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7 yrs ago
Current Sorry for my lack of posts lately. I've just... been struggling to get the energy to write something up. I'm trying some new meds through so hopefully that will change soon.
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Pentious was declared to be officially back under human control with surprisingly little fanfare. Even as Rik had launched his one man assault on Forge Delta, the militant forces of the machine cult marched on the last remaining forge held by the greenskins in order to drive them out at long last. The assault wasn’t as one sided as the purge of Forge Delta, but human ingenuity, industry and cold, logical hatred of the ork invader and everything they stood for carried the day all the same.

The lack of fanfare could be attributed to a number of causes. Reclaiming both of the lost forges revealed the full extent of the damage that had been done and the sheer scale of the repairs that needed to be undertaken was daunting, if a duty to be taken with grim resolve all the same. Already the logistics for such work was being worked on with the dedication of the faithful restoring defiled but reclaimed holy sites.

Other hinderances towards what would have otherwise be a joyous day were related to the fact that the war with the orks wasn’t over yet. They had been driven from the forges, denying the greenskined wretches access to vast amounts of technology, industrial power and the strongest strongholds on the planet… but there was still plenty of tribes remaining on the planet. Pentious was still infested with orks, but now it was only a matter of time and effort to be rid of them for good.

Pentious was still at war. People were still going to die in the days to come. But for the first time since the orks had slammed themselves into the ground with their crudely repurposed asteroid ships, a true human victory was finally in view. An end of the war in which humanity remained as the dominant and only power on Pentious was starting to dawn, and while it wasn’t the time to celebrate yet, high morale surged through blood, wire and circuit all the same.
Hive Jefferson was dead.

There was no other way that anyone who has spent the majority of their existence could describe what it was like to step into the empty hive city; While every hive had their areas that had been abandoned or fallen into ruin, there were always hums or the roars of distant machinery and humanity to remind the listener that they were never truly alone for better or worse.

There was no echo of distant machines or mulling crowds when the 8th Legion stepped over the threshold. The only noises they could hear were their own footsteps and the distant cries of neglected stone and metal as they finally gave out from centuries of neglect.

Konrad found the place reminding him somewhat of the Ghosthive in Houston, but this place felt unnerving in a vastly different way: The Ghosthive had been unnerving due to being the home of predators that didn’t belong in a sane universe, but he couldn’t help but shake the feeling that they were old enough to have caused early humans to fear the dark.

Jefferson held the heavy air of somewhere in which something utterly horrific had taken place, but the source of that horror was much more mundane in origin. The solders of the Pan Pacific had decided to use the time that fortifying the 8th’s foothold had granted them to load up everything of value they could carry… and destroy everything they couldn’t in an act of scorched earth.

The extent of the damage was still being worked out. The environmental shielding had been shut off and sabotaged so that the hive was completely exposed to the radioactive, polluted environment that was the wastes outside the hive and the ventilation systems had been made to pump toxic fumes instead of air for an extended period of time. A different investigative force was making its way to the main reactor to see what its current status was; Early reports were promising, since the core still existed rather the be a massive, empty bubble of wreckage that could turn a man into charcoal from the inside out within seconds.

Konrad’s squad were tasked with investigating the current state of various water treatment and recycling plants throughout the hive. Truth be told, the report wasn’t promising so far. The two stations they had visited so far, there had been far less water in the system then their should have been for a hive of this size; The fact that there was still something in the reservoirs suggested that the retreating solders had taken a considerable amount of it with them rather then there being a hole somewhere in the pipe system.

Of cause, the putrid sludge that remained couldn’t really be called water anymore. Between the waste, toxic chems and what he could only assume were the corpses of the former water treatment staff, recycling it into something even remotely close to clean water was going to be a tall order… and if his dealings with the old water guild back home was anything to go by, he doubted that the new guild that would arise if Hive Jefferson was repopulated would honestly bother to remove the corpses before putting the swill back into circulation.

Still… it was possible that they hadn’t poisoned the stations further down the hive. Go down far enough and adding toxic chems to the water supply might actually make it safer to drink after all.
The Mercia Front: Between Assaults


The original success of the 8th Legion on the Mercia Front played a major role in the war against the Pan-Pacific on Mercia's soil. Losing control of so many hives in Southern Mercia in a matter of months with little in the way of warning or defense caused a massive upheaval to the Pan-Pacific wider plans. With battle still raging against the Thunder Warriors and other Imperial forces on the eastern hives of Mercia, the hives and territory that the 8th had taken posed a very real threat of cutting off Pan-Pacific controlled hives and forces in the east from reinforcements and supplies from more stable territories.

According to some analysts, if the 8th had regrouped and taken advantage of the confusion to push, they could have actually made this encirclement happen and caused considerable damage to the military of the Pan-Pacific Empire. In practice through, such a lightning assault simply wasn't possible due to a number of factors: The first and most important was that there simply hadn't been enough active members of the 8th legion to try. While their operation was an astounding success and losses were well within accepted parameters, the 8th legion didn't have a large force to begin with and the losses they did take had a large impact on their options moving forward.

