The Ruoult race is one that had endured for over ten thousand years and suffered the worst the Galaxy could throw at them. And yet, the Ruoults simply learned of their mistakes and grew stronger and more powerful. It is the way of the Ruoults to root out weakness and instate nothing but pure discipline and order. There is no room for the meek within the Empire, and those who cannot fend for themselves are left to die alone. Rebellion and insurgency are unforgivable and the only true way to deal with these issues is to cut them down to the core with utmost prejudice. The Ruoults show very little tolerance towards failure, and will rarely give someone a second chance for redemption. It is a ruthless and hard regime, and yet it is necessary, for it has helped the Ruoults survive the greatest of hardships and the direst of odds they have come across.
The three different ethnicities, known as Hroag, Trarl and Rarzg, have survived and lived as one within the Empire. However, each ethnicity has been recognized for its advantages and has been given a task to perform. The Hroag are raised to be productive workers, to keep their Empire going; the Trarl became traders and political figures, and thus sustain the order; the Rarzg are recruited to become warriors, and join the Clans to defend their people and wage wars of conquest. The Empire produced a well refined and regimented method to keep this method working.
Firstly, Ruoults are all born the same; They spend about a year with at specialized nurseries. By the span of that one year, they learn how to talk, walk and eat on their own, and Then these one-year-olds are sent to Schooling Centres, where they will both live and learn alongside hundreds of others. They will spend five years in these centers, and by the time they are six years old, their caretakers will determine their ethnicity based on their mindset and biological characteristics which develop during this period.
If a Ruoult child developed and grown to be tall and slender, as well as started showing signs of hyperactivity and an energetic personality, it's a Hroag. If a Ruoult child grows shows signs of extensive muscle growth and aggression, then it's a Rarzg. If, however, the child has a darker skin tone and becomes calmer and level headed, then it's a Trarl.
At that point, they have finished their basic education at the Schooling Centres and will be sent to different Education Academies. There are three kinds of Education Academies, one for each ethnicity. There, the Ruoults will spend another four years. The Hroag Academies teach their students how to work and grants them more information about the many different duties they can choose. From engineers to techs staff, to construction and even transportation. The Trarl Academies teach the secrets of how the economy works, how to become respectable traders, politicians and government figures, or even become teachers who would pass down their knowledge to future generations. The Rarzg Academies, however, are more like boot camps. The young Ruoults train vigorously each day to improve their bodies. They also learn how to operate weapons, use equipment and most importantly, how to kill. Once a Ruoult has reached the age of eleven or twelve, he/she is considered to have finished his/her academic education and becomes a full grown adult.
The young Trarl will seek out traders, politicians or advisers and become their apprentices, and slowly make their way up. The Hroag will join Worker Guilds, and serve in them. As the year's pass, they will be entrusted with secrets the Guild carries of their production, and so the young worker will learn the ropes and aspire to be an asset to the Empire. The Rarzg would be granted the most basic armor, equipment, and weapons, and thus become a Guard. As a Guard, he will serve and protect his people for several years, until he has proven to be worthy to join a Clan. Once the young Rarzg joins the Clan, he would become an honorary Clanguard, and would fight to conquer a Galaxy in the name of the Grand Ruoult Empire.
The information that enters the Grand Ruoult Empire is being sifted and siphoned before being introduced to the masses. That way, the Empirical Government can alter the public perception, and encourage their people to think in a single way, to support war. This is achieved through large publications and advertisement of how great and glorious the Ruoult Clans are. They also talk about the sacrifices the Clanguards commit each day to keep the Ruoult race safe from many alien invaders that threaten the sovereignty of the Empire. The government teaches their people to despise all form of alien, with the exception of the Humans who had aided them in the past. They also remind the people of the threat from within, the traitors and rebels who would stand up against the righteousness of the Empirical rule.
These publications of propaganda are all too often on too many worlds of the Ruoult Empire. The cheering masses are inspired by how the Clanguards are being represented in their struggles to bring order to a chaos-ridden galaxy, and their efforts to defend the Ruoult people. That way, the Hroag continue to work harder, the Trarl become more productive and keep the economy steady, and the Rarzg feel obliged to train harder and aspire to noble deeds, to become part of one honorable Clan and fight for the Grand Ruoult Empire.
It is common for large screens placed on top of buildings to display public officials, Clan Overlords, or even the Eighth Sovereign Empress Vi'Cath herself, preaching about how noble the deeds of the Ruoult warriors are, and how their purpose is true and justified, regardless of the means they use to accomplish their ends. Even Helidynes are equipped with monitors that display messages to the people and are augmented with powerful speakers that allow the words of their leaders to echo across the Ruoult cities. The Overseers think that all of this might be over the top, but it has proven to be an efficient way to receive the complete trust and support from the people. That has helped the Empire survive and endure through thousands of years of unending war.
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A Study in Contrast: Relation Between Ruoult and Humanity
A Study in Contrast: Relation Between Ruoult and Humanity
It is true that the very first "alien" race the Ruoults encountered were Humans, but those were Overseers, who were last remnants of Dark Age of Technology. The Ruoults have not had any major encounters with the emerging Imperium of Men until only the 31st millennium. Prior to that, the Ruoults had to rely on the stories of the Overseers to learn about the galaxy beyond the Veiled region and Mankind. Through many tales of glory and victory, the Overseers told, the Ruoults had received an image of Humanity and its greatness. The curious aliens have come to respect the Human race and do not question their power.
This enigmatic Human faction was present in the Veiled Region ever since the Iron War ended and ever since they were close allies with the Ruoult Empire. Their relationship was that of mutual respect and cooperation so that both may prosper and survive in this cruel and unforgiving universe. Their alliance stays strong to this very day, and they assist one another in any way they can. While the Overseers share their scientific knowledge, their technical prowess and wisdom with the Ruoults, the Xenos, in turn, grant the Overseers resource donations, military protection, and raw manpower. Although their coexistence appears near perfect at first sight, the truth is not quite as convenient. There were no major conflicts between the Overseer Republic and the Ruoult Empire in the past, but that does not mean the two wholesomely approve of what the other does and how they act.
Most notably, the Overseers do not approve of the xenophobic, oppressive and militaristic regime the Ruoults have implemented in order to reorganize themselves after the Long War, while the Ruoults aren't fond of how trusting the Overseers are of some alien races, or how they believe that war is to be the last option possible and that diplomacy must always be used first when dealing with sentient life. One puts its trust in reason and understanding and the other in brute force and aggression, hence why the two clashed in a political manner more often than naught.
Even though the Overseers could only fight in the last millennia of the war, the Ruoults are still thankful that they were there when they needed them the most. While the Overseers have very little ambition in the field of war and conquest, the Ruoults are the opposite, striving to conquer the depths of the Veiled region which they originated. Ruoults even encourage the Overseers to wage war, and to have a bit more of a hand in their conquests, claiming that a bit more military action on their behalf would strengthen both nations. Even though such disputes are seen as minor, there have been some uneasy moments when a Ruoults does something cruel out of necessity or when an Overseer commits an act a Ruoult would deem dishonorable. Nevertheless, the alliance between the two still stands and it has endured too many hardships to be torn up by any mere dispute.
An example would be when the Overseers encountered a fledgling alien nation in the Veiled Region, named the Trunok Confederacy. Every time the Overseers tried to communicate with the Trunok, they would reply with hostility and continue to pillage the Human settlements in the neighboring systems. When the Overseers asked the Ruoults to assist them by "displaying their military power" to the Trunok, the Ruoults gladly responded and sent a massive armada which swept over the Confederacy, torching their colonies, crushing every counter-offensive, publically executing their political and military leaders, isolating the civilians in propaganda camps where they would be "tutored" to accept Ruoult rule as supreme and suffocating any attempt of resistance. In the end, the Ruoults shattered the Trunok Confederacy, wiped out any hope they had of winning, converted many of their planets to mining operations, tasking the remaining civilians to work there and then simply gave the Overseers the remaining Trunok worlds as an offering, a gesture of goodwill. The Overseers were nearly speechless, they expected of the Ruoults to only suppress the Trunok armed forces while the Overseers try to find a common ground they could negotiate on, they never wanted for the Ruoults to utterly destroy their Confederacy and turn its people into a caste of laborers, spending their lives mining in planets they once called their own. The Overseer Senate agreed that the Ruoults went too far and then forbid them from contacting the Trunok ever again. Time and time again, the Overseer Senate would argue with the Ruoult Royal Council about political manners and how they should be solved. Both factions have their own set mentality and both claim to be the correct one and that their methods are true.
There are still many threats that lurk in the Veiled Region. Groups of Ork Raiders still lives, and although it is fragmented and scattered, with no distinct leader at its head, it still poses a great threat to Ruoults and Overseers alike. Also, Dark Eldar raids have not been as common as during the climax of the Long War, but they are still present, most notably at the borders of both the Grand Ruoult Empire and the peaceful Overseer Republic. It is these reasons that kept their alliance strong, and each tried to help each other when the assistance was necessary.
Whenever a great threat appears, like an Ork WAAAGH!, or a Dark Eldar Fleet, then the two will join their forces and fight side by side to repel the invaders and crush them entirely. Many Ruoult Conquest Forces and Exploratory Fleets share honor bonds with Overseer Legions, Cohorts and Maniples. On the battlefield, the two factions work fluently with one another. The Overseer legionnaires deliver precise volley of gunfire towards their enemies and utilize many advanced sabotage and subterfuge tactics while the Ruoults simply charge straight towards the enemy lines and bulldoze their way to victory through sheer grit, courage, and physical strength.
It is only when the Eighth Sovereign Empress of the Grand Ruoult Empire declared a new age of conquest that the Ruoult race started to leave the Veiled Region and enter Imperial space they discovered Humans who are different than Overseers. The Ruoults that entered the Segmentum Pacificus were not mighty armies of victory the Ruoults had earned their name as warriors for, those were reserved for exterminating Ork infestations and Dark Eldar fleets, as well as hunting down the Renegade Ruoult Clans. In addition, the Ruoults had to split their forces further, to defend their worlds from the likes of Dark Eldar raiders or the sudden rising of a Xeno Empires, and even the odds of a Warp Storm, which would unleash the dreaded Chaos Daemons into the material world.
To this reason, the vast majority of the Empirical military might is currently occupied. The Empire can, however, spare some of their veteran warriors in small Exploratory Fleets. Each Clan would have to contribute a fraction of all their Clanguards and but a few vessels. An Exploratory Fleet might consist of but two or three cruisers, sometimes even one, sailing the stars alone. Each would contain around a hundred Clanguards, each a highly skilled and very experienced warrior who has already had his share of action. These small armies of explorers have been sent out beyond the borders of the Empire, to explore uncharted space, be it deeper into the Veiled Region or even beyond it.
The explorers have no desire to conquer or enslave mankind, and would instead simply be curious about what is going on, and perhaps even offer a helping hand when needed. Many worlds which had been saved by these Ruoults would learn to trust them, and wouldn't betray them to the emerging Imperium or its agents, and thus the Ruoults went virtually unnoticed for centuries. When the Battle between Uophet and Ruoult took place, only then Agents of Malcador and Imperium finally noticed Ruoult and their Empire.
Ruoult History Part Thirteen: Age of Reclamation
By the time Vi'Cath had ascended the Throne she already earned respect from nearly every single Ruoult in the Empire, and her name is hailed with much glory. It was she who realized what the Ruoults are born for, waging wars and winning them. She would make it so that ultimate control and interstellar conquest become the one true destiny of the Ruoult race and that it would be them to bring order to the chaotic Galaxy, weeding out all who would oppose this cause. The enemies of the Empire are many, but it will do what needs to be done to accomplish its great goal of interstellar conquest.
'We should not fear the alien, the alien should fear us.'---Common Ruoult Saying
While forging their path to glorious victory, the Ruoults had encountered many smaller races within the Veiled Region. Some had but entered their Stone Age, while the others took their first steps into space. But as Vi'Cath ordered, it would be the Ruoults that would bring ultimate order and control to the entire Galaxy, and they would start with the Veiled Region. Races that could be negotiated with would be placed "under custody" for a time before it is proven whether or not do they pose a threat to the Empire. If all is well, then the Ruoults would simply continue to cautiously monitor that race at all times. If the race seems to be hostile, then the Ruoults would not hesitate to bring forth the Clans to crush all opposition and install in place their own command. Sometimes, a single race would prove to be so tediously persistent that the Ruoults would feel no need to hold back their military power. If they would win a war, then they would either suppress the race entirely, forcing them to labor or whatever form of service to "learn their place", or have their technology taken away from them, reducing them to a lower level, thus making them a lesser threat. These "punishment worlds" as the Ruoults call them would serve as an example to others who would dare stand against the Grand Ruoult Empire. In some rare cases, however, the wars would be prolonged and much effort would be spent, until finally, the Empire decides to outright exterminate the race, wiping them off from the stars. Later, the Ruoults would descend on their worlds and destroy any records of their existence, burning down any literature, tearing down architecture and leaving not a single trace left.
