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The Long Night Part Three: Bonfire at Dawn (45k)

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Scheduled vote count started by Durin on Feb 25, 2025 at 7:19 AM, finished with 71 posts and 7 votes.
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The Hundredth and Thirteenth Meeting of the High Council Part Two: Resolutions New
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    • The Hundredth and Thirteenth Meeting of the High Council Part Two: Resolutions

    Personal Relationship
    d100=11+23(stats)+5(connections)+5(Avernite)=44: Don't get on well
    Professional Relationship
    d100=82+23(stats)+5(connections)+5(Avernite)=115: Work together well
    Before the High Council Meeting began, you sought out Lord Commander Athenos of the Imperial Trust Guard, the Imperial Trust's highest ranked solider and someone who, like you, is looking to step into a role recently held by Rotbart the Great.
    You find Lord Commander Athenos to be a rather detestable man who lacks base empathy and views everyone as mere numbers on a spreadsheet. While he is worse than Frederick was, your experience with your predecessor gives you an understanding of how to work with people like that and the meeting goes relatively well.

    --[X] Vote for Ambassador to the Empire of Ashes Asger
    ---[X] Galactic events mean that power projection of the Trust in other areas of the galaxy is necessary. The Empire of Ashes is the primary power through which the Trust has done this historically.
    DC 70/90/110/130
    d100=97+23(stats)-20(standing)-10(prestige)=90: Success, 1 additional vote

    -[X] Minister of Finance
    --[X] Vote for Eldar Gloin of the Mining Guild
    ---[X] With a dual shortage of metal and AM, it's important to ensure the economic base is secure.
    DC 65/85/105/125
    d100=65+23(stats)-20(standing)-10(prestige)=58: Fail

    -[X] Minister of Intelligence
    --[X] Vote for Minister of Intelligence Suraj Sharman
    ---[X] The accelerated pace of military operations mean that more aggressive, external intelligence operations are needed.
    DC 70/90/110/130
    d100=48+23(stats)-20(standing)-10(prestige)=47: Fail

    -[X] Minister of Science and Technology
    --[X] Vote for Master of the Forge Raziel Veles of the Blood Dragons
    ---[X] Now more than ever, new weapons of war are critically needed.
    DC 65/85/105/125
    d100=46+23(stats)-20(standing)-10(prestige)=39: Fail

    -[X] Minister of War
    --[X] Vote for Lord Commander Athenos of the Imperial Trust Guard
    ---[X] With the focus on external operations in the galaxy, the Trust's logistics will undoubtedly be put to the test. Best to have an expert in the field in position to help manage it.
    DC 65/85/105/125
    d100=73+23(stats)-20(standing)-10(prestige)=66: Success, 1 additional vote

    -[X] Ministers without Portfolio
    --[X] Vote for Chapter Master Halaliel Uther "The Steadfast of the Blood Dragons
    --[X] Vote for Eldar Snora of the Vestri League


    The position of Minister of State is transferred to Ambassador Asger in a landslide victory, with only half a dozen votes going to Kent Cline. Now that the Trust is more active on the galactic scale, your diplomatic focus must be shifted.
    Thanks to your vote for Eldar Gloin of the Mining Guild, the initial vote for the Minister of Finance is tied between him and Prefectus Grimson of the Adminstartum. The second round of voting, with only the two leading candidates, results in Prefectus Grimson winning by two votes.
    Minister of Intelligence Suraj Sharman kept his position for another fifty years, time in which he is expected to increase the Imperial Trust's external intelligence apparatus significantly.
    The hold of the Adeptus Mechanicus on the Imperial Trust once more displayed its strength as Archmagos Plutonos Arx was appointed Minister of Science and Technology. There will be a significant push to awaken machine spirits and make more use of them in the coming decades.
    The vote for Minister of War ended up being held three times, due to first a three-way tie between Chapter Master Julius, Lord Commander Athenos, and Lord Admiral Militant Assur, then a two-way tie between Chapter Master Julius and Lord Commander Athenos, which Lord Commander Athenos finally won. Looks like Frederick's focus on logistics will continue for another half-century.
    Constanzo Nezi of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica and Tokugawa Yoshimune of Giappone were selected as the Ministers without Portfolio of the Seventh Executive Council of the Imperial Trust. Constanzo Nezi is a milestone appointment, being the first psyker to be a member of the Executive Council.

    -[X] MIlitary Support Target
    --[X] Military Support Target: Realm of Death
    ---[X] While the Trust's performance against the Realm of Death or on the Unchained Front would be equivalent, Quartus' would not. Best to ensure our allies are sent where they are best suited.
    DC 65/85/105/125
    d100=83+23(stats)-20(standing)-10(prestige)=76: Success, 1 additional vote

    -[X] Finishing Them Off
    --[X] Finishing Them Off: Wipe out the Local Chaos Polities + Conquer one daemonworld
    ---[X] Both polities will be the weakest they ever will be in the near future. Taking advantage of it to crush them is only prudent.
    ---[X] It would also be good to expand trade with the rest of the galaxy. While it would be ideal to conquer more than one, the naval shipping requirements would be hard to meet.
    DC 65/85/105/125
    d100=76+23(stats)-20(standing)-10(prestige)=69: Success, 1 additional vote

    -[X] A Traditional Gift
    --[X] A Traditional Gift: Dark Age Designs + Portions of New Model Navy (Scorch, Blaze, Earthquake + Hail, Gjallahorn)
    ---[X] From the extensive analysis of the ship designers, the benefits from naval runes and technological advancement accrued unevenly across the New Model Navy ship refits. In specific, the Scorch, Blaze and Earthquake classes from the NMN were evaluated to be less than half as capable compared to an equivalent ship from the Runic fleet, so donating them to free up shipyard time is much more viable than other NMN ships.
    ----[X] The Earthquake in specific also happens to elegantly slot into the Ophelian situation where countermeasures to Void Kraken deployments have forced a concentration of Ophelian naval assets/shipyards/defences.
    ----[X] In regards to the Hail and Gjallahorn classes, although quite capable ships, they don't fit the current doctrine of the Trust Fleet. However, their armament loadout and design fits the present conflict in the Unchained very neatly, and would therefore have an outsize value in the Ophelian War compared to being in the Trust Navy.
    DC 60/75/90/105
    d100=86+23(stats)-20(standing)-10(prestige)=79: Success, 2 additional votes

    It is agreed that the Imeprial Trust will shift its military focus to the Realm of Death, where your forces can have a comparatively larger impact.
    The debate on whether to take out the local Chaos polities before focusing on galactic affairs is far closer, but you eventually managed to convince Sub-Sector Representative Alex of the Dragonfly Rising Sub-Sector that local threats should be dealt with first.
    While you argued for only a portion of the New Model Navy to be gifted to the Unchained, the High Council as a whole was far ore generous and voted to gift the entire New Model Navy to the Unchained over the course of the next twenty-five years.
    The vote to halt further expansions was agreed upon with only a pair of dissenting votes.
     
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    • Durin said:
    While you argued for only a portion of the New Model Navy to be gifted to the Unchained, the High Council as a whole was far ore generous and voted to gift the entire New Model Navy to the Unchained over the course of the next twenty-five years.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    This is going to leave our navy seriously lacking projection power for quite a while. Hopefully we can knock out the local threats before this reduces our naval strength too much. Though it does mean we don't need to worry about service extension refit designs for any of them.
     
