anyhow its a hit and miss series amongst hit and miss series, with quality largeyl dependent upon the author. Some, like Rynn's World nad Helsreach, I found to be rathre enjoyable. Others were pretty blah, and the 'extra's' don't really make them worth the price. But there are some techy bits, which is of course one reason why I bother with these.
The first book in the series was Rynn's World, which covers the events pertaining to the Crimson Fists and the destruction of their Fortress monastery during an Ork invasion. The story largely covers the events before and after, which in a way divides the story into a 'before' and 'after' comparison. The second one tends to be the more interesting, as the Fists are put in a difficult position - they've lost a huge chunk of their Chapter and their base of operations in the midst of a massive invasion. Do they try to preserve their own forces, or do they do what Space Marines are supposed to, and act as the defenders of humanity? In some ways I see this as a continuation of ADB's short story 'One Hate' and a counter to the Suol Drinker depiction of 'Crimson TEars.' As a start to the series it isn't bad, although IMHO Helsreach was far better.
Part 1
Page 8
2 weeks between badlanding and Rynn's world.I know that Rynn’s World is not far from here, barely two weeks’ travel as the warp flows.
Page 18
Estimated loss rates of Crimson fists up to this point. How many scores.. I dont know.Every century, scores of Crimson Fists gave their lives in battle to protect the Imperium from the foul maladies that infected it.
Page 28-29
Security measures of message couriers. Probably psychic related, but an interesting feat nonetheless.“I was placed in trance for the imprinting, lord, so the content is unknown to me. I know only what the Monitor told me."
...
"I shall sign the activation code to you now. Speak it back to me, lord, and I will automatically recount the message.”
...
The serfs body immediately stiffened as if it had just received a massive electric shock. His head rolled to one side, his eyes glazed over, and he began speaking in a voice that bore no resemblance whatsoever to the one he had used only moments before.
Page 38-39
Imperial shuttle.The Peregrine was a fine craft, almost thirty metres long, he judged, and perhaps fifteen in height, with a wingspan to match.
Page 42-43
The Crimson Fist fortress monastery is built from components (armour weapons)f rom the starship. What kinds of weapons and armor and to what degree we don't know.The walls, like the gates, had been built from the stuff of Rutilus Tyrannus, and were studded all along their length with devastating longrange weaponry, much of which had no doubt once graced the port and starboard batteries of the ship.
Page 54
Implies at least several dozen or so LY.. but probably more like several hundred betwene Charadon and badlanding. I suspect the distance between Badlanding and Rynn's world is less.. edge of the sector to wherever in the Loki Sector Rynn's world is.. at least maybe 10 but less than 200 LY away. two weeks at that is thousands of c probably.Give or take a dozen light-years, Badlanding essentially lay on a straight line between the Rynnstar system and the domain of Charadon, a star cluster that was
absolutely infested with the savage beasts.
..
..a Waaagh was indeed gaining momentum on the fringes of the sector, then the Crimson Fists were the only force within a year’s warp travel that had a chance of reacting in time and with the appropriate level of force.
Rather interesting they're the only force within a year's warp travel that coudl fight back.. at least against a WAAAGH. couldn't they amass temporary forces from local planets/PDFs to assist? Perhaps the nature of the Astartes relationship to the imperium means they have to petition headquarters directly or something.
Page 56
Attempts at Astartes breeding programs. Didn't pan out.It was Traegus who had initiated the controversial breeding programmes—programmes by which the Chapter’s failed aspirants, those who had survived the trials and had not been rendered sterile, were bred with women of suitable genetic stock in the hope of creating male offspring strong enough to swell the ranks of the Chapter one day as full Astartes. Unfortunately, the results had been unpredictable and disappointing.
Page 58
2 AU warp emergence point from Rynn's world.. mayb 3 Au total distance. Also a freighter carried the message in 2 weeks from badlanding to Rynn's world.“At 07:58hrs on this Day of Foundation, our near-space communications array received and decoded a pulse-burst signal with an Omega-level Imperial encryption key. The signal was broadcast repeatedly at fifteensecond intervals, originating from a commercial transport that slid from the warp two astronomical units outside the orbit of Phraecos.”
This probably represents a "backup" means of communcation, an impromptu courier service (playing mailman in other words) either when ships just briefly drop out of the warp, or when they come in system.
