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Five synchronized trigger pulls ended the legacies of the eldar sentries who guarded the Webway. Dire Avengers, they were called. The Hassassins knew them well. The Hassassins knew all Xenos well. Picked from the Elite of the Elite, Hassassins were trained to despise every Xenos life form, they were taught to kill every Xenos life form, but most importantly, they were taught to emulate every Xenos life form. A killer is only as good as he knows his prey and that is what the Hassassins live to do, know their prey.

It wouldn't take long before more Eldar appeared; however, the Hassassins needed but a moment. An ornate device was laid just inside the entrance of the webway. All of the Hassassins knew very well what this device did, but none spoke of the horrors it was designed to do. With the device set and armed, the Hassassins moved in synchronization again, dropping any Eldar with unerring percision. The Hassassin Prime checked his Chronometer. They were a minute ahead of schedule. That was go-

A bolt of lightning speared through the location the Hassassin Prime was not a second before. The sender of the bolt was a Warlock. Poor, poor bastard. The Prime wheeled away from another bolt and activated his wrist blades. He leapt forward and met the Warlock face to face. He briefly heard the Warlock spit something at him, but the only word he bothered to hear was, "Mon'keigh." The Warlock swiped at the Prime with his Wraithbone Sword. The prime parried and slashed the Warlocks thigh drawing blood. The next blow was meant for the Prime's neck, but was ducked under. The Prime then headbutted the Warlock's helmet, sending the Eldar reeling. The Prime took this moment to spin kick the Warlock in the chest and sent him tumbling into a pile of rocks, where the Warlock stayed still. The Prime walked over slowly, anticipating a low blow or sand to the eyes, but it never came. The Xenos had accepted death like a maimed work animal. The Prime was not convinced. He turned around quickly and sent his armoured fist into the jaw of the real Warlock, sending the deceiving Xenos spinning. The Prime would not let this fight continue, though it was a good practice and he drove his wrist blades up the Warlock's back and into his skull. The Prime pulled down on the Warlocks body and removed his grisly trophy, the Skull and spine of an Eldar Warlock. He clipped this momento to his belt and returned to his squad. He checked his Chronometer again. They were 10 seconds late. Damn. He and his squad double timed it to their Stormraven and flew to their Rendezvous Point. The Prime took a small cylander out of his pocket and pressed the button on top. He doubted any nearby Eldar would survive the warp rift the Hassassins just created.

Yep. TS has started to feth me over. It was nice having the upper hand briefly. Very very briefly. At least there's a few new big holes in your ship.

 War Kitten wrote:
Yep. TS has started to feth me over. It was nice having the upper hand briefly. Very very briefly. At least there's a few new big holes in your ship.

What ship?

Farseer read the report from Warlock Indrael with a grimace. The New Order had already begun to strike back at them in retaliation for the actions of the rangers. One of the Webway portals had come under heavy assault by a group of Marines who were unlike any that had been seen before. They struck like lightning and had left very few survivors. Out of the 50 members of the small warband guarding the portal, only 5 had come back alive. In addition the Marines had briefly opened a small warp rift on top of the gate, rendering it unusable. Thankfully she had held back her warriors from chasing after the Marines. Her caution had been rewarded. She sighed and realized that she could not afford to wage a shadow war against this group of mon'keigh. She still had a duty to her craftworld to eliminate Archarus above all else. All other considerations were a distant second. With a heavy heart Lilliana send out the message to avoid contact with the New Order at all costs. They simply were not ready for this shadow war. Not yet at least.

Feth it, I'm not doing this with you TS. I don't have the patience to deal with trying to figure out if anything I do actually has an impact on you. The Eldar are backing the feth away from the New Order.

 War Kitten wrote:
Farseer read the report from Warlock Indrael with a grimace. The New Order had already begun to strike back at them in retaliation for the actions of the rangers. One of the Webway portals had come under heavy assault by a group of Marines who were unlike any that had been seen before. They struck like lightning and had left very few survivors. Out of the 50 members of the small warband guarding the portal, only 5 had come back alive. In addition the Marines had briefly opened a small warp rift on top of the gate, rendering it unusable. Thankfully she had held back her warriors from chasing after the Marines. Her caution had been rewarded. She sighed and realized that she could not afford to wage a shadow war against this group of mon'keigh. She still had a duty to her craftworld to eliminate Archarus above all else. All other considerations were a distant second. With a heavy heart Lilliana send out the message to avoid contact with the New Order at all costs. They simply were not ready for this shadow war. Not yet at least.