    New questions and answers.
    1) How did the High Council interpret Rotbart arguing for the Trust hitting the Sslyth and then also executing a plan to have KOBAS hit the Kingdom of Confusion?
    1) a multi pronged plan of attack

    2) How emotionally stable is Perturabo compared to his Great Crusade self right now?
    2) on par if not worse

    3) Approximately what skill level does the Geneforge that makes Shaped Ones raise its subjects to?
    3) skilled

    1) Wait, only skilled? I thought it would be higher, what with the Shaped Ones being a minor apocalypse despite the Geneforge only doing one person per decade and them being described as insane demigods
    1) oh got them mixed u[
    those are exemplars

    4) What constitutes a phoenix in terms of Asuryan's copyright? Does it need to be a bird, fiery, and self-resurrecting, or is only two of those three sufficient?
    4) all 3

    5) Have you simulated the possibilities of Janes among Chaos, Eldar or Krork where weird outliers keep rolling Nat 100 vs Nat1s?
    5) yes

    6) Is universal standard physics (outside this trashfire galaxy) the same as IRL physics?
    6) mostly

    7) Can the length and shape of Unbending Wall be adjusted as needed to fit the situation?
    7) no

    8) Does Unbending Wall prohibit flight over it?
    8) no

    9) Do you roll each turn for if any of Nurma's friends want a favor?
    9) yes

    10) How does Nurma request a favor from a friend? Personal action? Diplo action?
    10) personal action will be added

    1) Will this be done at the same 2.5 exchange rate as diplo actions, or is it one personal action per favor request?
    1) wait and see

    11) Is Cegorach the god of imagination?
    11) no

    12) Have any Euryales taken up roles as Rogue Traders?
    12) yes

    13) Is Mikkaelson still alive? If so, how are his views these days?
    13) he is and is enjoying his retirment

    14) was celestine a phoenix (bird wings+fire+coming back to live)
    14) yes

    15) What about Rotbart in particular would make him bad at being a deity?
    15) his focus on numbers and logic
    bad imagination and narrative sense
    habit of disregarding emotion
    habit of ignoring mental and emotional damage

    1) Is Rotbart kind of a mortal Perturabo in this sense?
    1) yes

    2) is ant or averus intrested in locking into the geneforge if they ever got time.
    2) not really

    1) Is Tjapa the god of fascism?
    1) yes

    1) Do basically all authoritarian/totalitarian ideologies file under the portfolio of Tjapa's Tyranny Domain?
    1) no

    1) what totalitarian ideologies don't fall under tjapa (communismus because in theory it stands against slavery?)
    1) have at gone through the list

    2) Is raincalling frogs casting ability wind compatible?
    2) yes

    3) What was the relationship between Eldrad and Phoenix avatars?
    3) allies and peers

    1) We're they on the same page from day 1 or did it take time for them to align their agendas
    1) it took time for them to algin their agendas

    1) Are we already sending Void Kraken waves at the KoC?
    1) yes

    1) Could the Gravitic Array be used offensively to mess with the positioning of Station?
    1) no

    1) If Sarnow is still around, has he called dips on the first Mirum?
    1) he has

    2) Not something really relevant, but would Tortolians use Deflector Shields and actually have upgrades of it? It seems to be the next iteration of Ion Shields like the Tau used
    2) thery would and would

    2) Is it still inferior to what the First Worldship can provide, or would there actually be something worth examining there if we theoretically got samples?
    2) you dont know

    3) What is the average economic output per capita of Core Subsector?
    4) Of Avernus?
    3) 212 per million
    so 6 times the Trust average
    Avernus is 872
    so 4 times that
    Muspelheim is where its really crazy though
    6,367

    7a) How far away is the last of the daemonworlds called "within easy reach" in the previous High Council?
    7b) Same question for the nearer of the 2 daemon worlds labeled "that can be reached"?
    7a) a few hundred light years
    b) around twelve hungred LY

    8) For the record, did Valanar really screw up on that helm he made for Yharim, or was Yharim lying to get an excuse to enslave Valanar?
    8) he was lying
    or rather eggagerting a tiny cosmetic flaw

    1) Was the injury itself real, as in from a particularly strong enemy or lucky hit, or did he personally injure himself to sell the act?
    1) it was a lucky hit

    9) How long after the Emperor's death was Tjapa born, galactic time-wise?
    9) 55 years

    10) Do Muspelheimers have to lock up their copy of Charlotte's Web and other media in that vein in places far, far away from Avernites?
    10) yes

    11) Do Avernite survivor traits come with an additional not directly listed -1D with spider crab xenos, which is entirely due to the Avernites constantly and fervently mentioning that species's resemblance to crabs in just about every context, and the xenos in question understandably being weirded out?
    11) you are not in contact with any so dont know

    12) It seems like all of the Cruisers were listed with shipyard CP size 1 rank too small. Cruisers should take Large CP, and Heavy Cruisers should take Huge CP.
    12) corrected

    13) Are genuinely devout theocracies that follow their religious texts to the letter (including both harsh punishments for things nonbelievers would find unreasonable or ridiculous and the more lenient aspects) or theocracies that just use the religion as a fig leaf for authoritarian oppression (misinterpreting or ignoring strictures for their own convenience) more aligned with Tjapa?
    13) the first

    1) Is the idea of sacrificing dignity for more effectiveness (the silly but deadly route) a thing with the Warp?
    1) not really

    1) Do the Tortolions have anything in terms of anti-Warp stuff besides detectors, like making Warp transition harder or shutting down psychic powers?
    1) you dont know

    1) Is a Ridcully LD sufficient for picking out blueprints for the Tortolions' more advanced tech bits to hand off to the Mechanicus, or is this something we want a GD for to be effective?
    1) it would be

    2) Is "terrestrial crabs" Core subsector slang for non-hostile spiders at this point?
    2) no
    everyone makes a point of calling them spiders
    especialy when Avernites are in earshot

    3) Would Khaine personally chewing him out for his stupidity have done anything to Arhra, or would he just insist he's more right than his god anyways?
    3) that might have been enough to shake him

    1) Did the Rashan invent FTL travel on their own before the Old Ones found them? If so, then was it also Warp travel or something else?
    1) you dont know

    1) Is this another question blocked by lack of Black Library access, or do they not know either?
    1) they probbly know but not certaintly

    1) What are the current projected sources of attrition for the Meteor class?
    1) mlow

    2) would another point of armor be considerd useful for it?
    2) depends on the price

    3) Khoswe Superweapon idea: Rift Cannon - naval vortex weapon, but with the downsides of Warp Forging.
    b) if viable which is preferred modeling for stats: Nova x3 with Vortex, Ragnarok with +5-10 Pen, or D-Cannon using 20 bb slots
    3) not really viable

    4) Can Impeller Drives be used on a Descent?
    4) no

    5) Would Gravity Engines let Descents break their speed cap in atmosphere?
    5) no

    6) Would Gravity Engines allow for Descents & Landers to increase their size limit? At least without going into name traits and whatever lets the Kroot have their 9km spheroid Landers
    6) not unmodified

    7) Do we have specialized army transports?
    7) yes

    8) Currently all refits of all hulls keep appear to keep their old traits, is improving them beyond NDC despite their newfound abilities?
    8) refiting a hull for a new traits is beyond the NDC

    9) Is PA: Carrier not viable? With Storm, a clear carrier, lacking it.
    9) it is not viable

    11) do you need to take Spinal Weapon Mount to take Turreted Spinals?
    11) no
    12) A lot of of the Runic Navy breaks the multiples of 0.25 weapons rule, is that rule still valid?
    12) will fix the Storm and Hyrrokins weapons

    13) None of the Runic Navy classes have the Enchanted Engine Rune + Very Slightly Depower Engines (-0.25 Speed, +0.5 Power) / OE0.25 combo, does this mean it's not allowed? I don't see why it wouldn't be but you are not using it...
    13) its an expliot not intended by the rules
    Very Slightly Depower Engines does not actualy exist for example

    14) Is Khárn still alive?
    14) yes

    15) What size class would a dedicated troop transport be?
    15) cruiser

    1) I was thinking about building a troop lander. I assume such a ship would be an escort, in line with the lander trait in the Naval Design Sheet?
    1) if its a lander yes

    16) Did the Kingdom of Bel-Caerel, the polity that worshipped Ilfeliare, manage to survive their goddess being captured and sacrificed?
    16) no

    1) Are gemstones on the troll truemat list?
    1) yes

    1) Did Shifters always have the same "don't go offworld" urge that all other people's had? I feel like they might have been able to force an exception
    1) they did

    2) Are the Eldar escorts in the 100m-600m size range that human ships can't survive in?
    2) some are but mostly on the upper levels of it

    1) Do gemstones as a truemat cover pearls, or are those a separate thing?
    1) they are seperate

    1) Do the trolls have that on their list too?
    1) yes

    2) Are Wind elementals a wildlife species we need to examine with Biologis first, or do we just go straight to Telepathica given their nature?
    2) just telepatica

    3) Would a Corvette with bleeding edge DAOT Tech & Psythrones be able to mount Cruiser Disintegrators as batteries as opposed to spinal weapons?
    3) wit the right nametrait yes

    4) would repanse be able to phase through the ground of a deva world?
    4) no

    5) For an extinct People Avernus is bringing back, is something like a People intended to heal the warp viable?
    5) yes

    2) What happens if you cast a Cataclysm Spell in the warp?
    2) you dont

    8) From how you phrase that I assume you don't because it's an awful idea, but to check you can't because it runs into problems.
    8) more it was on the list of things you were told not to do when taught cataclysm magic

