations excuse themselves for a remission after that statement that, in an ugly twist of diplomacy, both the Shipwright's Alliance and the Mashan Temple Authority approach the Glimmering Federation with offers of compromise.
The Authority does not speak in honeyed words but plainly. Auramite is a powerfully meaningful metal for their people and is all but required to create several essential religious items. Their terms are simple: 50% of all mined Auramite, and they will, if needed, force the Alliance to back down from their claim over the system.
It is unspoken that they are willing to offer the same to the Alliance, though targeted against the Federation.
And yet, the Shipwright's Alliance approaches with two other solutions on their own. In a meeting both tense and filled with a thread of cold anger, the Alliance's head delegate offers to...relinquish their claims upon Yivv. Provided that they gain something equally important in return. "If we leave this Conference without that system," they explained slowly, with a stony facade, "with news that you will soon begin to mine atop the graves of three billion martyrs and fallen heroes....well. People are unreasonable at the best of times. And we may be unable to stop all who decide to let action follow outrage."
This is, of course, with the assumption that they are left without something to soothe and show their people of equal value to the Auramite soon to be mined there and the desecration of a planet blessed by the sacrifice of heroes.
Like, say, this oddly comprehensive list of technologies that could be transferred over to them, or a delegation of twenty Choirs sent for one-and-a-half-centuries to teach the psykers of the Alliance the safe(-ish) use of their powers...and how to navigate the Warp.
What Now?
(6-Hour Moratorium) [] (Write-In)
-The Shipwright's Alliance gains Kalikrax and Weznicritt.
-The Shipwright's Alliance can recover their Holy Data-Banks from Murrs.
-The Mashan Temple Authority gains Murrs and Avethread.
-The Glimmering Federation gains Lethysan, Terrore, and Zetraneum.
-The Glimmering Federation offers 1 Action's worth of aid to the Shipwright's Alliance.*
-Limited Civilian Trade with the Mashan Temple Authority will be established.
-Civilian Trade with the Shipwright's Alliance will be established.*
-Embassies will be established between all nations.
*May be removed due to recent circumstances.
AN: Man, ya really didn't think finding Auramite would be such a headache, did ya?
Also, the Alliance ain't lying about Yivv being home to three billion graves from their war against Chaos.
The Shipwright Alliance accepts the terms given to them. Without hesitation, ink is spilled across vellum, sigils are embedded in wax, hands shake, and picts are taken to commemorate the moment.
Yivv will belong to the Alliance, and 10 Choirs of the Celestial Choir of the Glimmering Federation shall set out to teach the psykers of the Alliance of their ways, yet, in return, the Glimmering Federation shall be allowed to preach of the Star Child within their territory, and enough Auramite will be given over to the Federation that the metal can be studied and researched.
However, though initially offered, the offer to aid in the reconstruction of the affected territories is withdrawn, citing concerns for unexpected material costs due to issues within the Federation, to a neutral reception by the Alliance. Yet, the Glimmerlings promise to start a Donation Drive for the people of the Alliance and the goods gained will be shipped over with acceptable escorts as soon as possible.
It is unclear to the Alliance's leadership if that was a thinly veiled threat or a cultural misunderstanding because, within two months, news and ships reached them, the latter filled beyond bursting with all manner of direly needed goods and materials.
This is one of many ships—ships that will fly for decades to come, as the Glimmerlings saw the donation drive initiated by their government and gave what they deemed acceptable.
Around the equal of seven years of the nation's entire GDP once the drive ended after one.
Trade flowed not merely to the Alliance but also the Federation. In particular, several enterprising Irrita arrived, the bellies of their ships filled with seeds, fruits, vegetables, and more, from tools for agriculture to machines to nurture the soil; they all were offered and sold.
It should come as little wonder that a sapient and sentient species of plants would know a thing or two about how to create and nurture good crops and better soils.
[+1 Food Production and +1 Civilian Infrastructure due to Irrita Seed Trade.]
The seat rumbled. No matter the training, no matter the carefully calibrated sensors and thrusters, one thing remained true across the millennia of human warfare.
The seats of the military rumbled, especially if they were filled with soldiers about to enter combat.
For the 1st Voxxian Liberation Army, such was life.
Their purpose to spend their lives on a planet hostile to their faith and people.
Their equipment subpar to what would be given to another unit of the same training and status.
Their chance to ever see their homes again zero.
But, even as the green lights of the drop-pods turned a baleful red and the generators within began to whine as sensors corrected for one last time...