Feth it, I'm not doing this with you TS. I don't have the patience to deal with trying to figure out if anything I do actually has an impact on you. The Eldar are backing the feth away from the New Order.

Dude, I still have all the cards up my sleeve and I'm gonna get everyone else too, don't you worry your little Eldar heart.

I'm not worrying my little Eldar heart. I would like the actions I take against you to have an impact worth a damn. Blowing up part of the New Order's ship seems to have had no measurable impact on them. THAT. Is what irritates me. I don't mind getting hit back, it's part of the Crusade. I would just like what I do to the New Order to have an impact.

Alright, so, I'm Sgt_Smudge and I'll be filling in for Righteousrob as GM for the Crusade! The exits are here, here and here.



Now that we've got that out of the way, I'll just reiterate what Rob set up.

Doing an action?
Just send me a PM with a number, and I'll generate a result for you. There will be modifiers depending on circumstances (ie. The Remnants would be better at navigating the Warp than any of the Imperials.)
Actions are pretty much anything that relies on either luck or skill: ie, an assault, an infiltration, a defence. These could also be negotiations or threats.

Within 5 = Major Victory (Gains a Relic!)
Within 10 = Victory (25% chance of Relic)
Within 20 = Minor/Phyrric Victory
Within 25= Draw/No effect
Within 30 = Minor Defeat
Within 40 = Defeat (Withdraw off frontlines, 25% chance of Retreat)
Within 50 = Major Defeat (Character wounded badly, Retreat!)

I'll be giving each one of you a task or advised set of actions soon to give some objectives. You can choose to go with these guidelines or blaze your own way to glory!

EDIT: Okay, let's just all calm down a wee bit.
I can see where this is going to lead, so shall we all just go by the Numbers rule? No uncalled actions like these shenanigans that have recently happened. Yes, they may be cool, but if it always succeeds, it doesn't exactly play fairly for the victim.

Therefore, if you're planning on doing anything like engagements against another player, could we please roll numbers for the sake of fairness?
Cheers.

Alright then. I suppose the mini shadow war TS and I just had is mulliganed then? Since we should probably go by the number system to determine it's actual success/failure? Oh, and can we just have little blurbs of fluff and not send you a number/PM? Like if I was just expanding on the fluff of Lilliana or one of my other major characters?

 War Kitten wrote:
Alright then. I suppose the mini shadow war TS and I just had is mulliganed then? Since we should probably go by the number system to determine it's actual success/failure? Oh, and can we just have little blurbs of fluff and not send you a number/PM? Like if I was just expanding on the fluff of Lilliana or one of my other major characters?

Of course. The number system isn't there for every fluff post.
Basically, posts which affect the status of the crusades and the armies involved should be rolled for, to create as fair an enviromnent as possible. And I don't play favourites. (sorry Imperial players! )

"How did they find this ship, Dezmon?"

"I don't know Lord Sylus, my security team is alrea-"

"They should have stopped the Xenos while they were in the void!"

Dezmon looked to the floor in shame under the spiteful scowl of Judge Sylus. He hadn't been on the ship for two days and trouble had already followed him. The Eldar managed to partially damage the Geller fields, meaning the "Raging Doom" would be out of commission for Phase 2. Sylus had just been bringing Chapter Master Ryus up to speed on the situation, which left the Chapter Master in a fury and a whirlwind of questions Sylus had just been asking Dezmon.

"Lord Sylus... We have unconfirmed reports of similar attacks across the fleet, though not nearly to the extent of what we have on our ship," an unnamed lieutenant informed him. Sylus knew he had a name, but he never bothered learning it. "Lord Ryus has also mobilized the Hassassin Order in wake of losing the "Raging Doom" and effectively getting his chapter stranded several systems away from the crusade."

Sylus nearly shot the daft man where he sat, but he suppressed his temper and dented the arm of his throne instead with his powerfist. "I swear to the Almighty God-Emperor, Dezmon. Should the Eldar to be allowed to pull such a stunt again, I will personally take your bloody arse to Terra and beat the life out of your skin in front of the Golden Throne."

