Hivers?

With the mutants, their bosses, at least one probable Wyrd according to Kale, some really ugly and usettling see-through-dog-monsters and the really big boss in tow we find a good place to set up an ambush. A large, fairly open place. We let them almost across, getting their scout at point blank range. The firefight is straightforward, we have better discipline, skills and weapons and slaughter them fairly easily. Great killcount, and many chaos worshippers sent back to their disgusting gods.

We keep going through the almost empty hive for days. A few nights someone sees ghost. Don't know what that's about, we might have found out if we followed, but we stay with the exfil plan. A few days in we see a band of mutants, a wyrd and a wagon full of explosives. We hide, and let them pass. Halia nails the wagon with a beautifully placed krak, the explosion is visible for miles. The sound was like having your body used as a bass drum by an ogryn, and was probably noticeable from orbit.

We evaced down a defence corridor that led to a tech-priest research lab. Harkness got us in. We dodged some traps, wasted 4 servitors and found a lot of nice gear, a map of the hive and some patterns that seemed very interesting. We spent the night there.

The following days we kept on going towards a gate, and eventually made sense of the map. When we approach the gate we were planning to use, we saw a Chaos Space Marine leading almost 1000 mutants trying to breach the gate with a gigantic drill. On the map we found an alternate exit, and went for that instead.

When we got out, there was a battle going on between us and the Dominate. We spotted an artillery battery and were able to call in an artillery strike to kill it. Then we exfiled.

Colonel Garn is very happy, and sends to orbit to report to Virpius Actual. Lady General Coldsmith is very happy too, and we are granted medals in a very touching ceremony. I hope I can continue to serve the emperor as efficiently and well as this. Certainly my squad deserves this, they have performed exceedingly well.

When we get back to base, 114th has new orders. We are going back into the hive, to nail the Chaos Marine. Nice. It certainly did not feel right to leave him there. If I had thought we had any chance of getting him, we would have tried. Now the God-Emperor has given me the opportunity to try again.

We get ready for the hive. We are going to support the main charge by taking out some secondary objectives and secure the flank. Specifically we are going to start with a cathedral that contains a major warp source. I'll just try not to think too hard about what that might mean, hopefully it can bleed. If we really apply ourselves and the God-Emperor wills it we can certainly bring it down.

We get in position at the cathedral relatively easy, but before we enter the Commisar attached to the company attaches herself to our squad. An honor, but I am not sure to what extent she will be commanded by a sergeant from Cadia.

We enter the cathedral, and are immediately engaged by three Chaos Spawn. They melee, and are incredibly fast. It turns into a major clusterfuck, but eventually we wear them down. I am taken out by an incredibly heavy hit to the chest, and was really surprised when I discovered I was not dead.

We have to find a few minutes to discuss what we can improve, because our standard tactic of trying to get everything to bear as quickly as possible almost got us wiped before achieving our objective.

Getting down and dirty

So, on to the boring part of warfare: waiting. We set up trenches for cover, hide the Chimera as best we can and set up both short and long range patrols. We know that the heretics are probably out looking for us, but we should be set up well enough for spotting them first and retreating if need be. 

7 days pass without incident when Halia reports back from the OP: convoy spotted! Two big transports with light weaponry and 3 walkers. We could possibly ambush them and capture a few heretics for questioning, but we figure that there's a better chance of getting at the general by following them. The last guy was pretty mental anyway. 

So we set out, with Lorak following at close distance, Halia in the walker a bit further back and the rest of us in the Chimera even further back. We spot 15 guardsmen in all, with 1 walker on guard duty at all times. We follow them for 6 days into the mountains before we start moving downwards again, and we spot the enemy base. Fairly big for being an outpost, situated next to a big cave entrance. All plasteel with a big comms tower capable of long range messages (up to orbit). A lot of stormtroopers (or whatever they're now called, chaos stormers?), a big garage with a Lemann-Russ tank, barracks, armory, the works. We estimate a capacity of around 100 men. 

We quickly discover that we need to establish an OP while keeping the Chimera far back, 2 hours of walking. On the first day we spot around 60 men, with 20 stormers and 2 regimental commanders - quite unusual. No obvious sign of Chaos, mutations or the like. These guys are obviously more subtle of how they worship the ruinous powers. We see 4 guards by the gate and a sniper in the tower. At night, searchlights sweep the compound and nearby area. 

On the second day, we get our chance: the two regimental commanders and a guy with general insignia appears. Seems like the best chance we'll get...at a distance of 300 meters, I don't see any issues with gunning down an unarmored man. I get Bertha into position with the help of Shandra, say a prayer to the God-Emperor to guide my hand and let loose with tightly controlled bursts. Sure enough, the general is ripped into lovely little shreds by the trusty Cadian autocannon - hooah!!! 

