40K RPG Imperial Side: Act 1

[Skringly]

This is the long awaited 40K RPG. Please do not post in this if you haven't registered for it.

How could this have happened? A planet attacked by the archenemy without a word of warning. The entire might of several guard armies repulsed and pushed back, not even the space marines had managed to halt their advance. And now what, reduced to hiding behind the walls of the city with every available man who was able to fight sent to trenches that stretched out from the city like great cracks in the splintering ground.

General Horshan took another deep lungful of cold sea air. He was glad that the city was on the coast, the constant sea breeze helped keep the smell of burning Promethium from all the vehicles away. He sat back down into the large armchair he had been provided, as sipped from his crystal glass of Amasec that had once been that of the governor of Claustrums, but since Horshan had made the governors palace his official military headquarters, it only seemed fitting that the alcohol cabinet was actually used for once in its dust covered life. He let the liquid sit on his tongue, savouring its flavour, he tried to loose himself in the drink, escape the horrors of war. But it was useless, and that was just it, he couldn’t escape, nobody could. To their fronts were the dark hordes of traitors and warp spawn and to their back was the sea, he gazed at it from his chair, how clam and inviting it looked.

He sighed, and went back to the task at hand. He picked up the maps of the surrounding area that were lying on a small table next to his chair. He frowned as his eyes moved across the map, and fell on the image of the nearby power station that lay a few miles up the coast. That station provided all of Claustrums power and kept the mighty defence systems on the walls operational. He wished he had stationed more men at this critical point, yet the Tech Priest were adamant that the capital must be held at all costs if they were to succeed. All the men that were going to die, for a task they had no idea about. As far as they were concerned they were defending holy relics of the Ecclesiarchy, but General Horshan knew the real truth.

Meanwhile at the power station Captain Electus Atrox of the Imperial Fists 5th Company surveyed the defences that were being put in place. As the guardsmen hurriedly placed sandbags and set up heavy weapon positions, he longed to be back at the capital with the rest of his brothers, but he knew the importance of this station. If it were to fall the cities large weapon emplacements would fall silent. Besides he thought to him self; Chaplain Borriel was a good leader and would see that the thirty brother marines under his command would fight well. He looked across at the young scout from another chapter his orange armour glaring in the sun, Electus would watch that young one. He looked back to the front line and smiled as he saw his four fellow brothers helping the guardsmen set up the defences, putting their superior knowledge of defence into use. By the Emperor and by Dorn he would not let the traitors claim this station; he would fight to the last, as would his brothers, for they were Space Marines.

[KaKlick]

"Gangway!" shouted a trooper as a group of guardsmen jogged past towards the forward trenches.

Junior Commissar Vicktor Stell stood aside to let them pass, his black greatcoat flapping gently in the breeze coming in from the sea nearby. Stell could have stood his ground and had the men pass around him, his rank alone would allow him that courtesy, but he'd opted to simply make things easier on everyone, rather than throw a wrench in the works. Besides, he'd only been on the planet for a day or so. He'd come in on a troop transport carrying reinforcements from his own home planet, Ryksos. He'd dropped in via shuttle a few hours after the 12th and 367th Ryksos Mechanized regiments made planetfall. Stell had promptly reported to the Imperial Commissariat after landing where he'd been told rather bluntly that they had no assignment for him yet. The Lord Commissar in charge of the Claustrums Commissariat had Vicktor wait for what seemed and eternity, but could only have been no more than half an hour, before emerging and handing the Junior Commissar a dataslate that temporarily assigned him to a nearby Guard regiment. He hadn't looked at the regiment itself, but instead dashed out to their positions as soon as he spotted the unit's location.

Stell now stood by the side of the road, his eyes flickering back and forth between the dataslate in his hand and the troopers now in front of him. He sighed and looked back at the now diminishing dot of the utility truck that had deposited him on the roadside before picking up his kit bag and walking towards the regimental command bunker up ahead. Stell looked at the 'slate again and heaved a mental sigh. Of all the regiments I could've been assigned, I get landed with a 'No-Name' unit, he thought before reading the 'slate a tad closer. Oh well. Might as well give this... Imperial Legion? Might as well see what its like, I guess.

