Death Before Dishonor!: The 3++ Campaign

Well all, here's a little teaser for the upcoming 3++ Campaign. Details to come this week as I finish up the rules pack and of course put the word out for 6 interested players.

The craft shuddered violently as it crashed through the planet’s atmosphere, headed for the drop zone a few hundred kilometers distant. The whine of the engines and the roar of air rushing by outside made it exceedingly difficult to hear the pilot’s commands over the headsets wired into the ships intercom system, and made it nigh impossible to talk to the person to the left and right. All that one could do was to sit and think, and that is exactly what Yano did.

Seven years ago, Trooper Yano was crashing through the atmosphere in a similar Valkyrie over this very same planet. Fate has been a cruel mistress to him in those intervening years, and so much has changed. Colonel Taihan had been recalled to Elysia where he was brought before the High Commissar and sentenced to death for the failure of the operation, as well as for the heedless loss of life in the 181st. He was executed the following day. Captain Thanstadt was stripped of his rank and sent to serve in the 9th Penal Expeditionary Corps. The last that was heard of him was that he was sent to the Eastern Fringe to help reinforce a planet under siege by a splinter fleet of the ravenous Hive Fleet Kthulu. The 9th was all but wiped out during the fighting.

As for him, he and his fellow troopers lucked out and were spared during the Commissariat Purges which tore through the upper ranks following the failure on Kastorel-Novem. Instead, they were used to help fill out the newly formed 5th Elysian Long Range Reconnaissance Battalion. This was a battalion comprised of veterans taken from all line units from Elysia, with the express purpose of creating a unit that would act as the vanguard force for Elysian main body elements in future conflicts. The battalion was comprised of 6 independent companies: Assault Company, Bullseye Company, Claymore Company, Death Company, Equalizer Company, and Firestorm Company. Each company was organized to have 5 Recon Squads and an HQ squad, all Valkyrie borne to enable rapid insertion/extraction operations. It also permitted them to be dropped off far behind enemy lines, where they would then operate as a dismounted reconnaissance patrol. Additionally, each company maintained a small squadron of 6 Venator ATV’s to assist in surveillance and targeting. Finally, the company was supported by it’s own organic Vulture squadron, comprised of 3 vultures. The pilots were all Imperial Navy pilots who have a minimum of two combat tours flying experience, and they all willingly volunteered to be permanently attached to the 5th.

Yano heard a faint beep come over his headset, followed by the two minute warning from the pilot. Yano acknowledged and unbuckled his seat harness and stood up. He looked across as the Master Gunnery Sergeant seated across from him and gave him a nod. Master Gunnery Sergeant Orek nodded back and proceeded to release his harness restraints and stand. He shouldered his Heavy Las Sniper Rifle as he mouthed something into his mic, and the rest of the command squad followed his lead in releasing their harnesses. Orek looked over at Yano and gave him a thumbs up. The boys were good to go.

Orek had been with Yano on KN the first time, and had followed him into the 5th as well. Both had been assigned to Death Company, only Orek had been tasked to the Command Section where he and a fellow marksman operated as a scout/sniper team for the Commander. Yano was assigned to be a gunner in 2nd Squadron, in Venator 221. His skill with heavy weapons, particularly automatic heavy weapons, made him a perfect fit for the dual Multi-Las turret on his vehicle.

Their friendship grew while serving in Death Company, and was solidified during the reconnaissance of the death world Nox Mortis. Orek had been operating well in advance of the rest of the company for weeks, tracking down the Lair of the Beast (as it was known to the locals), a supposed cave complex which was home to the progenitor of all the various deadly organisms on the planet. After a month of stalking his quarry, Orek and his spotter suddenly went silent, and their daily reports no longer came in. A search and rescue effort was put together, with Yano’s squadron heading to the site of one of his last transmissions, at the base of the mountain range called the Mountains of the Gods.

Yano eventually found Orek near the cave entrance where the Beast, a extremely large and ancient Hive Tyrant, resided. Orek’s spotter had died weeks ago during a run in with a Lictor, and Orek had been surviving on his own in a cat-and-mouse game with several of the creatures over a good forty kilometer region of the planet. Sadly, he was unable to warn Yano of the cave and the beast within before it and its progeny claimed the crew of Venator 214, as well as Yano’s own driver. Determined to end the scourge, Yano and Orek took both Venator 221 and 214 to the cave in a daring suicide mission. While Yano provided covering fire outside the cave with his dual Multi-Las turret, Orek drove 214 and its Heavy Flamer deep into the cave, before he cut the fuel lines and ran back to Yano. Orek had barely gotten his harness on when the Beast itself charged through the wrecked Venator and its pools of promethium straight for Yano and Orek outside the cave entrance. Yano began firing in controlled bursts to keep the monster at bay, while Orek took his Heavy Las Sniper rifle and aimed at the promethium tank at the rear of the truck. He squeezed the trigger.

Yano heard the whoosh-crack of the Heavy Las Sniper rifle over the repetitive thudding of his Multi-Las as he tried to walk his rounds into the Beasts great maw. A split second later, there was a loud whoosh, followed by the roar of man-made fire as a massive explosion ripped out from the cave. The air was suddenly sucked out of his lungs as the Promethium devoured all the oxygen inside and outside the cave. In an instant following the explosion, a Promethium fueled fireball burst forth from the cave, consuming the Tyrant in one fiery instant. Orek set his weapon down on the passenger seat, throttled the engine, and sped away from the cave entrance. They had a vital report to send to higher, a report which would see Yano promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and his battle buddy given the Honorifica Imperialis…

That was all ancient history now as far as Yano was concerned. He rose through the ranks of the Guard fast, and last year was honored to be selected to lead the elite Elysian 173rd Airborne. And now, here he was, leading the 173rd on a mission to Kastorel-Novem, almost 7 years after his first endeavor here.

The beeping in his headset recalled Yano from his reverie one last time. The pilot was giving the one minute warning. Yano turned to Orek and gave him the “one minute” sign. Orek nodded and passed the word to the Soldiers. Yano turned as the door gunners pulled back the charging handles on their heavy bolters, locking a round in the chamber as they approached the LZ. They began methodically sweeping back and forth, scouring the ground below for potential targets or threats. Colonel Yano walked to the side door as the jump master slide it open. Yano shuffled closer, noting that the jump light above the door was still red. The jump master leaned out into the windy torrent and spotted the LZ fast approaching. He turned to Yano and pointed out. Yano stepped forward and leaned out into the turbulent jet stream and confirmed the LZ. There, fast approaching, was the shape of a several low, grey buildings. Slightly farther out, Yano could see the prominent Air Traffic Control tower and the several kilometer long landing strips. They were back to the exact Space Port he and the 181st had evacuated all those years ago. He was home.

He was back on Kastorel-Novem. This time would be different.


This time it was for revenge.