We've set up a retreat path towards the Chimera and just start running like crazy up into the mountains. After half an hour we hear the screams of Valkyries...and the sensor plane hovering above them. Spotted, shit! We find cover as best we can as the hellfire missiles turns the world upside down around us, showering us with rubble and dust. No one gets hit at first, but on the second pass Harkness takes an indirect hit but luckily stays on his feet. Somewhat at least...those burns will leave some nasty scars. 

We start spreading out more, presenting fewer targets for each missile. Surely the God-Emperor holds his hand over us, we get three more salvos but miraculously manage to escape without any further injuries. Praise be to Him and the Cadian IG's training! Out of ammo, the valkyries retreat back to the base. We see other heretics milling about far below us, and decide to try to find an entry into the nearby hive. 

After some searching, we find a duct, use the lascutter and enter it, with Halia in front. For some reason all of us forgot to bring rope...but we slash some of our bedrolls and construct a sort of rope so Halia can lower herself to 30 meters or so into the ventilation system. After some searching we find a service entrance and enter it, finding ourselves in a workshop of sorts. Obviously abandoned. We salvage some gear (including rope!) and make our way to the elevator. It's fucked. We get to climbing and discover we're in some sort of tower on the outskirts of the hive proper. Harkness finds a datapad, discovering that the hive was probably abandoned some 250 years ago. Eventually we make our way to the bottom into the middle hive. 

The hive is pretty big, bigger than any of the cities on Cadia. Looming gothic towers can be seen in the darkness, with lots of colored glass and wicked-looking gargoyles. And we're not alone...we see pretty fresh-looking footprints, both human-sized and bigger. Shit. I have a feeling we won't be invited in for tea and biscuits by the inhabitants. 

The hive is mostly completely dark, with the exception of backup emergency lighting here and there. Harkness hacks a small Chimera-like transport (without the weapons), but after driving for a short while we get stuck in traffic that's come to a standstill - literally. Not a soul in sight, but the roads are filled with vehicles. Back to foot we go. 

We see no bodies whatsoever, not even the remains of any. Getting weird this. Peering into a few living quarters, we see signs of normal life like plates on the tables, dishes, dirty clothes, the whole she-bang. It's like someone or something just came in and took away all the people. I've heard that the God-Emperor's light hardly shines when a world is trapped in a warp storm - I pity and sympathize with the long-dead people of this place. May they have found peace in the embrace of our God-Lord in the end. 

We see tracks here and there, and we're obviously on high alert. And sure enough, suddenly we see 6-7 characters at the other end of a bridge. The sarge picks up the magnocular and sure enough, tea is cancelled - I don't think chaos-worshipping mutants have a selected array of biscuits waiting for us either. They carry guns of various sorts, one of them's got a warp amulet of sorts we all recognize from Cadia. 

So, what do you do with Chaos worshippers? Well, they need to die. We rip them to shreds in less than 10 seconds, then retreat into a nearby building. 30 minutes pass..and then a bunch of mutants appear. There's a huge guy the size of an Ogryn with a ton of mutations, obviously the leader. He's got two fucked-up looking dogs on a leash, their innards clearly visible through their transparent skin. Ooook....

We do a tactical retreat to nearby building, heading towards a church. As Halia's about to run across the square leading to it, Kale grabs her and shakes his head gravely. "Chaos awaits us there" he whispers hoarsely. I don't mind getting very personal with Chaos fiends, but finding a better place to do the fighting seems prudent. A few minutes later we find just such a spot. The enemy's forced to cross some open space while we have pretty good options for cover. Doubt we'll be able to pick them all off at a distance but fuck it, praise be and let's kill some mutant scum! 

Into The Fray

Hooah - praise be to the Emperor!

After what feels like an eternity aboard the Victory, Blood and Thunder (or the long version, the 114th Cadian mechanized infantry regiment) have finally arrived at our goal - Virbius. Apparently this is a planet in the Calixis Sector that recently appeared after being lost in a warp storm.

Sergeant Mordecai tells us our target are a bunch of dangerous heretics called the Severin Dominate that have refused the glorious light of the God-Emperor. Personally I would have preferred to stay on Cadia kick some warp scum ass (preferably some small ones to start with...), but obviously we do what we're told. The Departmento Munitorum would not send us away without good reason, so I assume these Severin guys pose a grave threat and are in serious need of a meet and greet with a hail of autocannon bullets.

We are to meet up with the Maccabian Janissaries' 37th regiment, who apparently have fucked shit up but good. The sarge says they had the upper hand on the infidels, but the Lord-General decided to wait on reinforcement to make sure victory was a given. In the mean time the Doms (as I've taken to calling the Severin Dominate) got up to some heretical shit and bounced back. Or something to that effect. Either way, we're now in a stalemate and they need the help of the glorious Cadian 114th, aka the best guardsmen in the Empire. I'm excited to fight alongside our holy brothers - they actually live on Maccabia!

