40K/Inquisitor RPG. The Line of Damnation.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-07 04:48am

"Throne, I know it. That's how I learned. These boys are getting it better that we did."

"Six weeks and thrown in as replacements. Nearly a six hundred of us in that batch, bringing the regiment back up to full strength. Bitch of a commissar let the vets do what the fuck they wanted, to reward 'em and toughen us up. You hid things real well if you wanted to hold on to 'em and you usually lost 'em anyway. And if the women learned to stay in packs and so did the small men. First campaign bled us fuckin' white. We got more replacements all the time. Got practically refounded. Twice. At the end, there were just under a hundred left in the regiment. Total."

"So fuck that. We don't win this one and that'll be the story for the whole fuckin' subsector for the next twenty years, if we're lucky, which we won't be. And bein' blind about what we really have to work with ain't goin' to help. So I am down here because Gix knows my eye is good."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-07 04:57am

Rynthis smiled wanly. "I do think I like you, sergeant. You remind me of an old friend."

The look in his eyes made it perfectly clear what the current status of this 'old friend' was.

"This commodore of yours made a very good choice with Para... General Carnis. He's a student of the ways and means of the archenemy. As much as is allowed, of course," he tacked on, remembering who he was speaking to. "Normally, with this lot..." he nodded toward the troops shuffling by. "I wouldn't even give us fifty fifty assuming they don't blast half our inbound ships and dropships to the warp. But with the general in command... he'll find a way."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-07 05:06am

"I knew we had a chance when I saw you here. Means your general has brain and actually uses it. Rare enough. Gix wanted that when he asked Novadlorin for suggestions, but that didn't mean we were goin' to get it."

The big veteran pointed. "See those boys over there? Ex-PDF and they've seen action. Good unit for a reinforcing role. They'll be steady and you want to stick in some place that needs holding and not bleed 'em on a front assault. Don't have enough vets to piss'em away."

Hethor fingered his gorget. "What do you think our chances of getting Astartes?"

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-07 05:13am

Ryn glanced at Hethor. "At his retirement ceremony, General Carnis got up in front of a room full of stars and their pretties and told them that the greatest reward he'd received in the service wasn't any medal or citation, but rather his old top telling him that 'he'd make about a halfass decent sergeant'. You should have seen it."

He nods at the recommendation, making a mental note.

"When it comes to the Astartes, I can't honestly say. The Inquisitors don't know, the General doesn't know, and a mere colonel like myself of course is totally out of the loop. Have you ever seen them in action?"

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-07 05:17am

"Once. I thought I was a soldier until I saw them fight. They were perfect and relentless. They went through the enemy like a combine through wheat. It was an honour to support them on the field of battle. If a chapter sends us even one company, our chances double."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-07 05:21am

He nodded. It was impossible to feel otherwise when watching the Astartes go to war. In a hell of chaos, uncertainty and fear they were solid, precise, and resolute.

"Agreed. Tell you what, sergeant... I'll eyeball to the left and you eyeball to the right. We meet back here in three hours to compare notes, and I'll buy you a drink. Deal?"

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-07 05:22am

"Deal."

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2005-01-07 12:31pm

Nathan walked down the rows of assembled troopers .His eyes swept over there assembled ranks .He slow steped past them looking each trooper , male and female ,in the eye before going to the next.He stoped and gave them all one final look over .He inward;ly chuckled at the fear they were generating.

'Good' he thought ' with this group Machiavellis teachings will have to do.They need to fear ...'

" You are the Emperor`s sword.I expect you to act as such.Though you may deny this I can feel your fear but that is of no matter.For the other men you serve with are also afraid."

"Fear is natural, Fear is to be expected. You fear the Emperors justice when you do wrong that is why you obey your superiors.You fear your superiors for they have been set above you by the will of the Emperor. You fear Death for when you die you can no longer seerve the Emperor"

"Take your fear and suppress it for now.You have been called to serve in a great crusade.The sector is falling to anarchy.Our anchient enemies seek to recreate the 13th Black Crusade. However they miscalculated in this instance. We are ready. We have the ships, with have the weapons, ll that is needed are soldiers .I ask you now....... Are YOU those soldiers that I seek to fight for He who resides on Holy Terra?"

