I'm not sure if I would have Kesar be there in person or if it will just be the Emperor and company talking about him.
Although if he were there in person, I think he would be happy about Magnus returning to the Imperium while simultaneously giving him a Warlord Titan-class guilt trip.
I remember the day we were sent off. I remember the sun was shining and the sky was clear, it was hot yet we were blessed with a cool breeze. Over a thousand souls stood at attention, our families standing before us to see us off. We all were ready, standing there in our new uniforms that we'd received just days before the send-off.
We marched through the town, shoulder to shoulder looking all the more proud, feeling like big heroes as we saw the other citizens of our town waving flags, shouting wishes of good-luck and more at us. They looked as proud of us as we felt, heroes was all we could think. We where to be heroes.
And here I stand now, looking back to that day. It has been years since I left, yet I still think back. As I look back on it, I question the eyes of all who stared at us. Cowards, I realize only now after years of bloodshed and conflict. They were all cowards, not celebrating us but rather their lack of being chosen. Their absence from where they stood. Brothers, father, cousins, family, and neighbours, they had been all that and more I thought. They were our family, our friend yet they were at heart truly cowards, glad it had not been them standing where we stood.
Yet even as I realized that, I stumbled upon a bigger realization. One far more important than that of before. Though they were cowards who celebrated us marching off to our death. Though billions of us would die for such cowards, we too died for those brave souls like ours. We would fight and die for the Emperor and his Imperium, for Humanity.
We would die for cowards, but we would also die for our own. For our species, doing our duty - our job. We would fight for the Emperor so his work did not go unprotected, we would fight for each other so we might meet again, we would fight for Humanity upholding it though we sheltered cowardice.
So let the cowards celebrate, let them have their moment. We cared not. For when we fought, we fought for something greater than them. We fought with a purpose they would never have, with a inner-resolve they could never achieve for something they never once understood. And that was okay, for we fought to ensure they might one day understand such things and walk beyond the shade to fight with us in the light.
The story of some poor soul in the Imperial Army, while we focused on others here lay the thoughts of the poor souls who die by the billions doing things that would have even Astartes take a knee out of honor.
We arrived in system, and as Primarch Lorgar had said, there was a single planet orbiting a star shining with a sickly pale light. As we approached the world, our vox began to pick up strange transmissions the words garbled. Though none of us where Librarians, we could all feel the presence that resided upon the world. It was a foul, slimy feeling that seemed to push against our minds yet we persisted and resisted. We had been sent here by our Primarch to show the Glory of the Emperor, and that was what we would do. Captain Eros decreed we would make planetfall and see to it the foul beings who inhabited its surface understood the might and strength of the Emperor. It was a moment that I can never forget, for it was only the beginning of our end.
As my squad's Thunderbird came screaming down to the planet's surface, I reviewed the images of our destination once more. This was a world that had long languished in the Warp, it's crust bearing scars from the abuse it weathered within. Though our scans were incapable of precise scans of the surface, we knew all too well what to expect down there. A hellish place, undoubtedly. Cursed with rot and corruption. One that needed to be purged.
As we breached atmosphere and made for the ground we passed through clouds of acid and toxin that had the alarms on the Thunderbird screeching like demented harpies. Meanwhile it's vicious winds hurled us through the air like mere specks of dust. Still we persisted, our belief - our faith, strong enough to overcome these obstacles. And though we were troubled and plagued with obstacles the Emperor protected and all survived to land. Hundreds of Astartes disembarked and took up formation, examining the world we would take - the world we would rescue.
A wasteland stretched before us, it's color as dark as the hearts of traitors. A gift from the Warp, I assumed. More evident of the abuse it forced upon this planet. When all were ready, we moved to march with Captain Eros leading the way towards the city we would soon rescue.
Yet the battle was not to be, for even as we marched the enemy appeared. A horde of unending cultists and daemons leaping forth against us. Mutated humans so twisted that only the status of abomination fit them, while their stood horrors so terrible that I can not name them for fear of calling their attention. Our foe was something we knew, and something we did not. Like all Legions we had dealt with cultists before, but the beings before us were something of a different ilk. They came screaming in, chants so terrible they hurt the ears rising on their tongues. We countered by shouting litanies of faith and more, yet it was not enough. We fell, their numbers overrunning us.
