The Young Xian of the Celestial Realm: Space Cathay 4x Warhammer 40k Quest

[Spartakrod]

Mors Mihi Lucurm

Staff Sergeant Delta Tertius 331-Pierre was not a proud man, he had nothing to be proud of. His people, his home, they had betrayed the Emperor, the Empress, the Human Spirit. They had tainted their souls in a way that would be seen within the Argent Heaven by the Empress, and would draw the frown of he on the Golden Throne. Krieg had sinned, they had sinned, they were sinful.

The Spirit of Man demanded they atone, demanded they bleed. The tubemother had whispered how they were wrong from the moment of conception, the officers had told them of their crimes. They were born damned, and damnation awaited for those who did not die with their ledgers cleansed.

He thumbed the safety off his lasgun, the terrifying groaning sound of Ratmen machinery approaching sending a PDF trooper into a panic before he stared down the conscript with his soulless armoured gas mask, breathing in and out.

"Have faith in the Three, believe, and you shall be saved child. The Emperor, the Empress, and the Spirit bless and keep your world, for it has not yet been unforgiven." He said to the girl, maybe twelve as she shakily brought her magnoculars back up to her helmet's visor, if it would mean not having a conversation with him.

"Are we going to die? There's so many of them!" An older but even less experienced PDF recruit said, hastily fitted knockoff Cadian patterned flaksuit rattling slightly as the woman who'd seen a few too many winters shook from the bombardment of Plaguecannons tearing through row after row of terrain feature.

"All die. Death is what the Empress has decreed is to unite the whole universe, and it is through her Emperor, our Emperor, that Death shall be delivered to the foes of the Three, and we through our unity in the human spirit shall make it so." He said, not even thinking about it while the other Kriegers gave a hasty "amen" in response.

"Fear not death, for life everlasting in the Argent Paradise awaits for those who can stand before the Silvered Tower lit by the Golden Throne and see the judgement of both Him and Her on Terra. Argenta is our reward, Aura our grace. And for the heathen, the infidel, the heretic, the apostate, the rebellious machine, and the alien there will be naught but the great abyss and a void of flame." Chaplain Gamma Secundus 117-Michelle said, quoting the scripture from memory, even as the sensation of the ground rumbling apart at the seams grew more intense to the point that one could feel it in their bones.

"Aw come on! Of all the fucking trenches we have to be stuck in it's the ones with you killjoys! Shut the actual fuck up already!" Catachanner, exposed skin, disdaining the mass produced flak and carapace suits in exchange for lighter armour because their forms were just barely dancing on the edge of abhumanity, with unnatural resistance to toxin and injury and Pierre was sure, because they were a lewd people who revelled in nakedness.

"You would utter profanity when you hear the scriptures?" 117-Michelle asked in a cold voice.

The bare-armed and bare-faced woman laughed an unfiltered laugh, she seemed to be able to handle the fumes of the battlefield just fine without chemical warfare gear, though she wore her laser-glare protection goggles all the same. Her voice was deep, strong, loud, she was more than a head taller than a Krieg woman of her age and rough physique would be. Unnatural, different.

"You think reading from the manual's all there is to faith?" She said, glancing to the sharp eyed whiteshield sentries as the bombardments began to subside.

"Hey, Sally, you see anything?" She said with a heathenous degree of softness. This child was asked to do her duty, why try to speak to her as if she was on the playground.

"Uhh...IFVs...the um...Rattle Wheels, coming fast, Captain Alice...Ma'am." She said, hand signalling in multiplicatives to indicate number, trying to salute the Catachan Officer who adjusted the carapace plates she wore over her rather minimalistic uniform and often just exposed skin he'd seen break rolled homogeneous steel kitchen knives against it in a bar fight. She tapped the side of her helmet, offered some commands in the barbaric dialect of that benighted death world and its colonies.

Pierre zoomed in with the eyepieces of his gas mask, magnifying upon the wheel shaped infantry fighting vehicles of the ratmen. Unlike the brutal simplicity of the works of those men who accepted the authority of Terra these were ramshackle, ugly things, belching tainted exhaust with components squealing loud enough to be heard from this distance. They wanted them to know they were coming, nobody would make so little effort at stealth otherwise.

He also noticed waves of technicals, civilian, or what passed for civilian in the ranks of Skavendom, vehicles given slapdash uparmouring and carrying teeming piles of Skaven inside of buses or trucks fitted with wide, low pressure wheels. He signalled to one of the fireteams in the company he was attached to, and the Kriegsman nodded simply and emerged from a prepared position and slammed the missile launcher into a fireport.

A round was slammed in, and backblast space was given before the anti-tank missile flew forwards, followed by dozens, hundreds, countless more. Lascannon embankments hummed, whined, and then pulsed while field gun positions shook the ground with the bark of their muzzles, tanks dug into special bunkers rotating and opening fire.

"Heavy bolters, Longlas weapons, and multi-lasers can deal with the technicals, conserve heavy weapons fire for more armoured vehicles." 331-Pierre advised another squad, this one of fresher recruits.

"They won't reach us right?" The old PDF lady asked.

"This is the easiest part of trench warfare." He replied, only to be bemused by her relief.

"For the attacker." He appended, drawing no joy from her expression of shock from her opened facemask.

"The hardest part in trench warfare is not the initial assault, it is holding the ground once you have taken it with overextended and exhausted soldiers facing disciplined counterattack." He said, as if this were just the simple facts of the universe.

He retained his calm, even when the belching contraptions and hideous monsters of the ratmen reached their positions, warpfire throwers engulfing some of the hardened bunkers in green death hot enough to melt rockcrete and leave nothing but vapour.

Poorly clad Skavenslaves scurried in their teeming multitudes, driven forward by chemicals and fear ahead of the teams of clanrats who often leapt off the tanks they had ridden on the backs of straight into the invisible lances of light from laser fire.

A Leman Russ Punisher Platoon roared to life, hull and sponson mounted heavy rotor cannons joining the standard rotor weapons in the pintle and coaxial mount, all drowned out by the chugging of the main guns pitting six thousand hypersonic rounds a second.

The machines sung their praise of the Trinity, their roar hymnal devotions to the Emperor, Empress, and Human Spirit and their tracers a solid line of offering. He only wished he could be so endlessly devoted as a machine.

More and more storms of tracer fire lit up the darkness, more and more Rat body parts fell apart, Lasguns barked, bolters shrieked, autocannons chugged, explosives detonated, but the beady lens shielded eyes of the vermin only got closer.

"Fix bayonets." 331-Pierre said calmly, his squad calmly affixing vibration capable cold steel onto their lasguns, covered by the sweep of multilaser emplacements on overwatch duties and the weapon specialists popping up to let loose with grenade launchers.

"Child, ready your bayonet so that you may die for Them taking the alien with you." Pierre ordered the twelve year old spotter as she took potshots with her lasrifle, sending skaven slave bodies to the ground while clanrats threw themselves into cover, snarling in queekish while dirt fountained from nearby explosions.

"But the commissar said I s-should fall back if we're gonna get overrun!" She protested.

Pierre looked up and then dead on at one of the PDF commissars shouting encouragement and political catechisms to the troops under his command.

"PDF unit, are you this child's commissar?" The staff sergeant asked, signalling to the specialists with rapid fire las weapons to take positions to cover him while he approached the commissar, whose facemask betrayed no expression but whose posture gave away that he was afraid of the krieger suddenly in his face.

"I…yes, private Sally is in my care, but as a whiteshield she should not be needlessly exposed to danger even if the situation calls for every pair of hands to hold a gu-" He managed to say before the Sergeant's laspistol fired off a blast at full charge into the Commissar's eyepiece, reducing his brains to vapour within his helmet.

"You will not retreat. You will bring victory for Him on the Throne, Her in the Keep, and the Spirit in us all. Or die." Pierre said to a trembling, terrified Sally and her fellow whiteshields as the Skaven drew closer, chittering, screaming, and then shouting.

"DIE-DIE MAN-THING DIE-DIE!" One shouted as a grenade was thrown, only for Pierre to note that it had not been properly armed, grabbing it from the air and pulling its pin before tossing it back, Skaven parts flying while he impassively pumped the attached grenade launcher on his gun and blasted another set of rodents into oblivion.

"No retreat, only glory." He said with a voice colder than the winter snows that shied away from gouts of warpfire.

…

Shas'O'Kau'Res was old, even with life extension technologies, her body was mostly machine to stave off the decay of her cells, meanwhile Wang Zi Rui was as she saw him more than a hundred Terran years ago, a fresh face, unchanged by time or injury. While she knew him to be a shapeshifter, part of her felt some small envy in that his face could never be marred by the ages.

"It is not often that I receive a social visit from an assassin." She said, her own face a mass of synth flesh over cybernetic replacement teeth removed by injury and age, wearing her hair in a free, untamed style as was common on her home Sept, letting it flow in the breeze as his bob-cut green and white hair did.

"Spymaster is a more accurate description of my duties, Kau'Res." He replied, his speech in her language without flaw or accent to a degree the human; or even the felinid; he took the shape of could never actually manage with the differences in nasal structure and lung systems.

It was honestly more disconcerting than if he had to make those adjustments to account for physiology, as her eyes kept looking for nasal slits that weren't there.

"But you are right, I'm not the most social of my kindred." He said, folding his gloved hands together and leaning on the balcony, looking out at the starry field of citylights below.

"You bring death where you tread, Wang. You do not stink of it the same way your sister does when she shows her true colours, but I can tell from the way you carry yourself when you are not putting on a mask that you are a killer." She replied, noting the economy of his every movement when he wasn't pretending to be…normal, no movements wasted, no unnecessary steps or twitches made, complete awareness of his every bodypart's location at all times.

He was older than her nation, than a great many nations in fact, older than many religions and languages. And she could tell that many threads in the long thread of his life were cut by an unfortunate encounter with him. His were the hands that killed, but yet…

He touched some of the plants when they caught his eye, his relatively casual outfit shuffling just a bit while his hands let out an energy she still saw with apprehension. Thermodynamics was violated, the plant grew in size and opened fresh bulbs of red petals where it had been dying only seconds before, to join its kin in bloom.

He smiled, satisfied, and she figured that in a life as long as his, he could not simply be a taker of life.

"Yin and Yang, where there is life there is death, where there is death there is life. Beginnings have ends, ends have beginnings." He said, a high voice more fit for a college boy than an ancient enigmatic eminence. She could at least appreciate that he had his hobbies.

"But why come here, to meet with me? You have an eternity awaiting you. My own time will run out one day, and I am not even one of your countrymen." She asked.

"You impressed me when we fought against the Tekeli-Li, and I thought that at least once, I should get to meet you as a person rather than an ally of convenience." He said, pushing himself a bit away from the balcony towards his full height, looming over her as a giant would.

"You are an old fool wearing a young prodigy's face." She said with a wry expression of gentle scorn, the sort one gives when playfully scolding a friend.

"Life without sentimental waste is a task for unfeeling machines. I just like interesting company, and you're still alive, so why not while I'm in the proverbial neighbourhood?" He said, pouring her a drink after reaching for cups and a pitcher with his mind science.

"Is this what some of your kind call a "one night stand"?" She said, the snort from his nose followed by a riotous laugh.

"I mean this with the gentlest of intentions, but you're not my type." He said as he made himself a cup and sipped, letting the liquid roll around in his mouth while she took one of the proffered cups from him.

"I don't really associate in that way with those with finite lifespans. And I don't really like just to leave it at one night anyway. And as for relations…I don't like attending funerals." He said, a sad smile on his face.

"Is that why you prefer to work with commandos than line personnel?"

"The idea that special forces are especially good at avoiding casualties comes more from action films and tactics games than reality." He shook his head.

"There are others better suited for being the public face of things than me. I'd rather teach what I am best suited for." He finished.

There was a minute or so of silence, the awkward quiet of two people who'd run out of things to talk about but had no real reason to depart from the area just yet. Enough time for Kau'Res to give it some thought before finding her next line of questioning.

"Why do you dance with death when you hate to see its ceremonies?"

"Sometimes the best ways to ensure that life prospers are not pretty or pleasant. And someone needs to provide a counterweight to Chao-Xing."

"So it is out of love for your sister as much as duty?"

Now it was his own time to pause before he decided on how to word this, nodding slowly but affirmatively, then making a hand gesture that the T'Au would recognise as an affirmation as well.

"We are cubs of the same litter and she's been my best friend for thousands of your years. We know all the ways to annoy each other and how to comfort one another when we cry…how could we not love each other?" He said before pausing for a beat.

"Family, found or by blood, is precious to us. And no matter what, she'll always be my friend and confidant." He added.

"This sounds like a specific denial."

"There are…people who like to think that relations between Yin-Yang Shenren sibling pairs are…less familial than they really are. Nervous habit." He explained, getting a nod out of her as she pondered. The sexuality of those who did not regulate it to sanctioned release valves and times was truly strange.

…

"Gnoblar warboss Sneakalotz iz reportin' fer duty sir-ma'am!" A huge nosed creature poked his head into Xinyi's working space, prompting her to look up and raise a brow at the dopey looking thing in a surprisingly smart looking uniform.

"Oh, Raug told me that he had great confidence in your ability to be part of our guiding council, Haggis Sneakalotz. But you don't need to salute me, we are comrades here after all." She said, adjusting her positioning in her cushioned, wheeled chair and laying her hands on her thighs.

"That's right 'e did! Cuz I'z da bestest Gnoblar uv da whole lot I iz. I gotz me the knowwotz fer all kinda cunnin' an' clever traps and tricks I do and I speakz da language uv da workers!" He said, letting his hand fall away from his imitation commissar cap with the Red Star upon the yin and yang symbol behind it and a golden dragon's head upon it resting prominently above the visor.

His uniform was made in imitation of the Tianchao People's Celestial Liberation Army officer dress uniform, and his beady little eyes glowed a bit behind the flaring rim of his gigantic nostrils, a toothy grin plain as day on his face. While he was technically a greenskin, Gnoblars were not connected to the Waaagh, while possessed of a wired desire to serve the Ogors, they were not compelled to violence.

She could even smell it with her mind's nostrils, the calmer, more free-to-move aura around him, lacking the killing intent that lingered beneath the surface of even the most harmless-looking orkoid fungal spore. Instead, she found him just a little silly, enough for a smirk to form on her face.

"I'z also a strategy undahstandah and a taktikz knowwotz who's gotta sharp eye fer operations I do! I wont disappoint ya if ya'll 'ave me sir-ma'am!" He said, standing at attention before she gave the "at ease" signal.

She looked to her brother, then noticed he was neck deep in conversations with the Presiding Committee of the Supreme Jianyi and shrugged, looking back at him.

"Comrade will do fine, and you are already approved, comrade Sneakalotz." She said, getting an immediate thumbs up from the gnoblar commander.

