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Author Topic: Facility D XIII (C+C if you wish_  (Read 1314 times)

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Offline Vespasian Swiper

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Facility D XIII (C+C if you wish_
« on: April 4, 2012, 05:35:30 PM »
Haven't written any 40k fantripe in ages. Indeed this is all due to the Storm Eagle release. If people like it let me know and I'll scribble some more down.


Onboard the bridge of the Strike Cruiser, Captain Artani Claris watched as four hovering servo-skulls projected a grainy image of a barren moon. It was a desolate and blasted place, heavily cratered and the location of a secret Munitorum facility, 'Facility D XIII'.

   There was little information on the facility, even to Claris, one of eleven Strike Force commanders in the Intermarines, a highly specialist Ultramarines successor Chapter who focused on rapid intervention and responding to a variety of changing threats. All he knew was it was a substantial mostly underground facility, of around three thousand personnel, with a sizeable defensive guard - perhaps five hundred Facility Defence Force.

   Facility D XIII had to send a coded relay to the nearby world of Psaris once a week, however no communications had been received for two weeks. Three supply vessels had drifted in orbit, and ultimately been recalled for lack of contact. Psaris PDF personnel had responded with a specialised investigation force, consisting of a Battalion of troops, however they had been unable to enter the facility, finding the codes impossible to crack. Their rules of engagement forbid blowing the main blast doors into the underground facility and were forced to withdraw after a week of frustration.

   Michael Llandroff, Governor of Psaris, had the authorisation to call for assistance in this event and did so, requesting the arrival of the Intermarines. His message stated the importance for a low key deployment, ideally without causing damage to the facility.

   As Claris sat in his command chair mulling over the problems that beset them, servitors moved around the room calculating the chances of success, viable mission equipment, correct orbital positioning...

   He stood up, snapped his fingers and summoned one of his Group Officers, "Starbis, to the bridge."

   Intermarines were based around eleven Strike Forces, each of eighty combat Space Marines, and around thirty Space Marines in the support role - as medical personnel, engineers, and pilots. These eighty Space Marines were further divided into four Groups, each twenty strong who were transported within a Storm Eagle. As Space Marine formations went the Intermarines represented a light assault force, the entire Chapter lacked Land Raiders entirely, relying on four Predators carried on each Strike Cruiser to be crewed as the situation demanded, along with ten Rhinos per Strike Cruiser.

   Doctrine focused on landing Groups swiftly, and gaining localised superiority - often giving respite to Imperial Guard or Planetary Defence Force units, before rapidly redeploying elsewhere. Intermarines were under no circumstances to be dragged into prolonged engagement with heavily armed enemy forces.

   Starbis appeared after several minutes, already wearing his dark blue power armour with a light white trim around the edges. Starbis had served for three hundred years with the Intermarines, and knelt on one knee before Claris as he awaited his orders.

   Claris nodded, "You are to take Three Group, along Flostrum's Storm Eagle - Righteous Hornet - to Facility D XIII. Equip your men lightly, I expect even a Heavy Bolter will be far more than is required for each Squad, arrive at the Facility and ascertain the reason for loss of contact. Those of us remaining on the Cruiser will travel to Psaris and assist the Governor in contacting the Munitorium. I give you full rights to proceed as necessary, in the event there is resistance, eliminate it and regain control of the facility. Understood?"

   Starbis nodded, "Yes Captain."

   Claris gestured for him to stand, "Good luck Brother, most likely their localised communications relay or power station is out." Starbis smiled and left the room, hearing the internal alarm buzz three times to inform Three Group it was time to assemble in the Group Briefing Room.
Its an even stranger day when you have a fat Games Workshop-Fanboy Ninja declare to end you for something you did for April Fools on Teh Interwebz.

