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The Lost Primarch Quest

Flagship Name

  • Spirit of Fire

    Votes: 21 47.7%

  • Vigilance

    Votes: 23 52.3%
  • Total voters
    44
  • Poll closed .
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Year 13 Part 4
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    • [X] Plan Putting Out Fires
    -[X] Hades II, send 8500 Astartes with Captain Aurelian (from 'The First' Omake, likely no bonuses but specific experience for a named Captain can't hurt.)
    -[X] Liekana IV, 28k Astartes with Oriacarius
    -[X] Sacramentum I 36.5k Astartes with Kesar, and Ruoult
    -[X] Rekti II 25k Astartes Maticus
    -[X] Colchis 5k Astartes and Scafrir, who will hopefully be able to remain civil with the Wolf. Emphasis on detection runes/chaos hunting.
    -[X] Lorgar's Domain 5k Astartes
    -[X] Pursue Lorgar 3.5k Astartes to scout out a good forward operating base for future fortification and eventual anti-Lorgar/Eye of Terror efforts.

    Once again, Kesar simply could not find time to work on Gehenna's power source. It seems that the Crusade was proving to be time consuming due to his many responsibilities. Hopefully, he could work on this next year.

    As Kesar began to travel to Sacramentum, he reviewed his Legion's reports. The first was from Captain Aurelian, a good captain, but by no means exceptional. He had sent him on a mission for the first time in order to test him in battle and see his skills in action. So far, Aurelian had proven to be skilled, but this was difficult to tell considering the overwhelming victory. The Mechanicus had already pushed the hereteks and the Man of Iron to a single city that they had struggled to breach. The arrival of the Wardens changed that however.

    Weapons designed to deal with the Mechanicus had little effect on the Astartes present and covering artillery fire from the Mechanicus only made the endeavor easier. After placing copious amounts of explosives on one of the walls, the Wardens successfully managed to breach the city. Then, a flood of skitari and tech guard entered behind them. There, they faced soulless metal skeletons, that kept being rebuilt. However, the production process was slow compared to Gehenna, so the Wardens were easily able to deal with the issue.

    With infantry support from the Valhallan Army units and the Mechanicus, the Wardens made good time, and managed to take the city within hours, and any survivors were shot under orders of the Archmagos present. When the central core of the abominable intelligence was reached, the Archmagos initially wanted to destroy the computer core, but one of his underlings requested that they try to exorcise it, arguing that it would make a good test in case future Men of Iron have some way to subvert the machine spirits. With the Archmagos' consent, the tech priest plugged his mechadentrite into the computer core. He died. Horrifically. As the screaming tech priest was put down, the Wardens opened fire on the Man of Iron's last processing unit, destroying it. However, the tech priest apparently managed to record his struggles against the abominable intelligence which should make future encounters easier to deal with.

    *+5 to resisting computer infiltration*

    Meanwhile, on Liekana IV, Oriacarius arrived to a world that had been devastated. Planetary infrastructure was destroyed, the populace was starving, and their cities and homes were burnt. The culprits were quickly found, who had trapped an area in the forests to a ridiculous extent. These Eldar had been trying to do something for the past year but were unsuccessful. When they had failed, they annihilated the inhabitants to ensure that no word got out, but Oriacarius was sent to investigate anyways.

    When Oricarius analyzed the Eldar, he found that they were protecting something, but he was unable to determine what. He was more concerned with the news that a farseer was present. These diviners were extremely difficult foes to deal with, but his numerous contingencies would help in this regard. As he was facing Eldar, the first captain ordered a widespread bombardment of the site, only to find his ships were unable to penetrate the void shield that the Eldar had set up.

    He knew that the Eldar would predict any move he made thanks to the farseer, so he cheated. Instead of one contingency, he used 25, simultaneously. One Astartes group would deploy via drop pod, another would deploy via Stormbird, another would land several miles away before walking over, another would set up a sniper's perch miles away, etc. Then, he began the operation. Of course, the farseer had seen all of these contingencies, but it didn't matter. For each attack vector, Oriacarius had provided several different plans for many situations. Using these, the 25 different groups of a 1000 Astartes each maneuvered masterfully.

    Oriacarius contingencies were used one after the other in response to the farseer's actions. Yet, for every action taken by the farseer, Oriacarius had a hundred contingencies. The Eldar were simply unable to react fast enough, despite knowing how Oriacarius' tactical plan would unfold. It simply had to many facets, to many ways it would adapt. In the end, after suffering a surprising number of casualties, the Eldar withdrew, but not before the farseer tracked down Oriacarius had started a duel.

