Being the letters of Astra, Navigator Primaris of the Vessel-of-Warrant The Cleansing Light currently serving onboard The Astra's Bounty, during her exploits in the service of Lord Captain York.
(Current Draft)
My dearest Jeremiah,
How time flies when you’re fighting a war. The Rak’gol are every bit as terrifying a force than any horror story that I’d heard before coming here, I can now relate first hand of the danger they personally and their vessels pose. We might yet loose this war but by the Emperor’s Light we’ll do so fighting, and the loss of one of our fleet is going to hit hard. I guess if I’m going to fill you in on events then I best start with some kind of reasoned structure (horrifyingly predictable I know). It certainly beats the ‘Hello darling. I’ve just been told I’m heading for war with Gods, what’s going on where you are?’ but I’ll admit it’s hard to focus on much else after that.
—-
Yamagato, Parthos, Rhiber and Verne hold very little of real interest – As I’m sure you know, Yamagato holds power purely from the scale of its population and that’s rapidly falling right now. It’s been hit hard and with no orbital features remaining there’s only so much you can do to defend 3 billion souls. Parthos has fish. Given it’s the only food production then it’s imperative that we hold it but it’s not anything to write about. At some point I’ll get the tale of the great Kraken hunt and retell it for you (I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, it has your level of daring grand adventure) but until then I’ll move right along. Rhiber’s a prison so only really useful to supply cannon fodder. Verne has gone from being an insignificant dirtball to one of the most heavily defended planets around since it has a very interesting (and powerful) old xenos auger array on it, one of the three we need to be able to react to enemy forces.
Carax has another of those arrays and I’m pretty sure, or at least it seems highly likely, they were part of the same network historically. When we first got these to investigate we found three separate groups of Mechanicus fighting over it (which is interesting), so obviously that stalemate had to be resolved before we could actually put the artifact to use. Even the threat only gets them to work together to repel the actual attacks.
—-
Have you ever come across an Eldar carnival? If you ever hear of one then (from my experiences anyway) they are among the most fascinating experiences you might ever have, and that’s including everything that happened with the Dread Pearl. You can learn a million things from a million worlds simply by watching their dances. A place that embodies that knowledge is indeed power. Nowhere is that more clear than with their Seer, if you can ever convince your mind to unravel the great truths she can reveal then you’ll be doing far better than I am currently. It seems that I have a part to play and I’m not entirely sure yet how I feel about that. I have been warned of great threats and great darkness to come, but I’m still no closer I fear to knowing what to do about it. It’s my future but having been told I must learn how to fight Gods doesn’t make it any clearer how. I also get the distinct impression that the man outside time itself will also have a significant impact on the life I’m to have, a man of darkness and sorrow who can destroy planets and save billions. What can you say to that really?
For someone barely past her teens I’m not sure this is something I should be able to take everything in from.
The girls send their warmest regards, I think you managed to make quite the impression on them (which will surprise you not at all I’m sure), and hope to see you again soon as long as we live through the current crisis. I hope it’s not too much for me to say I hope so too.
May fortune follow wherever you are.
Astra
Quaddis
- So… Seems I missed an exciting time while enjoying myself. Attempted assassination on Lord Captain. Gorbas in pit fight against… some corrupting monstrosity. Emperor knows what else I haven't been told about.
- Lord Captain & Cymbry go off to arrange assassination of head of syndicate. They agreed to sell Traitor Marine!
- Occult ritual to gain screaming spirit guide… Others seem a little disturbed by the whole thing
- Into the depth of the blood cells. The guide is fairly accurate but might be good only I can hear it. Lake of blood, tentacle monster attacks, climb up rafters to snipe as others try to cross on Hack's raft, Rush grenades it, Dashkit gets final hit (shock) smashing with thunder hammer. Getting more confusing down here. Catwalks and gantries move and change as we pass. Insane labyrinth worse than any cruiser ever known. Machine graveyard… too quiet. Catacomb after catacomb of descending blackness. So much debris and dust. Creepy note. Noises of something against the floor but can't see anything down here. Either my eyes or ears are lying. Ow! Ow! My head! Can't see! Going to have to open up at the blackness and don't hit the others. Ha! Got you. Be on fire you emperor-cursed …and it vanishes upwards. I can see them now they're dead but I might as well be blind. Onwards then and relying on Lupus to point me if another group attacks. I don't like feeling this vulnerable. Dashkit & Rush scouted the base, they're 20-30 of them and prepared with an obvious leader. They're going to try and assassinate while we provide fire. It was going fairly well, including the wall exploding, but something hit me and the light went out. Waking up hurt but taking a quick look around Rack (looking like he should be dead already) shot a guy who looks like he might be important? Fell over smoking but then vanished in green light. Some meditation and Lupus pumping me with stims later I tried to find my way out, coming across a chamber with the body of a man who may have slit his own throat in front of a crude alter… and a *presence* outwith what should be around. A data slate near his hand gave me a bad feeling of demonic interference. Rush is pretty annoyed that I just shot and destroyed the thing but it worked. A long and harrowing journey later we got back, only to find the house destroyed.