"Yes Lord Sylus!" Dezmon replied before turning to his advisors and issuing orders of his own. Sylus waited until he was out of ear shot before rubbing his forehead with his natural hand.

"I hate Xenos."

Sorry if I over-reacted TS. It just got annoying that it didn't seem to do much to your lads. I apologize.

 War Kitten wrote:
Sorry if I over-reacted TS. It just got annoying that it didn't seem to do much to your lads. I apologize.

You crippled my fleet...

Edit: You destroyed my battleship!

And you destroyed one of my Webway portals. Shall we call it a draw till Smudge is able to start giving us missions and taking numbers?

 War Kitten wrote:
And you destroyed one of my Webway portals. Shall we call it a draw till Smudge is able to start giving us missions and taking numbers?

Sure a draw

Great job guys!

 Sgt_Smudge wrote:
Great job guys!

Yeah, now get some missions up!

 Sgt_Smudge wrote:
Great job guys!

We have to keep ourselves enteretained somehow while we wait for the missions

The Templar fleet pulled slowly away from the void harbor that the fleet had been gathered, the Battle barge taking ceremonial point escorted by 3 strike cruisers and a lighter rapid strike cruisers, there destroyers dwarfed by the massive bulk of the capital ships falling in one the wings, and a trail of transports, support ships and troop ships carrying thousands upon thousands of death korpsmen, grim waves of grey coated fodder to be expended. From the many bridges and view ports of the fleet watched them depart, officers saluted, others thanked there leaving and some where glad to see the back of them.

Governor Pavus had left the day before when his fleet had arrived, the ship was not openly hostile but few members of his party had decided to leave there decks or cabins unless needed, both sides wanting to see the back of the other. "FInaly, there leaving, the damn Templers, proud, noble, and fething" "Problmatic?" the hound added, "damn, you a ghost, yes problematic. now sit down, we have much to plan"

As the glowing lights of the roaring plasma engines of Strike Force Hammer faded from the view of the anchorage, life aboard the Emperors Vengeance was quieter, Petra's and Shepard companies remained aboard, so did men under Col Iron tooth, the Catchans and Fausteens had got along with quite some friction at first but now things had begun to clam down. "not bad for a Commissar Shepard, even if your wearing black" Col Iron tooth had entered the officers mess, once just a serf dining hall it had been re purposed. "not bad for a Catchan yourself, not all the same thugs i got to meet on Gallor Prime". "aye, congratulations on the wedding, i was at the ceremony, missed the reception on part of a few of my idiots though" Rubbing his stubble on his remaining organic jaw, the gleaming metal needed no such care. "i swear the void makes you need to shave like 3 times a day" laughing, and extending a hand which the Col's iron grip took in response. "least we can talk like men, beats killing each other" "if my boys wanted to kill you Shepard, youd not see them coming. rest assured there not".

Petra was drilling recruits on the training hall, meanwhile at the bridge far more important events where unfolding. "Eternal Crusader is at the WZ Marshall. Be about 15 hours off" Smiling, the Marshall sat in the throne looking over the bridge "good, Tangir, very good, maybe they might know more about this new order and some of the odd things going on"

All was still in the cavern on Echsion VII. Then suddenly a long unused Webway gate flickered to life. After the destruction of one of their previous gates the decision had been made to find another one and re-activate it. Through the portal came several teams of Rangers, who's orders were to spreadout throughout the planet and identify possible threats to the Craftworld's Plans. After the disaster at the previous gate Farseer Lilliana was taking no chances with letting another faction interfere with their plans for the sector. In addition, a few of the Craftworld's stealthiest vessels had been stationed in orbit to warn of any incoming ships. It was through this network of observers that Lilliana knew of the incoming mon'keigh fleet. While they were still too far out for identification, Lilliana had already received a vision that this new player in the game could be a threat to the Craftworld's plans if she was not careful. Lilliana sighed. What had begun as a relatively simple plan to eliminate Archarus had rapidly escalated as more and more potential threats were revealed.

