Saturday 30 September 2017

Deathwatch, Mission 1, pt 2: Tantalus Prometheum Refinery

The Deathwatch: The black line in space, humanity's first and best line of defense against the ever-encroaching threat of the Xenos, whether mankind knows it or not. The best of the superhuman Adeptus Astartes make their ranks, and with a licence to kill that is very Yes, we go where larger armies cannot, and shoot everything that mortal men should not know.

Kill Team Six is comprised of:

Ultramarines Lexicanum Solomon -- The team Librarian. Very shiny armor, has he ever been in a fight? Favors a bolter and a force-sword.
Iron Hands Courras -- The team Devastator, narrator, and bearer of his beloved Heavy Bolter, Erlund.
Raven Guard Inigo van H**m -- A tactical marine with a flowery accent, prettiest man on the team. Self-proclaimed teen idol.
Space Wolves Asmund -- A handsomely-rugged ginger giant of a tactical marine, with flowing hair.



We arrive at the compound. In a ravine, a mere 16 guardsmen are perched on top of their transport, holding the line. Amidst them, one Commisar standing tall and strong without fear. They're surrounded by dead tyranids.

We descend and meet with the Commissar and set up lines of defense. I set up on the corner. Asmund sets up grenades with tripwires on the entrances.

Commissar Falco Sander introduces himself to Solomon. He guesses that he's the last ranking officer on the planet, and is ever so slightly hopeful that we're here for them. We're not, but fuck it.

We hear a roar, and the time for talk is over. Here comes the horde.

They trip the booby traps and it takes chunks out of them. Asmund biffs another grenade into their midst.

Courras' time is nigh, and he opens up; Erlund sings, and although the horde is some distance away, metal storm rounds shred the enemy. It's Space Hulk Oddyseus all over again.

Solomon waves his hands, and acts like the Psyker that Winter York thinks psykers should be. Lightning arcs across the horde; we smell ozone.

Above us, the grenade booby traps at the main gate go off... and two Big Boys emerge from the smoke, Tyranid Warriors.

Asmund rips into them with full auto-fire. Courras tries to follow suit, but his gun jams on a bit of Tyranid. Solomon lets his powers loose once more, floats up, and suddenly explodes, dropping back down and passing out.

Three guardsmen are snatched off the edge of the vehicle for standing too close to the edge.

Inigo finally does something noticeable, and full-autos on one of the Tyranid Warriors converging on us. He somehow hits every weak point and fells it in one salvo. It is nothing short of a miracle -- a Raven Guard has finally done something worthwhile!

Asmund rips into the remaining warrior, firing over Courras' shoulder. Grumbling something about Erlund "letting the team down". he pops a frag grenade and drops it into the horde with precision, decimating the majority of what's left, and allowing the Guardsmen to finish it off.

Inigo once more displays unusual courage for a cowardly Raven Guard, and decimates the last Tyranid warrior. "No beakie helmet wearing, shadow-hidin', Istvaan-abandoning Raven Guard"

Sander salutes us, and is glad to volunteer what remains of his men for our mission in any way they think possible. They were here to cover the escape of senior officers and staff.

There's two good places for the drop beacon -- the hills above the refinery to the northwest, and the comms relay to the southeast.

We head to the rail station. Most of the team smells or senses someone hiding in the building, and goes in to fish them out while Courras babysits the guardsmen.

After a while, Adept Hellas scampers out of the building, spotting the Guardsmen and gladly joining the retinue. We formulate a plan. Courras and the Retinue will head West along the rails to point 8 on the map. The rest of the kill team will head East, and investigate point 7.

As the kill team heads towards 7, they pick up the trail of blood once more. It heads south, angling towards the rear of the compound where we picked up the Guardsmen. Behind a cluster of rocks, they find a lurching, red-robed figure.

They find the Magos, and his datacore. He seems to be on auto-pilot, robotically advising them of the situation and following the kill-team. Courras and co are called back for exfiltration.

We catch up, regroup, and bunker down on the hill as we wait for the ship to arrive. As we watch the horizon, we see a dark shadow sweep across it -- the horde. Eugh. Above us, a shadow -- our ride out?

Wrong. It's a flying Hive Tyrant, here to fuck our shit up. Asmund cuts loose with hellfire rounds, as does Inigo. Courras throws a krak grenade The Tyrant takes solid hits, but lives and slaps Asmund's left arm clean off.

Solomon becomes the psyker we all want him to be, and unleashes a stupid amount of energy on the hive tyrant, cooking it... and because it has a blast radius, Courras as well.

He does not dodge.

What feels like an eternity later, the Thunderhawk finally arrives; everyone piles on, just in time as waves of Tyrannid surge over the ground we'd been holding, and we kick rocks as fast as possible.

At base, the team is commended for their success, and Courras' body is returned to the iron hands. Kill Team Six is given a little time to rest up, but will be redeployed soon, for the enemies of Mankind are many, and the Deathwatch few.

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