W40K RPG, Line of Damnation- Memoria

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-26 02:56am

Severa groaned. Her skull throbbed in agony. She tried to get up, failed. She didn't recall drinking that much. Not enough for this. Not that she could remember much. She tried to get up again. Succeeded.

She didn't recognize the bedroom. And she was undressed. Her clothes were scattered about the room. And she ached. Really badly. She put on her clothes and staggered out. She got a cab and headed home.

She dodged her mother and headed into the bathroom. Clinically she examined herself. She was bruised on her arms and her legs. She was bleeding and sore between her legs. She dreaded to look.

She cleaned herself up as much as she was able. She dried her tears and pretended nothing much was wrong for the rest of break. But her eyes told a different story.

She caught the looks in classes and in the halls. People knew. Not everyone, but the Old Families. She could see it in their eyes, in their thinly veiled snickers. Someone had drugged her and then they had raped her and who was so high and mighty now?

Her gaze was cold. Her blood was ice. Her heart blazed with fury and indignation. She would not be broken. She was a Valen.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-26 04:38am

Proctor Hessen walked into the infirmary. It smelled heavily of antiseptic. There was the usual training and horse play injuries and then there were the more unusual cases. Like the three last beds on the row.

Their bodies were almost completely covered in casts. Bones throughout their bodies had to be reset. And that was just the beginning. The broken bones made them unsuitable candidates for the skin grafting surgeries that they all needed. The delay wouldn't help, or so he had been told.

"Doctor."

The reedy man turned towards him. "Proctor."

"How long will their recovery take?"

"Another month for the bones and then there is the skin graft and the recovery period. I'm afraid there is no help to it proctor. They're going to have to repeat the term."

"Their father's won't like it."

"With all do respect proctor, the ability of the human body to heal and recover is beyond the ability of their fathers' to control. And we both know why they are here."

It wasn't said, of course. There was a reason why no one saw the mask wearing assaliants who stormed the shower after the cadets' rec class and beat them severly, but not fatally. The temp regulater that had malfunctioned for a short period of time and bombarded their broken bodies with scalding water had also been no accident.

There were suspects, of course. The boys had coasted and bullied using their fathers' and uncles' rank. Of course, everyone had an aliaby. The cadet core had an ancient way of leveling transgressions and it had clearly swung into action. What could they have possibly done to deserve this?

It didn't matter now. The investigation had dead ended. Whoever had done it had covered their tracks too well and cut the winds from these boys sails. These boys would still have careers and most of their wounds would heal. Their fathers would have to be content with that.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-26 05:04am

Severa listened as Gherhardt Ferr gave his speech. He had been first and fair enough, he had earned it. And to be fair, his speech was better than hers would have been.

Jinx squeezed her elbow. "How much do you think he beat you by?"

"Dunno. Not much, I hope."

Her friend smiled back. Emperor Above, it was good to have friends. They hadn't said anything, but just as the Old Families "knew" they had figured it out and had made themselves available when the time came. Severa didn't know if they got them all or if everyone of the one she had gotten had been guilty, but it was close enough. Imperial justice was like that.

"So," Jinx said. "Do you think you made eigth?"

She punched him lightly in the arm. Gherhardt rapped up his speech. They began calling the rest of the names. "Severa Valen," was next.

Second! She was second! She headed up to the potium to recieve her bars. Behind her came the call of "SEVER! SEVER!"

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-28 01:00am

The grizzled officer showing the rookie was the ropes was a cliche, but it almost seemed appropriate. Lieutenant Ralthman was tall, lean, scarred, and was missing half of his face. A metal plate and an augmentic eye on the right side of his face covered the injury and uped the intimidation factor. His right arm was also an augment. A power cutlass and a bolt pistol hung from the belt around his great coat.

"So ensign," he rasped, "you placed 2nd in your class. I suppose you think that makes you hot stuff?"

Well I am, she thought. "No sir," she lied.

"Heh. What was your nickname?"

"Sever, sir."

"Cute," he rasped. "Not very original, though. You couldn't have been that good if that was all they could come up with."

"I was also one of the best duelists in the academy, sir."

"You mean your class."

"No sir, I mean the academy."

"So you do think you're hot stuff."

"You bet your ass, sir."

He laughed. "I like you ensign. Welcome aboard the Incandescent Blade."

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2004-12-28 04:13am

Once we we're hunters, proud warriors, then the warm ones came from the stars, and filled the world with fire, the jungle, and the swamps that cradled us, vanished in a day. Then they noticed the venom we produced was something they wanted, and we we're spared. The venom was strongest with the hatchlings, and thus they culled the eldars of your people, and the hatchlings, so long as there was enough of us to continue the race, without problems.

