Cavgunner said:

Yeah, the Ad Mech generally have a major problem with AI but we're talking about a PC Explorator: Ad Mechs with a reputation form putting their noses in where they shouldn't. This is a dude who didn't flinch at using archeotech to incorporate another consciousness into his self. It's a bit rich to imply that there is some sort of prescribed reaction that is necessary of all tech priests.

If everyone reacted the same way you may as well read one of the book rather than play the RPG because it would all be predictable Half the fun is doing things that 'normal' charecters of the setting would run a mile from with the solid belief of 'yer, sure bad stuff happened to them, but it won't to us 'cos we know what we're doing......what's that blinking red light mean?'

Howdy all,

PSB the next installment.

cavgunner - You have some valid points but being PC's they are more than welcome to break the mold and I think they were really trying to get the Iron Men onside through their own free will but sadly it didnt quite go to plan for a couple reasons.

Segment taken from the official history of the Dureen Rogue Trader Dynasty

CURRENT LOCATION: TANTALUS, ARYUS ONE SYSTEM, MALFIAN SUBSECTOR, THE CALIXIS SECTOR

Preliminary note: The following information has been attained by a combination of first hand observation, after action reports and official intelligence sources. It is my honour to record the following events for the official record of House Dureen.

Glory be to the God-Emperor of the Imperium of Mankind, and to House Dureen. My Lords, I am in perpetuity your faithful servant. Adept Michaelus Helix

On the surface of the moon, although the running humans and Squats were covering ground rapidly it quickly became clear that they would not make the bunker before the Tyranid Shrikes caught them, so they looked for a favourable defensive position and although the ground was largely flat they spotted a low crescent of rocks, which offered some cover. They decided that it was better than the open tundra and stopped, prepared to defend themselves. Several hundred metres away, Brother Castagir saw the group stop and knew that he would not reach them before the Shrikes did, non-the-less he redoubled his efforts determined not to abandon his comrades to the unforgiving xenos.

As they readied themselves for the attack many of the troops went pale; it was the first time that they had encountered a Tyranid of any type, and it was clear that they were more horrifying than they had dared to even imagine. Captain Cain muttered words of encouragement to the Squats flanking him, and they obviously proved to be effective as they held their ground as four of the humans turned and tried to flee; their terror of the xenos driving all sensible thoughts from their minds.

Five Shrikes folded their wings and dove at the faltering defensive line as the sixth passed overhead and began to chase down those who had chosen to flee, tearing one after another into bloody scraps.

"Hold your ground! Wait... Wait... Wait... Open fire!" The steady voice of Major Kimenth cut through the cold air, and could be heard even over the shrieks of the attacking creatures.

The beams of several lasguns crossed the air, striking their targets, but the Tyranids advanced seemingly uncaring of the minor damage they had suffered. Suddenly the crack and explosion of the Squats boltguns joined the defensive fire, and more wounds appeared in the chitinous plates of the huge xenos, but still they advanced chittering and shrieking as they did so. The defenders continued to pour volleys of gunfire into the creatures, and were occasionally rewarded with a gout of ichor as a shot found a weak point in the chitinous plates covering the Tyranids. As the Shrikes tore into the ranks of the humans and squats, several loyal soldiers were cut down by their scything claws. Suddenly there was a loud booming sound as Major Kimenth, who had waited until the last minute before opening fire with her shotgun, wounded one of the attackers with the devastating short-range weapon. Shockingly it seemed not to notice the hit. She back-peddled and drew her sword, knowing that the fight would be resolved by blades, not guns.

With a roar Captain Cain raised his power-axe and charged at the nearest Shrike, bringing it round in a devastating arc; the xenos screeched as the blade cut home, then lashed out with its own talons forcing the Squat backwards as he avoided the blow. He quickly reversed direction, bringing has axe around again, cutting into the flesh of the creature, leaving a limb hanging limply. Major Kimenth repeatedly struck the Shrike she was fighting, but found her pin-point strikes repulsed by the natural armour of the beast, and found herself forced to slowly give ground in the face of the assault from her opponent. Even so, supported by the human troops around her, she continued to land blows on her target, piercing its defences time after time. At the same time, the Squats had begun to find their fighting rhythm, and struck numerous blows against the enemy, but even though three of the Shrikes were oozing a black ichor, none seemed any less of a killer, and the humans and squats suffered casualties as the xenos rampaged into their formations. Cain, seeing the peril that his troops were in, swung his axe in a decapitating arc, felling his enemy, and leapt to the aid of his hard pressed brethren, drawing the Shrike that had been slaughtering them towards him.

Suddenly the defenders became aware of the whine of turbines, and the armoured form of Brother Castagir, trailing fire from his jump-pack, smashed into one of the Shrikes knocking it back and taking its attention from the Squats it was stalking. He glanced around and noticed that already several humans and Squats lay dead on the floor. Bellowing a challenge he launched into an attack on the foul creature, and within seconds it was a shredded corpse on the floor. The Astartes kicked the body aside and closed on the Shrike that was engaged with Major Kimenth; he leapt into the attack driving his lightning claws into the joint between head and torso armour plates, and with a flick of his wrist decapitated the massive beast. No longer being pushed back, Major Kimenth turned to aid Captain Cain, who was now facing two of the beasts, and with a carefully aimed thrust, joined him in finishing another creature.

Turning, Brother Castagir began to stalk the last xenos still involved in the fight when he began to register projectile impacts on his armour and on the floor around him. Looking up he saw the Shrike that had pursued the fleeing soldiers had returned; it was hovering in the air twenty metres distant and shooting into the fight. Instantly he ignited his jump-pack, launching himself at his airborne foe. Dropping his shoulder he used his bulk as a battering ram, taking the flying Shrike cleanly out of the sky, smashing it into the ground. A deep channel was dug into the ground where the two heavy forms impacted the ground; amazingly, the Tyranid seemed stunned for an instant, but as the Deathwatch Marine leapt up the Shrike regained its senses and launched an attack which Castagir deflected, before spinning and repeatedly driving his lightning claws into the creature, quartering it and leaving internal organs and ichor spilled on the frozen ground.

Cain and Kimenth working as a team, danced around the last Shrike, each darting in to strike, before leaping clear; the tactic worked well, and soon the Shrike was bleeding from dozens of slashes and cuts. Suddenly, just as it appeared ready to fall, it lashed out with its talons, smashing Captain Cain to the ground, pinning him through the shoulder. Roaring in pain and anger, the Squat Captain cut the claw off and killed the xenos with an anger fuelled upward blow spraying ichor and gore in a wide arc, before falling to his knees in obvious pain.