    3) how much percent of chaos worshipers are human.
    a) how much of the chaos gods faith Power comes from humans
    3) majority
    a) ditto

    4) Is the vote closed now?
    4) yes

    5) I was just thinking, but with Warp Reactors it may be that ground locations may suddenly benefit from psychic architecture, especially in the Trust. Are people willing to experiment with Factory, Fortress, Hospital, etc Psychic Architectures in the wider Trust?
    5) yes

    6) Is Khorne deploying the Avatar of Khorne to try and take back the initiative in the war against Slaneesh?
    6) yes

    7) Was it even possible to use Hive PA on non-Warp-touched, non-Psyker Hives? Because the only way to fuel PA that comes to my mind is manual charging by Psykers and Runes of Power, but incredibly expensive on such a scale.
    7) it was not

    8) So sickly or terminally ill people provide less value as ritual sacrifices than healthy people. Do healthy soldiers dying in battle while also being counted as sacrifices also have less value in the ritual, compared to if they'd willingly been sacrificed in peacetime?
    8) yes

    9) Could Vorthus (the research god) become more effective if we built a cult for him?
    9) not really

    10) Can we assume that additional Helguard Siege Artillery Divisions will be constructed in the background?
    10) no, will be an option next turn

    11) Does the Anatolian have any more insights into what this artifact is/was? Grail of Ages - Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
    11) powerful blessed item

    12) The fifth Grand Conclave had Laciarn Seeker Batteries and Laciarn Siege Cannons. Will those ever get implemented as Naval options, or are they relegated to errata?
    12) they will at some point

    13) Do unrestricted gods slowly reshape the way their domains are expressed if they hold them over long periods of time, similar to archetypes and their bearers?
    13) yes

    14) When was Malcador born?
    14) early Age of Strif

    15) Is it actually more accurate to call the Anatolian his adoptive father than his mentor, or did Malcador actually spend time with his birth parents?
    15) nah they met when he was around 8

    2) I thought it was when Malcador was a baby and had his psychic awakening. Was it more like the Anatolian sealing his powers away for some time until Malcador was older and had a better chance of controlling them?
    2) pretty much
    bac then the Anatolian beleived in letting children be children and have a chance to grow up

    16) Our previous Descent had equal amounts of batteries, disintegrators, and bombardment cannons. Was having all three weapon types advantageous? If so, why?
    16) it gives greater flexibility at the cost of specilisation

    17) I was just thinking, can we equip our generals with expert [diplomats/actors/comedians/etc] so that when there is the eventual verbal dispute with their opposite happens, they have always have brilliant retorts that enrage their enemies and think less logically?
    17) would be part of their staff

    18) Is "Murphy's Law" or something akin to it a noticeable Warp narrative, or is that closer to a domain in its fundamental nature?
    18) warp narrative

    19) Can gods accept blessings from other gods, or is the Doomed One handing them out kind of a special case there?
    19) they can

    20) Is it possible to be omnipotent and omniscient at the same time?
    20) in theory yes

    1) Would Enchanted Engine Rune and OE0.25/1.25 for combined +0.5 Speed be allowed?
    1) yes
    situationly

    1) Do Deflector Shields work in the atmosphere?
    1) yes

    2) When do you expect the next update to be?
    2) tomrrow

    3) Is bronze on the troll truemat list?
    3) yes

    1. In the Trust Ship Design the Ex Torps/Ex Fighter table looks broken
    1. thaks

    1) Is one unit of extra Waitwoods on a DR worth more than on PDR?
    1) yes

    2) What percentage of fights that Avernites get into with offworlders are due to spiders? (ie an ecologist claiming spiders are actually an important and necessary part of the ecosystem and getting punched)
    2) single digit

    3) Could Craftworld Ulthwe be used as the setpiece/sacrifice of a ritual to teleport a massive fleet to say the Void Dragon Front?
    3) not really, wrong narratives

    4) Just to check, but does Tjapa actually have Stagnation as a proper domain? Because it's not listed on Lin's research entry
    4) he does not

    5) Tellyfragga - Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum Possible Krork & Orkoid naval weapon
    5) nasty and viable

    6) What type of weapon are the ultraprecise ancient bombardment cannons?
    6) energy spheres
    think Gungan from star wars

    7) Does Avernus have bomb flowers, and if it doesn't can it make them?
    7) it does

    9) More out of curiosity is Avernus even capable of creating an avatar for itself? I don't think it needs too, more just curious if its even possible.
    9) it should be

    10) From what we know of the previous invasion of mechanids do the Necrons think they can confirm if they were a C'tan thing or no?
    10) you just dont know enough to say

    11) Can Golem-D/Zephyr-A be refitted into ACTORP boat, losing all the Flak?
    11) yes

    12) The Avernite Lobsters omake mentions Multitudinous Krill as one of the things the lobsters eat. Do you have a description of what the krill are like, or is it not really fleshed out?
    12) not fleshed out

    13) Does blinking come with an automatic small amount of pushing at the exit point so the user doesn't get telefragged by air molecules, which isn't strong enough to handle liquids or solids? Or is it more swapping the air at the exit point to the now-empty entry point (since otherwise Rapanse's psyknight and other similarly large objects would cause loud pops every time they blinked from the sudden vacuums)?
    13) its a small amout of pushing
    and yes, larger blinks are loud

    14) Does Sacrifice (and Martyrdom) also cover stupidly setting your things on fire for no gain or to make a pointless statement no one even cares about (ie killing yourself to wake others up to the fact that birds are evil), or does it need to be actually meaningful, with the aforementioned cases falling under whatever domains govern stupidity or mental illness instead?
    14) you need to think its meaninful

    1) So it's really about the mentality of the person making the sacrifice and/or the sacrifice (which may or may not be the same person), regardless of whether everyone else and/or general Warp consensus regards them as delusional
    1) yeah

    2) Do Avernite Peoples always hate Chaos, or can they feel other things, like say pity?
    2) they always hate it
    they can also feel toher things about it

    1) Does the always hate part just apply to Chaos itself, or does it universally extend to Chaotic entities as well? (ie hating Chaos but only pitying the tainted)
    1) chaos itself

    2) Actually... how many Descents does the Trust approximately plan to have? If it's very low maybe just going maxed Psythrone is the more correct idea
    2) hundreds not thousands

    1) Besides extinct Peoples, are extinct Guardians or Weapons on the cards?
    1) no

    2) Did the Council agree to take another daemonworld?
    2) it did not
    decided it would be overextending

    1) Is the next update Turn 5 or a trade thing?
    1) turn 5

    1) What would a high personal roll and a low professional roll look like relationship-wise?
    1) you get on well but the way you do things clashes

    1) Do the Huanglong count as a contacted or uncontacted guardian species?
    1) contacted
    one of them is one of the Governors best friends

    1) Do you roll in the background for if one of Nurma's less notable friends or family members is dying in a particular turn and hitting her with a grief malus?
    1) yes

    1) Do you already have a strong characterization of Nurma in mind, or is anything beyond xenophilic and more mentally balanced than Frederick still being built by our actions?
    1) not yet
    still building it

    1) Do Avernites use a lot of middle names, since normally you distinguish people with the same first name with their last names, but that becomes a headache inside a family?
    1) yes

    1) Would a college degree in the arts or creative writing help Nurma with lateral thinking in her research, or is that already covered by her Telepathica training?
    1) that's covered by her telepathica training

    1) How common are polyamorous relationships like Nurma has on Avernus?
    1) the default

    2) Is the population of the Trust high enough that there are quite a bunch of misc unnamed Paragons in the background?
    2) there are a couple, single digit

    3) Could a Pyromancer in a Naval Psy-Throne make his ship immune to flames?
    3) no
     
    strauss said:
    2) How emotionally stable is Perturabo compared to his Great Crusade self right now?
    2) on par if not worse
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Poor guy he finally got to just build stuff and then the damned Silver Skulls ruined everything by being shockingly hard to kill.
    E:
    strauss said:
    10) Do Muspelheimers have to lock up their copy of Charlotte's Web and other media in that vein in places far, far away from Avernites?
    10) yes
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    www.theguardian.com

    Peppa Pig 'spiders can't hurt you' episode pulled off air in Australia – again

    Episode aired on pay TV after earlier being deemed inappropriate for audiences in Australia, home to dangerous spiders
    www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

    Yeahhhh its not just the trauma.
     
