[X] Strike Teams. Bel and Yas both wish to send strike teams to the ritual locations to eliminate it at the source and deal with the ritual without extreme loss of innocent life. However, doing so is riskier and potentially more dangerous than a quick end to the ritual.
Autarch Oraranel has a point about the orbital bombardment being the quickest and swiftest way to deal with the threat. But it is not the Federation's way. The Eldar simply doesn't care about the casualties as to Autarch Oraranel, any human deaths in the pursuit of stopping the Tempter are simply acceptable casualties.
Not to mention that not even you can just get away with ordering a massacre of this magnitude. At the minimum, you'll be facing a court martial for simply killing so many innocents without attempting less drastic measures first. Not to mention you can't guarantee such orders would be followed in the first place if you gave them. You know that your wives wouldn't go along with it and you certainly hope that plenty of others in the Federal Navy will be the same way.
"It is not the way of the Federation to kill so many innocents as a first resort," you tell Autarch Oraranel and the alien stiffens as he bites his instinctive retort back, "I will however station my warships in a position to carry out the bombardments should the strike team fail."
"Strike team," repeats Autarch Oraranel, the singular rather than a plural quite clear.
"My presence will provide limited passive protection for all those with me," you explain, "A single strike team built around myself hitting each location in rapid succession will be more effective than multiple strike teams that lack such protections."
"I shall trust your judgement, mon-keigh," sneers Autarch Oraranel, "If only because you give me no other choice, but to do so."
"I shall accept your judgement," you reply neutrally while both of your wives glower at the man.
"Just see that your mon-keigh foolishness doesn't allow for She Who Thirsts to establish a foothold in the Materium," retorts the Eldar.
You don't bother replying to Autarch Oraranel as you cut the call and get to work throwing your strike together.
***
With both Bel and Yas at your back along with a company of your most veteran Federal Marines, you teleport into the first location. The trip is more disconcerting than endangering as you face no resistance. Every adult you come across is making out to some degree until they come into your presence. Only then does the lust from the pink mist relent and they are released from their unnatural passions. Only temporarily as the pink mist resumes its effect on their bodies as soon as you leave, but you cannot stop to help each individual. You can save everyone by putting a halt to this ritual in its entirety.
It takes you a while to find the ritual room, but when you do, you face no meaningful opposition from the cultists. The guards are outside of the safe zone and afflicted by the pink haze so the only resistance that your strike team faces is untrained and poorly armed nobles and their servants. Every last one of them dies at the hands of your strike team, as befitting the fate of Chaos cultists.
After that, it is a swift return to the
Merlin followed by an equally swift redeployment to the second site as the ritual is still ongoing. In the second city, the nobles are much more prepared as they made sure to have loyal soldiers instead of the ritual safe zone. Even worse, the soldiers are all highly trained personal retainers with the best equipment that the Dominion has to offer.
You find yourself facing off against experienced foes who are wearing power armour and wielding plasma guns behind fortified positions. It isn't nearly enough with you and your wives leading the charge, but you take casualties and even a few fatalities as plasma burns both through the power armour of your marines and into the men and women within. Nevertheless, the second site is dealt with and you withdraw back to the
Merlin once more to regroup and replace your losses.
The third location puts up more resistance than the first, but it isn't nearly as hard to take as the second. The defenders aren't as numerous nor are their fortifications as strong. You carve a path through the guardsmen then the servants than the nobles themselves, leaving no potential survivor cultists in your wake.
And then with the loss of the third site and a full half of the total ritual site, the ritual collapses with the pink haze engulfing the planet being to dissipate. Something you only find out as your strike team returns to the
Merlin in preparation to hit the fourth site.
Alas, that is not the end of affairs as with the ritual dealt with, you now need to actually conquer the planet and finish off the Chronus Dominion. As the Federal Army lands, the defenders are still scrambling to reach their positions, disoriented and dazed thanks to the actions of their own superiors.
Even without your aid, the combined forces of the Federal Army, the Federal Marines and the Eldar Aspect Warriors are able storm every major location on the planet in the span of a day. There are a handful of holdouts remaining, but they are minor in both strength and number. A problem to be dealt with in the future once your grip on Chronus is secured and forces can be spared for cleanup.
As for you, you and your wives are dealing with the leftovers of the Chaos ritual. While it should fade with time without a source of power to sustain it, you don't know what effects the dispersing pink haze will have in the meantime. Not to mention that some aspiring Chaos cultist might attempt to take advantage of it between now and it disappearing on its own. You do not need to deal with a daemonic incursion on top of everything else.
"Are you sure you don't want my help?" you inquire as both Bel and Yas get to work banishing the lingering pink haze.
"Just say close by so that fancy essence of yours does its job," replies Belinda.
"Perhaps if you have studied more spiritual matters than material ones, you would be able to help, but as it is, you lack the knowledge and expertise to assist," says Yasmin, but she softens her factual words with a smile at you.
And so you stand by and watch, unable to help except by passively providing your unique warp energies as a protection. With your warp senses, you feel Bel and Yas slowly, but surely vanquish the lingering energies of the failed Chaos ritual into the Immaterium. The good start continues to go well and you switch your attention to helping coordinate the assault. Your help isn't needed there anymore than it is here, but you can make some difference and actively doing something useful makes you feel better.
Then it goes wrong in a single instant. One moment, the warp is as quiet as you can get under the circumstances, the next the Excessive themselves is bearing down on you. No, on your wives. Despite the overwhelming and all encompassing presence of the Chaos God, you refuse to yield and you stand firm with your immaterial presence. The Tempter has no openings to exploit to gain a physical foothold in realspace other than your wives and you will deny him even that.