Major Kimenth's voice broke the sudden silence; "Oh you cock! You total cock!"

Cain wearily turned his head to see Major Kimenth drenched with remains of the last kill. She gave him a hard stare before starting to pick Tyranid parts out of her hair.

"Sorry Major..." Cain groaned as he struggled to his feet.

Brother Castagir joined Kimenth and Cain, scanning the horizon. "We need to move. The fight and the blood will attract other Tyranids to this location." He paused, and stooped to tear a Shrikes head from one of the more intact corpses, before fixing his stare on Captain Cain. "I am sure that the Rogue Trader would like a little souvenir of House Dureen's first engagement with the Great Devourer..." He attached the head to the straps securing his jump pack and then following Major Kimenth's direction began to gather the few wounded and carry them towards the bunker.

By the time the team had arrived there, and Major Kimenth had attempted to apply some field medicae treatments to the injured, although several had already passed on to stand by the right hand of the Emperor. Of the troops that had set out from the crashed guncutter only two humans and two Squats were left alive. As the Major dealt with their wounds, and those of Captain Cain, Brother Castagir turned his attention to the bunker door. Giving up on the hope that someone might open the door to him he used his strength and his lightning claws to punch through the lock and the hinges, and physically removed the door. He turned to see the others had finished binding wounds and the soldiers in particular were standing watching with some shock; obviously not used to seeing the strength a Space Marine could bring to bear. He stepped across the threshold into the bunker itself, and after a quick check, beckoned the others to follow.

Inside was a scene of carnage; the large, single room was spattered with gore and strewn with the dismembered remains of Provost Enforcers, judging by the remains of the uniforms, and a giant hole yawned in the centre of the floor, leading to a dirt tunnel.

His voice low, Castagir spoke; "The defenders ware killed from within, be on alert, and do not ignore that hole..." He turned his attention back to the room, and saw that there was little of use, and more importantly, no sign of the Magos. He turned to the control terminal, and gestured to Major Kimenth and Captain Cain.

"Are either of you able to interrogate the machine-spirits of this device?"

Both nodded, so he stepped back keeping a wary eye on the hole in the floor.

Between them, the two Officers managed to retrieve some information from the cogitators; the security of the main refinery of Pyroclast-Gamma-9 had been compromised, the defensive systems were offline and there had been multiple bulkhead breaches. The workers blockhouse had suffered a full system failure; a recorded file was available. The played the file which briefly showed a static filled screen with the sound of hideous screaming in the background before abruptly cutting off. Finally, the comms uplink on the hill was reporting that security was nominal, and two servitor units were reporting that the area was secure. Finally, they discovered that the same information had been accessed from the Mag-Train siding to the north.

The Officers reasoned that few people would be able to secure the co-operation of the machine spirits at such a remote distance, so logic suggested that this was the current location of Magos Vyakai. After quickly checking the map, Captain Cain suggested that the team move out of the bunker and head north following the line of the ridge on top of which was located the comms post as the evidence suggest this area was secure. From there they could cross the hundred metres of open ground into a compound that was located a kilometre due north of the bunker, and from there they had only three hundred metres of open ground to the Mag-Train siding itself. Crossing the open ground was not ideal, but the identified route minimised the overall exposure.

Just as this was agreed, and the team began to move Brother Castagir heard a faint noise from the hole in the ground; he halted, listening intently, and then hissed at the others; "Something is approaching from the hole. Go on, follow the route, I will cover your backs, and catch up once the threat is neutralised."

Major Kimenth began to argue, but the Marine interrupted. "Only you and I are uninjured, and we must retrieve the Magos. I can move faster than the rest of you. I will catch you up."

Recognising that she could not refute Castagir's argument, and then she and Cain heard the scraping sound too, she nodded, and then led Captain Cain, the two humans, and the two squats out of the bunker, only pausing to pick up one of the power-axes from one of the fallen House Dureen soldiers.

She turned to Cain, indicating her Lathe Blade; "As much as I'm attached to my sword, I get the feeling that I need an upgrade..."

In orbit above Tantalus, Ivanov was watching the sensors, tracking the situation on the surface and watching the movement of the Tyranid horde. Suddenly, the Sensorium officer shouted a warning; "Sir, the smaller bio-ship seems to have changed direction... It's heading this way!"

Immediately Ivanov switched his attention to the tactical plot of the dispositions of the enemy forces in space. "Confirm silent-running protocols!" He barked.

There was a pause, and the officer of the watch responded. "Silent-running protocols confirmed, Sir."

"Good." Ivanov nodded. "Now we hold our nerve. Sensorium..."

"Yes Sir!" The Sensorium officer answered quickly.

"Call out the ranges as that bio-ship closes." Ivanov ordered.

The Officer nodded. "Yes Sir. Currently sixty thousand kilometres."

"Weapons, designate that ship Target Alpha."

"Target Alpha designated, Sir." The Weapons Officer confirmed.

Ivanov smiled. "Lock Target Alpha into weapons systems, but do not fire without my express command."

"Target locked, Sir. Awaiting your order to fire." The Weapons Officer reported.

The Sensorium Officer called out. "Target Alpha at fifty thousand kilometres."

"Shields?"

"Yes Sir!" Another officer answered.

"Prepare to activate the void-shields, but again, not without my express command." Ivanov ordered

"Void-shield protocols ready Sir, awaiting your order to activate them."

"Excellent. Everyone Standby!"

"Target Alpha at forty thousand kilometres." Reported the Sensorium Officer. "Thirty thousand..."

"Standby..." Cautioned Ivanov. The tension on the bridge was palpable.

"Twenty thousand kilometres... Ten thousand..." There was a pause. "Sir, it's passed us by. It's moving on!"

Suddenly the tension disappeared as the command crew breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Ladies. Gentlemen. Very well done! You discipline has brought honour to House Dureen." A wide smile spread over Ivanovs' face.