Though we were mighty, though we were strong… we fell. Exhaustion and fatigue setting in as the hours of combat turned into days against a nigh unending horde that seemed to only grow in quality. From twisted parodies, to flying daemons and shadowy neverborn. Our enemies came forth. They tore at us, they fought us, and they killed us.
Where once maybe a thousand had stood, now only a brave 300 remained. Yet we still fought on, until suddenly the enemy disappeared and before us lay our slain brothers, our own weapons slick with their blood. Cries of horror filled the air as we realized the deception, the illusion that had been lain over us. Many dropped to their knees, praying to the Emperor for their brothers and their own souls. As for me, I stood in shock. I could not comprehend what had occurred, yet all the same I understood what had been done.
The enemy had used foul sorcery to drive us apart, turning brother against brother. Forcing us to slay our own, thinking they were some other enemy. A horrifying tactic, one that had blindsided us. No wonder why the Emperor had forbidden Pyskers, I concluded. But with the loss of them, how would we avoid falling prey to such things again. Stop! I thought fiercely, I question the Emperor's wisdom, he foresaw the pain these foul witches bring and I like my brothers lacked faith in him, else we wouldn't have been caught up in such a foul tactic.
Slowly we gathered together again, each of us shaken by what had occurred. Unease was palpable in the air as brother had been turned against brother and now, each was worried unable to take their minds from the murder of their brothers. Our unity was crumbling before our eyes, for in each other we only saw kin-slayers and to a Word-Bearer such a thing was anathema. Words could not accurately describe such a feeling, such a loss that had taken place. But know no longer could we trust each other, muchless our own selves.
After a few hours of mourning and rest we continued the advance though our formation was broken by mood as well as the geography we crossed. As we moved on, the presence we all felt only grew stronger until it was all we could feel. Though one would assume we were hopeful, in truth all we felt was anger and brokenness. The enemy lay before us, and we would slay it for our brothers. But what if it turned us against one another again, the doubt niggling at the back of our minds.
Moving forwards we found ourselves transitioning from a wasteland to a beautiful oasis, and before us lay a gigantic amphitheater. Opulent in design, and gaudy in execution. Pillars of stone tall enough to rival Titans encircled the place, each bearing runic designs that were not unfamiliar.
We had entered a temple of sorts, I deduced as I stumbled upon the realization those runes we saw were daemonic ones, glorifying the warp creatures. I turned to raise the alarm with a shout, only for my voice to have died in my throat as he came to us.
It irks me to label such a being as a he, an inherently human designation but the form he came bearing was nothing but human. Masculine in size and gender, but human in nature. Though I recognized it as a foul daemon, I could not help but call it such.
The being spoke to us, declaring his name. It was one we knew all too well. Before us stood our Primarch. Lorgar. The one we called father, the one who gave us purpose and orders. And here he stood before us, speaking of the ignorance and falsehood that held us captive, obedient slaves to the Emperor. Our father who hath sent us here, our father who we hath obeyed.
We knew in our hearts that this man was Lorgar, we felt the spiritual connection the one thing all Astartes felt. Perhaps that was why none moved to speak, each in shocked by this development.
The words he spoke were full of fire and glory, spells that enchanted those listening. He spoke lies, yet they where lies that many could not doubt, even I great of faith could feel my will weakening. Yet even as I weakened, Captain Eros did not rallying the men up he charged forth at the Primarch commanding we do the same while decrying our father who dared to sully the Great Emperor's name.
We moved, many faster than others yet it was not to be. No one made it to the Primarch for as we charged, a great many Daemons appeared. And with our Lord's word, the reality before us washed away only to be replaced with a sea of darkness upon which an intense pain assaulted me.
My mind felt like it was splitting, while every nerve in my body felt like a thousand hot knives had been applied. I felt bones shatter and twist, while my innards seemed to be doing loops and knots forming entirely knew patterns. I felt myself grow in places and shrink in others, as a thousand voices whispered in my ears trying to wreck my sanity.
