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Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



I wrote it as auto rifles just, cuz well, Iraq vet :D

If the standard armament of Krieg is las or hotshot, then Ill gloriously retcon it in the way of my people.

Looking it up, yeah, they have lasguns and some other stuff http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Death_Korps_of_Krieg#Personal_.26_Support_Weapons

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Sogol
Apr 11, 2013

Galileo's Finger

Lanky Coconut Tree posted:

Good point.

Comm the guard, tell them you found a bunch of their Turkeys, you'll sell the location to them in exchange for a full battalion clearing the way for us to the location, then covering our retreat.

Also, y'know, tell the Beast not to go investigate that beacon


this and also contact Magos

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Mud

Across a front a hundred kilometers long, the forces of the Imperium struggled. Tens of thousands of artillery pieces, parked wheel to wheel, stretched out of sight. Their cannon blasts never ended, millions of rounds of explosives arcing into the air, to burst in swarms, or crater the earth. Tens of thousands of helicopters, jets, aeroplanes, CAS bombers filled the air, a force beyond comprehension. Below them, tens of millions of infantry, in their tens of thousands of trucks, tanks, transports. A double dozen Titans, mountains of steel and invincibility.

The Devourer met them.

Swarms of Gargoyles, Harridans, Skyslashers, Zoanthropes, enough to block out the sun. A carpet of ‘gaunts and Rippers, so many you couldn’t see the ground. Scattered among them, tens of thousands of Hive Tyrants. Stomping the earth as colossi, a handful of Biotitans. They crashed into each other like oceans, on a scrap of land five kilometers deep. Organic artillery rounds punched through the air, toxic and devouring. Nerve gas spread like miasma. Fusion bombs broke lines and shattered armor, only to be filled once again by thousands more.

It was said afterwards that a thousand soldiers died every second.

Both sides pushed through radiation and fallout that would kill them within a day. It didn’t matter - they would die long before then. The slightest breach in NBC armor or carapace exposed them to a horrific cocktail of chemical and biological weapons, nerve agents, blister agents, all the horrors that the IG had learned in ten millennia of war. All the horrors the Tyranids had discovered in their galactic conquest. This was it, the Battle of Gamma South. If the IG broke here, the world would fall. If the Tyranids couldn’t push through, they would be overwhelmed.

Winner take all.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
You turned.
A handful of Cadian officers were watching the battle with you, wearing the flash goggles that were ubiquitous here. They all had close cropped, even shaved heads, and carried their weapons with the ease of long experience. The one who spoke - a colonel - continued.
“Seeing that..” she breathed in. “Makes you believe in the Imperium.”
Another wave of nuclear detonations. The officers cheered as a bio-titan stumbled, was pushed back by one of yours.
You gestured, taking it all in. “What do you think?”
“Mm…” She paused thoughtfully. “I give it five, six weeks. What do you think, Valens?”
The Major next to her nodded. “Yeah, about that.”
You glanced at them. She explained. “Before Exterminatus.”
The Colonel must have seen - well, felt - your expression through your mask. “Cadians, remember? Rule of thumb is, a month after Biotitans, expect Exterminatus.”
“Think we can crush them before then?”
She made a iffy gesture. “Maybe. That’s one reason we wanted to talk to you, actually.”

“Oh?”
“Yup. Headquarters said a Tech-Priest came by with a high-speed low-drag mission. Infiltrate the Hive before things got worse. We figured it was you.”
“Something like that.”
She nodded as if you’d confirmed it. “Yup. HQ said it was a ‘ordinance for escort trade’ but we know what that means when its the Mechanicus.”
“What’s that?”
Her eyes sparkled. “Victory.”
You didn’t reply. She continued. “Secret mission, we’ve seen those. But a secret mission for the Mechanicus in the middle of the biggest, most important offensive of the war? One that has repercussions for the whole sector? You’ve got something up your sleeve.”
You continued not to say anything. “My battalion made some deals, made sure we got this mission. I think its going to be the one that wins the war.”

Incoming call.

You made a gesture. “Excuse me Colonel, I need to take this.”
Your shrieks of binary only seemed to confirm her theory in her mind. A cadre of officers she brought with her waited expectantly on you, alternately looking to the carnage to the North, pointing out interesting actions.
Firstly, the Beast confirmed your change of notation on the site, no problems there. Next, the Cadian HQ said they were sending the 24th Cadian Battalion to support you, commanded by Colonel Asmodius. You checked her file; it seemed to match the person who had approached you. She, and her unit, were described as fire-eaters: extremely aggressive, and nearly as good as they thought they were.
Lastly, and perhaps most important, a note from the Magos, responding to your update. It was secured by your personal crypto and DNA lock, and was terse beyond that, to reduce interception. It held two files.One was a simple address, located in the Underhives.