    The duel was a masterful display of brilliance on both sides. The farseer and Oriacarius dueled for nearly a day, neither side able to land a blow on the other. The farseer could simply see what Oriacarius would do, and counter it, while Oriacarius had prepared enough contingencies to react to anything the farseer attempted. This continued for nearly 20 hours, before finally, one struck a blow.

    Oriacarius was tired. The Eldar he had been facing was as fast as he was, more agile, and predicted his every move. The only reason he had not been wounded were his many contingencies. However, he was running out over time, even as he formulated new plans on the spot. Thankfully, even a farseer had limited stamina. The Eldar again began a convoluted series of strikes, Oriacarius blocked each one before the farseer's trickery became clear. After the twelfth slash, Oriacarius shifted his right leg, and the Eldar kicked that leg at that moment.

    Using contingency 35F, the Warden's first captain let his leg collapse and pushed off his left leg into a sideways twirl. Landing on his left arm and leg, he slashed with his sword. The Eldar leaped back, before the Xeno's face changed into terror. The Eldar had forgotten that the rest of the Wardens were there, and of a sniper team that Oriacarius had previously positioned in case of a duel. It paid off wonderfully now, as the farseer had been too focused on fighting him. With the space between them, the Astartes squad was finally able to fire. The farseer's head burst a second before the sound itself was heard. At the death of their farseer, the Eldar retreated through an unknown portal.

    This was not an aspect of the warp, and Oriacarius was curious as to its use, but he suspected that it was some sort of transportation system. Hopefully, it would be of use to the Imperium. As such, he ordered the Wardens to secure the area in case the Eldar returned.

    Rekti II however, was a disaster. When Maticus arrived, he concentrated his troops to avoid a repeat of last time. Companies of Astartes tore through the elite soldiers before entering cities. It worked wonderfully, with the Valhallan units seizing key areas. The however, disaster struck.

    The two Alpha class psykers had prepared for this, and they struck in a devastating manner. They created warpfire, and burnt the city around the Wardens. In this apocalyptic city, the Wardens died in the thousands, even as many managed to evacuate. However, this evacuation was hampered greatly by the hostile airspace. The Rektians had waited and deployed their entire airforce in an attempt to destroy the Wardens. In the skies, planes dueled in the hundreds even as the Wardens desperately evacuated the burning city.

    As Maticus led the Wardens back, he was his normal stoic self on the outside. However, inwardly he was sad and guilt-ridden. This was his second command, and now he had killed thousands of his brothers. Still, he would follow orders, he would maintain ranks, and he would find a way out of this hellhole. Using a secondary path, he ordered the Wardens to deploy breaching charges to clear the area, and they swiftly exited. However, their exit was hampered when the warp fire was moved to coat the cleared exit. Seeing this, Maticus knew he would have to distract the two psykers in order to allow his brothers to leave alive.

    Taking a group of 500 Astartes, he ordered the rest to wait and exit when the warp fire stilled for a moment. After an hour, the group he had taken managed to track down the Alpha class psykers, but not before losing 400 of his brothers. There, he fought the two monsters that had killed his brothers. In the initial moments, the two psykers were identified as a brother sister pair that had plagued this planet. They tried to obtain distance, but Maticus charged directly at them, dodging the flames and telekinetic debris. He got close but was forced to constantly shift his position to avoid their strikes. However, his brothers were not so lucky.

    As he was occupied with one of the psykers, the other burnt his brothers to ashes. The Wardens fought back, but it was for naught. None of them managed to escape the hellfire that engulfed them, even as they marched forward as their bodies collapsed. A few managed to land glancing shots, but none did any damage to the psykers.

    Now, the two turned their entire attention to Maticus who continued the dance of death. For minutes, the Warden dodged the psykers attacks, before finally, he saw a pattern to their attacks. Psykers at their core, have their limits, and after spending so much time with the Thousand Sons, Maticus found the limits of these psykers. As he realized this, he charged. The two psykers responded with more telekinetic strikes, but this time, they were slower to react. Smiling, Maticus drove his sword through one. As the psyker screamed, the other blasted him backwards.

