Dealings at De Burgh

Dealings at De Burgh

Storm clouds gathered in the sky over the De Burgh star port as the crew of the Belgrave ran their third diagnostic. The aged ship had plied the space lanes for centuries, but now it languished in the spaceport waiting for urgently needed repairs.  As rain pattered on the view screen of the Belgrave washing the grim from the aged star ship YT-75 sighed with relief, she had been struggling to find the funds to get the Belgrave off the ground, but her luck had finally turned.  She had received a message from a perspective buyer for the sword that the crew had recovered.  The funds would finally allow her to buy the parts that Shino S had been badgering her for.

The port authority at De Burgh had been alerted to a black-market deal that was taking place within the port precinct and despatched two squads of the PDF to deal with the transgressors.

Corporal Teach led his troops through the squalid streets around the space port their boots getting clogged with rancid wet mud and detritus.  Neither he nor them wanted any part of the assignment they had been given, but orders were orders.  Teach signalled for quiet as they approached the target location.

Through the sheets of rain Lance corporal Read could just about identify the five targets that they had been sent to deal with.  Not waiting for full confirmation, she ordered her troops to open on the targets. Rackham brayed as he let loose with his auto-gun, his rounds were quickly joined by las-gun beams from the other members of his squad.  Two rounds from the fusillade slammed into Shino S, lifting the engineer off her feet with the impact.

Hearing the sounds of weapons fire Teach pushed his troops forward and soon their weapons were added to the deadly crossfire.  Bolt-gun, and las-gun fire streaked though the air hammering into the buildings around the crew of the Belgrave, but none of it found its mark.

Without a moments hesitation YT-75 and her client, Red Jackal, charged towards the PDF troops.  The regular planetary defence force of Dubris were no match for the two cybernetic super soldiers.  Corporal Teach raised his bolt-pistol towards YT-75, but his movements were snail like in comparison to the captain of the Belgrave.  YT-75 casually crushed the gun and his hand with her bionic arm.  As Teach screamed in agony YT-75 pulled out her handgun and shot the corporal in the chest.

Steam came off Wells` auto-gun as he poured suppressive fire towards the PDF soldiers.  The shots exploded around the PDF troops forcing them to keep their heads down.

During the respite offered by his comrade Mandrake dashed towards the limited covered of the comms tower firing wildly with his las-pistol as he run.  The wild shots from Mandrake`s las-pistol burnt three deep holes into corporal Read.

Rackham roared in anger as he saw his lover fall to the ground.  The beastman led the charge of his squad firing his auto-gun from the hip as he ran.  Shots flew past Wells as he faced down the enraged beastman. The master of arms brought his auto-gun up to his shoulder and pumped four shots into the beastman stopping the abhuman metres away from him.

A beam of sunlight shone into the square as a break in the clouds passed over the port of De Burgh.  Private Silver looked nervously at Wells she had no wish to die in this slum. The master of arms raised his gun into the air and spoke to the soldier “Take your wounded and leave the field of battle, soldier.  Enough blood has been shed this day.”

 

Exercise at Erith

The Bells of remorse, in the fortress monastery of the Wardens of Dubris, peeled in memory of Chief librarian Ainger.  As a sign of respect, the bells would peel once for every year that the librarian had served the emperor.  The loss to the chapter laid heavy on the Lord Warden`s shoulders.  In one disastrous mission he had lost both a friend and the chapter`s chief weapon against the demonic forces of Chaos and had multiple injured marines.  There would have to be a reckoning with the inquisitor for his part in the death of the librarian and the hurt done to his men, but that would have to wait there was a demon to be dealt with.

The Lord Warden turned the problem over in his mind.  The Mentor Legion was still conducting exercises on Erith.  The chapter was well-known for its use of experimental weaponry if they could be persuaded to offer their aid to the Wardens of Dubris the demon could yet be vanquished.

On Erith, a squad of Mentor Legion neophytes were being led through a training exercise by Sergeant Rorty.  The squad had been sent in blind, their task was to find and retrieve munitions from two supply caches in the southern Erith spore fields, but other than that they had no idea of they would face. 

