40K/Inquisitor RPG. The Line of Damnation.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-02-18 10:04pm

One thing was for certain... this was more than the two companies their initial intelligence had reported. But they weren't turning to counterattack, apparently more interested in destroying the remnants that Prius had come to rescue.

He took stock of his forces... losses had been remarkably light thus far, less than ten men... thanks to the nature of the situation.

But they couldn't afford to stagnate any further.

He took a sip from the water tube in his helmet, swirling it around in his mouth as he reached out again, not for Pater this time, but for a locus, a point in the enemy's forces.

There.

Likely the enemy commander, or a similarly important portion of the unit's organization.

He had to shock them hard enough to shatter their organization and allow him to extract his troops, and hopefully extract the survivors. Pater hadn't responded to his call, so that hope was gone. But by now enemy reinforcements were probably coming in strength, so...

"Brother Sergeant," he voxed Yashida, relaying the coordinates. "We have to strike it hard and fast. I believe it will disrupt their command and control enough for us to achieve our objectives."

With that, he organized his portion of the Sword and began to advance anew.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-02-18 11:01pm

"Colonel," signalled the vox man, "reinforcements are being sent."

"Who?" barked Sakesh.

"More of the Brotherhood and survivors of the 375th."

"That's all? Damn. You are relieved. Head to the front line?"

"Sir?"

"There are some Guardsmen and that damn Marine heading this way. You're more useful to me as a shooter. Kill or die. Father Nurgle is watching."

The vox man staggered out of the improvised control center of the ruined hab plex and was immediately cut down by a sniper. Ristani and his force pushed hard. The made up with skill and elan what they lacked in numbers. At the tip of the Sword was the Astartes. The plasma pistol was a terrible weapon for killing mere infantry as it high cycle time and low capacity of its fuel cells imposed limitations on its utility. But the power sword in the hands of an armoured Marine was devestating and they weapons of the Pox Brotherhood failed to score any meaningful hits. Grenade launchers from the Sword wrecked a crew served autocannon before it could be brought to bear. They closed, death clenched in their hands.

Inside the improvised command bunkers, the screams of the initiation rite could faintly be heard. Lieutenant-Colonel Sakesh checked the operation of his bolt pistol and turned to his chaplin Plague Priest Bubox. "Are you ready?"

"I have gathered the mighty filfth of Father Nurgle. They shall feel his power and give themselves to despair or perish."

"Good." He turned to the rest of his command platoon. "Get ready. It's going to get hot in here."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-02-18 11:33pm

Prius sliced downward with his chainsword, cleaving a Pox warrior nearly in twain. His plasma pistol was lost somewhere behind him, but he had his backup weapon ready. As another trooper poured out of the building, he raised his arm, small barrel protruding from the palm. Guiding by the targeting auspex in his eye, the bolt pistol spat out a round that punched through the heretic's head. A sudden disturbance washed across the warp.

"Yashida," he snapped over the vox. "They are performing some sort of blasphemy in there... be ready."

Hefting his chainsword, free hand lifted and wary, he advanced forward.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-02-19 01:19am

Lasbolts and plague bullets flew from the ruined building. The Pox Brotherhood might not be as deadly as the infamous Blood Pact, but they did their share and more besides. The Sword took cover and returned fire.

Yashida did not. The enemy was dug in in a defensive position and was skilled with arms. A stalemate would be disasterous. The Space Marine ordered a covering volley of frag grenades and charged forward. Ristani could be relied upon to follow up just before the right moment.

The grenade volley slowed the incoming fire momentarily. Yashida rose up and advanced. His bolt pistol had been destroyed in the last campaign and was a vastly superior weapon to the plasma pistol, as this struggle was repeatidly demonstrating. If the enemy had been making extensive use of armour assits, it would be a different story, but against line infantry the plasma pistol was a slow firing, low ammo capacity, exercise in overkill. Because of that, he could not add to the surpresssive fire.

He got most of the way there before the enemy began to fire at him. His armour took most of it. One of them level a lasgun with a grenade launcher attachment. He had only one chance. He swept the plasma burst through the laucher's area. The shooter was instantly reduced to char. And the plasma pistol settled into its recharge cycle.

A figure in a filthy robe poked up. And the plasma pistol was still charging. With a bolt pistol he would be just another target. A buzzing filled the air. The air swam. Yoshida felt his balance and coordination faltering and knew, logically speaking, that he was only feeling part of it. The dark power would also be touching the Sword, who were merely human. Yoshida fell behind a piece of rubble. The next move was logical as well.

A huge blast of corruption spewed out of the bunker, drenching staggered members of the Sword. Flesh rotted instantly and maggots burrowed into their victims. The thrashed and fell into the residue of the plague spew, writhing and dying.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-02-19 01:31am

Most of what his armor didn't cover was augmetic and resisted the putrescent touch of the foul ones.