The only thing that would be left of the exterminated race would be a memory, which would fade away into oblivion. The Overseers naturally do not approve of any of this and believe that there can always be a peaceful solution to anything. But the Ruoult Empire is vast, and the uncharted places of the Veiled Region which are being explored are many, so it is impossible to keep tabs on the entire Ruoult race and all that happens on within and beyond their Empire. Ever since the Long War ended, Ruoults had stopped showing mercy or pity on any outsider, including other Xeno races. There are only a few sole exceptions which they tolerate and respect, the most notable of which is Mankind.
Ever since the Overseers helped the Ruoults ascend to a technologically higher level of awareness, the Empire had strived to create better ways of traversing through space. At first, primitive faster than light drives were enough to spread the first colonies beyond their original star system where the planet Muliv lays, but this was not enough. After having sufficient technology, the Ruoults had made their first trips into the Warp. These were just small "puddle jumps" as they were referred by Overseers. With this, they had been able to spread over several star systems far from Muliv. The Empire was not satisfied by simply glancing the Warp for limited jumps which were slower than standard Warp Travel, so they had designed a way to mix the technological with the spiritual.
Ruoult spaceships would be outfitted with a circle of Augurs, known as Guidance Augurs, who would be in a deep state meditation to help accumulate and control their power. When the ship is prepared to enter the Warp, the Augurs generate some form of psychic bubble around the ship. The bubble acts as a shield that dampens all the tremors and repels the many daemonic terrors that lie within the Warp. This process would be called "Spiritual Shielding".
When sailing the chaotic tides of the Immaterium, the shields would make the vessel appear as a shining spark of light in an endless sea of darkness. When leaving the Warp, the Ruoult cruiser leaps out with a powerful thrust which shatters the shield, and its remains are spread in front of the ship in the form of shinning spiritual mist, which bears resemblance to a small Aurora in the middle of space. Ruoult ships can vary in size, and so the larger the ship, the more Augurs it is required to produce Spiritual Shielding. An ordinary Cruiser would need a small grouping of perhaps a dozen or so, while larger barges which are as much as a kilometer long would need at least a hundred, and finally the titanic Motherships would require several hundred, perhaps even a thousand at a time gathered in one area, with the deep humming of their mediation echoing across its inner chambers.
The most famous incident happened during this Age is called Maiden War. It happened When the Ruoults resumed their conquests in M31, they had started to inhabit a series of paradise planets, which were ripe for colonization, and it was generally not that difficult to conquer them. As it turns out, these were Maiden Worlds, which were made habitable by Eldar ancestry long before The Fall so their future generations could inhabit them later. The Ruoults started occupying these planets and then turning them to highly productive centers of resource collection, which would later be refined and shipped out to the rest of the Empire, to keep the conquests going. Various resources could be found from the Maiden Worlds, including fertile fields which could house a substantial number of agricultural complexes. This had made these planets essentially invaluable to the Grand Ruoult Empire.
Mere centuries after the Ruoult race achieved interstellar travel, they met the enigmatic Craftworld Eldar, although, these were mostly isolated occurrences. The Overseers knew the Eldar well and that there were two Craftworlds in the Veiled Region. There is Iybraesil, searching for the secrets of the Crone Worlds, and the mysterious Varantha, of which very little is known.
At first, the Ruoults simply tried to evade the Eldar, because they had not even a shred of respect for them. Firstly, the Ruoults believe that one should face their enemy head-on, not use trickery or deceit, this is seen as cowardice and weakness by true Ruoult warriors. Secondly, the Ruoults believe that an individual forges his own fate through life, while the Eldar strongly believe that all is written and that fate cannot be changed. And thirdly, the Ruoults expect the Eldar to take full responsibility for what happened at The Fall of their race. In addition, the Ruoults hold the entirety of the Eldar race fully responsible for the creation of the Eye of Terror and the birth of Slaanesh. Seeing themselves as a superior race, the Eldar take offense as the Ruoults throw rightful accusations at them, and instead deem the Ruoults as simple barbarians who are far less than them.
'The difference between Ruoult and Eldar is that Eldar submits to fate, while Ruoults struggle their whole lives to make their own destiny.'---Overlord Bol'Org
Naturally, conflict would arise from these squabbles, and it would be the Ruoults who would usually bring victory. It is because of this that the two races have grown to detest one another and avoid contact at all costs. However, they would come to blows once more.
The Craftworld Eldar did not care how well did these worlds serve them, and simply barged in, demanding that the "invaders" leave and let the Eldar take what is "rightfully theirs". The Ruoult took this as heavy offense and refused to budge, instead of fortifying the Maiden Worlds and enforcing a degree of military power in the systems, in hopes of simply warding of the Eldar. But the opposite happened, as Eldar forces started attacking these worlds, and the Ruoults defended themselves. The series of conflicts between Craftworld Eldar and the Empirical Ruoult is referred to as "The Maiden War" due to the fact that most of the battles took place on (or near a) Maiden Worlds, currently, it is ongoing. Even pacifistic Overseers refuse to play as a mediator due to their deep hatred towards Eldar, the Ruoult and Eldar are simply too stubborn to listen to each other, and the war continues to rage on to this very day.
The assault on Velnias was only days away. This would be his Legion's first mission of the new job he had been assigned. Clearing worlds that the Warp Xenos had corrupted. Filled with the terrible things. Initial plans had already been drawn up, now all that was left was to get into position. So here Kesar sat, in his workshop, trying to figure out how to use his new means of computation to handle something seemingly simple. Shapes.
Starting simple. What kind of shapes are possible? At least, with regular features. Well. Let's see. A simple point. A line. No way to make a shape with just two lines, but 3 fundamentally different ways to make a shape with 3. All the lines are the same length, 2 of the lines are the same length, and none of the lines are the same length. Well then, what kind of useful information could he get out of this 3 sided shape, this triangle. Well to begin with the simplest form, the one with all sides the same length or... an equilateral triangle. And wow. This stuff is almost impossible to do anything with as is.
Well... hmm, if I create a grid... it should make it much easier to have a good understanding of the distances involved, and their relative meaning. Alright, but how to label this grid. Just have the center at 0 I suppose? But, there are two directions it can go, its not just a line. So, 0,0 to denote the center? This should work. Then, every shape I draw on this grid will have a particular location, and length's based on the grid squares. All simple enough so far. Alright so, call those locations on the grid coordinate, and the grid itself is meant to represent an infinite flat area, so a coordinate plane? That should work. Then from there... huh, interesting enough I can write out all my previous efforts as movements along this plane, in either direction. Then how would I combine the two? Well, 1+4=10. Let's say that's starting on the one for the right side of the plane, and moving further to the right. So, would be something like 1,0 to 5,0. With this coordinate system. Then, a separate equation, 3+3=11. That would be 0,3 to 0,11. How to write out both at once? To show that its going from 1,3 to 10,11? Well that's something I haven't tried to do yet. Now, I'm working with multiple different things changing at once. So, how to think of this?
Alright, well. Here 2 numbers are changing, so I need a way to represent that. It can't be any of the numerals, that'd just be weird and confusing. So... some kind of other symbol. Maybe a letter instead? That seems easy enough. So its for the length and width of the object, so... "l" and "w" with "l" being left to right coordinate and "w" being forward and back. Alright so, much like reading start left to right, top to bottom. So then, in the coordinate "l" goes first, and "w" goes second. So for something at 3 to the right, and 1 up, it'd be 3,1. Then, for the other coordinate, in this case 11 to the right and 10 up, we have 11,10. Alright that seems like it should be simple enough to understand and work with. Alright so, now the issue becomes something else.
Now just gotta figure out how to write that out in a way that means something. So the first l,w coordinate in this case is 3,1 and the second l,w coordinate is 11,10. So then, if I draw that out on this grid. I can make two points, and then just make a line between them to show that one leads to the other. Alright so... huh, I wonder what kind of information I could get out of that line? Well... lets see, I could pick any point on that line, and it'd be on the path between those two points. Though, huh. How do I go about finding what that point actually is? Well... I can tell directly where its at relative to the length of the lines and use that, but I don't think that's something a normal human could do... So I should probably find a way to actually make that reliable. Well, I did create a grid just for ease of seeing these things... but how best to use it? Well, if I just say its between the nearest grid points, that gives a rough estimate, and if I had a small enough grid I suppose it would be accurate to any point, but then, you could always pick a point between the grid spaces. So I've got to figure out a way to find any specific point.
Alright, how in the galaxy do I go about this? Well, alright. What do I know about this line... segment? I guess? It could just be traced out forever in every direction. So yeah, what do I know about this line segment? I know the two points that define it, and the difference between them. What do I need to know? What any specific point on the line might be. Alright, so if I know the difference between them... those two end points, then... it should be the same kind of change all the way through that line? So... it should just be a matter of knowing how far along that change the point is right? How would I go about that though? Well, what is the ratio to start with. Its 3 to the right, and 4 up. 3,4 if it was in coordinate form. Hmm, maybe looking at those initial equations again would help? It was 1+4=10 and 3+3=11. Alright and since the 1 and the 3 is the starting point, and the 10 and the 11 is the ending point... both of those would be things that would change. But is there any kind of way to combine the two? I know that when l is 1, w is 3. As well as that while l is 10, w is 11. So... maybe some kind of way to transform between the two? That way I can pick any l value and work out the w? Or the reverse, if I wanted the l instead of the w? Alright... well, for this specific instance I'm looking at a difference of 2 between them? So it starts with w=l+2? But at the end, its w=l+1. Hmm... well, these both give something different. Instead they just give a completely different line, that happen to look exactly like each other, just one higher than the other... Huh, that's interested. So, I need to shift that line to look like the line I actually want it to be. I do have those differences, and they seem like they'd be important for this. The way the w=l+a? yeah "a" I suppose works until I find a better letter name it... actually, no let's go with d for distance from the start. So then, w=l+d. That gives a particularly shape. But I want the shape to be something else. Well, alright, I need to multiply l by something to make the w change correctly. I've... already got the change between the points though right? So just put that there. w=3/4l+d. Alright so if I fill that in, I get 3=3/4*1+d. That turns into 3=3/4+d. Then, just figure out the right d? So 3-3/4 = 2+1/4 Well... huh 2.1111111 and it just repeats that 1 forever. That does seem like it might be prudent to keep things to fractions and not try to write them in decimal form. Alright so d = 2+1/4. That gives w=3/4l+2+1/4.
If we plug in the numbers there. We get 3=3/4*1+2+1/4. Which simplifies down to 3=3/4+2+1/4 or 3=2+1=3. Alright so that's right. But does it work for the other number? 11=3/4*10+2+1/4 That becomes 11=30/4+2+1/4, becomes 11=3+3/4+2+1/4, turns into 11=3+2+1 which is 11=11. Alright. So that's how to get any point on that slope.
NOW, I can finally get to the point of this whole exercise, working out how this stuff applies to shapes. The these sides are a little complicated, maybe I should go with a circle instead, just a center and every point equidistant from that center. Huh. Alright so make that distance one square on the grid. How long is that segment? Or I guess the perimeter of the circle? This shouldn't be too difficult...
The next day, as they move into final positions for the assault, heard all throughout the legion, by many a Battle Brother:
"I saw his notes, and how frustrated he got over trying to figure out something so seemingly simple, those poor cultists have no idea what's coming for them."
"Does our Father seem particularly incensed to you?"
"These warp xenos have certainly pissed off our Father."