"I wuz finkin' dat if yooz willin' ta invest in me lads, da gnobboz could 'elp with yer problem dat ye don't got a lotta boyz 'oo's fine wiff snuffin' it." He said, Xinyi almost dropping her Stylus as she looked at him quite intently.

"We are not in the business of wasting life." She said, though there was a curious timbre to her voice as she tilted her head.

"Yeah yeah I know, yoo lot will save even yer tin 'eadz I gets it. But sometimez ya need some gitz 'oo well…it ain't like we wontz ta die, an' maw knows we workz overtime ta keep ourselves in one piece, but we'z small an' plentiful ya know? We can fight where lots of yer boyz can't." he explained as she gave it thought, writing it down onto a tablet with her stylus to make note.

This got the gnoblar to grin from ear to ear as she inscribed the characters at lightning speed, tapping on her screen to open up a new document before starting off with her introduction.

"I'z also gotz wif me dis big ol' Yhetee lad, Xamno da Unkillable 'ulking Fing." He said, gesturing only to notice that the Yhetee had not actually arrived, prompting him to shout again, louder this time.

"OI XAMNO YER UP YA DAFT GIT!" He shouted again before letting out a loud whistle, the signal for the massive snow ape to barrel inside, snarling and roaring from the confines of its cryosuit, like the inversion of a furnace mixed with a refrigerator and a tank, clad over some huge, white furred beast that pounded the ground with enough force to lift Xinyi and Xiang out of their seats briefly.

"XAMNO IS HERE! WHAT I'D MISS?!" He shouted, seeming to have been awakened by the shouting being done.

"BOSS LADY AN' 'ER BRUV WANNA TALK TO YA!" The Gnoblar said, snapping his fingers and getting the shaggy primate's attention at the Dragonness who waved, and the Dragon who continued typing as if nothing happened.

"Oh…sorry boss lady." Xamno said with a lowering of his head, the tusks on his helm touching the floor.

"As per your personnel file, you specialise in bodyguarding right?" She said, letting him know that it was no big deal.

"Yeah, nuffin' gets past me no ma'am." He boasted, straightening himself into more of a knuckle walk position. He had more arms than was standard, a result of having consumed a pyrohydra as well as a trog king, and his form exuded the sort of strength that legends were made around.

"Excellent, you'll do great in the work we have ready for you then!" She said with a smirk.

…

A shell exploded against the first layer of void and barrier shielding, then another, and another, and another. Then the shells were replaced by the rupture of bioplasma and organic explosives, while the ground rumbled and shook beneath the tread and above the burrowing of obscene things.

"We are honoured to have you join us, comrade Kyn." One of the Blaze Lancer officers said to a Kahl who had given a stiff salute in response to being called.

"Here we have the robotic hordes of the Numerians in one sector, the Green tide in another, the Taotie in a third, and the Undead in a fourth. The Rak'Gol and Necrons regularly come to visit, and the Dark Eldar are raiding again. We keep busy here." She said with wry humour.

"Uh…comrade where do ya want dat big gun pointin'?" One of the Ogors said, saluting her as she gestured to one direction in particular, the Ogor nodding and grabbing some extra shells to heft to a grand mortar whose crew had been set up in a hastily established dugout in the lower fortifications ahead of the walls. He jumped down, a heavy crack and thunderclap audible from the ground before he started jogging over with the multitonne ammo.

"I dinnae suppose ye have a plan beyond "hold out till the stars burn out" do ya lassie?" The Votanni commander asked.

"We have reinforcements able to reach us. Whether they will, of course, is up to fate to decide." She replied.

"Well, ye got at least some of them lassie, when the Kyn hold a line, it bloody well holds!" He shouted, getting shouts of affirmation from the other, nearby Kyndred.

She nodded in response, as the distant bellows of "WAAAAAGH!" grew louder, Gargants and Krawlas dominating the horizon while Ork fliers buzzed at the dome shield, poking for weakness.

"Ancestors bone's they're a stubborn lot aren't they? Dinnae worry, we'll sort 'em out!" The Kahl boasted, but the brief sound of a bit of debris being dislodged made Mei Ling freeze.

"Is something amiss comrade Mei?" One of the Blaze Lancers managed to say before he heard, just briefly, something make contact with his neckguard, moving slow enough to slip through his low-drain shielding.

There was a loud, violent snap, and everyone turned at once, firing away as bodies were thrown off the wall.

A blaze lancer was engulfed by a stream of electrified arthropoids that revealed themselves in coruscating glory, shorting out shielding as a barely there figure swung mantis claws with enough violence to form cracks in armour plating for powerful rending claws to punch through.

She shot her mass driver; replacing the more usual electro-beam in the face of Raiju's fondness of lightning; in a disciplined spread. Something hissed, but armourbreaker heavy cannons put a stop to that, sending at least one limb flying.

Votanni flamers lit up, forcing tendrilled things to leap and dive out of the way.

"Lictors!" One of the Heartkyn shouted before a leaping thing tackled him off the wall, smashing him into a guardrail and the through, spinning itself to clamp onto the sides of the bastion while the kyn plummeted to his doom.

"Taotie!" She shouted, realising all too late that the Tyranids had infiltrated their position with sinister stealth organisms.

She needed to get off this wall, she realised, signalling to her troops to join her in a jump off the wall. Hasty, quick, firing off retrothrusters before impact to hit the streets of the military city while the beasts emerged from food warehouses, a rampaging screamer killer clawing its way out of the walls of one such storehouse with its blue bioplasmic scream erupting to vapourise Terracotta soldiers on guard.

Behind the beast, the food had been turned into Tyranid spawning structures, infected by minute particles of alien matter and waiting for the signal to give birth to this terrible, brute beast swinging talons through Assault Troopers, bio-energy wreathing the scythe-like claws.

Bolt rounds from the Votanni bounced off its shell, while gaunts tore their way free of egg shells and amniotic fluid to release swarms of borer beetles.

Sewage grates tore open, the disconnected floes of water infested all the same by tyrannoformation mass that had waited for the right signal of their terrible gestalt. Snaking monsters crawled out, engaging with soldiers within seconds of their "birth."

As she fought, firing away from what cover she could find, she felt a rising panic, realising that the Tyranids had been playing the garrison for fools. The great beasts were merely the obvious threat, the other aliens here cunningly used as a distraction.

"The Taotie are in the city! Repeat the taotie are in the city, we need reinforcements at the Xia district!" She shouted, rotor guns sweeping through rippers to mash them into pulp, flamers engulfing hormagaunts with purple-black tongues of raw heat.

She took a shot, finishing off a wounded Warrior by removing its head from it, but the arrival of exocrines bearing bioplasmic cannons would force her position to yield.

Miniature suns of raw heat detonated around her formation, the phallic gunbeasts guarded by shield monsters whose limbs bore huge flanges of thick carapace, deflecting incoming hits while electromagnetic actions spat spines of organic metal.

Something hit her, throwing her to the ground, shields sputtering in protest. She looked at the burnt shard of spike that had bounced off her shielding and grimaced, taking a look at her HUD to confirm the status of her troops.

Half gone already, and that was before a stampede of at least nine screamer-killers and no less than twenty seven lesser carnifexes hurled themselves at her little platoon

The lead pack of three screamer-killers tackled into a load bearing section of the closest building at cannonball speeds, muscle and tissue squeezing the strength needed to carve half of the tower's ground floor in seconds, massive limbs carving through construction like paper and send it tipping over, falling down upon troops moving to reinforce.

Another screamer killer and carnifex stampede emerged from behind, then the left, then the right. Everywhere. There were more screamer killers than she had soldiers and at their feet was a thicket of monsters who despite their density would shift to dodge incoming fire whenever one of their kind saw them being aimed at.

Bioplasmic streams wiped two squads from existence, the charge crushed more. She would fire upon the stampede, trying to at least take out an eye as organs and limbs from "dead" taotie pulled free from bodies and crawled to melt into injured monsters that were regenerating before her very eyes or those who had a need for new equipment or sought greater power. But the coruscating field of an electric barrier deflected her shot as the screamer killer's form shimmered with storm power.

Spines crackled, rattled, and then clapped together as the beast roared, sending lightning into her body like a finger being jabbed into her face as it flexed an arm.

Her armour lasted just long enough before it, and she, disintegrated, for her nerves to register searing pain.

…

A world was dying, burning, smouldering underneath the tread of a metallic foot. It bled, it screamed, its wounds tore apart, and golden optics watched it suffer with satisfaction.

She was High Phaerakh Tudukepha of the Attite dynasty and these worlds that had grown infested with the touch of the unwelcome would be given the attention of a harsh gardener.

Air was bleeding away from this world, its blood spinning into space, its dying groans rumbling through stone and magma. Some days ago, it was hit with the bare minimum force needed to spin it off into space as a new asteroid belt, so that she could walk upon its corpse and witness its doom with her eyes.

Containment fields had even spared some of the wreckage and ruin, some of the cadavers and detritus, so that their macabre remains could join her in exultation.

"Do you understand why your people are being killed?" She asked of one of those she had deliberately spared, and brought in a skinshield to watch the doom of all she had known.
She looked upon the alien, a small thing, miniscule next to the Phaerakh's metallic bulk. A reptilian creature whose turreted eyes flicked around with incomprehension. Such a weak thing, such a small thing.

"Because you are a monster." She hissed like a tea kettle.

"No, a monster destroys because it is what it is. It's born too tall, too strong, too hungry. It's tragic. I, however, chose to do this. And I chose to do this because of why?" She asked, gesturing towards some of the reptilian's surviving family also forced to watch the doom of a planet.

The Sikrakti bubbled saliva in her mouth, orange scales almost seeming to shrink as she made herself look smaller, less worthy of scorn next to the Phaerakh.

"Answer or I start deciding which order they die in." She said with clear impatience.

"Because we insulted you." She admitted, lowering her head.

"Very good! This, you see, is all your fault." She said, stabbing a finger into the reptilian's chest without poking through the field or drawing blood.

"Because you responded to my generous offer to vacate the planets you, in your ignorance, deigned to inhabit while we slumbered and be relocated to worlds far better suited to your kind with and I quote "not until the stars grow cold and the rock burns hot." And now look up." She said, gesturing to where the system's sun had once been, before they compressed it into something incapable of fusion and sectioned off the pieces, leaving only cold gas in a dark sky.

"These things have come to pass, and all because you decided to run your mouth, Madame President." She scowled as she grabbed the reptilian by the throat and lifted her up to her optic level.

Her bassy voice was now hot, hotter than the bleeding, dying world, hotter than the star once was. Venom so vicious once could imagine it melting cities to puddles dripped from the metallic tones of her voice.

"You are at fault. Everyone who died here, died because of you. That is the legacy of your administration, you little, insipid, mouthy, cretin." She snarled before she dropped the other woman, her Royal Court sending barb filled text messages to each other in mockery of the former first family.

They should have seen this coming, they should have known the consequences of refusing to leave an Attite world when asked, especially when offered a gift of another place to settle. They should have had more sense than to try and make a clever comment. And now look at the raggedy things.
"You are evil incarnate." The president of nothing replied.

"Evil? No, merely honest. I told you of what would happen if you continued to trespass. I gave you every warning and you remained defiant. We lived on those worlds first, it is because of our artifice that they existed, that you evolved on them from the chemical ponds that once dominated your planets when we slumbered billions of cycles of your pale stars ago." She was laughing, vindictively, with a sneer evident in her voice.

"You probably descended from some stubborn microbe that clung to our craft, show a little respect for your creators." Calmness was evident in her voice as she straightened herself, looking dead on.

"Will we give them to Szeras, your grace?" One of her courtiers asked, the Cryptek offering her a genuflection of respect.

"No, no. Nothing so extreme. Contact the Charnovokh and tell Trazyn he can have the last first family of this Republic." She finished.

…

Turn 4 Mechanics

Level Up

Xinyi, Xiang, Chao-Xing, Zi Rui, Kexin, Haoyu, Dagra advance to level 4. Raug advances to level 5. (Mercenary characters and new Ogors will be covered separately)

Zhu Xinyi Gains:

Dragon Bard: Can easily use magic in performances to achieve large scale effects, particularly supportive, morale based, or mind affecting both in and out of combat, magic using music or choreography is more powerful. Gains an "Azure Idol" bonus to diplomacy with cultures susceptible to "Idol Culture". Gain Lore of Shadows, Lore of Music.

Zhu Xiang Gains:

Urbanist Nerd: Xiang's fondness for urban planning allows every territory to contain 20% more employed POPs rounded up to the nearest whole number. Developing territories (this includes constructing megastructures) costs 20% less, rounded down to the nearest whole number. Settling refugees costs 25% less, rounded down to the nearest whole number. Gain Lore of Metal, Lore of Light.

Wang Chao-Xing Gains:

Shroud of the Realm: Counter-espionage actions are more likely to succeed with less investment and are more likely to detect enemy espionage efforts in early stages. Special forces gain a bonus. Gain an additional free intelligence report per turn. Gains Lore of Death.

Wang Zi Rui Gains:

Fertility Jade: Zi Rui's energies increase natural population growth by 20% and save 20% when encouraging population growth, rounded up and down to the nearest whole integer respectively. Gains regenerative immortality, will always return to action within the same combat action if critically injured. Gains Lore of Life.

Chen Kexin Gains:

Mistress of Beasts: Unlocks Celestial Beast Research and units, Start with Elemental beasts, Seasonal Beasts, and Auspicious Beasts unlocked. Deathworlds are more habitable, allowing for territories to employ 10% more pops (rounded up) per level of development, applied last. Animal units gain a bonus, reduced beastmen activity in territory. Gain Lore of History, Lore of Fortune.

Chen Haoyu Gains:

Teacher of a New Generation: Gain one free research slot. Per turn, one single research slot cost technology will be autocompleted. If you are researching down lines of technology with tags that you haven't done before, you receive a discount for "novel innovation", wth the discount declining the more entries you take in that category. Gain Lore of Future, Lore of Fate.

Dagra Gains:

The Big Boss: Every time Dagra wins a fight, they exude a stacking amplifying bonus to all Ogor units within the territory and the adjacent territories to them. Dagra gains a strong duelist bonus and reduces the cost of Ogor fleethordes by 20% for both maintenance and hiring. Dagra attracts a number of free Ogor POPs to your territories equal to 10% of your overall pops, rounding up to the nearest whole integer.

Raug Gains:

Cookmaster General: Can declare "feast wars" that attract free Ogor reinforcements to any combat at the targeted territory, allowing them to maintain full strength no matter the damage they take. Ogors on a feast war also gain bonuses, particularly to shock and clash phase, and his magic is more powerful while committed to a feast war.