Brother Castagir stepped back into one corner of the bunker and stood motionlessly as his companions cleared the immediate area, the dark colour of his armour helping him blend into the shadows. As the seconds became minutes he could hear the scraping noise coming closer until suddenly a Tyranid warrior leapt from the hole. The Marine stepped forwards with a grace belying his massive bulk, and punched forwards with his lightning claws. With unnatural speed, the Warriors' talons flashed out and deflected the blow away, and then it leapt to press its own attack at the Space Marine. Castagir defeated the attack easily, turning the tables on his foe, and less than twenty seconds after emerging from the hole, the Tyranid warrior lay dead on the bunker floor. Castagir grunted in satisfaction, and then paused hearing further movement in the tunnel. He considered standing and fighting the latest arrival, but then remembered the mission and left the bunker, stopping only to replace the heavy door he had removed gaining entry, and quickly piling other debris in an attempt to make it difficult for anything else to follow. He then set off in pursuit of his comrades, catching up with them just as they approached the compound they were intending to use as cover before heading for the Mag-Train siding.

Just to the east of the compound and not clear on the map was a broad ravine dipping in to the earth. From it they could hear the distinctive sharp crack of lasfire, and the dull roar of hastily bellowed orders. The team advanced stealthily along a nearby plateau to get a clearer view of the tactical situation and looking down into the ravine could see an overturned wreck of an eight wheeled vehicle. Dug in amongst the rocks, with the crashed vehicle on one flank were a ragged squad of sixteen Imperial Guardsmen hunkered down in firing positions. The bodies of more Guardsmen were scattered around the area, interspersed with the mangled and burnt remains of a dozen Tyranid Shrikes.

Standing ramrod straight amidst the soldiers was the unmistakable figure of a young Imperial Commissar; his long black coat was tattered and bloodstained. Displaying no fear or concern for his own safety he was shouting admonishments to him men to stand firm and die for the Emperor's glory. On the far side of the ravine the concealed team could see movement rippling through the rocks as the Tyranids mustered for another attack. The force consisted of around twenty Hormagaunts led by two Tyranid Warriors.

After a couple of seconds weighing the odds Castagir spoke; "I know the mission takes priority, and we should let these Guardsmen keep the Tyranids busy, but we have taken losses, and may be of need of their firepower soon. I would like to help the men."

Major Kimenth spoke up, eyeing the Astartes carefully. "The mission comes first."

"But as the Battle Brother says, we may need their firepower." Captain Cain interjected. "And beside, Castagir is the ground Commander for this mission, is he not?"

Kimenth shrugged. "Fair enough. We have to pass through the ravine anyway, I suppose..."

The deep voice of Brother Castagir was heard again. "We aid them then. You move down into the rocks at the base of the ravine, and I will trigger the attack from here. Move as soon as I am airborne. Be aware though that the larger creatures act as synapse creatures to the Hive Mind for the smaller ones. If we can destroy those Warriors it will leave the Hormagaunts confused and less effective. Easier for us to mop up afterwards."

Kimenth and Cain nodded their understanding.

Leaving the injured Squats and humans in position to act as a rear guard, Kimenth and Cain moved carefully down the slope, their approach masked by the terrain and rocks, and they quickly slipped into an ambush position as the Tyranids began to advance along the ravine towards the beleaguered Guardsmen. Noting with satisfaction that the approach had remained undetected by either the Tyranids or the Guardsmen, Castagir ignited his jump pack, and descended on one of the Tyranid Warriors like the angel of death that the Adeptus Astartes were often described as.

Captain Cain bellowed a war cry and charged the remaining warrior, and Kimenth stepped forwards blasting at the smaller creatures; her semi-automatic shotgun wreaked havoc blowing three or four of the Hormagaunts into oblivion with each close range blast, and the Hormagaunts wheeled around to face the new threat as their numbers were rapidly thinned out.

The Tyranid Warriors stalled, as though taken by surprise and seemed slow to react initially, however they quickly recovered screeching their inhuman screams. Captain Cain struck home with his power axe staggering the creature as ichor splashed from its slashed torso.

Chanting a litany to the Emperor, loud enough to be heard by the defending Guardsmen, Brother Castagir slashed his lightning claws into the Warrior facing him with almost surgical precision, leaving a corpse on the floor that steamed in the cold air. He allowed the momentum of his attack roll him round and he saw Captain Cain strike home again, and more ichor splash out from the remaining warrior, and he charged at the distracted and injured beast, and to the aid of the Squat Captain. He drove his lightening claws through its torso, giving a stunned Cain a close up view of the multiple blades as they punched out of the xenos' chest just as it was stooping to attack him once more. Castagir flung the lifeless corpse to one side and turned to face the Hormagaunts in time to see another swathe of the smaller xenos blown to oblivion by Kimenths auto-shotgun, and the survivors broke and streamed out of the ravine, not quickly enough to avoid the vengeful blade of Cain's axe, and more bisected corpses stained the tundra.

Brother Castagir turned and advanced towards the Commissar and the stunned Guardsmen, several of whom were making the sign of the Aquila. The Commissar paused for a second or two then strode forward to meet the Marine; to Castagirs' eyes he looked young, almost too young to be a Commissar, and it was obvious that he had seen many days of battle. As he approached, Castagir could sense the man's hesitancy, and with a certain resignation recognised the look of awe that most Imperial citizens reserved for Space Marines.

He sighed inside his helmet, and let the young man speak. "I am Commissar Sander, my Lord." His voice was firm and steady, and he bowed to Brother Castagir. "Is this the counter-attack?"

"I am Brother Castagir of the Deathwatch. I am afraid not, Commissar, this moon is lost. We are here on a simple extraction mission; we are on the trail of a missing Magos to retrieve him and his information before the moon is overrun."

Commissar Sander nodded. "Perhaps we should keep this from the men; it would do morale no good if they knew Tantalus is to be abandoned."

"You know your men better than I Commissar." Castagir cast his eyes over the ragged guardsmen, and then continued. "It looks as though there is little to be gained here. If you and your men wish to accompany us on our mission, we will extract you when we extract ourselves."

Hope returned to the man's eyes, and he nodded. "That is a fine offer, particularly given the fate of this moon! We will do whatever work the God-Emperor sees fit to send to us! It would be our honour to join you my Lord."

Castagir nodded, and turned to walk towards the soldiers, the Commissar following, and as he approached he could hear whispers; the phrases "The Astartes are here!", and "We're saved!" seemed to feature heavily, and several men fell to their knees. The Space Marine gave them a few seconds to get it all out of their systems, and then addressed them.