Then they needed hunters again, fight the "green tide", travel to the sky where the warriors of the stars dwell. and in service you will die away from the jungles and swamps of your people, but in the name of their immortal god-emporer.

-It was the same speach the overseer of the Milking operation gave every time the imperium needed more disposable troops for it's wars. It was the reason the population quoatas had been relaxed, and elder overseers had come to exist.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2004-12-28 10:03am

Lock onto this Vox unit and fire those Ballista's Now!

the officer screamed into the communicator as the green tidal wave approched with a scream of WAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHH! The humans started to run and break while the scalies spread their coils out giving themselves a better more stable firing position, as the missiles, auto cannons, and heavy lascannon's fire arrived the orks were already engaged with the line. Most guardsmen lacked the strength to face orks in melee distance. The Jormundgarmeans spit venom into the greens, crushed them with thier coils, or simply lashed out with their reptillian strength.

Hard scales as well as flesh gave way to the crushing and slicing force of the choppas, but the orks found the burning spit, and the entrenching shovels of the reptiles just as leathal. The battle line was held, of the thousands who had fought in the valley, only a few hundred returned to the guard base. Most of those badly wounded. It was there as the medicae treated the humans that the Xenos proved their true worth, even untreated, a Jormundgarm could regrow limbs, and sections of their tails within a few days. The venom that could burn and wrack an ork with it's nerve killing strength, when dilluted could stop the shock, and ease the pain of imperial soldiers injured in the field. It also was caustic enough at .7% stength to be used as an anti-infectious/anti-toxin against the wounds caused the filthy xenos weapons....

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-28 03:43pm

Uschi's mind was still awhirl with the rapidity of her recent promotions. She had jumped from fourth in line to third when Valdis had been removed from command, then she was suddenly XO when Trinidge died. It wasn't unheard of, but Rogue Traders weren't military and the chain of command could sit ossified for years and even decades on many ships.

She had been studying religiously, absorbing all the information Engelier had been feeding her for the past day while they swept the engines thoroughly to make sure Sifton hadn't left them any surprises, and as soon as the captain took over for the next watch they would finally be jumping out of this Emperor-forsaken system.

Sifton. She'd been there when he'd been served his sentence, watching with all the other senior officers. It wasn't the first spacing she'd ever seen, but it wasn't something she was likely to ever get used to, either.

The auspex officer suddenly called out. "Commander, picking up a warp flux, seven-two off the horizon."

"Display," she barked. The holofield displayed a large-scale map of the system, showing the disturbance of realspace indicative of an inbound vessel.

It wasn't unheard of meet other ships in the deep dark. But it was never a routine event, either. "Sound general quarters." She tapped the comm panel on the seat. "Captain to the bridge."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-28 04:35pm

"It's a Methelian vessel, alright," the auspex officer reported. "Bigger than anything we've seen before. We're fifteen light minutes out right now. Last readings indicated they were under power and heading our way."

Engelier studied the initial scans. It was visual data and emissions that had traversed the distance between the two vessels, but as was the case for the lighter vessels they had seen before, there didn't seem to be a lot of obvious weaponry on the xenos vessel.

The Methelians. They had met them a week and a half before, to engage in preliminary trade discussions. Upon returning, the captain had gone stark raving nuts.

"Weapons hot, run out the guns," he ordered. "We're going to get some answers."

"Weapons hot, running out the guns, aye."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-28 04:47pm

If it came to it, it would be his first battle at the conn. Engelier covertly wiped his sweating palm on his trouser leg.

The captain must appear calm, rational, and composed in all cases. If you cannot maintain your composure in the face of battle, mutiny, and heresy, you have no place commanding a vessel of His Majesty's Imperial Navy.

It had been a while, but the lectures of the Fleet Academy were burned in his mind, as if he were still a wild and randy cadet cruising through his studies.

He watched the plot on the holo. "Helm, two percent starboard thrust. If it comes to it, we want to greet them with a nice broadside."

"Transmission coming in," the comms officer called out.

Engelier tapped his commbead. "Pipe it to my reciever."

"Human vessel self-identified Fool's Wager, greetings in peace from the Methelian goods transport self-identified Ice Horizon. Urgent business needing to be discussed, terrible accident has happened."

Well well, they apparently weren't going to attempt to be oblivious to their crime.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-28 05:05pm

Engelier emerged from the captain's lounge, having finished a private discussion over the vox line with the Methelian 'captain'.

