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 jhe90 wrote:

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

Righteousrob wrote:

Righteousrob wrote:
Up to you guys on the minautors. You displayed Kruger perfectly.

whoops,

Did i miss something?

What did I miss?

Something about Kruger

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

 jhe90 wrote:

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

Righteousrob wrote:

Righteousrob wrote:
Up to you guys on the minautors. You displayed Kruger perfectly.

whoops,

Did i miss something?

What did I miss?

Something about Kruger

Think I got it , he started out as general zonad on page one, since then his name has adjusted a tad. Hitchhikers guide refrence, nicely done.

I hope no one minds my odd implications in last chunk,all pg don,t worry :-)

Lord general gets a better reception certainly.

And if you want some fun, read the names :-)

Okay, map is updated for factions. I had to do some guesstimating, but I'm assuming a location of where people are at time of creation.

UPDATE FROM PREVIOUS MAP
Locations with black stripes running through them are contested warzones/points of interest. Active conflict.

Red striped line is the Imperium's beachhead on the world. There are Imperial forces beyond the line, but they are cut off from active supply and reinforcement. Basically, a bit of an incentive to advance the line as one and be reinforced, or strike out alone at key targets, but risk being stranded and unsupplied.

People may also notice the change in Continent Delta's landmass, below Manufactorum ARAD and above Hasselgrave.
We all know who to thank for that.
(Seriously, dropping a Strike Cruiser from orbit?)

I'm near the eldar portal, may have to send a scout team to try and locate this statagic location

Here's a couple of missions for you guys to undermine the Remnants' hold on Gallor Prime:

There's Always A Bigger Fish

A Word Bearer by the name of Kor Maeron is leading cultist troops against Imperial forces, fighting a guerrilla war in the ruined hives. The Word Bearer is part of the Remnants' inner circle, and may provide you with important intelligence on the warband's movements. Catching him alive will be difficult, however; packs of ragged cultists protect him at all times, and he wears Tactical Dreadnought armour at all times.

Reap What You Have Sown

Dissent amongst the local guardsmen is rising despite efforts to restore morale. It is unclear whether or not they are being influenced by the Remnants, but it is clear the situation is reaching a breaking point. Get the men back in line, or risk them defecting to another's cause.

Angels' Lament

Reports indicate that Dezmon, the Berzerker Champion killed by agents of the New Order, was in the possession of a master-crafted bolt pistol belonging to the Blood Angels chapter. It has gone missing since his demise, and it is unclear who would have taken it. Reclaiming the artefact will strengthen the relationships with or between the Astartes chapters fighting on the surface.

Breaking Damocles' Sword

The flagship of the Remnants hangs above Gallor Prime, supplying the Remnants with necessary reinforcements and intelligence. It is unknown what kind of firepower the ship possesses, but given its age and legacy, it is safe to assume its presence in orbit is bad news for the forces on the ground. The ship is well-protected and impervious to most of your weapons, but a swift strike against key points of its hull could incapacitate it, or at the very least cripple its orbital weaponry.

Currently, none of the senior officers are on board of the vessel, but a certain Death Guard Legionnaire by the name of Gorgyron roams the halls with his pack of Zombies, keeping intruders from the ship.

Ancient Fury

Several Hellbrutes have landed on Gallor Prime, but prime amongst them is a Chaos Dreadnought, who has not succumbed to the maddening flesh-change his brothers underwent. It is leading the Remnants' push against the Orks in Hive Eastwatch, where it is seemingly trying to prevent the Orks from pushing north. Find out what the Remnants are doing up north, and find a way to end the conflict in Hive Eastwatch.

Blood In The Cogs

The Remnants currently hold a Manufactorum that once belonged to the local Mechanicus branch. Lord Ravager and his Berzerkers have secured the location, and are overseeing the transport of its various resources towards other Remnants-held territories. Reclaim the Manufactorum, and try to prevent too many of the heavy weapons leaving the site.

Armoured Fist

Lord Breacher, ex-Iron Warrior, is leading an armoured company of Predators and retro-fitted Razorbacks in the plains around Gallor Spire, wreaking havoc against the Imperial Guard forces in the area. Destroying the armoured host will eliminate most of the warband's heavy support, leaving them more vulnerable in the battles to come.

Addendum: the ex-Iron Warrior is reported to bear several grudges against other Iron Warrior forces, specifically going out of his way to strike at his former kin. Perhaps this can be used to your advantage.

Lots of work to do! Better get to it, ya gitz!

(but send me a pm before killing off all the characters, alright )

Il investigate the eldar presence at the ice caps near alpha. .

Seems like someone should see what there up to.

And send a second team after the sisters, I found the trail but not anything hot. Just some dead camps. Try and advance the hunt.

The black scouting craft drifted slightly and lazily near the debris that would be the Inquisitor’s tomb. The vessel was tiny built only for reconnaissance, as it had no weapons but its unorthodox design would read as space debris on even the best sensors. The ship could only hold two marines, Brothers Raphael and Oberyn of the Deathwatch were those two marines.

Raphael tapped away at his console as he spoke “The Inquisitor is still broadcasting his vitals, all reads clear. I’m surprised he’s lasted this long its been seven hours, Gene Stealers have to at least be aware of his presence.” Oberyn shook his head “This isn’t right. The man served in the inquisition, he fought to keep humanity safe. He doesn’t deserve to die like this, as a meal to the foulest of xenos.” The blood angel spoke while intensely looking out the view screen “The man’s already dead. At least this way the death of his body will gather us useful information. Plus if we kept him around we’d be up to our necks in orks.” Oberyn sighed “I never doubted the necessity of this, I only wonder if Titus felt any guilt over the death sentence.” Raphael “I can assure you the Watch Captain” before he could complete his thought the devices in the cockpit began to sound. Oberyn tapped at the controls and spoke “6 Kruza class vessels spotted off our port.” Raphael spoke “6! Good thing we got rid of him before it was too late.” “What’s that?” Raphael looked at the sensor, there were signs of things breaking out of the atmosphere of Gallor Prime like meteors in reverse. Raphael spoke “Surface to air boarding pods. No way we’d be able to contend with that many ships and the surprise boarding team.”

