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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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@Master Crim

So... is Pandor approved or not?
@Master Crim

It's fine. Take care of yourself.
Looking forward to hearing from you. @Master Crim

Keystone City, 34th Bush Street Shopping Center
January 1st, 2020.


As with all cities, there are areas that simply fall out of favor and are generally abandoned by everyone who can afford to be anywhere else. Bush Street Shopping Center was one such area. Once upon a time it had been a filled with store fronts and businesses, but as the economy tanked a few times and its inability for most of the businesses who had been there to compete with more well known competitors in better locations, the only storefront that remained that didn't have a 'For Rent' or 'For Lease' sign in the window of the otherwise empty buildings was a cake shop that had proven time and time again to supply high quality cakes and other desserts while benefiting from the relatively low rent of the area.

Twitchy the Rabbit had made his home in the back one of the empty buildings. Getting in hadn't been too hard, since the cameras had long been damaged and no one clearly cared enough to have them replaced and the back door had used a handle found in the door knob itself... which had shattered as soon as he had applied just a little more pressure then average.

It was a relatively humble little lair; A small pile of blankets and cushions to snuggle up and let his host rest during the day, several piles of books sorted into different subjects that either interested him or where fields of study he wished to pursue, a tub and piece of line that he washed himself, his host and their cloths with... and a metal bar that he jammed the door so that he didn't need to worry about someone stumbling in on him randomly.

Truth be told, his host didn't seem to require rest or sleep... but Twitchy liked doing it anyway. After all, his ability to move around and function depended on his host and even if they didn't have a mind anymore, the least he could do was ensure that they laid down and got a good days rest. It wasn't like they had anything better to do during the daylight hours either; He had figured out fairly quickly that operating during the light of pure day was more hassle then it was generally worth... so bunkering down was kind of a requirement.

Today he was studying a book he had borrowed from a library a bit further out then the ones he generally visited after hours. It was a rather informative documentation on a series of known Loa of Louisiana Voodoo; Who they were, what signs and rituals they were generally connected to and how to recognize them once they possessed a horse. It was a fascinating subject, if for no other reason then because ever since he had started to look into the magic that had brought him and Mortimer to life, the possibility of them being Loa was clear to see... but despite it being early days he hadn't located information on who either himself or Mortimer might have been before their awakening.

Of course, there was always another page to be turned. New secrets and information to be uncovered. So while the rest of the world passed him by, Twitchy the Rabbit contented himself with the pursuit of knowledge as his human host laid there, wrapped in blankets on a pile of pillows with their eyes closed.
High Command: Laeran


Micholi’s head was bowed, his eyes closed and his breathing steady as he attempted to meditate and center himself in the early stages of the storm building around him. The operations to bring the war on Laeran to its conclusion hadn’t officially started yet; The aquatic forces of the Lurkers and Lions were in the process of sinking into position quietly for the important second stage while many of his own legionaries moved around the planet to prepare for the chaos of the first stage. However, such preparation had a price.

Since they had established their foothold, Micholi had sown a campaign of misdirection against the Laer with a very important goal in mind.

From the start, he had known that the Laer’s underwater cities and facilities were going to be one of the hardest fortifications to try and take, even more so if he had pushed an aggressive war on the surface; Forcing them from the surface to retreat underwater would just make an already difficult to attack fortification harder to breach since they would have more bodies and they would be better suited than the Night Watch when it came to fighting in such an environment.

So he had made a show of the Imperium being… unwilling and inexperienced at waging warfare underwater. He had intentionally set up the defenses of their foothold on the world so originally the defenses aimed towards the sea itself were a weak point, through several well chosen positions further in were fortified enough to make up for it while still giving the appearance that when the Laer had launched their seawards assault, it was simply the Imperium responding quickly to their invasion rather than expecting them for some time.

He had also sent a variety of dummy ‘spies and scouts’ into the waters, taking advantage of the Imperium’s servitor supply in order to do so in order to spare actual lives where possible. They ranged from probes that were as easy to spot as the star in the sky to scanners that had enough stealth tech that it gave the appearance of the Imperium getting better but nowhere near enough slip past the notice of the Laer. All of these dummies were discovered and destroyed as planned.

They served their purposes through; The Laer were now overconfident of their ability to beat the Imperium if it tried to blindly assault their underwater holdings… and the dummies distracted them from the actual reconnaissance units and drones he had sent down with the good stealth tech to locate said facilities and scan the area around them. The Lurkers and Lions would not be wanting for information on their targets.

The fact that most of the fighting had happened only on the surface of Laeran over the last few months had resulted in the Laer pulling more of their forces up from the depths to the surface. Said underwater facilities were still no joke when it came to their defences and the dangerousness of their defenders, but they were now arrogant in their overconfidence and the amount of defenders was as light as it was going to get.

However, all that preparation and work would be for very little gain if the Laer were free to take troops from the surface and plunge back into the depths; Sure some cities and fortifications would be taken by the Lurkers and Lions, but the remaining ones would simply get reinforcements. So logically, for the operation to work… the Laer couldn’t be allowed to be free to redeploy troops.

Almost a third of the Night Watch legion forces on Laeran had been assigned a variety of squad missions, ranging from simple sabotage and intel ‘recovery’ missions to assassination and terror strikes aimed at killing as many Laer as possible (be their civilian, military or otherwise). Their collective job was to cause as much chaos in as many places at once so that the Laer would find themselves with few soldiers to spare when word from the cold depths finally reached them.

However, Micholi could easily hear the reports coming in. The Laer were not fools and they had months of experience dealing with the Night Watch’s brand of stealth missions. A distressingly high number of squads had been uncovered before they had reached their intended targets.

Of course, they were trained to adjust to changing conditions and had changed their personal squad objectives to continue along with the overall goal of chaos, confusion and pinning down Laer forces, but the death toll so far was higher than Micholi would have liked… but sadly still well within predicted casualties.

Breath in… Breath Out…

“Primarch, the amount of Laer movement and chatter in areas where squads haven’t taken out their comms is increasing by the minute.” Roban, one of the Tur who was monitoring intel as it came in spoke up. “From what we’re seeing, it seems like the scale of our activity has caught them off guard, but they’re recovering quickly and moving to try and stamp it out.”

The sound of power armor as an unseen marine moved to look over Roban’s shoulder to double check the information and confirm easily reached Micholi’s ears… as well as the fact that nothing was said when said marine moved away to return to their position; The assessment of the situation was good.

Finally, Micholi himself spoke. “Status on the rest of the Night Watch?”

A different officer of the Imperial Army, a human lieutenant named Jacobs answered “First wave is prepared to take off and begin their assault. Second wave is prepared and waiting, Primarch.”

Micholi nodded as he tightened his hold on the shaft of Unity. Opening his eyes, he finally stepped away from the tactical map and turned towards the door. “First wave is clear to launch. I’m going to join the second wave, which will launch once the Lurkers and Lions are in position and have started their assault. General Nelinho, Command is yours.”

The door closed shut behind the Primarch as General Nelinho stepped up, the veteran tech marine easily taking control of Command as the first wave of Night Watch and Imperial Army ships started their offensive; If the Omnissiah was truly with them, the Laer would be so caught off guard by the first Imperial offensive since they made planetfall that the element of surprise would carry them far.
@Alfhedil

That's fair enough. Give me some time and I'll come up with a different idea.
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