Page 60
Travel time form Rynn's World to badlanding. Same as for the freighter.“If the warp is calm, and the tides and eddies favour us, one of our cruisers could reach high orbit around the target planet in approximately three hundred and sixty-eight standard hours.”
“That’s almost two weeks,”
...
“If the warp is turbulent,” Adon continued, “and the tides are against us, the journey could take many times longer. A worst-case scenario is beyond my ability to accurately calculate with the information I currently have. Perhaps the Master of the Librarius would offer comment.”
Page 60
Librarian meteorlogical services.“Local warpflow appears relatively untroubled at this time. The Librarius has detected no significant disturbances that would present a problem to travel.”
Page 61
Fastet ship in the Crimson Fist fleet."I shall send The Crusader. Of all our fleet, she is the most reliable when a swift warp transit is of the essence.”
Page 69
unnautral (physical) aging of AstropathsHe looked to be well into his ninth decade of life when, in fact, he was a mere forty-four years old.
Page 70
There is no stealthy astrotelepathy.“Nothing, captain, can cover an astropathic transmission. The moment I attempt to send any kind of word out, every ork psyker on those ships will know exactly where we are, I promise you. If you wish me to manipulate the ether without alerting our foes, we must return to the far fringes of the system where we last exited the warp. From there, I might safely send word, but no nearer. It would invite a ship-to-ship conflict that you and I both know we would not survive.”
Page 71
16 Battleship analogues.“Sixteen ork battleships that we can see,” said Werner, meeting his captain’s gaze, “and that’s just on this side of the planet. Five of those are equivalent in size to the Navy’s Emperor-class ships, and each of those, knowing the greenskin propensity for arms over armour, almost certainly has the edge in firepower."
Page 73
Somehow (coueriers perhaps, although that doesnt seem likely in context) Snagrod is transmitting comms messages to orks throughout the sectors to join his WAAAGH. MAybe they think its red, and its going faster?"The message is intended for all ork parties currently active in the spinward sectors of the Segmentum Tempestus and the trailward sectors of the Ultima Segmentum. It instructs all ork ships in these sectors to rally under the banner of the Arch-Arsonist. It also declares that Snagrod’s Waaagh has begun, that it cannot be stopped, and that it is the divine will of the ork gods, Gork and Mork.”
Page 74
Orks being organic need water. Which makes sense.“Badlanding is a practically a dead world. Most of the water there is lethally toxic, and orks need potable water just as much as the human settlers did. Krugerport has a single large purification facility.”
Page 78
Crimson Fists Scout gear....stalking alien sentries with his silenced bolt-rifle slung over his back, combat knife in hand, eyesight augmented by the sensitive optical lenses of his nightvision goggles. Already, he had silenced the grunting breaths of half a dozen filthy greenskin scum.
Page 79
The nerve centre seeems to be the weak point of all Orks (obivously) whethre it s ahead shot or the spine or whatever.When it had, they slid into the town in silence, killing the orks they caught unawares by thrusting their long combat knives neatly between the third and fourth vertebrae as they had trained so relentlessly to do.
With their nerve bundles neatly severed, the orks went down quick and quiet, the trademark kill of a true Astartes Scout.
Page 80
VR like sensorium link training.Two of them had only ever experienced the slaughter of a greenskin through the sensorium-link downloads available in the Chapter’s Librarium, but they had bloodied themselves for real this night, and there was more killing to come.
Page 82
goggle laser rangefinder range.To the north, almost eight kilometres away according to the laser rangefinder incorporated into his goggles..
Pag e82
Orks eating humans. And humans smell like Grox, meaning Grox (or at least some) are a kind of pig/pork productThe orks had
spitted meat over these. It hung roasting, licked by orange flames, and Mishina noted with revulsion and anger that some of those spits carried hunks of meat that bore the unmistakable silhouette of human limbs.
The smell corroborated his worst suspicions. The scent was close to that of roasted grox, but sharper in the nostrils. He had smelled it before, a funeral pyre
stink.
Page 83
opticla magnitication of scout goggles.Turning away from the sight, and zooming out to normal magnification again, he tracked right and found what he was looking for. To the east, nine-point-six
kilometres away...
Page 84
Intersting form of marker. Also Astartes helms have infrared.He led his Astartes through the breach in the curtain wall that Mishina and his Scouts had marked out for them. Orks wouldn’t see those marks. The Scouts left little splashes of a liquid that was only visible in infrared. The helmet visors of the Crimson Fists picked up those splashes as if they were blazing neon lights..