 Thick clouds of spores obscured the neophyte’s vision as they headed slowly towards the supply caches.

A dark shadow floated slowly towards the group of neophytes in unison they opened fire.  The explosive rounds struck the object and it exploded illuminating the area around it.  The flash of light revealed the real danger the squad was in.  Writhing leaves topped with orange flowers protruded from a central stem were snaking towards the marines.  The leaves moved with lightning speed and before sergeant Rorty or initiate Taylor could react to the deadly flora the leaves had completely engulfed them.

For a moment the spore cloud thinned allowing initiates Cavell and Kirchin to see initiate Anscombe vainly trying to fight off four giant leaves with his combat knife.  The two marine scouts did not wait to see the outcome of the combat and they let loose with their weapons.  Their shots hit several times, but they had no real effect on the giant plant.

Taking careful aim with his sniper rifle Initiate Kirchin breathed out slowly and relaxed his whole body. As he was about to pull the trigger the spore cloud suddenly thickened spoiling his aim.  Through the spores the two marine scouts heard initiate Anscombe stifled cry as he was overcome by the Venus mantrap.

The Venus mantrap reached out with its leaves groping for the remaining marine scouts.  One of its tendrils wrapped itself around a Bimmiel landshark.  The ferocious predator lashed out at the leaf that was wrapping itself around it, but the landshark was soon stilled.  A second vine caught Cavell by his ankle as the initiate fell, he reflexively pulled the trigger of his bolt-gun blowing the leaf to pieces and freeing himself.   

Cavell and Kirchin pushed on towards their objectives without thought for the fate of their comrades.  They had their duty, and they were determined to carry it out or to die trying.  In their haste they did not notice the large floating sphere coming out of the spore cloud until it was too late. 

The sphere was covered in a myriad of sensitive papules as one of these papules brushed against initiate Kirchin`s arm the sphere exploded.  The explosion threw Kirchin through the air his body slamming into some rocks with a sickening crunch.

Cavell grabbed his fallen brother by his arms and dragged his motionless body into the supply shed.  There he activated the distress beacon and slumped down exhausted.  The exertions of the encounter had taken everything out of the marine scout.  His previous life on a hive world had not prepared him to fight enemies like these. 

What would the Tutors make of the squad`s performance? 

Outside, the Venus mantrap could still be heard, the slow quiet crushing of its captured prey, and the wild thrashing of its tendrils as it tried to gain entry into the supply shed.

 

Mayhem at Maison Dieu

Senior Arbites Paschal bleary eyed looked over the latest orders from the sector house.  She and her team were to head to the old Maison Dieu industrial area and apprehend any looters.  She had been on patrol for 72 hours, kept on her feet by a cocktail of stimulants, and the situation did not look like it was going to change any time soon.  The whole city had suddenly gone crazy; an eruption of crime, arson, assault, murder, theft, rioting.  It was as if something had infected the minds of the people coercing them into committing crimes they would never have contemplated otherwise.  

Paschal`s hand twitched as an urge to shoot Beech washed over her, his never-ending prattle was starting to grate on her nerves, the sooner this patrol ended the better it would be for her.

YT-75 did not like risking her crew out in the chaotic city, but she had received a tip off that a cache of jewels and coins had been hidden in a shipping container in the Maison Dieu industrial zone.  If the value of the jewels were half of what the rumours said they were she could deal with most of her creditors. 

Torrential rain poured down as the Arbites continued their patrol through Maison Dieu. The industrial zone took on a more sinister feeling in the reduced visibility, and the air itself was electric with the expectation of a thunderstorm.  Arbites Beech kept up a nervous stream of chatter as they walked through the neglected storage yard.

YT-75 felt uneasy as the crew were searching through the shipping containers, the oppressive atmosphere surrounding the storage yard made her skin crawl.  Leaving Shino S to continue the search for the cache YT-75 took cover by a crystal cluster and scanned for any trouble. 

Through the rain she saw two shapes moving and instinctively opened fire with her bolt-pistol.  The muzzle flash from her gun illuminated the area for a brief second as the shapes dove for cover.