    Last edited:
    Interlude: The Challenge New
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    • Aurelius brooded in his command temple. Countless slaves scurring about, all according to Tjapa's new plans. His forces? Decimated by heretics. His throne? Desecrated by the trio of rebelious gods. His ichorous crown? Worthwhile only as a symbol, now.

    As a Second Circle Angyl Prince, it was galling to have been defeated such. Having too much power to be summoned, yet lacking a materium power base? He had to consecrate a temple in the warp itself. Bartering out his angyls to sorcerers as opposed to leading them himself.

    He had conquered worlds and faced down false gods. Yet, the heretical three had seeded many heretical spies over the course of centuries, and tricked countless heretical fools into doing business with them.

    His world was one of the first to fall, destroyed from within by three sorcerous betrayers. Sabotaging enough of the defenses, and then calling forth a strike force, which in turn broke a great hole in the defenses, and allowed the Defiant One to lead a crazed assault upon his very throne.

    Two of the three escaped his grasp, but one left with a terrible curse that will allow Aurelius to remind him of how he both failed and betrayed his faith in his dreams for the next fifty five years. A pitiance in comparison to the damage caused, but the others had risked their lives to save him, preventing a proper punishment from ensuing.

    All he could do was send out their angyls, and attack those incredibly temporary non-Angyl world holdings the rebel three used from time to time. The heretics has usurped Ophelia itself, and for all the power he held, there was little he could do.

    Another request for angylic support, granted. A summoning for a third circle of the Host of Domination? Granted. A request for an audience from a visiting pair of sorcerers, gran-

    This was rare. Normally, sorcerers call from the materium. Seldom do they visit. Perplexed yet intrigued, Aurelius granted the two their audience.

    A pair of Knights. A pair of sorcerors. One Tjapan, and Tzeentchian. Were it not for an envoy of Malcador, Aurelius would have dismissed them outright, not seeing any reason to get entangled with the affairs of a Tzeentchian.

    Leon Osiris the Sealbearer and Spera the Honorable.

    Powerful, yet humble, they recognize the treachery of the wretched trio, and offer a plan. A contest. A challenge. A fraction immaterium yet recognizes that you won Tankor III legitimately, as opposed to their fiendish tricks.

    All it would cost, is the element of surprise, and a sufficiently symbolic wager.

    ~

    It was far from a complex ritual. Bang on the gates loud enough that the gods could hear it. As part of the ritual, proclaim your intentions and your challenge. Leave, and wait for a year and a day. The old ways will consider it fair, that you've declared your intentions, and waited enough time for your enemy to muster a proper response.

    The world will remember that he was its master. It will not be aiding nor hindering him.

    The effect was anchored in two beings: Aurelius and Leon Osiris. The ritual should survive the death of one of them, but not both.

    The Triumvirate were far from the only ones who were listening. Aurelius called upon debts that Astartes Chapters owed him. He slowly withdrew his hosts from those he loaned them out to. Hundreds of Fifth Circles, dozens of Fourth Circle, and over a dozen Third Circles. He called upon Tarken the Just, a Second Circle that he has fought alongside.

    Aurelius was not the only one calling.

    Leon and Spera both called upon Knights. A fifth of an ex-Khornate clan answered their call. Even Malcador got involved, sending some of the treasured Demon Engines.

    More than simply calling upon forces, the two trained.

    ~

    Regicide pieces skittered accross the five boards, each move opposed by another in short order. Floating around one Leon Osiris. Opposed by five Speras.

    Bare victory, Clear victory, crushing defeat, Clear loss (good showing), bare victory.

    "Three of the five are mine."

    "Bullshit, I've got the most pieces after everything."

    "We never agreed on headhunting. Victory was all that mattered."

    "Victories like that are how Tjapa ended up in his position in the first place!"

    "I scored more victories with fewer minds, while practicing my telekinesis."

    Their bickering continued, across stratedgy games, across duels of sorcery and magic, in clashes of blades and Knight Titans.

    Throughout it all, they grew stronger together.

    ~

    The challenge rang out far and wide. Countless people scurried about to and fro. Each unique, yet part of the whole. Those of deep faith worked alongside those of a more secular nature. Forces were measured, calls were sent out.

    General Rakes was reading reports. Scouts, oracles. Force projection. As he sized up his own forces and read the opponents force. He made his decision.

    The Ash Hound, ready to prove himself upon a warp tainted world. His orders were simple.

    Defeat the Challengers. The world of Tankor III cannot fall back into enemy hands.

    Battle Psykers, Choirs, Primaris Execution Forces, Heljaegars, Lifeguard Corps, Helguard, Helltroopers. More than enough.

    The Knight of Muspelheim was crusading alongside the Hellstrikers, to secure glorious democracy.

    Jacob Oakheart, back from his vacation, raring to go and simply kick someone's ass.

    An odd pair, to say the least. Stranger still was all the "CLASSIFIED BY THE ORDER OF THE INQUISITION" in their recent records. While Rakes knew enough to piece it all together, he knew better than to pry.

    Jacob's request that the Knights of Avernus all answer the challenge? Odd, but oddly fitting.

    ~

    One Year and One Day was all the warning the ritual required. Intentions declared, claims invoked, and prices wagered. Tjapa, for all that he is the false Emperor, still holds power and legitimacy due to his status as a Great God.

    Reclaiming your property from thieves is just too powerful of a narrative to casually dismiss. Especially if the would-be reclaimer is willing to risk their right to command others. Wagering their crown for their old throne.

    The Warp touched world of Tankor III was neither Deva nor Demon World, so long as Aurelius strode upon the battlefield.

    Broken castles that stand as testament to the mortality of the gods or their agents hold little effect.

    Tjapa's light barely pierces the cloudy skies.

    This will be a fair fight, or, at least, as fair of a fight that Chaos can give.

    ~

    Xavier activated his Battlenet, to ascertain his force's readiness. Primaris Execution Forces, Psy-Knight Corps, Battle Psyker Corps, Choirs, and Cataclysm Casters. All the first line was ready and in position. The battlefield was near perfect for large scale deployment for the Light of Truth.

    Heljeagers, Helguard, and the Helltroopers, all ready for war.

    Asura, the strange Knight of Muspelheim, and the Avernite Knight Courts were ready.

    The Triumvirette Deva and the Unchained radio'd that they were ready.

    Jacob Oakheart, Champion of Avernus, was near certain that an agent of Belakor was behind this, and has requested to be pulled from the frontlines, in order to hunt them down properly.

    As for himself?

    He had injured himself last time he was training to fight over Valinor. Now, this was his war.

    ~

    Tarken the Just lead his forces. Beneath the blasphemous light of the heretics, the Holy Revelations of Tjapa were concealed. His Hosts of Dominance found little purchase on the Damned Avernites. Hosts of Control found themselves stymied at almost every turn. Hosts of Power found themselves outmatched. Hosts of Victory were defeated, and the Hosts of Order were shattered.

    He took to the field, to relieve the pressure on his forces. Calling his Third Circles to him, they charged.

    Chains of Golden Light shackled them down to the ground. He himself was bound for only a few moments, but in that time, half of his cohort was broken.

    Hellish Fire flooded the area, and a swordsmen wielding some Aeldari sword faced him down.

    They teleported out of the way of his beams of light. As he prepared to block his overhead slice with his spear, the sword phased right through the shaft, as though it wasn't even there.

    Tarken relied on his wards and armor to protect them. While it stopped the blow, the warrior simply redirected their momentum, their entire body moving diagonally along a new trajectory. The blade found and removed a wing.

    As he fell to the earth blow, the warrior altered their trajectory again. As their sword glowed with a terrible power, he plunged it into his heart, and Tarken the Just knew no more.

    ~

    Defending democracy is never easy, but with these new jump jets and proper, modern technology, Asura has never before zoomed across the battlefield like this. With sword and cannon arm working together in unison, the Tjapans stood no chance.

    Asura made sure to not change up his fighting style from his time in Kobas. Bait isn't really effective if the enemy doesn't recognize it, after all. Using the Jack Fellblade voice algorithm to taunt and provoke the enemy.

    Sensors picked up a familiar signature and IFFs.

    Vigilant Spiders.

    Avernite wannabes.

    Asura moved swiftly over the battlefield, issuing challenges of the moment and fondly retelling tales of the various defeats of the Spiders at maximum decibel.

    The Avernite Knights were amused, at the least, as the battle was joined.

    ~

    "Target spotted, and given their fighting style and general assholish nature, I'm tentatively saying that it's him."

    "Good. Get yourself in position, and my sorcerors will complete the ritual just shortly after the battle is joined in full."