The Gastromancer: Gain access to special buffs depending on what sorts of actions he takes per turn, randomly determined but always beneficial. Increased magical power. Gains a bonus to purifying areas tainted by esoteric effects such as Strangeness, Chaos, Undeath, Skaven, or Greenskins. Gain Lore of Regeneration, Evolution, and Life.

Your mercenaries have not gained any new abilities with their current level up, but have gained better stats and an enhancement to their present abilities.

New characters

Haggis Sneakalotz: Gnoblar Strategy finker.
Personal Combat Capability: Low
Magical Ability: None known
Type: Ogor Gnoblar, Strategist
I'z got yer planz!: Sneakalotz can change out one detail of a plan per phase to finetune them to something more suited for the situation on the ground or to counter an unexpected enemy move through his military genius.
I speakz da language uvv da workers!: Sneakalotz offers bonuses to subterfuge actions that involve sparking up revolutions behind enemy lines and inciting rebellions and makes similar such things less likely to happen to you.
I'z smart!: Sneakalotz gives a general leadership bonus to most phases of combat, albeit small, however it cannot be nullified unlike magic buffs. He also provides a 5% efficiency boost to the RP production of any territory he's in as he makes his little adjustments with his "finkboyz".
I'z inside their 'eadz!: Sneakalotz has a knack for knowing at least one major detail of the enemy's intentions by "me guts instinct!", Sneakalot can reveal one aspect of an enemy plan per phase of battle in a combat he's involved in.

Xamno the Unkillable Hulking Thing: Yhetee Bodyguard
Personal Combat Capability: Great
Magical Ability: Non-spellcasting
Type: Yhetee mutant, bodyguard
The Unkillable Hulk: Having consumed both a pyrohydra and a trog king, Xamno's regeneration is virtually impossible to suppress. He cannot be removed from play in the course of a battle and will always return to action immediately after incapacitation, though he can still lose duels.
Nothing gets past the Hulk: Xamno is an expert in interposing himself into duels or against assassination attempts, he must be deployed with at least one other special character, but when he is, he will prevent them from suffering incapacitation as long as he is paired with them, and passively interferes with enemy assassination espionage actions.
The madder I get: The more wounds Xamno takes during the course of a duel, the more attacks he can deal, allowing him to ramp up as long as his foe does not outright knock him out.
Bodyguard: Xamno can always intervene in combats in a battle he's part of, even if it's normally a one on one or retinue on retinue duel, splitting the wounds his charge would suffer with himself and keeping them safe.



…


For convenience's sake, TPs will be listed with an Alphanumeric designation to distinguish between galaxies. Vay-Gir is Galaxy 0 and thus has no designations.

There are a great many galaxies of note in the Bentusi Cluster, but once you reach a certain critical mass of TPs and total fleethorde magnitude, standard TPs will be consolidated into higher metric prefixes (Deka, Hekta, Kilo etc) and so on to keep the numbers of zeroes manageable. Once you consolidate sufficiently in the Bentusi cluster, we'll also start grouping galaxies together in descriptions, eventually getting to the point of grouping clusters. As a note, a fleethorde can cover as many TPs at once as its unmodified RP maintenance and your ships can generally arrive anywhere I describe within the turn, but as we expand in scope your speed factor will grow more important in deciding whether the fleethorde can move again after travelling a sufficient distance factor. Though this is a rather densely populated and developed part of space.

After extensive theorycrafting other galaxies will generally be represented as territory groups and my trademark "shitty hand-drawn maps" to try and cut down on the amount of images I'll have to use and save some work. This will also be the only galaxy where TPs are not grouped up for convenience.

Vay-Gir Galaxy​

​

People's Celestial Realm of Tian'Chao Territories:
Square 36: Drae Nang (Tian'Chao) A newly assimilated territory of Tian'Chaoren, and the first territory to be overseen by the Tian Long twins; Xiang and Xinyi. Heavily developed and fortified, the territory now produces a great deal of resources and is home to, for a relative backwater such as this galaxy, a rather considerable amount of military force. (Heartland, Ridiculously Defended)
30: The Tarandar Territory, a former Territory of the Imperium of Man conquered by Waaagh! Muchkill and then by the Celestial Realm of Tian'Chao, currently still crawling with Feral Greenskins in need of being cleared out with some of the space within being held by the Eldar and the Imperium of Man. A standoff has ensued between the Imperium and the realm thus far. (Heartland, Ridiculously Defended)
42: Hae Tan Territory, Once devoid of all intelligent life due to a Necron purge, the Hae Tan territory is now a bustling centre of the Celestial Realm's rapidly growing presence in this galaxy, albeit one on the watch to its east for the warring powers of Chaos and the Strangers. (Heartland, Ridiculously Defended)
35: Shyalarad Territory: Formerly uninhabited territory now teeming with the people of the Celestial Realm, Shyalarad cuts between the starlanes that the T'Au and southern Imperial territories in this part of Vay-Gir were massing forces on the border of and now presents a dangerously prickly tripwire obstacle between some of the most direct routes to go to war with one another. (Heartlands, Ridiculously Defended)

New Phoenix Kingdom Territories:
6: Aeldari Territory of Baradesh: The Phoenix Kingdom has made its mark here, hoping to help with the rebirthing of the Eldar ways of old even in the face of an often hostile universe.
34 (A): Zhardan A: Now populated by the might of the Phoenix Kingdom, Zhardan is extensively fortified and militarised, occupying an inauspicious place between two empires at war with each other.
12: Phoenix Kingdom Territory of Aradash: With the Skaven put to flight, the Eldar have taken to purifying this place and making it a bastion of light and order.

Stranger Territories:
1: The Arcane Veil Territory: Long lost to the infrareality distortions of the strangers, a nightmare place where horrid things creep and crawl out of.
2: The Southern Arcane Veil Territory: Long lost to the infrareality distortions of the strangers, a nightmare place where horrid things creep and crawl out of.
4: Estranged Territory of Ordania: The Imperial bastions against the incoming army of the starless night proved unable to stop the crawling horrors that slithered free, overwhelming them with stampedes of Planet-Terrors and reality breaking horror.

Leagues of Votann Territories:
22: Ortanak Territory; Held by the Votann League of Vorgan; dedicated to the establishment of profit and trade, doing business as they see fit as their holds and kindred spread through their designated part of the core.
21: Gologhor Territory: Held by the Votann League of Vorgan; dedicated to the establishment of profit and trade, doing business as they see fit as their holds and kindred spread through their designated part of the core.

Dawi Karaz Ankor Territories:
28: Katanak Territory; Held by the Dawi Kingdom of Uzkazar, who has been here since the end of the war in heaven, long before the Umgi ever arrived.
27: Vagralkar Territory, Held by the Dawi Kingdom of Uzkazar, who has been here since the end of the war in heaven, long before the Umgi ever arrived.

Reality Distortions:
23: Undead Warp Rift, the Jaws of Death; a realm of the undead and nightmarish Shedim, the dead animating nearby in growing numbers as the efforts to contain the creatures of the Mordei start to break down.
46: The Vortex of Woe looms close but increasingly isolated, weakening from the power of the Lizardmen Astromantic Web and the rituals to dispel Chaos from Moradash. The Black Legion however, is amassing in greater numbers within, seeking to launch their own front of the Black Crusade.

Lizardman Territories:
45: Quetzitzanl Tlahtanoyan Territory of Xokitalan, a territory of the enigmatic Lizardmen. Full of ancient megastructures and restlessly preparing its legions for some purpose.
50: Quetzitzanl Tlahtanoyan Territory of Tenotacala, a territory of the enigmatic Lizardmen. Contains a substantial population of Amazons, a substrain of humanity created by the Lizardmen from human refugees in their space.
47: Quetzitzanl Tlahtanoyan Territory of Moradash, recently conquered by the Lizardmen with the aid of the Celestials and the T'Au, this territory is still being cleansed of remaining Chaos ad Strange holdouts, but will inevitably succumb to the machinations of the Firstborn.

Skaven Territories:
18: Skaven Under-Imperium Territory of Veektok: While the Skaven tend to stay in the "Underway", their perverse, less reliable parody of the Webway or the Webway itself whenever they can get purchase into it, the Skaven openly rule here over a ramshackle nightmare empire. Being invaded by the Imperium of Man.
38: Skaven Under-Imperium Territory of Tevok: While the Skaven tend to stay in the "Underway", their perverse, less reliable parody of the Webway or the Wwebway itself whenever they can get purchase into it, the Skaven openly rule here over a ramshackle nightmare empire.
11: Skaven Territory of Vidar: Overrun by the Skaven, these places are now full of left-over guerilla wars and imperial reinvasion attempts, but the Ratmen are refusing to budge anytime soon.

Greenskin Territories:
16: Greenskin Territory of Morktrok: Formerly held by myriad powers that rose from the general collapse of the Maetar Dominate, Waaagh! Gitkilla the Fun recently krumped the whole lot of them, expanding from territories directly to the west.
17: Greenskin Territory of Kidar: Conquered by WAAAGH! Gitkilla the Fun, Kidar has been trampled beneath the boot of the Ork against both spikey and non-spikey humans.
10: Greenskin Territory of Gorktrok Centre: Held by Warlord Gitkilla the Fun who arrived here via the "Gorkamorka Tunnel" Wormhole recently, Gorktrok is the origin point for a growing Greenskin force.
5: Greenskin Territory of Wotdazog: Formerly held by myriad powers that rose from the general collapse of the Maetar Dominate, Waaagh! Gitkilla the Fun recently krumped the whole lot of them, expanding from territories directly to the east.

Imperium of Man Territories:
24: Iladrani Territory, reconquered by the Imperium of Man in the Iladrani crusade and has largely completed reconstruction, has finished a warp-gate connecting it to Imperial territory elsewhere.
8: Imperial Territory of Algoran, Generally regarded as the centre of the Imperial presence in Vay-Gir, Algoran at its heart has the Aevalus Wormhole that helps connect the Imperium to this place.
14: Imperial Territory of Soradar: Containing the heart of the Viridian Star Chapters of Astartes' operations, this populous and longstanding territory of the Imperium of Man is full of recruiting worlds for the chapter raised to safeguard the Imperium's operations in one of the many, many galaxies it hopes to rule over.
3: Imperial Territory of Elsonar: Largely dominated by the Mechanicus which exploits the large number of supernovae induced during the war in heaven's creation of many heavy element-rich worlds and bodies to produce many wonders and extensively studies the old human presence here.
7: Imperial Territory of Jaldis: Mostly dominated by the Ecclessiarchy, Jaldis was the birthplace of the Galactic Patron saint, Evenia.
9: Imperial Territory of Asdavaria: A portion of the Imperium of Man well known for being something of a cartel playground bloated from wealth funnelled through rogue trader dynasties interacting with the leagues.


T'Au Sphere Territories:
33: T'Au Territory of Sha'Dra'Nan: A former Maetar territory under T'Au occupation and being converted to the philosophy of the Greater Good and populated by massive numbers of vat grown colonists of the T'Au Spheres' major species.
39: T'Au Territory of Sha'Dra'Nan: A former Maetar territory under T'Au occupation and being converted to the philosophy of the Greater Good and populated by massive numbers of vat grown colonists of the T'Au Spheres' major species.
40: T'Au Territory of Kal'Dor'Ae: a very standard territory of the T'Au spheres.
41: Delen-Man Territory, a territory of the T'Au Spheres that has grown into a fully-fledged series of septs under the guidance of the T'Au'Va.
44: T'au territory of Moroktar: The T'Au Empire has finished conquering all Maetar territories in this galaxy as it aims to finish its conquest of what had once been one of the great powers of the supercluster within its Fourth Sphere of Expansion.
43: T'au territory of Voktar: A recently overrun Maetar territory, the conquest of this place cements the T'Au as the territorially greatest power in this galaxy at the moment and is being garrisoned against the likely inevitable responses from the Undead, Necrons, and Tyranids.
34 B: Zhardan Dwarf Galaxy: A dwarf Galaxy in the process of being consumed by Vay-Gir, the Zhardan Dwarf galaxy is coterminous with the Asur territory of the same name and serves as a major T'au outpost towards the Galactic South.
34 C: Zhardan Dwarf Galaxy: The other portion of the Zhardan Dwarf Galaxy, these resource rich stars provide the Earth caste with a great deal of income as they extract the wealth of these stars.
34 D: Zhardan Minoris Dwarf Galaxy: An even smaller dwarf galaxy, the Zhardan Minoris Dwarf Galaxy is full of regions largely run by the Fire Caste.

Chaos Territories:
37: Chaos Empire of Toradarak: Home to many warbands of Chaos dedicated to Tzeentch who have erected their fortresses here, as a safe place where they can plan their raids.
19: Chaos Empire of Malgonash: Primarily dominated by traitor legionaries of the Knights Glorious, this place of vanity and arrogance is bedecked in monuments to the triumphs of the traitor Primarch Mordra's villainy.
13: Legion Territory of Ordorat: Conquered by forces fighting for the Black Legion Lord Druxus Bale who has claimed it in Abaddon's name.

Undead Territories:
20: Undead Empire of Asherakh West: Ruled by the Liche King Askorakh and backed by astartes of the Night Lords legion, the Empire of Asherakh is building its forces for something.
26: Undead Empire of Asherakh Centre: Ruled by the Liche King Askorakh and backed by astartes of the Night Lords legion, the Empire of Asherakh is building its forces for something.
32: Undead Empire of Asherakh East: Ruled by the Liche King Askorakh and backed by astartes of the Night Lords legion, the Empire of Asherakh is building its forces for something.
29: The Shardarat Territory: Overrun by the Undead while still recovering from the Khornate attack and a surprise strike by the Death Guard, the Unliving of the Jaws of Death have conquered this territory and made it a haunted place of ghosts and the restless remains of the unquiet dead. Preparing an invasion force aimed at Tian'Chao space(!)
15: Undead Territory of Aekorna: The Undead have come to this place and have come to stay, erecting the dread banners of Nagash and the Primarch Atraya, the wealthy cartels embracing the promises of eternal unlife.

Necron Territories:
25: Marakesh Dynasty Territory: The first elements of the ancient Marakesh dynasty in this Galaxy have begun to awaken from the long sleep and are eradicating everything that they deem to be unwelcome trespassers in their ancient land, which is just about everyone.
31: Necron Territories of Vash-Gorand: The Dawi Zharr fought hard and fought furiously but ultimately succumbed to the deathless tide of the Necrons all the same. Their temples have been cast into ruin, their cities wiped clean of their presence, their fleets shattered in orbit over their worlds while pylons scour the touch of Hashut clean.