Earlier back on Gallor Prime

Warboss Grinbad and his party walked through the dense jungle of Gallor Prime. With them was the Nob Kommando Grunt, commander of all the Kommando units in WAAAGH! Grinbad. Grunt spoke “Boss, I don’t know why you needed me and my Black Skulls to accompany you to take out dis omie camp.” Grinbad maintaining his ruse spoke “Cus I said I need a Kommando, and you do what I says.” As the orks continued down the forest path they saw a ork in blue war paint standing in their path, obviously a deff skull. Grunt blurted “Out of our way you git.” The Ork didn’t comply but rather drew three Gretchen from the pack he wore on his back and began to juggle them. The orks watched the juggler for about a minute until Grunt questioned “What is dis?” Then he heard a familiar voice speak behind him “Dis is pay back” Grunt turned around to see the last of his Black Skull kommandos’ throats being slit. He bellowed “Gadnuk!” the ork than looked to Grinbad and snarled “You set me up!” The pirate shrugged “Aint nuffing personal Grunt, Gadnuk knows where to find da vault he wanted to kill you in exchange.” Grunt charged after Gadnuk unleashing a wild blow with his power klaw, but Gadnuk easily dodged the blow and sliced one of the klaw’s hydraulic tubes, making the device more unwieldy than normal. The ork took another swing now using the klaw as more of a bludgeon than a slicing tool. Gadnuk dodged it yet again only this time he sunk a pair of daggers into Grunt’s back leaving them there. Grunt removed the blades and laughs “Iz dat da best you got.” Gadnuk called out “Bleeda” and the ork was tossed a pair of axes. Grunt charged Gadnuk but the Kommando rolled out of his path. Grunt turned around and made another pass but as he raised his metallic servo arm to swing his built in power klaw Gadnuk swung down on it severing the mechanical limb from its green host. The ork fell to the ground and Gadnuk approached him. Grunt drew his Sluga, but Gadnuk kicked it out of his hand. He towered over the helpless nob and spoke “You couldn’t just stay on Armageddon. I was leaving to krump da stars and you just had to try and ruin it.” The nob reached for his discarded sluga with his still present arm but Gadnuk put his boot to his wrist. Gadnuk pressed his foot down breaking the Kommando’s wrist. Grunt gritted his teeth in pain Gadnuk spoke “I got bad news for ya git, da dok ain’t here to patch you up dis time.” Gadnuk sliced the nob’s head off with a scissor strike from his twin axes. Gadnuk stood over the nob for a time letting the ork’s blood drip from the head oh his axe back down to the corpse below. Gadnuk smiled and pulled a celebratory cigar from one of his many pouches he lit it and turned to Grinbad “Now about my plan.”

Gadnuk quickly figured out what the Deathwatch had done. He was disappointed that he wouldn’t get the opportunity to take his vengeance out on those who had personally wronged him, but Gene Sneakers were always good for a fight. The Kommandos continued through the odd space structure, it was similar to a space hulk, but was far to small to be classified as such. They encountered many of the gene stealers but were properly equipped to handle them thanks to Burny’s liberal use of his Skorcha. Eventually they met up with Gribad’s boarding party, they had already lost 6 mega nobz to the Gene stealers. Grinbad was accompanied by his two weird boyz Zed and Zeknet along with a mek named Gullz. Gadnuk looked to the blind shaman Zed Klowog and spoke “Long time no see Zed.” All the orks erupted in laughter Zed retorted with a simple “Zog you.” Grinbad spoke “Where in Gork’s name iz we.” The mek spoke “Dis place is remarkable, it was obviously part of a spacy hulk at some point, but it looks like somebody cut it off, maybe cus of da Gene Sneekas.” The pirate turned his gaze to Gadnuk “I thought you said Space Marines had dis git not Gene Sneakers” Gadnuk shrugged “Dey must of put him ere Tracker says he’s just up ahead.” Grinbad pressed forward and growled “Better be.”

As the orks entered the room they saw the man lying on the floor he sang quietly “The Silver spider eats birds, the raven cries and prays. The iron fist crushes the sun ending all our days. The captain will mourn his loss for all his kin were slays. The vault will open and darkness will come to plays.” Bonebleeda laughed “catchy tune” Grinbad looked over to Zed “How do find out what he knows?” Zed drew a knife from his boot “Stand back” the shaman approached the mad man and grabbed him by his throat Zed called “Zeknet hold him down” his assistant complied and they restrained the convulsing man. Zed than took his sharpened knife began to cut the top region of the mans head. The former inquisitor screamed as the crude tool carved through his skull. Soon enough the screaming stopped and human passed out from the trauma. The weirdboy made the final cuts to the man’s cranium and exposed the man’s still active brain. Zed grabbed a handful of the still grey mass and moved it to his mouth. As the ork was about to put the brain matter in his mouth he stopped himself and pulled a salt shaker from his trouser pocket. After putting a few sprinkles of the flavoring he put the man’s brain in his mouth chewing it than swallowing it. For a moment nothing happened than Zed threw off his red and blue lensed goggles and his hollowed eyes became purple with mystique fire. The ork collapsed to the floor and began screaming and shaking. He yelled through screams of pain “Zog you, dis iz my body, you can’t have it.” Soon enough he stopped moving and the purple flames faded from his eye sockets. He slowly rose to his feet “I’m ok boss, I found it.” Grinbad spoke “Da vault?” Zed shook his head “Yeah, boss there was somefing inside dat omie. Somefing strong, it tried to take my mind, like it did wif diz omie, but it couldn’t understand an ork’s brain.” Grinbad asked “what’s dat mean” Zeknet spoke for Zed “I fink it means dat any other psyker who came into contact wif diz git could be bound to whatever dat fing dat tried body jack Zed.” Zed shook his head “aye.” Grinbad spoke “Das weird talk fer weird boyz aint my problem. Les get back to da ship, so you can show me where on da map my vault be.”

Raphael spoke “four out of the six servo skulls have reported in the other two are off line.” Oberyn sighed “He’s dead, according to his vitals it must have been ugly.” Raphael spoke “There’s nothing left for us here, lets get to the rendezvous.” Oberyn began for the controls when without warning the ship began moving towards one of the large ships. Raphael began “Were in some form of crude Tractor field, we don’t have enough power to break away.” Relay what we’ve learned back to The Necessity, include a distress call, inform them what happened to us.” Raphael tapped at his console “Message sent all local records deleted.” The two marines were ill equipped to handle a Kruza full of orks all they had was their carapace armor, bolt pistols, and combat knives. Oberyn slammed the console with his fist “How in thrones name did they know.”