    As he moved to finish the psyker off, Maticus was forced to withdraw after the unwounded psyker coated herself and her brother in a coating of warp fire. However, now the flames in the rest of the city had dispersed, and the Wardens could evacuate. Maticus too, took this reprieve, and left the city. While the Wardens had escaped, they were no closer to dealing with this world since the psykers had undoubtedly used biomancy to heal themselves. Additionally, 5000 Wardens had perished during this battle. However, Maticus believed he would be able to deal with these psykers easier during the next assault.

    *Maticus gains hero trait: Bane of the Psyker - +10 to Legion rolls vs psykers when he is present*

    Meanwhile, Scafrir had been sent to Colchis to assist the Space Wolves. While their help would be largely unneeded, it was better to be safe. Additionally, it would foster relations with Leman Russ, who while the Primarch did dislike the Legion, he also respected their skills. Surprisisingly, Colchis was a rather tame world for the most part. When the Space Wolves arrived, effigies of Lorgar were being burned at stakes for violating the God-Emperor's word. Taking advantage of this, the Wardens and Space Wolves began to purge the world of any cultists they could find.

    While there were no corruptive elements found in the populace, the same was not true for the temples of the four gods that Colchis worshipped besides the Emperor of Man. In these locations, worshippers would prey to corruptive artifacts and perform nightmarish actions in secret. When this was learned, the Space Wolves tracked down these individuals, a task where the Wardens were phenomenal in performing. With the Wardens leading groups of Wolves, the corrupted members of the populace were purged, as the populace cheered on. However, destroying the temples was not an easy task due to how insidious these artifacts were.

    In fact, some of these artifacts nearly corrupted a few hundred Wardens. The only reason they did not become Lost was Scafrir. The Master of Scouts stayed awake for 12 straight days. In this time, he prepared speeches, and visited every Warden. He talked to those who were about to fall and pulled them back at the precipice. Over and over again, he said a few words that the Wardens clung to. "If you fall, father would be sad." Through his actions, it is estimated that nearly 300 Wardens were saved, with the rest successfully managing to avoid falling.

    *Scafrir trait revealed +50 to corruption resistance*

    The same however, was not true for the Space Wolves. While they were Astartes, thousands were in the process of falling. Nearly 15,000 Astartes were nearly corrupted. It was only because they were caught early that they managed to determine exactly who was corrupted before they were ireedeemable. The Wardens used their skills to the fullest extent after Leman Russ gave permission once he discovered how insidious the warp truly was. For weeks, the Space Wolves purged themselves, with the Rune Priests and Wardens working in tandem to save those they could. While most of these Astartes were only on the verge of falling, nearly 5,800 had to be executed. Leman Russ personally executed each and every one of these Lost Wolves, before ordering Scafrir to his quarters. What was said in there is a mystery, but after hours, the Great Wolf emerged, with a thoughtful expression. As Scafrir retired after nearly two weeks of no sleep, Leman Russ spoke to him, "In the future, the Wolves will defer to the Wardens in matters of the warp."
    77^2 = 5929
    As for the rest of Lorgar's domain, Kesar need not have sent the Wardens. It seems that Lorgar's domain was fanatically loyal to the Imperium, to the point that many governments that Lorgar had set up were overthrown by the populace in fear that these governors had orders to defect from the Emperor's Light. Due to this, the Lion merely had to send forces to each world without fear of deaths. He did split the Wardens into many small teams to search for corruption, but it seems that none was found thankfully. With the loyalty of the citizens, the Lion was easily able to take control of the planets within the year.

    Meanwhile, the scouts sent to the edge of the Eye of Terror were very cautious. Sadly, they were rather limited in their scouting, but they have set up a forward operating base near it.

    Finally, Kesar arrived at Sacrementum I, a world where the Alpha Legion agents had been subverted. He was very cautious about this world, but the potential rewards from it would be useful if they were not corrupted. To this extent, he sent his pathfinders to analyze the area.

    The reports he received were unpleasant. The human officers that read them had vomited upon seeing them, but thankfully the reports were confirmed to be clean of any corruption.

    It seems that the food source was a horrible creation comprised of dead humans. The corpses of those that died were placed in vats, where the bodies were consumed by festering bacteria and fungi. These would ferment the bodies into a soup which was distributed as food. Kesar was greatly disturbed by this, as were the Pathfinders. The Pathfinders reported that this creation was present in the very air and had been eroding their will, but they were confident that they could resist it.

    After seeing this, the Pathfinders looked into three separate areas. The military facilities, the excuses for food sources, and any major dangers.