Tyranid Territories:
49: Baphomet Territory of Graktar: The Maetar Dominate proved unable to resist the advance of Hive Armada Baphomet and its worlds have been, after having the most easily accessed materials scraped off by the rapacious bioships, tyrannoformed by stay-behind organisms into quivering centres of Tyrannic biomass.
48: Baphomet Territory of Sektar: The Maetar Dominate proved unable to resist the advance of Hive Armada Baphomet and its worlds have been, after having the most easily accessed materials scraped off by the rapacious bioships, tyrannoformed by stay-behind organisms into quivering centres of Tyrannic biomass.
51: Tyranid Territory Argalik: The powers of the Dark Gods ultimately did not protect their followers from the lining the gullets of the Tyranids, who have scoured these stars of their presence and covered it in their biochemically bizarre structures and presence, a quivering foothold for the Hive Armadas to invade further into these stars.

Territory Groups

Only territories currently in your reach will be detailed. Reach is defined as the farthest territory that you can maintain any sort of practical logistical influence over.

Territory Groups

docs.google.com

(Check the bottom tab)

Only Territory Group Gimel is currently available. Only territory clusters listed below are interactable due to issues of range, with range being defined as the maximum distance you can maintain lines of communication without unacceptable sacrifices.

Territory group Gimel: Nimrod Subsector

Gimel A1 to B-2: Advent Aserat Knesset: Four TP, The Epsilon Advent typically lives in the remote reaches of dark space, and in this expanse of void, they make themselves at home to ponder the mysteries of the universe amidst cold stars and dark matter clumps. When they do settle galactic space, they usually do so around centres of psionic power or cosmic oddities. The Epsilon of the Aserat Knesset are no different.

Gimel A-5 to B-5: Asahikyojin Department of Kantaku: Four TP, Yamamoto Tsukito and Taiyoko manage many territories within the Bentusin Supercluster, with these territories being particularly productive. though under threat by Tyranids from Hive Armada Raiju, or as the Imperium referred to it "Hive Armada Brontes", the Storm bringers. Kantaku is heavily defended, and its moors bear many ships of the proud Solar and Lunar navy.

Eastern Virgin Territories: Diffuse and sparsely populated by stars and other forms of active matter, developing these territories will generally require double the normal RP investment per stage of development.

Gimel C-3 to D-4: Tianchao Department of Yaobei: 4 TP, Under the tutelage/management of the Xuanwu twins Bao Xiao and Bao Heng, Yaobei is a fortress under attack by multiple sets of monsters; the Orks of Waaagh! Gitkrakka, the Tyranids of Hive Armada Raiju, the Undead of the Cyborg Reapers, and the Numerians of Subroutine Darkstar, with the aid of the Advent, the Asahikyojin, the Eldar of the Kushan Kiithid, and vassal Ogors.

Gimel A-14 to B-14: Asahikyojin Department of Nanshiku: Four TP, Also under the loose guidance of Tsukito and Taiyoko, these less embattled territories are a valuable source of civilian productive industries and are a centre of exchange due to their proximity to a number of prominent wormholes and warp currents, Lothiergian merchants from the Holy Alliance are a particularly common sight, as are the Aeldari and Dawi and Ogors.

Gimel A-15 to B-16: Tianchao Department of Dan Yue: Four TP, working alongside Bao Xiao and Bao Heng, are Yu Mingze and Yu Mei, the spirit carp twins of Turquoise and Carnation. As they tend to work in civilian affairs more often, they find Dan Yue's relative placidity quite well suited to their specialties, receiving all manner of guests and overseeing the production and research efforts of the Realm's outposts in these stars.

Gimel A-19 to B-20: Advent Sekhesh Knesset: Four TP, The Advent of this Knesset are more militarised than their northern counterparts, faced with an onslaught of Rak'Gol attackers against the holdings of these reclusive Abhumans. The holdings of the psionic abhumans is rumoured to guard the prison of one of the Great Ones of the Strangers, as many of the defences of Sekhesh are clearly meant to keep something inside rather than just attackers out.

Gimel C-19 to E-23: Rak'Gol Empire of Thrakadash: 12 TP, The Rak'Gol are an enigmatic and hyperviolent people whose sophoncy is a matter of questioning. Obscenely fond of nuclear fission and nuclear power, these radiophilic prosthetic addicts do not bother with mercenary work or even communication, they simply arrive in overwhelming numbers with even more overwhelming violence and leave nuclear winter frozen wastes in their wake that are as paradise to them.

Gimel C-6 to D-9: Hive Armada Raiju Forward Bases: The Storm Fleet brings forth devastating electromagnetic power wherever it goes, its fleet well designed for the creation of energy through biological processes and the creation of energy generating biomorphs. Of particular note is its mastery of electricity and magnetism, and heavy usage of the biometallic Kyberdon strains.

Gimel D-5 to G-5: WAAAGH! Gitkrakka: Six TPs, Waaagh! Gitkrakka is a subordinate Waaagh! that indirectly reports to the up and coming Overlord Skullkrak through one of his more direct subordinates. Gitkrakka is here for a great fight, and for a chance to outgrow the shadow of Warlord Bigstomp, and he certainly has found a great fight as his Grots, Trogs, and lads battle in all directions.

Gimel D-9 to F-7: The Republican Academic Conspiracy's Campus of Dharaktal: Six TPs, these territories of the Undead Academocratic Republic engages in grandiose plots to build its dreamed up Necrocratic, Thaumatarchic, and Academic republic that will achieve a level of dark enlightenment to cast the universe into the abyss. The Campus of Dharaktal is part of a great node feeding off the deaths and dark magic of vast quantities of space for the Cabinet Cadaverous' ambitions.

Gimel E-1 to G-2: Numerian Subroutine Darkstar March: The Numerians, like the Tyranids, come from someplace far away, from beyond the rim of the Garden and beyond the work of the First Ones who had set the stage in the distant past. They come to the stars with an all-consuming desire to destroy every possible threat they detect, which seems to be literally everything besides themselves to the galaxy-smothering machine mind network.

Gimel B-8 to C-10: Eldar Protectorate of the Kushan Kiithid: The Kushan Kiithid seek to engage in a project of holding and expanding territory in the belief that the Asuryani are doomed to eventually be let behind by the Asur, the Druchii, and other Eldar strains who actually seek to build a future rather than run and hide. This protectorate, Falastain, represents a great deal of hope for the Craftworlders, who have collaborated with the Asrai and Asuryani in the hopes of building a new future for their kind.

Gimel B-11 to D-10 and C-16 to D-17: T'Au Prefectures Quai'Lon: 8 TPs The T'Au efforts to expand into a superpower, whether through the creation of the Pech Pact as their own multinational alliance, their increasing investment into more and more sophisticated means of faster than light travel and communications, and their efforts to create more T'au citizens through vat growth to populate every reach of their growing Spheres. The T'au here have found that Bentusin is called the furnace of war for good reason though.

Gimel D-19 to E-21: Marrakesh Dynasty Nomes of Askehtekh: 6 TPs, the time for slumber has ended, the Marrakesh dynasty rises across its countless tomb worlds at the call of its High Phaeron, the silent legions seeking to subjugate or drive out those who do not recognise the authority of the Risen King of Kings or would dare to profane the works of this place's rightful lords. THeir black fleets emerge in ever greater numbers, tearing through world after world while the High Phaeron's Emissaries go to nation after nation, demanding tribute if they do not wish to provoke the wrath of the Monarch of the Black Sands.

Assorted Ogors: The Ogors are a wide and far-ranging people whose innate mastery of warp travel allows them to appear just about anywhere. The Great Tyrants of this place eagerly amass glory and riches and grow quite literally fat off of the tolls they enact as they instinctively create warp channels that make their territory suited for stopovers while crossing to other destinations. Most of the Ogors pay their respects to the great Dagra if not always outright loyalty.

Gimel A-20 to B-23: Itzecanl Node Cluster of Paskantiany: Four TPs within interaction range, these Territories are managed by the all powerful will of the Slann Communion and the councils of the other breeds of the first ones, as well as with their allied peoples such as the Amazons, Gargareas, the Ghirallons, and more.

Gimel E-12 to E-15: Thyrrus Troupes: Four TPs, the Thyrrus are truly inscrutable and their actions obey a logic known only to themselves. Interact with them at your peril.

Gimel E-16 to G-20: Waaagh! Smashdakka: Ten TPs in interactable range: This Waaagh, under Da Shootsmakk King or (Dee Ess Kay for short) Greenlotz Bigkill Smashdakka is a long lasting scourge of these stars, a great expanse of space subsumed within the green tide. Smashdakka is, of course, warring with everything around him as the Orks tend to do.

Gimel F-10 to G-12: Imperial Themata of Silverland: 10 TP within interaction range: Silverland is a deeply coveted Themata and also one that is under no small amount of threat. The Argent Justicalist Chapter of Astartes makes its home in this Themata, and Chapter Master Juan Domingo Peron is noted for having far more of an opinion in how politics are managed than is typical for Space Marines.

Gimel F-20 to G-21: Votanni League of MacDonald: 4 TP within Interaction Range, the League of MacDonald is the preeminent power of the Gimel Grouping, with a vast amount of territory sprawling thirty two territories and deep reserves of manpower and materiel paired with their high technology present within the Urghermeister Kindred. Many come to them to trade for a portion of their enormous wealth, many more come to test their defences, all have found that the Urghermeister Kindred's pockets are as deep as their defensive lines.

Gimel F-22 to G-23: Dawi Zharr Dark Holds of Khazdrakal: The Cruel Dawi Zharr seek to wage war upon the League of MacDonald, seeing the cloned abhumans as a disgusting insult to the perfection of the Dawi Form brought about by the loathsome Umgi, one that they will not tolerate without bringing the full weight of their siege craft.

Available Mercenaries​

Mercenary Fleethordes, Legions of Legend, Characters, and detachments are always more expensive than your own forces but are available for use immediately upon hire and may contain capabilities that you are lacking. Detachments are attached to a fleethorde to augment them with the capabilities of that detachment.

Fleethorde​

League of Urist freekyndred (Leagues of Votann Hernkyn)​

These Hernkyn warriors come with the massive ships that the leagues are famous for as well as cataclysmic siege capabilities as the devices used to shatter a planet for ease of mining can also be used to obliterate fortifications or crack open planetary shielding not able to withstand such firepower. As far as they are concerned, as long as the experiences they can bring back to their Votann is good and the payment clears, they are willing to fight for just about any cause so long as it does not shame their holds.
Tier: Extremis (High Quality, Elite)
Strengths: Supercapitals, Artillery, Behemoths, Vehicles, Subterranean Combat, Infantry
Weaknesses: Hit-and-run warfare, Screen Ships, Skirmish,

Price: x2 standard fleet upkeep and build cost or x1.5 standard fleet upkeep and build cost but one megastructure point in a territory they help take is tithed to them as they build megastructural mining facilities. Can hire Battle planetoids.
Mercenary Master reduces this to x1.5 standard upkeep and build cost and 1.125 if allowed to mine.
Special Discount(!): Further 25% off due to good will from leagues for helping their Ancestor Cores run better down to x1.125 standard upkeep and build cost and 0.85x standard cost if special price is paid.

Characters

• Urist, clone of Urist of the League of Urist: Thrice-Urist as he's often called is a wizened Grimnyr who seeks experiences and ancient wisdom to bring to the Ancestor Cores, though perhaps a bit overly fond of his bru, he somehow makes using his Barrier technosorcery work even when drunk on enough alcohol to instantly kill an elephant. (Unlocked at Magnitude 1 hire, Kyn, Psyker, Level 3)
  • Grants one additional High Magic Action.
  • Primarily utilises defensive or supportive abilities.
  • Decent Duelist
  • Can contact the Ancestor Cores to reduce the cost of three researches per turn by a random amount.
  • Expertise can be tapped to shave off slot costs for esoteric projects and esoterica-mechanical interface.
  • Reduces likelihood of Perils of the Warp.
• Olga the Wise: A Brokhyr Technosmith of formidable pedigree, Olga has taken the Dawi art of runecrafting taught to the Kyn by the Dawi and integrated it into her works as part of a line of innovative clone lineages. Also an architect of significant talent and a multidisciplinary scientist, Olga brings many things to the table, though of course she never works for free. (Unlocked at Magnitude 3 Hire, Kyn, Engineer, Scientist, Level 3)
  • Provides a bonus to the usage or destruction of fortifications and artillery.
  • Expertise can be tapped to shove off slot costs for mechanical, industrial, or conventional weapons projects.
  • Decent duelist
  • Reduces megastructure build cost by 20%.
  • Offers one extra free research slot per turn so long as she is hired.
  • Builds d3 random techno-artefacts per turn for character use.

Legion of Legend

• The Earthbreakers: A renown force of incredibly destructive siege warfare experts, the Earthbreakers are known for being able to challenge even Dawi Zharr hold worlds and breaking open the fortresses of the Iron Warriors and the Skaven. Using weapons carefully tuned by generations of Brokhyr, they are also masters of the defence and have built many fortresses that have endured for thousands of years. (Unlocked at Magnitude 1)

The Carnage Legion (Barghesi Sell-Jaws)​

The Barghesi have a bit of a reputation, a species evolved in the harshness of a deathworld they conquered through sheer might, cooperative numbers, predatory genius, and berzerker aggression, the Barghesi are the subjects of bedtime stories used to scare children into sleeping on time just about everywhere they are commonly known. Four meters tall on average when ready to mate (though they will continue to grow throughout their lifetimes), clad in natural armour over thick slabs of muscle, capable of regenerating entire lost limbs and healing up wounds alarmingly quickly, and with enormously powerful jaws and claws; the Barghesi are most infamous for their ability to enter a sort of controlled berserker state. While able to still aim and direct themselves, they become completely numb to pain and any injury that isn't instantly fatal and push their body to its fullest limits while trying to kill their enemies with extreme prejudice. Their bodies will also heal to be more resistant to the prior form of trauma that injured them, allowing them to engage in a sort of personal evolution to adjust to nearly any environment or battlefield.

The Barghesi are so feared by the Imperium that the Imperium has established a policy of, as they have never been able to vanquish the xenos; to try to cordon them away from the Tyranids, fearing what may happen if their vitality is able to be incorporated into the Gestalt Chorus. Of course, no cordon is perfect, and the Barghesi have a strong aversion to staying in a place for too long lest they overtask its resources. The Carnage Legion is one such band of migrant Barghesi, infamous across millions of parsecs for their warrior fury and their warships' typically Barghesi design qualities of straight line speed, brutal prows and rows of flexible turrets to fire while knee deep in enemy formations after a preliminary bombardment. On land, the barghesi deploy with massive tanks, smaller robots to fit into spaces they cannot, and some of the deadliest infantry around. The Carnage Legion's prices generally include homes for its warriors and a path to citizenship for its fighters for those willing to take them, while those who are not must pay a steeper cost in resources and weapons.

