Warhammer 40K RPG - Game Turns

You wake up. Immediately you scan the room, just in case there's someone in the shadows with a knife in their hands. It certainly wouldn't be the first time it happened, and although there are guards in the corridors, with the kind of people you have to work with, it's become second nature to you.

Only minutes after waking you hear the vox-com of the ship chiming. It's Colonel Gravius. Emperor's teeth, but you hate that man. "Rise and shine, ladies! Report to platoon briefing in two hours, all of you. You're finally getting the action you missed after two boring months in peaceful transit."

No telling why somone would willingly join the Last Chancers. It could be sadism, or faith in the Emperor, or both. They do get to take charge of a few platoons, and don't risk their neck half as much. There's something scary about Gravis. It feels like he misses being shot at daily.

You quickly pull on your clothes and armour, and head to the mess for a substandard breakfast. The prison transport ship, Sanctus Sanguinius, is miles long, and Gravis executes latecomers...

[Sarky] Welcome to the first turn. It's really just a means of introducing yourself, I'll have more interesting stuff later. Remember, post the right things in the right threads! I'll look more favourably on epic/cinematic stuff, so pump those egos! Now have at it. [/Sarky]

The briefing hall is nearly full when you arrive. You've been here long enough to know something big is up- Two whole platoons must be here, all for the same mission. Must be another suicide rush. Emperor alone knows how you survived so many. You know your own squad well enough- survivors stick together- but most of the folks here look new to the 'Chancers. Poor fools. Maybe half of them will survive longer than four days.

You see a small group of cocky looking punks surrounding Gorkarogg the ogryn, from Marvis' platoon. One of them bumps into him, and tries to start something. Dumb. Before the Ship guards can get to him, Gorkarogg's hand snaps out and grabs him by the neck, lifting him bodily off the ground before squeezing. You hear the snap across the room and the grunt stops struggling. The ogryn grins disturbingly. You've never seen someone who enjoys killing so much. The guards manage to push their way to the scene, weapons trained on just about everyone.

"Let that be an easy lesson to the rest of you!" yells Gravis. How in the seven hells of Chaos did he sneak in like that? "The real learning curve here is much, much steeper. Sergeant, put the slow learner down."

As he turns to face all of you, a Map flickers up on the screen behind him.

"Right, scumbags, here's the deal; Our dropships are clear all the way planetside , but earlier, a vehicle transporter was clipped by a T'au fighter and went way off. Before we scragged him, the pilot sent coordinates to his commanders, and a force was sent to capture it and take our wheeled weapons from us. I have orders to recover it, and you lucky men are going after it. The ship landed in a hollow a couple of miles behind enemy lines. You 2 platoons will be dropped just outside the hollow, and you will storm it. Feel free to take out as many T'au on the way as you like, and if any crew on the transport survived, kill them for incompetence, but the vehicles are your main target. As soon as you're spotted they'll call in reinforcements, and you're toast. Get in there, grab a vehicle, and get the frag out again. Once you've left the hollow, radio for further instructions, encryption magenta. Dropships will leave in an hour.

Arkerius, Dominicus, Vollbart, Argeus, and Raphael, you remain here, I have another job for you."

"Any questions?"



[Sarky] Right, folks, it all starts properly here. Post actions as before, along with any IMPORTANT dialogue (like questions for Col. Gravis) here. Any other dialogue goes in COMS. Do try to be cinematic in what you do and say, make it as enjoyable for yourself as you can. Now have at it! And sorry for the quality of the map... [/Sarky]

As the last grunts file out, you turn to see Gravis shaking his head in disgust, muttering to himself. "Two months outta combat and not a single question from the lot of 'em. That's why half of 'em won't be coming back. Idiots. 100 less heretics and traitors,at any rate, that's something to be glad about. Emperor forgive 'em, 'cos I sure as hell can't."

He focusses on the five of you. "Right, while those scum are off at the meatgrinder, I have a special job needs doing behind the scenes. You were picked as the most talented of your squads, and you're up for a little commando work. The orders you just heard are just a distraction to let you guys do YOUR mission. I don't like sending over 100 Last Chancers to their deaths as a decoy, when I could be sending them to a more useful death as meat shields and infantry, but I have my orders, and they're from pretty high up. 'A good soldier obeys without question, a good comander leads without doubt'", he quotes the ancient proverb.
"While the others are taking part in a frontal assault, your team will drop at the other side of the transport, undetected. You will gain access to the transport, and proceed through the main service shafts to Hangar Epsilon on the far side of the ship. The consoles in the ship should give you a decent layout. There's a specific transport in that hangar that is more valuable, according to my orders, than the hundred fighting men being sacrificed for it. It's a command Chimera APC named the "Glorius". You are to grab it and get out, to a location you will be radioed when you leave the ship. Communication will be set to channel Kappa-7, clearance Magenta for this mission only."

You are all momentarily taken aback by this. Clearance Magenta! Most Imperial regiments use Magenta to encode their main battle plans! Despite your best efforts, you feel a tingle of worry. This mission may well be the most important one of your life. By the Throne, completing a Magenta level mission might even be enough to get you out of the Chancers!