Through it all I prayed to the Emperor, to our the Lord Almighty who had bestowed upon us such strength and whose Light had guided us before. I prayed and prayed, chanting hundreds of litanies developed by my father who now subjected me to such tortures.
As the wretched things tried to profane my body, twist it into one of their perverse creations I prayed and spat curses upon it. The fury growing as I kept resisting, kept praying and cursing. It would not have me, I declared with my mind, heart and soul. For my soul had been pledged to the Emperor and only he could have me. Through it all, the anger intensened and so too did my resistance, until finally the pain stopped and the blackness faded away.
Crawling up to my knees I was greeted by the sight of veritable horror, where my brothers had stood now were monsters. Daemonic beings fused to their armor, and mutated beyond all hope. Their faith in the Emperor had not kept them safe, yet it had shielded me.
"What's this?" came a voice I was too familiar with. "One resisted, hmph… Come now son, allow me to educate you as to the delights of the Gods." And with that all fell black.
The worst of betrayals come not when sons turn on fathers, nor when brothers turn against brother - but when your father turns against you. Sending you to die, to fall, to be shattered and rebuilt, a twisted parody of what you had once stood for. Such betrayal is incomprehensible. These loyal sons of Lorgar, unwilling to fall were made broken things, angels cast into darkness not by choice but by fate and the treachery of one they named father.
Edit: Just for clarity, when the Space Marine says he knew this was a foul daemon that's him being capable of sensing Lorgar as a Daemonprince.
[X]Plan: Dedicated Cleaning Crew
-[X] Manual Sweeps (2 years minimum)
-[X] Sweep every inch (4 years minimum)
-[X] 4 years
With the cultists broken, Kesar knew that he would have to spend years ensuring that this world was scrubbed of the daemonic corruption that infested it. As such, the Wardens deployed upon the world and would spend years searching for the cultists that survived.
In the first year, the Wardens slowly marched upon a billion cultists. These people had survived the conflict by running after the Wardens massacred their military forces. The few that remained were unequipped and desperately sacrificed themselves to summon daemons. It did nothing. The daemons that were summoned were not a threat to the Wardens, especially not with the Primarch himself present. This was further assisted by the well-trained Pathfinders and telepaths who could find cultists within a certain radius. In the first year, approximately a billion cultists were killed by the Wardens.
The second year was much easier, instead of having to deal with the sheer numbers of cultists, they simply had to mop up the remaining bases. During this, the Wardens struck with overwhelming force over and over again. The cultists were shattered with ease, with the only issue being the time it took. During this second phase, nearly ten million cultists were killed, leaving the remnants.
The third year was far more difficult, as the Wardens needed to search for those cultists that were hidden in the wastelands. Compounding his problem, were the untainted survivors that were found in caves and deserts. These survivors were gaunt and malnourished, desperately trying to salvage food from any source. When a cultist would come by with food, they would accept out of sheer desperation. This resulted in many of the survivors falling to corruption. Nevertheless, the Wardens slowly searched the planet and survivors for those tainted by daemons. In the end, there was a single instance of danger, when some of the cultists managed to salvage a set of heavy weapons which were turned against a group of Astartes. This proved insufficient as they died when reinforcements arrived, although a small group needed to be hospitalized. Nevertheless, during this process over 30,000 cultists were found and executed.
The last year was simply more of the same, with the Wardens searching through all the survivors and the rest of the planet. No inch was left unsearched, as the Wardens looked high and low, ever vigilant for cultists. Slowly, the purged the remnants on the planet, and they managed to find what were likely the last of the cultists. If any survived, the Wardens estimate that their number would be less than a thousand. In short, an excellent campaign.
During the scourging of Velnias, the Wardens found groups of untainted civilians. These groups were desperate and ill-equipped, but they managed to eke out survival in the desolate wastelands. In total, around 3.5 million humans had survived on Velnias, a world that once housed 5 billion.