Hope this doesn't step on your toes too much jhe, but I wanted to have a presence on the planet you're heading too. If there's going to be some action I want to be in on it. The question now is; will your fleet be able to detect the few Eldar ships in orbit? Only Smudge knows

So I did a rough sketch of what Hassassins look like and I think it came out very well.

That makes things interesting, depending on how i go with it it may be a rather large fleet,.

(not sure how far il take my Eternal Crusader plot, as with escorts il have like 4 battle barges, and be a chapter strength. seems abit over powered to keep it long)

no, not on my toes at all, i can fight orks and maybe have some pesky elder moments too, (watch out for orks space elves)

plenty of room round for the planet for everyone im sure, (im not out to tip the entire universe on its head)

*************

"Strange signals Marshall, Originating from the target planet"

"Its Near a active area of volatile warp space, relax SGT. this always happens. But keep a eye on it, see if a pattern does emerge. "

"aye sir, just after the Eldar sneak assault earlier in the campaign, could they still be loitering about?" Tangir had a issue with Eldar, every other enemy often could be predicted, or planned for but Eldar....

"Relax, SGT, we are joining Eternal Crusader, nothing will penetrate the senser and escort pickets, and if they do we will have more than enough fire power to saturate a small sector. " THe Marshall was relaxed, and not worried by the odd stray signal, should it develop he;d be prepared but it did not pay to worry over such minor trivial things, Warp could make all manner of odd readings.

Farseer Lilliana read over the reports from the Rangers. There were a few Chaos cults on Echshion VII that were possibly connected to Archarus. For the first time this campaign Lilliana felt a rush of excitement, they were getting closer to their goal. Then she read the next part of the report. The leader of the mon'keigh on this planet was reportedly very very interested in eldar technology. This was a cause for concern to Lilliana, but she knew that the humans could be avoided, so it wasn't a top priority.

*later*
The report had just come in from the ships in orbit, the oncoming fleet belonged to a chapter of space marines called the Black Templars. By most accounts they were zealots, even less conducive to reason than most humans. They would have to be avoided at all costs, all the while continuing the mission to eliminate Archarus and secure footholds in the sector. Lilliana sighed. Nothing was ever easy.

Thought I'd spice up the planet a bit

The Sorcerer walked through the hallways of the Wandering Wraith, making his way to the area that had been compromised hours earlier. The hall leading up to the holding area was a slaughterhouse. Disembowelled bodies were strewn across the floor, amputated limbs spread far and wide from their original owners. A group of Marines were guarding the place, while a few cultists tried to mop up some of the blood and gore the attack had left in its wake. At the door of the holding area itself sat an Obliterator, cradling his slain comrade, its mutated throat bringing forth a guttural sobbing.

As he walked past the guards towards the holding area, the Sorcerer carefully analysed the corpses.

The clean slices indicated the use of a specialist weapon, wielded by someone very experienced with its use. The attacker's victims didn't seem to have been able to fight back much; most of their weaponry still sported full clips, their blades still locked in their sheaths as well. The speed of the consecutive attacks reminded the Sorcerer of the Eldar he had fought over the decades. The Remnants had had more than one run-in with the lithe Xenos, and most of those meetings had not been very pleasant.

However, the wielder of this particular blade, and the one who assaulted the Remnants' ship, was not completely master of his weapon; the stab wounds were a lot messier than the cuts, the controlled rage visible in the injuries betraying a human hand guiding the blade. No mere mortal could take on five Astartes and an Obliterator, however.

Which meant there were only a few options. Either an Imperial assassin had been set loose on their ship, or the Eldar had suddenly gotten worse at keeping their anger in check.

Neither option pleased the Sorcerer. Mostly because neither party in that scenario would benefit from striking this particular part of the ship. An assassin would not engage himself willingly into direct combat, unless said assassin was an Eversor; but if that had been the case, there would have been far more bodies to clean up. And while the Eldar were more likely to undertake such a lightning raid, their reason for doing so currently eluded him.

Which mean that someone else had set this in motion, another player seeking to manipulate the situation to their own ends. And unfortunately, the Sorcerer had no idea who it could be.

As he reached the door of the holding area, an older operative walked out of the door, scratching his grey beard before hastily offering a salute.

"Operative Snake. Tell me, what news?"