Aboard The Dakkanator Big Mek Brainbreka held a clip board in his hand. On their radar they spotted a few pieces of space debris that would make good raw material for the construction of Roks, the orks crude orbital drop pods. So the mek was bringing the materials into one of the ship’s docking bays with the use of the ship’s traktor kanon. The space debris entered the bay and to the mek’s surprise it didn’t look as dumpy and garbage like as the scanners had suggested. Brainbreaka watched curiously from his foreman’s perch as the burna boyz with cutting tools approached the pice of odd debris. Without warning the space marines leapt from an opening in the vessel, they quickly dispatched the ork welders. Soon enough the entire bay was aware of their presence and the orks began to charge their pleasant surprise. Brainbreaka smiled “I thought today was gunna be boring.” The ork ran to his desk and grabbed his latest device.

The Marines were faring well dodging plasma cutter torches and besting the savage ork attacks. Then out of nowhere Brother Oberyn was enveloped by blue bubble of energy. The bubble lifted him off the ground. Oberyn punched the wall of his bubble prison but the the bubble remained. Soon Raphael met the same fate. The Deathwatch marines were helpless at the mercy of the big mek. The ork pleased with himself pretended to blow smoke off the barrel of his bubble chucka and holstered it. The mek approached the marines and laughed “Isn’t dis a pleasant surprise, stopping by to say hello.” The astartes didn’t acknowledge the ork but rather continued to struggle mid air against their restraints. The ork laughed “Oh da boss iz gonna be happy to see you, he’s got good a bounty on any living space Mahreens.” The Big Mek yelled “Kozz, space der ship.” The lesser mek complained “wot, why dat kan gots some shiny bitz on it.” The big Mek bellowed “Cuz dem Space Mahreens can probably track da ship, and if dey can track it dat means dey can find us.” The ork spoke “Oh you right cleaver boss, we’ll space it right now.” Oberyn thought to himself “Damn, the stealth ship was their only chance at rescue without it the two were helpless.”

I will take Reap what you sown, (The beatings will continue until morale improves. - Commissar Dorian Gavor) And Ancient Fury for the Novamarines.

I will yake armoured fist for the Forbidden oath. I love chaos infighting

I'll take Blood in the Cogs, I'm curious though, how will we determine how we did?


Funny, I don't even know where my forces are on that map anymore. It's been a while

I guess the fairest way to decide that would be to use the numbers system? Maybe with a bit more input from my part, but I think it'd be a bad idea to let me decide everything (conflict of interest and all that jazz )

Il take the catchans out to the jungle too, reduce discent, and can expand on iron tooth and his men :-)

I'll put up some missions for the Remnants and other anti-Imperial forces to complete.

10,000 Leagues under the Sea
There are strange gravitational fluctuations and emissions from a location triangulated by Manufactorums ALEM, HELS and CRUS. Whatever it is remains to be seen.

Blotting out the Skies
The Gallor Spire reaches all the way up into the planet's lower stratosphere. Destroying it would devastate the hive below it, as well as the orks and human resistance fighters which inhabit it. However, controlling it would provide a safe way to transport equipment and men down to the planet below.

Grey Water
The Cadian 13th Regiment and Kreig 22nd Siege are in the process of storming Hive Tartarus via a beach landing assault, led by a Captain Grey. Engaging them as they disembark off their landing boats would cripple the invading forces, weakening their siege capabilities.

Bridging the Gap
The cross-continental bridge between Hives Proctor and Nordus is currently being held down by a squad of Space Marines of the **insert which ever chapter you choose** Chapter. Your forces cannot cross this vital bridge between Proctor and Nordus. Fight your way through this blockade, assist the Astartes, or destroy the bridge to stop others using it.

Death from over the Horizon
Imperial Basilisk and Manticore batteries have been bombarding Continent Beta relentlessly since the Imperium seized Continent Delta. Gather a small strike team to get in, destroy the artillery, and get out before the Imperium can retaliate.

OK next segment.

Taking the catchans into jungle to solve morale and find more traces of sisters. Kill a few orks, find some older camps and see if I can find which way there headed.

Scouting mission to find eldar webway gates maybe

Returning the throne agent caught on my ship, maybe a nice chat with captain Titus, oh the atmosphere got tense already lol

And maybe a crazy idea for a rescue mission of the deathwatch.

I am also gonna jump on Bridging the Gap before anyone else takes it.

I remember the sky.

The cloudless blue ocean hanging above me.

The path through the dusty brown mountains.

The chapel, where I laid my head to rest.

Strike Commander Tullius stood in the command bridge of the Wrath of Pollo, where he and the rest of his crew were expectantly awaiting their vessel's exit from the Warp. He disliked Warp travel, each journey through that hellish domain making him feel like something was slipping from his memory, as if he had one less thing to worry about. It concerned him, but he knew he only felt a fraction of what the human crew went through, and he didn't dare imagine what the Astropath and Navigator experienced as they travelled through the Warp.

His eyelids felt heavy, as if he had not slept for months. Another side-effect of Warp travel. His head ached slightly, a nagging pain clouding his focus. He tried to keep his eyes open as long as possible, as he knew that closing them would bring back the images that plagued him each time they were in Warp transit. Snippets of memories, surfacing from the deep wells of his conscience, often mixed with nightmarish snapshots of places and people he'd never seen before.

The sand sweeping over the remains of those who had come before me.

Hungry eyes staring at me from the shadows.

A drop-pod descending to the surface of a golden planet.

My first sparring match against an Astartes in a sandstone arena.

A head, held in the hand of a giant, its fingers in the empty eye sockets.

My mother smiling at me.

Tullius grunted as he forced his eyes to open, trying to expel the visions from his mind. He lay a hand on his skull, wiping off a few beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead. It was becoming difficult to focus, his mind protesting against the Warp's influence. A sudden dizziness took hold of him, his vision blurring, as he placed a hand on his command seat for support. A woman's voice broke him out of his trance.

"Commander Tullius?", the female officer asked hesitantly.

"Yes, Lieutenant Maelissa?", Tullius replied softly. He was still feeling nauseous, and he swallowed hard to get the taste of bile out of his mouth.