From this conflict, there were a few things that Kesar saw that could be applicable. The first was how much time it took to clean the planet of cultists. It had taken 4 years of the Legion's time, which was unsustainable in the future. However, in these four years, he had learned much about purging worlds once they have been pacified. In the future, this would likely help massively. Another idea was to have a dedicated explosives team. Captain Solarus had been incredibly effective with his explosion, killing three Keeper of Secrets. Hopefully, they could come in handy. The last idea wasn't from his own mind, but rather from the Primarch Alpharius. After the conflict, Kesar had found a message from his brother that explained the need for a dedicated counter assassin protocol in the Wardens. In the end, Kesar decided to implement
[] Dedicated Sweepers (No need to spend time purging cultists)
[] Explosives Experts (Bonus to explosions)
[] Counter Assassins (Saving roll against assassins)
As the Wardens worked on Velnias, the rest of the Crusade was not idle. When Lion and Vulkan moved to assist Khan, Oriacarius decided to assist. With three Orkish empires to deal with, the three Legions split to deal with one empire each, with the Wardens assisting the Legions as a whole. This proved extremely useful. While the first two years of the conquest against the Orks went well, the latter two were more difficult. With the Imperium now invading Orkish worlds, there were losses, and on several occasions, Astartes were nearly overrun. Thankfully, on these occasions, Oriacarius' contingencies proved extremely useful.
During this purging of the Tribus Empires, the Dark Angels and White Scars were cut off when the Orks arrived unexpectedly and happened to charge the exact point to isolate Astartes. However, the contingencies that Oriacarius had instituted allowed the Dark Angels to utterly destroy the Orks, as the organized defense allowed for minimal loss of life. The White Scars suffered more, however, as the contingencies were not fully along the lines of their combat doctrine. Nevertheless, they certainly saved lives. When the last of the Orks were killed, the Wardens took their leave, but not before Jagathai Khan personally sent his thanks to the Eternal Wardens. As a gift, the Great Khan sent a rather unexpected compendium. In it, he had compiled some of Chogoris' best poetry, as well as the best poetry of the White Scars, along with several verses he had written himself. He had then sent the gift to Kesar as thanks for Oriacarius saving thousands of Astartes.
During the first year on Velnias, the Crusade itself continued. Magnus continued to have an excellent compliance rate, as his strategy from the previous year continued to work excellently. In fact, his compliance rate had gotten so high, that he was assisting Horus since the Cyclops was struggling to integrate his worlds properly. Meanwhile, Sanguinius had also had an excellent year and assisted Angron and Rogal Dorn, who had both been struggling against several Orkish and Xeno empires. With the assistance of the Blood Angels, the issue was solved thankfully.
In the second year where the Wardens were purging Velnias, Corax and Horus struggled with a surprisingly competent Ork, before Sanguinius diverted to assist, easily destroying the Orks with the weight of three Legions. Meanwhile, the Iron Warriors had a masterful display of siegecraft to the point where Guilliman repeatedly asked for Perturabo's assistance. Lastly, Fulgrim and Ferrus finally managed to finish off a Xeno empire that had given the two brothers trouble for years.
In the third year, the only major piece of new was about Mortarion and Magnus. During the year, Mortarion had experienced great difficulty with an Ork empire, before reluctantly calling for assistance, even when he knew that Magnus was the only one available. Despite Magnus' assistance, Mortarion remained distant, never really interacting with his brother. In the end, the Thousand Sons did prove instrumental in defeating the Orks, but the two Legions split without much fanfare.
Besides this, events on the Primarch's homeworld were also changing. The Valhallan faith had continued to evolve, although, at this point, it was expanding across the planet. While the faith was still entirely based on his homeworld, it had spread significantly. In fact, currently, about half the planet followed it, a number that continued to grow. There had been some mentions of missionaries to other planets, but the religion as a whole decided to remain focused on Valhalla itself.
Meanwhile, Valhallan culture also developed, as an art exhibit had opened, displaying cultural artifacts that had been discovered during the crusade. The art proved very popular on Valhalla, with millions visiting. Inspired by this, other literary works were created. Poetry made a resurgence as did theater. While still confined to parts Valhalla, if their success continued they would eventually spread across the planet and perhaps even the Imperium if they were lucky.