The deployment goes well, and we land on a planet that, to be fair, looks a lot better than Cadia. Gently rolling hills, a nice sun and balmy temperatures greet us as we exit. Needless to say, we speed away to our base in our Chimera to beat those dirty bastards in the fifth squad. Equally needless to say, we win. The base is huge, compromised entirely of plasteel containers. Quick and dirty. We see a lot of wounded being treated. Nothing any of us Cadians haven't seen before of course, and the injuries seem normal.

Around five minutes after arriving, the sarge is called away. A few minutes later he comes back and informs us that we have our first mission already. We're to report to forward operating base Epsilon 12, a good four hours away. The sarge from the fifth passes by on their way into camp, and of course Mordecai gets into it with him about our kill count. Seriously, I think he'd kill one of us if it meant securing victory...guy gives me the chills. At least he seems decently competent at his job. We'll see how he pans out in the field..


Epsilon 12
We get the chimera ready and roll out. The terrain we pass through is mostly more of the same, fairly untouched by battle, just by wheel tracks. We get to Ep 12 without incident. The sarge and big sis head off the see the CO, while the rest of us chill out for the time being. After all this time aboard the Victory I gotta say, I'm excited to be up and about!

The sarge gets back and breaks it down. Apparently we're going on a guerrilla mission of sorts. Huh. Not the type of thing you usually see Cadian IG doing. Anyways, this is what's what on operation Hammerfall:

• General info: the Janns have been stuck here for a few months, taking heavy casualties. The advance grinded to a halt a few months ago. Apparently the enemy's gotten hold of some unholy weapons, entire platoons of ours have been wiped off the map or simply disappeared. 
• The CO of Ep 12 is colonel Raxe Garn, a grizzled old Jann with 40 years experience. 
• Our primary mission is the capture or kill of the enemy's general, Harvax Scarrus. He's located somewhere in a mountain range behind enemy lines. 
• The secondary mission is to disrupt enemy supply lines and kill anyone we encounter. 
• The tertiary mission is the locate the last squad sent out to get the general. No info given. 
• We are to maintain vox silence at all times

Mkay...we're Cadian IG but still kinda green so I dunno, seems like a pretty tall order...but of course, an order's an order and I'm sure (ish) the higher ups know what they're doing. If anyone can do it, it's the 1st of Blood and Thunder! 

We prepare to roll out, getting some extra equipment (among them a missile launcher, bwahaha). We notice a few locals arriving on some bikes and enter the colonel's tent. Big sis checks with some of the Janns, apparently they worship an aspect of the God-Emperor and the Ecclesiarchy has deemed this to be a-ok. Good enough for me. 

Curiosity gets the better of me, and me and sis roll over to talk to these guys. They speak broken low Gothic, but perfectly understandable. We get some intel on the planet, which is always an advantage. Learned well enough that local knowledge will save your life back when the Chaos warriors hit our village way back when...

Anyway, this is what they tell us: 

• The planet is plagued by apparently random lightning storms. If your hair starts standing up, it's time to HAUL ASS in any random direction to avoid instant vaporization. Not quite as bad as the warp storm back home, but nice to know. 
• The mountain range where the general is said to be located is apparently the site of "evil spirits" and is considered off limits to the locals. They don't go into detail. 
• The enemy operate in 6-7 man teams. There's "a lot" of them. 
• There are abandoned hives on Virbius - the locals stay away from them. 
• The locals are organized in nomadic tribes, centered around ancient transports of various sizes. Sounds like Imperial tech by the sound of it, and their bikes sure look like it as well. 

We get the bright idea of hiring one of them as a scout, given that they already cooperate with the Janns. The sarge is a bit skeptical, but relents. Given that the clerics say that they're fine, I don't see the problem - aren't we all in the Emperor's light? 

Behind enemy lines

We rest up for the day, then head out, with Lorak, son of Kulk, as our guide on his bike. He's satisfied with some rations and a bunch of lho sticks for his services. The first day goes without incident. The second day, however, Lorak speeds back, telling us that there's a team of Doms on the way. The sarge lights up, barking orders to find a place for an ambush. I thank the Emperor for giving us a chance to show our worth and get behind the autocannon. 

Everything works out perfectly. The Doms don't spot us, and we slaughter 9 of them without getting a scratch. One is left alive, and the sarge gets to work on his interrogation skills. Unfortunately the Dom seems pretty demented. He insists that it's US who have fallen to Chaos, specifically the Lord-Commander of the Calixian Sector, Hax. THEY are the Empire, and WE are the heretics! Come on buddy...he's never even heard of Cadia or the Cadian IG! He's just a kid and seems scared out of his wits, so it seems like he thinks this is the truth. Obviously his mind has been twisted by his fallen leaders, that's the only explanation I can think of. 

For the time being though, we have more pressing concerns - he tells us that the rest of his platoon is but a mere 10-15 minutes away. Taking on an entire platoon seems slightly optimistic (probably?) and is not our primary objective, so we get Lorak to find a route around them and set out. Damn, this is taking a turn for the weird already.