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2005-01-07 12:42pm

The tech priests loked over the barrels labled "contraband" Noticed a small dish set aside.

begin the ceremony of inspection, say prayuers to the machine spirits pour a small amount of fluid into dish light as sacrafice to machine spirits. If the flame continues to burn until the dish is dry it is a fitting food for the machines.

the author of the note of course realized that the penal batallions distillery operations may need some transfer orders, they appered to be the only source of uncontaminated fuel for ground vehicles.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-07 02:45pm

The Sword troopers loudly replied in the affirmative to Nathan's question.

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

Rynthis rolled up his sleeve, revealing a large splotch of scarred flesh that ran from his bicep to up under his shirt. "'Nid spore mine. Killed three troops standing near me. Nine-Seventy-Second Royal Kharkans did a great job of clearing the zone for us," he said sarcastically to Hethor. "Bunch of new kids we had, fresh off the 'don't take anything for granted and treat it all like a war zone' indoctrination, but you know how long anything stays in those empty heads if it doesn't involve beer or pussy."

They'd compared notes for a while and then had gotten down to the serious business of putting away some liquor and comparing scars.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-07 08:29pm

"Never fought 'nids. Did fight stealers though. Don't have any scars from that. Not a lot of wounded from hand to hand with stealers. Took two in the chest from a brood brother, but didn't go through my armour."

"First thing I ever fought were orks. I couldn't believe how long it took for them to die. I lost half the friends I made in training to the greenskins. The only scar I got was this little thing from an ork's tusk." He pointed to faint notch on his jawline. "That and few bruises." He shook his head and took another drink.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-07 08:34pm

"Orks, yeah. Remember when we were talking about the Astartes? Saw the White Scars do a number on them. Had a defensive position they were in, building for another one of their charges, and here come the marines."

He snapped his fingers, then waved off the waitress who thought he was signaling her.

"Power sword through paper, I tell you. Taking that would have cost us five hundred men, thousand men easy, and they took it and poured on through into through into the main ork force..." he shook his head. "Biggest problem we had was keeping up."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-07 08:48pm

"Same here. It was heretics instead of orks. Thirty marines was all it took to break the line. There was a thousand guard with them, but we had trouble finding targets to shoot the marines were killing them so fast. They wiped out the heavy weapons first, almost before the enemy knew what was happening. By the time they started to react, they had already lost. We were just mop up. Damn, I must have run ten klicks that day and killed a dozen men. And it was nothing compared to them." Hethor drained his glass and refilled.

"Until the inquisition took me, I didn't think anything could match them. I wish I still believed that. I don't regret joining the Inquisition, done killin' that actually matters, made some things better, but I wish I could still believe that." Hethor emptied his glass in one gulp.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-07 08:53pm

"Do tell," Rynthis said, taking a slug of the rotgut that passed for amasec at the club. Vile stuff, but compared to the products of a million and one soldier's field stills that he'd tasted, passable. "How did you end up working for the Inquisition? Or is it one of those 'kill me if you tell me' sort of stories?"

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-07 09:02pm

"Nothin' like that," said Hethor as he refilled his glass. "Last assignment was taking a palace. They wanted it mostly intact. The inquisitor who was going to look over it got himself killed, so the military intel types did their prodin' and then sent in cleanse and burn teams. What's left of the 322nd is disbanded." He took a sip.

"So skip ahead a couple of years and Inquisitor Kyra Neven comes along to check up on the job. Finds some problems and needs someone who knows the palace. She settles on me. It beat what I was doin' then, which ain't sayin' much. One of her interrogators was this weedy, muscular type who went by Jolan Gix. Four years latter Gix gets bumped up to full inquisitor and I went with him."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-07 09:08pm

He nods. "It's a living, I suppose. Damndest thing is, you get to missing it. I was happily retired last week. Now here I am, getting ready to trot right back into action. Emperor love the fools like us, because nobody else will," he concluded, raising his glass in toast.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-07 09:12pm

"To the Emperor," said Hethor, clinking glasses, "who loves each one of us unworthy bastards."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-07 09:19pm

He downed his shot and rose to his feet. "It's been a pleasure, Hethor. See you on the other end." He snagged his dataslate and nodded to the waitress. The tab was a tad on the exorbitant side, but the ability of Guard NCOs to put back large quantities of intoxicants while staying functional was a point of pride for the service.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-07 09:50pm

General Carnis and Commodore Novdalorin flanked Lord Inquisitor Vonrilyental as he called the meeting to order. The last of the inquisitors and other important personages had finally entered the confrence rooms. The long table with its stacked crystal controls and holographic displays was the center of the room and made Lord Vonrilyental's job easier. Off to the side servitors in the form of golden cherubs hovered with platters of refreshments.