    ~

    The Vigilant Spiders were joined once more by Spera the Ninefold.

    "Holy shit, Spera, is that you? I thought you fled like a little bitch, just like Leon did. I just remembered something! I never did show either of you my mark 2 Asura. Only King Kobas got to see it, you know. This is mark 4. Care for a closer look?"

    "As arrogant as ever Jack."

    "Arrogant? Last I checked only one of us has a real title. The Hell sort of title is Ninefold anyway?"

    "That's only my Khornate title, dickhead. Now that you don't have a Borderlion in your back pocket, why don't I show you the true power of a Ninefold?"

    "Sure, and why don't I show you how to count down from nine?"

    Asura held nothing back. Aside from the hacking.

    Asura was perfectly capable of multitasking. In a single shot, an enemy Spera was cored, even as he lept forward on his jumpjets to attack with his sword.

    "Just remember, I'll only agree to a ceasefire if we can meet face to face!". That should piss Spera off, given how the first and only face to face meeting between Jack and Leon went.

    Spera seems to have gained some ability to not falter after losing a body. The first kill was timed to cause a stagger, but it seems Spera was particularly prepared for these sort of charges. Spera held the line as two of his bodies flanked Asura from behind.

    Asura broke off from his attack, seeing that his would-be charge victim had too good of a defense. Using the momentum Spera gave him, Asura leaned to the right, and jumped away, to break the encirclement.

    Or rather, he tried to. Asura noticed immediately as his frame did not follow strict material laws, as what felt like magnetism stopped him from completely leaving the triangle. Immediately, Asura parried and counterattacked the Spera that blocked him earlier, and with his left cannon arm, attacked the Spera that was directly behind him. Launching a a volley of missiles at the third Spera, to dissaude him from attacking while he had his hands full.

    Spera 1 was entirely focused on swordplay, working perfectly with his fellow clones.
    Spera 2 was willing to take a few close range hits, in an attempt to damage his arm.
    The third Spera? Took the missile barrage he just launched, then threw them right back at him with the magnetism.

    Those missiles were tipped with shaped charges. They cannot do proper damage to armor if they are not directed at the right angle. The damage they inflicted on Asura's frame was not crippling. The Knight with the two swords was doing more damage.

    Asura immediately let loose his hacking, to try and force an opening. They all had Dhrukari defense programs, but that by itself wasn't enough to stop a dedicated AI.

    Spera seized the initiative, as they were surrounded by Spiders and Avernites. Asura used the battlenet to issue an immediate request for assistance. Asura braced for another assault.

    And Spera 1 broke most of his sword for his trouble.
    Spera 2 was able to damage the barrel of his cannon, so, Asura was forced to issue a detach command to the long barrel. He was no stranger to dealing with combat damage.

    Asura reengaged his jumpjets, overheating them in the process. The last thing Spera would expect was a direct charge after being disarmed of his melee weapon.

    But Asura was still a three story tall machine. Weight was a weapon all on its own, one that raw magnetism took a bit of time to counter. Spera 3 was knocked over.

    Spera as a whole was not expecting that reckless charge. But it seems that Spera is favored by two Chaos Gods, somehow.

    Asura aimed his newly shortened cannon at Spera 3's cockpit, and risked launched another barrage of rockets at Spera 2. But it seems that whatever magnetism Spera was using, was distributed throughout his entire network, as opposed to simply Spera 3 The rockets he launched were slammed into him once more, but A.I.'s learn quickly. A simple command was able to disarm them before they exploded, but the kinetic impact knocked off his aim at Spera 3. Only disabling the Knight, as opposed to killing the pilot.

    Asura knew that he would not win the fight at this rate, and jumped away from the disabled Knight. A quick shot at the cockpit was enough to kill another clone, and the relief force he requested 30 seconds ago finally arrived, pushing past Spera's interference.

    His jump jets weren't meant to withstand these temperatures. He engineered them to too high of a specification, and then disabled the safeties after it became clear he wouldnt' be able to exit it.

    It seems that Spera has gone on more than just a little bit of a self improvement kick.

    It seems more than just an Avernite Knight has joined the battle. An ally of Spera, some Vigilant Spider who hasn't fallen to a nanomachine induced beserk rage. They team up with Spera 1, and together, they charge you, reengaging to melee combat.

    Asura backed up as they charged, just to give himself a few moments to line up a shot at Spera 2, killing another clone. Interestingly, both Spera 1 and the Spider reacted poorly to this event. With a damaged sword and what remained of what was once a long range cannon, Asura held the line quite well.

    But that all changed in an instant, as he was lifted off the ground by magnetism.

    Two new Speras revealed themselves, floating atop Discs of Tzeentch. It seems that not all of the Spera fighting the Avernite Knights are actually Speras at all.

    Spera 1 stabbed Asura directly in the cockpit.

    ~

    "Leon, I've killed the target, but the Spiders are almost entirely dead. I need evac!"

    "Understood, I'm sending half of my honorguard to cover your retreat. No more heroics!"

    Jacob received insticts from Diviners. This is the time to strike.

    He crept through the floating fortress, using wards and sheer skill to stay undetected.

    The Hunter and the Caverns had taught him so much.

    Right under the central command chambers was where the Diviners were saying Leon should be, using the war room as a distraction.

    As a consequence, he was in a less defensible area.

    Jacob planted shaped charges on the ceiling of the room he was in. Once they blow, he can jump straight up and being the room adjacent to Leon's room.

    3

    2

    1

    BOOM

    Jacob lept. There was not much more than a quintet of door guards, who wasn't expecting him to pop in. Slaying them all where they stood, Jacob then superheated his sword and then cut through the armoured door.

    There stood Leon. Aglow with sorcerous power, it seems that Belakor was somehow impressed with his agent's performance.

    Jacob brough everything he had to bear upon him. A piercing thrust hit only air, as Leon used his wings to move himself to safety, even in these confined areas.

    He brought himself back to that moment. Knife in hand, facing down a soul eating crocodile. Combining his focus, his power, and his willingness to kill, Gravity's Bite became a True Killing weapon in his hands.

    Leon called out a name, and his own forces (Spera included, interestingly enough), began to flood the room. He drew his own, pitch black sword. Channeling all of his strength into his body and blade both.

    He put up enough resistance that the soul killing technique was broken, but much like Dona the Party Animal, Leon was sent hurling back through the wall.

    A second strike was enough to end him, but Jacob had no time to spare, to attempt a second True Killing strike.

    ~

    Aurelius

    ~

    Demon Engines by the score took the fields, and Angyls by the thousands took to the sky.

    Titans walk and the Triumvirette's forces muster.

    Ichor coated Terminator Armor held aloft by angylic wings meets the Riksjaegers.

    Countless horrors meet technological supremecy. Daemon Engines by the score had only a few answers to the Titans. There was never a question about who would win on this field.

    Only a matter of how much Avernite blood would be spilled.

    ~

    Four bodies, each as precious as a limb, cruelly torn away. It cost the lives of every last Vigilant Spider, and one of his better body doubles, but Spera achieved his obective. About the only one here who could make that claim. As Spera 8 cradled Leon's body, a simple bit of necromantic divination could confirm that Leon's soul was safe, and will be reborn in short order.

    Short order being over a hundred days away.

    There are perks for working for Belakor, it seems.

    Aurelius was brooding, looking at the shattered crown that once adorned his head.

    The price he wagered to have the immaterium recognize his claim to Tankor III was to stake his ability, his very right to command others.

    All others lost, and defeating a single false? Knight wasn't enough of a victory to claim this world, not by a longshot.

    Aurelius was able to retreat in mostly good order, effectively the last commands he is able to give.

    Fortanutely, Leon was prepared for this outcome.

    ~

    "Right, so given how much firepower those damned Avernites brought to bear, it'll be very easy to claim that this was, NOT, in fact, a fair fight."

    "..." Aurelius brooded.

    "There are no wounds that sorcery cannot heal, my friend. Leon made a special preperation for just this very outcome."

    That shook Aurelius out of his stupor, "My crown, I can't let others see me like this! I've not said a word, so h_________-!"

    That was an interesting effect.

    Aurelius's authority over others no longer held any weight, whatever order he intended to give you, he could not spit out properly.

    The Warp can be such a beautiful and cruel thing.

    "We're going to work under the assumption you meant "hurry up and fix this". I just need you to relax, and step into this ritual circle".

    Blindly, Aurelius complied.

    "I am Spera the Honorable. By my authority, Aurelius! I command you pay the price for failure."