Tier: Primus (Elite, High Quality)
Strengths: Clash, Skirmish, Shock, Penetration, Infantry, Capital Ships, Massives
Weaknesses: Withdrawal, Non-Automated Screenships, Urban Warfare, Confined Spaces

Price: 1.2x normal fleet build and upkeep costs.
Mercenary Master discount: Down to 0.9x normal fleet build and upkeep costs
Note: For every magnitude of Barghesi hired, you will gain 1 Barghesi pop per turn from the Carnage Legion's soldiers settling down. Hiring at least three magnitudes of Barghesi will unlock a Barghesi integration revolutionary breakthrough project that will add Barghesi auxiliary units and technologies to your main roster.

Characters

• Warmaster Gydrash: As much as the Barghesi are known for their violent streaks, they are also known for an instinctive appreciation for mass organisation, tactics, and strategy as they adapted to their homeworld and defeated its predators through not just strength of numbers or form, but cunning and the ability to dedicate long-term planning to victory. Gydrash has applied this to be a victor in many battlefields for many clients or of his own accord. Gyrdash has a hide weathered and hardened by many battles but does not tire of it. However, he understands that many of his kind simply fight to earn their keep, and does not begrudge those who do not stay in the Carnage Legion for life. (Barghesi, Warlord, Level 3)
  • Provides a bonus to Shock and Clash, and a moderate chance of improving cascading bonuses or decreasing the enemy's bonuses.
  • Top Tier Duelist, Gets Stronger with every fight he survives.
  • Regenerates (Can recover from mortal injuries within the same battle).
  • Makes Barghesi troops unbreakable.
  • Reduces cost of building pops by 50% by attracting Barghesi migrants.
  • Provides a reduction to the cost of Alien integration research.
• Witchmaster Zhurlok: The Barghesi are like a great many species, capable of manifesting a connection to the empyrean. Though Magic in the form of the Winds is rarer amidst them than it is with humans, Psychic abilities have only been increasing in frequency as the Barghesi undergo a sort of spiritual evolution. Zhurlok studies this extensively, her keen mind constantly on the lookout for pieces of what she believes is the destiny of the Barghesi to achieve a sort of enlightenment that will allow them to finally master the beast within and achieve an ancient dream of conquering death so that their overpowering drive to survive will no longer sit at the back of their minds; the great terror of their kind. (Barghesi, Psyker, Wizard (Anima [Wind of Energy]) Level 3)
  • Provides for another High Magic action in combat she is involved in.
  • Good Duelist.
  • Regenerates (Can recover from mortal injuries within the same battle).
  • Provides for a bonus to relations with any uncorrupted Barghesi polities.
  • Can lead purification actions to clear TPs with warp type corruption.
  • Can forge artifacts by combining her knowledge of machinery with her mastery of Energy Magic and psychic engraving.

Legions of Legend

• The Darwinian Legion: Nobody is quite sure who the hell "Darwin" is supposed to be or why his name is associated with evolution, but Luigi Garibaldi once called them the Darwinian Legion and the name kind of stuck, even if he said that "though they're probably more lamarckian". The Darwinian Legion is made out of a host of Barghesii elites who have survived a great many battles and grown strong from their adaptations to them, hardened super soldiers who accept only those who have been bloodied in at least a hundred battles to adapt and hone themselves. The Darwinian Legion are infamously destructive man for man fighters, and their special ships are distinguished by their predatory markings to strike fear into the enemy as they close in for a brutal thrashing. (Unlocked at Magnitude 1)

Maria's Magnificents (Remean Dogs of War)​

Remea is famous for producing many mercenary bands often known as the Dogs of War, pricy but potent. Maria's Magnificents are a proud fleet lead by Maria Romano, heir to a patrician line of mercenary commanders stretching back more than a thousand years that she is immensely proud of. Many of the officers of her force have been in this travelling warband for generation after generation, children rising to the ranks their parents held. Highly diverse, highly eclectic, and highly eccentric, Maria's Magnificents are famous duelists, bold attackers, diehard defenders, and passionate travellers with a fire for life and adventure but a keen sense of pride and an even deeper sense of making sure they'd paid what they're owed when they want it.

Maria's Magnificents are an oddball bunch, not only do the famous Reman Condottieri of the Remean States find themselves here but a bizarre mixture of various other forms of humans, abhumans, xenos, and AIs can find themselves under Maria's employ so long as they do their orders and don't cause problems with the cohesion of the force. The Condottieri themselves are hardened professional soldiers who have modified themselves for a lifetime of war as their daily profession. This includes biological, technological, cybernetic, chemical, and even empyreal forms of enhancement to make themselves better soldiers and enjoy greater comforts with the wealth they earn. And as relentless professionals, they are doggedly loyal to their current paymaster, fearing the reputation that comes with being willing to betray a current employer for a better offer straight away.

Tier: Primus (Elite, High Quality)
Strengths: Infantry, Vehicles, Ships of the Line, Screen Ships, Penetration, Exploitation, Skirmish, Clash, Smallcraft, Aircraft, Grab-bag of differing units
Weaknesses: Supercapital Ships, Bombardment, War Engines and Massives, Cannon Fodder, Incoherent

Price: 1.5x standard fleet build and upkeep costs.
Mercenary Master Discount: Down to 1.125x standard fleet and build upkeep costs.

Characters

• Luigi Garibaldi: Also known as the "man who laughs at death", Luigi is an old soldier with a university boy's face. Refusing to explain why he never seems to need new rejuvenant treatments or his habit of surviving what should have been certain doom and containing far more strength and combat prowess than his body should be able to hold; the truth is that Luigi is actually a Dark Age Android capable of Noospheric software transfer and using his nanyte "blood" to produce spare bodies over time that can be kept in "storage" as seemingly innocuous masses. Designed as an Assassin Synth in a now long lost age, his default appearance was meant to appeal to certain tastes in more delicately proportioned men to close to a target, study them in exacting detail, and then remove them. In the aftermath of the dark age and age of strife he's wandered on without a cause, going through many personas with Luigi simply being the latest out of many. A great commander and a master at making specific people very dead, Luigi is in de facto command of the local Magnificents. (Dogs of War, Dark Age Android, Level 3)
  • Top Tier Assassin duelist (Great stand up fight duelist).
  • Augments chances of seizing or increasing advantages while inflicting a penalty on the enem.y
  • Gives a bonus to skirmish, penetration, exploitation, withdrawal/pursuit, commandos, specialists, screen ships, lights, and stealth.
  • Increased chance of locating Dark Age of Technology type relics and can more easily interface with them and reduces tech costs for reverse engineering such relics.
  • Immortal (Can return to action after being wounded/killed within the same battle, will never age out).
  • Gives a bonus to espionage actions, especially Assassination actions.
• Giana Romano: Eldest daughter of Maria Romano, Giana lives for the thrill of adventure and the chance to amass fortune while deployed far from the formal territories of the Remean States. Her enhancements are, out of her vanity, mostly biological or subdermal, acquired at great expense and without altering the form of her body. Her highly baroque suit of power armour with its fluted plating and distinctive plating. However, much of her extreme drive to succeed is in actuality, born of trying to compensate for the aggressive unpopularity her pariah genes impose upon her. She rubs people the wrong way, every criticism people have in their minds gets blurted out, and the esoterically sensitive actively avoid her and she's had to settle for a lesser inheritance than the second oldest; Julia due to the impossibility of her serving as a good face for the household. However, it has driven her to seek out as many blanks as possible, to build a legion of them. (Dogs of War, Human Pariah, Level 3)
  • High Grade Blank (shuts down Esoteric abilities and Supernatural entities near her unable to overcome her blank magnitude), Top Tier duelist against casters she is able to shut down, good in assassination type actions, only decent in general combat against non-esoterics.
  • Gives a cost reduction to researching Blanks, Pariahs, Blackstone, and other forms of anti-esoterics.
  • Gives units she's attached to a bonus against enemy esoterics, esoterically corrupted enemies, and supernaturals whether defensively or offensively.
  • Increases the recovery time for banished daemonic (or similar entity) fleethordes, detachments, legions, and characters.
  • Allows for early unlock of Null related technologies.
  • Decreases the amount of Unreal Magnitude non-material enemies are able to call upon.

Legions of Legend

• The Silent Band: A collection of Blanks and Pariahs that typically assemble piecemeal due to the strange effects that occur when they gather together, the Silent Band are a rare but proud lot. While maybe one person in a million has the combination of power, desire, and circumstances to become part of the Silent Band, even in the Kelesh supercluster alone there are a very large number of possible recruits to join their ranks. But each Silent Soldier is rare enough to be carefully augmented and presented with the best equipment available, and trained to the highest standard, but it is their ability to crush enemy supernatural abilities and cause empyreal armies to simply collapse in their presence that is truly valued, even if the dreadful emptiness people feel when they gather in large formations is terrible to experience to the point that suicide rates increase dramatically when they gather in bulk and Crypteks eager to create more Pariahs often hunt them.

Lances of the Stars​

An Eldar Corsair (or Anhrathe in the most common strain Eltharin) host infamous across many clusters for both its code of honour and also its tendency towards derring-do, the Lances of the Stars are in it for the glory more than the gold. Lead by the dashing Corsair Queen Raelaya Veledhaine the Drake Mistress, while Tian'Chao finds the entire thought of a dragon serving as the mount of a humanoid to be shameful and humiliating, she enjoys teasing the Tian Longs about putting a saddle on them much like she does with their winged Tempest Dragon counterparts. In particular, she is fond of teasing and needling Xiang who is especially opposed to the idea of ever being anyone's mount and regards the prospect of being "tamed" by either her or her First Mate, Prince Aevarian Elathranii the Voidmaster who has, to Xiang's horror; also partaken in needling the proud Tian Long.

The Anhrathe are perhaps the Eldar who were the closest to the spirit of the late Old Phoenix Kingdom, free-spirited and wild, with a sense of their own invincibility strong in their hearts but not utterly consumed by sadism as the Drukhari, nor the imperious malice of the Druchii, the frightful murderlust of the Khaineth, the shadowbound terror of the Mandrakes, the somberness of the likes of the Idoneth or the endlessly labouring Vauleth. They are not bound to the paths of the Asuryani, the traditions of the Asur, the rusticness of the Asrai, the technological rigidity of the Ithilyani, the sense of duty-bound purpose of the Lumineth, or the religious zeal of the Harlequins. They are free.

Tier: Maximus (High Quality, Elite)
Strengths: Light Units, Elite Infantry, Commandos, Specialists, Battlecruisers, Grand Cruisers, Screen Ships, Esoterics, Skirmish, Penetration, Exploitation, Pursuit/Withdrawal, Individuals of Importance
Weaknesses: Attritional warfare, low numbers of very large units, Clash, Shock, Artillery, Poor at static defence.

Characters

• Queen Raelaya Veledhaine the Drake Mistress: The first thing many ask about Raelaya is why is she so far away from the regions of space that contain her native Craftworld Confederation of Saim-Hann. The second thing many ask is if the rumours of her fondness for dragons is more than professional. A formidable warrior who is never far from her bonded companion; the Mighty Dragon Kavreirth the Resplendent. With her enchanted spear and carbine and her almost ostentatious knightly armour, she is a tried and true warrior born. (Eldar Corsair, Mounted on Unique Dragon, Level 3, unlocked at Magnitude 1 purchase)
  • Top Tier Duelist.
  • Comes with Dragon Mount.
  • Bonus to espionage, scouting, and piracy actions (piracy is a form of diplomatic action that can be used to reduce the enemy's economic strength).
  • Bonus to diplomacy with most Eldar substrains.
  • Bonus to Cruisers, Capital Ships, Screen Ships, Small Craft, Vehicles, Infantry, and Support.
  • Bonus to the chance of recovering relics.
• Prince Aevarian Elathranii the Voidmaster: A young man by Aeldari standards but one who has established a rapport with the Zhu twins all the same; a distant relative to Raelaya and a noted archaeologist, explorer, admiral, and dragon whisperer who is as knowledgeable as he is fun-loving. (Eldar Corsair, Mounted on Unique Dragon, Level 3, unlocked at magnitude 1 purchase)
  • Unlocks Eldar & Tempest/Occidental dragon Integration projects.
  • Good Duelist, Comes with Dragon Mount.
  • Eldar Psyker and Sorcerer.
  • Bonus to Skirmish, Elite Infantry, Esoterics, Super Infantry, Exploitation, Penetration, and Pursuit Withdrawal.
  • Cost reduction to Eldar technologies/psykana.
  • Heightened chance of finding Old Phoenix Kingdom and Old One Relics.

Legions of Legend

• The Cloud Wing Cohort: It is rare for an Eldar to remain an Anrathe for particularly long by Eldar standards. Usually at most perhaps a few centuries in a species that never really dies of old age so much as they simply tire of life in their current body and seek to move on when ennui fully consumes them; a process of millennia. For most its a phase of youthful wanderlust and rebellion, living life on the edge, others still die in battle for piracy is not a safe trade, and a few fall to darker things whether it be the bloodlust of Khaine, the thrill of the Drukharii, or the promises of Undeath or they indulge in obsessions too deeply and let Slaanesh step in. Most though, simply grow out of it and come back home. Not the Cloud Wing Cohort, who recruit solely from those who have plied the Anrathe way of life for the equivalent of six hundred and thirty-seven Terran years; or a hundred Solar Cycles by the reckoning of the old homeworld. They are committed, and time has made them stronger and wiser, their ships festooned with markings honouring their many triumphs and their names sung in many shanties. Of particular note is their mastery of Strike Craft combat and the usage of the Webway, as well as lightning quick and lethal precision boarding strikes.

Missions

Ergatocratic People's Celestial Realm

Eliminate Black Legion Forces

Description: The Black Legion, while primarily focused on the Imperium out of its longstanding grudge against the Terran government, is a force that the superior Jianyi have deemed is in need of being pruned to weaken the resurrected Araghast the Pillager's war efforts across the Bentusi Cluster. This will mean both eliminating the Black Legion's holdouts in Territory-17 and also thwarting their offensive actions with forces both within and without this galaxy, and eventually closing or fully containing the avenues out of the Vortex of Woe. Furthermore, the Chaos Lord Vantas Obsidius the Black must be killed and the Daemon Prince Sylathrax the Unbound must also be banished from the Materium.

Further reward will be granted for defeating any other Chaos Forces that may be present (Chaotic xenos such as Skaven will also be counted for this purpose) but is not necessary for the full reward. The Itzecan, the Asur, and the Asihikijin will be partaking in the eventual assault on the Vortex of Woe, though when the assault on the Vortex of Woe will begin is up to you to decide. It is likely that the Black Legion will be reinforced by Technobarbarian Tribes of Chaos, Beasts of Chaos and the Dark Mechanicus within the Vortex of Woe.