The other was a diagram of a Biotitan, with a small gland notated ‘aggression’

Colonel Asmodius looked over at you as finished receiving the data. “Good news?”
“it is indeed. We need to hit a small location inside the Hive.”
She nodded, as if not expecting more than that. “If you come back to the bunker, I can introduce you to my staff.”

It wasn’t far, and the distant rumble of artillery and nuclear initiations rumbled through the conversation. “When we thought we were in the running for the mission, we sketched out a couple plans for infiltration. Our assets include a battalion of vehicles, limited supplies of WMD, drop pods. You have a retinue, correct? Right, so that gives us another company to work with. Let us know what plan works for you.”

A. “Air drop. It will get us inside the Hive fastest, but we won’t have our vehicle support. We expect ~20% casualties in the landing.
B. “Overland. We’ll follow the breaches the Titans make. It’ll be slow, probably a couple days, but its safest, and we’ll have our vehicle support.
C. “Underground. Its a furball down there, we’ll have the heaviest contact, but we’ll have the most support down there too.
D. “Deep underground. There’s a platform near here that goes into the Underhive, but its isolated. Our main force hasn’t committed there at all, so we don’t know what’s there.
E. “Something Else”

Kegslayer
Jul 23, 2007

Deadmeat5150 posted:

You didn't address my concerns with our armaments. If all we have are piddly chemical-powered slugthrowers it's no wonder it took so many to take down a Lictor.

Trained guardsmen would have a problem taking down a Lictor much less a militia armed with stolen/traded weapons though.

Selling them location of the Turkeys back to the Nallani is a bad idea. We've already planted a beacon there and the Beast can figure out what to do with them. Its going to hurt our relationship withe the Nallani when they get there, find the beacon and think we're trying to screw them over not to mention a single company of flyers isn't going to have an impact on the war we're facing now.

When we talk to the Magos we should ask if he still wants us to proceed. If the Nids are pouring out of Gamma instead of still attacking it under siege then Gamma has fallen and we do not want to go in with what we have. Our troops are lightly armoured and not equipped at all to go inside what is essentially a giant multi storied metal maze the size of a small country.

If the Magos still wants us to go then we should find and requisition more men from a different unit, preferably a specialized urban regiment that has experience fighting Tyranids.

Edit: voting B

Its the safest route and allows us time to gather info about the lab and what we face in the Hive.

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous
Air drop. Gives us a good vantage point to, err, geld a biotitan or two with the rifle.

VanSandman
Feb 16, 2011
SWAP.AVI EXCHANGER
D, underhive. Underhivers are survivors par excellence. There's a chance we won't encounter organized Tyranid resistance down below due to the various gangs shooting the hell out of Tyranids when they get into ganger territory.
We need all the info, though. Everything we can find out in six or so hours.

I don't think a hive fleet is coming. I think this planet is supposed to spawn a hive fleet.

Grognan
Jan 23, 2007

by Fluffdaddy
B Let's go Biotitan hunting!

Slaan
Mar 16, 2009



ASHERAH DEMANDS I FEAST, I VOTE FOR A FEAST OF FLESH
E- Orbital Insertion. We can drop pod in. It will reduce casualties on landing. We won't have vehicles and supplies will be limited, but there will be more surprise and more men.

VanSandman
Feb 16, 2011
SWAP.AVI EXCHANGER
Surprise is useless against Tyranids. From the moment the hive mind becomes aware of you, it is maneuvering forces to crush you if it can. Orbital insertion is a death trap we won't survive.

mepstein73
Sep 18, 2012

Whether or not you find your own way, you're bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, please return it, as it was lost years ago. I imagine by now it's quite rusty.
B, but let's see if we can't shoot a bio-titan's aggression gland so it berserks into its own troops (that, or makes it (and those linked to it) overly docile and weakened). I think the second would give us a bit of sheer respect from the soldiers, as we suddenly punch through the front a bit. One shot, one kill and all that, plus, y'know, "Titan Slayer Ohone" as a title is cool.

E: Oh, and we're keeping at least one of these bullets to study and make more of.

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous
Hide a couple of bullets. Once we reach the lab(do we even know what it is?), we can "discover" them in there, and if our titan-disabling plan works now, we won't have to come up with an explanation of why we were so desperate to get there.

mepstein73
Sep 18, 2012

Whether or not you find your own way, you're bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, please return it, as it was lost years ago. I imagine by now it's quite rusty.

my dad posted:

Hide a couple of bullets. Once we reach the lab(do we even know what it is?), we can "discover" them in there, and if our titan-disabling plan works now, we won't have to come up with an explanation of why we were so desperate to get there.