"Thank you all for coming," began Lord Inquisitor Vonrilyental. "A lot of you have done good service during this crisis and the Imperium has benefited greatly from your efforts. Some of you are more recently arrived, but your records speak for themselves. We are about to embark on a great campaign."

"Adraxis and Cyrus Gamma are both close neighbours and hive worlds." The holoprojection shifted to show a warp route map of the subsector. "Adraxis is a fleet base and Cyrus Gamma has an even larger population and industrial base. Combined with the close proximity to the warp nexus of Zelnar Prime, recently secured do to our efforts, they are the keys to the subsector. And we hold two of these systems."

He paused for a moment and took a sip of water. "The uprising below us has been surpressed, but not before the heretics committed ritual suicide. This station has been attacked by the Black Legion, who were able to sneak a strike cruiser right through our defences with legitimate codes. And after the mass suicide, the whole subsector exploded. But we can win."

"Cyrus Gamma has fallen to the enemy and communications cut. But we can retake it. Our task force, under the command of Commodore Novdalorin, is almost ready to leave. Once we arrive on Cyrus Gamma and defeat whatever space based defences, General Carniss will lead our forces to retake the planet. Before I go into any further details, are there any questions or comments?"

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-07 09:56pm

Prius cleared his throat. "Ah, while we do not want to get too far ahead of ourselves in declaring victory before a shot is fired, I had a proposal with regards to our post-occupation affairs on Cyrus Gamma. Bearing in mind that our manpower will be critically stretched regardless of whether or not the operation comes optimally," Fat chance of that, of course. "I would propose that we enlist the services of the Ecclesiarchy in declaring a crusade upon Cyrus Gamma against the heretic and the mutant, to inflame the population and drive them into assisting us in the work of purging the traitorous elements while they're still relatively exposed. Furthermore, they will be easier to corral for post-occupation drafts as we move to secure the rest of the sub-sector if they are filled with the fervent spirit of the Emperor."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-07 09:58pm

General Carniss stepped foreward. "Our forces include an Ecclessiarchy element and they will take steps to inspire our forces and the people of Cyrus Gamma with the appropriate zeal."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-07 10:06pm

That wasn't entirely what he was asking, but chain of command was chain of command. Prius nodded acquiesence and sat back, listening to the proceedings.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-01-07 11:10pm

Lord Vonrilyental continues. "I realize that much of this information is new to Inquisitor Varian. I realize that rumours are undoubtedly swirling about the neutralization of heretical forces on the planets surface and the further purging of disloyal elements that allowed them to become a threat. I doubt the heretical elements among the ratings and the corruption of the Arbites has gone unnoticed either. But these problems have been handled. Our greatest obstacle remains ahead of us."

"Many of you are aware of the archaeotech cache that has been unearthed recently. It was my initial reason for summoning you here, Inquisitor Varian. But events have overtaken us. The potential gains to the Imperium will be lost if this subsector falls to Chaos. We must be victorious."

"We do possess a few advantages. We have been able to complete the construction of the Emperor class Battleship Sword of Glory with the aid of the archaeotech. The Adeptus Mechanicus have provided us with a reinforced Skitarri regiment which is armed with some of the finest technology in the Imperium as well as archaotech war machines." He left the nature of those machines unstated.

"Thanks to the archaeotech and Inquisitor Gix's efforts, we have some of the best equipped regiments in the Imperial Guard. Plasma weapons and hellguns are common and possess a high degree of reliability."

"Last, but not least, we have leaders of the highest calibre to direct our forces. I chose the inquisitors I decided to contact based not only their youth and their lack of involvement in factional fighting, but also because of the quality of their records. They in turn have selected some of the Imperium's best to assist us in the military aspects of the mission. Collectively, our collective knowledge and abilities are potent assets to wield against the enemies of the Imperium. We must not forget that we are united in service to the God-Emperor and the archenemy is divided by their ambitions."

He paused for another moment. "Any further questions before we go to the next part of the briefing?"

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-07 11:14pm

Prius eyed Nathan. He knew that 'his' inquisitor had objections to the meteor bombing plan, and wondered if he would voice them here.