There was an interesting thing to note however, Lorgar had not been seen by the Primarchs in the past few years. This would have been worrying, but the Word Bearers continued their compliance at their normal rate, so clearly the Primarch was not injured. Nevertheless, it was curious what Lorgar was up to. "Thank you for the perspective Kor, these talks are very enlightening."
However, Kesar could continue his research. During the conquest of Velnias, he had been too busy to properly conduct this, but he had found some time to begin studying the basics of mathematics as well as a new field he called geometry. It was surprisingly difficult to properly create a number system from scratch, and it was very irritating to create a coordinate system. What was the absolute worst, however, was finding the relationship between the diameter of a circle and its circumference. When he first began to calculate the multiplier, he initially suspected some form of memetic hazard, but he had managed to determine that nothing of the sort existed. Nevertheless, it took weeks to calculate. Thankfully, his sons assumed that this anger was directed towards the cultists instead of math. Lastly was the brief study on how objects moved. The time spent observing the neophyte's training had certainly paid off, as the insight helped create a guide to how objects moved. Useful, but more could be done.
Additionally, he had also viewed some notes that Oriacarius had sent him on teleportation. An interesting device although extremely complicated. Nevertheless, the first captains' words did help Kesar understand how precisely teleportariums functioned, and this was the first step towards improving them.
Another idea had popped into the Primarch's head. He had the idea to create a grand structure. A monument to those that had died. Billions had fallen for the sake of mankind, and many of them were forgotten. They deserve to be remembered for their sacrifice. To this end, Kesar decided to begin creating a monument to those that had fallen. It would be a lengthy process, but Kesar believed it would be worth it. The first step was to choose the location, and to this extent, Kesar decided to build the monument at
[] Valhalla where he killed a Lord of Change
[] The site where the first Astartes death occurred
[] Gehenna Station
[] Where Kesar met the Emperor
[] Write-in
Now, however, Kesar had to decide what he would do this year. In the end, he decided to
AN: You can sacrifice an action in one category for another. Also, for this vote, infrastructure will be separate, and I would prefer if you made a plan just for that. Effectively just vote for the other options, and pick infrastructure as a plan. So, have the vote look like this
*Legion Upgrade
*Monument Location
*Research 1
*Research 2
*Research 3
*Social 1
*Social 2
*Plan Infrastructure
*What is in that plan
Social (Pick 2)
[] Horus
[] Leman
[] Ferrus
[] Vulkan
[] Perturabo
[] Mortarion
[] Curze "The unjust scream as justice descends. Their sins cleansed as the righteous enact oblivion."
[] Malcador
[] Write-in
[] Let the GM take care of it
[] Plan upgrades for the Legion
[] Unlock Education Centers (1000PP)
[] Asteroid Belt Shipyards Design – allows asteroid belt shipyards
[] Theoretical Megastructures (locked till certain conditions met)
[] Upgrade Planetary Infrastructure
[] Upgrade Planetary Technology
[] Build Valhallan Defense Grid, 1200 PP
[] Build Buildings
-[] Nursing Clinics – -10 to plague rolls if installed on all planets (percentage based). Costs 10 PP per planet.
-[] Hospital Complexes – -5 to plague rolls if installed on all planets (percentage based). Costs 20 PP per planet. Requires nursing clinics.
-[] Doctor Training – -5 to plague rolls if installed on all planets (percentage based). Costs 20 PP per planet. Requires Hospital Complexes.
-[] First Aid courses – Decreases civilian deaths during conflicts by 20% for the planet. Costs 2 PP per planet.
-[] Gene Monitoring – -90% to mutation rate if installed on all planets (percentage based). Costs 20 PP per planet. Requires Nursing Clinics.
-[] Dedicated Atmospheric Transport – +0.1% PP per installation. (Limited to +10%). Costs 50 PP per planet.
-[] Railroads – +0.1% PP per installation. (Limited to +10%). Costs 50 PP per planet.
-[] Wet navy dockyards – +0.1% PP per installation. (Limited to +10%). Costs 50 PP per planet.
-[] Distributed Spacecraft Production – Mechanicus can build more complex ships. Costs 100 PP per planet. Only available for Tier 10 planets and above (8 currently).