Most.

Prius fell behind a shattered civilian vehicle as a thumb-sized maggot began burrowing into the back of his calf. Dropping his chainsword, he seized the simple combat dagger at his waist, drawing it from its sheath and spearing the disgusting abomination. But the head had firmly rooted itself in muscle and even as the body tore free, he could feel corruption making its way into his body. Rolling, he frantically tore a firestarter element free from his belt kit and flared it to life, before gritting his teeth and jamming it into the cavity of the wound.

"GrrrrrrraaaaaaaRGH," he gasped out as flesh sizzled and pain flared through his flesh.

Never should have had that damned leg reattached! he raged mentally as he caught his breath, chest shuddering. Around him, the Sword had completely stalled out, those who hadn't been incapacitated by the attack trying to see to those who had. He seized his chainsword, ready for whatever unpleasantry was sure to follow.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2005-02-19 02:01am

Yashida Prepared once more to face the enemy, the Lasfire and the curruption had done little to his armour save to damage the artwork of the dragon, entertwining his torso. Save for the bright orange colour, and the symbols of imperium, one might have taken a look at the mask built into the helmet and thought him to be a servant of the adversary. The "daemon face" was more for psychological purposes of those he led and trained.

"Warriors, the host of the adversary has turned this place into death ground, now is the time to fight! We ust stop this abonimation, Take cover and scurge the ground."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-02-19 02:52am

As he finished with his impromptu field surgery, he noticed vapors steaming away from his armour in other places, as the corrupt toxins worked their way through the protection.

Well, he'd gotten through plenty of fights without it... he put his sword down again and quickly began shedding the armour, before the putrescent horror could reach his flesh. He quickly applied the flame to the two patches on his augmetics where the material had seeped in, but it was too late for his concealed boltgun, which was now ruined.

The shipboard armourer had noticed his tendency to go through weapons with the sort of paternalistic disapproval only a member of the Departmento Munitorum could truly project. It was a fortunate thing indeed for the man to not be be here now to witness this particular disaster. At least his chainsword still worked...

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-02-19 03:16pm

Grenade flittered through the air as the Sword counter attacked. Yashida advanced immediately, his armour allowing him to ignore the hail of shrapnel. He took the time, a mere moment, to aim his grenades carefully. They went into gaps in the ruined building before exploding. The Sword added covering fire. A lone fire team advanced behind Yashida. But it was the right team.

As the Space Marine neared the building, ready to burn down anything that showed its head with his plasma weapon, the team got into position. Two hellguns fired rapidly into the gaps. The third trooper raised his weapon. Flame blasted into a gap, spreading out and filling it. He aimed at another hole and fired again.

Many members of the Pox Brotherhood had little feeling left in their disease riddled flesh. But some did. Enough for their agonized screams to be heard by the Sword.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-02-19 04:53pm

Prius followeded just in time to see Yashida's heroics.

It was now or never. Holstering his chainsword, he snagged a hellgun from a fallen Swordsman, offering a quick prayer to commend his soul to the Emperor, before triggering his vox, hoping that somebody among the lost element still had their vox set to the proper channels.

"Sword command to lost children, enemy command and control has been broken."

He rattled off a series of coordinates for a rally point. They would either have to punch through and link up on their own, or fall in the attempt. He could push this shattered unit no further.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-02-21 04:05pm

"Lord, we have lost contact with the commander of the commander of the expeditionary force."

"All contact? Vox and Psychic?" inquired Gathor.

"Yes Lord."

"Very well. Send the Cheron in."

"Yes Lord."

Several minutes latter a tall, birdlike man with vibrant blue skin walked into the warlord's presence. He wore a coat of made up of pieces of different coloured leather sewn together with stitches of different metals. His under robes of brilliant silks glimmered underneath. "Your will, warlord?"

"I am sending in another company of the Pox Brotherhood after the relief column."

"So those Nurglesque fools can fuck it up again?"

"The Pox Brotherhood are able troops, but are clearly outclassed by the Imperials. They must be taken care of before they can do any more damage. As an added bonus, you get to kill some followers of Nurgle. The remnants of the Hive's shell makes heavy artillery bombardment of that area impractical. I want one of your Suicide Puppet Teams."

The Chaos Champion smiled. "Let me guess which one you want."

"Yes, that one. Deploy them to the rear of the Pox Brotherhood reinforcements. Get them close enough and set it off."

"As you will."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-02-25 01:27am

Fire spilled from the ruined building as the sword retreated from it. Yashida had holstered his weapons and taken possession of a Necromundia pattern lasgun which was far superior for engaging normal infantry than his plasma pistol. The Mentor Marine provided covering fire for the withdraw, killing anything that showed its face with lethal bursts of lasfire.