"You have fought well, so far, but this is not a relief force it is a rescue mission. I have invited your Commissar, and yourselves to accompany us on this mission, and promised retrieval when we depart. It would be my honour to have men who have faced, who have survived, and who have fought these xenos scum at my side."

A ragged cheer split the air, and men began to smile and slap each other on the back. After a minute a Corporal ordered the Guardsmen to gather their gear and prepare to move out.

Recognise the signs of euphoria after a narrow escape Brother Castagir cautioned them. "Stay alert! We still have a way to go before we can leave, and it would not do to throw your lives away because of a moment of inattentiveness. Keep your wits about you and you will survive this." The smiles disappeared from the Guardsmen's faces, but the Deathwatch Marine was unsure how seriously they took the advice.

The journey to the Mag-Train siding was uneventful as the reinforced rescue team moved cautiously over the last few hundred metres, and there was little to see when they reached their destination. Two parallel hundred metre long ferrocrete loading platforms surmounted rough sidings of piled earth and compacted rock either side of a raised industrial mag-rail, running east to west. Emergency lighting flickered in a boxy station post at the far end of the opposite platform.

The Guardsmen and surviving troops were ordered to set up a tight perimeter around the buildings under the command of Commissar Sander as Brother Castagir, Major Kimenth and Captain Cain approached the office building from which the light flickered. As they entered there was the detritus of a rapid evacuation scattered around, but under a small trap-door in the floor Castagir heard something move. He warned the others and stood to one side before flinging the trap-door open ready to impale whatever was secreted within. A gaunt and stricken man who looked middle-aged, and had watery blue eyes and skin almost as grey as the threadbare robes he wore shrank back from the sudden light, so Castagir reached in and hauled the terrified man out by his collar.

He screamed and twisted, before realising the futility of struggling, and then hung still, continuing to scream and beg for mercy before realising that the figures around him were not Tyranids and he eventually fell silent. Castagir lowered him to the ground and began to question him. He had been at the siding since the start of the invasion and had been overlooked during the evacuation. In desperation he had hidden under the trapdoor for two days and knew nothing of the situation, or of the missing Magos.

Captain Cain had been standing by the door, keeping watch outside. He noticed a strange, augmented figure moving slowly into view; it was shuffling in circles, as though not under complete control of its own functions. It was wearing rust-red robes emblazoned with the cog symbol of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

"Brother Castagir!" Cain called. "I think we've found our wayward Magos..." He pointed in the direction of the awkwardly moving figure.

"Excellent." He turned to the Adept. "Join the Guardsmen outside, we will be leaving this moon soon." Then he turned back to Captain Cain. "We had best collect the Magos then."

As the Kimenth and Cain moved off, Castagir transmitted a brief message to Ivanov aboard the Furnace of Redemption. "Magos located. Extraction from location Gamma three-four-seven-niner-two-three Alpha required immediately. Confirm."

He received the acknowledgement and caught up with the two Officers moving towards Magos Vyakai. Suddenly, from the left flank there was a scream and a Guardsman fell, a Tyranid tearing at his torso. A dozen Hormagaunts were attacking the defensive perimeter, supported by a small number of Termagaunts giving fire support. As the horrified Major Kimenth and Captain Cain watched, a shot from one of the Termagaunts slammed into a Guardsman; it began to twist and burrow through his armour and flesh; they realised that the ammunition that the Tyranids used were small living creatures in their own right.

Out of the docking bay of the Furnace of Redemption two guncutters escorted by a Fury Interceptor piloted by Ivanov himself slipped into the void. As they left, the lance battery on the frigate flashed into life boring through the atmosphere to a point two kilometres to the south-east of point alpha, incinerating any Tyranid life form caught in the beam. The three craft intended to use the column of cleared airspace to descend to the surface as quickly as they could. Bringing her systems online, the Furnace of Redemption turned, and prepared to make a run to the edge of the system at full speed, as soon as the extraction team was back on board.

End of Segment

Zakalwe said:

Word, Brother Zakalwe. Let's face it, we're playing a game where the (new) RT belongs to a race purged from the canonical 40K universe. We're going to be a little bit unorthodox.

As players though, we knew full well that the Iron Men wouldn't end well*. And bought into it willingly in order to make the story more interesting. And they certainly did.

Same went for the Orks we met later, and they turned out to be an absolute scream.

If we only did sensible stuff that didn't have an insane risk of death or insanity, Kilgrim would never even leave his office on Footfall.

(* I mean, the GM was using pictures of Cylons for their tokens. I'm not a 40K fan, and even I got that it wouldn't end well.)

Zakalwe said:

He plays very open minded Ad-Mechs, which is quite fine by RT standard as most Explorator will tend to be more opne minded (again open mindness is in the Eye of the Beholder...)

Lots of forges will try to break the secret of Xeno -tech or archeotech stuff, other forges will destroy any evidence of archeotech that could hint against the rule of the Omnissian where others would love to expose those....

40k RP is about that grey line you keep on crossing and again and again...

You RT may decide to save a part of a population only to fire is battery on the next planet as a show of force...

DrVesuvius said:

True true. To paraphrase another GM; If you want to make a charecter who doesn't like adventuring then you are playing the wrong game.

Hi all,

Enjoy the writeup.

Segment taken from the official history of the Dureen Rogue Trader Dynasty

CURRENT LOCATION: TANTALUS, ARYUS ONE SYSTEM, MALFIAN SUBSECTOR, THE CALIXIS SECTOR

Preliminary note: The following information has been attained by a combination of first hand observation, after action reports and official intelligence sources. It is my honour to record the following events for the official record of House Dureen.

Glory be to the God-Emperor of the Imperium of Mankind, and to House Dureen. My Lords, I am in perpetuity your faithful servant. Adept Michaelus Helix

As the crack of lasbolts and the screams of dying Guardsmen rent the air the young Commissar saw Brother Castagir and Major Kimenth dash towards the newly discovered Magos. He shouted over the noise of battle; "Get the Tech-Priest! We'll hold them off!"

Captain Cain paused, and realised that the Guardsmen on their own would soon be overwhelmed by the foul xenos and heavily wounded though he was, turned and joined the efforts to defend the Mag-Lev Siding. He strode forwards brandishing his axe and bellowing orders and instructions as he approached. Instinctively the well trained men reacted and began to take the fight to the Tyranids, and, as the Commissar nodded his approval the human and Squat warriors began to drive them back or cut them down where they stood. Cain at the centre of the fight, led by example destroying creature after creature and laughing uproariously all the time.