"I have the bridge," he snapped coldly. Uschi stepped aside from the command chair.

"You have the bridge," she concurred.

"Mr. Genths, ahead one quarter on my mark. Mr. Navyers, on my mark, all weapons fire as they bear."

"Aye aye sir!" the bridge officers concurred. Uschi looked at Engelier, her eyes questioning.

"Mark," he said coldly.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-28 05:27pm

The Incandescent Blade shuddered at the impact. "Hold steady!" Severa yelled. The gun crews knew that the impact wasn't from weapon's fire. She grabbed the vox line. "This is Battery Four. We have impacted, presumed boarding vessel, approximately 200 meters aft of our position. Repeat, impact 200 meters aft of Battery Four. Probably boarders."

"Master Gunner, continue to fire as we bear. Senior Gunner Hark!"

"Yes sir."

"Round up every available crewman and arm to repel boarders."

"Yes sir."

She descended from the gantry down towards the deck with its power leads, capacitor banks, sub generators, and logic engine relays. She thumbed the safety off he pistol. She could here them coming down the long corridors toward her position. They had to hold.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-28 05:36pm

The Methelian vessel had been reduced to glowing debris under an intensive onslaught from the Wager's guns. The command crew sat in the captain's lounge as Engelier tapped the keyboard, bringing up the image of a dark-furred quadraped. Multiple eyes adorned what could be termed from a human viewpoint as a skull.

"We were under the impression that these creatures were the Methelians we were dealing with. Yes and no, so they said," he stated, gesturing toward the image. "What we are looking at is the physical portion of a hybrid being occupied by a higher intelligence."

"Witches," snarled the chaplain. "Daemon possessed."

"So it would seem, in our terms. They claim that they are a symbiotic life form that evolved in conjunction with these lower animals, providing them with a guiding intelligence. However, their host bodies have become contaminated of late, a spreading series of mutations that drive their riders, the Methelians, insane."

He hit another button. A series of images displayed, showing warped forms, obvious and grotesque mutations from the baseline.

Around the table, more than one officer made the sign of the aquila. The chaplain spoke again. "Chaos has taken root among them. They are lost and in need of purging."

Engelier didn't reply, simply tapping the control to turn the hologram off.

"The 'disease' is spreading among their host forms at a geometric rate, and they calculate that by the end of this generation, they will be lost. They were attempting to find new host bodies, and their first victim was Captain Valdis. However, possession of his form was impossible, and instead it drove him insane. They tracked us through the warp to here, to attempt recompense. So they claim."

The medical officer spoke up. "If he was damaged repelling a mental invasion, that could explain his paranoid tendencies and violent outbursts."

Engelier nodded grimly. "That was my thought."

"And that's why we blew them out of space?" Uschi asked.

"We cannot let the precedent be set that humans can be experimented on or molested by xenos, or we put every Trader out here at risk. At our next stop we will update the Chart Common to mark their world as hereticus, and sooner or later the Navy will take a break from mutual masturbation among the admirals and bomb them back to the warp."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-01 11:37pm

They were clumsy and not exactly subtle, just like she had been taught. They fired their guns almost randomly and bellowed to each other in their uncouth tongue as they advance. Severa crouched and waited for them to close.

She rose, firing. She put four in the chest of the lead ork with her naval pistol and it fell. She missed with her next and put the last into an ork's head, blowing out the back of its skull. Crewmen fired with her, shotgun short barrelled, high calibre, low veloctiy autoguns. She crouched back down to reload.

Orks fells torn open by the fusillade of fire. Some orks suffered wounds that on a human being would be called terrible. They continued to fight. The orks responded to firing wildly in the human's general direction.

About nine out of ten of the orks weapons worked. Those weapons that didn't jam and blow themselves apart unleashed a lot of very big bullets. They tore up machinery, severed cables, punched divets in walls and the floor, and in a few instances mangled flesh.

Severa rose up and emptied her gun into the torso of another rampaging ork. It went down, like a lot of its boyz. They kept coming, choppers and hand cannons clenched in their fists. Severa didn't bother to try to reload.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-03 03:16am

She drew her blade and opened up the first one from right shoulder to left hip. The power sword was a family heirloom, a 70cm single edged blade with a gilded hilt decorated with the form of an eagle. Even ork flesh and bone parted before its edge, especially after being disrupted by the power field. And the ork had no technique. Holding a giant chopper over its head was not exactly a stance conductive to defence.

She took off the top of the next one's head. Even a ork couldn't function with its brain cut in half. The third charged straight at her. She impaled it, her blade going all the was through its chest. It kept on coming.