Ristani rallied his troops and linked up with Novum's men. There were mute exchanges as the inquisitor's men fell in. Pater himself was surrounded by an impromptu lifeguard. Corpses shattered by telekinetic blasts or blasted by lasbolts marked the last assault of the Pox Brotherhood on his position.

As they retreated, the heavy weapons teams covered them. Concentrations of the enemy were subject to rocket, heavy stubber, and autocannon fire while several portable motars created a deadly screen of flying fragments. The commanders of the Pox Brotherhood had had enough. Without their leaders driving them on, they would not advance through that hell. The attack stalled as the Imperials slowly retreated.

Things changed when eight men carrying a single sphere arrived. It could be carried by merely one strong man and each one on the servitors carrying it could manage on their own. But each one held it by a handle grip on the sphere. Their minds had been destroyed not by the technologies of the Adeptus Mechanicus, but by the foul sorcery of Chaos. The Pox Brotherhood recognized them and then they knew fear. They began to press the attack.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-02-25 02:02pm

One arm was shattered, and Prius wasn't even entirely sure what did it. It was partially melted, perhaps a lasgun shot. In any event, augmetics didn't feel pain, and he was still functional. That was all that mattered.

He shouted encouragement as they stubbornly gave ground. Seeing Pater alive had buoyed his spirits considerably, proving once and for all that this venture was worth it. The tattered remnants of the Sword pulled back slowly, covering each other as they withdrew. It was a fighting retreat, by the Emperor!

"Rot in the warp, you bastards!" he yelled as he fired the hellgun again and again. At least his remaining augmetic arm was strong enough and stable enough to allow him to fire one-handed with a certain degree of accuracy, even if he did have to put the damned thing down to reload.

Just a little further...

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-02-26 10:31pm

Yashida caught the sudden shift. The Pox Brotherhood had changed stance in less than a minute, from defensive harassing fire to a strong push. Something caused the change.

Fire teams hustled through the motar bombarment to positions behind cover, harassing the Imperials. Not all of them made it. And they were moving at predictable intervals, accompanied by covering fire that ment nothing to Yashida. He gunned down the next two groups from two hundred meters away, switched clips, and voxed the commanders about his suspicions.

"Enemy spearhead inconsistent with established patterns. No signifigant mass of reinforcements detected. Assumption, new element has been added into play. Sorcery, special squad, or heretical tech are the most likely additions."

He switched off his vox and shot a sniper in the head five hundred meters away. The las weapon was performing quite adequetly.

----------------------------------------------------

Major Carbonal stood behind the wrecked building. He was in charge, as far as he could tell. The Puppets were moving ahead, warded by Tzeentchian sorcery. Soon they and their cargo would be delivered to the target area and the enemy, and any Pox Brothers unfortunate enough to be nearby, would be destroyed. Carbonal did not intend to be anywhere close. He turned to his vox officer. "Signal the advance."

------------------------------------------------------

Prius Ristani's nodded as reports came in. A commander could not spend all of his time leading from the front. The enemy was surging on all sides, pushing closer despite heavy loses. His own loses were light. That the Arch-Enemy was insane was a given, but the cunning of those who turned their back on Him on Earth was also proverbial. They were up to something.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2005-02-27 02:44am

The angel's of mercy arrived medical augments were built into the wrists of one arm on all of their white suits of powered armour, the cauducaus and death masques were symbols of their office, as one sister tended to Commisar priaus, the remainder began laying down covering fire with their bolt pistols, and what few grenades they had, They were not sister's militant, but rather apotacary, still they were well traineed in the craft of death, for a pack of healers.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-02-27 06:30am

Prius looked at the nearest ranking trooper.

"Sergeant, assume command of the defense."

As the Sister daubed a foul-smelling antiseptic into one of his wounds, he settled down against the wall and closed his eyes, reaching out. He'd heard Yashida's warning.

Well.

Two could play at that lethal game. He reached out with his senses, attempting to discern what they were bringing forward.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2005-02-27 02:09pm

Sister Brunhilda caught a lasbeam in the face, and fell backwards, her comerades responded with an increase in fire, as a tech sister, with augment's brought up a heavy weapon. The meltabeam, whined as it charged up, pouring hellfire into the area, the sniper was most definatly dead, fragmentation from the exploding debris did not deter the renued assult of the pestillant ones.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-02-27 02:11pm

Lost as he was in his trance, he didn't even notice the corpse of Sister Brunhilda falling across his legs...

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2005-02-27 04:03pm

Varian could feel the surges with in the warp, the distant taint of Chaos sorcery was drifting to him. The very air itself seems to crawl with it, at least to him. It was both a gift and a curse acquired in long training from his late master.