As Major Kimenth and the Deathwatch Battle Brother approached the Magos, they could see that typical of his kind he was heavily augmented with cybernetic arms and locomotion and a number of mechadendrites sprouted from his back. Clasped in one mechanical hand was an ancient looking Inferno pistol, but it was the crimson-black blood and oil mix that sheeted down his head and body that held their attention; Magos Vyakai had taken a number of serious injuries, and one of his mechadendrites was broken in half and sparked with electrical discharge, and his movement appeared to be a curious mix of drunken swaying counteracted with sudden stops and precise corrections to his gait and posture. Despite this, Brother Castagir was sure that he saw a flash of recognition pass over Major Kimenths' face.

Putting this to the back of mind for now Castagir spoke to the now motionless Magos. "Magos Vyakai, I am Brother Castagir of the Deathwatch. I am here to retrieve you and the datacore as requested. Please respond."

The Magos paused to regard the Astartes, and then attempted to step forward, nearly falling, paused as though calculating, and then stepped back to his previous location. A burst of binary code split the air, and he appeared to be waiting for a response.

As he did so, for an instant the entire battle seemed to freeze as a pulse of light burst through the clouds approximately two and a half kilometres to the south-west, and Castagir realised that the lance battery on the Furnace of Redemption had fired, clearing a path from orbit. He realised that extraction was now twenty minutes away, the time it would take the guncutters to drop from orbit.

Castagir spoke again; "Magos Vyakai, please respond! "

The only response the Magos gave was to raise his pistol slightly, but then Major Kimenth stepped forwards, sighed and spoke; "Morning, Tinman!"

The Magos attention snapped to Major Kimenth, as did Castagir's; the Astartes was obviously puzzled by the familiar tone that his companion had taken with the Magos.

Amazingly, Magos Vyakai responded, although the reply was somewhat scrambled. "Tttzzzt... Gold callsign... Callsign... Tzztttz... Gold gold gold... Tzzzttzztt... Gold Squidgy Squidgy Squidgy. Phoebea Kelter... Tzzztttzz. Gold Callsign... Tzzztttzz..." He stepped towards Major Kimenth.

As the Magos moved, Major Kimenth put a hand onto Castagirs forearm, and looked up at his helmet. She spoke with an embarrassed, but earnest tone to her voice. "Please don't tell anyone that name...!"

Castagir regarded her for a few long seconds, and shrugged. Unsure what that meant, she turned her attention back to the Magos who had come to a halt before them. Suddenly his speaker unit crackled into life again;

"Tzzztttzzzt. Deathwatch Kill-Marine is recognised. I am Magos Bioligus Xardos Vyakai. Tzzzzttt. Code intercept failure. Tzzztttzz. I am injured and operating on emergency protocols. Warning! Warning! Tzztttzz. The full maintenance of conscience is dev... dev... dev... deviation... no longer possible. Tzzttzz. Lead me to immediate extraction. Acknowledge compli... compliance. The swarm approaches, this moon dies. Acknowledge compliance. Tzztttzz. Message repeats. Deathwatch Kill-Marine is recognised. I am Magos Bioligus Xardos Vyakai. Tzzzzttt. Code intercept..."

Castagirs voice cut across that of the Magos. "Message received and understood, extraction vessels inbound."

The Magos turned his attention to Major Kimenth, and the tone of his voice changed, something akin to affection was evident. "Codename Gold is recognised. Tzztttzz. Gold Gold Gold. Tzztttzzz. Squidgy. Phoebea Kelter. Squidgy Squidgy Squidgy Squidgy Kelter..."

"Tinman! Stop! Please stop!" Major Kimenth pleaded with the Tech-Priest.

Magos Vyakai fell silent, and waited passively, although when the Major turned to walk back towards the Captain Cain, Commissar Sander and the surviving soldiers he followed her at a distance of just two metres.

As the conversation completed it became obvious that the Tyranid attack had been repulsed by the Guardsmen, although four more had given their lives. The Commissar ordered the men to regroup, and they joined the others and moved the hundred or so metres to the designated extraction point.

Lieutenant Commander Ivanov was flying cover for the two guncutters that were descending from the Furnace of Redemption; they had thus far been unmolested as the lance beams had cleared the descent route of Tyranid life-forms. Even so, as they closed on the pick-up point, smaller spores and organisms began to be seen again so as the lead guncutter touched down Ivanov flew in a defensive circuit carefully keeping watch for larger threats. As he overflew the first crash site, he reported that the site had been overrun with bio-forms, so it looked as though the injured men left defending the site had been lost to the xenos.

The ramp on the rear of the guncutter opened almost immediately on touchdown, and Castagir ordered everyone aboard, taking up a rear guard position himself. Suddenly over the vox, heavily distorted by static Ivanov could be heard shouting a warning that half a dozen Shrikes were inbound, and he turned his fighter on an intercept course. Soon the chatter of heavy bolters and hiss of las-cannon blasts could be heard in the distance.

Then, just as Castagir turned to scan for more immediate threats, the ground to the flank of the guncutter erupted; massive slabs of rock were thrown outwards as a huge xenos form ripped itself clear. With a ear-splitting crash, it threw itself against the side of the shuttle, which twisted on its axis throwing all those boarding clear, and then as the pilot tried desperately to lift from the ground, it rolled to one side, and a stubby wing dug into the frozen ground. The guncutter nosed down, struck the ground and tumbled end over end before coming to a rest a twisted mass of metal, a hundred and fifty metres from where it had been.

Captain Cain shouted into the vox; "First guncutter has been destroyed by an unidentified xenos, we need immediate extraction! Guncutter Bravo-niner-two descend to the landing zone now!"

He turned to gather the shaken troops, ordering them to form a tight defensive perimeter, and to try to identify where the attacker had disappeared to when he realised that Brother Castagir was nowhere to be seen. Then, to his left, with a grinding scraping sound, a huge slab of granite began to shift, and Cain drew his axe and took a wary, defensive posture, and then relaxed slightly as the armoured form of the Deathwatch Marine appeared from underneath it. He shook his head as the Astartes tossed the slab of rock to one side as though it was little more than an inconvenience, reflecting that anyone else hit would have been crushed flat.

Even so, Castagir had taken battering, his armour was dented in a number of places, and he crouched for a few seconds as though gathering his breath. A warning shout cut through the cold air; "It's coming in again!" Captain Cain pointed away from the defenders in a direction in which the surface ground could be seen to move slightly as though something was rapidly tunnelling beneath it.