Four bolt-pistols barked loudly as the arbites returned fire on YT-75, the rocket propelled rounds slammed into the crystal cluster she was using for cover and exploded.  Shards of crystal fragments peppered the ship`s captain, but she came out unscathed.

Hearing gunfire, the other members of the Belgrave crew rushed to their captain`s aid.  Mandrake charged through the mud of the storage yard letting loose with his las-pistol.  Deadly beams of light flashed through the air, one cut across Minto`s thigh and he fell to the group clutching his leg.

Bolt-pistol rounds and las-pistol bolts flashed though the air as the two sides blindly shot at each other. In this orgy of blind violence YT-75 was hit three times and slumped down over the crystal cluster, and Arbites Beech was cut down by Mandrake’s accurate las-pistol fire.

Wells rounded the corner of the shipping container, his flanking manoeuvre complete, and opened fire with his auto-gun.  The new danger from an unknown quarter made up Paschal`s mind and she ordered Broadgate to pull out until reinforcements arrived.

After a few sporadic shots the fighting ceased, and the crew of the Belgrave had time to regrouped.  Mandrake saw to YT-75s injuries as best as he could, they were not as serious as they could have been, with some aid she would be able to limp back to the ship.

 Shino S climbed down from the shipping container clutching an old hessian bag. Inside the bag there was a crudely made sword.  Its age pitted blade was kept in place with rusted wire that led down to a skull shaped pommel.

YT-75 was about to tell the crew to get back to searching when the sound of a siren broke through the sound of the rainstorm.

The crew looked at the sword and glanced at each other.  It was not the treasure horde they had been led to believe, but at least things had gone more smoothly than the last job.

Building a world on a budget. Part six

 

Building a world on a budget.

It has been quite a long time since I last put the spotlight on a piece of terrain that I have built, so this week, as an interlude from the tales from the Cantwara sector, I thought I would present the Pleasure Dome.  The Pleasure dome is the sixth piece in my terrain building project and it is another piece rescued from obscurity that had sat in my cupboard gathering dust for nine years. 

As I made this piece nearly a decade ago, I don`t have any pictures of the building process.

Project six: The Udon Pleasure Dome

Construction

The pleasure dome’s main structure was made from a convenience store udon bowl.  My original plan was to keep it transparent and have some kind of garden visible inside.  I was inspired by the geodesic domes in the1972 film Silent Running, but after a few failed attempts I put that idea on the back burner and went for a much simpler structure.

I thought that the overall look of the bowl was great and that it would not need much to make it game ready.  I added a cable tie for a vent on the top of the bowl and I dug out a resin door that had sat in my bits box for an age.  Rather than cutting out a hole in the bowl to accommodate the door I used modelling putty to fashion a doorway.

Like the previous structures that I have made the texture on the bunker was achieved by using a Tamiya texture paint.  I am fairly certain that I used the Tamiya concrete texture paint for this build, but it was a long time ago and I may have used snow or mud.  The building was painted grey, and I then used a Coat d`arms super shader.  I was never really satisfied with the way the structure looked, which helps to explain why the dome sat in my cupboard for nearly ten years, so I decided to repaint it.

For the paint scheme, I went back to basics and undercoated the building in black, applied a dark blue base coat, then a blue wash.  After that it was just a matter of dry brushing several different layers of blue onto the building.  I thought that the building looked a bit boring all in the same blue, so I decided to pick out some different areas in  purple.  The blue and purple paint scheme then gave me some ideas about what the domes purpose was in the Cantwara sector.  

To detail the pleasure dome I turned to my collection of transfers.  These I used for the building designation number, some signage, and the name of the dome. I tried to keep them as uniform as possible, but there are a few sections that could have done with a steadier hand.  Still, I think the effect is quite presentable.

To finish the pleasure dome, I added some flock around the bottom of the dome. 

Overall, this is a piece that I am really pleased with and has already done go service on the battlefields of the Cantwara sector.