Page 85
Breathable, habitable planets are less than 1% of the galaxy (far less) - millions or a few billion tpops. Also implies millions of human worlds, which may mean humans of Imperial worlds....the atmosphere was breathable, which made it a relatively rare and valuable find among the millions of worlds man had discovered since the first days of his expansion into space. Despite the vast size of the Imperium, the ratio of naturally habitable worlds to non-habitable was far below one per cent.
Page 89
Implied sniper range for Scouts.“About one kilometre out from our objective now. Scouts moving into sniping positions. Ork presence minimal so far, but I don’t think it’ll stay that way for long.”
Pag e92
Range of scouts between each other. Again has implications for sniping range.Kennon was currently crouching on the corner of a dust-covered rooftop about eight hundred metres to the north-west of Mishina’s current spot, covering the ork
defensive post on top of the comms tower from a western flanking position.
Page 93
Ork size and durability commentary.Ulis was a Dreadnought, one of the Chapter’s revered Old Ones, and about four metres across from shoulder to shoulder. The largest ork Mishina had ever seen in person had been almost three metres across. It had taken a direct hit from a Predator tank to slay that bastard.
Page 99
Ork vs bolt pistolThe beast had covered ten more metres, lumbering forward on legs as thick as a man’s torso. He fired, and a bolt thundered into the centre of the creature’s sloping
forehead.
It kept running. Orks didn’t go down easily. A second later the exploding bolt blew out the creature’s brain, and its heavy, headless corpse hammered against the
dusty street spouting thick red blood.
Page 100
Lascannon slices legs off of a Space Marine.The first he knew of his attacker was when the bright beam of its lascannon—a weapon pilfered from the fallen Imperial Guard forces—sliced through both of his knees, cutting bone, flesh and ceramite armour with ease.
Cero tumbled to the surface of the street, roaring in agony, his cropped legs gushing hot blood.
Page 102
Scout sniper rifle. Described as a bolt weapon. Apparently it ejects casings (we have exmaples of this more than once throughout the novel. As well as on the cover.)Suddenly, its head snapped backwards, a neat hole punched in its right temple. It fell to its knees. A moment later, its head burst in a shower of red gore and chips of bone.
...
Four brass casings landed at his feet. Four orks dropped, their meaty carcasses tripping those closest behind them.
Page 104
Range of a bolt pistol.. at least 200 metres, probably more. May reflect ranges from earlier as well, since the death of the Captain and Cero losing his lgs all happened in a fairly short timeframe.Brother Cero was still alive down there, his lower legs shorn off at the knee, unable to escape without aid. He cradled the armoured body of his dead captain in his left arm. In his right hand, he gripped the captain’s boltpistol.
...
The orks were closing in unopposed now, less than two hundred metres away from Cero..
Page 109-110
to be fair we dont know HOw they intend to turn it to molten slag, but its telling that they feel they need the whole fleet to do it. Usually you only need one ship (or a squadron of escorts) to deploy Exterminatus munitions - one ship should be more than enough in that case (CF Black Tide, etc.) That would tend to suggest a large fleet of ships for bombardment purposes (and quite probably in a fairly short period of time.)“We go back in with as much of the fleet as we can. We cut their ships to pieces and turn the whole planet into a ball of molten slag.”
...
“And perhaps you, my invincible brother, would explain to the High Lords of Terra why a world with a breathable atmosphere and valuable raw resources was made worthless to the Imperium. I would gladly travel with you just to see their reaction.”
There's always the possibility of "to break through the fleet" but frnakly the Orks manage to overwhelm them later on so I doubt the whole Crimson Fist fleet would have been able to wipe them out and then slag the planet.
So in any case, we don't know the manner, and we can only guess at timeframe (and approximately sat size of elet) of the bombardment (Exterminatus) but the Crimson Fist fleet packs planet-slagging/killing firepower (well into the petaton range) in some fashion.
Page 110-111
6-10 days for Orks to arrive near to Rynn's World."No communication from the Naval auspex posts at Dagoth, Cantatis III, Heliod or Gamma Precidio, either. Our entire eastern border has gone dark. Even factoring in unpredictable warp currents, I would give us no more than ten days to prepare. Depending on which systems are the next to fall, it could be as little as six.”