"We are approaching the translation point. Captain Shulo has initiated the necessary procedures for our arrival in Gallor Prime's sector", Maelissa replied, her brown eyes glimmering in the pale light of the bridge. She was a Charidian native, a fine naval officer who had come under Tullius' wings the moment he had ascended to the rank of Captain of the Third Company. She had served alongside him and her direct superior, Captain Shulo, for more than a decade now, all the while working tirelessly in the command bridge of the great vessel that was the Wrath of Pollo.

"Very well, Lieutenant. You can return to your post", Tullius spoke, giving the officer a warm smile. She nodded politely and smiled at him in response, before turning back to tend to her many duties. She had barely placed herself before her console again before Captain Shulo's voice crackled over the intercom.

"Attention all crew, prepare for Warp translation. Weapons platform crews, alert code orange is still in effect. Emperor knows what we're heading into, but I know I want to have every gun, missile and lance system aiming at it in case it isn't friendly."

Tullius grinned. Captain Shulo was short-tempered, but he was also a very skilful void captain, with a curious sense of humour to boot.

"And before you dare ask, Lieutenant Wilhelm of Gun Platform 23, that means you DO NOT fire when the target IS friendly. I hope I need not remind all of you of the shameful incident you baboons caused back on Coronus VII", Shulo continued across the vox, his voice bolstered as his temper got the better of him.

"Captain!", Tullius shouted across the command bridge, a wide smile on his lips. "Take us out of the Warp, if you please!"

Tullius could see the Captain's face turn red from across the bridge, his moustache trembling with fury at such insolence, before muttering a few curses at a couple of officers who hastily went to initiate the final steps of their exit from the Warp.

The ship trembled more and more, as the vessel tried to tear itself out of the Warp. Like a knife slowly poked through a piece of cloth, the Wrath of Pollo shook off the Warp's hold on its frame, until it finally burst through the fabric of unreality and entered back into realspace.

The crew sighed in relief, the burden of the Warp's influence on their minds evaporating as they re-entered their preferred plane of existence. Tullius' headache was gone, allowing him to focus his mind on the task at hand. Activating his vox unit, he spoke directly to the ship's crew.

"Scan the area for hostiles. Weapons platforms, stay on stand-by until alert code orange is lifted. Lieutenant Maelissa, get Crusade Command on the vox, we'll need to-"

A horrible screeching sound resounded across the ship, most of the mortal crew covering their ears to protect themselves from the noise. Tullius knew that sound all too well. Someone was hijacking their vox net, but who-

"Attention crew of the Wrath of Pollo", a booming voice resounded over the vox. "Disengage your weapons systems and prepare for Inquisitorial inspection. Failure to comply will result in your termination."

The crew on the command bridge looked confused at Commander Tullius, hoping that he would know what to do. Truth to be told, he himself had no idea what was going on.

The bridge's shutters opened slowly, revealing a monstrous, pitch-black ship that loomed over them, the icons of the Inquisiton clearly visible on its hull. Already, Tullius could see boarding squads being deployed, their transports hastily making their way towards the Wrath of Pollo...

 jhe90 wrote:
OK next segment.

Taking the catchans into jungle to solve morale and find more traces of sisters. Kill a few orks, find some older camps and see if I can find which way there headed.

Scouting mission to find eldar webway gates maybe

Returning the throne agent caught on my ship, maybe a nice chat with captain Titus, oh the atmosphere got tense already lol

And maybe a crazy idea for a rescue mission of the deathwatch.

Before anyone goes to save them let me set the scene first, I had a few cool little plot twists

 chazz huggins wrote:

 jhe90 wrote:
OK next segment.

Taking the catchans into jungle to solve morale and find more traces of sisters. Kill a few orks, find some older camps and see if I can find which way there headed.

Scouting mission to find eldar webway gates maybe

Returning the throne agent caught on my ship, maybe a nice chat with captain Titus, oh the atmosphere got tense already lol

And maybe a crazy idea for a rescue mission of the deathwatch.

Before anyone goes to save them let me set the scene first, I had a few cool little plot twists

Not a problem, il just go have fun poking the inquisition a tad, I mean Titus will have to collect his throne agent, not be delivered ;-)

Contacting Crusade Command...
Contacting...
Atmospheric Distortion Effect: 6.8%
Contact made.

Acting-Captain Hadris Aurelius, reporting.
The assault on BoomGob's compound was a success, albeit costly. His manufacturing capabilities are ended with the destruction and appropriation of his workshops, alongside the destruction of his last and personal Stompa. We owe our thanks to the Deathwatch Kill Team that ended the monstrosity by flying in a Stormraven Gunship and using a multi-melta to destroy it at close range. Losses amongst Strikeforce Praetoria were moderate, compared to the near-total annihilation of BoomGob's closest boyz.
BoomGob himself was lightly wounded, but has evaded death or capture from Ultramarine forces. I regret to announce his continued survival and his life yet blights the Imperial war machine on this world.

Strikeforce Praetoria are currently moving on to Hive Fording to break the lengthy siege ongoing between Imperial Guard forces and Orks, as penance for our failure to kill BoomGob. May the blood of the xenos wash our sins.

Sightings from local field reports state the presence of Remnants Dark Apostle Kor Maeron. Strikeforce Praetoria would be honoured to rid the material realm of this corrupt Astartes and his debased flock.

Aurelius out.

Transmission ceased.

Il run it by you, and feel free to tweak any bits you think are not right.

Titus may not like having to go to get someone back mind....

Plenty of room for more inquisition, and we have the suspected grey knight sigthings in the jungles, so could be mallius, or other groups. Given all the chaos hoping on we still have no ordo coming to investigate

I almost forgot there was more than one planet in this crusade

Karak meets the Deathwatch, let the thick Atmosphere that follows Captain Titus into every room commence,

Onboard the Emperors Vengeance
Deep in the vessels maze like design, 3 Marines of the Deathwatch are escorted to the Bridge.

**********

Lord Marshall Karak lent back in the Throne deep in the private chambers of the Battle Barge, Ulf and the Sentinal standing guard close by, Brook stood by the doors ensuring this meeting was not interrupted. Such things required privacy.


“I see you got my message Captain Titus, I also know you have 2 members of your kill team with you, a Dark Angel, and a Salamander with you, and one of them is a witch. You know how we feel about them."