Ooh, yeah, that's excellent. I like it.

Arkanomen
May 6, 2007

All he wants is a hug
A - Airdrop only 20%!! That's outstanding.

Arkanomen fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Feb 17, 2015

HiHo ChiRho
Oct 23, 2010

VanSandman posted:

D, underhive. Underhivers are survivors par excellence. There's a chance we won't encounter organized Tyranid resistance down below due to the various gangs shooting the hell out of Tyranids when they get into ganger territory.
We need all the info, though. Everything we can find out in six or so hours.

I don't think a hive fleet is coming. I think this planet is supposed to spawn a hive fleet.

Give the Nids the D

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



A x
B x x x
C
D x x
E x

Ark, Im unsure if you mean A or B?

Sogol
Apr 11, 2013

Galileo's Finger
D

Tran
Feb 17, 2011

It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Especially in such a fine settin' as this. Just need us some music an' a brawl an' we'll be set.
D: So the Magos is likely sending us to collect something the noble mutant dabblers created. Taken together with the fact that it is related to the biotitans it looks like Erasmus was right. The wannabe biologis were playing with tyranid genes to try and make a more adaptable pet killer.

Kegslayer
Jul 23, 2007

VanSandman posted:

Surprise is useless against Tyranids. From the moment the hive mind becomes aware of you, it is maneuvering forces to crush you if it can. Orbital insertion is a death trap we won't survive.

This and the fact that we're openly seeing bio titans on the field means that everything is completely hosed. Since there have been no present or historical sightings of Tyranid hive fleets the only explanation for the bio titans are that they were grown here on the planet and since the entire planet is an ash laden wasteland, the only biomass that the Tyranids could harvest were probably all the people inside Gamma. :gonk:

Whatever local resistance inside the hive is long gone and the entire place is going to be one enormous death trap. Stealth, speed and the element of surprise are going to be useless since the Tyranids will know the minute we crash in. In the newer fluff, the Tyranids basically act as an auto immune system so any top secret missions into the hive are going to be met with a priority response. The Hive Mind is most likely already aware of our mission after our encounter with the Lictor so we should make sure we don't do anything rash to provoke a response.

I think our best bet is to still hide strategically position ourselves behind the advance of the titans. They can soak up all the major damage and take the Hive Mind's attention off us and the minute they breach the hive, we can split off in the confusion and get in and out unnoticed.

What we do need to do though is find out how the hive fell and an escape route off the planet. We only found out that we were facing Tyranids about a week ago and the fact that whole regiments have disappeared without them being able to warn anyone suggests that there is a greater conspiracy at play. It could be anything from the usual genestealer intervention to this entire war being an experiment by a radical Ordo Xenos inquisitor looking to learn more about the Tyranids.

Arkanomen
May 6, 2007

All he wants is a hug

LowellDND posted:

A x
B x x x
C
D x x
E x

Ark, Im unsure if you mean A or B?

I meant A!

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:
Voting B. Because.

RandomPauI
Nov 24, 2006


Grimey Drawer
D

Toughy
Nov 29, 2004

KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

D after a good scouting

Tomn
Aug 23, 2007

And the angel said unto him
"Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself."
But lo he could not. For the angel was hitting him with his own hands
D, but snipe a biotitan near the entry point before we go in. Warn the regiments in the area of what we're going to do and tell them to be prepared for uncontrolled aggression on the 'Nids nearest them and/or a complete lack of aggression.

Hmm. If there's any medical students in here, what happens if you violently pop a hormone-producing gland? I'm guessing that it'd probably temporarily release a flood of the hormones in question throughout the creature before being used up, which in the case of an "aggression" gland seems like it would cause temporary berserk rage followed by a near-pacific stupor. Am I wrong?

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:
As a biologist I'd say that assessment is correct.

As a specialist botanist my assessment is questionable at best.

Oasx
Oct 11, 2006

Freshly Squeezed
D

Lanky Coconut Tree
Apr 7, 2011

An angry tree.

The angriest tree

Tomn posted:

D, but snipe a biotitan near the entry point before we go in. Warn the regiments in the area of what we're going to do and tell them to be prepared for uncontrolled aggression on the 'Nids nearest them and/or a complete lack of aggression.

Hmm. If there's any medical students in here, what happens if you violently pop a hormone-producing gland? I'm guessing that it'd probably temporarily release a flood of the hormones in question throughout the creature before being used up, which in the case of an "aggression" gland seems like it would cause temporary berserk rage followed by a near-pacific stupor. Am I wrong?

I'm down with this

Outrail posted:

As a biologist I'd say that assessment is correct.

