Intro - READ THIS FIRST!

[Azazeal849]

RECKONING: THE ADRANTIS WAR

This persistent world is rated M for violence, gore, strong language and distressing themes
Potential sexual scenes and allusions to rape

We are always open to new players!

Hi everyone, and welcome to Warhammer 40K: Reckoning, a persistent world which will also conclude the ongoing series of 40K RPs I have been writing on this site. The over-arching story of this persistent world will be a war between the imperium that we all know and love/hate, and a separatist group of worlds looking to take control of their own destiny (think the American Revolution in space). Who wins will be up to you, the players. To succeed you will need to fight smart, trust your allies (or not…), and not believe everything the propaganda reels tell you.

First of all, you’ll need to pick a side...

Spoiler: FIGHT FOR THE EMPEROR 

“To anyone who can hear me, this is sister Yazmin of the Silent Vigil, currently in hiding on Baraspine. The whole planet is lost to heresy. If anyone can hear me...”

“Arbites to me! Stand and fight you wretched bastards, who gave you permission to-”

“...being overrun! PDF units have turned on us! We need immediate-”

“They lanced the convent! The convent’s on frakking fire!”

“...repeat, all loyalist fleet elements are ordered to gather over Coseflame…”
“Warp engines disengaging...concordance in three...two...one…”
“Emperor’s teeth, it’s a frakking ambush! Raise the shields! Raise the frakking sh-”

“Oh god...oh god-Emperor I don’t...I don’t wanna frakking die!”

“No response from the eyeries on Tephaine and Tranch, ordinate. The astropathic duct to Baraspine has also fallen silent.”

“War. This means war.”

+ + + + + +

An entire subsector has been lost to treachery.

We thought subsector governor Tierce to be a loyal man; a pragmatic leader bolstering the defences of his assigned worlds. Instead, he has used them to butcher Imperial servants, and make the streets of his cities run red with the blood of the faithful. We do not know when he fell to the whispers of the arch-heretics DeRei and Delzharian, only that the PDFs and Rapid Reaction Forces of Adrantis subsector now serve a new, twisted agenda. With them is over half of battlefleet Adrantis. Perhaps most sinister of all is the so-called Nebula corps: bionically and chemically enhanced stormtroopers whose equipment lies well outside the edicts of Mars.

The holy mechanicus itself is paralysed; those forge worlds that have not collapsed into civil war have withdrawn into isolation, though the manufactora on the rebellious worlds who attempted the same have been mostly over-run. The traitors’ hold on all the developed worlds of the subsector is total. Elements of the population remain secretly loyal, and the faithful sisters of the Silent Vigil remain seeded across the sub-sector ready to provide intelligence, but to all intents and purposes, Adrantis belongs to the heretics.

The Imperium does not take such affronts lightly.

A crusade fleet has been assembled, to take back the Adrantis subsector in steel and fire. Thanks to the efforts of the holy inquisition and the mechanicus’ secretive Lords Dragon, the tech-heresy of the Nebula corps and the Chaos-taint of those who commissioned it was laid bare, before the accursed Tierce was truly ready to make his move. He did not have time to convert much of the mechanicus or the telepathica to his cause, and without them his heavy industry and communications are hampered. The secessionists’ grip on the sub-sector is not as secure as they would like, but every day we delay their fist tightens.

The oppressed cry out for liberation, and the traitors cry out for righteous death. We are the Emperor’s instrument. At the strategic hive world of Baraspine, His vengeance begins.

Spoiler: FIGHT FOR FREEDOM 

“The inquisition tried to take loyal officers on Concordia, just as they did on Siculi. And this time, the Navy, the mechanicus, the sisterhood...all were complicit.

What justice were we ever offered by the imperium? Deafening silence, in the face of tyranny. As we rightly celebrate our triumphs here on Tephaine and Tranch and Baraspine, I wish to honour the memories of these fine soldiers.

Second lieutenant Alric de Sade. Gunnery sergeant Jensa Kirabo. Lance corporal Fiodor McLaughlin. Private first class Gwenifer Callisto. They were the first martyrs of the liberation. Officers and enlisted men, spire-born and feral worlders, fighting together for an Adrantis they believed in.

I tell you now, people of the Adrantis subsector. By the Emperor, we must not betray their faith in us.”