Note: Vantas Obsidius as a Chaos Lord and an Astartes at that, cannot long suffer insults to his pride. One way to draw him out is to commit a character to an act of challenge that will eventually draw Vantas Obsidius from his campaigns elsewhere to deal with the offending character. As for the Daemon Prince, the Jianyi will be dispatching a weapon known to be effective against the Daemon Prince, the Force Ji known as the Tear of Platinum, a pole-arm used by the Xuanwu Yin-Yat-Sen to impale Sylathrax through the neck and decapitate him. Of course, there is only one such weapon, so you will need to decide who is given the Hysh infused anti-daemonic weapon.

Reward: Two Boon Rolls, New Legion of Legend, confederation with extra TPs; Bonus, Extra Legion of Legend.

Time Limit: 4 turns

Assist forces in the Gimel Group

The territories of your countrymen and allies are under intensive attack by swarms of enemies and only the sheer intensity of defensive works have served to hold the line so far. Reinforcements are needed to ensure victory against overwhelming odds. With the weight of the forces being arrayed against Bao Xiao and Heng, they would prefer that reinforcements arrive as soon as possible.

Assist in a victorious resolution of the current attacks on Tianchao territories in western Gimel.

Reward: Unlock Biao Xiao and Bao Heng. Progress towards confederation of Gimelish Tian-Chao TPs, progress towards unlocking Yu Mei and Yu Mingze, one Boon Roll.

Time Limit: 2 Turns

Craftworld Asuryani

Acquire Soulstones

Description: Every Aeldari of every craftworld needs their own soulstone until the owner of a previous one passes on and their soul is emptied into the infinity circuit. This is, above all other things, the primary bottleneck on Asuryani populations. However, Soulstones come primarily from Crone Worlds, former Aeldari settlements consumed by the warp through which Isha's tears can crystallise into solid form. This makes harvesting them immensely dangerous for it means tangling with the spawn of the Empyrean. While places overrun with the powers of Order, Light, Life, or Creation are reasonably safe to harvest from; demand outstrips such supply and so expeditions to places consumed by Chaos, Darkness, Death, and Destruction must be mounted.

As a sort of cruel joke, places suffused with Slaanesh's power have by far the most plentiful supply of spirit stones, enough for single raids by an individual Wraith-host on lone daemon worlds to provide enough soulstones for a century's worth of newborn for an entire craftworld. Of course, for an Aeldari to so much as set foot in a place suffused in Slaanesh's ideogrammatic warp presence is virtually suicidal, leaving this work to the Wraithhosts who have already died. However, others can harvest these soulstones, and that is where Farseer Vrailius has requested a favour. There are, of course, Daemon worlds and small warp rifts in your territory that have yet to be closed, befitting the average density of such things. The Khornates in Drae-Nang of course viciously purged any trace of Slaanesh they could, but they could not do so with all of them.

Major raids and invasions have a chance of inflicting some extra losses to your fleethordes or wounding characters/weakening legions sent to do them. However there is the potential of gaining experience for them at the same time, and the Aeldari greatly appreciate any effort to provide them with Soulstones. These rifts can also be closed, though this will reduce the rate that soulstones will form dramatically but allow for a more stable and less risky harvest. The choice of what to do is up to you.

Reward: Asuryani Craftworlds will permanently establish themselves in one of your TPs adding the "Craftworlder presence" modifier that will ensure that the Craftworlders will help to defend the TPs, and adding a variable amount of trade RP per TP they are present in. This also means you can supplicate the Aeldari to provide military assistance in offensive operations, and that they may share their foresight with you.

Time Limit: N/A, Repeatable

The Elemental Pantheon (Ogors)

Eating Contest

Description: The Ogors see the Tyranids not as a terror, but rivals in gluttony, one that they would never shame themselves by allowing to consume more and more greedily than they could. As such they desire a chance to fight with the Hive Armadas of Raiju and Baphomet.

Engage in combat against Tyranid fleethordes, achieve victory, and retake at least one Tyranid occupied TP from Baphomet and one from Raiju.

Reward: Credit for Ogor evolution, confederation of some Ogor TPs.

Time Limit: 5 Turns

Trade Offers

Spheres of T'Au'Va

"To the honourable followers of the Harmonic Way,

We of the Spheres of T'Au'Va would like to congratulate you on your triumphs in Moradash and the honour and skill your soldiers have displayed. While our relations have often been marked by a scepticism only natural from a civilisation as ancient as yourselves towards one as young as our own, we believe that you are both wise and blessed with great foresight. Enough so that we may establish an agreement that will allow our peoples to reap mutual profit and benefit and ensure our joint security against mutual enemies.

We appreciate that you wish to remain uninvolved in the present conflict between the Pech Pact and the Imperium of Man, and understand the reluctance of any nation to allow foreign armies within its borders. However, we would like to assure your resplendences that we have no ambitions of conquest towards the Ergatocratic People's Celestial Realm. As such, we would rather engage in a trade of technologies. We know that you are busy engaging in major research with the Demiurge, and as such would offer our aid to this cause to allow for its completion, if you would but humour our desire for some understanding of your mind sciences.

While the T'Au themselves are of relatively dim potential in such things, we have many allies such as the Kroot and Nicassar who would benefit greatly from an academic exchange and a chance to learn of your arts in your resplendent academies. We also would wish to establish foreign quarters for the purposes of exchange with your peoples, though of course we are not so hubristic as to ask for these quarters to allow for exemption by our Earth Caste merchants from your laws. If you would be so kind as to reciprocate with us of course."


The Spheres of Tauva are asking for the opening of foreign quarters between your territories as well as a pact of noninterference (you do not meddle in their affairs, they won't meddle in yours), they are also offering trade worth 40 RP which can scale upwards with every joint research project with the Tau completed. However this significantly benefits Tau espionage against you and vice versa.

The current relations with the T'Au are CORDIAL and trending upwards.

Imperium of Man

"TO THE PRINCES ZHU XIANG AND ZHU XINYI

We are authorised to propose for the time being, an alliance of common cause against our mutual foe in the treacherous Skaven. The Vermintide comes for us both, and the ratmen are known neither for their mercy nor their temperance in the sheer rapacity of their barbarism. We consider you to have dealt honourably with the Imperium of Him and Her on Terra in campaigns against the Orks and in our continued relations of trade and border peace. If either of our territories were to fall to the Skaven's current offensive, the other would be imperilled.

As such we seek the commission of a joint fleet command against the Skaven invasion to last until the defeat of Clan Stabskab and the sharing of the great resources of our organisations towards this actuality. Given the propensity for widespread infiltration by our foe, the details of our negotiations will have to be decided in the conference room rather than abroad by communique that the enemy's agents are able and likely to intercept for security's sake. For reasons that we are quite certain you will understand. This will ensure maximal security, and minimise the likelihood of Skaven Nightrunners murdering our delegates.

In the hopes of ensuring our earnest intentions are properly understood, this offer comes with a gift that we hope you will reciprocate by acceding to our desire to parley. We hope that for whatever our differences are at the moment, they can be put aside against the legions of the Horned Rat. Time is of the essence, and we understand all too well the need to commit to many fronts of war, but if we can work together, we can perhaps lighten both of our burdens. "

The Imperium of Man is requesting that you form a joint combat front against the Skaven of Clan Stabskab, this means that your forces will fight as allies rather than as co-belligerents, allowing for some degree of boosts and buffs to bleed into each other's troops. They are giving you 60 RP as a measure of goodwill.


Your overall relationship with the Imperium is neutral, trending positive. The Kanthians are even at CORDIAL, while the Tardarians are at HOSTILE.

Marrakesh Dynasty

"To the red pets of the dragon princes, listen to the offer of the most generous and righteous High Phaeron Kahmun Sabah-Set, Lord of the Stars of Benshadsi, Conqueror of Dragons and Sages, Destroyer of Unangled Things, Scourge of Chaos, Bringer of True Death, Slayer of Krork, Bringer of Justice, Giver of Laws, Restorer of Order, Builder of Empires, Overlord of Overlords...[413,612 TITLES EXCISED FOR BREVTIY]

The crimes of your people in the time before are not forgotten by he who has [1,025 CLAIMS EXCISED FOR BREVITY], but in his limitless generosity, the great and mighty High Phaeron [1,111 EPITAPHS EXCISED FOR BREVITY] has in his mercy decided to offer you in good faith a bargain with which you can earn respite from your deserved punishment, spawn of Yin and Yang. You will tell your sycophantic democracy of labouring fools that we demand our owed tribute lest our gaze turn upon you, who face assault from innumerable directions already and can ill afford contest with the incomparable might of our legions who have found victory in such [123,456,789 BATTLES EXCISED FOR BREVITY] to name but a fraction of a percent of our glories.

Zhu Xiang and Zhu Xinyi, prince and princess of your commonwealth, know that your mother and father in spirit were known to the great and [826 ADJECTIVES EXCISED FOR BREVITY] High Phaeron and that he has great expectations that you will share an ounce of their wisdom and accept these demands without undue conflict. Know that we have weapons to render your suns into the yawing pits of gravitational collapse and your worlds into dust lesser than the least preon and to bring the abyss of time and the vastness of space crashing upon all your works should you resist us, and you need only see the results of our glorious and righteous campaigns against [968 OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS EXCISED FOR BREVITY] to name but a fraction of our martial achievements since our reawakening, to know what doom will befall upon your beloved workers should you deny us."

The Marrakesh Dynasty is demanding tribute to the tune of ten percent of your income per turn, or else they will launch an attack. In return, they will not attack. If rejected, they will attack. This is a very simple arrangement. The Marrakesh have yet to be defeated in any of their major operations since their reawakening.

Intelligence Reports

Genestealer Threat

Hive Armada Baphomet's genestealer cults have arisen in our territories, particularly those two closest to the advance of the Hive Armada by taking advantage of anti-ergatocratic reactionary religious movements such as the Righteous Scions of Throne and Keep and the Eternal White Heart Society. What had started as reactionary cloistered cults that served as fronts for sex crimes and anti-social terrorism proved easy for Genestealers to contaminate and present an interior threat, likely as a prelude to invasion. They have rooted themselves into a mix of Imperial nostalgists as well as our own, homegrown reactionary societies that despise the collectivist focus of our cultivation ethos and have both contaminated and simply misled assets at their disposal.

Recommendation: Dispatch at least one character to combat Genestealer networks and have at least one fleethorde within adjacency of your northern and easternmost territories in Vay-Gir.

Likely consequences of failure: Genestealer fleethordes will spawn to attempt to take over the territory with the aid of the Tyranid advance, Tyranids will gain maximum intelligence advantages against you.

Imperial House of Cards

The Tardarian faction of the Imperial government within Province Bentusia is outraged that the Imperium is taking such a "limpwristed and lackadaisical" approach to the "issue of heathens, infidels, and pagans" and has sought to bypass the Kanthians by issuing a petition to the Publicae level government to call for a crusade. As the Imperium is barely a cohesive government, the Kanthian faction has only so much power to stop this should the Publicae's Tribunus give it the time of day. Even if the worst comes to worse though, channels within the Kanthians indicate that they will endeavour to maintain good relations despite their counterparts' efforts. The issue of course, is that the Tardarians have good relations with among others; the deranged zealots of the Black, Grey, and White Templars as well as the Order of the Cleansing Flame, High Lord Inquisitor Francisco Cortes of the Ordo Paganus, and the ear of the Rogue Traders of the House of Capet, a house rumoured to have even been Kings on the Old Earth.

Recommendation: An assassination might sort this issue, but it might just produce a martyr, especially if a link back to you is proven. One might be able to direct the crusade to other directions, such as against the forces of Chaos though this is not guaranteed to work. What is guaranteed to work however, is bribing the Orks of Waaagh! Gitkilla the Fun to attack the Imperium's core territories within the Publicae, which will cost 100 RP and potentially lead to a major multi-galactic Ork empire, but will prevent a crusade from mobilising.

Likely Consequences of Failure: An imperial crusade will attack the territory groups you are presently active in and greatly increase the chances of imperial attack.

A Reckoning in Necrodermis

The Marrakesh Dynasty is joined in its awakening by the Phalastere Dynasty and the Attite Dynasty, leading to a dramatic increase in Necron activity across the Overcluster. Necron legions

Recommendation: Do surveys on any territory you take to make sure you aren't sitting atop of slumbering ancients.

Likely Consequences of Failure: Do you really want to be caught by surprise by the Necrons?

Technologies

Free Research Slots: 6

New:

Civilian Sector Efficiency: A series of urbanist improvements, reforms, and technologies that allow for territories to employ 10% more POPs per rung of development, rounded up to the nearest whole number. Revolutionary Breakthrough. Type: Urban Civics.

Communications Improvements: Improvements to faster than light communications inspired by the Leagues of Votann allow for a higher level of practical organised planning, expanding the radius that you can interact with and making POPs 10% more efficient in resource output. Revolutionary Breakthrough. Type: Communications.

Biological Streamlining: The standard human body is not terribly suited for war of this magnitude. However, genetic knowledge gleaned from the Leagues of Votann has offered the possibility of a "super soldier serum" that in tandem with a particular sort of radiation exposure can significantly improve the physique of soldiers at relatively low cost. Of course these augmentations are generally low grade and uninvasive, but can save many lives where reflexes, health, or strength matter. Cost: 5 Slots (Discounted). Effect: Improves infantry and manned strikecraft. Type: Biology.

Nanite Tanks: By the integration of self-repair nanites into armoured combat units, the irrecoverable losses to the AFV motor pool can be greatly reduced and damaged vehicles can be returned to the field in short order. It also serves as a good stepping stone into a more general advance into nanotechnology, inspired by the Asahikyojin's developments in the field. Cost: 3 Slots. Effect: Unlocks nanotechnology branch, vehicles and starships take fewer permanent casualties. Type: Nanotechnology.

Tachyon Ballista: Tachyonic weapons are a novelty at this point in time, with Asahikyojin Wave Force weapons being the primary example of such, but are purely direct fire only and so far only come in beam form, which while efficient at close range introduces significant wastage at long distances. The Tachyon Ballista aims to fix this, though initial prototypes are absolutely enormous and would have to function as spinal weapons for supercapital ships, the very largest of Ordinatus ground weapon platforms, or static defences. The effects though would be nothing short of spectacular, as prototype tests show the ability for a super-dreadnought fitted with a spinal tachyon ballistae to overpenetrate a line of captured Apocalypse class battleships impounded from the Iron Warriors for weapons testing from the prow on with a projectile velocity high enough (and retrocausal enough) to counter most conventional evasive action. Cost: 5 Slots. Effect: Improves bombardment for supercapital ships, fortifications, and behemoths. Unlocks Tachyon type weapon research. Type: Tachyonic Physics.