As the creature burst clear of the ground and snatched a Guardsman in its jaws before swallowing the unfortunate soldier, and lashing out and beheading another of his comrades with a scything blow from a talon, Castagirs voice was heard over the vox, speaking remarkably calmly, but somewhat short of breath; "Trygon! It is a Prime, note the longer head indicating the status of the beast. Get clear, I will hold it off until the second guncutter arrives."

The creature reared, roaring, standing almost twenty metres tall, and then it hunched forwards, its head swinging side to side, as though hunting for more prey. The troops needed no second invitation to back off and did so, but the Commissar ensured that order was kept, and they formed a defensive cordon around the Magos and Major Kimenth. Castagir trigged his jump-pack, and launched himself towards the Tyranid like a human missile, crashing into it and slashing down with his lightening claws. The beast bellowed as he struck it and sliced off one of its' limbs, and then lashed out with its huge talons, but the Marine effortlessly avoided the initial attacks, although staggering from a single hit, he pushed his own attacks mercilessly and struck repeatedly and the Trygon reared bellowing in anger and pain once again.

Major Kimenth shouted to the troops surrounding her, eyeing the rapidly arriving second guncutter, "Whatever happens the Magos must make it on board that shuttle!"

Cain measured the distance between the Trygon Prime, and the new landing site, and then ignoring Castagirs shouts to keep clear bellowed a challenge and joined the Marine fighting the huge beast, chopping upwards with his power axe. Unbelievably, over the next few seconds the fury of the attacks from the Marine and the Squat forced the Trygon backwards, and numerous cuts and rents appeared in the chitinous carapace encasing the creature, and it visible weakened, then all the combatants heard a warning cry over the vox.

Ivanov, having dealt with the Shrikes had returned to orbiting the battlefield, and was able to make out additional trails disturbing the surface; "Brother Castagir, Kil-, err, Captain Cain I count two, correction three additional trails closing on your location. I estimate the first will intersect in twenty seconds!"

Accepting the information, but unable to do much about it, the Marine and the Squat focussed on trying to kill their enemy before its allies were able to intervene, avoiding its attacks and hacking great chunks of flesh from its body.

The last guncutter touched down, and the Major Kimenth led the Magos aboard, and then quickly ushered the wounded and other survivors to follow, leaving her and the Commissar on the tail ramp watching the battle with the Trygon. Then, she caught a movement in the mist at the limit of visual range, and a huge winged shape began to silently glide into sight, angling towards the guncutter, still waiting on the ground.

She called into the vox "We have to leave now! Gentlemen, get aboard!" There was a pause, then "Get those turrets working!" After a few seconds delay, fire began to pour from the vessel, to little noticeable effect.

"We can't disengage!" Cain snapped. "We're a little busy..."

Castagir cut across the words of Captain "The beast is a Hive Tyrant. Get clear."

Major Kimenth shouted at the pilot. "You heard the man! Get us out of here!" The rear door began to close and the guncutters engines roared up to full power.

As if realising its quarry was about to escape, the Hive Tyrant bounded to the rear of the vessel, and just as the tail ramp was closing, jammed a talon into the gap, cutting a great gouge into the airframe. Those aboard the guncutter backed off towards a second chamber behind the crew, and strapped themselves in, while Major Kimenth stepped forward, and blasted at the creature with her shotgun, hoping to blow it clear. Although striking the Hive Tyrant cleanly, the force of the blast did little and it began to force the door open and drag itself into the compartment at the back of the guncutter that suddenly seemed very small to those inside it.

Brother Castagir and Captain Cain felt the vibrations through the ground, and so were expecting the arrival of the second Trygon. Fortunately this one was not a Prime and was several metres smaller than their original enemy. They were able to evade the debris that burst forth ahead of it, however the new arrival stabbed forward with one of its huge talons, and speared the Astartes through his shoulder, penetrating through from the rear to the front of his body. He grunted in pain, and then lashed out with his lightning claws, cutting the offending limb from his attackers' torso.

He called out to Cain through teeth clenched against the pain. "You turn and deal with the new one, I will finish the Prime!"

Without waiting for a response, he stepped inside the Trygon's grasp and sliced it open from groin to throat, and with a roar and then a rattle, the beast collapsed to the floor. As it died, the second Trygon appeared to shudder, and Cain used the distraction as an advantage to hack into it repeatedly. Castagir span round, preparing to lend his own strength to attacking the new arrival. As he did so, he saw that a third trail had veered away from them and another Trygon was attacking the wreckage of the downed guncutter, seemingly not realising that it was an inanimate pile of twisted metal.

Between them the two warriors cut into the Trygon, and parried and evaded everything it could offer in return, but Cain could not help but notice the blood that still flowed freely through the great puncture in the Astartes' power armour.

Above the battlefield the guncutter twisted and turned, attempting to throw the Hive Tyrant from the back of the vessel, but to no avail. Suddenly Major Kimenth shouted "The emergency bolts! If the emergency bolts are fired they'll release the rear ramp, and it'll have nothing to cling on to!"

Commissar Sander nodded his understanding as Kimenth darted forwards and lifted the flap that covered the emergency release control, and twisted and pulled the lever. With a deafening series of explosions, the bolts fired, and the bulk of the ramp carried the flailing Hive Tyrant away. Kimenth was caught by one of its talons, which cut a deep score through her armour and into her torso, and she fell backwards gasping. The Adept that had been rescued from the Mag-Lev Siding was not so lucky; he found himself grasped by the Hive Tyrant, and as it tumbled away, it tore him in half. Even so, those left aboard cheered as the creature fell into the distance.

"Pilot!" Major Kimenth gasped. "Return to the ground to pick up the Marine and the Captain, then best speed to orbit!"

The guncutter made a sharp turn, and began to dive for the ground once again.

Seeing the beast fall away from the damaged guncutter, Ivanov brought the Interceptor around and opened fire on the now flying Hive Tyrant. It evaded his attacks, and clamped itself onto his vessel, smashing a talon into an engine, which immediately began to trail smoke. Ivanov realised that he could not stay and fight, so through the Interceptor into a tight turn, throwing the Hive Tyrant off, and burned for orbit, his remaining engine at the limit of safe operation.