"It'll be a glory to watch Father express his righteous anger out on these filthy cultists and warp xenos"
[x] Sneak attack on the secret of keepers
-[x] Site 1 Deploy - 5000 Marines Kesar Here, Thousand Sons Close main rift
-[x] Site 2 Orbital Bombardment Deploy 5000 marines
-[x] Site 3 Blow explosives set in place
-[x] Site 4 Orbital Bombardment and deploy 5000 marines
-[x] Site 5 Deploy 5000 Marines
-[x] Site 6 Blow Explosives
-[X] keep other forces on standby to support in case of failure
After reviewing the situation, Kesar decided to keep the situation simple. The Eternal Wardens would insert quietly where orbital bombardment was not possible, and if it was they would open with that before arriving in groups of 5000. While it may have been a sign of overconfidence, Kesar was fully confident in his Legion's skills and said as much. While the Wardens were unsure about how to feel, they trusted their father's skills. After placing the remaining Eternal Wardens on standby and under Scafrir's care, the XIth Primarch joined his sons for an assault on the main warp rift alongside the Thousand Sons.
As Kesar traveled to the site, the remaining Wardens were not idle. At Site 2, the fleet broke into three elements, 1 to bombard Site 2, 1 to bombard Site 4 and 1 to provide rapid reinforcements if necessary. When the fleet arrived over Site 2, they took up a formation with multiple concentric triangles before charging their weapons batteries. Then, with the wrath of the Sovereign, they judged the neverborn and found them lacking. Millions of daemons and cultists died within minutes. The fortifications that had been erected were demolished as nearly half the forces here died screaming in what must have been hell. Before the glass had even cooled, the Eternal Wardens deployed in drop pod and Stormbird. Ready, to cleanse the daemon.
It was not a battle. It was an execution. The cultists had no defensive lines, no Keeper of Secrets, just numbers and daemonettes. In short, they were insects compared to the Wardens. The XIth Legion tore through what called itself an organized defense. The Astartes killed and killed and kept on killing. The ground was drenched in daemonic ichor and cultists blood and they still killed. Here, the Wardens were gods to the cultists who had come to judge them for their crimes against humanity. The cultists ran in terror, the normal ecstasy of combat replaced by something far more primitive. Mortal Terror. As the cultists fled, the daemonettes shrieked in ecstasy as they threw themselves upon bolt and chain, dying in the thousands. They did not even slow the Wardens. They pushed forward, and with their physiology, easily massacred the daemons. With the chaff out of the way, the Wardens slaughtered the remaining cultists without any threat to them. In the warp, a god smiled.
Then, there was Site 3. Here Captain Centunus Solarus smiled as he looked at the readouts for his handiwork. The mining tunnels here were a great source of inspiration for the captain. After all, they were dug out, so clearly they should be filled. With explosives. Lots and lots of explosives. While a few of the quartermasters were perturbed by the number, Solarus explained that it was necessary as large troop movements had been spotted in the area. As such, it was prudent that he acquire as many explosives as needed. To this end, he had filled the mining tunnels with explosives. As in all of the tunnels. And then he reinforced the tunnel entrances to amplify the blast.
Now, Captain Solarus and his underlings looked at the three Keeper of Secrets that stood above the mining tunnels. "This has gone far better than expected." As the captain said this, he pulled out the detonator before savoring the moment. Then, he brought his thumb down and pressed the button. For a moment, the planet was quiet. Fitting for what followed. In an instant, the world turned white as a mountain exploded. On said mountain, were three Keeper of Secrets, millions of daemonettes, and billions of cultists. And with the press of a button, they were but dust in the wind. The explosions could be seen from orbit, and from a third of the world, as the mushroom cloud created slammed into the upper atmosphere before flaring out. The Wardens here just looked at the explosion, then at Solarus, before one recruit spoke. "Brother Captain, I believe that the explosion while marvelous was just a little bit excessive."
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
When Site 3 exploded, the resulting explosion threw particulates into the atmosphere, disrupting the sensors of the ships in orbit. The ships preparing to bombard Site 4 were especially affected, as they had spent hours calibrating their sensors for different atmospheric conditions. With just a few moments before fire support was needed, the fleet had no choice but to fire. The coordinated assault was well aimed, but the lances dissipated in the atmosphere due to the metal shrapnel. Nevertheless, they were still enough to destroy the defenses.
Then, the Wardens crashed into the cultists in drop pods and Stormbirds. Here, the enemy was dangerous, for there was a Keeper of Secrets. As the Legion tore through the cultists like paper, the Greater Daemon mowed through the Eternal Wardens. Hundreds died as the creature's impossible agility let it dance through the battlefield. The Wardens that did engage it were distracted and flanked by the cultists, resulting in the deaths of 500 Astartes.. That changed when he arrived.
When the Wardens on Valhalla IV became Lost, there were a few that clung to their souls and survived. One of them took up a new mantle in disgrace for their failure on the Primarch's homeworld. Now, he remained silent and withdrawn. The rest of the Legion knew of his prowess in combat and respected to him as such. For none of the Wardens held as much rage and sorry for the daemons as he did, save the Primarch of course. Now, the Doom Slayer arrived and charged the Keeper of Secrets.
Firing his boelter as he charged, the Greater Daemon twirled in the air, as the Doom Slayer took advantage of the ariel maneuver to grab a volkite from a fallen brother. Midair, the daemon could not dodge, as the Doom Slayer fired as fast as the trigger could be pulled. Wounds opened on the foul creature as the Doom Slayer tossed the weapon back to his fallen brother and pulled out his chainsword. Sliding on his knees, he slid under the Greater Daemon's swing as he raised the sword and tore through one of the neverborn's arms.
Now, however, the Doom Slayer had the Keeper's full attention, and he paid the price. On his knees, he was unable to dodge the kick that lashed out at him. Tumbling across the ground, he came to a stop at the remnants of a fortification. Without giving a moments respite, the Keeper swung two of its remaining arms in a sensual yet deadly manner. The Doom Slayer just managed to block the first strike and deflect the second, but his weapon was now destroyed. The machine spirit going insane at the contact with the Greater Daemon. Tossing the weapon, the Doom Slayer cracked his knuckles and moved closer. The Keeper swung its three arms in a dance as the Doom Slayer dodged each of its strikes by bare millimeters. For nearly a minute it continued until the Keeper made a mistake. Caught up in the ecstasy of combat, its perfect defense was momentarily imperfect. And the Warden took full advantage. Ducking under the second blade and stepping over the third, the Doom Slayer grabbed the creature by the leg before clambering up to its head. Deflecting the creature's strikes with his armor, he placed his arms around the Keeper's neck and pulled. The creature screamed in pain, ecstasy, and pleasure, as its head was torn off its body. Stumbling, the Doom Slayer raised the head as the Wardens cheered and continued to rip and tear into the cultists.
With the Greater Daemon dead, the Wardens continued to destroy the cultists until they broke and ran. Now, millions of cultists were streaming from the site, but most of the daemonettes had died. However, it was never wise to underestimate the warp Xenos.
At Site 5, orbital bombardment was not a good idea due to the lack of targeting information. As such, this was the second hardest site to take since a Keeper of Secrets had been spotted here as well. Nevertheless, the Wardens infiltrated the area, guided by the Pathfinders as they easily managed to find a location where they set up for an ambush. Here, they targeted the cultist defenses first and hoped that a group of 11 of the best Eternal Wardens at this location could slay the Keeper. However, it was not to be. When the cultists fortifications were blown up, the Keeper danced into the flank of the Wardens, slowing the advance enough for the daemonettes to engage the Wardens in the foul creatures ideal combat range. Still, it was not enough as the Wardens advanced through the daemonic ichor that coated their armor and ripped through the daemon lines. Nevertheless, even they had their limits, as a fifth died from lucky strikes and unlucky positioning. Meanwhile, the eleven finally managed to reach the Keeper.
In the opening moments, the group was surrounded by daemonettes, as the Keeper of Secrets isolated them from the rest of the Wardens. Alone, with a Greater Daemon, surrounded on all sides by foul neverborn, the Wardens charged. In those moments, 8 died from the daemonettes and Keeper as its arms swung in a choreographed dance of bliss along with the cries of ecstasy from the daemonettes. Three survived long enough to get through the forest of blades and strike the daemon. Now, with daemonic ichor trailing from its sides, the Keeper lashed out in a dizzying sensual pattern of perfect bladework. Of the three Wardens, only one survived. In the distraction that his brother's deaths provided, the sole Warden dueling the creature charged and pierced the creature with his sword. And it stayed alive and screamed in pleasure as it impaled the Warden. Bringing the Astartes close, the Warden smiled as he threw an object. A bandolier of grenades from himself and his fallen brothers. Screaming, the Greater Daemon died as an explosion rang out, killing it and the Warden.
With the Keeper dead, the Wardens surged forward into the city, where the streets were far wider than expected. Here, the cultists brought their numbers advantage as they drowned the Wardens in bodies. There simply was no time to reload as the Wardens switched from Volkites and bolt to chain and fists because of necessity. The amount of ammunition that they carried was insufficient, but they were still up to the task. For hours, the Wardens ripped and tore as the cultists died in the millions. For hours they charged, unable to see what had happened to their demented comrades. As they surged, they thought they were charging a collapsed defense line, but as time passed, the mound of bodies grew until the cultists saw what was happening. Facing certain death, they did what was expected. They ran. The Wardens still slaughtered them, but they simply did not have the numbers after hours of fighting. In those hours, mistakes piled up, and half the remaining force had died. However, in the end, only 3000 Wardens in total died at Site 5. Sadly, millions of cultists had escaped.
Site 6, was much more sedate in comparison to the explosion at Site 3. Here, the captain in charge understood what the phrase sufficient explosives meant. Of course, they still overdid it. This explosion was only visible from a few kilometers around the ritual site as opposed to the explosion at Site 3 being visible from a third of the planet. Nevertheless, this explosion was sufficient to glass the nearby area and kill the cultists and destroy the ritual.
Now as Kesar traveled with 5000 Wardens, he mentally complimented the skills of his Pathfinders. They had done well guiding the group and although they would have caught were it not for his presence and the Sisters of Silence, it was still an adequate job considering the sheer numbers and the Keeper of Secrets that was reveling in front of the warp rift. As the group was traveling, the explosion at Site 3 detonated. The sound was heard by the group multiple times, as the shock wave passed around the world multiple times. With the distraction, the Wardens made their move and attacked.
Shortly before this, the Alpha Legion were conducting their own operation. Under the guidance of Primarch Omegon, who had visited Kesar once under the guise of Alpharius, the Alpha Legion scoured the area for a certain individual. A Xeno working for the enigmatic Cabal had been tracked here. So far, their purpose was unknown, as the one thought of as the target, Oriacarius, was missing. Inwardly, Omegon simply did not know what their goal was, but he strove to stop it.
For days before the arrival of the Wardens, the Alpha Legion scoured the shadows. They searched everywhere, and yet they still found nothing. When the Wardens arrived, and they began their operation, the Alpha Legion searched tirelessly, before finally, a single clue was found. A partial mission notice in a Xeno code. Comparing it to other intercepted messages, the Alpha Legion extrapolated from the notice, the location of the unknown Xeno.
From his knowledge of the terrain, Omegon inwardly mused as to the purpose, before he came to a terrifying conclusion. Malcador had already explained that Kesar had been wounded by two of the chaos gods' minions. From the Cabal member's vantage point, they would be in an ideal position to distract Kesar during the conflict. Furious at the plot, he drove the Alpha Legion in search of the Xeno and through the use of their superior numbers, the Alpha Legion cornered the Xeno, but not before the Cabal had already put their plans in place. Then, under the cover of the explosions, the Alpha Legion and Cabal warred.
Meanwhile, the Wardens had also taken advantage of the daemons distraction to perform a devastating alpha strike. With surprise on their side, the Wardens tore through the cultist lines and positioned themselves in front of the rift. As daemonettes charged them from the warp rift, the cultists charged and fired, and the Keeper of Secrets sensually stalked forward, the Wardens prepared to hold the line. The one sad fact, however, was the 500 Wardens that had fallen as they charged through the cultist's lines when they were separated.
As the Wardens moved forward, the Cabal put the first of their plans into play. This was a sniper shot, with a special bullet. The bullet had been laced with daemonic ichor from multiple Keeper of Secrets and had been specially designed to not cause pain to the target. It would be fired during the duel between Kesar and Keeper of Secrets. Now, the Xeno aimed and calibrated the weapon. Now ready to fire, the creature waited for the perfect moment, all the while the Alpha Legion frantically searched for the Xeno.