He was needed.

"Judge, gather whatever men you can. We can hide no longer, gather your men. We shall slay the enemy or meet the Emperor this day."

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

Prius found the nest of sorcery, but could go no further. The wards protected the Puppets and Ristani's untutored instincts were no match for the sorcery of Tzeentch. But he could sense them, a tangled knot of fluctuating forces that had moved just behind the Pox Brotherhood's front line.

The Brotherhood was taking a terrible beating. Pater's troops, the Sword, and the mix of determined Sister's Apothecary and power armoured Sisters Militant were extracting a bloody toll on them. Yashida and Novum anchored the line with a combination of inspiring expertise and deadly blasts from Pater's force staff.

As the Pox Brotherhood died in droves, Inquisitor Varian neared the fray. His scratch force was composed of a mere reinforced platoon, mostly PDF. But with him was a fearsome squad of Adeptus Arbites, an elite reaction squad with carapace armour, grenade launchers, battle shotguns, and hellguns. They were the combat elite of the well trained Arbites and carry out the Emperor's Will, no matter what oppossed them.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-03-01 09:11am

His organic eye snapped open. With a grunt of effort he levered Brunhilda's power-armored form off of his legs, rising unsteadily to his feet.

I know where you are.

Triggering his vox, he called for all the remaining mortar assets, and called in a fire mission on the nexus he'd located.

With the grace of the Emperor, there is always a way.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2005-03-01 10:44am

Varian was not a soldier, he knew little of the subtleties of Guard manuvers. He simply followed the advice of his master, "No man can do wrong who assails the Enemy." Using The Will he drove the platoon right into the enemy pounding the Sword.

"For the Emperor" he cried putting the full measure of his power behind that battle cry. "The enemy before you, your home behind. FIGHT MEN OF THE IMPERIUM."

With that he drew his sword, leveled his force rod, and plunged into the enemy. The initial clash was but a blur as he waded in. A heretic lunging here, the enemy driven back viciously wounded by holy powerblade, las blast chewing the ground nearby, and all about the horror of close combat.

We are here to aid you. The Archenemy's witch-magic will be thwarted.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-03-01 11:18am

With Varian's arrival, the last semblance of the mission being a hit and fade disappeared. It was now a deadly struggle from which one side's units would emerge and the other side's wouldn't.

Prius ordered the remnants to strike at one flank, skirting the zone he'd just called a fire mission in on.

"In the name of the Emperor, kill them all!" he yelled.

As Yashida said... in death ground, fight. He hadn't known the Marine was similarly inspired by the works of Warmaster Corzin.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-03-01 06:21pm

Varian's troops had slid around the enemy's side and struck hard without going through the hellish killing ground where the two forces clashed. In moments they were kiling the Pox Brotherhood at close quarters. Frag grenades and Executioner rounds reaped a terrible toll among the Pox Brotherhood. But they were tough troops. They buckled, but held. They struggled back in the viscious close quarters brawl. Pain and shock did not stop them, only death. Maimed and mutilated, they fought on.

As Varian's troops hit the enemy, rockets blazed from two support teams. Mechanicus occult technology met blasphemous chaos sorcery. The Puppets and their cargo were consumed in a huge explosion. Dozens of soldiers of the Pox Brotherhood were consumed by the blast, and others were stunned or wounded. Their front was shattered, one of their flanks was under attack.

Yashida lead the charge. Puss filled bullets splattered off his armour and las bolts carved divots. He kept coming, firing from the hip as he came. By the time he reached the enemy line the power cell was empty and another half dozen of the enemy were dead. Members of the Sword were following up. The killing was about to begin in ernest.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-03-02 08:08am

How long? How many?

It was a blur of pain, fatigue, and anger. The battle had degenerated into a close-quarters brawl. His chainsword out of commission, he'd appropriated a section of pipe and used that to do his bloody work. He stalked forward, two dead Pox warriors behind him giving mute testimony to the fact that Commissar Ristani didn't particularly care what weapon was in his hand, so long as it allowed him to reach the enemy.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-03-03 03:45am

Gathor watched as Cheron writhed on the floor in the throws of sorcerous backlash. He turned to one of his subordinates. "Do not send any more reinforcements."

"My lord?"

"Losses have been to heavy and they are too close to their stronghold. We will only bleed more for even worse results. Let them go."

"Your will, dreadlord."

"And send in all of my commanders, immediately."

"Lord?"

"We cannot allow them to consolidate their position. The obviously are preparing to make this place a foothold for future Imperial assaults. Even if I were inclinded retreat, this city is too close to too many supply routes and bases. No, we must launch a direct attack and crush them before they drop more reinforcements."

"Your will, dreadlord."