They were volunteers.
One and all.
Impact.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE THESE FUCKERS!?" Toothmaw shouted, his heavy stubber barking its ugly cough into the tunnel relentlessly, wide eyes for once dilated with pure fear and terror instead of addictive chemicals coursing through his blood and mind. "I NEE-" Zzap. Like a whisper. Like a thunder. Like a biting chill of the wounded sun crying for its mother.
Tootmaw fell backward, his head a smoking ruin of singed flesh and vaporized water turning into an explosion of steam that killed as surely as the light that pierced through his left eye.
Scenes like this repeated. Again and again.
Death stalked the Sun-Baked Underclan, that notorious band of mutants and gangers filled with the worst scum of the scum that could be found within the dredged muck and sludge flowing down from the high and noble Hive City Layer.
Zzap. Zzap. Zzap.
Corpses fell where people screamed before.
One after another, the sounds began to recede...and eyes followed.
Blue and piercing they saw.
Cold and sure were weapons held in metal limbs.
Efficient and calculated was the movement of feet.
Abuzz in chatter and routes were the minds of those who stalked the gang.
In the eyes of the gang.
For these eyes of blue and ice stalked not in malice and hunger, but with mathematical precision and the surety of glaciers.
For behind them, another wave of drop-pods struck the positions they had emerged from, filled with reinforcements.
The first wave of fifty-five.
Wave twenty-one held not soldiers, not weapons, not tools of war and domination...it held engineers. Kil'drabi volunteers and Ogryn selected by superiors amongst the legions of willing workers.
Their tools were tools in the traditional sense, meant to build and construct, not wound and kill. Even if a lot of tearing down and destroying still happened as these teams began to frantically work within the cloying smog of industry, the biting winds of sand and glass, or the relentless heat of the overhead sun.
Yet, as the soldiers and specialists exterminated and interrogated the last vestiges of threats to their mission, fortified and secured the outer perimeter with weapons dropped in the last round, they finished in time.
And Wave Twenty-Two arrived, its pods landing gently and soon moved away to be repurposed, men, women, and others of the faith marching out of them clothed in war plates and holy icons, prayers within their minds as they took up the flamer, the melta, the book, and the chainsword, eyes glinting with a zeal beyond fervor and feet marching upon their victims: the very souls of those dwelling in this wretched place.
"REJOICE!" The preacher shouted to the terrified crowd below, her arms wide and stretched to the ceiling almost invisible above everyone's heads, her eyes blazing with fanatic glee. "REJOICE PEOPLE OF HAB-BLOCK OMICRON SIGMA-466C! FOR NO LONGER SHALL YOU SUFFER THE DEPREDATIONS OF THE VILE CLANS AND GANS THAT INFESTED THESE HALLS!" She shouted, enforcers keeping the people where they were, weapons and armors of horrifying potency wielded with ease upon those who had tried to make their claim over these people known, which kept the same quiet and attentive in turn as the gears turned and another overlord rose over them. "REJOICE, FOR I COME BEARING THE MESSAGES OF THE STAR CHILD, OUR LORD AND YOUR SAVIOUR!" She screamed, banners unfurling behind her with the sigil of the Star Child proudly blazing from pristine colored cloth. The sight of such wealth alone made many people gasp.
"REJOICE! FOR THAT MESSAGE IS NOTHING LESS THAN THE SALVATION OF ALL YOUR IMMORTAL SOULS AGAINST THE THREAT OF THE SORCERER, THE DAEMON, AND THE HERETIC!" The priestess crooned those words in almost sexual pleasure, shivers running down the backs of many as they began to understand that this would not be a turn of the gear for a new overlord. This would be worse.
"AND YET! AND YET I, TOO, BEAR THE DECREES OF THE STAR CHILD! HEED THE FIRST WELL, AND HEED IT WITH FERVOR!" She shouted again and walked to the side where a crate stood innocently, emblazed with the same sigil on the unfurled banners. A foot was raised...and kicked the crate down below, unto a section of the floor cleared for that exact purpose.
It spilled rations.
The first ranks went silent as they beheld the utter bounty of food spilled onto the floor. Then the news spread like lightning.
"EAT!" The priestess shouted, and troops threw rations into the stunned crowd. "EAT WELL, EAT MUCH, AND SATE YOURSELF FOR THE FIRST TIME! TAKE WHAT YOU WANT, THEN TAKE SOME MORE! THERE SHALL BE NO HUNGER UNDER THE STAR CHILD; THERE WILL BE NO SICKNESS UNDER THEIR GAZE, NO MALEDICTIONS OF THE SOUL, ONLY A FUTURE WORTH FIGHTING FOR! REJOICE! FOR THIS IS THE END OF YOUR SLAVERY AND PAIN!"
