[X] Try diplomacy!
-[X] "We are already on our way to meet with your Farseers to discuss how best to wrest Lu'Nasad from Vall's hands. We would of course welcome your escort. The Expanse is a dangerous region of space, even for a fleet."
And even if it were, original BFG Craftworld Eldar with their OP H4X move-shoot-move and bullshit ordnance and bloody holofields are almost twice as good as their points imply, especially against an ordnance- and lance-heavy fleet like ours.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonCobolt on Nov 3, 2021 at 12:56 AM, finished with 22 posts and 4 votes.
[X] Try diplomacy!
-[X] "We are already on our way to meet with your Farseers to discuss how best to wrest Lu'Nasad from Vall's hands. We would of course welcome your escort. The Expanse is a dangerous region of space, even for a fleet."
Sorry for the delay everyone! I've just been feeling...weirdly overwhelmed? Which is bizarre because, like, I do quests for fun, so I can take a few days off, but my brain was like, "If you don't update, everyone will yell at you!" and I was like, "Shut up brain, that's not how ANYTHING works!"
Oh, also, I spent five minutes trying to get the vote tally to work only to realize I was in the Lure of the Expanse thread, oops.
You don't need to run the fate of the Eldar guns...
Eldar have, like, 50% crack crew ratings and can fire at any point during their movement rather than only at the end, and each lance can hit 3 times, once per 2 DOS, and their macros hit 2 times per 1 DOS? Their hit and run attacks all re-roll the crit and choose the one they want and do an additional +1d5 crew and morale damage?
Em brushed his palm along his hair, brushed his queue back behind one shoulder and gave a nod to his vox-officer. "Please, open a line to the hellbore ahead of us," he said, quietly.
"You've got a plan," Tine said, grinning as she elbowed Ryia. "Ryia, our husband has a plan."
"I know, I'm standing right here," Ryia grumped, trying to hide her smile as her sister kept elbowing her.
"What is your plan?" Badb Ra asked from the sidelines, frowning.
"Simple. Better enunciation," Em said as the vox crackled on and he spoke...in near perfect Alderia speech, the sound nearly musical - half sung, half spoken.
"Superiors, wait, please. Stay your hand. While we face one another with our knives bared, I must draw your attention to the simple fact that our fleets are weighted near to the same - yours in skill and grace, mine in number and determination. My sailors may end their careers in fire and song today, but they will shed as much Eldar's heart's blood. Many soul-stones will be filled and taken to your Infinity Circuit, far before their time, in an era of the galaxy where both our kind stand on a knife's edge between prosperity and despair. And why? So you might pluck from our holds an artifact that we planned, already, to take to your kind?" He spread his hands, his voice growing yet more melodious and gentle. "The Farseers that wait in the Cradle of Serpents are waiting for this artifact...but would they rather it come in hands bloodied, broken, needlessly battered against a wall of mutual mistrust? Or would they prefer it brought by two hands, clasped together, as allies, who can hold two blades against the shared enemy we face?"
He lowered his hands, then made a chopping gesture. The vox stopped beaming out and he let himself relax, cough, hack, wheeze. "Emperor's blood I almost swallowed my bloody tongue three times there." He rubbed his throat. "How do you people manage it?"
"It's easier with a craw," Badb Ra said, his voice dry.
"A-" Em's question was cut off by the vox officer's excited voice.
"Sir! We're getting a response. It's in Low Gothic, text only, lase flashed!"
"Read it out, what is it!" Tine asked, bouncing excitedly - distractingly.
"It's...one word, m'lady," the officer paused.
Em gestured for him to continue.
The officer coughed, read, then said: "Fine."
"Fine?" Em asked.
"Yes, sir, that's it. Fine. Just...fine."
"The Eldar ship is breaking off - moving to out starboard flank," an auspex officer called out while the hololith showed the moment.
Em's lips quirked. "Well, then," he said. "Fine it is."
***
More ink has been spilled in the chronicling of the decisions of the mighty and the powerful in even mundane circumstances than has been visited in the daily, life and death struggles of the people in the cracks of the world. In a galaxy reeking of age, where the great history of humanity has more gaps than it has shining lights of knowledge, there is room enough for whole civilizations to be lost and found and lost again, and in those places, there were stories more complex and amazing than any might have imagined.
