[X] He proposes to Jenivere Lynn and marries her.
"So," you say as you meet Jen in her home, having moved out from her parents and into a small mansion when she got too fed up with the rest of her family treading on eggshells around her.
"So?" she asks inquiringly, attempting to probe your thoughts only to run into some uncharacteristic, "Okay, I see that this is important."
"It is," you confirm, unsure of how to approach this important moment.
"One of the Four is acting up again?" guesses Jen, "Or did we finally find Mugshredda, wherever the pissant of a greenskin was holed up?"
"No and no," you answer before taking a deep breath, "Jen, will you marry me?"
"Yes!" exclaims your girlfriend as she leaps forward and throws her arms around you, "Of course, I will!"
It's a nice feeling, one you feel proud of, to know that your relationship is progressing to the next stage. You've been dating for about two decades now and while that isn't too long when the average lifespan in the centuries, life can take sudden and unexpected turns. You remember how you lost Mum and the majority of the Federal Navy in one terrible moment.
With Jen also serving in the military even if it is the Federal Marines rather than the Federal Navy, you risk losing her just like you lost Mum. You doubt that getting married will change much about your relationship with Jen, but part of you would rather lose your wife than your girlfriend.
***
The wedding is a quiet and personal affair with only friends and family attending. Your respective statuses could have made it bigger and more public, but you used your clout and charm to shut any talk of that down. Which revealed the unsettling fact that the Federal Navy was more loyal to you than the government, but you aren't sure what you can do about that. It also that some of the vat-born were revering you in some sort of spiritual ancestor worship, but whatever. It is harmless and the Federation of Bladus does allow for freedom of religion so long as your beliefs and practices don't cross any lines, lines primarily relating to the Four and their followers.
Thankfully all of that is staying out of the wedding. Just Jen, yourself, your families and some friends with less than thirty people attending. And speaking of your families, you do believe you have spotted Ellen, Jen's older sister and your future sister-in-law.
"Ellen," you call quietly as you walk up to the girl, who looks like a less stunning version of her little sister, "I'm glad to see you attended."
"Of course, I did," replies Ellen, sounding a little indignant, "Despite the rumours, I'm not actually on bad terms with my sister. I am just a little wary of Jen's powers and being on the receiving end of them."
"I know, but I am still glad that you are here," you tell her, "Even if we had no doubts you would show up, it will mean a lot to Jen that you are here."
"Yeah, she was over the moon that I was coming," agrees Ellen, "You aren't planning any psyker stuff for the wedding are you? Jen said you weren't, but…"
"We are not," you reassure her, "We don't want to give any opening to the Four or any other warp entities to ruin things."
"Right, that's a worry," mutters Ellen, "So, will you be moving in with Jen once you're married? I don't remember you having your own place."
"Maybe," you answer with a shrug, "I don't have much need of it. Most of my time is spent aboard the
Merlin and almost all of my time planetside is spent doing stuff. I have my room at my parent's house, but I never really needed a place to stay since I don't sleep much."
"That's right, you're as weird as Jen in your own way," says Ellen before pausing, "Not that I mean that in a bad way, but you're both abnormal. I mean, I'm glad you came into Jen's life. I'm not sure how much of it was us being kids and then growing up, but things got better once you showed up. You have no idea what it is like growing up with a little sister who has the powers of a demigoddess."
"I suppose I don't," you say, deciding to take the compliment for what it is as Ellen and Jen have had their issues in their past, "I hope you enjoy this day as much as Jen and I do. Have you considered settling down with anyone?"
"I haven't found the right person yet," answers Ellen with a sigh, "Nothing has worked out so far and I would ask you or Jen to introduce me to some people, but no offence, I don't want to date someone in the military. Too much risk of losing them or something terrible happening to them. It is bad enough with Jen, but at least I know she is fully capable of taking care of herself. No offence, but a lot of people die in the military."
"None taken," you tell her solemnly, "It is unfortunate truth that the Federation tends to take some heavy losses from time to time."
"Not your fault and we are here for a wedding," says Ellen before she gives you a hug, "I'll be proud and happy to call you brother once today is done."
***
Jen is gorgeous, wearing a traditional rainbow-coloured dress for the wedding. She has also gone for beauty together as while she is still clearly herself, your fiance has clearly used her biomancy to enhance her looks for this special day. You expected that of course because Jen uses biomancy like a normal girl would use makeup.