Plasma Catapult: While plasma weapons are generally thought of as relatively short ranged by the standards of void weapons, Plasma Catapults seek to improve on plasma railguns to allow them to function as proper artillery. Through League of Votann inspired designs, these will allow plasma turrets to launch their projectiles with range similar to that of conventional mass drivers while negating much of the drop off plasma weapons typically suffer at extreme range. This also has implications for ground warfare, such as allowing for much faster projectiles for plasma artillery which is generally considered more of a siege than battlefield weapon due to low velocity with indirect fire thanks to the buoyancy of plasma allowing for fairly easy evasive action against plasma descending in ballistic arcs. Cost: 2 Slots. Effect: Moderate improvements to Clash, Skirmish, and Bombardment in space, moderate improvements to long range weapons on the ground, especially artillery or vehicles. Type: Plasma Physics.

New Model Armour: Armour is always in need of improvement, even in a world such as this where armour has proved decisively ahead of firepower. The New Model Armour program seeks to use understanding gleaned from psychomaterial research to significantly improve the material hardiness of just about everything under the sun. Cost: 4 Slots. Effect: Casualties reduced slightly across the board with more effect for infantry, characters, and lighter vehicles. Type: Thaumaturgical Material Science, allows for further research into esoteric materials.

Adamantium Mass Production: The general demand for atomically perfect precision when synthesising adamantium, especially when electrically induced to allow for its strengthened binding effect at lower quantities of mass, has served to bottleneck the output of this material. But there are ways to improve upon this and allow for greater quantities and quality of synthetic adamantium. Cost: 4 Slots. Effect: Casualties reduced slightly across the board, with more effect for very large units and starships. Type: Quantum Material Science, allows for further research into advanced materials.

Gnoblar Kit: With a bit of investment, perhaps the gnoblars can be more than bipedal kickballs and menial labourers. This will start doing investment into gnoblar equipment to make them better at cannon fodder and other such duties, as well as looking to integrate them in Tianchao society. Cost: 1 Slot. Type: Gnoblar. Effect: Improves cannon fodder, unlocks further gnoblar research.

Ogor Heavy Gear: Heavier gear for the ogors such as purpose built guns and vehicles and improvements to their starcraft can dramatically improve their effectiveness on the battlefield. While lugging around heavy weapons is fine, there could be more done. Cost: 5 Slots. Type: Ogor Weapons, Effect: Improves Ogors in ground combat and in clashes, allows for design of new purpose-built ogor ground vehicles.



Old but Unresearched:


Empowerment Project, Part 1 - Biohacking: Begins to look at augmenting organic soldiers and populace, looking for useful traits to encourage and means of improving on the limits of biochemistry. Xiuxinzhe cultivation, the biology of the Tianren and their mixed blood descendants, existing augmentation regimens, and comparable programs from other polities will be looked at to provide a baseline. Revolutionary Breakthrough. Cost: 9 Slots (Discounted). Provides for a general enhancement of all biological units, increased casualty recovery, and improves health of biological pops. Offers a credit towards a tier up. Opens further Empowerment project branches. Type: Biology.

Enlightenment Project, Part 1 - Eyes of the Soul: Starts to look at how to spiritually augment the tutored peoples as was done in the past. Particularly in a way that is less time consuming than the current Ways of Enlightenment which rely on information often not-applicable to the current Pupil species with significant holes in the knowledge base. Revolutionary Breakthrough. Cost: 8 Slots (Discounted). Effect: Provides for a spiritual enhancement to units and increases resistance to corruption. Offers a credit towards a tier up. Opens further Enlightenment project branches. Type: Esoteric.

Tianren Cultivation Project, Part 1 - Mysteries of the Past: The need to ensure that the Tianren, often known as the Tianshou or Tianjia; the Celestial peoples such as Dragons, Qilins, Fenghuan, Baihu, Xuanwu, Fuzhu, or the Tian-He to name but a few of the most prominent are raised to be properly resistant to corruptive forces and the diminished knowledge of the Celestial Path has ensured that the recovery from the Wars of Vengeance has been slow, and that the Tianren are taking longer to mature than they once did. This was not always so, and recovery of knowledge from the past and divining paths of the future may help their numbers recover. Revolutionary Breakthrough. Effect: Allows for larger numbers of Tianren units to be present in armies and pops which helps with most things. Offers a credit towards a tier up. Enhances Tianren resistance to corruption. Opens further Tianren Cultivation branches. Type: Tianren.

The Star's Wisdom, Part 1 - Laws of Physical Understanding: Though their understanding of the laws of nature is extensive, it is clearly inferior to many. Understanding the laws of nature will allow for better power generation, better weapons, and better defences. It will also allow for a greater chance to understand many mysteries not rooted in the warp. Revolutionary Breakthrough. Effect: A small general boost to anything that derives its potency from physical sciences. Offers a credit towards a tier up. Opens further Star's Wisdom branches and unlocks some new technologies. Type: General Physics.

Alchemist's Creativity, Part 1 - Hermetic Lore: Alchemy is something that Tian'Chao prides itself in, not just simple physical chemistry but the mystic arts of transmutation and refinement. However true celestial Alchemy requires sorcery or at the very least some sort of Warp power. This limits the number of real alchemists who can exist to those who have the skills to avoid corruption from their art, and can lead to the formation of cults to Chaos, Darkness, Undeath, or other foul powers. Codification of this mystic knowledge may help. Revolutionary Breakthrough. Effect: A small general boost to anything made of matter as well as to alchemical gubbins while increasing the portion of your troops and pops who can practice alchemy. Opens further Alchemist's Creativity branches and unlocks new technologies. Type: Alchemy.

Dreaming Mysteries, Part 1 - Knowing the Unknowable: The Dreamtime, the more pleasant euphemism for what is more properly known as Leng by the Tian'Chaoren is a place that is deeply touched by the powers of the Dark Tapestry; the Strangers. Yet the Psionic gifts that it bestows are clearly of great value and power, albeit ones understood less than the Semiotic nature of calling upon the Warp through Sorcery, channeling the Winds of Magic in Wizardry, or channeling its might through Psykery. But they are needed to help battle against these eldritch terrors, and may hold the key to freeing the universe from the watchful eyes of the Abyss. Revolutionary Breakthrough. Effect: Enhances esoterics and individuals of importance, starts awakening more psionic potential and adds some resistance to the influence of Leng. Opens further Dreaming Mysteries branches and unlocks some technologies. Type: Psionics.

Mech Conversion: The Orks are truly mad to think of this. Still mad does not mean impossible. Our technology is far beyond their scrap. Surely we can produce our own mech transformation. This will be limited to vehicles on the smaller side, but still useful. It could be a potent and unexpected force in the right places. Cost: 4 Slots. Effect: Improvements to Skirmish, smallcraft, aircraft, and vehicles. Type: Mechanical.

Firepower Improvement: One thing the Imperium has is firepower. Massive numbers of cannons thundering to kill the enemy en-masse. Despite our technology advantage the Imperials have managed to hold an edge over us here. Still our engineers believe it can be rectified. Some small alterations to our shipboard weapons should give us a solid boost in that field. Cost: 4 Slots. Effect: General improvement to Clash and Bombardment. Type: Artillery.

Terracotta Armies: Legions of automata governed by a single overmind, these units are a metal skeleton wrapped in alchemically enhanced clay. While their outer frame is frail and easily cracked, the skeleton underneath requires much more effort to destroy. These units are not made with the typical artisanal quality of typical Tian'Chao units. Indeed, they can be mass produced in automated factories, while their enhanced-terracotta skin can be made in bulk by even apprentice alchemists. Cost: 3 Slots. Effect: Improvement to cannon fodder, boarding defence and attack. Type: Constructs.

Hornet-Nest: A tank size piece of machinery dedicated solely to housing wasp automata in droves. These inch-long fliers can be disassembled and stored easily, while reassembled quickly on the field. Each nest contains hundreds of thousands wasps parts ready to be constructed and let loose. Wasps are equipped with a laser stinger. Can be replaced with alchemobarbaric carrying lantern-flies or atomic suppressor carrying cicadas. Cost: 3 Slots. Effect: Improvement to Penetration, Exploitation, and boarding defence and attack. Type: Mechanical.

Mobile Walls: At the end of the day, fortifications are generally thought to be static, and even in this era, this is largely true. However, the defensive expertise of the Tian'Choren does not begin and end with conventional fortifications. The exact mechanisms of locomotion vary, but they generally use tank treads to move at something akin to a walking pace for infantry, due to the massive amount of material being moved, usually coming with basic armaments and mechanisms to avoid simply being overrun. In a pinch, a team of Ogors might work in concert to move one into place, but this is generally a byproduct of the enemy trying to immobilize the fortification as the obvious tactic to disable them, though having them brace it in the face of anti-fortification vehicles and occasionally (usually the Imperium's) an actual battering ram. In addition to the obvious use of simply plugging holes in pre-existing walls, they can be used to block roads and paths, and being made of materials resistant to tank and artillery fire, can more or less ignore infantry-scale attacks. This dramatically improves battlefield control. Bottlenecking, for example, is a viable strategy, closing off all other paths to force the enemy to run into the 'least prepared' zone of Tian'Choren lines. In an open field, they can be used as cover from higher-end weaponry. Cost: 3 Slots. Effect: Bolsters maneuver advantages and increases resistance to their loss, allows Tian'Chaoren forces to deploy with Light Defenses even in hostile battlefields, and improves Fortifications. Type: Fortifications.

Linked Space Automata-Overminds: Using the new breakthroughs, Tian'Chao engineers and programmers can work alongside automata volunteers to form a limited overmind among groups, which serves to connect and guide large groups by sharing senses. Cost: 3 Slots. Effect: Bonus to sloops, fighters, corvettes and frigates. Type: Constructs.

Linked Ground Automata-Overminds: Using the new breakthroughs, Tian'Chao engineers and programmers can work alongside automata volunteers to form a limited overmind among groups, which serves to connect and guide large groups by sharing senses. Cost: 3 Slots. Effect: Bonus to cannon fodder, infantry, and aircraft. Type: Constructs.

Yin Projector: An techno-magic engine that utilizes dense concentrations of Yin energy to project curses, illusions, and hostile spirits at the enemy. Cost: 2 Slots. Effect: Malus to enemy ground forces, leads to upscaled Yin projectors. Type: Esoteric.

Yang Generator: A techno-magic mechanism that uses dense concentrations of Yang energy to enhance the strength, speed, and firing speed of armored vehicles it is attached to. Cost: 2 Slots. Effect: Broad bonus to vehicles and support craft, leads to widespread Yang Generators. Type: Esoteric.

The Economy Stupid

250 from Trade (+20 Lizardmen, +60 Asahikyo)
+170 from Megaprojects
+60 from Gifts
+250 from Production

Total Income: 730

Upkeep: -42 Tian'Chao Fleethordes, -37 Mercenary Fleethordes (22 League of Urist & Maria's Magnificents, 15 Ogors), -4 Battle Planetoids, -12 Defences = -95

Net Total: 635 RP

Rolls

2 Techno-artefacts rolled from Olga

Gain: The Crash-hammer: Combining the best traits of a Votanni mass hammer with a thunderhammer as well as gravitic manipulators and inscribed with Votann warp runes, the Crash-Hammer has the following profile under the D24 modified warhammer statline system:

Strength x3, AP-12, IP-4, Damage 2d3+6, -4 to hit, Disorientating (inflicts a -4 to hit penalty on enemies struck by the weapon), Gravitic Shockwave (Roll 1d6 for other models in an enemy unit engaged with the user with each attack, on a 6 they take an automatic hit with halved damage, on a 4-5 they take an automatic hit with halved strength and quartered AP and D3 damage), Tractor Tow (Enemies without anti-gravity cannot withdraw to ranged combat against the wielder of the Crash-Hammer)

Gain: The Mantle of Inviolability: Armour made to Tianchao sensibilities, the Mantle of Inviolability provides incredible resilience.

Armour Save 2+ armour with 6 Armour hardness (removes six points of AP), 4+ Invulnerability with 6 IP Hardness (removes six points of IP) roll a d12 for each suffered wound every assault phase, recover on an 8+, can bring an incapacitated character back into action. Rolls a d6 whenever the wielder suffers any sort of negative stat modifier save for unwieldiness from weapons; on a 3+ that modifier is negated. Doubles the user's wound count and adds +4 to Strength and Toughness.

Boon Roll: 77, 46

Asahikyojin Fleethordes will arrive as allies to Vay-Gir, emerging from a four TP satellite dwarf galaxy they will have conquered between Turns 3 and 4, forming an allied polity with trade worth 60 TP.

They will dispatch a fleethorde to engage the Undead.

Imperial Politics Roll: 61

The Imperium of Man is presently focused on dealing with the 13th Black Crusade, Hive Armada Leviathan, the Ninth Dark Omen, Waaagh! Ghazghkull, and the Tenth Ghoul Blossom in about this order of priority,. The Imperium is presently neutral to the Harmonious Collective, Hostile to the Holy Alliance, and Tense towards the Ergatocratic Cooperative Security Organisation. The Imperium is at war with the Pech Pact, the Q'Orl Swarmhood, the Druchii Eternity Kingdom, the Sautekh Dynasty, the League of Sekholah (Sarhuadin), and the Obscurian Sphere (Fra'al) to name a few. The Imperium is neutral to the Dawi Karaz Ankor and to the Asur Phoenix Kingdom.

Chaos Rolls: 13, 56, 22

The Thirteenth Black Crusade is currently losing ground, the Red Corsairs are growing in strength, Slaanesh is presently ascendant amidst the dark pantheon.

 

[evtrax]

I'm thinking that we should deal with those genestealers, make sure we have not built over any tombworlds, ally with the Imperium agaisnt the invading skaven (our allies are gonna deal with the dead) and send forces to aid our allies in the Gimel group. Maybe we can even knock out the eating contest mission while in the Gimel group.

 

[MrRageQuit]

I'm thinking that we should deal with those genestealers, make sure we have not built over any tombworlds, ally with the Imperium agaisnt the invading skaven (our allies are gonna deal with the dead) and send forces to aid our allies in the Gimel group. Maybe we can even knock out the eating contest mission while in the Gimel group.

Click to shrink...

They're only sending one fleethorde. I doubt that will be enough to protect ourselves.