 

Engagement at Effingham

The imposing grey edifice that was the fortress monastery of the Wardens of Dubris stood high upon the chalk cliffs of Dubris, its walls battered by the artic north winds.  For millennia the role of the Wardens of Dubris had been to protect the sector from the enemy both within and without.  A role, that the Wardens had not yet been found wanting. 

Deep within the fortress monastery the Lord Warden sat on his throne adjudicating the grievances of the chapter`s churls.   For three long hours the Lord Warden had been dealing with the tedium of chapter duties.  His eyes scanned over another dispute concerning budget allocations and tried his best to stifle a yawn.  Turning towards the chief librarian the Lord Warden spoke softly “Emperor save us from this drudgery.”  The librarian smiled “Wielding a chapter in times of relative peace does not quite elicit the same thrill as wielding a bolter in battle, this quiet will not last my friend, your time to once more stride across the battlefield will come.  This morning I read the auguries they spoke of the release of an ancient enemy, of dark times, and of death.” 

As the last word fell from the librarians lips the audience chamber doors flew open and a vox-caster servitor hurried into the room.  The monitor on the machine-man`s face came to life with a recorded message from inquisitor Grilli.  “During an attempt to purify a profane site my forces were assaulted by the Volkstan.  To thwart my endeavour the Volkstan unleashed a warp entity of untold power.  I was unable to contain it.  I implore you to despatch forces to counter this menace without delay." 

The Lord Warden sat back in his chair “I wonder what trouble the inquisitor has stirred up, I am sure that it is not as dire as he paints it.  Chief librarian Ainger, take a squad of men and see if you can deal with this problem.  I will ready the first company in case the threat is as dangerous as the inquisitor says.”

The settlement was eerily quiet as Chief Librarian Ainger deployed her squad into two sections.  One section took higher ground while the other section swept round the buildings in search of their enemy. 

The Wardens of Dubris became aware of their enemy when frost started to appear on the visors of their helmets and a sinister voice invaded their minds.  The voice spoke in a tongue that the marines could understand, but they knew what it had planned for them.

Brother Borrows was the first to see the demon, and he ordered his squad to open fire.  Superheated plasma and bolt-gun rounds flew through the air towards the abomination.  Gallglut Fatflesh was not fazed by the marines attempt to kill him and strode through the wall of death.

The demon turned its head left and right sniffing the air as if it was searching for something.  Its head stopped as it picked up the scent of a psyker, the chief librarian.   Gallglut Fatflesh grinned as it bounded towards the librarian. 

Ainger let loose with her bolt-pistol, the rounds exploded on the demon`s chest blowing chunks of flesh away, but they did nothing to slow down Gallglut.  The librarian tried to raise her force sword to defend herself, but the demon reached up with preternatural speed and wrenched the marines head clean off of her shoulders.

The Wardens of Dubris laid down a withering barrage of fire as they tried to pulled away from the abomination, but a wayward shot from brother Brown`s heavy plasma gun caught brother Fuller on his right leg fusing his armour and leg into one molten lump.

Gallglut Fatflesh tore through the section of marines like he was swatting flies.  His hands punched through power armour, breaking bones and crushing limbs.  Brother Broadley was the last marine to fall, in the desperate combat the indomitable warrior blew two holes in the horror facing him.

Brother Brown set his heavy plasma gun to maximal fire and took careful aim at Gallglut as the demon charged towards his position.  The marine pulled the trigger, but instead of discharging superheated plasma the weapon vented the built up the energy.  Brown threw down his gun in disgust and pulled out his bolt pistol.

The demon slowly smashed brother Harvey`s head into the shipping containers the rhythmic banging sent a shudder through the remaining members of the squad.  

The marines steeled themselves to their fate and emptied their weapons into Gallglut Fatflesh.  The demon was thrown off of the containers by the weight of fire hitting it and landed with a crunch as its neck broke.

The battlefield fell quiet as the final empty cartridges bounced off the shipping containers.  Brothers Jones, Borrows, and Brown went around their injured comrades to see who could be saved and whose gene seeds needed to be returned to the chapter.  The cost of the fight had not been as high as it could have been.  The only fallen marine was chief librarian Ainger, she would be entered into the hall of heroes, and her deeds would not be forgotten.

