Manouvers in the Jimulthuan Quadrant: VI

War, full-throated war, bellowed across a half-dozen systems. Any pretence of nuance or subtlety was abandoned. This was the real thing, a violent spasm of action and half-considered reaction. The basest instincts of man and xenos took hold, no front stayed cold.

"Dat's moar like it!" bellowed Megabaz. His kustom blasta hosed bullets against a group of black beakies taking cover behind a nearby pipeline, rattling off the metal in a sparking hail. 

"Dey's cheetin', boss," yelled Drog, his second-in-command. "Won't come out and get krumped proppa!"

The blasta ran dry. Megabaz glowered at his ammo runt as it poured a bucket of brass shells into the funnel at the top. "Nah, dat's just beakies," he told the Nob. "Dey fink we can't hit 'em if we can't see 'em. Shows wot dey know. Oi! Pour sum of dat dakka joos in dere an' all, ya grot!"

The gangly gretchin cowered briefly by way of acknowledgement, then started sloshing dark green liquid into the ammo hopper from a clay jug marked with a series of Xs. 

"Wotch dis," Megabaz said, squinting along the length of the blasta. It had a series of stubby barrels across its stocky blunt muzzle, lined up so that it would blast holes more or less in the shape of Mork's face across whatever he aimed it at. The gun squig clinging to the top barked squeakily when he pointed it at a decent target, as it did now - a large red silo just behind where the beakies were hiding. He primed the trigger, tried to hold it still as the gun started thrumming. 

"Wots 'DRAU BRIG DEE PRU MEE FEE UM RES URV' meen, boss?" Drog shouted over the thudding and shuddering of the blasta. Megabaz gave him a look. 

"You readin' dat? Bit weird, innit?"

"Nah, boss, da Kommandoz tort me. Sez where dey keeps dere teef and stuff, mostly. Good fer lootin'. Arrgh!"

One of the black beakies popped out of cover and nailed the Nob with a bolter shot. The big ork made a dismayed noise and fell over, bleeding. Not bad aim, Megabaz had to admit, but they were wasting their time with careful head shots. No point having a big gun if you were going to be careful with it. No love for shooting, that was their problem.

"Dats wot readin' duz to ya," Megabaz grunted, and finally released the trigger. The blasta bucked against his shoulder as the glowing green bullets streamed out in a mighty jet. The red silo exploded in a massive cloud of fire that almost silenced the battlefield for a moment or two. Then the connect pipeline erupted along its length, spraying red-hot chunks of plasteel tubing scything in all directions. The blasts tore through the beakies' hiding hole, flinging them out into the open or blasting them apart. 

Megabaz strode towards the survivors, flattening them with his bullet hose as the explosions continued to chain their way towards the towers of a larger complex in the middle distance. 

"Come on Drog," he yelled over his shoulder. "Pick yer brain off da floor and get back in da fight. Dis is ORSUM!"

(Inquisition using Xenos proxies vs Imperium on Drawbridge - Depot destroyed)

"My weapon is the law of the Imperium. It is the will of the Emperor. His words are my bullets, his desire my magazine. When I fire, I make his bidding manifest, although he sits atop the throne far across countless leagues of void. 

"So although I hold the gun, in truth it is the Emperor who holds it through me. I am his hand in this room, on this bridge. Do you understand?"

The gunnery officer nodded very carefully, so as not to nudge Astralhand's finger on the trigger of the bolt pistol. 

"The last time I gave the order to fire, the Emperor's will was defied. Do you remember? Your officers decided that they knew His intent more clearly than I did. They spoke of mercy, of sparing the people of the Imperium on the planet below. Look at their mercy, see what it wrought."

Behind the huge Space Marine Librarian, a green hololabe showed the surface of Drawbridge. Red skulls flashed across more than half of the globe, showing ruined munitoria, rebelling hab-complexes and unchecked xenos armies spreading across the equatorial jungles. The gunnery officer couldn't really focus on it clearly, his focus was very much taken up with the bolt pistol. 

"Drawbridge has suffered far more through this mercy than it would have with the righteous fury of the Emperor", the Librarian continued. "I shall not allow further weakness to taint this system. Were it not for the simple fact I am unable to operate the weapons systems of this cruiser myself, you would already have been executed for your previous error. 

 "Give the order. Make good your heresy." 

"All decks," the officer said quietly. "Open fire."

There was a tiny pause, then the distant rumble of macrocannons could be felt through the deck. 

"You are forgiven," the Librarian said. The officer closed his eyes, feeling the cold metal of the pistol pressing into his forehead. Now, he thought. My last moments. 

The pressure of the pistol withdrew. Turning on his heel, the Librarian left the bridge, his massive armoured footfalls echoing in time with the bombardment and the hammering of the officer's heart. 