Subsector Governor Thomas Tierce, public address following the fall of the inquisition fortress on Tephaine.

+ + + + + +

An entire subsector stands liberated.

The Imperium has lost its way. It has devolved from a mutual defence pact into a tyrannical bureaucracy, and sees the Emperor as an iron-fisted despot instead of the benevolent guardian we know him to be. For our children and our grandchildren, we have chosen to forge a new path.

Freedom was never going to be taken without blood, though thankfully only the fanatics of the arbites and the inquisition refused to surrender. Still, the toll was heavier than we wanted. It was never our intention to pit brother against brother, but the agents of the despotic, unaccountable inquisition forced us into action before we could make the skeptics see the light. Their blood is on those agents’ hands.

Now, we must fight to retain our hard-won independence.

Morale among the populace is high, but this will be a harder fight than they realise. The Nebula corps are possibly the finest soldiers in the sector short of an astartes chapter, but we cannot rely on their valour alone. Our ground forces are significant, but have not been given the time needed to reorganise and redeploy following the revolution. Likewise our fleet assets are fragmented, and some are still undergoing repairs after having to defend themselves against Imperial loyalists. Although it will be distasteful to many, the sub-governor has been forced to put out the call to mercenaries from across the Calix sector and beyond.

Perhaps our biggest weakness is in our infrastructure. Large sections of the Martian mechanicus refused to align with the revolution and many of the more advanced manufacturies remain stubbornly shut down. The forge world of Omicron has declared a malevolent neutrality in the coming war, while its sister world Perinetus is paralysed by civil war. Communication between worlds is less secure than we would like, relying on a cadre of loyal but overworked astropaths after many telepathica eyeries refused to cooperate with us - in many cases brutally slaughtering their own astropaths rather than surrender to us.

Nevertheless, we must rise to the challenges ahead. The Imperial counterattack will be swift and merciless, and their first target is the hive world of Baraspine. If we are to remain masters of our own destiny, we must face them there.

Once you have decided that you want to submit characters for the Imperial crusaders or the Adrantis Patriots (or both!), you may pick one or more storylines to be a part of. Each blurb below also contains a suggested character sheet template, although it is very basic and you should feel free to add extra headings and information at your discretion.

Please submit your CS in the relevant recruitment thread (links in tabs below).

Spoiler: War in the Dirt 

This storyline will focus on ground units at the spearhead of several warzones. Each player may submit a CS for a single regiment (although each battle will only feature a company-sized force; this is to allow you to switch between combat zones if you need to, and also so that it isn’t the end of the line if you screw up and get all of your men killed).

Regiments may be specialised e.g. mechanised infantry or armour, or a combined-arms force amalgamated from several units. Imperial regiments should be drawn from the Imperial Guard (aka the Astra Militarum) or other forces that would plausibly be accompanying them. A limited number of slots will be opened for titans / Imperial Knights and adeptus mechanicus forces, who will have their own separate set of missions. Space Marines of any kind are not allowed, although Sisters of Battle are.

Patriot regiments follow the same general organisation as the Imperial Guard, but may also be based around some kind of mercenary force that the Patriots could have plausibly called up to help defend their worlds. Chaos forces, Space Marines and Sisters of Battle are not allowed, and the Nebula corps will remain as NPCs for the time being.

Suggested template:

Regiment Name: For identification purposes.
Regiment Type: The regiment’s specialisation (if any). Some examples are line infantry, mechanised, armoured, airborne, light infantry (recon) or heavy infantry (assault).
Allegiance: Imperial or Patriot. There may be opportunities to switch sides as the campaign progresses.
Trademarks: Heraldry, motto, combat colours or particular quirks like the dialect of Gothic they speak.
Colonel: A command-level character who will not usually be fighting on the front line, but will be present for briefings and other political-type scenes. Please give a brief description of their appearance and personality. If you wish, you can submit a full character sheet for this character detailing their history and personal equipment in more depth.
Captain: One or more front line characters to appear in battle scenes, whose eyes you will tell the story through. As with the colonel, please give a brief description (and a full character sheet if desired). If you wish, you can write posts from the POV of someone other than the captain, e.g. a soldier, tank gunner or company commissar. These minor characters do not require separate character sheets (unless you really want to make them).