She sidestepped the chopper, losing her grip on her cutlass. Now she was really screwed. Fortunately a crewman rammed a pike into its chest and pushed it back. She reached for another ammo clip.

She never got to it. The ork in front of her fired its big bore pistol. Two bullets struck her in the chest and she went down.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-03 05:02pm

Severa came to. She was lying on her back and a medicae was leaning over her. "Relax ensign, you're going to be fine."

Grox shit. He head rang like a bell, the back of her head ached, and her chest was on fire. The medicae continued blathering. "You were shot at close range with a large calibre pistol. Fortunately they were low voelcoity soft slugs. Your armour stopped them, but there is a lot of bruising and three broked ribs."

"The battery?" she rasped. It hurt to talk.

"Preserved. The battle has been over for half an hour. We won." The medicae injected something into her arm. It didn't matter. She felt herself grow warm and sleepy. We won.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2005-01-05 02:38am

Most of the convent called her Morrigan, her real name was "Celeste", still the phantom pain from the smoth artificial skin was nothing compared to the memories. She looked like Morrigan, too know half skeletal bionics, half too smoth living flesh, there was no nose on her ruined face, still the memories was the worst.

The world had been suspected of harbouring heretics, they came to cleanse, the things they faced were worse then anything hey had prepared them for. She had seen a penetent engine ripped in half by a lictor, Still the order and the Ultra's had fought side by side against the xenos, a mixture of venom, and the burst flamer containment systems had done their damage. But it was nothing, that THING was raping her mind when the librarian killed it.

She had survived though half her body had not, still the things she had seen still remained haunting her. Her white & blonde hair was growning again but only on one side of her ruined head. The blue glow, of the metal surrounding the ruined eye, intimidated some of the recruits.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2005-01-05 05:03am

Sister Ripley shouted out commands, her "liberated" combi-weapon was bringing death to the cultists, be it in clensing flame, or in the trans-sonic impacts from the projectiles. Novice Celeste was pulling up the rear, burdened under the weight of her weapon. some claimed that flamer duty was an honour, however more flamer troops were killed then anyone else, it was partially that the weapon had such abismal range compared to anything else, or purhaps it was the fact that a weapon jam would result in a fiery death.

AS soon as they broke cover they came under fire, the suddent heat from the enemy's las weapons made things stifulling insdie the carapace armour. Before they entered the room, Celeste and Ripley "Fired" it to clear the place of traitors. The enemy continued to rush them, a small creature leaped out missed by the flames as soon as the squad advanced, it tore through two of her fellow sisters before sister ripley killed it.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-07 08:20pm

"Not a bad looking record lieutenent." Captain Parlin drummed his fingers on his desk.

"Thank you sir." Severa managed to keep the smirk off her face as she stood rigidly at attention.

"If you're half as good as your record indicates, you'll do fine. Most of the job is arresting drunken sailors and checking ship cargo holds. Every now and then the shit hits the fan. But you've dealt with that before."

"Yes sir."

"Have you met Lieutenant Commander Reckart yet?"

"Yes sir. He met me at the 'lock and showed me to quarters. I look foreward to working with him," she lied. Reckart was a drunk and sloppy. A disgrace to the navy who shouldn't be wearing a uniform let alone his current rank, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from doing her job.

"Good. Welcome aboard lieutenant."

"Thank you sir."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-10 09:07pm

"Uh, ma'm, uh the Lieutenant Commander said to pass this one through," the Ensign said apologetically.

"Really?" said Severa skeptically. She looked at the cargo list. The run was slightly profitable with the listed cargos and she didn't know any captains that would take a run with profit margins this slim unless there was no other choice. And the Swift Traveller had been doing this run for three years, four times a year.

"Yes ma'am," said the boy. Severa swore that he might start getting peach fuzz on his cheeks next month.

"Priority," the Ensign said. "These others higher priority searches. We can always get this one next time around."

"Funny, that's always the case unless the Lieutenant Commander is on hand to supervise the search. And the only time that happened he set a speed record."

She considered the problem for a moment. "Having docking control manufacture a reason to hold them. Begin the other searches. I need to speak to Captain Parlin."

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2005-01-11 01:35am

the security team stormed into the room as Lord Shannelin screamed in terror as a bolt of plasma ripped into his body.The guards pointed there hellguns at a figure in a red trenchcoat who slowly turned to face them.

Seargent steven looked at the figure and smirked ,"Freeze or die"

The figure said nothing as the security tema was picked up by unseen hands and pinned to the far wall before they could react.They strugled as the figure pointed the ornate plasma pistol at them .