With the Wardens preparing a defensive position, the Keeper of Secrets swayed as it called out in joy for the chance to demonstrate its sword skills. In response, Kesar fired Sagita, his gift from Perturabo. The teleporting bullet caught the Greater Daemon by surprise, as a hole appeared through its torso and it screamed in pleasure and pain. In response, the foul creature stepped forward, and engaged the Primarch in a sword duel for the ages as neither side wounded the other, although the Keeper's swords cracked more and more as the Sword of the Lost sang a song of rage and denial.
Breath in, breath out. The creature didn't know its name or what it was doing. All it knew was that it must cause the target to suffer a wound from a Slaaneshi source. Breath in, breath out. Adjust for wind. Adjust for bullet drop. With the assistance of a divining tool, the Xeno aimed. The shot was perfect, the conditions matched the desired circumstances. The Xeno pulled the trigger, with Kesar's right leg in the crosshairs. It would have hit. But an Alpha Legionary finally spotted the Xeno, seconds before they fired. With no time to react, the Astartes did the only thing they could. They jumped in front of the bullet meant for Kesar. The Xeno was displeased. Its primary plan had been foiled when a nontarget had jumped in front of the bullet. This resulted in the bullet embedding into the Astartes. Not ideal. With this, it worked towards its second plan.
As the sword dance between the Primarch and Keeper continued, the Sword of the Lost sang louder as the Keeper's blades shattered. Within a millisecond, Kesar seized the advantage and stabbed the daemon and began to yank his sword upwards.
With the Cabal's primary plan a failure, the Xeno pulled out a second shot, this one filled with gasses created by Slaaneshi daemons and cultists. It should still allow the Chaos God to get some hold upon Kesar, although it was not as strong as the primary bullet. However, the first shot alerted the Alpha Legion and Omegon, who swarmed the area. When they found the corpse of the Alpha Legionary who prevented the Cabal's plan from succeeding, they extrapolated and found the Xeno operative. The Astartes fired upon the Xeno, who reacted as if they knew the attack was coming and leaped into cover. However, during this, they were forced to deploy covering fire using the bullet meant for Kesar. The bullet hit a member of the Alpha Legion, who died instantly as a hole appeared in his skull. With the primary and secondary plans a failure, the creature switched to its tertiary plan, a prepared explosive device.
Kesar tore the Keeper in half, as the Wardens roared in approval. As the Wardens took up the defenses, the Thousand Sons gathered to perform a ritual to close the rift. In response, the tide of daemonettes increased as did the cultists, as they charged the Warden lines, screaming in ecstasy at the combat. However, they were charging Astartes lines, that were specially designed to deal with cultists, led by their Primarch, who was very experience fighting daemons. Needless to say, the cultists and daemonettes died in droves. The ground was covered in gore and daemonic ichor as the daemonettes continuously poured in from the warp portal as the Thousand Sons got closer and closer to finalizing the ritual.
Meanwhile, the Cabal member began their final plan. An explosive device they had placed near the warp rift. It was calibrated to severely injure the XIth Primarch, but not kill him. As such, it was poorly positioned but hopefully would allow a Slaaneshi daemon to wound him if they got lucky. As the creature pulled out the detonator and brought his thumb down, the Changer of Ways manipulated events. Suddenly, the Alpha Legion's accuracy fell by the wayside as they tripped, as air currents guided shots slightly to the left or right. With this brief moment, the Xeno pressed the button.
But nothing happened. Smirking, Omegon held onto the bomb's physical detonator that the Alpha Legion had already removed. Did they really think the Alpha Legion had not considered the possibility of a bomb? With all the Cabal's plans a failure, the Xeno brought his pistol to bear against himself to deny its limited secrets. But before it could do so, the Alpha Legion closed and tackled the Xeno. Securing it, they extracted themselves onto a Wardens stormbird, as Omegon smiled and spoke, "The rest I leave to you brother."
As the Wardens held off the never-ending tide of daemons and cultists, the Thousand Sons ritual approached its climax. As they prepared to unleash it, the warp rift suddenly quadrupled in size as a Keeper of Secrets and 6,666,666 daemonettes stepped through it. During this massive surge of power, the Thousand Sons sealed the rift. However, all that power had to go somewhere, and it was used for one of the most devastating actions a daemon could suffer.
On a scale never seen before, the daemons suffered true death. A Greater Daemon being truly killed was rare, but having millions of daemons killed alongside one? That was unheard of. A thunderous boom cracked the landscape and air. A shockwave of psychic power echoed as the daemons screamed in pure terror. Where the wave touched, daemons were truly killed. Millions of them died as their cultist's powers stared in horror. And the Keeper of Secrets, begged for someone to save them, as they sobbed. In the end, it didn't matter as the Greater Daemon died screaming for help, alongside 6,666,666 daemonettes shrieking in mortal terror.
The cultists took a step backward. The Kesar looked at them. A single cultist whispered a title that would stick with Kesar for millennia to come. "Daemonsbane."
Kesar took a single step, and the cultists broke. They ran in terror. The Eternal Wardens had truly killed so many daemons that they would be feared for all time by the creatures of the warp. Even now, the daemons at other locations forcibly stabbed themselves to be returned to the warp instead of suffering true death.
*Daemonsbane – Kesar causes fear in daemons, they take a -10 penalty to all their actions when they know he is around*
As the cultists ran away, Kesar realized that this conflict would take years to wrap up due to the sheer numbers of cultists on this world. While their might was broken, simply searching for those that survived would take years. To this end, there were several things to chose from.
The first was how destructive to be in purging the cultists. There were a few options. The first involved basically destroying large portions of the planet and killing anyone that they don't immediately confirm is not a cultist. The second is to use the titans, as there is no force capable of damaging them anymore. They would be destructive, but not very. The last option is to slowly exterminate them using the Wardens. This would cause casualties and be slow, but it would allow for the few untainted civilians to survive, although there was almost certainly only a fraction of a percent of the cultists.
The second choice was how thorough to be. This ranged from checking every inch of the planet to simply driving through an area and assuming it's clear if they were attacked. This would take time in any case, however.
The last option covered how long to spend on this world. This was up to Kesar, as it depended on how long he wanted to spend on the world. Nevertheless, it would certainly take time.And he believed 2 years would be a good amount of time, although 4 would be preferreable.
In the end, Kesar decided to
Destructiveness
[] Heavy Bombardment
[] Deploy Titans
[] Manual Sweeps (2 years minimum)
[] Write-in
Thoroughness
[] Sweep every inch (4 years minimum)
[] Check every major structure and cave (3 years minimum)
[] Check every hiding place for 50 or more people (2 years minimum)
[] A stock standard search
[] Rapid Sweeps (Cuts manual sweep time to 1 year)
Time spent
[] Write-in
Site 1 Deployment: 50 + 40 (Kesar) + 20 (Astartes) + 25 (Sisters of Silence) + 10 (Realm of Nothingness) + 20 (A Parent's Love) = 165
Cultists Watchfullness: 73 + 40 (Numbers) + 40 (Keeper of Secrets) = 153
Site 1 Initial Assault: 34 17 + 40 (Kesar) + 40 (Primarch Equipment) + 20 (A Parent's Love) + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 5 (Blitz) + 30 (Surprise) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 1 (Perturabo's Notes) + 15 (Omake) = 263
The Rift: 55 + 40 (Keeper of Secrets) + 40 (Warp Rift) + 20 (Defenses) + 20 (Numbers) = 175
Site 1 Securing the Line: 82 + 40 (Kesar) + 40 (Primarch Equipment) + 20 (A Parent's Love) + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 5 (Defending) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 1 (Perturabo's Notes) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers) = 271
Daemons Breach the Line: 92 + 40 (Keeper of Secrets) + 40 (Warp Rift) + 20 (Surrounded) + 40 (Numbers) = 192
Site 1 Close the Rift: 85 + 40 (Kesar) + 20 (Astartes) + 20 (Thousand Sons) – 100 (Massive Rift) = 85
The Rift Resists Closing: 1 – 40 (Barely Stable) = -39
Site 2
Orbital Bombardment: 68 + 40 (Orbital Supremacy) + 10 (Targetting Data) + 20 (Target Rich Environment) = 138
Cultist Defenses: 7 + 40 (Numbers) + 20 (Defenses) = 67
Site 2 Assault: 78 + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 5 (Blitz) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers)= 176
Cultist Defenders: 7 + 20 (Numbers) + 20 (Defenses) = 27
Site 2 Secondary Strike: 29 + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers)= 122
Cultist Defense: 72
Site 3 (Did, did you just kill 3 Greater Daemons??!)
Boom: 58 + ??? = ???
Cultists: 11 + ??? = ???
Site 4 – 1 Keeper of Secrets
Orbital Bombardment: 49 + 40 (Orbital Supremacy) + 10 (Targetting Data) + 20 (Target Rich Environment) = 119
Cultist Defenses: 21 + 40 (Numbers) + 20 (Defenses) = 81
Site 4 Assault: 91 + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 5 (Blitz) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers) + 25 (Omakes) = 214
Cultist Defenders: 63 + 40 (Keeper of Secrets) + 40 (Numbers) + 20 (Defenses) = 143
Site 4 Secondary Strike: 17 + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers) = 111
Cultist Defense: 26 + 40 (Keeper of Secrets) + 30 (Numbers) = 56
Site 5 – 1 Keeper of Secrets
Site 5 Infiltration: 67 + 20 (Astartes) + 25 (Sisters of Silence) + 10 (Realm of Nothingness) = 122
Cultist Security: 52 + 40 (Numbers) = 92
Site 5 Initial Assault: 84 + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 5 (Blitz) + 20 (Astartes) + 30 (Surprise) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 1 (Perturabo's Notes) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers) + 5 (Omakes) = 213
Cultist Defense: 42 + 40 (Keeper of Secrets) + 40 (Numbers) + 20 (Defenses) = 142
Site 5 Secondary Push: 20 + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers) = 113
Cultist Defenders: 47 + 40 (Numbers) = 87
It is an occult truth, known to all who study the ways of Geomancy, that great lines of power crisscross throughout every Planet. These lines of power are often harnessed for mighty purposes. It is simply assumed that those with power eventually must seek out one of these sites. But those who study the mysteries of the ley lines discover something more. Certainly, there are lines of power that run across the land in a select few areas, but these are not the only lines — simply the most obvious. If these are thick, corded ropes of power, there are also tiny, web-thin threads that run between these great ley lines, connecting them in a vast net of pulsing, subtle power.
The Seeker is a Psyker who has discovered this fact and seeks to harness the power of these threads. A Seeker is aware that, every moment of every day, these threads permeate all things, passing through, around, above and below all things, carrying conceptual energies to all things in the world. With diligent study and practice, Seekers sense these powers. The sorcerous feats of which these men and women are capable are impressive. They are able to draw upon the skein of power to augment their Psychic Powers, tap into this web to maintain spells past their normal durations, to heal themselves, and to protect their allies from harm.
The pursuit of sorcery is a means to utilize Conceptual energy and direct it with one's own mental abilities. The seeker spends years learning to focus his thoughts and build his will in order to direct and shape conceptual energy. He also spends years learning how to let the ley line energy flow into and through him, building his tolerance for such energy and making the Seeker a sort of living relay station and energy transformer. At these moments, the Seeker becomes part of the energy he is directing and it gives him much greater control and range of Psychic abilities.
The Seeker's attunement to the raw conceptual energies of the world grants his/her certain abilities not available to other Psykers. Rather than Using Warp to boost her own powers, she may draw upon the power of the world to make the sacrifice of conceptual energies on her behalf. The Seeker is able to infuse the power of the ley lines into her spells. The Seeker may draw the power of the ley lines into herself, allowing them to knit her body closed. The Seeker is able to rapidly traverse the ley lines that connect every place in the world. The Seeker may snatch up the threads of ley line energy and affix them to herself or an ally within 30 feet, allowing conceptual energy to strike the threads and flow away.
Of all other types of Psykers, they are the ones who treat such knowledge as truly important — they steep their Sorcery in that deals with the world, rather than Sea of Souls. Indeed, they understand the secrets of these ley lines better than most, and recent the discovery of Runes awakened a new interest in this Subject.
So Negaverse Omake time. Anyways, nothing gets changed from the update. But the comment section is that of people who aren't us per say, and rather people who are playing as Dorn who has like no interaction with us and has not bothered to do anything with us outside of sending a return gift for our gifts to him. So just scroll past the words for the comment section.