    The seals under Aurelius's feet activated. Powerful ones.

    There are perks for working for the First Sorcerer.

    "Betrayer! Tzeentchian! Guards, ____________________________!"

    Again, he stumbled, not even capable of stumbling over his words. Spera continued, over the unsilence, "By the old ways Aurelius, you've called upon allies and mustered your forces. You've staked your right to rule over others, and lost it. A Tjapan has only one of two possible places: To reign over others, or to submit. By Leon Osiris and by your broken crown, I declare you bankrupt beneath the eyes of Tjapa, and fit only to serve!"

    Shadows and Ichor began to congeal around his throat, forming a tight collar.

    "__________"
    "_________"
    "________"
    ~
    "NO"

    The collar cracked, but remained in place. It looks like Aurelius still has some fight left in him.

    "I was failed. I did not fail." Aurelius glared as he advanced. While the seal holds, Aurelius cannot attack him.

    Still, the power of a second circle? There are not many seals that can hold him for long. Not without Belakor dishing out the real sorcery.

    To think, that he was wasting so much time in Kobas. Now, here he is, binding an Honored. Spera didn't even have to betray anyone.

    "You and I both know that argument will hold no weight with your peers, Aurelius. You've lost too much. How will you face them?"

    "I can face them still. My forces were not gutted. My command over th-" Aurelius fell silent, as the full implications of all he has lost become more and more known to him. This was more than humiliating, losing his right to command others was an outright death sentence. "You sorcerers tricked me. Decievers!"

    "We were never anything less than honest with you. You wagered, you lost. Tell me, Aurelius, even if you break this seal, what then? What place is there for you? You can fight, and you can cast, but you may never lead an army ever again."

    "You said it yourself, Spera. I will fight, and I will reclaim Tankor."

    Spera called the broken crown fragments, and willed them aloft. Calling upon what remains of their power, he issued his own order. "Aurelius, tell me! You have ambitions, tell me how you intend to achieve them!"

    Aurelius opened his mouth, but no words came forth. He did not resist the command, rather, he found it impossible to obey. Tjapa's favor is basically impossible for him to earn, by his outdated reckoning, anyway. Calling on Belakor isn't an option, since he knows he's already dealing Belakor's agents. Everyone he called was defeated in battle, and the less said about magic, the better.

    Despair weighed heavy in the binding circle, but it wasn't enough to shatter Aurelius's resistance, and Spera took too much soul damage to endure much more of this

    "You know, I've been in this position before. Or rather, I know what it's like to hover over rock bottom."

    "You know nothing of what this feels like, Tzeentchian."

    "I know what it is like to lose pieces of yourself. Trust me, I've lost a loooot of bodies over the decades. Comes with being a Ninefold in a Khornate territory. Still, I've made it out of worse positions, and I've heard uncountable stories of people crawling, nay, flying out of greater pits of despair.

    You think that this is the end, because you know that your only place in society now is as a servant. But I would say, look at Belakor and Tjapa. Is Belakor really just a simple servant? No, he is far more than that. His power is not in the size of his legions, or even in sheer magical power. It is the connections he himself has made.

    Connections that are both more complex and far deeper than a simple master servant relationship. I could teach you. A Lord of Change would laugh at the idea that losing the power to command others would be anything other than a minor hinderance to their schemes. Power over others does not need to be measured or thought of in terms of hard authority. It can be information, wealth, favors, secrets. I could teach you those facets of wielding power. I have fought against spies who sought to destroy multiple nations and I have held power to influence wars. So much of this, done without hard power.

    Aurelius, you know that there is only one place for you. If you are not bound by my hand, then either you will be by another's, or you will simply bend the knee to one more powerful. I, I am not as powerful as they. This means my hand will be lighter than theirs. Mine is the only hand that has anything to offer.

    Take my hand, and know that while you may be bound, know also that for as long as you are bound, you will have me as a teacher in all sorts of manners of soft power. Losing one wager need not be the end of your ambitions."

    ~

    Aurelius the Angyl Knight has lost much, but gained so much more. Ridcully's vision came to an end. A minor war, in the grand scheme of things, but one that will impact Jacob, who perhaps should have been a bit more careful in his promises that he would do it all over again.
     
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    Feudal Disputes New
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    • Feudal Disputes​

    Repanse let out a deep breath. She is no stranger to difficult tasks nor unpleasant duties. And yet, to wait in reserve like this rankled. She had agreed with the military reasoning, that rationally she was best used as a hyper-mobile reserve. But emotionally? She could feel her comrades fighting and dying, knowing she could have saved them.

    Her musings are interrupted by a pulse of knowledge over the battlenet, Aurelius has sacrificed his court to break the lines. The Second Circle Archangyl is heading directly for the backline choir, he will be reaching them in 55 seconds, target is approximately 400 km away. Repanse smiles, plenty of time.

    Velocitas Satis crouches atop its metallic sled, Repanse's mind accelerating past what should be mortal limits as capacitors discharge their galvanic fury, and the modified Spinal Accelerator she waits in fires. Her Knight exits the barrel at Mach 10, and with her thrusters burning hot, she is still accelerating. She Blinks, passing through the Warp and aligning herself to the ground. Her steps leave growing spiderweb cracks in her wake as great boulders loom behind her, seemingly frozen in time. It has been ten seconds and her target looms before her. A thing of false gold and shining wings, an Astartes standing level with her Knight, bearing a crown upon its head and a mace in its hand. It turns to face her, mace already moving, its speed turning the air in its wake to plasma.

    Repanse grins under her helm, he was too slow. She burns yet more of her might, sinking deeper into the realm of frozen time, pushing her mind and steed yet harder, moving yet faster. Her blade dances around the ponderous mace blow and cuts deep into the daemonic flesh metal of his breastplate. Velocitas jerks violently at the impact, it is only long experience that lets her adjust her stride, running past the stunned daemon. Golden fire chases her, the impact costing her speed. She is barely moving faster than an impaler round as she accelerates away.

    She wheels around for another charge, the chunks of armour still exploding from the wound in her foe's chest. His free hand closes and the ground before her erupts into a field of seeking chains. Her blade sweeps like a farmer's scythe, shattering more than severing the golden shackles before her. She darts through the rest like a fox through the brush, smashing what few escape her blade and footwork with her shield. She is through, yet her sword is out of position for a blow. That's fine. She wasn't going to need it for this anyways. She rams into him like a linebacker, arms spread wide, letting the shock of it close her Knight's limbs like a bear trap around him. Her thrusters flare to life as the Archangyl desperately tries to hold his ground. He fails.

    The pair rocket into the distance, his dragging boots carving a new canyon into the rocky ground. She can feel the servos burn and strain, her soul throwing itself against something so much greater than it, yet in the moment it takes Aurelius to flare his wings he is hundreds of kilometers away from anything Repanse cares about. She hopes the trade is worth it as a Mach 12 kick sends her tumbling away, trailing a worrying amount of her Knight's torso.

    The mace comes down, exploding into a golden shockwave. Repanse Blinks from her tumble into a crouch, her shield held high. Armour melts and warnings flare but she weathers the assault, but not without being slowed. Her thrusters flare and she hurls herself to the side as a sea of golden flame washes over where she was, licking at her heels and melting the armour of her legs. The ground beneath her is slagged, each step kicking up gushes of magma, slowing her acceleration just enough for Aurelius to catch up. She jukes a swing of his mace and blocks a bolt of Warpfire with her increasingly damaged shield; he's had a single engagement and already understands that he can not let her build speed.

    Aurelius's mace reforms into a five-headed whip, barbed chains splaying out in a glimmering net to catch her. She kicks off the ground, sending a geyser of stone into the chains, the stone melting on contact but slowing them enough for her to evade the worst of it. Golden ramparts appear in her path, promising death with the slightest touch. She fires her thrusters again, sending her Knight streaking through the air.

    Five golden pentagrams swirl into existence behind Aurelius, five hundred fifty five thousand five hundred and fifty five spells of ruin and obliteration writ in Warpfire and false gold. Repanse flips off the regulator of her thrusters, and the barrage begins. Her will sees her Knight made lighter than a feather, and thrusters roar with unceasing fury as she weaves between the endless rain of ruin. But this is no mindless barrage, each spell angled perfectly to strike or trap her. The barrage is not yet a fifth done when she is forced to Blink for the first time, then again and then twice as each time she finds death waiting for her, the daemon tracking her through the Warp with a practiced eye. To Blink a Fifth time would be death, so she turns into the barrage, thrusting her blade into the testing storm of killing gold. Runes flare and the blade discharges, the shockwaves the rune array had swallowed earlier this day released in a single massive burst of force and howling wind.