    The military facilities here were largely comprised of individuals that at first glance seem normal. However, the Pathfinders managed to obtain medical scans of these soldiers and found that the people here are mutated inwardly. Their organs are failing and rotting, their skeletons are fused in ways that should kill them. It is estimated that the average soldier here will be far tougher than expected. So far, they have found 77 military facilities arranged in a covering formation. Each facility can cover its neighbors, so an attack on a single facility will have a very quick response time. However, a coordinated military assault would likely prove devastating since the defenses are designed to prevent concentrated attacks.

    As Kesar read through the reports, he noticed that the number of grammatical and spelling errors began to slowly creep up. It seemed that the Pathfinders were slowly wearing out mentally. Nevertheless, he began to read of the seven major food processing facilities present. These disposal sites for human remains serve a dual purpose as temples. Previously, Kesar would not have known who they were worshipping, but it seems that they were praising the Archdaemon in charge of plagues. Sickened by this, Kesar read on.

    These seven sites were protected by the nightmarish remains themselves. Not content with simply using them as food sources, these corrupted areas can puppet the rotting corpses present. While not a danger, they are horrifically corruptive as they emit a corrosive gas that eats through anything and will corrupt the souls of even strong-minded individuals.

    The last thing of note were the population centers, where the populace resides. These sites were marked and targeting coordinates for bombardment were present in the data. These cities were home to a vast number of cultists, but these cultists were largely sedentary. After all, they had no need to corrupt others, instead they sat back and allowed for people to corrupt themselves by simply eating. These monstrosities must be destroyed. As Kesar continued to read on, he played a video from one of his Pathfinders' cameras.

    Karael was confused. He had been a member of the Eternal Wardens for years now. Yet, something was strange. His mind was foggy, but he forced himself to think. Serial number 7573 Squad 13. Serial number 7573 Squad 13. Like a mantra, he repeated these words to himself over and over again. Slowly, the fog cleared from his mind. He, he was on a mission. He knew this now. He was supposed to report the dangers of this world to his grandfather…

    "NO! That's … that's not it." His companions turned towards him at his screams. Kareal rubbed his temples with his hands. He served the XIth Primarch. He served Kesar Dorlin. His three companions shivered, trembling as they too fought the fog that coated their minds. Yet, their bodies did not respond to their souls' desires.

    "Karael, we must prepare for our father's arrival. Grandfather Nurgle will be so happy when our Primarch sees the truth." Yes, that sounded alright. No, that wasn't what should happen. Karael's mind warred with itself for minutes. His loyalty to his Primarch and mankind warred with the corruption that had slowly festered in his mind. Finally, Karael felt the fog clear for just a moment, long enough for him to take action.

    "FOR THOSE WE CHERISH!" Screaming, Karael drew his volkite and shot one of his brothers through the helmet. In the instant in which they drew their weapons, Karael lunged at his second brother, and severed his head with his chainsword. Feeling the fog returning to his mind, he lunged at his third brother who had readied his chainsword as well. Karael primed a grenade and ran at him, and as the sword ran through his body, he smiled. "Relax brother. For we die whole of mind."

    Kesar put down the dataslate and placed his head in his hands. From the information he received, it seems that the planet was extremely corruptive. In larger numbers, this would only become worse. It also explained why the Alpha Legion's spies had failed. They simply fell to the corruption which made their infiltration useless.

    Now, he saw a few battleplans that could work. The first was a coordinated strike on multiple locations. He would have the fleet bombard the population centers and split half the Wardens into small groups which would attack each military base. The other half would concentrate themselves on the seven food production facilities. As for him, he would assist the forces at the central food processor since that was likely where the danger was. The main issue he could see with this plan was that if there were any trump cards that the planet held, then it would be difficult to respond. For now, this would be called Plan Charlie.

    The second plan involved simply destroying the world. It was corrupted and largely useless. He would have to expend his sons lives taking it, so exterminatus was a valid option. Of course, this would mean the planet would be destroyed.

    The next idea he saw was to ignore the military bases and attack the production facilities and population centers. As the military moved its forces, the fleet with bombard them. Kesar himself would attack the central processing area just like in Plan Charlie. The main risk is that the Wardens would be attacked in the flank by the military forces present. However, it would mean that a quick victory would allow the Wardens to pivot and attack the military forces outside of their bases. This is referred to as Plan Delta.