The crowd roared in approval, hands grasping for any and all rations they could find as ever more were thrown for them to gather.
You Have 3 [Three] Actions. Currently Active ISC: [Green Horizons Colonization LTD] (6-Hour Moratorium)
[Green Horizons Colonization LTD] - Resettlement Initiatives - Increases colonized worlds by 50% if the Action {Colonize Planet/s} is used. [New Dawn R&D] - Anomaly Identified - Uncover Points of Interest (PoI) within and without your territory every Turn this ISC is sponsored. PoI include (but are not limited to) new colonizable systems, Economic Boons, Military Relevant Resources or Locations, and more. [Federation Post] - Messenger Fleet - Reduce the cost of improving Civilian Infrastructure by 50% (rounded down).
[] [General] Develop The Federations'... -[] Food Production VII
-[] Civilian Infrastructure VII
-[] Heavy Industry VI
-[] Void Industry X
-[] Medical Services VI
-[] Military Industry VI
(Gain: A boost in production focusing on the chosen option.)
[] [General] Colonize (Planet/s)
It is time to bring two more worlds into the fold. Thanks to the Kil'drabi becoming our Kin, we can now categorize Frozen, Ash, and Volcanic Worlds as Habitable instead.
(Gain: Two colonized Worlds.
Habitable Worlds: Ultima Sigritta - Sira (Mesa and Savannah), Silista - Silista X (Temperate Continent), Itani - Grubbub (Low Shrubs and Fog), Gnatiila - Smug (Outback and Canyons), Turriamnish's Hope - Hope (Steppes and Moss), Monresast - Monresast Major (Arboreal and Savanna)
Hostile Worlds (-1 Void Industry): Qulach's Forge - Node 17c (Acidic Atmosphere)
Deathworlds (-1 to All): Qulach's Forge - Qulach's Forge (Fallout, Glass, Industrial Ruins, and Chemicals))
-[] Poke The Weird Ship
(Gain: Information?) -[] Burner Seeker Mines
(Gain: An upgrade to your Mines. These weapons automatically seek out non-friendly ships within a medium radius around themselves.) -[] Unstable Ore Deposits Exploitation, Chemical After-Burner Bottling, and Ancient Imperial Missile Studies
(Gain: Two Missile Upgrade Equipments and Hangar Upgrades.) -[] Snapshot Cogitation Improvements
(Gain: Missiles have increased Breakthrough against Hostile AM-Systems) -[] Tetratek ARc Cannonade
(Gain: Tetratek Advanced-Reach (Grade c) Cannonade Ship Weapon (4 Dp).) -[] Servitor Cognition Auxiliary Enhancement Procedures
(Gain: Improved Servitors.) -[] Novel Infantry-Grade Weapons and Armor Development
(Gain: Infantry Weapons and Armor Upgrades.) -[] Experimental Infantry-Grade Weapons and Armor Development
(Gain: New Infantry Weapons and Armors.) -[] Logistical Infantry-Grade Weapons Development (0/3)
(Gain: Cheaper Infantry Weapons.) -[] Logicstical Infantry-Grade Armor Development (0/3)
(Gain: Cheaper Infantry Armor.) -[] New Boarders for a New Age
(Gain: New Boarding Craft.) -[] Ship Equipment Standardization - [1 DP Equipment] (0/2)
(Gain: Standardize 1 [One] 1 DP Ship Equipment across all new Designs.) -[] Shipyard Automatization
(Gain: 1 Destroyer every Turn.) -[] Psytech Foundings (2/4)
(Gain: Rudimentary Understanding of Psytech. Not the ability to create it.) -[] Reconstruct The Shattered STC-Fragment (0/12)
(Gain: An STC Fragment.)
Hereteks Refuge - Reduce Research Cost by 20%, Rounded Up. +0.2 Research per Action Spent. Academic Initiatives - +0.1 Research per Action Spent.
(0.4 Research Banked)
[] [General] Propaganda For The Foreign Masses - [0/4]
With the Glimmering Federation struggling to digest its recent mass acquisition of systems and populations, some have raised the possibility of using the Federation's more diplomatic abilities and capabilities to subvert, convert, and then integrate new systems without causing mass casualties or widespread destruction. A Propaganda office outfitted with ships, Choirs, materials, factories, and a mandate to do just that should bring foreign systems into our sphere of influence and then the Federation as a whole. It will be pricy, though.