The Thunderhawk gunship returned to take the marines back to their fortress monastery, they would all need to recuperate from their encounter with Gallglut Fatflesh.  As the gunship was taking off brother Jones looked out of the window and saw the demon sit up snapping its broken neck back into place.

 

Summoning at Samphire

Inquisitor Grilli sat quietly his face blank of any expression as the astropath considered the proposition that the inquisitor had put forward.  It had taken the inquisitor years to put all of the resources together for his ritual, he would bring forth a powerful tool to help fight the deepening heresy that was developing in the subsector.  The last part of the puzzle was to be a powerful psyker who could create the demon host without any complications.  The psyker that he had chosen for the task had been snatched from his grasp by rebel forces and now he had to rely on damaged goods, a heretic, a moonskin addict, but still the astropath was undoubtably powerful.

Christopher Tracy knew that it was a deal that he could not refuse, be burnt for his supposed heretical actions or become a tool of the inquisition.  The astropath turned his eyeless face towards the inquisitor “I am a true citizen of the Imperium and would be happy to aid the inquisition in any way that is needed.  What deed would you require of one such as myself?”  Grilli smiled a predatory grin “I have a tasked that I think you could help me with.”

The Volkstan war host, guided by their leader Antonin, approached the ritual site. They knew that they had to stop the enemy from being released from its prison in the void whatever the cost.

The Volkstan tribesmen were upon Sergeant Ioannou`s position before he had any time to react.  A savage melee broke out between the two sides knives clashed against shields, and maces smashed into flak armour.  Two warriors fell on both sides, which was too much for the tribesmen and they broke and ran.

While the eyes of the imperial forces were on the first group of tribesmen a second group broke out of covered and charged toward the ritual circle.  Their charge was cut short by a fusillade of fire from lieutenant Ward`s squad. 

The astropath concentration was absolute as he fitted together the memory fragments gathered by the research team at Aycliffe.  The pieces slotted together like a puzzle and as they took shape, they guided his Will to the correct formula for the ritual. Christopher Tracy smiled briefly in triumph as he completed the ritual, before his body started to twist, spasm, and writhe.  His bones split and cracked in protest as his whole being was reshaped by the creature possessing him. 

 The demon sniffed the air and turned towards inquisitor Grilli “You will be judged”. 

The demon batted away inquisitor Grilli`s attacks and knocked him to the ground, its preternatural speed and strength were too much even for the inquisitor.  Bending down, the demon picked up the fallen inquisitor and thrust its fist towards the inquisitor`s chest.  A bright flash of light erupted as inquisitor Grilli`s displacer field engaged and teleported him away from the demon.

A second wave of the Volkstan war host appeared as the Vegetables turned to face the demonic threat.  The tribesmen fired their archaic weapons at lieutenant Ward`s squad hitting two members of the squad including the lieutenant.

The soldiers of the 85^th Astor regiment poured fire into the demon facing them, but their weapons had little or no effect.  In the blink of an eye the demon was once more in melee with inquisitor Grilli.  The demon rained blows upon the inquisitor its hatred of the inquisition fuelling its rage.  At the last moment the inquisitor was saved once more by his displacer field sending him far from the creature.

While the imperial forces were engaged with the creature that they had tried to enslave the Volkstan leader Antonin finally caught up with his war host.  Seeing that his brave warriors had failed to stop the creature from being released he signalled for them to retreat.  The soldiers would be needed in the fight that was coming.

The remnants of Lieutenant Ward`s squad stood their ground as the demon bounded towards them.  Their las-gun shots seemed to twist and bend around the creature as they tried to bring it down before it reached them.   In close combat the demon ripped the guardsmen to pieces in a matter of seconds.

Although, the brave Vegetables had not lasted long against the demon they had bought vital moments for Sergeant Ioannou and his men to escape with some of the wounded including inquisitor Grilli.

The demon strode around the battlefield plunging its claws into the dead and dying, savouring the fear, terror, pain, and death around it.  A large grin broke out across its face this realm would scream before it was judged.