(Planetary Bombardment of Drawbridge by Imperium, successfully settled by dice roll)

++Advancing. Brother Kordros, watch the rear.++

++Sensorium traces, five, hostile vector. The reactor is not secure, repeat not secure.++

++We hear its plight. Squad Rebastus answers. In defensive positions in thirty, twenty-nine...++

##Too late. Always too late.##

++Comms breach. Execute frequency fallback, all brothers. They would taint the purity of our focus with their heresy.++

++Brother sergeant, I have visual on the lead trace. Heretic confirmed, traitor of the fourteenth. Engaging.++

++Deny their passage, brothers, the reactor's virtue must remain unimpeached.++

++The Emperor judges you through me, heretic, your death...//++

++Though we fall, we fall but to death. They are fallen further still. Avenge our brother! Brother Clemens, Brother Iopus, forward in teams. Brother Acaster, flamer cover.++

##There is nowhere you can hide from death. Always, we shall find you.##

++Frequency fallback. Iopus, covering me.++

++They are deploying blind fields, brother sergeant, I cannot see...++

++Covering fire, Iopus, the Emperor's hate will find them in the dark. I have overwatch on...//++

++Avenge Rebastus! Avenge the brother sergeant! They must not breach the reactor!++

    - Combat log excerpt 233.5883*}33}*, Ultramarine Boundary Watch Station

(Imperium attempts to assert Dominance against Chaos in Bagot Prime, settled by Space Hulk, Imperial victory)

 

The blasted rubble of the battlefield was littered with fallen warriors. The weak grey light of Rylstone's sun caught on the edges of cratered power armour or filtered through drifting plumes of smoke. The carcass of a black and silver jetbike smouldered half-way through a smashed wall. Half a dozen robed figures in grey tended to the wounds of a gigantic figure who sat at its base. 

In the middle of it all, two survivors faced each other. 

"It is agreed," one of them said. Clad in jet-black artificier armour, his pale skin was smeared with a streak of clotted blood. His eyes were entirely blue apart from the pupil and completely emotionless. 

"It is decided," corrected the other, taller figure. "Your agreement means nothing."

"Rylstone serves the Imperium. I serve the Imperium. Your oversight was not necessary."

"You speak of servitude, yet your actions belie you. Kasfunatius, your chapter dallies with heresy almost daily. Those who your brothers slew in the asteroid belt were loyal to the Emperor."

"I am loyal to the Emperor, Shield-Captain," Kasfunatius said. "I am Astartes. They had been subjugated by Xenos, exposed to the lies and filth of the alien. Death saved them."

"They waited for another form of salvation, Chapter Master. Delivering them from the T'au would have sufficed. Now their loss is yet another for the Imperium to bear, when all our forces should be mustering to protect Drawbridge. That it came to blows between us before you saw the folly of your ways is a mark of deep dishonour on your Chapter's name."

"Rylstone's fate is mine to decide! The Emperor's own decree made it so. If I determine..."

"And your fate is mine to decide by that same decree, Chapter Master. You are found wanting. I spare you for the same reason you should have spared those troopers." The vast Custodian paused, then sighed. "You have but a stay of execution here. The Crypt Angels have gone unleashed for too long. Once Drawbridge is secure, we will take this up where we left it. 

"I shall take charge of your fleet until then. Make ready for warp immediately."

The Shield-Captain strode away, leaving Kasfunatius alone in the ruined square, watching a dim sun slowly rise. 

(Crypt Angels attempt to assert Dominance vs Imperium in Rylstone, 2000 point 40K game, Imperium wins)

"Just another day's work for the Lampreys, old man. No need to thank us." The Tempestor threw a smart salute as he sauntered away towards his vehicle. The Inquisitor watched him go. 

"He's far too pleased with himself," the Inquisitor's adjutant said. "They barely managed to contain those cultists. If they'd escaped..."

"But they didn't. I take your point, Bendron, but we should be taking this as a win. The Hagans may be a touch... cocksure, but they fought valiantly here. The cult has been wiped out."

"How did they even get here? I thought the last of them were stamped out trying to leave Drawbridge."

"It takes just one. Very easy to miss just one, in such a vast universe. Although... you noticed their weapons?"

"Lascarbines?"

"Yes, I thought so too. Look again."

Bandron kicked a dead body over and picked up the rifle that lay under it. It had an unusual hood to its muzzle, flared and arched to a sharper point than the clean lines of an Imperial weapon. There was something almost artistic about it. Something...

"Drukharii?" Bandron said, dropping the gun quickly as though it burned him.

"Precisely. One of our quarries is here in the system. There was an item in the comms net about raiders in outlying settlements. It wouldn't be the first time that Guraqore tried to bait Afanc into covering his tracks." Inquisitor Vodiis turned his head sharply as the Hagan Taurox revved its engine and started to move out. 

"Victory for now, Bendron, but send word to whatever Astartes are nearest. They'll need to take it from here, we're needed back in Drawbridge."