As a specialist botanist my assessment is questionable at best.


we can turn to you when we face Orks

Lanky Coconut Tree fucked around with this message at 07:44 on Feb 17, 2015

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous
If you snipe a titan, snipe the one that is the furthest from the front lines (while still being in range), to ensure that any berserk rage harms the nids more than it harms us.

As a bonus, we're not putting the guard at risk, so we don't have to tell them, and we don't risk embarrassing ourself if something goes wrong.

Tran
Feb 17, 2011

It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Especially in such a fine settin' as this. Just need us some music an' a brawl an' we'll be set.
Just to be clear, we're talking about targets on a battlefield so large atomic weapons are actively being used. Atomic weapons that are apparently far enough away to not vaporize us. Unless the rifle's bullets are in fact multi-stage rockets, range is going to be something of an issue.

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous

Tran posted:

Just to be clear, we're talking about targets on a battlefield so large atomic weapons are actively being used. Atomic weapons that are apparently far enough away to not vaporize us. Unless the rifle's bullets are in fact multi-stage rockets, range is going to be something of an issue.

Considering that a space marine's gun rapid-fires small rockets... :shrug:

Tran
Feb 17, 2011

It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Especially in such a fine settin' as this. Just need us some music an' a brawl an' we'll be set.
Bolters are gyrojet weapons, yes. I don't know if there even are extreme range bolters though.

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN

Tran posted:

Bolters are gyrojet weapons, yes. I don't know if there even are extreme range bolters though.

Vindicare Assassins have what is essentially a bolt sniper. And they can fire it from VERY far away. I have a feeling our little rifle is something very similar.

Kegslayer
Jul 23, 2007
The issue isn't just range but also what a single bullet can do. Biotitans are about 4 stories high, have massive armour and also insane regeneration. Even if our magic bullet can hit the gland it still needs to be able to penetrate the armour and do enough damage to stop it from regenerating.

I think we're better off tagging the bullet with some kind of homing device and requesting a lance strike from the Navy in orbit.

wiegieman
Apr 22, 2010

Royalty is a continuous cutting motion


Tran posted:

Bolters are gyrojet weapons, yes.

Only sort of. The gyrojet was a piss-poor weapon, bolters are more like a small recoilless rifle with a minor recoil charge that gets the round out of the barrel.

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN

wiegieman posted:

Only sort of. The gyrojet was a piss-poor weapon, bolters are more like a small recoilless rifle with a minor recoil charge that gets the round out of the barrel.

They are mini missiles, that's why they leave a trail.

Sogol
Apr 11, 2013

Galileo's Finger

Deadmeat5150 posted:

They are mini missiles, that's why they leave a trail.

Presumably this means that if we can penetrate the carapace or whatever we could then fly it around inside the beastie until propellant ran out.

paragon1
Nov 22, 2010

FULL COMMUNISM NOW
C It's faster than B, and gives us the maximum amount of support.

jng2058
Jul 17, 2010

We have the tools, we have the talent!






20%? For Guard, that's a rounding error! Besides, we're on the clock here. Who knows when the Hive Fleet will show up and the Beast will book it? Go fast and get out!

Grabpot Thundergust
Jul 6, 2010
I've just caught up with reading this CYOA. It's an awesome read. LowellDND, you do an amazing job capturing the feel of the 40k world, and I love the Slice of Life bits - they add a great bit of flavour. I don't know if it's been mentioned, but I noticed who the patron saint of the Beast, Ching Shih, is - a seriously mental 19th Century Chinese pirate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ching_Shih). Seeing as you've put a lot of other little Easter eggs in, I assume that was deliberate.

So, yeah, keep up the good work please!

paragon1
Nov 22, 2010

FULL COMMUNISM NOW
For everyone voting for A: Remember that we'll need to get out of the hive as well.

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Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Grabpot Thundergust posted:

I've just caught up with reading this CYOA. It's an awesome read. LowellDND, you do an amazing job capturing the feel of the 40k world, and I love the Slice of Life bits - they add a great bit of flavour. I don't know if it's been mentioned, but I noticed who the patron saint of the Beast, Ching Shih, is - a seriously mental 19th Century Chinese pirate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ching_Shih). Seeing as you've put a lot of other little Easter eggs in, I assume that was deliberate.

So, yeah, keep up the good work please!

Thank you! Always good to have more readers :D

And yup, your dynasty founder is definitely an expy of her.

If you (plural) wanna see something in the SoLs, just ask. I try to keep it loosely tied to the ship, but one example of me answering a question was 'what happens when a Lord-Sire doesn't make enough money?' So if you wanna see something, just let me know :D

A x x x
B x x x x
C x
D x x x x x, x x x x
E x

D is well in the lead, so Ill start that sometime today

Loel fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Feb 17, 2015

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