After reviewing the situation, Kesar decided to keep the situation simple. The Eternal Wardens would insert quietly where orbital bombardment was not possible, and if it was they would open with that before arriving in groups of 5000. While it may have been a sign of overconfidence, Kesar was fully confident in his Legion's skills and said as much. While the Wardens were unsure about how to feel, they trusted their father's skills. After placing the remaining Eternal Wardens on standby and under Scafrir's care, the XIth Primarch joined his sons for an assault on the main warp rift alongside the Thousand Sons.
As Kesar traveled to the site, the remaining Wardens were not idle. At Site 2, the fleet broke into three elements, 1 to bombard Site 2, 1 to bombard Site 4 and 1 to provide rapid reinforcements if necessary. When the fleet arrived over Site 2, they took up a formation with multiple concentric triangles before charging their weapons batteries. Then, with the wrath of the Sovereign, they judged the neverborn and found them lacking. Millions of daemons and cultists died within minutes. The fortifications that had been erected were demolished as nearly half the forces here died screaming in what must have been hell. Before the glass had even cooled, the Eternal Wardens deployed in drop pod and Stormbird. Ready, to cleanse the daemon.
It was not a battle. It was an execution. The cultists had no defensive lines, no Keeper of Secrets, just numbers and daemonettes. In short, they were insects compared to the Wardens. The XIth Legion tore through what called itself an organized defense. The Astartes killed and killed and kept on killing. The ground was drenched in daemonic ichor and cultists blood and they still killed. Here, the Wardens were gods to the cultists who had come to judge them for their crimes against humanity. The cultists ran in terror, the normal ecstasy of combat replaced by something far more primitive. Mortal Terror. As the cultists fled, the daemonettes shrieked in ecstasy as they threw themselves upon bolt and chain, dying in the thousands. They did not even slow the Wardens. They pushed forward, and with their physiology, easily massacred the daemons. With the chaff out of the way, the Wardens slaughtered the remaining cultists without any threat to them.
In the warp, a god smiled.
Then, there was Site 3. Here Captain Centunus Solarus smiled as he looked at the readouts for his handiwork. The mining tunnels here were a great source of inspiration for the captain. After all, they were dug out, so clearly they should be filled. With explosives. Lots and lots of explosives. While a few of the quartermasters were perturbed by the number, Solarus explained that it was necessary as large troop movements had been spotted in the area. As such, it was prudent that he acquire as many explosives as needed. To this end, he had filled the mining tunnels with explosives. As in all of the tunnels. And then he reinforced the tunnel entrances to amplify the blast.
Now, Captain Solarus and his underlings looked at the three Keeper of Secrets that stood above the mining tunnels. "This has gone far better than expected." As the captain said this, he pulled out the detonator before savoring the moment. Then, he brought his thumb down and pressed the button. For a moment, the planet was quiet. Fitting for what followed. In an instant, the world turned white as a mountain exploded. On said mountain, were three Keeper of Secrets, millions of daemonettes, and billions of cultists. And with the press of a button, they were but dust in the wind. The explosions could be seen from orbit, and from a third of the world, as the mushroom cloud created slammed into the upper atmosphere before flaring out. The Wardens here just looked at the explosion, then at Solarus, before one recruit spoke. "Brother Captain, I believe that the explosion while marvelous was just a little bit excessive."
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
When Site 3 exploded, the resulting explosion threw particulates into the atmosphere, disrupting the sensors of the ships in orbit. The ships preparing to bombard Site 4 were especially affected, as they had spent hours calibrating their sensors for different atmospheric conditions. With just a few moments before fire support was needed, the fleet had no choice but to fire. The coordinated assault was well aimed, but the lances dissipated in the atmosphere due to the metal shrapnel. Nevertheless, they were still enough to destroy the defenses.
Then, the Wardens crashed into the cultists in drop pods and Stormbirds. Here, the enemy was dangerous, for there was a Keeper of Secrets. As the Legion tore through the cultists like paper, the Greater Daemon mowed through the Eternal Wardens. Hundreds died as the creature's impossible agility let it dance through the battlefield. The Wardens that did engage it were distracted and flanked by the cultists, resulting in the deaths of 500 Astartes.. That changed when he arrived.
When the Wardens on Valhalla IV became Lost, there were a few that clung to their souls and survived. One of them took up a new mantle in disgrace for their failure on the Primarch's homeworld. Now, he remained silent and withdrawn. The rest of the Legion knew of his prowess in combat and respected to him as such. For none of the Wardens held as much rage and sorry for the daemons as he did, save the Primarch of course. Now, the Doom Slayer arrived and charged the Keeper of Secrets.
Firing his boelter as he charged, the Greater Daemon twirled in the air, as the Doom Slayer took advantage of the ariel maneuver to grab a volkite from a fallen brother. Midair, the daemon could not dodge, as the Doom Slayer fired as fast as the trigger could be pulled. Wounds opened on the foul creature as the Doom Slayer tossed the weapon back to his fallen brother and pulled out his chainsword. Sliding on his knees, he slid under the Greater Daemon's swing as he raised the sword and tore through one of the neverborn's arms.
Now, however, the Doom Slayer had the Keeper's full attention, and he paid the price. On his knees, he was unable to dodge the kick that lashed out at him. Tumbling across the ground, he came to a stop at the remnants of a fortification. Without giving a moments respite, the Keeper swung two of its remaining arms in a sensual yet deadly manner. The Doom Slayer just managed to block the first strike and deflect the second, but his weapon was now destroyed. The machine spirit going insane at the contact with the Greater Daemon. Tossing the weapon, the Doom Slayer cracked his knuckles and moved closer. The Keeper swung its three arms in a dance as the Doom Slayer dodged each of its strikes by bare millimeters. For nearly a minute it continued until the Keeper made a mistake. Caught up in the ecstasy of combat, its perfect defense was momentarily imperfect. And the Warden took full advantage. Ducking under the second blade and stepping over the third, the Doom Slayer grabbed the creature by the leg before clambering up to its head. Deflecting the creature's strikes with his armor, he placed his arms around the Keeper's neck and pulled. The creature screamed in pain, ecstasy, and pleasure, as its head was torn off its body. Stumbling, the Doom Slayer raised the head as the Wardens cheered and continued to rip and tear into the cultists.
With the Greater Daemon dead, the Wardens continued to destroy the cultists until they broke and ran. Now, millions of cultists were streaming from the site, but most of the daemonettes had died. However, it was never wise to underestimate the warp Xenos.
At Site 5, orbital bombardment was not a good idea due to the lack of targeting information. As such, this was the second hardest site to take since a Keeper of Secrets had been spotted here as well. Nevertheless, the Wardens infiltrated the area, guided by the Pathfinders as they easily managed to find a location where they set up for an ambush. Here, they targeted the cultist defenses first and hoped that a group of 11 of the best Eternal Wardens at this location could slay the Keeper. However, it was not to be. When the cultists fortifications were blown up, the Keeper danced into the flank of the Wardens, slowing the advance enough for the daemonettes to engage the Wardens in the foul creatures ideal combat range. Still, it was not enough as the Wardens advanced through the daemonic ichor that coated their armor and ripped through the daemon lines. Nevertheless, even they had their limits, as a fifth died from lucky strikes and unlucky positioning. Meanwhile, the eleven finally managed to reach the Keeper.
In the opening moments, the group was surrounded by daemonettes, as the Keeper of Secrets isolated them from the rest of the Wardens. Alone, with a Greater Daemon, surrounded on all sides by foul neverborn, the Wardens charged. In those moments, 8 died from the daemonettes and Keeper as its arms swung in a choreographed dance of bliss along with the cries of ecstasy from the daemonettes. Three survived long enough to get through the forest of blades and strike the daemon. Now, with daemonic ichor trailing from its sides, the Keeper lashed out in a dizzying sensual pattern of perfect bladework. Of the three Wardens, only one survived. In the distraction that his brother's deaths provided, the sole Warden dueling the creature charged and pierced the creature with his sword. And it stayed alive and screamed in pleasure as it impaled the Warden. Bringing the Astartes close, the Warden smiled as he threw an object. A bandolier of grenades from himself and his fallen brothers. Screaming, the Greater Daemon died as an explosion rang out, killing it and the Warden.
With the Keeper dead, the Wardens surged forward into the city, where the streets were far wider than expected. Here, the cultists brought their numbers advantage as they drowned the Wardens in bodies. There simply was no time to reload as the Wardens switched from Volkites and bolt to chain and fists because of necessity. The amount of ammunition that they carried was insufficient, but they were still up to the task. For hours, the Wardens ripped and tore as the cultists died in the millions. For hours they charged, unable to see what had happened to their demented comrades. As they surged, they thought they were charging a collapsed defense line, but as time passed, the mound of bodies grew until the cultists saw what was happening. Facing certain death, they did what was expected. They ran. The Wardens still slaughtered them, but they simply did not have the numbers after hours of fighting. In those hours, mistakes piled up, and half the remaining force had died. However, in the end, only 3000 Wardens in total died at Site 5. Sadly, millions of cultists had escaped.
Site 6, was much more sedate in comparison to the explosion at Site 3. Here, the captain in charge understood what the phrase sufficient explosives meant. Of course, they still overdid it. This explosion was only visible from a few kilometers around the ritual site as opposed to the explosion at Site 3 being visible from a third of the planet. Nevertheless, this explosion was sufficient to glass the nearby area and kill the cultists and destroy the ritual.
Now as Kesar traveled with 5000 Wardens, he mentally complimented the skills of his Pathfinders. They had done well guiding the group and although they would have caught were it not for his presence and the Sisters of Silence, it was still an adequate job considering the sheer numbers and the Keeper of Secrets that was reveling in front of the warp rift. As the group was traveling, the explosion at Site 3 detonated. The sound was heard by the group multiple times, as the shock wave passed around the world multiple times. With the distraction, the Wardens made their move and attacked.
Shortly before this, the Alpha Legion were conducting their own operation. Under the guidance of Primarch Omegon, who had visited Kesar once under the guise of Alpharius, the Alpha Legion scoured the area for a certain individual. A Xeno working for the enigmatic Cabal had been tracked here. So far, their purpose was unknown, as the one thought of as the target, Oriacarius, was missing. Inwardly, Omegon simply did not know what their goal was, but he strove to stop it.
For days before the arrival of the Wardens, the Alpha Legion scoured the shadows. They searched everywhere, and yet they still found nothing. When the Wardens arrived, and they began their operation, the Alpha Legion searched tirelessly, before finally, a single clue was found. A partial mission notice in a Xeno code. Comparing it to other intercepted messages, the Alpha Legion extrapolated from the notice, the location of the unknown Xeno.
From his knowledge of the terrain, Omegon inwardly mused as to the purpose, before he came to a terrifying conclusion. Malcador had already explained that Kesar had been wounded by two of the chaos gods' minions. From the Cabal member's vantage point, they would be in an ideal position to distract Kesar during the conflict. Furious at the plot, he drove the Alpha Legion in search of the Xeno and through the use of their superior numbers, the Alpha Legion cornered the Xeno, but not before the Cabal had already put their plans in place. Then, under the cover of the explosions, the Alpha Legion and Cabal warred.
Meanwhile, the Wardens had also taken advantage of the daemons distraction to perform a devastating alpha strike. With surprise on their side, the Wardens tore through the cultist lines and positioned themselves in front of the rift. As daemonettes charged them from the warp rift, the cultists charged and fired, and the Keeper of Secrets sensually stalked forward, the Wardens prepared to hold the line. The one sad fact, however, was the 500 Wardens that had fallen as they charged through the cultist's lines when they were separated.
As the Wardens moved forward, the Cabal put the first of their plans into play. This was a sniper shot, with a special bullet. The bullet had been laced with daemonic ichor from multiple Keeper of Secrets and had been specially designed to not cause pain to the target. It would be fired during the duel between Kesar and Keeper of Secrets. Now, the Xeno aimed and calibrated the weapon. Now ready to fire, the creature waited for the perfect moment, all the while the Alpha Legion frantically searched for the Xeno.
With the Wardens preparing a defensive position, the Keeper of Secrets swayed as it called out in joy for the chance to demonstrate its sword skills. In response, Kesar fired Sagita, his gift from Perturabo. The teleporting bullet caught the Greater Daemon by surprise, as a hole appeared through its torso and it screamed in pleasure and pain. In response, the foul creature stepped forward, and engaged the Primarch in a sword duel for the ages as neither side wounded the other, although the Keeper's swords cracked more and more as the Sword of the Lost sang a song of rage and denial.