Her parents are walking her down the aisle like Mother did for you. She beams at you as she approaches you and you grin right back at her, making no attempt to hold back the happiness you feel. As she finally reaches you, you have to resist the urge to bend down and kiss her. Thankfully that part comes soon.
Or at least you thought it would. As you begin to say your vows, there is a commotion with both you and Jen feeling the disturbance in the warp. You both turn to face the commotion and you pray to whatever benevolent deities that it isn't an incursion by one of the Four.
Perhaps your prayers were answered because it wasn't a daemon who walked out of the warp rift. No, it was Mugshredda of all people as the Ork warboss strides out of the warp rift carrying something with him.
"Hey 'umie," calls the Mugshredda as you prepare to fight the greenskin with no armour and weapons, "I heard it iz yer special day so I decided ta br'n ya a gift since we're pals. Gork & Mork told me 'dat dis was 'da right wun."
And with that, he tosses whatever he was carrying, no, whoever he was carrying into the aisle before stepping back into warp rift, laughing. You feel the warp rift closing, but you don't pay attention to the exit of the warboss as you stare at his gift. And what a gift it is as you recognise the unconscious form of Mum.
***
"You've got the same I did," you whisper to Jen, "She isn't corrupted by the Four?"
"I can't sense any corruption," says Jen, "Just regular mutation from excessive exposure to the warp."
"Good," you say with a sigh of relief, hoping that you hadn't overlooked anything out of the sheer hope you would get Mum back, "What mutations did you find?"
"Her blood is now fire, not sure how that works biologically, but it is probably warp nonsense," answers Jen, "She is emitting some kind of sticky sugary substance that seems edible of all things. Ulyssa is also emitting pheromones of some kind, making her really hot. In the sexy sense not the literal sense."
"Ones that only affect women?" you inquire, "I didn't feel any attraction to her, but you and every lady in there was ogling her."
"I believe so though proper checks would need to be run," says Jen before pausing, "You realise that proper checks will need to be run. I know she seems fine to us and you want your mum back, but…"
"I know, it could be a trick by the Four, especially since it was followers of the Plotter who took her from us," you say, "I just…no offence, Jen, but I'll happily take that Ork wrecking our wedding if it means getting Mum back."
"Oh Drake, of course I understand," replies Jen as your fiance gives you a gentle kiss followed by a hug, "We can do our wedding another day, but getting your mum back, I must admit I didn't think we would have any chance of doing that."
"Neither did I," you admit.
***
The wedding takes place another day and Mum is able to remotely watch it even as the government puts her under multiple checks and tests to make sure she isn't corrupted. This one goes off without a hitch and you and Jen are finally husband and wife.
Mum is finally declared free of corruption despite her mutations though she will need to adapt to life with them. Her blood is now hazard and bleeding will set things on fire whilst her new pheromones make her highly attractive to every woman in range, which is thankfully being physically close to her.
The Federal Navy did retire Mum on medical grounds, but even if she hadn't, she would have quit as she privately confided to you and Mother that she had no desire to remain in the military after what happened to her. Fortunately, being a stay at home mum works well with her new condition as you and your brothers are immune while neither Mum or Mother have a problem with the latter being even more attracted to the former. Things do get amusing whenever Jen comes around, but your wife has enough self-restraint to withfrain from making out with your mum.
In the end, your family adjusts to the new normal and things are disrupted when the invasion of Rachi continues on as planned with you and Jen leaving to partake in it.
***
The invasion of Rachi has little work for you in the void as the Orks haven't rebuilt their fleet. Oh, they have orbital defences, but their 'fleet' amounts to half a dozen escorts and a converted asteroid. Not a single kill kroozer or anything worth calling a capital ship. They die quickly and easily as you pop them from afar with nova cannon shots.
Unfortunately, the rest of the invasion doesn't go so smoothly. Mugshredda is leading the defence, but even with what he has done for you, you don't hesitate to carry out your duties. You blast a path through the orbital defences for the transports of the Federal Army whilst you start to send the Federal Marines against the more useful and/or important orbital stations.
Jen ends up leading the charge as the Orks put up a ferocious defence as while their bloodlust might be enough to halt the marines, it isn't enough to stop a Level 12 psyker. Slowly, but surely, the orbital stations worth taking are falling to you and those that are not are being blown apart under the guns of your warships.
Unfortunately, the battle on the ground isn't going as well. While the initial landings were successful, the followup attempt to secure the beachheads was not. The Orks put up a swift and effective counterattack as they pin down and isolate each Federal landing site. Even your attempts to provide orbital firesupport are less than helpful with the Orks getting the bulk of their forces out of the way or the Federal Army is just poor at calling in the targets for your crews.