“We did. Is that a problem?"

Karak growled. "Keep your witch on a leash, Captain."

"I may consider it. Now to business. I do not like being summoned and I assume you know that keeping this quiet would rather help you, Marshall Karak”

“It was your man caught on my ship, Throne Agent Ivan Pedrosa, Code named Shadow by his own admittance, Don’t worry he is unharmed, Mostly.”

“The capture of a Throne agent can be taken many ways, Karak. Are you even sure he is ours?"

"Who's else could he be? And you would never admit it if he was."

"Correct. But, even assuming he was ours, you run a great risk. Were I to spin the facts, I could make a strong case to my ordo. You were the aggressor, and the Inquisition has the power to lock you in a cell. I assure you it would not be pleasant or painless."

“Trespass, illegal boarding in a time of war, theft of restricted information, attempted theft of a secured vault, and more besides, if he was not one of yours he would have been shot and thrown out a airlock days ago. I'll bite, his attempt was worthless as the vault in question contains a copy of the Codex Astartes, something you have easy access to, I'm sure.
Chapter 113, paragraph 14, 'In times of war, security is of prime import, the harshest judgements are required to ensure discipline and deter further attempts'.
Roboute Guilliman I believe “

“The mighty Codex?" Titus laughed. "You would use that against me? You understand that the Codex is why I am part of the Deathwatch first place? I was not aware that the Templars held so closely to it's guidelines. The last I checked, Templars boasted far more marines than any other single Chapter. Not that it matters. Chapter 213, Paragraph 2, 'The Holy Inquisition's word is Law, no single Space Marine, however valorous or honoured is above such.' Believe me, Marshall, I would understand that all too well. Your move Karak, I believe that is checkmate.”

“Regicide, agh yes! The art of prediction, strategy and most importantly, timing. One does not expose their Emperor too early without good reason. Now I pull back the veil, there is... word two members of your Kill Team got caught by orks and are being held aboard a kruzer. Now I'm sure you would want them back and my Templars, Imperial Fists and a little help from the New Order have a plan to rescue them. Of course that relies on certain intelligence to locate them. Such as the frequency of the hidden transponder, we all know you have some very advanced technology hidden away in your shadowy realm, some even say xenos.”

“You are rather well informed Karak. Are you sure that you do not possess a spy amidst my brethren? Yes, the allegation as to the condition of Scout Sergeant Raphael of the Blood Angels and Brother Oberyn, a Blackshield, is true; it serves nothing to lie when you are in a position of usefulness. I'm sure the Deathwatch would appreciate your combined help but first a gesture and return the agent alive, with no accidents. You know how I can make life rather difficult for you, or your men.”

“So, Shadow is indeed of value to you. Yes, you may have back your spy. However if i ever catch him aboard one of my ships again, well his fate will not be so generous. Though the stolen information I cannot release, your man and his effects. Minus that rather small and clever pict device.”

“Done, that is tolerable to my masters, even if I disagree. On condition of secrecy. No word outside, on pain of death, of this event. Even though the agent isn't ours.”

“Agreed, Captain Titus, we cannot have people knowing of the Months of shame, Many Marines of a certain rank found out about that little event, however hard you tried to hide it. Space Wolves I have met before, rather nasty enemy.”

“Months of Shame? I am afraid you address the wrong Ordo, Black Templar. I all to aware of the Vlka Fenryka's ferocity. We have many in Watch Fortress Talasa, including our own Brother Erik and Haakon, Allfather rest his spirit. Blackmail is beneath honour, is it not? And you always claim to hold true to your oaths. Pah. Your past is known amongst the Inquisition, the events with Cato Sicarius, your petty insults to his Acting-Captain and your time spent in the far realms in penance. Not such a perfect record after all.
However, you are useful to me. I will give you the codes you seek. If your mission plan is approved by the Ordo xeno, that is. We have rules for working with us, read up on them, Karak. The penalty for breaking them is harsh and ignorance is no excuse. The Deathwatch do not take kindly to failure.”

“Good, the man is being delivered to the hanger bay now. Now get that witch off my ship quickly, I do not tolerate those beyond the ones we cannot do without. Deathwatch or not, that witches stink I can sense from here”

Castiel grinned eerily. “Be careful Templar, Witch I am, and dangerous I be.”

“Your head would be pulp before you even tried, Ulf is the name of the marine who would end you for your damned files.”

Py'ros answered. "I'd like to see you try, Ulf. Tell me, how would you like to be bathed in promethium flames?"

“Be gone before my tolerance, which I have very little of, breaks.” Karak roared slamming a gauntletted fist into the desk, a second hovering near the relic blades hilt.

“We go, brothers. Leave the Black Templars to their ignorance. And Karak? Remember your oath. The code is 2745102, frequency Gamma. And I want them unhurt. Should you fail, I am sure a certain Ultramarine would be overjoyed to take the victory in your place.”

The three black armoured Space Marines turned their backs to the Lord Marshall, and wordlessly left the chamber.

Next stop on the story train, Col iron tooth and his men go into the jungle, expect some Vietnam references and such.

Templer, catchan and mechanicus combined taskforce.

Forgot to add and only fair. Credit to SGT Smudge for adding a few tweaks that took it from good to what it is here . :-)

Strike Commander Tullius sat in a small, dark room, somewhere in the bowels of the Inquisition's ship. Or rather, the Deathwatch's ship, to be more precise. He, and by extension the rest of his senior officers, had been hurriedly transported here at gunpoint by a group of Deathwatch marines who had been as talkative as the walls of the cell he was currently inhabiting. The human crew was visibly shaken by the encounter, the cold indifference of the marines towards them frightening them more than the many enemies they had faced before this day, while his fellow Astartes -amongst them Chaplain Appolon- had calmly submitted to the Inquisition's orders.

After all, this isn't the first time that this has happened to us.

Tullius pushed the thought away. It was pointless to dwell on past events, even the darkest pages of history eventually had to be turned. He just hoped that the past was not the reason for his temporary confinement.

He hadn't seen another person in a while now. The Deathwatch marines who had escorted him to this room had given him no reply to his questions, most barely acknowledging his presence. But they were on edge, he could tell that much from the way they moved, talked, even breathed. The thought of slipping away in the darkness when his captors weren't looking had been appealing, but he'd decided that staying put was probably the best way to find out what was going on. Or at least, it had seemed that way before he'd been locked in a tiny cell, alone, for more than three hours.