Stell straightened his shoulders, shifted his luggage on his back, and entered the bunker.

[Arctophylax Faren]

Inside the command bunker, a haggard Lieutenant Yukoll busied himself at a table near the entranceway, hunched over a faded map. His sleeves were rolled to the elbows, and his officer's hat lay resting next to his hand, atop the wooden surface. Studying the scribbled information, his eyes wearily reviewed the tactical situation. Command had so far issued little other than the order to hold at all costs, and even with a compliment of Space Marines as support the tidings still seemed grim.
From his command squad, only the vox officer remained inside the bunker with him, and he knelt nearby with a hand pressed to his ear as he listened intently to the vox chatter. It was difficult to hear anything over the constant murmour of voices in the air.

Yukoll pushed himself away from the map, his flak armour and combat gear jostling with the movement, and he put a hand to his forehead in an attempt to ease a mounting headache. His faith would be surely tested on this world. It would be exaggerating to say that all hope was lost, but he knew that nothing about this chapter of his life would be easy. This even made Prandus look like a walk in a memory garden. There was a noise at the entrance of the bunker, and a figure clad in the familiar garments of the Commisariat appeared at the top of the stairwell. Sluggishly, the Lieutenant brought himself to attention as the Commissar descended, and gave a wordless salute with a thick hand.

[warpvortex]

Just another day in our pointless lives, hmm at least the smell of that ocean breeze makes it worthwhile.
Steve was lying on the grassy verge, which was just left of the roadside. At this point in time he was looking up into the sky, just generally watching the world go by whilst waiting for further instructions.
How on earth do I get myself into these messes? He thought.
A chimera pulled up short behind the squad; Steve lifted his head up to see what was going on. The chimera was only there for a short instant. After it dropped of a Commissar the chimera left.
O great, our fearless leader has arrived
Steve got up slowly, took a cigar from out of his pocket lit it. After awhile he picked up his Heavy bolter and headed to the rest of the squad.
"Privet Steve Lister reporting for duty Sir!"

[Arctophylax Faren]

Without waiting for a reply, if the Commissar was even prepared to give one, Lieutenent Yukoll double timed up the bunker stairs and emerged into the pale sunlight. Compared to the dim glo-globes in the bunker, the outside world seemed fresh in the glow of its parent star, despite the smell of fumes and destruction in the air. It was quiet outside, at least it was in the way of warfare. The pace seemed more relaxed outside of the frenzied chatter and movement in the cramped quarters below. Guardsmen milled about and vehicles slowly rumbled by, hustle as far as the eye could see. He gave his grey uniform a symbolic dusting, as if he could brush off the tension he was feeling at the prospect of the coming battle, and parked his peaked cap neatly atop a short crop of dark brown hair. The smell of burning filled his nostrils, and he turned to the source.
"Put that out, trooper." he said half-heartedly to Lister. Such petty commands seemed so insignificant at the moment.

[warpvortex]

Steve sighed as he heard a voice commanding him to put his cigar out.
Blasted Guard Lieutenant
"Guessing you won’t want one then Sir?" Steve replied with a sarcastic grin.
He puts out the cigar. Since there was nothing else to do and a Commissar's ruined his little fun, Steve inspects and maintains his heavy bolter.

edit
((oopse, misread soz))

[Arctophylax Faren]

((My character's not a Commissar you know, he's just a Guard Lieutenant ))

Yukoll probably would've given anything for the escape offered through a cigar, and he fought the urge to positively reply to Lister's remark. Would go down pretty good about now... he mused.
"We're certainly going to need that for what's to come." he said casually to Lister for nothing other than to break the uneasy silence in the vicinity, indicating the heavy weapon. It was a reassuaring site at the least. Any heavy weaponry was. The initial Chaos assault had sent its share of traitor marines at them, and it was going to take more than lasweapons to put those blasphemous monstrosities out of action.