-[] Distributed Weapons Production – Mechanicus can build more complex weapons. Costs 50 PP per planet. Only available for Mid-Imperial worlds and above (33 currently).
-[] Spare Parts Manufacturing – Decreased logistic. Costs 10 PP per planet.
-[] Weapons Depots – Emergency stockpiles of high-grade weapons. Removes poorly equipped malus for PDFs and militias. Costs 10 PP per world.
-[] Interstellar Docking Ports – +0.01% PP per docking port. Costs 50 PP per world.
-[] Ground to Space transportation – +0.01% PP per docking port. Costs 50 PP per world. Requires Interstellar Docking Ports
-[] Improve Housing – Costs 100 PP per planet.
[] Build System Wide Improvements
-[] Dyson Swarm Megastructure – Tier 16 planet with Advanced Tech (5 million PP)
-[] Stellar Forge Megastructure – Provides 5 million PP (1 billion PP)
-[] Emergency Fueling Stations – In the event of a promethium shortage, suffer no penalties in this system (200 PP per system)
-[] Stealth Stations – Hidden stations for a variety of usages (200 PP per station)
-[] Lunar/Ring Mining – Provides 50 PP (1k PP)
-[] Lagrange Point Sensor Network – Provides sensor data on the entire system (200 PP per system)
-[] Ultra Hostile Colonies – Place a Tier 10 colony with High Imperial Tech (5 million PP, limit of planets/100 round down)
-[] Stealth Bases – Provides a hidden source of troops (1k PP, limit of planets/100)
-[] Training Facilities – Provides a random bonus to the Legion (10k PP, limit of planets/100)
-[] Rocky Body Colonies – Place a Tier 10 colony with High Imperial Tech (500k PP)
-[] Bases – Place Tier 5 colony with High Imperial Tech, can't be upgraded (1k PP)
-[] Mining Outposts – +0.01% PP (100 PP)
-[] Asteroid Miners – +0.01% PP (100 PP)
-[] Oord Cloud Miners – +0.01% PP (1k PP)
-[] Warning Sensors – Provides advance warning of invasions (100 PP)
Hey @Daemon Hunter, was looking at the Valhalla data sheet and unless you use a different regiment size or you haven't updated the pop. They shouldn't have 1.3 billion men in the military when the pop is 500 million.
Hey @Daemon Hunter, was looking at the Valhalla data sheet and unless you use a different regiment size or you haven't updated the pop. They shouldn't have 1.3 billion men in the military when the pop is 500 million.
Welp, guess we should check up on him soon.
Also this
[X] Dedicated Sweepers (No need to spend time purging cultists)
[X] The site where the first Astartes death occurred
[X] Plan: This Turn
-[X] Dedicated Sweepers (No need to spend time purging cultists)
-[X] The site where the first Astartes death occurred
-[X] Basic Cultist Countermeasures - Advanced : Requires Basic Understanding of Cultist Behavior
-[X] Gene Seed Mastery - Mastery
-[X] Warp Engine Mastery - Advanced
-[X] Void Shield Advanced Design – Advanced
-[X] Visit Lion
-[X] Create Basic Rune – Master
-[X] Spend PP: Upgrade Valhallan Infrastructure from Tier 8 to Tier 15 Costs: 650 PP, Buy Valhallan Defensive Network for 1200 PP, Upgrade Valhalla to Low Imperial -70 PP | All of these go on Valhalla: Buy Nursing Complex -10 PP, Buy Hospital Complex -20 PP, Buy Doctor Training -20 PP, Buy First Aid Courses -2 PP, Buy Gene Monitoring -20 PP, Buy Spare Parts Manufacturing -10 PP, Buy Weapons Depots -10 PP, Buy Railroads -50 PP, Buy Dedicated Atmospheric Aircraft -50 PP, Buy Interstellar Trading Ports -50 PP, Buy Ground to Space Transportation -50 PP, Buy Wet Navy Dock Yard -50 PP. Bank 75 PP
Edit: This plan gets those researches we've been wanting, allows us to visit with the Lion and then upgrades and overalls Valhalla pretty heftily. Get's us that defense network we've been wanting to. I'm willing to change the Lion for Alpharius if people feel like that is necessary.