(Gain: Allows you to slowly convert one [1] random system at a time to the Glimmering Federation without Action cost.)
[] [General] Jolly Economic Co-Operation - [1 Remaining]
Despite what people may think, selling a shit-load of materials at discount prices will make you more money than trying to sell them at the standard markup. However, there are only so many materials to sell until the industries are behind and need to restock and be able to supply the same once again.
(Gain: 50% Discount on your [Develop] Actions taken in the same Turn (1 Dev into 2, 2 into 4). Ashan Families like you more.)
[] [Military] Create A [Blazing Sun - 4x War-Packs] or 3x SAGs - [System/s] - [Weight: Light/Medium/Heavy] - [Type: Infantry/Mechanized/Tanks/Augmetic Legion] - [Classification: Sabotage/Assault/Engineering/Demolition/Ogryn/Kil'drabi]
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 soldiers with spiffy hats that will not be disobeyed. Kil'drabi Units can go into temperature enviroments Humans would require special equipment with ease. 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, with Tanks allowing a myriad of armored spearheads or operations to proceed, and an Augmetic Legion consists of cybernetically enhanced humans, equipped with high-end implants and prosthetics that set them far above the human baseline, allowing for far more dangerous deployments. Light Units are better for low-logistic scenarios, while Medium Units rely more on regular shipments and strike a good balance between supply consumption and effectiveness. Heavy Units rely on solid logistics to continue working while offering an equal force concentration in return. A War-Pack comprises 15 Karnivores grouped in Packs of 3 Knights each, alongside the infrastructure/logistics to support and rebuild their Knights.
(Gain: Three SAGs. These contain [Four Units] chosen from the above choices. Tanks require no Classification.)
[] [Military] [Construct/Refit] A Fleet - [36 Fleet Points]
Ships are produced at these rates: Scouts at 1 FP, Destroyers at 2 FP, Frigates at 4 FP, Light Cruisers at 8 FP, and Heavy Cruisers at 18 FP.
You can refit for 10 FP: Two Libra-S to Two Libra-T, Three Crux to Three Crux-S, and Four Taurus into Four Taurus-S in one Turn.
(Gain: Chosen Fleet.)
[] [Military] Militarize The Schools Of Paladins
Though the schools created to equip and train our missionaries for all possible environments and situations have quickly grown to smooth out all failures and bumps in their curriculum, some military think tanks have poked at the possibility of creating a home-grown version of the Imperial Sisters of Battle mentioned in both records and the descendants of a squad on Saget VII. This would include streamlining the usage of the Militaristic Faith Orders to use them in battles on the front line and training those dedicated to spreading and defending the Faith of the Star Child as parts of the military directly in the use of bullet and sword in heavy power armor.
(Gain: Unlock Templars, boosting your military.)
[] [Military] Re-Organize The Task Fleet System
Though it has served us well, as the Glimmering Federation grows, so too does the need of the Navy for a new re-organization of the Task Fleets. Though this time more of a logistical challenge rather than a doctrinal one, doing so will enable the military planners to better plan for and against foreign, and especially hostile, fleets with far more accurate data on their strengths compared to ours.
(Gain: Standard Templates for your Task Fleets, more accurate Military Data on the Maps.)
[ ] [Military] Design New Voidship Classes - [Available: Destroyer (1 FP), Frigate (2 FP), Light Cruiser (4 FP), Heavy Cruiser (8 FP)] - [8 FP]
From what we can tell, thanks to our history, what information we, the Kil'drabi, Yeeni, and the archives of our planets 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 proud 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.
(Information: Ship Classes requiring more FP than you possess take more than one Action to produce.
Gain: Newly designed and built Ship Classes.)