Also note mention of a naval auspex post.. I wonder what sort of range they actually expect such to have?
10-20 LY range.. 300-600c velocity for Orks.
Page 111
40-55 hours to reach in system from warp emergence point. Assuming 2 AU emergence point (same as the freighter before) we're talking 4-6 gees of sustained acceleration, and at op velocity of 1.4%c. At closer to 2 billion km, we're talking 30-45 gee accelerations and 10% of c.“Since the enemy has already expressed his plans to come to us, the warp will work to our advantage. The ork ships will have to translate back into real space relatively far from any significant gravity wells, just as our own ships must. That factor alone should give us between forty and fifty-five hours during which we can tag, track and analyse the ork fleet and configure our own high orbital response accordingly.
Page 112
Rynn's world has ~200 million people.Eight per cent of the Rynnite populace lived in New Rynn City and the surrounding environs—over sixteen million people. The second largest city on the planet was home to less than three million. Most of those who lived outside the cities were indentured workers serving in the tens of thousands of agri-communes that covered the arable land on three continents.
Page 113
If they're in a nother system w e're probably tlaking at least 1200-1800c“Most of the fleet is within a few days’ warp travel. In a way, my lord, we are fortunate that this crisis comes so soon after the Day of Foundation. Our ships have
not had time to disperse all that widely. Most can be called back in time.”
Page 119
Astartes scout converted into gun-servitor. What's interesting is that a.) his skills apparently translate over to the servitor (good accuracy, in this case.) despite being mindwiped. Servitors can last for a thousand years (at least in this case, which may be due to the origins of the body). Lastly, I wonder if using a scout's body as servitor stock (with the implants) confers greater abilities over a regular body converted to servitor.“The process of mind-ripping is painful. I shall not lie to you, my brother. But it will be mercifully short."
...
“Kennon’s innate skills may still be utilised. They need not be lost. As a gun-servitor, he will serve the Chapter for a thousand years, and, on his decommissioning...
Page 125
Antigrav support for landing craft.The spaceport often played host to far bigger, noisier craft than Thunderhawks. Aside from its many ground-level airstrips, the gargantuan structure boasted three vast, thick cylindrical towers, each topped with circular landing plates supported by anti-grav suspension. They could provide berths for even the largest trans-atmospheric craft.
Page 127
Height of Rynn's worlder compared to Alvez. Also Rynn's world has at least several Garrison regiments."...commanding officer of the Rynnland Second Garrisoning Regiment, Soroccan Defensive Operations Group..."
...
Cantrell, who, at one hundred and seventy-eight centimetres, came up only as high as the embossed eagle on the Astartes captain’s chest
Page 129
Things an Astartes has no interest in :d..but excesses of worship, love and attention soon became a hindrance, with hourly offerings of luxury foodstuffs, expensive silks, religious trinkets, alcohol, narcotics, even women—none of which an Astartes had any use for in the slightest.
Page 140
A rather interesting idea, and a rather non-grimdark one. I rather like Huron Grimm for this, and it reminds me of the ADB Crimson Fist short story really (as opposed to Ben Counter's Captain Reinez...)So it was with the Imperial Guard, the Navy, the clandestine but powerful forces of the Holy Inquisition. Even the Ecclesiarchy had its fighters. Their blood was the coin by which the realm survived. War on the fringes kept the core safe.
...
...people needed heroes to believe in more than ever.
...
They were the closest living link to the Divine Emperor that these people would see in their lifetimes.
...
If the Astartes were real, then the Emperor was, too. And if the Emperor was real, humanity could still dare to hope for its eventual salvation...
..
Holier men than Huron Grimm called it faith.
It also suggests that the fringes of the Imperium - the "frontier" sees far more conflict than the interior (the core.. like Segmentum solar)
Page 141
Children seeing space marines.Others waved frantically from the shoulders of their fathers, desperate to be acknowledged by the armoured giants they recognised from their
storybooks and history lessons.
Page 142
Another reason to like Grimm. he's another of those Space marines who cares about the people he protects. He's not just the grim avenging angel of death badass kill machine, he takes his duties as protector and defender seriously. It's mentioned earlier that he belives this is what Space Marines were made for - they were defenders of the people.. the Imperium is made up of the common citizens.Two hundred million people on this world. Two hundred million lives in the balance. He’d seen what the orks did to the helpless.
...