Tullius sighed, the sound briefly breaking the silence that had hung over him for the past hours. What would another do in this situation? , he thought, as he looked across the room once more. They would not stand for such an outrage. To treat another Astartes, an ally, like a common prisoner, was a grave insult most Captains would have drawn blood for. But I am not most Captains.

His hand involuntarily went to the small skull of a raven attached to his belt. He enjoyed the feeling of its brittle surface against his hand, his fingers trailing the small scratches and cuts the skull had endured over the decennia. The sensation always calmed him down, the memory of his homeworld bringing him a small sliver of comfort in this dark cell.

But then, there was light.

The door of the room slid open, flooding the room with light. A dark figure stepped in, his jet-black armour highlighted by the stark light from the hall. As he stepped into the room, Tullius couldn't help but notice the Astartes' heraldry, the white symbol of Ultramar standing out in the sea of black that surrounded it.

The other Astartes sat across from him, calmly activating a small recorder module embedded in the table, before the man's cold eyes locked with Tullius's.

"Strike Commander Tullius. How fortunate for us to finally meet", Watch Captain Titus spoke, the tone of his voice's alarmingly neutral.

"I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure to be introduced to you yet, Captain", Tullius replied as calm as possible. The Watch Captain's presence left an uncomfortable atmosphere hanging in the room, and it did a great job at unnerving him.

"I am Watch Captain Titus. That is all you must know", Titus' reply came starkly, as he grabbed a dataslate hanging from his belt.

Tullius swallowed hard. He didn't like this. At all.

"I understand you have entered this Crusade in pursuit of a certain Warband that goes by the name of...", Titus spoke, taking a quick look at the dataslate before continuing, "...The Remnants, correct?"

"Yes. We have been following them since-"

"And why have you stopped said pursuit?", Titus interrupted him.

Tullius was taken aback for a moment. He was unsure what the Captain was getting at, but it left a bad feeling in his gut.

"We pledged our support to this Crusade. Our oaths demanded that we-"

"Your oaths. Curious you would mention those. If my information is correct, you vowed to hunt down this Warband until it was fully destroyed. What about that 'oath', Strike Commander?", Titus interrupted him again, seemingly growing impatient with his charge already.

"I...I...", Tullius stammered, conflicted about his choices. The trail had gone cold, and the crusade needed troops, what else should they have done?

"Your unwillingness to root them out has caused this system no shortage of trouble, Strike Commander Tullius", Titus spoke gravely, a hint of accusation in his words. "Gallor Prime is burning, and it is going to take a lot of sacrifices to get it back into our hands. Which leads me to another question: why have you arrived so late to this sector? The warband is more active than ever, and strangely, you, its pursuer, arrive late to the action", he continued, each word bearing down on Tullius like a hammer on an anvil.

Tullius stared ahead of him, his mind blanking as he thought of all the deaths his incompetence had caused. How did this happen? How could he have let this happen?

Titus gave him a hard look, before standing up again, making his way to the door once more.

"We are not yet finished, Strike Commander Tullius", he remarked, as he walked out, and the door shut behind him, leaving Tullius alone in the darkness, alone with his thoughts.

The fortress of Alsgrad have always been one of Gallor Prime's finest examples of defence, which is exactly why Archarus had set his eyes onto this place. For if one of their strongest palaces could fall, what would stop Chaos from claiming the entire planet.

Archarus' original plan had been to ambush the oncoming reinforcements of Cadians that were sent to the fortress, but there had been too many delays. The Cadians had reached their goal, and now the siege was going to be undoubtedly much bloodier. Not that that bothered Archarus, but time was not something he had in luxury, and any hopes of taking the fortress in rapid order were crushed.

"Send the first wave." Archarus ordered, and watched as the tide of bodies surged forwards. The Chaos Lord smiled as he looked at their grim faces, taking great enjoyment in their faces as they saw they had no chance of surviving the battle. Shortly afterwards, the defender's guns began to roar, cutting down men in tallies too large to count.

Archarus felt an unwelcome presence behind him, and resisted the urge to reach for his weapon. "Keb'hal, what is it now?"

The daemon didn't answer at first, enjoying the Warsmith's unease. "Why are you not leading this charge? What glory is there to be had watching blood be spilt, yet not feeling it, hearing it, tasting it."

"Those Flesh have no glory. They are merely a means to the end. The enemy wastes their ammunition supplies on weaklings. The glory is for the survivors of a siege, and I guarantee a death sentence to those in the first wave. Come to me when you have a question worth asking, not enquiring me when you can get your share of blood, daemon." Archarus snapped back, and knew the daemon's presence was the cause of his anger. He also knew the daemon fed off of that anger; for him this was just a little game until it could join the battle.

For several more hours wave after wave of men marched forwards, but none returned to rejoin the Iron Warriors. As the last of Archarus' fodder fell to the ground, and their lifeblood spilt onto the biting snow underfoot was when the real assault took place. The traitor marines began their own death march, but not one for themselves as the walls showed their weaknesses and the guns fell silent.

Archarus resisted the urge to lead the charge, instead knowing it would be better to rely on others and not risk his neck in some trap the Imperials might lay. As such he watched the IV Legion members split off, each group with their own assignment, and also saw the daemon horde make its own presence known by hurling themselves at wherever the defenses seemed weakest.

For a moment this new charge looked as if it might topple the defenses entirely on its own. But then everything changed in the matter of a heartbeat.

The fortress' guns, which had been deathly quiet a moment ago, roared to life once more, lashing out and cutting down marine, mortal, and daemon alike. Archarus' twin hearts pounded as he watched the assault start to lose its momentum, and he swung blindly with his fist in anger, barely registering that he ended the life of the slave in front of him who had approached to offer him the helmet of a fallen Imperial.

Archarus ignored the man fall before him, not caring that the blood began to pool underneath him. He then saw one daemon charge forwards, going further than any other had made it the entire battle. Instantly Archarus had recognized the son of Khorne as Keb'hal, and was by no means surprised.

The monster kept on its suicide charge, a hideous laugh escaping its throat as it went, ignoring whatever bullets came its way. Had it not been for Archarus' enhanced eyesight he was uncertain if he would be able to make out the daemon in its charge.