"There are no reliable readings of inside the transport, but it's a fair guess that there's at least as many of the xenos filth inside as there are waiting for the others. But the ship is confined, with narrow corridors and multiple levels. If you're careful, you won't have to deal with most of them. Don't worry, the site will be wiped out from orbit as soon as you're clear, so they'll all die one way or another."

"I realise it's going to be a tough job. There's a lot of T'au, and their guns pack a real punch. To that end, you have a little extra access to the armoury. On top of your standard lasrifles, I'm granting you one heavy bolter for Dominicus, two flamers, one needle sniper rifle with toxin ammo for Vollbart, and one meltapistol for Raphael. It's deliberately low-powered because you're still a condemned man, so it'll be useful for cutting through debris but it'll still pack a decent enough punch to deal with all but heavy armour. Dropship leaves in 30. Your weapons are already aboard. Dismissed!"

25 minutes later you're aboard. The colonel was true to his word, there's a pretty stack of special weapons stowed away. With a jolt and shudder, the ship speeds out of the mothership, headed for a planet you never got the name of. Presently, you hear the pilot's voice over the vox-caster. It's a servitor, a mindless clone created forone purpose. " Landing in 2 minutes." the monotone drone announces. "This landing will be a simulated crash to avoid enemy attentions. Brace for impact. The Emperor protects."
.
.
.
.
.
There's a mind-numbing explosion of noise as the craft slams gracelessly onto the ground. You are shaken about in your restraints like ragdolls, but the servitor was well programmed, and a few heavy bruises are the worst of it as the dropship skids down the hollow. With a loud clang, it halts. Must have hit the transport. The servitor pilot speaks again. "Self-destruct activated. Please take your weapons and exit the vehicle. Detonation in five minutes. Suggest squad gains access to objective immediately. Praise the immortal Emperor."

Grabbing whatever weapons you can, you dash out the exit ramp. The vehicle transport is big. Must be a hundred feet high, covered in gargoyles, gun emplacements, and butresses. Emperor knows how long it is, the nose is buried in the slope. You spot a vehicle exit ramp half open, damaged by the landing. It would be a REALLY good idea to be inside when your dropship detonates...

[Sarky] Right, sorry about the length, but I figured you might be eager to get to a little more action. Have fun in your mad dash from the dropship's small fusion reactor going critical! [/Sarky]

You sprint up the transport's exit ramp, while behind you a steady high pitched whine increases in volume from within the dropship's engines. No sign of the enemy, maybe the crash-landing threw them off. The explosion certainly will... The outer bay door is indeed open, no doubt a result of the crash, but there is an inner door firmly closed. There are shadows everywhere, with only a little blood-red light illuminating the area, the power must be out on this section of the ship, at least. This also means that the locks on the door will be frozen closed, with little chance of unlocking. Not a good start.

The distant sound of lasfire and screaming reaches your ears. The frontal assault must have started. Hopefully they'll buy enough time to let you do your jobs.

Arkerius catches sight of a service hatch in the shadows. There are still lights blinking, so it at least must still be powered. On further inspection it's unlockable, but it'll take a strong arm to open it up (Normally, the people who use the service hatches have enough bionics to rip a man to pieces).

A strange note of urgency enters the rising whine of your dropship's self-destruct process that started 2 minutes ago... Or was it three? A quick glance outside suggests the vehicle is nearly shaking itself apart with strain, and the engines are glowing a dull red with heat. Something tells you that being round the corner from the blast will offer little protection.

After some 20 seconds of fiddling about with the guts of the control panel, you hear a hydraulic hiss, and a light on the brass panel turns from red to green. Dominicus steps in and with a mighty heave, manages to wrench the hatch on the side of the wall open. One by one, you crawl frantically in. The shielding of the reinforced service tunnels all around you, you feel a lot better about the impending meltdown outside. The group manages to get about 20 yards before hearing a dull boom, and the floor shudders slightly. A gust of intense heat soon follows, the shockwave of the blast managing to follow you down the open tunnel. Thankfully, the winding, confined space limits the effects, and it's just a hot breeze that singes your hair and clothing a little.

The service tunnels are cramped, poorly lit, dull things, festooned with pipes, valves, and power cables as thick as a man, with yellowed parchments attached, bearing runes and words none of you except maybe Arkerius could really understand. Despite the power outage, the maintenance systems are still working. They must be on a seperate source to the bay doors and such. Blinking lights on a nearby wall make a computer panel known to you. It appears to be showing the layout of the surrounding service tunnels. Some of the tunnels are marked red, with a message beside them stating access is blocked, probably damaged in the crash. It should be possible to at least find a way back out onto the main decks, and should make for a fairly reliable map of the ship (and its shortcuts).

Allowing for the blocked tunnels, a path suggests itself. Following the tunnel you're in should take you to a junction, one way of which leads to Main engineering towards the rear, the other leading to the power generators forming the spine of the craft. Regardless, the hangar containing the Glorius is on the other side of the ship.

[Sarky] Well, I hope you're all having fun so far. I drew a rough map for this ship some time ago, when I get home tonight I'll try to scan it for you so you have something to work with. The choice of going to the generators or Engineering is up to the party. Of course, you could try both if you want to split up. Both areas lead to one another, neither is really further along than the other, both will contain about the same challenge, just in different ways. it's up to you...[/Sarky]