In the image, he saw the girl looking at him again, but her blue eyes were lifeless. Her blonde hair burned as he watched. He saw her flesh crisping and realised she had been spitted. She was being cooked over an open fire.
Again as well the implication Orks will consume human flesh.
Page 147
the implied gaps in space are at least thousands if not tens of thousands of km (thousands if they had 10x more ships than they do, which suggests the gaps would be 10x greater now.Even with ten times more ships available to the Chapter, the gaps in the defence grid would still measure many thousands of kilometres across.
Page 148
Ork spore reproduction. Fists intend to wipe them out immediately on landing to prevent this.The orks must not gain any solid foothold here. Their spores, if left unchecked, will spread on the winds and blight our world for decades to come.
Page 149
hundreds of thousands of km "battle line" composed of Chapter ships and System defence forces. Earlier they mentioend being "thousands" of km apart.. if we assume 10K km separation and a 500,000 km "battle line" we're talkin some 50 starships. I'd guess its a safe bet for at least dozens of system defence ships.High above the planet’s surface, he knew, the Chapter’s ships, along with the System Defence Fleet—an armada of warp-incapable battleships under the auspices of the Imperial Navy—would be slowly shifting into place, forming a battle-line that measured hundreds of thousands of kilometres.
Also the Navy is creweing system defence ships.. they man all space assets in some systems it seems, from sublight to warp capable.
Page 150
Imperial propoganda constantly under-rating the Ork threat, while practical knowledge (amongst the troops) teaches otherwise. Indeed Kantor respects them as an enemy, and their danger.Across the Imperium, the vast Munitorum propaganda machine was relentless in presenting the orks as inferior, dull-witted, bestial foes with only the most rudimentary understanding of what it took to win a protracted war. The filthy xenos were driven by instinct, their tiny brains incapable of tactical analysis and response.
For the most part, the propaganda was close to the truth. The average ork got by on muscle, resilience and raw savagery—little else. But Snagrod was clearly anything but average. He had already proved that. Centuries of fighting the greenskins had taught Kantor not to be hasty in underestimating those that climbed to the rank of warlord. The forty-first millennium had seen increasingly disturbing proof that, out there among the millions of disparate ork tribes, there were increasing numbers of individuals that represented a threat unlike anything the Imperium had faced since the dark days of the Heresy.
Also millions of Ork tribes.
Page 152-153
The Orks pull a crazy strategy and emerge 150,000 km from the planet. This is flat out stated as impossible (well suicidal) because of the unacceptable loss ratio it would inflict on an Imperial captain, which echoes Savage Scars and 2.3 million km being insanely close and only possible due to high end Inquisitor vessels. Orks, however build their vessels from asteroids and scrap and gneerally dont care about losses so this works fine.“The orks, Selig. The Waaagh! It’s here. They’re already in-system!”
Torres shook his head. “Impossible, lord. They can’t be. How far out are they? Forty hours? Fifty?”
“That’s the worst of it,” said Kantor through gritted teeth. “Three.”
“Three?” gasped Torres. “That would mean…”
...
“It’s insane. Suicidal. Their entire force just burst from the warp only a hundred and fifty thousand kilometres from the planet. Our ships are already turning to engage."
...
No Imperial fleet would exit this close to a major gravity well. It would tear half the ships apart.
Dare he hope that the same might be happening to Snagrod’s ships even now? It was impossible to believe they would come through such a reckless jump unharmed.
Warp exits were impossible to stabilise this close to a star.
Also gravitational fields/wells can disrupt warp portals
150K km is also 3 hours from the planet.. which is a velocity of about... 14 km/s
Page 157
Civilian cities have void shielding.. or at least some buildings/forts there do.He knew, for instance, that the walls of the Silver Citadel, within which lay the Cassar, the governor’s palace, and the parliament buildings, employed void-shields like those of Arx Tyrannus. And Arx Tyrannus could never fall. It was unassailable.
Page 168
A rather lopsided odds ration.. there are thousands of Ork ships (tens of thousands?) which again suggests dozens of defensive ships. And yet they're standing up pretty well against the Orks.Ranparre felt the artificial gravity flicker for the briefest instant, and knew from long experience that his battle-barge, The Sabre of Scaurus, must have been hit amidships, close to where the critical systems were located. The ship’s shielding was heaviest there, but it couldn’t take impacts like that for long. The void shields would give out soon.