[X] Plan: Proactive Defense
-[X] (Trade - Tau) Accept
-[X] (Trade - Imperium) Accept
-[X] (Demand - Marrakesh Necrons) Accept (for now), Pay Tithe [64 RP]
-[X] (Square 36) Build Research Mega-Project 'Auspicious Seven Sects of Progress' [315 RP]
-[X] (Military) Upgrade Caihong Jandui Fleethorde to Mag 3 [30 RP]
-[X] (Military) Build Mag 3 High Quality Fleethorde 'Zhànzhēng Zhīwáng' [60 RP]
-[X] (Military) Build 4 Batches of Category Zero Sunsetting Billows Megacapitals [20 RP]
-[X] (Military) Build 2 Batches of Category One Adamant Tortoise War Moons [20 RP]
-[X] (Mercenary) Hire Carnage Legion at Mag 3 Fleethorde [41 RP]
-[X] (Deployment) Dispatch Xiang, Kexin, Haoyu, Heise De, the Carnage Legion, Maria's Magnificents, 2 batches of Sunsetting Billows Megacapitals, and 1 batch of Adamant Tortoise War Moons to defend against the Undead
--[X] Stockpile for Repairs [5 RP]
--[X] Give Mantle of Inviolability to Tian'Chao character most in need
-[X] (Deployment) Dispatch Xinyi, Haggis, Xamno, Huise Jandui, Caihong Jandui, 2 batches of Sunsetting Billows Megacapitals, and 1 batch of Adamant Tortoise War Moons to defend against Skaven attacks in coordination with the Imperium
--[X] Stockpile for Repairs [5 RP]
--[X] Give Crash-hammer to Xamno
-[X] (Deployment) Dispatch Dagra, Raug, Baise De, Munch, Crunch, the Urist Freekyndred, 2 batches of Sunsetting Billows Megacapitals, and 1 batch of Adamant Tortoise War Moons to aid in the defense of the Gimel Group
--[X] Have Raug declare a Feast War
-[X] (Deployment) Position Zhànzhēng Zhīwáng adjacent to Squares 35 and 42 in support of Operation Enforced Diet
-[X] (Research) Purchase 5 Research Slots (total of 11) [55 RP]
--[X] Enlightenment Pt. 1: Eyes of the Soul [2 slots + 5 Asur credits + Urist]
--[X] Communications Improvement [Ancestor Cores]
--[X] Empowerment Pt. 1: Biohacking [Ancestor Cores]
--[X] The Star's Wisdom Pt. 1: Laws of Physical Understanding [Ancestor Cores]
--[X] Nanite Tanks [1 slot + First Nanotechnology Novel Innovation Discount 2]
--[X] Taychon Ballista [3 slots + First Tachyonic Physics Novel Innovation Discount 2]
--[X] Plasma Catapult [First Plasma Physics Novel Innovation Discount 2]
--[X] New Model Armor [2 slots + First Thaumaturgical Material Science Novel Innovation Discount 2]
--[X] Adamantium Mass Production [1 slot + First Quantum Material Science Novel Innovation Discount 2 + Olga]
--[X] Gnoblar Kit [Autocomplete]
--[X] Terracotta Armies [2 slots + Second Constructs Novel Innovation Discount 1]
-[X] (General) Consumer Goods Production [5 RP]
-[X] (Espionage) Operation Productive Discussions
--[X] Target: The Tardarian Faction in Imperial Bentusia
--[X] Nature: Neutral
--[X] Resources Committed: Wang Chao-Xing [Max. RP]
--[X] Objective: Thwart Call for a Crusade
--[X] Process: Plant 'proof of heresy' among the faction's adherents, sabotage individual members with evidence trails pointing to Chaos or Undead aligned groups, create propaganda sockpuppets, and otherwise redirect the faction's ire (and a resulting Crusade) towards those targets.
-[X] (Counter-Espionage) Operation Enforced Diet
--[X] Target: Tian'Chao Territories in Vay'Gir
--[X] Nature: Hostile
--[X] Resources Committed: Wang Zi Rui [Max. RP]
--[X] Objective: Eliminate Genestealer Networks
--[X] Process: Utilize all appropriate means of investigation and elimination, strategically leak evidence of Genestealer infiltration to discredit other anti-ergocratic movements and recruit cooperative assets.
-[X] (Counter-Espionage) Operation Tomb-Checker
--[X] Target: Tian'Chao Territories in Vay'Gir
--[X] Nature: Neutral
--[X] Resources Committed: [20 RP]
--[X] Objective: Identify any Necron Tombs in Territories
--[X] Process: Use the fullest amount and array of sensor technologies available. Ask the Marrakesh Dynasty if any of their tombs are present, in the interest of avoiding offense.

Thanks to helping Sparta with the prep of this turn, I had plenty of time to work out this plan in advance. For now, pay off the Necrons, 10% is not an issue, particularly since we're hitting the 10 Fleethorde limit with this plan. The military intention is to drive off the Skaven and the Undead while using our Ogors and Carnage Legion, and the joys of what a Feast War can do to alleviate the pressure on Gimel.

Research-wise, using Asur credits to grab Enlightenment for cheap, while seeing how much Ancestor Cores can churn away at pertinent Revolutionary Breakthroughs. Since we're dealing with a lot of enemies that like attrition, I went all in on taking advantage of Haoyu's new Novel Innovation discount to unlock a bunch of new research fields that help preserve our forces, provide some ablative forces of our own, and boost firepower all the more.

 

[evtrax]

[X] Plan: Proactive Defense

And on the one fleethorde not being enough, I thought that it was. Which is a reason why I won't be making an actual plan for the foreseeable future.

 

[MrRageQuit]

And on the one fleethorde not being enough, I thought that it was. Which is a reason why I won't be making an actual plan for the foreseeable future.

Click to shrink...

I'm just saying, look at the enemy forces in the previous fights and get back to me.

 

[evtrax]

I'm just saying, look at the enemy forces in the previous fights and get back to me.

Click to shrink...

I'm not good with scale and the logistics.

 

[Genderite]

[X] Plan: Proactive Defense

 

[IndAVdiv]

[X] Plan: Proactive Defense

 

[Ancient One]

How exactly do the cores work again?

 

[MrRageQuit]

How exactly do the cores work again?

Click to shrink...

Each turn, we can reduce the slot cost of 3 chosen projects by a random amount. We don't know what die size Spartkrod is using.

 

[Spartakrod]

Each turn, we can reduce the slot cost of 3 chosen projects by a random amount. We don't know what die size Spartkrod is using.

Click to shrink...

1d3 for the moment.

 

[MrRageQuit]

1d3 for the moment.

Click to shrink...

Hmm. Well, when you add in the Novel Innovation Discounts, still a good way to save points on Revolutionary Breakthroughs.

 

[Bloody*Vermilion]

Votanni League of MacDonald

Click to shrink...

You got to be kidding me

 

[Spartakrod]

You got to be kidding me

Click to shrink...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfhlEP8LT4k

 

[Bloody*Vermilion]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfhlEP8LT4k

Click to shrink...

Oh god damn, it's true!😨

 

[Spartakrod]

Oh god damn, it's true!😨

Click to shrink...

I'm mildly upset you didn't catch the name of the other Chapter Master you now have contact with.

 

[always_confused]

[X] Plan: Proactive Defense

Looking forward to integrating some Barghesi into the Realm!

Also looking forward to seeing Haggis perform as well. I know he's a strategic character, but even so, his scenes promise to be a hoot.

 

[Mithrill]

Not enough spoons to process planning at the moment, but our Gnoblar!Creed is just so adorable in his interaction with our Xian. And really useful at that!
Have some kilo/mega/gigaprojects concepts cooking up in the background, will try to write them up before next update.

 

[Matthew McLeod]

[X] Plan: Proactive Defense

 

[ilbgar123]

[X] Plan: Proactive Defense

 

[ilbgar123]

They're only sending one fleethorde. I doubt that will be enough to protect ourselves.

[X] Plan: Proactive Defense
-[X] (Trade - Tau) Accept
-[X] (Trade - Imperium) Accept
-[X] (Demand - Marrakesh Necrons) Accept (for now), Pay Tithe [64 RP]
-[X] (Square 36) Build Research Mega-Project 'Auspicious Seven Sects of Progress' [315 RP]
-[X] (Military) Upgrade Caihong Jandui Fleethorde to Mag 3 [30 RP]
-[X] (Military) Build Mag 3 High Quality Fleethorde 'Zhànzhēng Zhīwáng' [60 RP]
-[X] (Military) Build 4 Batches of Category Zero Sunsetting Billows Megacapitals [20 RP]
-[X] (Military) Build 2 Batches of Category One Adamant Tortoise War Moons [20 RP]
-[X] (Mercenary) Hire Carnage Legion at Mag 3 Fleethorde [41 RP]
-[X] (Deployment) Dispatch Xiang, Kexin, Haoyu, Heise De, Urist Freekyndred, Maria's Magnificents, 2 batches of Sunsetting Billows Megacapitals, and 1 batch of Adamant Tortoise War Moons to defend against the Undead
--[X] Stockpile for Repairs [5 RP]
-[X] (Deployment) Dispatch Xinyi, Haggis, Xamno, Huise Jandui, Caihong Jandui, 2 batches of Sunsetting Billows Megacapitals, and 1 batch of Adamant Tortoise War Moons to defend against Skaven attacks in coordination with the Imperium
--[X] Stockpile for Repairs [5 RP]
-[X] (Deployment) Dispatch Dagra, Raug, Gydrash, Zhurlock, Baise De, Munch, Crunch, the Carnage Legion, 2 batches of Sunsetting Billows Megacapitals, and 1 batch of Adamant Tortoise War Moons to aid in the defense of the Gimel Group
--[X] Have Raug declare a Feast War
-[X] (Deployment) Position Zhànzhēng Zhīwáng adjacent to Squares 35 and 42 in support of Operation Enforced Diet
-[X] (Research) Purchase 5 Research Slots (total of 11) [55 RP]
--[X] Enlightenment Pt. 1: Eyes of the Soul [2 slots + 5 Asur credits + Urist]
--[X] Communications Improvement [Ancestor Cores]
--[X] Empowerment Pt. 1: Biohacking [Ancestor Cores]
--[X] The Star's Wisdom Pt. 1: Laws of Physical Understanding [Ancestor Cores]
--[X] Nanite Tanks [1 slot + First Nanotechnology Novel Innovation Discount 2]
--[X] Taychon Ballista [3 slots + First Tachyonic Physics Novel Innovation Discount 2]
--[X] Plasma Catapult [First Plasma Physics Novel Innovation Discount 2]
--[X] New Model Armor [2 slots + First Thaumaturgical Material Science Novel Innovation Discount 2]
--[X] Adamantium Mass Production [1 slot + First Quantum Material Science Novel Innovation Discount 2 + Olga]
--[X] Gnoblar Kit [Autocomplete]
--[X] Terracotta Armies [2 slots + Second Constructs Novel Innovation Discount 1]
-[X] (General) Consumer Goods Production [5 RP]
-[X] (Espionage) Operation Productive Discussions
--[X] Target: The Tardarian Faction in Imperial Bentusia
--[X] Nature: Neutral
--[X] Resources Committed: Wang Chao-Xing [Max. RP]
--[X] Objective: Thwart Call for a Crusade
--[X] Process: Plant 'proof of heresy' among the faction's adherents, sabotage individual members with evidence trails pointing to Chaos or Undead aligned groups, create propaganda sockpuppets, and otherwise redirect the faction's ire (and a resulting Crusade) towards those targets.
-[X] (Counter-Espionage) Operation Enforced Diet
--[X] Target: Tian'Chao Territories in Vay'Gir
--[X] Nature: Hostile
--[X] Resources Committed: Wang Zi Rui [Max. RP]
--[X] Objective: Eliminate Genestealer Networks
--[X] Process: Utilize all appropriate means of investigation and elimination, strategically leak evidence of Genestealer infiltration to discredit other anti-ergocratic movements and recruit cooperative assets.
-[X] (Counter-Espionage) Operation Tomb-Checker
--[X] Target: Tian'Chao Territories in Vay'Gir
--[X] Nature: Neutral
--[X] Resources Committed: [20 RP]
--[X] Objective: Identify any Necron Tombs in Territories
--[X] Process: Use the fullest amount and array of sensor technologies available.

Thanks to helping Sparta with the prep of this turn, I had plenty of time to work out this plan in advance. For now, pay off the Necrons, 10% is not an issue, particularly since we're hitting the 10 Fleethorde limit with this plan. The military intention is to drive off the Skaven and the Undead while using our Ogors and Carnage Legion, and the joys of what a Feast War can do to alleviate the pressure on Gimel.

Research-wise, using Asur credits to grab Enlightenment for cheap, while seeing how much Ancestor Cores can churn away at pertinent Revolutionary Breakthroughs. Since we're dealing with a lot of enemies that like attrition, I went all in on taking advantage of Haoyu's new Novel Innovation discount to unlock a bunch of new research fields that help preserve our forces, provide some ablative forces of our own, and boost firepower all the more.

Click to shrink...

I've noticed Olga's new artifacts aren't assigned. I'd suggest giving the hammer to Xamno, since he's probably the Strength bronze medalist and it combines well with his ability to fuck up Retinues.

May I also suggest simply asking the Marrakesh if they have any stuff in our territory? You know, in addition to the general search.

 

[MrRageQuit]

I've noticed Olga's new artifacts aren't assigned. I'd suggest giving the hammer to Xamno, since he's probably the Strength bronze medalist and it combines well with his ability to fuck up Retinues.

May I also suggest simply asking the Marrakesh if they have any stuff in our territory? You know, in addition to the general search.

Click to shrink...

Done and done.

 

[ilbgar123]

Done and done.

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On the one hand, I'd consider giving the armor to Haggis to make him less squishy(Doubled Wounds, +4 Toughness) and +4 Strength should dramatically up the caliber of gun/size of the blade he can wield, meaning he won't splatter against the wall if he's singled out by any half-competent assassin. On the other hand, if the Hammer's X3 Strength can be combined with the Mantle's +4, that's an additional 12 Strength for Xamno. If he's even got 6 base Strength, his direct attacks would be hitting at 30 Strength, and his AoEs still hit with 15, and that's going to absolutely chew through most normal retinues, even if he gets the degraded version on a 4 or 5. Plus, The Madder I Get improving his attack as he takes Wounds combined with Doubled Wounds sounds like some serious bullshit. It also gives him a second form of regeneration. Good luck killing that.

Also, can you elaborate on a couple of the mechanics things? Like, Chen's new buff to the employed POPs cap with Heartlands is at 50%, right? Meaning the cap has just gone up 80% since that bonus applies before Xiang's new bonus. Hence why you didn't grab the Colonization Megaproject, as all four of our tiles can employ 45 POPs now.

Similarly, do I have the Megastructure equation right here? 700*0.75(Exemplar)*0.8(Urist)*0.8(Urbanist Nerd)=313.6? That should round up to 314 right?

 

[Balmung1]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfhlEP8LT4k

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Does this mean there's a League of TacoBell or some League of Lockeheed-Martin out there?

 

[Spartakrod]

Does this mean there's a League of TacoBell or some League of Lockeheed-Martin out there?

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I was hungry when I was deciding on the name for the League of MacDonald, it's really not that deep.