Keb'hal not only reached the walls, but scrambled up them, using twin axes to create footholds to scale ever upwards. The very top of the walls was to be Keb'hal's most truly ferocious moment of the battle; slashing, biting, and hacking his way through the gunsmen, Keb'hal seemed nigh on invincible in his killing rage. A second later that was proven wrong as his head exploded in a fountain of gore, and a lone figure emerged wielding a large autogun, still firing it at Keb'hal as the daemon toppled over, plummeting off of the wall.

Archarus saw that this man was a captain of sorts, and vowed that it would be his hand that killed him. The Warsmith strode forwards, voxing for the assault to continue, and activated his teleportation primer.

Engulfed in a flash of colors and raw energies, Archarus blinked away the lights and saw the true havoc Keb'hal had wreaked in his final moments. The blood he had spilt and his own sacrifice had allowed more daemons to tear themselves into reality. Directly behind the fortress' guns.

Archarus smiled as he knew that victory was at hand with these new reinforcements, and sought after the captain, while letting the anger and thirst for blood consume him. The Terminator Lord smote everyone that crossed him, basking in their cries of pain and the smoke and blood that he tasted in the air. At last he saw the man he hunted, who's only reaction was to take aim at the Iron Warrior before him.

Captain Grey, one of Cadian's finest, managed to fire three rounds at Archarus before his beating heart was wrenched from his torso.

The hulking traitor astartes shouldered past the dead man to see the final skirmishes of battle come to a close as more and more of Archarus' army poured into the battlefield.

The battle for Alsgrad had been won, but at a great cost. "Let's see how the Imperium deals with this black eye" the warlord whispered.

Contacting Valin's Revenge...
Contacting...
Contact established.

Acting-Captain Hadris Aurelius,

Following your request for intelligence on target X-Zulu-7, codename 'Instigator', the Adeptus Administratum has allowed you access to the relevant data available in our records.

This information is to be seen directly by your eyes only. Unwarranted spreading of this information will lead to your access being revoked and a loss of your status' privileges.

Opening attached file...

SUBJECT: Kor Maeron, codename 'Instigator'
AFFILIATION: Traitor; Word Bearers Legion

CURRENT STATUS:

Information gathered by intelligence operatives places 'Instigator' in Hive Tarfaan, on Continent Alpha. Subject is reported as having taken control of several minor Chaos cults operating in the area, leading them in guerrilla strikes against Imperial targets. These attacks are speculated to be attempts to undermine Imperial efforts to reclaim the city from the Orks.

Subject was last seen in an abandoned Cathedral of the Holy Ecclesiarchy, located in the center of the Hive, accompanied by several red-and black-clad cultist forces. He has not been seen since, which implies he has remained within the Cathedral ever since. Our agents have noted that the location is being fortified, heavy weapons platforms being installed in strategic locations. We suspect that 'Instigator' is using the Cathedral as a forward operations base.

Our analysts have determined the specific nature of 'Instigator's', equipment by examining several pict-captures taken by satellite. Subject is reported to wear Tactical Dreadnought armour at all times, pattern unknown but possibly a newer mark. He is armed with a modified Umbra Pattern Storm Bolter, and his right arm seems to have been mutated to the point it sports numerous long blades.

We have not been able to determine if 'Instigator' has any psychic powers, but his connection to the Word Bearers implies that proficiency in the dark arts of daemonology is amongst the possibilities.

End of file.

The formation of Valkyries and thunder hawks flew over the mass of dense jungle and rivers which meandered through the area, ruins of old villages and settlements just visible from the air and small mountains and hills rose up randomly, the Jungles or the Big Green as the guard had named this place, you could fly for hours and never cross it. Col Iron tooth lent back, feet hanging out the open doors, an old veteran of the jungles born onto a world far more deadly than this, there was no school of Jungle warfare like Catchan as he casualy shaved his organic stubbled part of his jaw with a combat knife, guard razors just did not shave close like a well honed Catchan blade, 32 years he'd had this knife. Forged on his home world in the town local manafactorum from the local metal, he knew every flaw, scratch and imbalance of the old weapon, As a officer he he was issued one of the legendary Catchan swords but nothing was quite like a fighting knife that had been is constant companion for over 3 decades.

"get me on the Horn to all the craft Lt, patch to the Jungle Devils"
"aye sir, patching now, 20 seconds and your live to all birds"

"This is Col Iron Tooth, now why we are headed into the Big Green you ask?
The Templers and Cog boys are looking for some sites deep in the Jungles here, Hunting us some lost imperials who seem to have vanished off the face of the planet. our job is to find out why and while we are at it destroy the Ork and Renegade camps that have sprung up like the vile mushrooms they are.

Now ya hear, and listion good. Dem boys aint taking no jokes or ill discipline so no boot throwing, no disrespect and keep to the regs as best we can, Any duels are settled in the designated fighting pits, il only say this once so if ya get in trouble im not bailing you out your own mess. Now lets show them how what the real experts are like in the Jungles, this ones a easy one compared to where we learned our craft.

Hoorah"

The Valkyries swept lower as they approached the camp, a brown stain on the endless green that surrounded it on all sides and its eastern defenses bordering a large local lake that was fed by the near by rived, green patrol boats seen running by as they dived closer, trenches and wire lines threaded all around, towers built from local wood stood tall on the perimeter and hundreds of prefab tents, blocks and store houses formed regular grids. to the west the bright red cogged flags flew high marking the Rangers base of operations studded with dozens of antennas and blinking lights, in the center a large pre fab ferrocrete bunker marker the Templers Base alongside the tall control tower with its darkened armored windows covered by metal shutters overlooking the long run way where dozens of aircraft where moving and unloading there cargo of men and equipment on the hardened dirt strip.

"boys look like we are home, Sgt "Slayer" olay dem down there some music"
"aye boss, il sound the wake up call"
On several aircraft crudely welded on speakers boomed into life playing a ancient Battle hymn "Ride of the Valkyries" legend had it had been accompanying airborne troops for thousands of years as a group of Catchans of the 3rd Company suddenly looked up and one leaning back with a guitar stopped playing. "looks like the Boss has arrived, Rattler run to the mess and get a welcoming committee formed on the double."