"Whoever got in here made quite the mess, Lord", the old man spoke, looking back into the mess that was the holding area. "Wouldn't know what they were looking for, but I'm guessing they found it, as they seemingly left in a hurry."

The Sorcerer knew all too well what they had taken. There was only one thing in the holding area worth stealing, after all.

"Tell the Commander that we should retreat into the void for now. Stealth protocol, preferably. And let him know...", the Sorcerer spoke, as he walked past the operative into the holding area.

"I will personally deal with this matter."

I feel sorry for killing thay obliterator

Planet Backgrounds:

XV Fahren-90: Ice World.
Once a flourishing ocean world, but after being thrown out of it's orbit, it's once life filled seas froze over. However, the hardiest predators survived in the depths below the ice, and they will eat whatever comes their way.
NOTE: I hope you brought your winter jacket.

Echison VII: Garden World.
Primarily based around the production of fungus/mycelioid based food. Vast mushroom cultures are found below the gigantic tree-like 'roomroots that blot out the sun with their pale heads. Any ork incursion would be fatal to the planet's ecosystem.
NOTE: Spores from mycelioid life interferes with scanning devices.

Wuldgrund: Feral World.
Rapid tectonic disruption keeps the inhabitants of Wuldgrund constantly mobile. In fact, the longest a settlement has ever lasted on Wuldgrund's ferocious surface has been approximately one Terran month - a legend the natives remember with awe. Locals remain mobile on large, bloated quadrupedal creatures known as Lunmowers. These large grey beasts are docile, and provide sustenance for the tribe they carry on their huge backs. Most Lunmowers can transport an entire clan, usually around 10 individuals, and their personal belongings.
Natives are fierce, experts of ranged combat and hit-and-run tactics and mobile warfare. If a clan is defeated, the survivors are assimilated into the new clan as vassal warriors, and not given a place under the large verandas on the Lunmower's back. They usually roast in the sun if a vacancy isn't made for them. The roasted victims, defeated clan members and the Lunmower are eaten by the victorious clan and their Lunmower.
NOTE: Should a force gain control of these warriors, they would have an exceptional tough mobile reserve contingent. (Thoughts: Armoured Regiment?)

Novus Regulus: Lesser Hive World.
Soldiers reminiscent of ancient pre-Imperium Roman Legions. Technology level up to steel armour plating, the lasbow and power gladius are a modern innovation and only issued to elite Centurions (native commanders). Another innovation is the development of defensive trenches, which have come in great help against the overwhelming Ork Waaagh! lead by Feral Warboss Kannilus da Kunnin'.
NOTE: Research and investigate production of lasbow weaponry for mass production.

Kagrenz: Unknown.
Kagrenz was spotted by an Adeptus Mechanicus recon vessel, which attempted to assess the planet for colonisation. Since the vessel went missing in M32, there has been no reply.
NOTE: Explore with extreme prejudice.

Julla: Tau Exploratory Outpost.
Whilst Julla is in no way the sole Tau operating centre in the sector, it is the closest, and thus represents a target for any forces which do not wish to lose worlds to the Tau's superior negotiations and firepower. Scans indicate that the Cadre assigned to Julla's defence see themselves as stranded, and have fortified the moon-sized sub-planet with all manner of drone-controlled AA batteries, mobile defence lines and bunkers. Julla will be the Tau's investigation into the defensive capability of Earth and Fire Caste equipment.
NOTE: Plenty of Orkoid life present on world. Possible remnants of the splintered Waaagh! Skulkrusha fighting as mercenaries?

Other worlds: DATA INSUFFICIENT

jhe90


War Kitten


Tactical_Spam


Ezra Tyrius


chazz huggins


2JackBlack1


Righteousrob


Ashiraya


Sgt_Smudge




All missions accounted for!

Is it ok to both do those missions and do some stuff on echison? I had already written about a detachment of my eldar landing there (not the main force mind you) but a part

Am I still on Gallor Prime?

from SGT Smudges post

"I'll be giving each one of you a task or advised set of actions soon to give some objectives. You can choose to go with these guidelines or blaze your own way to glory! "

looks like Eldar are free to do stuff on the fungus planet too.

Excellent.

I'll probably write up a long post about what each of my forces are doing later on
(Julius, Lilliana, whoever I choose to lead on the fungus planet)