One such story played out in the solid week it took for the scrying of the Koronus Passage to show clear ways. The Passage was known as the clearest route through the Great Warp Storms...but that descriptor only made a calm, balmy picture if you did not take into account the contrast between the calmest point and the Great Warp Storms. For a solid nine days, a howling gale kicked up throughout the Passage, meaning any ship that entered would be doomed, and any ship within would need to drop to one of the mysterious Stations of Passage that had been charted between the Expanse and the Calixus Sector.
For those nine days...the mighty and the powerful talked of plans and practiced their sword work and, in one day, tried to teach an obstinate child their arithmancy.
But the people in the cracks?
They had their own stories.
In the Colossus, there was a small village of mutants that dwelled in the bilge decks that needed to make the terrifying pilgrimage through a section of ship that had been damaged in a battle two centuries before the ship had ever joined the Lord Admiral Bastille, let alone come under the command of the Scourge Dynasty, to offer a tithe to their cold and distant masters. The young girl they had sent out - a three eyed lass by the name of Berrin, who had been taught to use a spear and worship the machine-gods of her cold realm for her entire life - arrived after three days of trecking to offer the first flight-tek she met the prize of the deep bilge decks: one of the rather large, unsightly fish that bred and lived within the wheezing sump-systems that created semi-potable water for the crew.
The flight-tek took the fish and the mutant girl to the twist-catcher, the deckhand given the unenviable job of managing the mutant population - and thus began Berrin's new life as an ammo carrier for Zeta Squadron, a life that would eventually see her thrust into service as a ball turret gunner during the desperate battles to come.
What mattered more for the moment...was the fish. It was taken, immediately, to the medica, who examined it and pronounced it edible, under the mistaken assumption that it had been purchased from Footfall for the captain.
The captain of the Colossus, in the shuffling of officers and acquisition of new roles for old hands, was the stolid and dependable dynastic servant Commander Sawyer, moved over from the Tachyon's Demise after much deliberation and the decision that his stolid (unimaginative) and dependable (risk averse) tactics were a poor fit for a heavy cruiser kitted out for knife fighting.
Commander Sawyer did not like fish.
So, he had it packed in salt and sent to the Revenge.
The Revenge was settling into her new position as a secondary ship in a fleet that had been her flag for nearly a decade now with...well, a bit of grumbling among the crew. Despite the grumbling, her new captain, Jessie Tarvanna, was an old hand at putting crews to good work and had made sure to run them through dry-firing drills on their guns, carefully making sure to not make any sign of it lest the Eldar flanking the fleet take offense. Jessie herself was beside herself with the chance to captain the Revenge and this cheerful happiness radiated from the bridge and slowly suffused even the lowest deckhands, causing the grumbling to take a different shape. It went from why are we in this rum place? to oh, well, see, the Argent gets to walk the walk, but we'll do the talking, won't we lads.
It was in this mood that Jessie opened the crate of salt, saw the fish, and decided what to do with it.
Clearly...
This was meant for the admiarl!
And so, on the ninth day, when at last the augeries showed a clear way into the Passage, the Scourge dinner table, with guests including both Inquisitorial agent and Eldar warrior, got off to a convivial enough toast with Em's servant sweeping back the silver covering to show the brazed fish-flesh, steaming and smelling utterly delicious. "To a safe voyage," Em said, inclining his head, as Babd Ra sipped his wine curiously and Dr. Jon Balthazar leaned over to peer over his spectacles.
"My word!" he exclaimed. "This fish appears to have been exposed to mutagenic radiologicals. Fascinating!" He started to use his knife to prod at the fish flesh. "You can see the extra ink sacks."
The conversation choked off - and Dr. Balthazar continued, without seeming to notice.
"Indeed, it seems they cut into the ink sacks and it has quite soaked through into the flesh - see the staining? Remarkable!"
***
There are other things...that rarely get written about.
Things that the people of the Imperium prefer to not think about.
Not every story is so easily and direct a line from victory to a happily ever after.