(Inquisition with Imperial Proxies attempts a planetary invasion against the Xenos in Mombassa,  Inquisition wins)

"Citizens of Mombassa! We are your deliverance! You need fear no more the raids of the Xenos. Their threat has been crushed! Rejoice!"

Thousands of voices roared in the Imperial square. Farmers and clerks threw hats in the air, snatches of the Mombassan Anthem rang out and were drowned again in the celebratory chaos. Fluttering tickertape rained down from the crenellated fortress overlooking the square, red and silver glittering in the heavy golden light of the tropical autumn morning. 

The space marine stretched his armoured hands out wide and waited for the din to subside somewhat. 

"Bless you, Mombassa. Great has been your suffering, great will be your joy. Now give thanks! Break bread! Drink deep! This night, all woe will be washed from you. Today marks the start of a new era in this system. 

"I proclaim this day a day of feasting. Brothers! Open the great gates of the citadel! Go, usher in the first moments of your liberty!"

The massive doors to the armoury hall groaned open, each pushed by a trio of black-armoured marines. The crowd heaved forwards, singing and cheering, pouring into the gloomy hall beyond in a glad tide of humanity. 

Lord Servillus watched them go. His smile remained broad as he spoke quietly into his comm-link. 

"Once the last of them are inside, seal the doors and complete the summoning. The feast should last for at least eight days. A pity we cannot see its end, but we have pressing matters to attend to elsewhere. Make for the transports!"

(Xenos attempts to assert Dominance vs Chaos in Mombassa, settled by MCP, Chaos wins)

Campaign Round Five

I know, I know, it's more AI art. I'm a bad person. 

Here's what's been going down in the last combat turn:

• The Xenos attempted to wrest Dominance from Chaos in Mombassa. They failed! Chaos adjusted 
• The Crypt Angels attempted to wrest Dominance from the Imperium in Rylstone. They failed! Imperial dominance rose by one and so did Xenos, leaving the system as a tie.
• The Imperium performed a successful Planetary Bombardment against Xenos positions in Drawbridge, knocking their dominance down by one. They also attempted to assert dominance in Bagot Prime, reducing the Chaos score by two there. 
• Chaos attempted to assert dominance over the Imperium in the Sweetwater Debris Field. They failed! The Inquisition adjusted the scores to affect a draw
• The Inquisition attempted to capture the Imperial Depot on Drawbridge and succeeded, allowing the Orks there to blow it up for reasons (mostly stopping the Imperium scoring double for it). Then they attempted a Planetary Invasion against the Xenos in Mombassa and succeeded, increasing Imperial dominance by one and reducing Xenos by one. 

All of that means the scores look like this:

• The Imperium is once more dominant in Bagot Prime, and also retains Drawbridge, Alebus and Zamaroon. +4 for a total of 18
• The Xenos still have Haga and the Transcaridian Docks.+2 for a total of 16.
• The Crypt Angels don't score this turn, they've been slapped on the wrist by the Custodes. They stay on a total of 9.
• Chaos has the Vulniis Infernii. It always has the Vulniis Infernii. It's also nabbed Mombassa, so that's +2 for a total of 15.
• The Inquisition has pulled draws in Gauntlegun, Rylstone and the SDF. That's +3 for a total of 16. 

And all of that means it's time for a final turn! 

Before the players picked their final Operations action, I added in a new one. Now everyone can blow up planets! Or eat them, or sacrifice them to Chaos, or whatever else you want. Killing a planet has slightly different rules depending on whether you're Imperial or not. 

Imperial players (Inquisition, Imperium and Crypt Angels) can start Exterminatus in the Operations phase. They pick a planet where their fleet is (and they can move the fleet first if they want). If their fleet is still there at the start of the next Operations phase, they destroy the planet. Nobody scores any points for it and everyone and everything there is toast. 

Everyone else can pick a planet where they are Dominant (i.e. highest score). If they are still dominant there at the start of the next Operations phase, they consume the planet in some highly cinematic way and score 4 points for doing so (and then nobody else scores any points there on account of being dead). 

Would you believe that all the players immediately dropped what they were doing and started trying to blow each other's planets up?

• The Imperium moved their fleet to the Vulniis Infernii and commenced Exterminatus. Yes, they're trying to blow up a system that's already been blown up, but if that's not extremely Grimdark, I don't know what is. 
• Chaos, having finally conquered a new system, starts sacrificing Mombassa to the Dark Gods. 
• The Inquisition's fleet moves back to Drawbridge, and just to make sure it can never fall to Chaos, declares Exterminatus. 
• The Xenos are going to dismantle the entire Transcaridian Dockyard and turn it a massive Battlekroozer (i.e. they're blowing it up)
• The Crypt Angels are sitting in their room and sulking after the Imperium told them off. Maybe they'll come down for supper later and say sorry.

And here's the final map for the final round!