Between them, the two men still on the ground were more than holding their own; they were landing blow after blow, and the Trygon was bleeding ichor from dozens of wounds. Castagir smashed into the beast repeatedly, and it roared in pain, and Cain smashed chitinous plates, exposing the softer flesh beneath. Soon it was close to falling, and Castagir prepared himself to deliver the killing blow when he was hit from behind as a fourth Trygon arrived in the fight.

As he fell to his knees, his vision tunnelling, he faintly heard words over the vox; "We will be over head in twenty seconds. Prepare for pickup!"

Realising that the guncutter would never get airborne again if it landed he responded in a weak voice. "Negative. Reduce your speed and over-fly our current location..."

After a couple of seconds the pilot responded. "Understood. Will be on station in ten seconds!"

Captain Cain had heard the conversation over the vox-net, but was focussed on fighting the Trygons that were pressing in, and with a carefully placed blow he despatched the severely injured second beast, before turning to face the fourth that had so wounded Castagir.

Castagir struggled to his feet, and through a sheer effort of will staggered to behind Captain Cain. He could hear the roar of the guncutters engines, and realised that it was approaching at a velocity that was far too great, and called the pilot; "Abort your approach! Your velocity is to great, go around again, and count down the seconds until you are above us."

The strained voice of the pilot came could be heard over the static distorted vox. "Confirmed!"

Cain kept the fourth Trygon at bay, parrying its attacks and dealing enough damage in return to keep it wary, and over the vox-net he could hear the countdown from the pilot; "On station in ten seconds... Five seconds, four, three..."

Suddenly the Squat felt a wrench to his shoulders, and saw the ground fall away from his feet as the barely conscious Space Marine fired his jump-pack, angling towards the gaping hole in the back of the guncutter. From below the Trygon leapt into the air behind them. Even then, Castagir was able to side-slip and avoid the snapping jaws of the xenos as he powered away.

The guncutter slowed allowing the Castagir and Cain to close, but the Marine was losing his battle to remain conscious; they reached the shattered rear of the shuttle, and he grasped the air frame with one hand and flung the Squat into the cabin with the other. Those on board reached out to grab Cain, but he brushed them off, and flung himself back towards the injured Marine, knowing just how badly hurt he was. As Castagirs' fingers slipped over the metal, Cain reached out with his cybernetic arm, and grasped the wrist of the Space Marine, and Major Kimenth realising what was happening jumped forwards to aid him. Even so the immense weight of the now unconscious Astartes was initially proving too much for the two of them, and then, with a massive effort they managed to drag him to safety.

They turned, and Cain and Kimenth got to their feet, smiling at the open jawed looks on the faces of those at the far end of the compartment.

"Don't just stand there! Get him into the other compartment now!" Kimenth ordered. "Do you all want to suffocate? Come on! Move! Move! Move!"

Nobody moved, and then the pair heard a scraping sound and a gobbet of ichor fell from above them, splattering onto the deck plates. Slowly they turned, and saw that the Hive Tyrant had forced its way through the rear of the guncutter once again.

Captain Cain tore away his face mask and revealed his true identity as Rogue Trader Hartek and bellowed "Inside! Now!"

The survivors obeyed instantly, and scrambled for the second compartment, and Hartek and Kimenth both dove forwards, grabbing for their weapons.

The Major turned to the Rogue Trader and flashed a smile; "Pleasure to have you back, Sir!" Then she returned her attention back to the immediate threat.

Just as they were wondering how to deal with the xenos creature, and realised that they would probably die, a flash of light followed by a ball of energy appeared from behind them, and a scorch mark appeared on the Hive Tyrants chest. Although not doing a great deal of harm to the creature, it was forced backwards and slipped out of the open rear of the guncutter falling into the distance as the craft powered away. As they watched they saw it right itself and flap off in the direction of the swarm.

The two officers looked behind them and saw that it was Magos Vyakai's intervention that proved to be decisive; he was standing holding his smoking inferno pistol. Nodding their thanks, the three figures dragged the unconscious Marine into the still sealed second chamber, securing the hatch behind them, and then Major Kimenth ordered the pilot to burn for orbit. The guncutter powered away, clearing the atmosphere and docking with the Furnace of Redemption.

The Furnace of Redemption was already on the move as the guncutter docked; the Tyranids had detected her when she opened fire on Tantalus and the large bio-ship had twisted on its axis to face the Frigate. A number of the smaller bio-ships had changed their patrol paths and were heading on intercept courses with the slowly moving vessel.

Ivanov had already returned to the bridge, leaving the damaged Fury Interceptor in the docking bay being ministered to by a team of Tech-Priests, and was already plotting a course that would take the Furnace of Redemption to the outer system and the Cobra Squadron that was waiting for her. As soon as he received confirmation that the guncutter was aboard he ordered full power to the plasma drives and the ship quickly left Tantalus in her wake. A number of the small bio-ships gave chase, but the Furnace of Redemption was able to keep them at a safe distance, and as she arrived within range of the Cobra escorts, the Destroyers fired a salvo of torpedoes that wrecked two of the pursuing bio-ships, and gave all five vessels chance to jump into the warp and transit back to the rest of the fleet.

All of the survivors of the mission to Tantalus were injured to a greater or lesser extent, but amazingly Brother Castagir was fully recovered from his hideous wounds and had returned to his duties having spent only four days in the medicae chambers. He checked on each of the others and their injuries and then spent some time closeted with Inquisitor Atellus and the newly repaired Magos Vyakai, the three of them going over the data that had been retrieved from the mission.

Once they were sure of their findings Inquisitor Atellus summoned the House Dureen Command staff and other military commanders for a full briefing. The genetic information proved that the Tyranids that were being encountered were a splinter of Hive Fleet Dagon; however, the Hive Fleet itself was on the far side of the galaxy, currently ravaging the outskirts of the Jericho Reach.

This simple statement led to murmurs of shock and a flurry of questions as to how the Tyranids had managed attack the Calixis Sector on the Western fringes of the Imperium, when the Hive Fleet was on the Eastern fringes. Inquisitor Atellus looked at Brother Castagir paused as though thinking for a moment and then nodded at the Deathwatch Battle Brother.