Yet the Federation of Bladus is not to be denied. Ork resistance runs out of fuel in orbit and it isn't long before the Marines are securing the last of the orbital stations. Meanwhile the Federal Army finally launches a successful breakout from their landing sites, driving back the greenskins and securing some relatively safe bases and resupply points. Unfortunately, your luck with orbital fire support continues to be lacking as your shots fail to do meaningful damage to the defenders.
Nonetheless, the invasion of Rachi has successfully begun and now it is just the long slog to secure the world.
The rest of the first year is a stalemate with neither the Federal invaders or the Ork defenders gaining the upper head. The frontline barely shifts through what few changes are made are in the Federation's favour. You provide what fire support you can to the forces on the ground, but that seems to just be a case of turning defeats into the stalemates that you are seeing.
The second year is better. The first few months see some advances by the Federal Army before going downhill as the advances stall and the stalemate returns for the next few months. Thankfully that stalemate doesn't last long as the Federal Army begins to make some cautious advances with minimal Ork resistance.
Unfortunately the reason for that lack of resistance becomes clear as the second year comes to a close as the Orks launch a massive counter attack in the final months of the year. Led by Mugshredda himself, the greenskins launch a counterattack across the entire frontline and it quickly devolves into brutal fighting with bloody casualties for all. The Federal Army is forced to withdraw under the greentide with the most recent gains being undone.
The next year isn't any better as Mugshredda continues to push against Federal defensive lines as the Federal Army's advance completely stalls. Within a couple of months, the Federal Army is being pushed back to its initial beachhead and you decide to personally take the field against the Ork warboss. Your old nemesis is more than happy to oblige your desire for a fight, but alas things do not go as planned. Your previous victories over the greenskin are not repeated and unlike the first time you personally engaged Mugshredda, you lost. Not only do you lose, but you teleport back to the
Merlin with injuries that see you sent to the infirmary.
The battle on the ground continues to deteriorate as the year goes on with the Federal Army being pushed right back to its landing sites.Thankfully, that is the end of it as you recover from your wounds and once again personally return to the battlefield. Taking Jen with you, you and the Federal Marines act as a wrecking ball against the Ork war machine as you hit priority target after priority target. Ignoring Mugshredda, you focus on shattering Ork defensive positions, smashing apart their largest warbands and disrupting ongoing attacks on Federal lines with your own counterattacks.
It works too as the Federal Army goes from being on the verge of being driven off Rachi to reclaiming their hold beachhead and then some. That pattern holds for the rest of the year as the Federal Army continues to claim victory after victory against the Orks. By the end of the third year, the Federal Army has secured one of Rachi's four continents.
***
No plan voting except for the warship vote.
Which area has Drake been focusing upon improving? (Choose one)
[] Personal Combat.
[] Ground Combat.
[] Biomancy.
[] Telepathy.
[] Divination.
[] Governance.
[] Engineering.
[] Diplomacy.
[] Intrigue.
Choose what warships are built. (15 Points)
[]
Gloriana-class Battleship (15 Points)
[]
Promethean-class Cruiser (3 Points)
[]
Tiamat-class Destroyer (1 Points)
[] System Defence Monitor (1 Points)
What major event does Drake do? (Choose one)
[] He is approached by Eldrad Ulthran.
[] He reaches out to Princes Isenryna and the Exodite World of Eldryanoc.
[] He reaches out to the Galarien Coalition.
[] He attempts to deal with his mum's mutations.
***
Things are going wellish. The invasion of Rachi is taking a long time, as Drake predicted but the Ork threat has been neutralised for now and you just need to worry about the Dominion and Chaos. I've also changed the warship construction from being a set of fixed combinations to choose from to you getting to pick which set of warships to build.
For Mugshredda at the wedding, it basically went like this: Basically Mugshredda heard Drake was getting married and that's important for him right? Since they're pals, he decided to get him a gift because that's what pals do on humie weddings right? And humies care about those mum things right? So what better gift for Drake than his mum? Which led to Mugshredda leaving his personal guard into the warp, fighting his way into Tzeentch's part of it, found Drake's mum, successfully rescued her from birdbrain and then popped up at the wedding to drop her off for Drake.
By the way, Drake's mum's chaos mutations were rolled on Discord using this table that I found on the internet:
Rogue Trader Random Tables by Phoog
Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.