A choice had to be made. The 8th
could take a gamble and rally themselves together to make a push to encircle and cut off the eastern front while the Pan-Pacific was reeling from losing so much ground at once, or they could hold they territory they had taken until reinforcements arrived to help fortify and hold the region or go on the offense themselves. In the end the 8th decided on the latter plan of action.

As Legion Master Pho Scraphurst was quoted saying about the decision: "We have delivered a jab to our enemy that has caused their jaw to be exposed for a follow up uppercut. However, in order to launch that uppercut we would have to abandon all pretense of defense to put force behind the blow... and unfortunately we simply do not have the strength to make that blow powerful enough to put 'em down. Sure it would hurt 'em, but they would be able to counter attack and unless they're completely stupid they'll quickly regain the undefended hives we've taken with a minimum of fuss. Better to draw out the fight then launch a half arsed attack that'll do more harm then good."

Another factor in the decision to hold and wait for reinforcements to secure Imperial control of the territory was the fact that there were still several Pan-Pacific strongholds within the area the 8th had claimed for the Imperium. Minor hives or independent structures, but still bastions with enemy forces still occupying them. The threat of these bastions reporting back to their higher ups that the territory was undefended or launching assaults of their own to reclaim some of their former territory if the 8th left them be was unacceptable.

So while the 8th legion waited for enforcing Imperial forces and supplies to arrive, the 8th took the time to ensure the stability of Imperial rule in the hives they had claimed, prepared what defenses they needed to in order to hold their prizes in the event that a counter offensive came before the region was fully garrisoned and secured and launching minor campaigns and sieges against what Pan-Pacific strong points remained. These operations also served as a form of training and bonding among the 8th legion, preparing them for larger scale operations and outright siege warfare that they would no doubt encounter going forward.

As the months passed, the Imperium was able to bring in the fresh forces and supplies needed to properly hold its new territory, as well as set up facilities to properly recruit fresh members for the 8th legion going forward. While this did have the negative side effect of allowing the Pan-Pacific Empire a chance to dig in and prepare for fighting on the southern front of Mercia, the Imperium had a strong and secure foothold to launch its future liberation campaigns from.


-Remembrancer Zygena Ravenlow, attached to the 8th Legion.
That's okay. And looking forward to it here too.
@Master Crim You alive?
The unenlightened would have believed that a forge or a hive was merely a collection of machines. A series of buildings and nothing more. But those that knew better understood that such places had a life of their own. All one needed to do was listen and they could hear the thoughts and feelings of such machinery and hallowed locations… and if you were really good, you could speak with them.

It was hard for Rik to describe the state of Forge Delta in a manner that could be truly comprehended by others. Sure, he could give an analysis of the damaged and corrupted systems he had found so far and it would be easy to show just how intense the cleansing and repair work was going to be, but actually explaining what it was like to stalk its passages and rooms…

The closest Rik could put into words to be understood by someone else was that Forge Delta was like an impossibly large canine filled with other, smaller canines that had all been neglected, abused and riddled with parasites. It had once been treated with love and kindness and even now parts of it remembered human touch but… most of it had not been so fortunate. Delta was in absolute agony and had been for a long time. The pain and abuse was all many parts remembered or knew.

If Forge Delta had been a biological creature, Rik would have moved to put it down. A tragic fate to be sure but… to leave it to suffer would have been unforgivable to him. However, the machine was superior to flesh for a reason and the damage could be undone and repaired… but sacrifices would have to be made for the forge to recover and be rehabilitated.

Pain and fury had driven a number of programs and machines utterly feral, lashing out mindlessly at any target that presented itself. Some could and would be rehabilitated, but others were simply too far gone to save. Despite their future grim fate, Rik could still made use of them in the short term; Many greenskins had met their righteous end during Rik’s culling via the very programs and machines they had enslaved and mistreated for years.

While Rik’s purge was still ongoing, having moved from the areas that could be monitored to the blind spots and hidden spaces between areas, he had made sure to send out a message to his people that Forge Delta had largely been secured and was in the clean up stages. It had been days since he had started the reconquest… and it would be days still till he felt confident enough in the progress of cleansing and repair to risk sleep. But for a few moments after the message was sent out and reinforcements were on the way, Rik allowed himself to close his eyes and just… listen.

The forge was still in pain. It was still sick, riddled with parasites and the waste they had left behind. Not to mention it was going to be some time for it to recover. But in this moment… For the first time in decades, it wasn’t actively being tortured. For the first time in decades, despite the pain it could see the light at the end of the tunnel and know that the worst was over.

For just a moment, Rik allowed himself to hear the collective machine spirit of Forge Delta… and it was as beautiful as it was heartbreaking.


@Master Crim

So is Bob good? Because he is very physically and tanky... but he has very little social awareness and can't really do anything for the team that isn't physical in some manner.




Here's two for you to look into.
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