The Astartes and Imperial Naval ships were outnumbered a hundred to one, and more of the ugly, scrappy ork vessels were bleeding into the system every minute the battle raged on.
Also void shield pwoer is not uniform across a starship.. it can be stronger in certain areas.
Page 168
impact of destroyed ships. Assuming a 11 km/s impact velocity and a 2 million ton ship... we're talking double digit megatons..a number of neatly severed prows had tumbled past him..
...
Some of them would impact on the planet with the all the explosive power of a long-range, high-yield missile. There was nothing Ranparre and his crews could do about that. Blasting those wrecks to pieces would only turn one deadly mass into many. Besides, every last bit of offensive firepower at their command was needed to fight off the greater threat of the manned alien vessels that were trying to fight their way through.
Page 169
Forward lance batteries fire across 10,000 km range.“I have your forward firing solution, my lord. Permission to fire forward lances?”
...
The central display screens in front of him crackled with blinding white energy as the massive weapons loosed their fury. Thick spears of light burned across ten thousand kilometres. A dozen small ork fighters and support craft caught between the two closing flagships were obliterated, simply wiped from existence.
Page 170
Separation of other ships, which may provide bombardment aid. and again the degree of outnumbered-ness.“Does my lord wish to issue a call for further support?” asked one of the commsoperators.
“The battle-barge Tigurius is only twenty thousand kilometres away. Strike cruisers Hewson and Maqueda are six and nine thousand kilometres away
respectively.”
...
The planetary blockade was fracturing in countless places as the ork vessels ploughed in amongst the Imperial ships on a hundred different assault vectors at once.
Page 171
Impiles a 100-gun broadside for a strike cruiser.Ranparre turned his attention to the Hewson and saw that she, at least, was doing better. She rolled to her right and launched a blistering broadside just as a monstrous ork craft attempted to pass by overhead. The enemy’s iron belly was punctured in a hundred places, shedding thick pieces of bulkhead into space.
Page 172
time needed to charge lances to max power.“Prow batteries at maximum charge in eighty-three seconds, my lord,”
Page 183
It's possible to detect psychically (and direct psychically) ships and firepower to specific threats, but if the warp is disturbed, it won't do much good.“Can you pinpoint him?” asked Kantor. “If we could guide the remainder of the fleet in on him before he makes planetfall—”
Mendoza shook his shaved head. “The warp is in turmoil all around us, torn open so close and in so many places. It will take days, perhaps even weeks before we can read its flows and eddies again with any accuracy. I can sense Snagrod’s foul aura out there among all the psychic death screams, but that is all.”
Page 185
Kar duniash is some 40-50 thousand LY away from Rynn's World, according to the 5th edition maps. The distacne that needs to be covered. I do wonder why they have to rush to Segmentum headquarters for aid. Can not nearby sector battlefleets lend aid? Perhaps Tyranid forces in or around the region have drawn such forces off, leaving no reserves available."Order The Crusader to reposition. She is to make for Segmentum Headquarters and solicit aid. I will not let pride to be our undoing.”
..
“She cannot possibly jump this close to a gravity well, my lord,”
...
“Then commit all remaining ships to getting her through. She will have to risk the jump. Many of Snagrod’s ships survived it. She can, too."
Also the Crusader can and does manage to jump out somet 150,000 km away from the planet. It's risky, but possible.
Page 192
Void shields protecting the fortress monastery. They cannot fire missiles or energy fire outside the shields.None struck the fortress-monastery. Those that should have done exploded harmlessly a half a kilometre above Kantor’s head, unable to penetrate the powerful
void-shield defence system that protected Arx Tyrannus.
Every explosive impact on the shimmering shields caused the landscape below to flicker bright as day.
With the void-shields at full power, the air became close and clammy, almost oppressive, and there was a constant loud hum in the air, discernible in the spaces
between the thunder of the relentless barrage.
...
The moment the bombardment ended, the void shields would be lowered to allow return fire.
Page 197
Surface to space missiles. they must be at leats 5 m in diameter.. maybe 20-30 m long. Too small to be torpedoes if so. and they don't accelerate verey fast either.From the top of a tower sixty metres to Kantor’s right, a great cloud of steam billowed up into the air. A circular hatch in the tower roof, one metre thick and five metres across, hinged open with a hydraulic hiss.
...
...hatches rising to reveal the blunted noses of surface-to-orbit ballistic missiles, each equipped with the most devastating conventional warheads available.