***

"briefings. Col Iron Tooth this is Magos Vassily, of the Rangers and lead Alpha of the Ad mech contingent. Sgt Harkman of the Templers Crusade fleet, i believe you have met before during the ambush on the Convoy in the mountains"
"Aye i have Sir, his men wrecked some serious face on the Ork Mek group, took down there boss with a well placed grenade, not much left of that green skin" Extending a muscular and scarred hand.
"yes, we have Senior Administrator, His men did a good job making sure they did run far, The Magos has brought his best too. we have one hell of a task force" Taking the Muscular hand and the cold metal grip of the Magos.

"good now thats settled, may i suggest we get the war started, and expend way too many resources. but orders are orders" sighed the robed adept. "of course we all know why they sent the Guard here" mumbled quietly.
"Guard, when you see a Jungle, send a Catchan, Aye the men can be rowdy but no one can match us in the Big green out there. even 10 of the vaunted Cadians would lose to 1 of my Veterans"
"so you say Col, so you say" replied the depressed Adept, he hated jungles, hated wilds. adepts belonged in the administration citadels not the wilds with these savages.

"good, now we have that sorted" SGT Harkman added with some prerogative to the ending. "The target is here, secondary camps and sites are located within the red marks, known ork caves and hides are Black, our landing site is this clearing North east marked by the Blue marker. extraction sites are Purple and triple duplicated in case of trouble on the ground" As the Sgt pointed to the map projected on the bunker wall.

"Looks good, My men can be ready to leave on 18 Hours, equipment is still waiting to be unloaded and the 4th and 5th companies are yet to depart the deployment camp."
"The mechanics is ready to leave in 75 minutes notice. My scouts already have deployed and are watching the sites as we converse. All is clear to go as of current status. " came the mechanical voice of the lead Magos.

"Excellent Gentlemen, Mission departs in 22 Hours, i suggest you rest and make your preparations" SGt Harkman spoke in the Clipped and high Gothic tones often assisted to the Space Marines, rarely did they need to resort to vulgar things such as threats.

Brother Raphael awoke on the hard metallic floor that was the dungeon of the Mork’s Revenge. He was stripped of his carapace armor and left only with his body glove. He felt sick to his core, one of the ork doctors had injected him with some sort of poison or ork medicine. The toxicity would defiantly have killed a human in an instant, but his superior biology only rendered him crippling ill. Had the dosage not been so large he’d have filtered it out of his system. Raphael looked around his cell, the room was dark and reeked of ork filth. He heard echoes of screaming Human, Ork, and Eldar. The Blood Angel stumbled to his feet and slammed his body against his cell door. The metallic bars didn’t budge in the slightest. Raphael heard brother Oberyn speak to him from the neighboring cell “No use, feel the bars.” Raphael removed his glove and traced his hand across the cell door “Adamentium” he said aloud. Than Raphael heard a unfamiliar feminine voice “The orks made it special to hold you kind Astartes.” He turned his gaze to the cell to his immediate right in it was Callidus class assassin, who’s armor was damaged but still readable. Raphael was surprised “A Callidus?” Than Oberyn spoke “Wait I remember; a Callidus was dispatched to kill that ork pirate that managed to capture one of the relics.” The woman nodded “That is me, my name is Sheeva T’ov.” Raphael spoke curiously “That assassination mission was over a year ago. How have you managed to survive so long?” The assassin looked down to the floor of her cell she spoke slowly “The orks use their prisoners as competitors in fighting tournaments. They spare the winners the losers… I’ve had to do things I’m not proud of in the name of survival.” Oberyn called out with anger “Raphael, look” He pointed to the cell directly in front of him. There were two occupied cells across from them, separated by an empty cell. In the right cell sat a Novamarine in full power armor, the right shoulder pad marking him as a librarian his lips murmured something but he made no noise, he seemed completely unaware of his surroundings. The cell at which Oberyn pointed at held a green mutated Space Marine, his shoulder pad marking him as 14th legion. It spoke light heartedly yet simultaneously menacing “Ah you’ve awakened brothers; I am Ramsay of the Death Guard.” Oberyn spat “Curb your tongue Heretic! You are no brother of ours you treacherous swine.” The Warp tainted marine laughed revealing rotten teeth and black tongue, “Oh come now, just because you serve the false Emperor, dose not mean we can not be…” Oberyn yelled “I said quite, I will end you myself as soon as I free myself.” The death guard operative smiled as he leaned back in his cell “By all means smite me in the name of your false god emperor”

Just then loud clumsy foot steps could be heard approaching their cell block. The Nob entered the holding area passing through the bulkhead door that separated the valuable prisoners from the common. He carried a massive butchers cleaver that was more akin to a broad sword. He approached the cage that held Raphael looked him over and smiled “I never ad space mahreen stew before, bet your right tastey.” Than another ork entered the room, he was far smaller and augmented with crude surgical tools. “Zog off Brunk, you can’t eat deez ones kaptin Brutus’s orders.” The ork turned around “Zogspitta aint here Gauz, he went planet side, as first mate dat means I’m in command.” The painboy spat “Boss Grinbad wants deez gitz alive, but go ahead disobey him like Lud did.” The ork recalled the memory of his former kaptin and reconsidered his plans. He looked back to the Blood Angel and said “Looks like its yer lucky day, you aint got enough fat on ya anyhow.” The orks began to leave as the larger spoke “Looks like it’s Eldar meat pies for supper.”

As the two were gone the assassin spoke once more “That was Brunk “Da Butcha” and Dok Gauze. They have not been kind to the prisioners.” The traitor marine spoke “I don’t know, they’ve been rather kind to me, I mean have you had one of those Eldar pies their not half bad, and I can applicate the doctor’s artistic talent, his experiments on the human’s have been…” Oberyn shouted once more “I said quite you disgusting creature.” The Death guard marine sat in his cell and examined the deathwatch scouts “You are obviously a son of Sanguinius, but you, I can not place you, what chapter do you hail from?” Oberyn shouted “That is no business of yours heretic.” Raphael looked over to Oberyn and spoke “Actually, I must say I’ve wondered the same my self Oberyn.” Oberyn sat down and spoke over to Raphael “Perhaps if we live I will tell you.” Silence fell upon the cell block the only sounds being the incoherent murmurs of the Novamarine and the sounds of screaming elsewhere in the prison.