You are, but a man against a god, but you have two things in your favour as your golden light is an unbowed beacon in the darkness of the warp. The first is that you are no ordinary man and while you have yet to get your origins out of Eldrad, you are such that even one of the Four cannot just make you bend or break. The second is that you are in the Materium while the Excessive is still trapped in the Immaterium and so even with the raw power disparity between the two of you, you have something of an advantage despite everything.
In the end, it relents and you are forced to deal with the aftermath of Tempter's actions. You are fine if weary and the leftovers of the ritual are no more. Unfortunately, a quick check of your wives reveals that they have not escaped unscathed from the Excessive's unwanted intervention.
Belinda is still mostly normal. There is only something off about her as she looks more polished and prettier than normal in a way that you can't quite pin down at the moment. Yasmin, on the other hand, looks like a daemon prince and you instantly go for your weapons just in case.
You reach out with your warp senses and you hesitate as both still feel human even if Yas doesn't look like it. Your wife now stands almost as tall as you with magenta coloured skin with a darker shade of hair while a pair of curling horns are sprouting from her head. Two feathery wings are sticking out of her back whilst there is a flicking tail sticking out of her butt.
"Yas, Bel," you say gently as the marines with you take careful aim at your wives with more guns being focused on Yas than Bel.
"I'm fairly certain that I am still human," replies Yas as she inspects herself, "I don't look it, but I feel it."
"I'm still human and do look it, but I feel off," adds Bel, "Not a bad sort of off, just different."
"I'm not sensing any Chaos taint," you admit cautiously.
"Looks like your fancy aura worked then even if it didn't stop the Tempter entirely," says Yas as she flexes her new wings, "Honestly, I'm really glad that you are here given this is how I ended up despite that. I dread to think how things would have turned out if you weren't."
"Me too," you agree, feeling hopeful even if you keep your weapons trained on them.
***
In the end, it turns out that the Tempter was merely able to mutate your wives rather than corrupt or taint them. It took a while to convince your Eldar allies of that, but while Autarch Oraranel was an arse like usual, the Eldar psykers were more than capable of discerning that their hated enemy hadn't corrupted Bel or Yas despite appearances. After all, the taint of the Warp is a different thing to the taint of Chaos and the Eldar have the wisdom and knowledge to know that
Belinda had minimal mutations that are borderline beneficial in nature as she gained a new ability and a new aspect of herself. The former is the ability to see through disguises, illusions and shapeshifting as an innate ability while the latter is permanently clean and healthy skin, permanently clean and combed hair along with permanently clean and healthy teeth.
Yasmin was more dramatically changed by the Excessive even beyond what can be directly seen. Her wings are quite functional and all of her abilities have improved quite drastically. From physical strength and toughness to mental quickness and willpower, Yasmin has firmly gone into the realm of superhuman. She isn't quite on your level yet, but she is closer to it than to how she was before. Not to mention that whatever the Tempter seems to have remove most of Yas' few pysker limitations, firmly pushing her from being a Level 11 psyker into the realm of Level 12, where her power is simply too much for the Federation to track anymore.
Oh, and Yas will sometimes randomly pop several seconds into the future when stressed. You aren't sure what is up with that, but it is a thing now.
But unwanted mutations aside, things are looking up for the Federation. The sub-sector has been cleared of Orks, the Chronus Dominion is no more, the Federal Navy has never been stronger and the Federation of Bladus is expanding into the rest of the sector. And while you don't know what lies beyond the sector, you feel confident meeting whatever challenges await. Farseer Ulthran might warn you of doom that not even you can best on your own, you fancy your chances.
After all, you are Drake Artorius, Fleet Admiral of the Federal Navy and protector of the Federation of Bladus.
No plan voting except for the warship vote.
***
Which area has Drake been focusing upon improving? (Choose three)
[] Personal Combat. (DC70)
[] Ground Combat. (DC50)
[] Biomancy. (DC45)
[] Telepathy. (DC45)
[] Divination. (DC45)
[] Pyromancy. (DC30)
[] Telekinesis. (DC30)
[] Governance. (DC55)
[] Engineering. (DC35)
[] Diplomacy. (DC95)
[] Intrigue. (DC45)
[] Anathematic. (DC40)
[] Studying the Necrons. (DC20)
[] Studying the Orks. (DC20)
[] Studying the Craftworld Eldar. (DC20)
[] Studying the Dark Eldar. (DC20)
[] Studying other Eldar. (DC20)
What major event does Drake do beyond partaking in the invasion of the Chronus Dominion? (Choose one)
[] He is approached by Eldrad Ulthran. (Eldrad Mystery Box)
[] He engages in additional exploration. (Extra Exploration Roll)
[] He makes another go at dealing with his mum's mutations with his abilities. (Extra Anathematic Roll)
[] He spends time with some of his family. (Family Social Time)
Choose what warships are built. (75 Points)
[]
Gloriana-class Battleship (15 Points)
[]
Promethean-class Cruiser (3 Points)
[]
Tiamat-class Destroyer (1 Points)
***
Sorry about how long this update took and its quality. I kept trying to get it right, but things just aren't working out so I decided to just get it over and done since it has been almost a week since I closed the vote. Anyway, the Chronus Dominion is gone and I'll re-vamping things a bit as Drake will no longer just be operating in his starting sub-sector.
Turns will be ten years now not five so you will be found by the Emperor and the Great Crusade in a total of twelve turns from now. Because of this, I am giving you more options for training each turn, but at the same time, I am making it DC-based so you can't just become a super-Primarch.
Also for the mutations, blame
@BOTcommander as they wanted to do a roll to see if anything bad happened and then got Slaanesh's sacred number on a d100.