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Offline Myen'Tal

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Re: Facility D XIII (C+C if you wish_
« Reply #1 on: April 4, 2012, 08:41:25 PM »
It's definitely a solid beginning to what appears to be an interesting story. Nice, decent fluff surrounding the Intermarines and their organization and how they function. I wouldn't mind seeing more :). We could always use more writers in the fiction board(considering how many we have now, which isn't alot :P), would be nice if you added more.
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Offline Vespasian Swiper

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Re: Facility D XIII (C+C if you wish_
« Reply #2 on: April 5, 2012, 08:14:18 AM »
Cheers, it did use to be busier than this. I'm working on various projects so a bit of light fiction is always a nice distraction. I've always thought Ultramarines were given a really weak name, so Intermarines isn't THAT bad, also I was just very uncreative coming up with a suitable interventionish related Chapter name. Anyway more scene setting.


By the time Starbis entered the room all of Three Group was assembled, sat in four rows of five Space Marines. Each man was already wearing his power armour, sans helmet, and as Starbis entered the room they immediately stood to attention. He slowly walked towards the podium, as he reached it he raised his hand and said, "Be with you."

   The solemn reply came, "And the Emperor," as the assembled Marines sat as one.

   "Three Group, we will be deploying via the Righteous Hornet to Facility D XIII, a moon in the vicinity of the B Class world Psaris. It is a low priority communications reestablishment mission, consequently we will be arming up with Beta Seven equipment."

   Each Marine was trained to give orders simply, efficiently, and to the point. In the few situations where current Doctrine was limited or did not extend to covering these areas a new Doctrine was written, with various sub-classifications and equipment lists. Despite the Intermarines represented a specialised, arguably dynamic Chapter, they were still held by the conventions of their parent Chapter, maintaining a suitable respect for the Codex.

   Beta Seven equipment would see Three Group equipped with two heavy bolters carried in Squad 4, whilst every other man would carry a Decimus III Pattern Boltgun, a curious bullpup configuration with integrated sight, along with a Boltpistol. In addition the Storm Eagle would carry two large containers full of specialised cutting, hacking and support equipment beneath its wings, instead of an optional complement of Hellstrike Missiles to be deployed when they made Planetfall. Finally a two Thunderhawk Transporters would deploy two Habitation Bunkers, a Command Bunker and a Medical Bunker, prefabricated structures designed to be deployed on operations such as this.

   "This Operation will be known as Operation Lightwood, and will be Categorised by the Datalog System as a Low Priority Intervention Operation for archive purposes. It is a five stage Operation, in the format as follows. Stage One - load up and check equipment. Stage Two - board the Righteous Hornet and travel to Facility D XIII. Stage Three - attain orbit, and after initial scans commence Planetfall. Stage Four - establish Base of Operations, and establish contact/gain access to the facility. Stage Five - repair communications and return to Strike Cruiser. No need to deviate from the Doctrine is expected, and the time duration is expected to be no more than five days. Any questions?" Starbis stood there as his eyes met the gaze of Sergeant Vantag, "Vantag?"

   "Sir, how many magazines are we expected to take? As Beta Seven allocates between four and eight for a standard action." Vantag was one of the older Marines, at five hundred and seven years service, his face was grizzled and scarred from his long years, with only a few patches of dark grey hair left upon his scalp. Vantag had repeatedly turned down the change of promotion and specialisation so he could best serve with his Battle Brothers in the thick of the action, and was able to offer impeccable advice to those above him. Marines like him were uncommon, and were termed Elders within the Chapter, with their opinions and thoughts often weighing into any plan almost as much as a Strike Force Commander.

   "I see no need for more than four. There is no Xenos activity within this sector, and any additional magazines can be requisitioned from the supply containers carried by the Righteous Hornet. If those are required then it is likely we'll have to escalate the entire Operation and request assistance - something that I am loathe to suggest is possible given the information." Starbis gestured at a projection that appeared behind his podium, showing the relation of the moon to Psaris, it appeared with Warp and conventional travel calculations between the two locations, along with a stream of technical details on the nature of craft, capabilities and various related statistics.

    Vantag nodded, "Seems suitable. So traditional Low Engagement Policy is in effect?"

   Starbis gave Vantag a thumbs up, "As always on friendly facilities don't blast them into oblivion before we can relay another Operation Successful communication upload. If so this'll be our sixtieth non-combat deployment, dull but essential."