    The golden barrage recoils, but it is already starting to recover. Yet for a single instant, there is nothing between her and Aurelius. Adamantium feet shatter stone and Repanse charges. The five-headed whip expands into a twisting net. Repanse howls with bestial fury as she heedlessly presses on, her shield slamming into the Warp-wrought chain of the whip and shattering it. If Aurelius is surprised, Repanse is no longer in any state to notice. Ghur fills her and her blade lands with the might of a Bunyip, driving him back as his sorcerous barrage flickers out. A backhand finds her shoulder, the blow that would have shattered her moments ago doing little more than denting her pauldron. She has forsaken speed for might, and until her well of power runs dry she can match him blow for blow.

    The chains of his whip melt together back into a mace, as Repanse bobs away from a hammer blow before firing her melta cannon into his chest. He responds with a headbutt that cracks the windows of her cockpit. There is no artistry, no room for clever maneuvers or great workings of will or power. She can not win this way. His wounds knit themselves together almost as fast as she creates them, and her powers begin to flag while his remain as endless as a river. She is losing, but she is losing slowly.

    A mace blow on her shield crushes the inbuilt melta cannon in exchange for a deep cut on his shoulder, as she brings her pommel down and catches his mace hand on the wrist. The weapon drops as Velocitas's leg snaps up in a brutal kick, sending it spinning into Aurelius's legs. The daemon seems to stumble, and Repanse pulls back. His eyes narrow as the mace is suddenly in his hand again, his footing perfect. His wings flare. He has no more patience for this fight, and is willing to gamble that she can no longer keep him from fleeing.

    No, he must not escape. She knows instantly that the next handful of seconds are vital. He must be still and distracted, unable to respond to any but her. Repanse takes a mental breath, sinking once more into the realm of frozen time as her mind accelerates. But she keeps her Knight infused with Ghur, with raw animal strength. Her thrusters flare, they do not so much fire as explode, bursting into a pillar of barely-controlled plasma, giving her a single almighty pulse of acceleration. She is on Aurelius in milliseconds, though to her mind it feels like hours.

    Ghur is mighty, but it is not swift, not the way she is when she moves between instants. Her blows strike with more force yet move like ponderous mountains. There is a solution, one she hopes will not kill her. She Blinks without moving, skipping into the Warp and emerging in the same spot, save that she has willed her blade to move. Her blow strikes with the weight of a mountain and the speed of a falling star, cutting into the meat of Aurelius's shoulder. Around them the Warp roils as a ritual is prepared. She Blinks again, striking at his crown as she steals her own movement and pours it into her blade. The strange metal that adorns the daemon remains inviolate against even this blow, but the golden light around it flickers. Aurelius has been struck twice before he could react. He will not be so insulted a third time.

    Authority pulses through him and he shifts, his golden body instantly reforming into a new shape, being much the same save that his mace is driving itself into Velocitas's chest. Warnings crawl across Repanse's vision, the reactor has been breached. With an act of will she forces it to remain on, the star in Velocitas's chest will run until it breaks free of its cage. She Blinks again, a frozen scream on her lips as she brings her blade down on her foe's mace arm, power infusing every last rune and rivet, her blade biting deep into the Angyl's golden shoulder and shattering. The mace glows with golden power as chains of light begin oh so slowly snaking out of shining portals. She seizes the failing magnetic containment of her fusion core and squeezes, pain washing through Velocitas and into her as the dying reactor becomes an improvised fusion thruster. Sunfury melts armor and vaporizes components, but it gives her the speed she needs. She Blinks again, driving the ruin of her melta cannon into the gaping wound in Aurelius's shoulder, capacitors discharging one last time, the priming chamber filling with fusing gases, nothing containing or channeling them. One of the most advanced weapons in the Trust dies as an improvised melta bomb, severing the arm of an Archangyl. She meets the hateful gaze of her foe and sees he is starting to speak.

    She blinks again, driving the ruin of her blade into Aurelius's mouth, cutting deep into his tongue, as golden teeth bite through the remains of her weapon. She has done little to hurt him, but for a moment he will not be able to speak. He instead spits the daemon blood-infused fragments of her own weapon through her sword arm, severing it at the shoulder. Behind him she sees his free hand, a burning Sigil of Rejection already forming. Velocitas is fading, but not yet gone. She wills herself through the Warp once again, bringing her foot down in a diving kick, only to be met by a devastating wingblow before she had even finished rematerializing. Velocitas snaps in half at the waist, its abused superstructure giving out at last. She sees the massive palm of her foe through the shattered armourglass of her cockpit, and Blinks one last time.

    Repanse stands unmounted atop the palm of Aurelius's hand, the power of his half formed working tearing at her flesh and soul. She pours the power that normally animates an entire Knight into her own flesh, pulling a Truesilver medal off her breast. Trunklike fingers close; even in this place of frozen time, she must make haste. She is too exhausted to dispel his working, too unused to foot combat to shatter his fingers, but she has skills beyond those of battle. She drives the Silver of her commendation into the daemon's flesh, sinking less than a centimeter in, but it is enough. The daemon's flesh boils under the purifying metal in her hand, even as the Truesilver pits and blackens while being pressed against the physical embodiment of corruption. She makes swift sweeping motions, carving a practiced form with a great deal of haste, and far less control than is wise. She finds herself in shadows as the fingers close around her, yet with a final violent slash, her work is done. A crude Rune of Fire, carved into the skin of Aurelius's palm. There is light, and fire, and a great deal of pain. Repanse regains awareness as her tattered and bleeding form is hurtling through the air, trailing limbs and bloodied chunks of flesh like a bleeding comet. She triggers the emergency teleportation beacon embedded in her skull with her last fleeting moment of awareness. The last thing she sees before the darkness takes her is the hateful glare of an Archangyl, held by shining chains of light.

    @Durin an omake. many thanks to stormysky and everyone else who helped edit, it really really needed it.
     
  • New
  • Sidestory
    • random_npc said:
    Feudal Disputes​

    Repanse let out a deep breath. She is no stranger to difficult tasks nor unpleasant duties. And yet, to wait in reserve like this rankled. She had agreed with the military reasoning, that rationally she was best used as a hyper-mobile reserve. But emotionally? She could feel her comrades fighting and dying, knowing she could have saved them.

    Her musings are interrupted by a pulse of knowledge over the battlenet, Aurelius has sacrificed his court to break the lines. The Second Circle Archangyl is heading directly for the backline choir, he will be reaching them in 55 seconds, target is approximately 400 km away. Repanse smiles, plenty of time.

    Velocitas Satis crouches atop its metallic sled, Repanse's mind accelerating past what should be mortal limits as capacitors discharge their galvanic fury, and the modified Spinal Accelerator she waits in fires. Her Knight exits the barrel at Mach 10, and with her thrusters burning hot, she is still accelerating. She Blinks, passing through the Warp and aligning herself to the ground. Her steps leave growing spiderweb cracks in her wake as great boulders loom behind her, seemingly frozen in time. It has been ten seconds and her target looms before her. A thing of false gold and shining wings, an Astartes standing level with her Knight, bearing a crown upon its head and a mace in its hand. It turns to face her, mace already moving, its speed turning the air in its wake to plasma.

    Repanse grins under her helm, he was too slow. She burns yet more of her might, sinking deeper into the realm of frozen time, pushing her mind and steed yet harder, moving yet faster. Her blade dances around the ponderous mace blow and cuts deep into the daemonic flesh metal of his breastplate. Velocitas jerks violently at the impact, it is only long experience that lets her adjust her stride, running past the stunned daemon. Golden fire chases her, the impact costing her speed. She is barely moving faster than an impaler round as she accelerates away.

    She wheels around for another charge, the chunks of armour still exploding from the wound in her foe's chest. His free hand closes and the ground before her erupts into a field of seeking chains. Her blade sweeps like a farmer's scythe, shattering more than severing the golden shackles before her. She darts through the rest like a fox through the brush, smashing what few escape her blade and footwork with her shield. She is through, yet her sword is out of position for a blow. That's fine. She wasn't going to need it for this anyways. She rams into him like a linebacker, arms spread wide, letting the shock of it close her Knight's limbs like a bear trap around him. Her thrusters flare to life as the Archangyl desperately tries to hold his ground. He fails.