Sister Aquiline smiled, slightly, at the nervous looking Iluryia Rackamore Scourge, Legend of the Expanse. Ryia looked as if she didn't belong here, in the clean and gently illuminated ward of the medicae deck, and she adjusted the collar on her jacket as she looked left and right, then stepped up to Aquiline. "So, uh..." she trailed off. The Hospitaliar placed her hand upon her shoulder, squeezed, then murmured.
"My lady, today is...a better day than some," she said. "My sisters and I continue to do what they can. But your visiting does-"
"Not much, huh?" Ryia's voice is jagged. Bitter. Sharp edged.
"More than you can imagine, my lady," Aquiline said, softly. The door opened into a cell of padded walls and religious icons. Those icons were not enough - a dark pen-quill had been at work, drawing religious symbols, aquillas, skulls, upon the walls, layering them over and over and over, as if to ward out the world beyond. The man within was freshly shaved, clean, but there was not a sharp object on his body, not a bit of cloth that could be bent to a noose. Nothing. Despite the food, despite the water, despite the gentle care, the cleaning, the bathing...he still looked gaunt and shivering.
"R-Rack?" he whimpered as she stepped inside, scuttling away from Ryia as she stood in the door, trying to overcome the old reflex to stand, horrified, and stare at him. She forced herself to smile.
Jagged smile. Sharp smile. Bitter smile.
"Hey Cap," she said, sitting down across from him. She knew better than to get close.
"H-Hey...Cap..." he repeated. He ducked his head forward, drawing his knees up against himself. "Hey. Hey." He rocked gently. "...the voices...aren't so bad today, Racky."
She nods.
"They never stop. I saw it, you know? The Basilica, I saw it, I walked it's corridors, I saw it, I saw it, I saw it-" he started to slam his forehead against his knees, in time with his words. "I walked it-"
"Hey, you're not there anymore, you never were. It...it was just visions, just-" she slid over, put her hand on his shoulder.
Her old captain, Captain Sly, tensed. His head ducked forward and his eyes were closed - trying to block out the images in his mind.
"I...I know...where we're going, Racky..." he whispered, ragged. "He put me on...that...thing...he...put me there and...used me...and...and I had to walk the roads of the winding way, I...I saw the Garden, and the Palace and the Cup overflowing evermore and...and...and...I called out for Him o-on Terra...and...and he wasn't there. T-There was just the Basilica a-and...and...and I'm still there, don't you see?" He lifted his head, looking into her eyes. "I'm still there! There's no past and no future there. I'm always there! I was there when you met me!"
Ryia swept her arm around him, her flesh arm, drawing him in. "No," she whispered, her voice tight. "You're not." His eyes closed. He relaxed into her. Breathing slowed.
"Maybe..." He said.
Maybe.
When Ryia left, Captain Jentan Hieronymus Slyvanta was curled up, whispering the Emperor's prayer to himself. She turned to the Hospitaliar opened her mouth, then turned and fled, unable to even hear the words of comfort she never deserved.
***
The winds of the Empyrian blew fitfully and gustily as they traveled through the Passage - dying to almost nothing for a five day period, before gusting back to their full strength and carrying the entire Scourge fleet to the outer edges of the Furibundus system. The Eldar ships emerged from their webway shortly after, and the cycle was repeated, with the navigator casting about with their warp's eye to peer out the route to the Serpent's Cradle. The question was floated - and shot down - that they might ask the Eldar about webway routes there.
After all...if they told the mon'keigh now, then the mon'keigh would know about it later, once the danger had passed, wouldn't they?
The augeries were good: A clear route, with good winds, little chance of anything...too terrible.
With their stores still mostly full and their crews hard at work, the fleet dropped into the Warp - and sailed onwards.
It was Tine who woke to the feeling, the susurration in the breeze. The crawling, creeping sensation on her skin.
There's something in my house, she thought as her sister groaned and opened her eyes, sitting up as well. Em, who was completely exhausted and laying between them, remained asleep. The sisters both looked at one another.
You feel that? Ryia thought, her eyes narrowing as her mental speech echoed to Tine. Tine slid from her bed, her naked body glinting in the pale moon-simulation light that shone in from the ceiling. She felt the presence...but it was gone. It was somewhere in the house, but she didn't know where. She frowned, slightly, glancing at Ryia, who was holding out her hand. Her force sword slapped against her palm, while Tine used her hand to pick up Aria.