   The assembled Marines laughed, despite intensive training they had not seen any active combat for three years. Claris' Strike Force had repeatedly merely upheld Imperial power or acted as a deterrent. On four combat drops the enemy had surrendered rather than face Space Marine intervention, this run of monotonous good luck was bound to end, and it was rumoured that Claris had shied away from several high intensity deployments in order to preserve his Strike Force's cohesion. Skulking around the backwaters of the Imperium should have bought them into contact with a multitude of nefarious foes, but thus far they were spending far more time maintaining weapons than any meaningful actions.

   "How long is the flight time, and any air defences to be concerned about?" The other senior figure in the room, Sergeant Dempsey spoke up, he held his old Mark IV helmet under his arm. Dempsey was the youngest Sergeant in the Strike Force, at a hundred and seven, he had repeatedly proven himself as a young Marine of exceptional command ability and spatial awareness.

   "It'll be six hours flight time and..." Starbis did not have the chance to finish as the briefing room door opened and in came Lance-Sergeant Rhian.

   "Against heavy opposition... naturally as we're tearing out with a Storm Eagle and two sluggish Thunderhawk Transporters. Opposition is non-existent of course." Rhian was the pilot of the Righteous Hornet, like many of the Strike Force's Storm Eagle pilots he had a positive can-do attitude which could often border on insubordination. Within the Intermarines command structure there was often disagreement on whether the pilots knew better than the Group Commanders how to utilise air assets and assess enemy air defences. Despite they were all part of one Chapter there was a clear divide between the pilots and commanders, the commanders saw the pilot's attitude of stereotypical, insubordinate hot shot mentality more often found in Imperial Guard formations, whilst the pilots saw the commanders as dangerously ill-informed on the limitations of their aircraft.

   "Thank you Rhian. I trust Righteous Hornet is ready to go?" Starbis spoke and managed to get his leathery face to smile.

   "Servitors are arming her at the moment, to make up for the lack of Hellstrikes four of the missiles are being replaced with Thermosinular Warheads, more for show than anything else. During Lightwood I will maintain a constant orbit over the planet just in case someone decided to crash our party from above," he chuckled, "In accordance with Operations Containment Protocols."

   Starbis stood there for a couple more minutes, "No more questions?" the Sergeants shook their heads, "Then Assemble with your Squads and load up. We'll be boarding the Righteous Hornet in fifteen so Prep then at the very least we get the chance to stretch our legs on that moon."
Its an even stranger day when you have a fat Games Workshop-Fanboy Ninja declare to end you for something you did for April Fools on Teh Interwebz.

It's a strange day in the world where I find myself agreeing more often than not with Swiper.  :D


Offline Hanith

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Re: Facility D XIII (C+C if you wish_
« Reply #3 on: April 5, 2012, 11:42:41 AM »
Not a bad bit of fiction there. Nice to see SM act more human and uber-god. I also like the lack of land raiders and terminators as I see enough SM-cheese lists spam these; last thing I want to do is read about it too. Keep it coming :P.
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Offline Vespasian Swiper

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Re: Facility D XIII (C+C if you wish_
« Reply #4 on: April 5, 2012, 07:17:46 PM »
Cheers for that. Constructive day so I managed to get more of this done, expect a fair amount of scene setting as I feel this is often missed by people diving in balls deep for all the guns, and the horror, and the space, and the running...

10 Minutes to Deployment of Offensive Arms: Hanger
Lance-Sergeant Rhian watched as the Servitors continued scanning the Righteous Hornet. Several had latched themselves onto its hull and operating systems, accessing small maintenance panels, analysing the systems effectiveness. Two Techmarines were quietly discussing their work in the background as Hullmaster Brittain stood back watching the proceedings.

   Brittain was in charge of the hour to hour running of the Strike Cruiser, and more importantly the comings and goings on the Flight Deck and maintenance of their key strategic air assets - the Storm Eagles. Most were armed with wing mounted twin-linked lascannons, along with nose mounted heavy bolters, other Chapters relied on multi-melta armed Storm Eagles but tactical analysis had found these had little effect in dispersing enemy troop formations. Inflicting casualties was never the priority for the Storm Eagles, the total collapse of morale was the priority. This in turn would spread fear, panic and confusion amongst all ranks of an  enemy force leading to poorly planned reactionary attacks - this soon would lead to a disastrous offensive, the strategic collapse of that ineffable quality - confidence - and the elimination of the enemy force as a serious opponent.