...
The deafening roar of plasma-jet rockets intensified in pitch, and the nose of the missile nearest to Kantor slowly rose into view. Its acceleration seemed painfully slow at first. It wrestled with gravity, fighting to heave its bulk into the air. More and more of the missile emerged from the silo, and its speed continued to increase. Gravity was losing. The missile burst clear of the silo...
Page 207
The munitions sotres, triggered by the missile, blow up at least part of the mountain and the fortress monastery. Hard to calc since we dont quite know the nature of the warhead (omnidirectional, or shaped charge.) nor exactly what comprised the munitions stored belowground (or in what quantities even.)One of the missiles from the other side of the fortress monastery had suddenly changed vector.
..
The missile corkscrewed in the air above the Arx Tyrannus for a brief moment.
Time seemed to slow down for Cortez as he watched, helpless to do anything. Then the missile plunged deep into the mountainside, its powerful thrusters forcing that
armour-piercing nose-cone through metre after metre of rock. The mountain shook.
...
When the missile reached a depth of two-hundred metres beneath the rock on which Arx Tyrannus stood, it detonated, igniting the Chapter’s ancient underground munitions stores one after another.
Page 213
Storm bolter penetration. Equalls the "eight inch of plasteel" penetration mentioned long ago in an earlier source.The weapon was large, much larger than a standard bolter, and fitted with a heavy box magazine. They made a nasty mess of organic targets and its oversized bolts could rip through the side of a tank if they had to.
Page 218
Kantor's primary weapon. It fires via MIU link or something. he shoots it by thinking.It was trying to take Dorn’s Arrow, but the relic storm-bolter was fixed tight to the back of Kantor’s left gauntlet
Page 218
Radiation sensors in power armor. Apparently the warhead detonation has some lingering radiation side effects. Either that or something in the munitions stockpile did.His suit registered elevated background radiation and several weaknesses in his cooling systems...
Page 219
Remains of the Fortress Monastery.Even through the thick veils, he could see that the destruction of his beloved home was almost total. He stood on the far side of the western chasm, close to its edge, and beheld a scene his mind desperately wished to deny. Something had wiped Arx Tyrannus from the face of the planet. Whatever had done so had presumably thrown him clear across the chasm and onto the mountain’s western slope.
...
Kantor saw that the walls, the gates, the bastions, tower and keeps, all were no more. Arx Tyrannus had been reduced to jagged spurs of steel and stone, jutting from the rubble like so many broken teeth. Here and there, he spotted familiar things in unfamiliar states, the remains of glorious works reduced to wreckage. He saw a great stone block standing tall among its shattered neighbours, its surface embossed with a pattern of carved skulls. It had been part of the towering north-western archway. Now it was part of nothing. To the right of it, he saw a figure in black marble, slumped awkwardly amid tumbled iron beams, its hands and head shorn off.
Page 221
Dorn's Arrow bolter.Kantor fired again, targeting centre mass, catching the ork on the right twice in the torso. The rounds detonated and split the creature’s body apart.
Pag e221
Power fist on ork. It isnt exactly explosive, but roughly comparable to grenade-like damage.The instant it passed, he stepped forward, activating the energy field of the power fist on his right hand, and launched a lethal uppercut that cored the xenos beast like an apple.
Its hollowed form collapsed to the rocky ground, steam rising from the gaping cavity in its chest.
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Implications about the effects of the shipkiller missile. Again bearing in mind the qualifiers I noted before. For that matter the Index Astartes entry for the Crimson fists noed other details (like safey measures such as shields and stasis fields going on as I recall.)“One of our own missiles, Pedro. By the blasted bones of the Scythians, it was one of our own damned missiles! Rhava and I saw it just before it hit. It hammered straight into the mountainside.”
...
“A ship-killer couldn’t have wreaked so much devastation on its own,” Cortez offered. “It must have detonated our underground munitions stores. A massive chain reaction is the only thing that would explain such a… catastrophe.”
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Rosarius.It was a rosarius, a protective amulet given to all Chaplains on full acceptance into the Sacratium. In these times, its ancient technology was only barely understood.
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The Chaplain had been alive for (at least) 5 centuries.Tomasi had been ministering to the souls of his fellow Crimson Fists since long before either Kantor or Cortez were even born—almost five hundred years of unswerving loyalty and honour.