And Lyn won't answer my request for hospitality. Whatever Lord York did must be really bad this time. One of these days I really might shoot him if she doesn't first. Thankfully Cymry managed to secure a hotel room to enable us to clean up enough to get Rack back to the ship for medical aid… and Lupus managed to fall unconscious. I can't help think that might be good for him. Meditating has given me enough focus I'm still going but I need real sleep to recover, so I'll leave the others to fill in the rest.
Next day we managed to secure another house, but talk is now of the attack on the Amaranthine Syndicate and their Principle has fled planet. More digging and brutal violence may have destroyed half the house, and even the Principle was turned on by its own guards. No sign of it or the Jackel though.
Few days later we got the box our Lord Captain requested of the Jackel… apparently. But no body of the Principle and the Jackel is not 100% certain she actually managed to kill him, with an apology for underestimating the target. The Lord Captain, Cymry, Torque and Daskit are off delivering the box to the Spider Queen… I can only hope they (well… not the Kroot) do better than most times temptation is right in front of them.
I know how much you love a good story, well here's a story at least…
The Carnival of Masks
The entrance to the Manse was through the Lunar gate, and that was the same for all. Servitors scanning each party guest to ensure the correct personnel and take the invites of the chosen thirteen. We knew Sebastian had been chosen so there was no surprise when he was presented with a box upon arrival. His mask appears to be a relatively simple affair of metal with inlays of silver and gold. The emplacements are rather notable though, heavy guns capable of defending the approach with ease.
After a ride to the Manse itself, it is both incredibly impressive and obviously in ruin still. The top of the dome having been shattered and signs of other damage. Inside that's more evident with the look of a riot having taken place even though there's been some effort to make repairs.
The main room looks like something exploded in it and feels really really odd. At first I thought there was something stopping psynicience completely in here which almost halted my heart, but further investigation reveals that it is merely dampens it. There's a number of individuals here that number in the most famous nobles in the sectors but Cymbry has his attentions on what was probably a great clock of black… metal? As he approached there was a distinct focus of attention from most of the other 'Masks'. That didn't hold my eye long though as I started to really look at it.
There is most definitely some connection to the Warp pulling in energies that I imagine was, or is, powering it. Given the damage to it such a potential breach of a device which has so strong a presence in the Warp is… worrying. Close proximity is not advised. It was around that point, as I quietly detailed my initial findings to Cymbry, that the Lord Captain Lyn made her way over. It was a relief that she would and quickly conveyed the warning not to get close to it I had just come to the conclusion of, although the fact a protection field around it. Having come to the decision to seek her aid we invited her to take a walk.
I'll admit I got somewhat distracted by a painting. Time, distortion, slaughter,
Then someone attempted to jump us. Hearing them i turned, drawing the sword… but then I saw the star branded on it's head and opened by eye to wash warp fire over them all. Sadly they don't appear to have enough human to really notice… and then it hit me. I don't remember anything but pain and blackness.
Coming round was still incredibly painful, the gaping hole in me still needing time to pull itself together even if the blood indicates it was quite a bit worse. Cymbry and Lyn had been joined by the rest of the command officers and the remains of those… things. After filling the Lord Captain in on the painting, and musing over the possibilities it may be a binding of some sort, we left Dashkit and Rush exploring the hidden tunnels they appeared from we headed back to the clock room.
On getting there the first thing that struck me was the fact the clock was looking significantly more intact than it was. Unfortunately what I really needed was to sit down quietly for a while, even as Cymbry asked me to accompany to discuss with Harlock if he'd noticed.
Some time later our fellows returned, covered in a reasonable amount of blood, to inform us they'd discovered a chaos cult doing something in one of the outer dome. Having taken out a few scouts they returned to report and our Lord Captain immediately gathered us together to go forth and foil their foul deeds. But I wasn't allowed to go.
Alright, good reason and quite rightly so as it turns out as much as i raged about being denied. Cymbry and I stayed to keep an eye on the clock and ten minutes after the others departed Harlock and two others approached the remains of the clock. Harlock was just staring at it.