   The Storm Eagles were key in this regard, as they were very much multi-role aircraft, dominant in Air Superiority actions as they were in Group deployment activities. Twin-linked heavy bolters could shred enemy infantry formations far more efficiently than any Imperial Navy autocannon attack, eviscerating infantry with fist sized high-explosive penetrating bolts, specifically blessed for the task. The result was gory dominance. Brittain knew that attaining replacements for those lost in action was increasingly difficult, the Chapter had hard enough time acquiring suitable replacement parts as it was, when one was downed in action it was essential to secure the crash site as fast as possible. Rumours abounded that II Strike Force had been almost overrun when three Storm Eagles had been downed by traitor anti-aircraft batteries on Cadia, but they had successfully recovered the trashed airframes despite heavy Space Marine losses.

   Rhian ran his hands over the freshly polished heavy bolters, they were free of the devotions that festooned many similar craft. These often had an unfortunate habit of incinerating during planetfall and occasionally clogging up key air intakes. Rhian shook his head as he remembered witnessing an overly adorned Thunderhawk 'kill' a rogue Marauder Destroyer that was chasing it. During a ferocious exchange of autocannon fire, a particular large devotional banner detached, ripped off the Thunderhawk and was dragged into the Marauder's starboard engine. It must have been attached to some of the Thunderhawks armour and tore through engine blades, power couplings, fuel lines, and ignited the wing tank seconds before the fire was channelled through the crew compartment. Despite this outstanding 'kill' devotional literature covering high value aircraft often did more harm than good.

   Three Servitors rolled up on small tracked chassis, raising small arms and began spraying fresh paint over the armour. Rhian felt pride in the Intermarines swell in his chest as the Chapters Icon, a large bone coloured I imposed over a red M, was resprayed with micro-millimetre precision. As time crawled by they slowly moved reinforcing the other details, the serial number IMSE37, along with the name 'Righteous Hornet' and its emblem of a power-armoured Hornet delivering a devastating tail sting from the heavens.

   "Ready for planetfall Lance-Sergeant?" enquired Brittain.

   "Of course sir, looks like a cakewalk," Rhian shrugged, "we keep working harder to make our performance better. But I don't see that paying off in such a low intensity operation."

   Brittain nodded, "Each craft here is precision tested and analysed for optimal performance. If we do it faster here it makes us stronger when you engage the enemy, arguably more so with every hour that follows. Down here our work is never over. I'm somewhat paraphrasing Guilliman's words on the subject matter but the point stands. We work hard, and do it fast to get good turn around times on these craft, treat her with the respect she is do and we'll have less work to keep her in the air."

   "Is that your way of telling me you've flagged up some issues in the Designated Systems Analysis?"

   "Of course. Your Nav-Ex System is seemingly out of line, which could be to do with latent effects of warp travel, but it'll take a deal of time to work out whether that is the case or merely the Machine Spirit having some form of strop. Just don't let the Techmarines hear me say that. What is more of an issue is that we've switched your two Daibach engines for two Dortmund engines. Daibachs were having minor misfiring on the thrusters during landings, and its been recommended to relegate those to Reserve status and fit the Dortmund engines which have around sixteen percent more power. Just be aware of this during manoeuvring, the Righteous Hornet's Machine Spirit has taken the adjustment well but its something to consider with her not fully accepting the Nav-Ex System," Brittain handed Rhian a dataslate, "Just sign here to accept that the craft may well detonate unexpectedly at its own will."

   Rhian took the slate and scribbled his mark upon the dataslate, "Hasn't happened yet."

   Brittain met his gaze, "As I always point out. The key word there is 'yet'."
Its an even stranger day when you have a fat Games Workshop-Fanboy Ninja declare to end you for something you did for April Fools on Teh Interwebz.

It's a strange day in the world where I find myself agreeing more often than not with Swiper.  :D


 


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