    The last plan Kesar thought of was to conduct a series of overwhelming strikes. A single site would be attacked daily before the Wardens would withdraw. This would mean that all of the Wardens would strike a location before leaving. Thanks to their orbital superiority, this plan could work well. However, it would give the inhabitants time to respond, and action that would not be ideal. This plan is referred to as Plan Epsilon.

    In end, Kesar decided to implement

    [] Plan Charlie
    [] Exterminatus
    [] Plan Delta
    [] Plan Epsilon
    [] Write-in

    Power Source: 17 + 40 (Kesar) + 40 (Warptech) + 20 (Researches) = 117
    Hades II Wardens: 77 + 20 (Astartes) + 20 (Mechanicus Support) + 10 (Good Positioning) + 10 (Equipment, Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) = 142
    Hades II Man of Iron: 17 + 20 (Defenses) + 10 (Limited Production) = 47
    Liekana IV: 100 + 20 (Astartes) + 10 (Equipment, Mark IIB Armor) = 130
    Liekana IV Eldar Shenanigans: 26 + 20 (Eldar) + 50 (Farseer) + 20 (Preparation) =116
    Rekti II: 4 + 20 (Astartes) + 25 (Sisters of Silence) + 10 (Equipment, Mark IIB Armor) + 5 (Daemonic Horde) + 20 (Numbers) = 84
    Defenders: 44 + 40 (Alphas) + 20 (Skill) = 104
    Scafrir and Leman: 84 + 40 (Respect) – 20 (Believes it's unneeded) + 20 (Scafrir) – 20 (Scafrir's Beliefs) = 104
    Purging Colchis: 88 + 40 (The Great Wolf) + 20 (Space Wolves) + 45 (Banish Runes, For the Lost, Sisters of Silence, For Those Denied Salvation) + 10 (Ever Vigilant, Ever Watchful) + 5 (Detection Runes) = 208
    Space Wolves Corruption Resistance: 42 + 20 (Astartes) = 62
    Wardens Corruption Resistance: 2 + 110 (Astartes, Till Death do us Apart, A Warden's Rage, New Orders, New Routine) + 50 (Scafrir) = 162
    Corruption: 97 + 40 (Numerous Artifacts) = 137
    Lion: 78 + 40 (The Lion) + 20 (Dark Angels) + 40 (Loyal Worlds) + 5 (Warden Support) = 183
    Lorgar's Resistance: 24 - 40 (Fanatically Loyal) – 20 (No Sabotage) = -36
    Scouting the Eye: 9 + 20 (Astartes) + 20 (Alpha Legion Trained) + 20 (Telepaths) = 69
    Corruption Resistance: 76 + 110 (Astartes, Till Death do us Apart, A Warden's Rage, New Orders, New Routine) = 186
    Corruption: 66 + 20 (Edge of the Eye) = 86
    Base Quality: 36 + 20 (Astartes) = 56
    Base Location: 79 - 20 (Eye of Terror) = 59
    Sacramentum Scouts: 69 + 20 (Astartes) + 20 (Alpha Legion Trained) + 20 (Telepaths) = 129
    Corruption Resistance: 21 + 110 (Astartes, Till Death do us Apart, A Warden's Rage, New Orders, New Routine) +5 (Omake) = 136
    Nurglings Passive Corruptors: 82 + 50 (Taint) = 132
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Daemon Hunter said:
    Space Wolves Corruption Resistance: 42 + 20 (Astartes) = 62
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    Ouch.

    Poor Leman.

    With luck this will at least increase his respect for us and let us work together...oy vey.

    Still Lorgar's domain is pacified and god damn it eldar...this doesn't have to be like this you Beil Tan pricks.

    Lets just get everyone else to swear loyalty to Ulthwe...yikes.
     
    I want to destroy the hellhole. At this point it seems like it's near unsalvageable and highly corrosive to our forces.

    I don't want to risk more lost, much less long term infiltration from them.
     
    [X] Exterminatus
    No point to attack the planet since it has no loot or strategic importance. Also risks our Space marines for no reason other than pride.
     
    [X] Exterminatus

    If there were an uncorrupted STC for disintegration rifles here then I might consider otherwise but this planet is not only a plague-ridden nightmare, it is a plague-ridden nightmare that has nothing of use. Wipe the damn thing off the galactic map.
     
    [X] Exterminatus

    Yeah i'm Jumping on the Nope train to fuckoffville. This planet is beyond useless and too dangerous.
     
    [X] Exterminatus

    yeah no, this place is too far gone

    drop the plunger on this clog up toilet so that the great flush of water will clean it of the filth
     
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