The sound of aircraft above was like angry insects, and a trio of fighters tore across the sky. They seemed to be heading towards the snaking trail of smoke, making its way across the landscape. He pitied the poor souls who had been garrisoned there. Reports spoke of an absolute slaughter. At least now they would be prepared for the enemy onslaught, and make them pay with their unholy blood for every inch of ground they planned to take. Yukoll rolled his tongue in his mouth, as if the very thought of the archenemy's warriors brought a bitter taste to his mouth. He fought the urge to spit, instead reaching for his flask and unscrewing the cap with dirt-dusted hands. The water was warm in his mouth, having been in his canteen for hours, but the Lieutenent was glad of its cleansing feel as it ran down his throat. A good swig of something a little more stiff would've been more than welcome.

[Skringly]

((Just so you all know, we are stationed at the power plant, not the Capital. So the command bunker is the one that has be erected at the plant))

Electus, satisfied that the preparations of the defence of the Power Plant were going well, turned his back to the front and gracefully strode towards the hastily erected command bunker. The bunker itself was little more than an octagonal block of sloped darkened steel, which had been hollowed out. From the outside it looked to be only to be a single storey high, but the truth, like the rest of the bunker was hidden, deep under ground in the pit carved out by great earthwork machines. Seven of the eight walls had a large rectangular firing slit carved into them, with the eighth wall boasting a large blast door. Perched precariously on the top of the bunker was a whole sortie of antennas and radar dishes that slowly rotated, scanning the horizon like a pair of ever-watchful eyes.

As Electus approached the entrance to the bunker, a young guardsman snapped to attention, his hand rising to his head in a crisp salute. Electus dismissed the young man with a nod of his head.

Electus had noticed the fear in the man’s eye, and he knew that it was not just down to the fighting with the archenemy. The presence of a Space Maine invoked many emotions in the men that they fought alongside, some were inspired to great feats of bravery for others; the presence of a Marine brought about an uncontrollable fear. Fear of the eyes that were now watching them, and fear as to such a foe that would deadly enough to require the actual presence of the Astartes.

As he placed his hand on the heavy door he turned to face the sound of talking nearby, he sighed as he saw the Lieutenant, the very man his was going to enter the bunker in search of. Removing his hand from the large blast door, he walked over to the Lieutenant and the group of men that were accompanying him.

Electus came up directly behind the Lieutenant as he was in the process of drinking.

“Lieutenant” his voice obviously startling the man, “I need to speak with you urgently.”

[KaKlick]

Vycktor was about to salute Lt. Yukoll when the man turned and moved deeper into the bunker. Stell sighed and trailed after the officer. He patiently waited, his face stoic and stern, as the officer and a nearby trooper bantered a bit. The Junior Commissar glanced at the heavy bolter in the trooper's lap and nodded to himself. From the data reports he'd used his Commissariat overrides to obtain, they'd need every gun they could get soon. Stell turned and was about to speak to the Lt when he spotted the Marine entering the bunker. Vycktor stayed silent but watched the Astartes as he moved up behind the officer and spoke, making Yukoll jump.

[warpvortex]

"We're certainly going to need that for what's to come." he said casually to Lister for nothing other than to break the uneasy silence in the vicinity, indicating the heavy weapon.

Hmm he’s not that bad after all
Lister Smirked
"Aye she's a beauty Sir, Stainless steel, Single, semi or full auto fire. Custom made grips, and a clip that holds 200+ rounds of deadly led. Won't be court out with out her."
Lister then nods again at the Lt, "Think your needed else where" as he points to the Imperial Fists Space Marine that stood firmly behind him. Lister then notices a Commissar walking up to the point of where him, the Lt and the Marine where standing. He salute's the Commissar and at this point in time notices that the Commissar was looking at his Heavy Bolter.
"She's nice isn't she?" Lister mumbled.
Lister turns around after this and again stares at the sky.
"Its gonna rain you know." Lister stated with an uneasy look.