He grabed the corpses robes and pulled them asside to reveal a pair of tentacles.He sklowly pocketed the pistol and headed for the door.He looked the seargeant in the eye and the man wet himself when the rosetta was shown to him .

" Inquisiton affair. he was a heretic and a traitor and was cleansed that is ALL you need to report"

After leaving the seargeant and his team fell to the floor.Two men ran out after him but reported he was gone, no one had seen or even heared which way he had went.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-11 01:50am

"You're lucky to be alive, major," the hospitaler said.

Rynthis nodded, then winced as the action pulled at the raw flesh from his wound. "So they keep telling me. Can you tell me what's happening with my unit? Second battalion, 442nd Adraxian Regulars?"

She looked aside, a flicker on her face. "We don't get much news from the front," she said quickly.

Anger flashed through him, a sudden heated wave. "Don't lie to me," he snarled. "You know something. What is it?"

"I have other patients to attend," she said quickly, moving on to the next bed.

Rynthis thrashed in the bed, yelling at the departing back. "Don't you walk away from me! What happened to them? What happened to my troops?"

She turned slowly, looking at him with sad eyes. "The 442nd was directly in the path of the tyranid counterattack. Most of the survivors are here."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-11 02:14am

"Limited duty for six weeks, major," the medicae informed him.

"Listen, they've been shipping people in worse shape than me out of here. I know it's bad out there. I don't see why I'm getting stuck with nursemaid duty for some idiot general..." Rynthis paused, realizing he'd best get his temper under control before he ended up in the brig on top of everything else. "I can fight, damn it," he said finally.

"That's your opinion, major. And unless the Emperor steps off of his Throne and comes to change your status, your opinion won't mean a damn thing here. Shut up and soldier. Now get out of my sight."

Rynthis made his careful way out of the room, highly conscious of the doorframe he'd brushed on the way in, sending hideous spasms of pain through his shoulder and back that had neatly undercut his prepared argument for his combat fitness.

He'd never even heard of this General Carnis, but he was probably another REMF whose biggest problem getting sleep at night was the firing of the artillery... twenty klicks away.

Be damned if he'd pour the bastard's coffee while Adraxians were fighting at the front.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-11 02:37am

"I really don't see why you are bothering me with this lieutenant. If I thought less of you, I would say you are slandering a superior officer." Captain's Parlin's voice was glacial.

"No sir," she replied stiffly. She was screwed. The old man didn't want to hear it and was going to make sure no one ever brought it up again. Which meant making an example out of her.

"There is no evidence of malfesence on the part of Lieutenant Commander Reckart. For this he has grounds for calling you out," he said. Severa's heart skipped a beat. She wasn't afraid to duel anything this side of an Astartes. "This will go on your record lieutenant. You will not attempt to go behind your superior's back again or I'll find a way to bust you down to the lowest rank of conscript rating. You are dismissed."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-11 02:47am

"Thanks for the ride," Rynthis told driver, bouncing out of the transport. The impact of his feet on the ground sent a jolt of pain rippling through his body, but he gritted his teeth and endured it. This General Carnis was a hell of a lot closer to the front than he was accustomed to generals being. He made his way along the reserve trenchworks. The rattle of bolter emplacements and even the occasional snap-hiss of lasfire could be heard.

Come to it, he was entirely unused to generals who had their CPs in front of the artillery emplacements.

He reached the CP. A grizzled veteran in unmarked battledress leaned against the trench wall, smoking placidly. Rynthis took a guess at his rank. "Hey sergeant, is the general in?"

The man looked at him, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Hell no. He's taking a smoke break, major."

Looking back, Rynthis always thought it a miracle that he remembered to collect his jaw from the ground before they evacuated the planet.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-11 02:56am

"Sir, these aren't the Adraxian Regulars... these are the Adraxian Remnants," Rynthis said, looking over the dataslate holding their unit composition. The forces under Carnis' command were a battered collection of survivors from the tyranid counterattack, thrown together as they'd been recovered. There was even a company from his old battalion.

"We're Adraxian, major. That's what counts. We will hold the line so long as is required of us. If you don't feel equal to the task, let me know now," Carnis said, a hard edge in his voice.

The commissar spoke up. "General Traxen felt that the defense could not hold. Defeatism is not tolerated under my supervision, major."

"I'm not being defeatist. I'm just... glad the Emperor is on our side," Rynthis said, shaking his head. "We'll kick their asses until the day He comes back, no doubt about it."

Carnis gave him a small smile, out of the sight of the commissar. "Of course we will, major. I requested your services specifically, after reviewing the available officers. I had my reasons."