Breath in, breath out. The creature didn't know its name or what it was doing. All it knew was that it must cause the target to suffer a wound from a Slaaneshi source. Breath in, breath out. Adjust for wind. Adjust for bullet drop. With the assistance of a divining tool, the Xeno aimed. The shot was perfect, the conditions matched the desired circumstances. The Xeno pulled the trigger, with Kesar's right leg in the crosshairs. It would have hit. But an Alpha Legionary finally spotted the Xeno, seconds before they fired. With no time to react, the Astartes did the only thing they could. They jumped in front of the bullet meant for Kesar. The Xeno was displeased. Its primary plan had been foiled when a nontarget had jumped in front of the bullet. This resulted in the bullet embedding into the Astartes. Not ideal. With this, it worked towards its second plan.
As the sword dance between the Primarch and Keeper continued, the Sword of the Lost sang louder as the Keeper's blades shattered. Within a millisecond, Kesar seized the advantage and stabbed the daemon and began to yank his sword upwards.
With the Cabal's primary plan a failure, the Xeno pulled out a second shot, this one filled with gasses created by Slaaneshi daemons and cultists. It should still allow the Chaos God to get some hold upon Kesar, although it was not as strong as the primary bullet. However, the first shot alerted the Alpha Legion and Omegon, who swarmed the area. When they found the corpse of the Alpha Legionary who prevented the Cabal's plan from succeeding, they extrapolated and found the Xeno operative. The Astartes fired upon the Xeno, who reacted as if they knew the attack was coming and leaped into cover. However, during this, they were forced to deploy covering fire using the bullet meant for Kesar. The bullet hit a member of the Alpha Legion, who died instantly as a hole appeared in his skull. With the primary and secondary plans a failure, the creature switched to its tertiary plan, a prepared explosive device.
Kesar tore the Keeper in half, as the Wardens roared in approval. As the Wardens took up the defenses, the Thousand Sons gathered to perform a ritual to close the rift. In response, the tide of daemonettes increased as did the cultists, as they charged the Warden lines, screaming in ecstasy at the combat. However, they were charging Astartes lines, that were specially designed to deal with cultists, led by their Primarch, who was very experience fighting daemons. Needless to say, the cultists and daemonettes died in droves. The ground was covered in gore and daemonic ichor as the daemonettes continuously poured in from the warp portal as the Thousand Sons got closer and closer to finalizing the ritual.
Meanwhile, the Cabal member began their final plan. An explosive device they had placed near the warp rift. It was calibrated to severely injure the XIth Primarch, but not kill him. As such, it was poorly positioned but hopefully would allow a Slaaneshi daemon to wound him if they got lucky. As the creature pulled out the detonator and brought his thumb down, the Changer of Ways manipulated events. Suddenly, the Alpha Legion's accuracy fell by the wayside as they tripped, as air currents guided shots slightly to the left or right. With this brief moment, the Xeno pressed the button.
But nothing happened. Smirking, Omegon held onto the bomb's physical detonator that the Alpha Legion had already removed. Did they really think the Alpha Legion had not considered the possibility of a bomb? With all the Cabal's plans a failure, the Xeno brought his pistol to bear against himself to deny its limited secrets. But before it could do so, the Alpha Legion closed and tackled the Xeno. Securing it, they extracted themselves onto a Wardens stormbird, as Omegon smiled and spoke, "The rest I leave to you brother."
As the Wardens held off the never-ending tide of daemons and cultists, the Thousand Sons ritual approached its climax. As they prepared to unleash it, the warp rift suddenly quadrupled in size as a Keeper of Secrets and 6,666,666 daemonettes stepped through it. During this massive surge of power, the Thousand Sons sealed the rift. However, all that power had to go somewhere, and it was used for one of the most devastating actions a daemon could suffer.
On a scale never seen before, the daemons suffered true death. A Greater Daemon being truly killed was rare, but having millions of daemons killed alongside one? That was unheard of. A thunderous boom cracked the landscape and air. A shockwave of psychic power echoed as the daemons screamed in pure terror. Where the wave touched, daemons were truly killed. Millions of them died as their cultist's powers stared in horror. And the Keeper of Secrets, begged for someone to save them, as they sobbed. In the end, it didn't matter as the Greater Daemon died screaming for help, alongside 6,666,666 daemonettes shrieking in mortal terror.
The cultists took a step backward. The Kesar looked at them. A single cultist whispered a title that would stick with Kesar for millennia to come. "Daemonsbane."
Kesar took a single step, and the cultists broke. They ran in terror. The Eternal Wardens had truly killed so many daemons that they would be feared for all time by the creatures of the warp. Even now, the daemons at other locations forcibly stabbed themselves to be returned to the warp instead of suffering true death.
*Daemonsbane – Kesar causes fear in daemons, they take a -10 penalty to all their actions when they know he is around*
As the cultists ran away, Kesar realized that this conflict would take years to wrap up due to the sheer numbers of cultists on this world. While their might was broken, simply searching for those that survived would take years. To this end, there were several things to chose from.
The first was how destructive to be in purging the cultists. There were a few options. The first involved basically destroying large portions of the planet and killing anyone that they don't immediately confirm is not a cultist. The second is to use the titans, as there is no force capable of damaging them anymore. They would be destructive, but not very. The last option is to slowly exterminate them using the Wardens. This would cause casualties and be slow, but it would allow for the few untainted civilians to survive, although there was almost certainly only a fraction of a percent of the cultists.
The second choice was how thorough to be. This ranged from checking every inch of the planet to simply driving through an area and assuming it's clear if they were attacked. This would take time in any case, however.
The last option covered how long to spend on this world. This was up to Kesar, as it depended on how long he wanted to spend on the world. Nevertheless, it would certainly take time.And he believed 2 years would be a good amount of time, although 4 would be preferreable.
In the end, Kesar decided to
Destructiveness
[] Heavy Bombardment
[] Deploy Titans
[] Manual Sweeps (2 years minimum)
[] Write-in
Thoroughness
[] Sweep every inch (4 years minimum)
[] Check every major structure and cave (3 years minimum)
[] Check every hiding place for 50 or more people (2 years minimum)
[] A stock standard search
[] Rapid Sweeps (Cuts manual sweep time to 1 year)
Time spent
[] Write-in
Site 1 Deployment: 50 + 40 (Kesar) + 20 (Astartes) + 25 (Sisters of Silence) + 10 (Realm of Nothingness) + 20 (A Parent's Love) = 165
Cultists Watchfullness: 73 + 40 (Numbers) + 40 (Keeper of Secrets) = 153
Site 1 Initial Assault: 34 17 + 40 (Kesar) + 40 (Primarch Equipment) + 20 (A Parent's Love) + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 5 (Blitz) + 30 (Surprise) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 1 (Perturabo's Notes) + 15 (Omake) = 263
The Rift: 55 + 40 (Keeper of Secrets) + 40 (Warp Rift) + 20 (Defenses) + 20 (Numbers) = 175
Site 1 Securing the Line: 82 + 40 (Kesar) + 40 (Primarch Equipment) + 20 (A Parent's Love) + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 5 (Defending) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 1 (Perturabo's Notes) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers) = 271
Daemons Breach the Line: 92 + 40 (Keeper of Secrets) + 40 (Warp Rift) + 20 (Surrounded) + 40 (Numbers) = 192
Site 1 Close the Rift: 85 + 40 (Kesar) + 20 (Astartes) + 20 (Thousand Sons) – 100 (Massive Rift) = 85
The Rift Resists Closing: 1 – 40 (Barely Stable) = -39
Site 2
Orbital Bombardment: 68 + 40 (Orbital Supremacy) + 10 (Targetting Data) + 20 (Target Rich Environment) = 138
Cultist Defenses: 7 + 40 (Numbers) + 20 (Defenses) = 67
Site 2 Assault: 78 + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 5 (Blitz) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers)= 176
Cultist Defenders: 7 + 20 (Numbers) + 20 (Defenses) = 27
Site 2 Secondary Strike: 29 + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers)= 122
Cultist Defense: 72
Site 3 (Did, did you just kill 3 Greater Daemons??!)
Boom: 58 + ??? = ???
Cultists: 11 + ??? = ???
Site 4 – 1 Keeper of Secrets
Orbital Bombardment: 49 + 40 (Orbital Supremacy) + 10 (Targetting Data) + 20 (Target Rich Environment) = 119
Cultist Defenses: 21 + 40 (Numbers) + 20 (Defenses) = 81
Site 4 Assault: 91 + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 5 (Blitz) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers) + 25 (Omakes) = 214
Cultist Defenders: 63 + 40 (Keeper of Secrets) + 40 (Numbers) + 20 (Defenses) = 143
Site 4 Secondary Strike: 17 + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers) = 111
Cultist Defense: 26 + 40 (Keeper of Secrets) + 30 (Numbers) = 56
Site 5 – 1 Keeper of Secrets
Site 5 Infiltration: 67 + 20 (Astartes) + 25 (Sisters of Silence) + 10 (Realm of Nothingness) = 122
Cultist Security: 52 + 40 (Numbers) = 92
Site 5 Initial Assault: 84 + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 5 (Blitz) + 20 (Astartes) + 30 (Surprise) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 1 (Perturabo's Notes) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers) + 5 (Omakes) = 213
Cultist Defense: 42 + 40 (Keeper of Secrets) + 40 (Numbers) + 20 (Defenses) = 142
Site 5 Secondary Push: 20 + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 5 (Superior Equipment) + 2 (Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Valhallans) + 1 (Rune of Reinforcement) + 5 (On the Blood of Our Brothers) = 113
Cultist Defenders: 47 + 40 (Numbers) = 87
AN: So here's checkup on the 11th Primarch, Kesar Dorlin I've been promising you guys. Now you get to see the man, the myth, the legend you folks voted to allow in at the beginning of the quest. Well, outside of the gifts he's been sending you all. Isn't he kind, or rather the Dice Gods for him generous?
Interesting to note, Alpha Legion despite not having their Primarchs found yet have their Primarchs found and are sacrificing marines left and right for the the 11th Primarch. @Daemon What's going on here?
@NecronWriter You do realize that Alpha is loyal up until the Heresy right? Also, I told you guys everything would change due to background rolls, then you voted to keep one of the Censured Primarchs alive so I made a name and then rolled for him in the background. You guys really got lucky with this. Like trust me. Super lucky. Oh, and @Abombinable_Intelligence Well.... to be exact, let's just Alpha and Omegon showed up very early, and decided to meet 11th Primarch. Dice love these three together. Kesar doesn't know Omegon exists and has met both of them, he's really good friends with them. Like out of all the Primarchs, him and those two are literally at the best of level of friendship and brotherhood. He's one of the main reasons why the Heresy is likely to definitely not go the same way. If you want more elaborate.
Elaborate, explain more. Also, wow. Just looked at the rolls. Dorlin is super-effective against Chaos. They true-deathed so many lesser Daemons and that Greater Daemon, how the fuck?
Alright, so time to explain. Your fellow Brother here Dorlin, well he ended up on a planet that's like Fenris in the sense of freezing temperatures, but this icy world wasn't a true Death World. No it was a colony that was fought over by non-corrupted humans and Chaos Cultists. Dorlin landed here, ended up with the non-corrupted humans. Just barely, damn dice. Lol. Once there, rolled again and he ended up speccing as a Warp Expert, and then proceeded to get unlucky enough to face a Greater Daemon later on. He chose to fight it like a Champion, crushed the Daemon pretty well and steam rolled through the Cultist. By the way, if you couldn't tell... Dorlin is Upper Tier of Primarch when it comes to Combat, he's solidly in the upper-half and in the high part of it too. Anyways, so Big E comes a year after Dorlin becomes leader of the Planet and Dorlin rolls well, and easily accepts and goes with Emps. Once at Terra he spends time with his Legion and allows his first Captain to continue their rather complex training strategy for recruits which while slow, makes them pretty much superior to all but Lion's, Guilliman's, or Horus's Legions training. Anyways, the guy continues to focus on Warp stuff, writes a Primer on it by the way also he does Runes. He didn't share it with you... rolls where not in your favor. Meets with Khan and Magnus, they get off well. Meets with Alpharius who shows up earlier and wow... the dice loved them. Like really, really loved them.