I feel it too...be careful, Aria said, her voice urgent. Whatever it is, it is sneaky. Perceptive. Being too loud may cause it to do something unfortunate.
The room's darkness was normally so comforting to Tine. But as she swept her gaze around it, her eyes narrowing, she saw nothing but signs of danger and looming darkness. It was as if every bit of furniture had become its own terrible thing, weighted with a purpose and awareness they normally lacked. Em slept, fitfully, then cracked his eyes open, slowly.
"Wh-" he started, but Ryia put her hand on his mouth, frowning.
She signed with her other hand - flashing the House sign language to him.
Daemon.
--- What does Em do?
[ ] Arm himself
[ ] arm and armor himself
[ ] bring up the lights and call for the Guard
[ ] Write In
What does Ryia do?
[ ] Armor herself
[ ] Use psyniscience to find the Daemon more precisely
[ ] head, immediately, to the kid's rooms and make sure they're safe
[ ] Write In
What does Tine do?
[ ] Armor herself
[ ] Use psyniscience to find hte Daemon more precisely
[ ] head, immediately, to the kid's room and make sure they're safe
[ ] Write in
Redline scrying: Warp Storm Detected
5 days later
Redline Scrying: Warp Storm Detected
4 days later
Redline Scrying: clear passage!
Astronomicon: Didn't detect | Navigation: 1 DOS despite that, travel time 2 days
Encounter: Stasis!
Detect?: No! Crashed: 5 days becalmed
[x][EM] arm and armor himself
[x][RYIA] Use psyniscience to find the Daemon more precisely
[x][TINE] head, immediately, to the kid's room and make sure they're safe
[X][EM] arm and armor himself
[X][RYIA] Use psyniscience to find the Daemon more precisely
[X][TINE] head, immediately, to the kid's room and make sure they're safe
[X][EM] arm and armor himself
[X][RYIA] Use psyniscience to find the Daemon more precisely
[X][TINE] head, immediately, to the kid's room and make sure they're safe
[X] [EM] Arm and armor himself
[X] [RYIA] Use psyniscience to find the Daemon more precisely
[X] [TINE] Head, immediately, to the kid's room and make sure they're safe
[X] [EM] Arm and armor himself
[X] [RYIA] Use psyniscience to find the Daemon more precisely
[X] [TINE] Head, immediately, to the kid's room and make sure they're safe
You don't need to run the fate of the Eldar guns...
Eldar have, like, 50% crack crew ratings and can fire at any point during their movement rather than only at the end, and each lance can hit 3 times, once per 2 DOS, and their macros hit 2 times per 1 DOS? Their hit and run attacks all re-roll the crit and choose the one they want and do an additional +1d5 crew and morale damage?
Yeah, in BFG their weapons batteries get re-rolls, and Pulsar Lances are straight-up one of the most potent weapons in the game, absurdly so if you use Lock On. Their cruisers are pretty much the same mass as a Dauntless or less, and can still confidently take on Imperial cruisers. On a ship-per-ship basis, the only thing scarier than Eldar ships are the Necrons. (Or maybe like, an Ark Mechanicus on a bad day.)
The only downside is their fragility, but stuff like the Dragonships (which sounded like the cruisers you were using?) are not actually that fragile.
Look the Eldar are weirdos to begin with. Them having a crew at this point wouldn't surprise me. Not even if we found out they have Superman's scorpion penis
Honestly, it kind makes sense.
The design of their ships is vaguely avian.
Their arrogance definitely reminds me of the behaviour of Crows and Magpies.
Even their combat doctrines remind me of birds.
[X][EM] arm and armor himself
[X][RYIA] Use psyniscience to find the Daemon more precisely
[X][TINE] head, immediately, to the kid's room and make sure they're safe
Heck, one of their Warrior Aspect temples is for a fighting style where you literally strap a pair of wings onto your back and fly around the battlefield.
Looks like I'm somewhat mistaken as there is no speculation on what the Eldar ancestor species may be like (in fact there's a complaint about being unable to easily come up with one) but the autopsy report does contain things that do put me in mind of birds such as their teeth being an outgrowth of their skull, having a much faster heart beat and their bones being lighter then ours.