[] [Military] Begin Military Operations (Assign SAG/s) (Choose Location/s) (Designate Objective/s) -[] 28x Free Celestial Choirs
-[] Task Fleet Alpha (20/30 Ship Capacity)
(3x Andromeda-Class Command Ship, 3x Proof of Our New Path Battlecolony, 1x Libra-Tertium Light Carrier, 2x Libra-Secundus Light Carrier, 5x Crux-Class Missile Frigates, 2x Aries-Secundus Class Corvette, 5x Words of the Writ-Class Frigate, 2x Scorpio-Class Light Cruiser, 2x Taurus-S Troopship (0/10 SAG Capacity))
-[] Task Fleet Beta (20/20)
(2x Andromeda-Class Command Ship, 1x Libra-Tertium Light Carrier, 7x Scorpio-Class Light Cruiser, 2x Words of the Writ-Class Frigate, 4x Aries-Secundus Class Corvette, 3x Crux-Secundus Class Heavy Frigate, 3x Taurus-S Troopship (0/15 SAG Capacity))
-[] Task Fleet Gamma (20/20)
(2x Andromeda, 1x Proof of Our New Path Battlecolony, 1x Leo-Primus Heavy Cruiser, 2x Endeavour Light Cruiser, 2x Viper-Class Missile Destroyer, 2x Cobra Destroyers, 2x Falchion-class Frigate, 2x Words of the Writ-Class Frigate, 4x Aries-Secundus Class Corvette, 4x Taurus-Class Troopship (0/2 SAG Capacity))
-[] Independent Operations Task Force
(5x Chamleon-Class Infiltration Carrier)
-[] Lamenters Chapter Fleet (7/10)
(1x Andromeda-Class Command Ship, 2x Risen Dirge-Class Boarding Ship (0/2 Companies), 3x Lantern Bearer-Class Commandeering Ship (0/3 Companies), 1x Resurgence-Class Torpedo Hunter, and 1x Bloody Dawn-Class Light Cruiser (0/2 Companies))
-[] Scout Fleet Alpha
(4x Circinus-Class Scout Sloop, 1x Spirit of Discovery Scout-Class Light Cruiser)
There is war to be had and battle to be made. Send troops to resolve issues, squash opposition to the Star Child and Humanity and all Their Protectorates, and send ships to scout neighboring systems to understand what is happening there.
(Gain: Military dispatched to put down opposition violently. Scouts are sent to look at other systems.
Scouting Range: ~10 Systems from Claimed Systems. Scouting Efficiency: 75% Adjacent Systems, 40% Three+ Systems, 10% Five+ Systems.
Note: For use outside your territory or in support of forces specified within another Action.)
[] [Psykana] Conduct Two Melodies (Choose two below.) (0.8/1 - Auto Complete) - [Choose Melody]
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. As there are 10 Celestial Choirs free to pursue research, the High Council can ask them to pursue a target instead of what comes close. This will, naturally, be lost once they dip below 10 Choirs.
(Total: 30
Uncovered: Technology.
Secret: Slumber, Silence, Perception, and Grounding.
Star Child: Hope II, Compassion II, Humanity II, Mercy, Creativity III, Health II, Unity II, Innovation, Machinery, Logic II, Progress II, Protection II, Justice, Wisdom, The Sun II, The Home II, Death, Ruthlessness, Brutality, and Fire II.
Kil'drabi: Paths, The Void II, Struggle, Community, and Family.
Gain: Two Melodies 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.
(Star Child: Protection I, Fire I, The Sun I, Humanity I, Creativity II, Song III, The Home I, Logic I, Unity I, Progress I, Compassion I, Hope I, Health I, and Void I.
Gain: A Song.
Sung: Dirge for the Innocent, Bound To The Stars, A Web Of Song.)
[] [Faith] Sermons To The Families
Though the Ashan Families are not fans of strangers walking into their homes and preaching about strange deities, they are fans of allowing honored guests to preach an interpretation of a sanctioned faith (even if it is a weird interpretation) in exchange for money. However, they will still check if said guests are preaching Chaos, just to be sure.
(Gain: The Ashan Families allow your priests to preach in their territories.)
[] [Faith] The Great Heresies
Though it is infuriating to many that splits and cracks have already started to appear within the structure of our faith, especially when the Prophet hasn't even been laid to rest in his last resting place, these splits were inevitable. There was no way to prevent those who strayed from established Doctrine, so we must expend effort to bring them back into the fold, even if some start to whisper about altering Doctrine itself to incorporate some parts of their beliefs into ours.