Not quite, you see... He then went on to perform the Compliance. He's way better then Lorgar by the way, slower then a decent amount of you. But not the slowest by any means. Prefers diplomacy to bringing people into the fold, he's rather compassionate and peaceful for a Primarch. Like literally, rolls currently have Kesar as a really compassionate person. His armor is covered in the names and stories of his dead sons, not to mention he currently has the name of Second Primarch carved into it as well. He's planning on a Megastructue Memorial for all Legions, btw. Anyway, he's going about his stuff when he runs into Daemons again and they cost him his sons, which leads to the Armor and Sword he currently uses which grants him a hefty bonus. Anyways, from there he starts focusing on defeating the bastards and that leads further from there. Until he faces down a Man of Iron possessed by a Khornate Daemon in a DAOT space station. That's the censured reason for that giant loss he took a couple of turn ago.
What the ever-living fuck? He fought a Man of Iron that was possessed by a Khornate Daemon. That's one of the worst possible combinations I can think of. What the fucking hell? Wow. No wonder why he's super specced against Daemons like he's just been getting hit by them left and right. I'm assuming the station helped give him the bonuses.
You'd be right Abominable, it also led to him developing strategies in case he and his own fell, which then led to Alpharius and Omegon developing contingencies in case Primarchs started falling to corruption.
Well, out of all your brothers Dorlin is the only other one to somewhat bother with Religion. His planet currently offers a Bhuddist based alternative as opposed to Lorgar's religion. He's rather averagish for a Primarch, he's intelligent. Don't get me wrong, this guy has some helpers for technology and is a true master of learning about Gellar Fields and is currently trying to look into Cultist Countermeasures and such alongside the Geneseed. But he's kinda spread out and averageish outside of Daemons. He's rather compassionate and you can see how that would be a flaw, especially since that's part of his reason why he rolled to integrate xenos into the Imperium. To be fair, they're anti-chaos xenos. But xenos. Also, Chaos is mostly pissed at him... so they'll be striking at him in many ways. Emperor is rather neutral regarding him. He gets rather weird rolls towards Dorlin. Malcador on the other hand loves Dorlin. Oh, the Mechanicus love him to.
Like, they favor him the most outside of the Emperor and one of his best friends is Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal so yeah. On the other hand, Mortarion hates him. But he hates everyone. Lorgar really, really hates him.
Why does the Mechanicus love him? Lorgar hate him? Also, wow. For you to describe him as average then mention the other stuff begs into question his 'averageness'
Trust me guys, he's rather average outside of the Daemons. As for the Mechanicus liking him, well he keeps stumbling into DAOT artifacts and technology, then rolling to share it with the Mechanicus and everyone else. So that's why you've been getting those constant gift from him. As to the religion. Abominable, it's a Bhuddist based alternative. Also, due to the rolls regarding Lorgar and his relationship then Lorgar choosing to confront Kesar, and the rolls there. I wrote a rather specific thing up to commemorate it.
Here it goes, I call it the Dorlin Rebuke: With that, Lorgar stepped back into the Stormbird but paused as Kesar began to speak. At this point, Kesar could tell that his brother was denying reality and refusing any information that contradicted his beliefs. As such, an appropriate summation was needed. "You have eyes, but you do not see. You have ears, but you do not hear. You have a mind, but you do not think. You have belief, but not faith, in the being you so preach, for he does not want worship. Either the Emperor is a god, or he is not. Worship in both cases is either obscenity or heresy, for if he is a man you should emulate him, and if he is a god, should you not obey him?"
This makes me really happy. As Dorn, and eventually the Black Templars this being shouted at Lorgar whenever we see that traitor shall be the best of all insults.
Okay, I suddenly feel better regarding Dorlin and his religion. If that's his belief about the Emperor, no issues. Looks like we don't have to worry about another Lorgar, thank god. One is enough.
Assault Sergeant Drazen Anders stood in front of a crowd of Neophytes, here to learn from his experience. He had been an Assault Marine since the Legion formed, and been part of many a campaign. So when it came to teaching these young brothers how best to utilize the standard jump-pack none were better. Though, admittedly some of that had to do with the fact he was actually good at communicating as opposed to purely a matter of skill. Nonetheless, this was his task, and he was going to do the best he could at it. "Alright Neophytes, listen up! This" here he points at a jump pack on a stand "is a Sol-Harrier Pattern Mark IV Jump Pack. During this phase of your training you will be learning everything you need to know to not kill yourselves, your allies, or anyone you don't mean to while you use it. It is a massively complex machine capable of sending even an Astartes in full power armor flying so fast and so hard that if you hit a wall, either it will break or you will." Here he stops to glare at the new blood, ensuring they understand the seriousness of the matter, during the early days he'd seen more than one Neophyte kill themselves during training by not properly braking before impact. Let alone issues caused by battle damage, though that was thankfully relatively rare. Course things like that were why they'd put more emphasis on safe training.
"The very first part of operating this jump pack I will teach you, is how to turn it off manually. I will teach you this first because none of you have yet earned the right to turn on this machine!" Here, he proceeds to go step by step through the ritual of deactivation, explaining any alternates related to battle damage or circumstance they might need to know. "Now, each and every last one of you, is going to go through and complete this process. You will do so to my satisfaction, or you will get remedial training! You! On the left, get started!"
"Yes Assault Sergeant!" The recruit replies quickly, moving in front of the jump pack, and going through the steps. It doesn't take very long for each recruit to finish. Followed by a loud "Next!" a point at whichever recruit's turn it was, and a loud "Yes Assault Sergeant!" in response. Only 50 Neophytes in this class. More were going on in other areas and on other ships, but this was Drazen Anders class, and his was the best.
"Passably done Neophytes, you've managed to not kill yourselves with a dormant machine! Now, I will show you how to perform the basic Rites of Maintenance for this machine! Pay attention, doing something wrong here can and will anger the Machine Spirit, requiring an Enginseer to calm it down, and get it to function properly again instead of doing who knows what when something this powerful is angry! You begin with" and he gives a detailed description of every step of the different rites, paying particular attention to the Rite of Battlefield Maintenance, and ending with the revered right of Concussive Maintenance, that one had saved himself a time or two.
Again the sequence of Nexts! and Yes Assault Sergeant!'s pass by. The Neophytes showing their basic competence of these tasks, helped immensely by the post-human minds their conversion to Space Marines has given them, allowing them to notice tiny details and remember all of their teacher's lessons. Of course, even these lessons are not sufficient to make them experts without actually experiencing the use of a Jump Pack. So, after their lecture training was done, they finally had the chance to actually wear the equipment, and use it.
For the beginning of this training they were in a specially designed room within the Vigilance, created specifically to allow for relatively safe testing of the jump packs. With shock absorbing material all around it so that if one of the trainees hit the wall, they were significantly less likely to cause permanent injury to themselves, and especially to the ship. "Alright Neophytes, listen up! Today you are going to actually use a jump pack. You are going to do so in a controlled environment, and you will follow all directions. The task is to safely jump from this ground level, to the designated platform, back to the ground, and then to the next designated platform. The condition is live training with a Sol-Harrier Pattern Mark IV Jump Pack in a dedicated training room. The standard is to recognize the designated location, jump to it, and jump back to the ground safely and without damage to yourself, your equipment, or the training room. Are their any questions about the task, condition, and standard as I have explained them?" He asks, without his trademark glare.
"How are the platforms going to be designated, Assault Sergeant!?!" One of the trainees ask, with a look of confused anticipation on his face.
"I'm glad you asked! I will jump to the platform first, and you will follow after me!" Drazen Anders replied, 'someone always asks' he thinks to himself with a smile. "To start with, I will demonstrate proper technique for this task!" Here he walked into a marked off circle in the center of the room. Spread all throughout the room were a variety of platforms at various heights and distances from the circle. It was at this point that Kesar walked in, it had been some time since he'd watched as the Neophytes were trained, and he figured this class in particular was a good one to watch, seeing which recruits were more naturally gifted at the use of a jump pack.
"Alright trainees! Step one is the Rite of Activation for the jump pack, something we've been over multiple times before, by this point, you should have it memorized." Here he proceeds to go through said rite, quickly and efficiently. "Next, choosing a platform, in this instance the one directly behind me. Now, something to keep in mind, the amount of power your jump pack needs to get you to a specific height is related to how much gravity the location you are at has. In the case of this training room, that gravity level is the same as Terra, though specific rituals can be done by the Enginseers in charge of this room to change that to better suit training for other worlds. Always check the gravity levels before trying to do an assault jump! Doing a burn like this while on a station whose gravity is out will not go well for you! You'll put far too much power into the jump and without gravity pulling you down likely overshoot!" Here he jumps into the air, mumbling something like "worked against that ork station though, blew right through their turret" with the jump pack spewing flames behind him as he angles his body directly up, then back towards the designated platform. "Now for your first jumps, you won't be going backwards, but its important to know that its possible to do so if it is ever necessary! Something else to consider, don't jump too high, you'll notice I came up barely over the lip of the platform? That is intentional! Your power armor can take a lot of impact but no sense straining it unnecessarily!" Now he jumped back to the ground, flaring his jump pack shotly before impact. "When coming in for a landing from a high point, a short burn before impact is all you need to slow yourself down." Now he looks back at the platforms, and points to two different ones. "Here I'll be showing you an example of a mid jump target change! This is a slightly more difficult maneuver but an important one! First I will head towards this platform on my left, then mid jump, I will turn and head to this one on my right instead." So saying he turns towards the first platform, and makes a jump for it. As he gets approximately half-way there, he turns his body, flares the directional thrusters of the jump back, and makes a secondary jump back towards the second platform. "Now you'll notice more power was required for the secondary jump! This is because it has to slow you down and get you going back the other way!
Following these demonstrations, each trainee was put through their paces. Going on dozens of jumps each, trying to follow Assault Sergeant Anders as he led them through the various platforms in random combinations. Ensuring each trainee was able to make jumps quickly and accurately by the end of it, or at least, enough so as to pass this stage of training. Far more complicated work awaited them in future, especially if they wished to be true Assault Marines. By the end of the class Kesar was as impressed as ever at Drazen Anders ability to ensure the Neophytes understood what to do and how to do it. Once the class was over, he called for the Neophytes to gather around and tell him what they learned.
3 things stuck out to him. 3 rules that seemed applicable to far more than just assault jumps. They seemed to apply to any kind of motion really.
1. A jump always needs to compensate for the amount of gravity, including the lack of it, or anything else that might slow you down (important for changing direction or not ramming into things).
2. The more stuff you carry with you, the stronger burn your jump pack needs (important for evacuating the wounded).
3. When you hit something at speed, it hits back (more than one recruit ended up with bruises learning this).
He congratulated them on training well done, and left muttering to himself about the applications of the above. In the days to follow, he even ordered his own jump pack to test some of those thoughts. He'd found something here, and he was going to make sure he understood it properly.
One Last Talk, One Last Mercy - Kindness till the End
One Last Talk, One Last Mercy - Kindness till the End
They bound him in chains, as if the metallic fetters would truly hold him. He stood bare, his armor stripped from him and the transformations granted by the Gods were proudly displayed while his foes recoiled in disgust. He was their prisoner, he was their enemy and they knew why. Yet the knowledge given was not enough to sate the curiosity and desire for the truth of why they had fallen.
Rumors and half-explanations were bandied about as they stood watch over him, guarding both him and their brothers from him. How could the knowledge they held be so wrong as to blind them from the truth? He could see their desire for it. The burning torturous desire to know, to understand like he once had. Yet for all the desire he knew laid buried beneath the surface of these stoic guardians they did nothing to quence it. No torture to pry from his mouth the reasons for his Primarch and Legions betrayal. No questions regarding it. Merely platitudes and quiet gestures of pity, as they asked him learnt who he was and who he had been before this time.
These noble scions of Valhalla, of Dorlin had asked after him. Never torturing him, merely staying silent as he began his sermons of the Gods. Where others, including his own would have starved the prisoner they'd taken these gentle souls ensured he was fed and hydrated, not allowing him to suffer. No poisoned food, no radioactive water. Nothing. No tricks, no traps. And it bothered him.