The Space Marines' voice was grave as he spoke; "Not so long ago, a discovery was made in the Jericho Reach, an area that used to be Imperial space but was lost thousands of years ago, and is now being reclaimed by means of a Crusade. As well as fighting Heretics, and servants of the Ruinous Powers, Imperial forces are fighting a number of xenos races, including the Tau, and the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Dagon. The discovery that was made was a construction that was identified as a Warp Gate with an entrance point of hundreds of kilometres in diameter, and allows the passage of vessels, of fleets between itself and another similar construct on the fringes of the Calixis Sector and the Koronus Expanse. Unlike normal Warp travel the jump between the two points does not take time, it is instantaneous and offers the huge strategic advantage of allowing the movement of troops and materiel between the two points."

Atellus broke in; "It is postulated that at some point in the past a tendril of the Hive Fleet passed through the Gate, and transported itself across the Galaxy."

Castagir paused, and looked at the faces of the people sitting around the table, and then continued. "Serious as this is in itself, the bigger threat is that should the splinter gain enough size, it will be able to call to other Tyranid organisms and draw them through the gate too, and frankly the Imperium does not have the forces to spare to fight another major Tyranid incursion on the opposite side of the Galaxy to where forces are currently massed, facing the other Hive Fleets. Ladies and gentlemen, if we fail to destroy this splinter then is could spell the destruction of not only this sector, but all the neighbouring sectors and perhaps beyond."

The silence was palpable, and then Rogue Trader Hartek slapped the table and barked; "Then we will not fail! These Tyranids are as good as destroyed!"

Captain Locke smiled, recognising the easy confidence that Hartek exuded during the Damaris campaign, and even Inquisitor Atellus broke into a wide grin. "Well said, Rogue Trader, very well said!" He paused for a second, and then spoke again. "You know, to an ambitious Rogue Trader there are plenty of opportunities on the Eastern Fringe of the Imperium, and a Rogue Trader who helps the Imperium in her time of need, well, who's to say that the rights of passage through the Warp Gate couldn't be arranged..."

The meeting broke up, but Major Kimenth hung back, and approached Magos Vyakai, smiling widely. "Tinman! You do know that you can't go round mentioning that you've seen me? I am officially dead, and all..."

"Of course!" The Magos replied. "It would fall outside of normal operating parameters for one who is dead to be seen alive." He glanced at her cybernetic arm. "Particularly when a charred limb was provided as evidence of that persons demise by the Tech-Priest who had been a former comrade... Some data should remain confidential, should it not... Squidgy...?"

Despite herself, the Major smiled. "Just so, Tinman, just so!"

End of Segment

Hi all,

Just to let you know that the next write up may take a bit longer than usual as it was the FINAL session of the current campaign, I wont go into anymore detail as I dont want to spoil the writeup.

Noooooooo! How ever will I know what happens....Oh, wait. I was there

MARVIN THE ARVN said:

What are you talking about Willis?!

Only way I can see that is a total party kill through overwhelming loss in a large space battle.

We used a speed roll system for the majority of the space battles so we could get them all into a single session. It worked really well but it does mean poor LordSpatula will take longer writing it all up as he has to add a ton of extra discriptions to make it make sense to anyone who wasn't there.

Due to a computer glitch, there will be a further delay for the final write-up.

Basically sessions that feature a lot of action or where there's a lot of really significant dialogue take longer for Lord Spatula to write up, because there's more detail that he has to include. Sessions where we spend half an hour planning can get glossed over with "After a long planning session it was decided that..."

And as the Major reports, Lord S may have lost his first draft in a technical glitch, so there may be a bit of a wait for the finale. It's worth it though.

I won't spoiler things any further, except to say that a certain staff officer who shall remain nameless finally shows their true colours, and KILGRIM FINALLY GETS SOME SWEET, SWEET LOVIN'. OH YEAH BABY! BOW CHAKKA WAH WAH.

DrVesuvius said:

Oh, frack YES it's worth it!!!!

It's killing me just waiting to read it and I already know what happens.

Will there be another volume of "The History of House Dureen" or should I start copying some message board posts? I've been following the campaign and I want to read it all the way through. Unfortunately I'm a little behind but I plan to catch up soon.

I don't want to miss the ending!

The plan is to get back to House Dureen eventually after MARVIN has had a well deserved break but it will not be for a while. I would advise copying down the chapters, just in case, as it will probably be several months before he of LordSpatula start posting again after the last chapter goes up.

Hi all!!

Zakalwe - The end was semi-planned as we had played nearly 50 sessions. I wont go into more detail as I dont want to spoil the writeup.

theronin - Im pretty sure Lord Spatula will release the final volume but as Major Kimenth mentions it might be worth doing a copy and paste just in case.

I'm really eager to see the end of this sequence

Will we have the conclusion for Chrismas ... I think I have been a good child this year Santa :-)

Really like your story By the way

Ariakas

Wow. Just finished reading Volume 2, and all I can say is wow. The detail of enrichment, the intriguing characteristics of each individual persona, the level of in-depth approach of story telling, is so very intoxicating and splendid to behold in this exquisite work of art. So, simply put, all I can say is “wow.” Can't wait for the next installment of the blessed “History of the House Dureen” volume. Suffice it so say, I did shed a few tears at the end of Volume 2. Reminds me of Gaunt's Ghosts. So well done Lord Spatula. Well done indeed.

have they released the last chapter?

I belive the best word to describe LordSpatula's Christmas work load is 'MANIC!!!!!!' so we are still on tender hooks as to when he will manage to finish. As mentioned earlier, he was nearly done when a computer glitch corrupted the file and he had to start from scratch again. Trust me, it is sooooo worth waiting for

Firstly, let me apologise for the delay, but as Major Kimenth has said, my workload is a bit stupid at the moment, and I got part way into the write-up, and the file corrupted, prior to me backing it up. Needless to say I was less than impressed...

Anyway, the write-up IS now progressing, I'm about 80% through it and have hit 10,500 words, so it's turning into a bit of an epic.

I also intend to write an "Aftermath" chapter to tie up a few loose ends, storywise, but obviously will focus on the game report first...

To those that have asked, there will be a compilation making up the third volume of the history of House Dureen, and I'll post links when that's done.

Anyway, I'm glad everyone's enjoying it - I've never really written before and have to say it's been fun telling the story of our gaming sessions!

Have you all been good boys and girls......

Not really, but neither has Major Kimenth, has she.

I'll have you know that Major Iaris Kimenth is a loyal and upstanding member of the House and there is no record that Major Kimenth has ever disobeyed an order and Major Kimenth would never think of being a naughty girl. Phebea Kalter on the other hand....