(Gain: Reconcile, Syncretise, Legalise, or Crack Down on a Heresy.) -[] The Particularists
The Droman Creed emphasizes the different qualities and roles of each of the Five, encapsulating the Co-equal Oneness of the Five-One, One-Five, yet some believe this to be a Pantheon. For the Particularists, this is the furthest from the truth, as they believe the Five-One to not be co-equal within their shared Divinity, but One-As-Five, mixing everything into one being by denying the uniqueness of each Five to not deny the Oneness of them all. -[] The Anti-Particularists
The opposite to the Particularists, they have twisted this section of the Creed to its utter limit: I believe that these Five, Omnissiah, Emepror, Motive Force, Body of the Faith, and Star Child, are Indivisible and One, and Two, And Three, Four, and Five. They believe one can pair the Five-One according to their "Co-Equal Hierarchy," represented by a square with four edges and the Star Child in the middle. In this, they claim that the Emperor and Omnissiah are on the Left and Right of the square, with the Community of Faith and Motive Force in the lower left and right, relating to each other in their respective roles and relations as they come together to create the Star Child. -[] The Adherents of the Divine Lines
Those who call themselves the Adherents of the Divine Lines hold to the idea that a Divine Lineage exists at all, claiming that, as the Space Marines and Primarchs are the children of the Emperor-and-Omnissiah as well as the Star Child, a clear line of Divine Heritage exists that allows those who partake in its shared blood to better understand and enact the will of the Five-One unto the face of the galaxy, and that the Glimmering Federation need only right what has so long been silenced. -[] The Order of the Nurenor Roses
The Order of the Nurenor Roses is the epitome of those Cerberus hunts, for they are a Heretical Sect most foul. They believe the Star Child to be a woman instead of genderless. They seek a society split by task and by gender, with women as the spiritual rulers and men as the material leaders, the place of one designated by birth and skill, using the Thules as evidence for the success of such a practice despite all the evidence to the contrary, and more. -[] The Supplicants of the Aetherical Cog
This outgrowth of the Star-Mechanicum was recently discovered and has, as far as Cerberus knows, been founded by an unknown Magos after the Nuking of the Forge, when they found an artifact of unspecified power and nature. However, interrogations have since revealed that this artifact was a receptible of data and contained several teachings within its form that range, by their descriptions, from "perfectly acceptable" to "utterly heretically." The various sects of the Aetherical Cog are cellular by nature and differ in several ways, even amongst themselves, but all hold to the central belief that a Divided Consciousness is no longer tolerable. Instead, they seek the Convergence, the day when all minds are joined as one under the guidance of the Star Child to be but a cog for their designs of peaceful unity.
[] [Chapter] A Ship Worthy Of The Chapter (0/4)
Though bound by oaths and ties of blood and industry, the Lamenters were, have, and will never be a Chapter bound by terrestial chains; their fate to sail the endless void in pursuit of the enemy, the wicked, and the daemonic. But to proudly fly once again in full strength, a ship worhty of the Chapter must be built.
(Gain: The Lamenters gain a Grand Cruiser as a Flagship.)
[] [Other] Take Care Of [Future Or Current Problems]
(Write-In the problem being addressed.)
A sect and a cult of the Star-Mechanicum that desires to shed the fallibility of the self and replace it with the infallibility of the many. No longer shall one need to suffer the many if they can enjoy the one. No more doubts, no more fear, no more dissonance. Only the hard certainty that no matter who you are, you have a place, a purpose, and a duty that will be fulfilled and enrich all beings everywhere.
There will be no strife when all are one under the Star Child.
There will be no hunger when all are one under the Star Child.
There will be no suffering when all are one under the Star Child.
For when all are one under the Star Child, the Star Child will be them, and they the Star Child.
Those are the words of the Supplicants, and they are intoxicating indeed. The idea that one can simply...let go of all their fears, of all their despair and misery, let go of pain and uncertainty, and be always comforted in the knowledge that, yes, they have a purpose, they are worth and worthy of the Divine Grace that the Star Child has given us to usher in its Age...
They will always have recruits. No matter how many cells are struck, how many of their plans to advance the eradication of the self are discovered and destroyed, their experiments saved, and their raids on research institutions foiled...human nature itself is their ally.
Humanity craves purpose. It is what makes us...us. It made us go into the stars, what enabled us to reach the heights we now once again aspire to achieve, and the doom that falls when that search for purpose is twisted and turned into horrors beyond human comprehension.
There is a saying: "What reason has a wretch dwelling in hell to refuse the Daemons offer?"
There is a truth: "What reason do those who see no worth in themselves have to refuse an offer to make them worthy?"
Unlike the Syncretists, the Supplicants cannot be fought with propaganda and wary eyes, not with hands and fists, nor ease and reach.
They are a cancer upon the minds of 87% of our people, for they prey upon the needs of Humanity itself to feed themselves.
How Shall We Deal With Them? (6-Hour Moratorium) [] (Write-In)