There seemed to be no rhyme or reason behind their motivations, nothing that would allow him to understand the kindness expressed to him. His thoughts turned towards the captivity, how long he would be held. How long till they executed him as he knew was coming? Perhaps that was why they kept him so well. The 11th was never known for needless cruelty, rather for their compassion. Chuckling to himself, the Word Bearer mused, perhaps that would be how he convinced them to see the light. To understand the truth like him, through their terrible compassion. Let them understand like we did the folly of the False God, and the eternal glory of the Four. Groaning at the slight pain the chuckling had caused Lorgar's son thought back to his capture. Of how they had managed to ambush the Word Bearers at Sakini I.
They had been there for their Primarch demanded them to aid the Death Guard who were reclaiming the planet for Nurgle. It had been a simple task, the Planet woefully unprepared like so many others for their own to have turned against them. And as they made planet fall, as they began to convert the planet to what it had once long ago been on the road to becoming - they appeared. The Eternal Wardens, the eternal foes of Chaos and the Word Bearers. Perhaps the real reason why Lorgar had sent them here, to destroy Dorlin's realm. To turn it all against the bastard.
With the arrival of the Wardens, their success had come to an end. Expecting an easy victory like they had managed to achieve with so many unprepared foes, they were caught off guard by the ferocity and effectiveness of the Wardens. Where other Legions had cried out and been confused by their attacks, the 11th had taken it in stride merely continuing on forwards against them. Through warp-fire, bolter shells, and chanting their hated foe marched onwards nothing touching them and all before them falling back.
In the end, it had been both the Death Guard and the Word Bearers sent fleeing from the planet, retreating and falling back in the face of such an effective force. Neither had been prepared to face the 11th Legion. And as they tried to retreat, to flee from them it had been him, Geras that had fallen. Captured by the enemy during an inopportune ambush. His brothers and him, laid low by some basic traps they should have seen coming. Upon finding the half-dead Word Bearer, they had dragged him out and away from the corpses of his brothers. Back to their entrenchments. Back to their lines, where had been imprisoned ever since. Though the questions burned at them, they had yet to ask. Yet to learn.
The sound of the door opening had him looking up from the ground he stared at. The sight that greeted him was not one he was expecting, for before him stood Kesar Dorlin, Primarch of the 11th. His vision was filled with the bulk of the Primarch, his presence filling him with awe, yet peace. It seems they did not lie, he thought. Truly the presence of Dorlin brings to you a sort of everlasting peace, reminiscent of the halcyon days before all… Shaking his head in vain, the Astarte glared at the child of the Emperor. He would not stand for the false peace of a false emperor.
The Primarch's inhumanly beautiful face merely looked saddened by the display. Moving forward, the Primarch brought the cup he carried up to Geras's lips. "Drink," he urged with concern filling the air, somehow becoming palpable.
Scowling at the kindness and concern, the Marine leaned forward and drank deeply, allowing the Primarch to hydrate him. "So," Geras says, as the Primarch pulls the cup away. "You've come to question me?"
"Yes," admits the demigod, his eyes having never left the Astartes. "I've come to question Geras, Son of Lorgar."
Throwing his head back, the bald Marines laughed. "Then speak," he growled out as he stared at the hated foe. "So I may answer."
"Why," began the Primarch.
His question one Geras had known was coming. How many had asked that same question? How many more would ask it before the False Emperor died as Horus illuminated the truth of the universe for all of Humanity? The question was hardly unique, Geras had heard it spoken many times before starting at Isstvan where everything had begun. Yet this time, something was different about it. Where confusion then hatred had ruled the emotions of those asking, this time sadness - pity, and merely a desire to understand was all he could feel.
"Did you join my brother in his fall?" Finished the Primarch, no hatred nor anger crossing his face. Just that eternal look of sadness and pity.
Huh, was all Geras could think. Why had they turned on the Imperium? Why they sought to destroy what they created? All of those whas what he expected. But not this.
"Geras, son of Lorgar. I ask again," the Primarch stated his expression unchanging. "Why join my brother in his fall?"
"The False Emperor has blinded you," stated the Word Bearer as he began his tell. "His lies occlude your mind and hide the truth from you and all who follow him. We have learned that truth. We have seen past the light and know the truth."
"And how has the Emperor blinded me, Geras?" Asked the Primarch, his expression still remaining as if it had been cast in stone.
"He's betrayed us all," began the Astarte. "We witnessed that on Monachria when he destroyed all we did for him. When he forced us to kneel before him, and watched him destroy all we accomplished. We saw the truth then."
"And that is how he betrayed all of us?" Question Dorlin, his voice a whisper.
"Nay," proclaimed Geras. "That is not the only way. For my father walked into the realm of Gods and learnt the truth, the hideous secret the Emperor failed to hide. The Emperor is no God, he is merely a man for we've seen the true Gods. The destruction they plan to bring upon us for our sins. The Emperor guides us away from their light, and they plan on punishing us for following."
"So they plan to punish us, and yet there is no salvation - no forgiveness for our sins." Stated the Primarch as he stared at the Marine before him.
"No," he shouted excitedly believing that the Primarch was understanding the truth. "They offered us a chance, a way of penitence to show the Gods that we were worthy of being saved from our sins."
"And what is that way, son of Lorgar?"
"Repentance comes with multiple parts," Geras said happily as he talked to the Primarch. "First we were to go forth and protect the servants of the Gods, ensuring their safety and allowing them to thrive in this harsh galaxy made all the more harsher by the False Emperor. Second we were to spread their word, allowing all to know the truth that the Emperor hid. With more following the Gods yet again, humanity would be protected. Our species safe from the ruination they thought to visit upon us like they did the Eldar who grew too arrogant and far from the truth. And thirdly, we were to bring war upon the Imperium. We were to crush the False Emperor and his forces, delivering the good word to the unwashed huddled masses that cowered upon its planets, fearful of the tyranny the Imperium brought."
"You would save humanity, you thought? Freeing them from the damnation you believe lay ahead?"
"Yes," the Word Bearer nodded. "We would save humanity, allowing ourselves to flourish once more under the Gods' eyes."
"You would save humanity, by killing humanity nephew." Came the Primarch's words. "You believe the four in front of you to be Gods, but by what power and kindness did they show you such."
"Do not tell lies, Dorlin!" The Word Bearer hissed angered by the words of the Primarch. "You speak out of ignorance, even now the False Emperor blinds you. These lies that fill your ears are the reason why we must kill you."
"It is no lie Geras," stated the Primarch calmly with same facial expression. "You believe yourself free of lies, yet all you are fed is them. I told your father this once, 'You have eyes, but you do not see. You have ears, but you do not hear. You have a mind, but you do not think. You have belief, but not faith in the being you so preach.' My words were correct then, and still they remain so. You, my dear Nephew have eyes and yet you persist on fumbling about in the dark, believing yourself to have been blinded by the light of the Emperor when in fact you've never opened your eyes. Your have ears, yet you do not hear the voices calling out to you - screaming and shouting the truth at you, for your ears are clogged with only lies and whispers. You have a brilliant mind, yet it lays unused - tricked by the whispers, believing yourself to be blinded."
"Do not…." Interrupted the Word Bearer, only to be silenced by Dorlin.
"Poor child," whispered Dorlin as he looked upon his nephew. "So full of fire and fury, filled with passion. Yet we both know it is a hollow feeling, a poor substitute for what you so dearly desire. Like your father you lack faith. It is as I said, though you have belief you lack faith in those you preach. When did you give it up I wonder? Perhaps when you were younger? Mayhaps the Burning of Monarchia." Sighing, his eyes full of pity and sadness the 11th Primarch continued on. "I can only imagine the hardships and lies that drove you to this, the pain you suffered. And for that I am sorry child. You're lost in the wilderness, yet proclaim that you've found civilization. You can't see the ocean of corruption, yet you're drowning in it."
"They are no…." the Word Bearer tried to shout, only to fall quiet as Dorlin looked at him.
"Geras," stated the Primarch firmly, even as tears fell leaked from his eyes. A feeling of great guilt sweeping over the Word Bearer at having made such a being weep. "I stare upon you and see weakness." Shifting ever so slowly, the Primarch stood. "You are strong in corruption and taint, yet your soul is weak. Where others stood tall and fast, you fell. The abyss stared at you whispering sweet promises and you fell, believing each one. Unaware that in truth, each promise was merely the beginnings of an even greater lie."
Looking on at Geras, the Primarch continued his speech tears flowing more rapidly now as Dorlin wept for the Son of Lorgar. "I am sorry nephew, that when hardship bore down upon you and when confronted by it, you sold your soul for pain-relief, buying in to the false truths and simple promises uttered. You've made your choice, and your choice has made you. So come now nephew, allow me to illuminate you as to the truth of what you serve and what the Emperor fights against. Death is your fate, but perhaps in death you may redeem yourself and find yourself free of the shackles you've so eagerly cast upon yourself."
The opening weeks of bringing Velnias I into Compliance are shrouded in mystery and classified to the highest level. What is known is that the Eternal Wardens were deployed to select areas, softened by orbital bombardment and explosions that could be seen from several kilometres away, and they drove hundreds of millions of Warp Cultists fleeing from their advance. The following years would come to be known by the locals as the Cultist Wars.
In the early weeks after securing their landing zones, the Eternal Wardens fortified their encampments, quarantined the "Six Sites", and began their careful search for the cultists that evaded execution during the initial battles. They began slowly, securing areas in a grid-like fashion and leaving no stone left unturned, often quite literally in the cases where their enemies lay waiting amongst the rubble. The process was somewhat improved by the help of their Detection runes, Ruoult auxiliaries and Thousand Son attachments. When an area was secure, a squad of marines were left behind to continue patrols in search of any cultists that had missed the initial purge or had doubled back over the front line closing in on them.
Captain Julian Hectus stood in the back of the Thunderbird shuttling him and his squad to their latest deployment, "Alright Brothers, keep your eyes peeled for any hint of cultist activity. We are being deployed to the closest thing the locals have to a "Capital City". Do not expect that every warp tainted scum will give you the curtesy of ranting and raving as they throw themselves at you. Some of them still have their wits about them and will hide amongst seemingly innocent civilians. I want you all to pay attention to your Detection runes for any sign of trouble. If you are not sure if the civie in front of you has been corrupted, then you must contain them and call it in until either one of the Thousand Sons or the Ruoult give them a clean bill of health. Even if you are certain that they are no threat then you must still keep your eyes on them and call it in, one of our sanctioned psykers will given them the once over.
"You should know this already, but I will go over some of the things you can expect to see when looking for cultists. For starters, expect the unexpected. These people have been driven mad by the very touch of the warp, they will not care for things like self-preservation or common sense. They will gladly drown you in their own blood if they think it will take you down. More than one squad have reported these cultists literally throwing themselves off of roofs to get the drop on us. Do not expect them to use tactics, but do not underestimate them. In large enough numbers they can be a threat and all it takes is a small mistake for them to capitalise.
"Many of the cultists will babble in tongues or holler uncontrollably. Those will be the easy ones to find. Some will have tattooed or mutilated strange symbols on themselves, but don't expect them to proudly display these markings to you for your convenience. If you come across a civilian that is particularly twitchy or fearful, do not mistake this for guilt but do keep your attention on them. Even a non-corrupted human will attack you if they think it will give them the chance of survival.
"Some of these cultists may have psyker support. Do not worry about identifying the psykers, they will make it abundantly clear what their nature is. These psykers will usually attempt to summon daemons, attack you with warp fire or dominate your mind with telepathy. You should all have your Banishment runes with you, but in any case, ensure you have overlapping lines of fire as psykers can often take just as much punishment as daemons can.
"Given that this is a feudal world, all other cultists will likely try to engage you with melee but there have been reported cases of basic stubbers being used, so remain vigilant. It is unlikely that they have anything that could breach our armour but do not under estimate the value of raw numbers. I want each of you to keep one of your Brothers in your field of vision at all times, be aware of potential ambushes from oblique angles and expect that you will have to fight back to back. Have I made myself clear!"
"Yes Captain!", replied the squad as the Thunderbird made it's decent.
The city was rather typical of the more developed Feudal worlds. Stone buildings of various qualities, lined up in an ad-hoc manner without regard for basic city planning. In the centre of the city, on top of a small hill, rested a large castle. It's rulers long dead, one of the countless causalities of the conflict leading up to the Warden's arrival. Pockets of resistance still existed in certain locations, but most of the city had fallen to the depredations of the warp. The Astartes would have their work cut out for them.
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A/n: A basic omake for basic cultist behaviour