    The pair rocket into the distance, his dragging boots carving a new canyon into the rocky ground. She can feel the servos burn and strain, her soul throwing itself against something so much greater than it, yet in the moment it takes Aurelius to flare his wings he is hundreds of kilometers away from anything Repanse cares about. She hopes the trade is worth it as a Mach 12 kick sends her tumbling away, trailing a worrying amount of her Knight's torso.

    The mace comes down, exploding into a golden shockwave. Repanse Blinks from her tumble into a crouch, her shield held high. Armour melts and warnings flare but she weathers the assault, but not without being slowed. Her thrusters flare and she hurls herself to the side as a sea of golden flame washes over where she was, licking at her heels and melting the armour of her legs. The ground beneath her is slagged, each step kicking up gushes of magma, slowing her acceleration just enough for Aurelius to catch up. She jukes a swing of his mace and blocks a bolt of Warpfire with her increasingly damaged shield; he's had a single engagement and already understands that he can not let her build speed.

    Aurelius's mace reforms into a five-headed whip, barbed chains splaying out in a glimmering net to catch her. She kicks off the ground, sending a geyser of stone into the chains, the stone melting on contact but slowing them enough for her to evade the worst of it. Golden ramparts appear in her path, promising death with the slightest touch. She fires her thrusters again, sending her Knight streaking through the air.

    Five golden pentagrams swirl into existence behind Aurelius, five hundred fifty five thousand five hundred and fifty five spells of ruin and obliteration writ in Warpfire and false gold. Repanse flips off the regulator of her thrusters, and the barrage begins. Her will sees her Knight made lighter than a feather, and thrusters roar with unceasing fury as she weaves between the endless rain of ruin. But this is no mindless barrage, each spell angled perfectly to strike or trap her. The barrage is not yet a fifth done when she is forced to Blink for the first time, then again and then twice as each time she finds death waiting for her, the daemon tracking her through the Warp with a practiced eye. To Blink a Fifth time would be death, so she turns into the barrage, thrusting her blade into the testing storm of killing gold. Runes flare and the blade discharges, the shockwaves the rune array had swallowed earlier this day released in a single massive burst of force and howling wind.

    The golden barrage recoils, but it is already starting to recover. Yet for a single instant, there is nothing between her and Aurelius. Adamantium feet shatter stone and Repanse charges. The five-headed whip expands into a twisting net. Repanse howls with bestial fury as she heedlessly presses on, her shield slamming into the Warp-wrought chain of the whip and shattering it. If Aurelius is surprised, Repanse is no longer in any state to notice. Ghur fills her and her blade lands with the might of a Bunyip, driving him back as his sorcerous barrage flickers out. A backhand finds her shoulder, the blow that would have shattered her moments ago doing little more than denting her pauldron. She has forsaken speed for might, and until her well of power runs dry she can match him blow for blow.

    The chains of his whip melt together back into a mace, as Repanse bobs away from a hammer blow before firing her melta cannon into his chest. He responds with a headbutt that cracks the windows of her cockpit. There is no artistry, no room for clever maneuvers or great workings of will or power. She can not win this way. His wounds knit themselves together almost as fast as she creates them, and her powers begin to flag while his remain as endless as a river. She is losing, but she is losing slowly.

    A mace blow on her shield crushes the inbuilt melta cannon in exchange for a deep cut on his shoulder, as she brings her pommel down and catches his mace hand on the wrist. The weapon drops as Velocitas's leg snaps up in a brutal kick, sending it spinning into Aurelius's legs. The daemon seems to stumble, and Repanse pulls back. His eyes narrow as the mace is suddenly in his hand again, his footing perfect. His wings flare. He has no more patience for this fight, and is willing to gamble that she can no longer keep him from fleeing.

    No, he must not escape. She knows instantly that the next handful of seconds are vital. He must be still and distracted, unable to respond to any but her. Repanse takes a mental breath, sinking once more into the realm of frozen time as her mind accelerates. But she keeps her Knight infused with Ghur, with raw animal strength. Her thrusters flare, they do not so much fire as explode, bursting into a pillar of barely-controlled plasma, giving her a single almighty pulse of acceleration. She is on Aurelius in milliseconds, though to her mind it feels like hours.

    Ghur is mighty, but it is not swift, not the way she is when she moves between instants. Her blows strike with more force yet move like ponderous mountains. There is a solution, one she hopes will not kill her. She Blinks without moving, skipping into the Warp and emerging in the same spot, save that she has willed her blade to move. Her blow strikes with the weight of a mountain and the speed of a falling star, cutting into the meat of Aurelius's shoulder. Around them the Warp roils as a ritual is prepared. She Blinks again, striking at his crown as she steals her own movement and pours it into her blade. The strange metal that adorns the daemon remains inviolate against even this blow, but the golden light around it flickers. Aurelius has been struck twice before he could react. He will not be so insulted a third time.

    Authority pulses through him and he shifts, his golden body instantly reforming into a new shape, being much the same save that his mace is driving itself into Velocitas's chest. Warnings crawl across Repanse's vision, the reactor has been breached. With an act of will she forces it to remain on, the star in Velocitas's chest will run until it breaks free of its cage. She Blinks again, a frozen scream on her lips as she brings her blade down on her foe's mace arm, power infusing every last rune and rivet, her blade biting deep into the Angyl's golden shoulder and shattering. The mace glows with golden power as chains of light begin oh so slowly snaking out of shining portals. She seizes the failing magnetic containment of her fusion core and squeezes, pain washing through Velocitas and into her as the dying reactor becomes an improvised fusion thruster. Sunfury melts armor and vaporizes components, but it gives her the speed she needs. She Blinks again, driving the ruin of her melta cannon into the gaping wound in Aurelius's shoulder, capacitors discharging one last time, the priming chamber filling with fusing gases, nothing containing or channeling them. One of the most advanced weapons in the Trust dies as an improvised melta bomb, severing the arm of an Archangyl. She meets the hateful gaze of her foe and sees he is starting to speak.

    She blinks again, driving the ruin of her blade into Aurelius's mouth, cutting deep into his tongue, as golden teeth bite through the remains of her weapon. She has done little to hurt him, but for a moment he will not be able to speak. He instead spits the daemon blood-infused fragments of her own weapon through her sword arm, severing it at the shoulder. Behind him she sees his free hand, a burning Sigil of Rejection already forming. Velocitas is fading, but not yet gone. She wills herself through the Warp once again, bringing her foot down in a diving kick, only to be met by a devastating wingblow before she had even finished rematerializing. Velocitas snaps in half at the waist, its abused superstructure giving out at last. She sees the massive palm of her foe through the shattered armourglass of her cockpit, and Blinks one last time.

    Repanse stands unmounted atop the palm of Aurelius's hand, the power of his half formed working tearing at her flesh and soul. She pours the power that normally animates an entire Knight into her own flesh, pulling a Truesilver medal off her breast. Trunklike fingers close; even in this place of frozen time, she must make haste. She is too exhausted to dispel his working, too unused to foot combat to shatter his fingers, but she has skills beyond those of battle. She drives the Silver of her commendation into the daemon's flesh, sinking less than a centimeter in, but it is enough. The daemon's flesh boils under the purifying metal in her hand, even as the Truesilver pits and blackens while being pressed against the physical embodiment of corruption. She makes swift sweeping motions, carving a practiced form with a great deal of haste, and far less control than is wise. She finds herself in shadows as the fingers close around her, yet with a final violent slash, her work is done. A crude Rune of Fire, carved into the skin of Aurelius's palm. There is light, and fire, and a great deal of pain. Repanse regains awareness as her tattered and bleeding form is hurtling through the air, trailing limbs and bloodied chunks of flesh like a bleeding comet. She triggers the emergency teleportation beacon embedded in her skull with her last fleeting moment of awareness. The last thing she sees before the darkness takes her is the hateful glare of an Archangyl, held by shining chains of light.

    @Durin an omake. many thanks to stormysky and everyone else who helped edit, it really really needed it.
    Click to expand...
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    nice look into a speed freak alpha psy knight in combat
    I am giving her an extra 5% progress to Master for it
    canon
     
    I kind of thought those were gonna have a more dramatic and immediate impact. Magical battle mechs sound like the kind of thing that revolutionize combat paradigms.
     
    w34v3r said:
    I kind of thought those were gonna have a more dramatic and immediate impact. Magical battle mechs sound like the kind of thing that revolutionize combat paradigms.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I think the issue is psyknights have a similar enough threat profile to greater demons that counter tactics exist, that and they are comparatively rare, we have about as many titan battle groups as psyknight corts.
     
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