A note: Any characters that are present in a battlefield situation (and certain off-battlefield situations, such as honour duels) are vulnerable to injury or death. If they die, you will need to create another POV character. That said, I am not planning to be a dick about this; if your tactics are adequate, your captain (and his company!) will probably survive. Of course, you may write a heroic death for your own characters at any time.

LINK TO RECRUITMENT THREAD

Spoiler: War in the Void 

This storyline will focus on elements of the Imperial / Patriot fleets at several turning points of the Adrantis war. Each player may submit a CS for a single ship of frigate or light cruiser size. Although frigates in 40K are typically squadroned, not every type of engagement will be appropriate for this, and both the crusade fleet and the Patriot fleet are sufficiently rag-tag that there are plenty of lone-wolf destroyers flying around.

Players choosing frigates will get NPC ships directly supporting them in some battles, and if they do well they may eventually rise to command a squadron. Players choosing light cruisers will generally be independent. Players should also note that, while light cruisers will have an obvious raw-power advantage, it will be entirely possible for a light cruiser to be outmanoeuvred and disabled by a well-handled frigate (or frigate squadron).

Both sides may pick their ship class from anywhere within the 40K canon, as long as it is part of the Imperial Navy or something associated with it (e.g. adeptus mechanicus vessel, rogue trader mercenary). I will allow a limited amount of customisation of each ship outside the “STC standard”, which I will review and approve on a case-by-case basis. Space Marine ships are not allowed.

Suggested template:

Ship name: For identification purposes.
Ship class: Type of frigate or light cruiser this ship belongs to.
Allegiance: Imperial or Patriot. There may be opportunities to switch sides as the campaign progresses.
Trademarks: Heraldry, motto, combat colours, cultural quirks, and (most importantly) any significant deviations from STC specifications for the class.
Captain: The ship’s commander, whose eyes you will tell the story through. Please give a brief description of their appearance and personality. If you wish, you can submit a full character sheet for this character detailing their history and personal equipment in more depth. You may also create other minor POV characters such as gunners, deck officers, marines or pilots. You do not have to submit separate character sheets for these (unless you really want to).

A note: Ships in 40K are tough beasts, and are rarely blown apart to the point that they cannot be recovered and repaired. However, if your tactics are poor or overly gung-ho, you may find your ship taking severe damage, or even being put out of action for some or all of the current battle. Although your captain is relatively safer than an officer running around on the ground, they may still be killed (or executed) if the situation is bad enough, and you will have to create another. Of course, you may write a heroic death for your own ship / captain at any time.

LINK TO RECRUITMENT THREAD

Spoiler: War in the Shadows 

This storyline will focus on cloak and dagger operations far behind the front-lines, and will be the most closely tied to my previous RPs. Each player may submit a character sheet for a single new character, or they may submit character sheets for any number of returning characters from my previous RPs.

Character applications for this storyline will be the most freeform. Imperial players may submit any kind of character that could plausibly be found working under or with an Imperial inquisitor. The intention is for them to form the retinue of one particular inquisitor, although I will review and accept characters with their own missions and agendas on a case by case basis.

Patriot players may submit any kind of character that could plausibly be enlisted for covert operations, intelligence gathering and bodyguarding high-value targets.

Suggested template:

Name: Self explanatory.
Position / rank: What their job is.
Appearance: Pictures and / or written descriptions are acceptable.
Personality: A few points is fine. This is mostly something for you (or me, if the character becomes inactive and I need to NPC them for a bit) to refer back to and help you stay in character while writing.
Weapons: If carried.
Other: Equipment, armour, psyker powers etc.
Background: Doesn't have to be extensive.

A note: Characters may be wounded or captured during missions, although they are unlikely to be killed unless the controlling player goes inactive. Of course, you may write a heroic death for your own character at any time.

LINK TO RECRUITMENT THREAD

THE HOME FRONT FORUM

There is a fourth sub-forum, the Home Front, which will be for initial applications, general questions and admin, and eventually for RPs that take place behind the front lines of the Adrantis War. Players will occasionally be invited to view the INTERLUDES IC threads for updates on the course of the overarching war.

LINK TO GENERAL DISCUSSION THREAD

COMBAT MECHANICS

I have four battles scripted for the ground and space storylines of each side. Players will be grouped together into teams: Imperial and Patriot teams for ground, space and covert respectively, and will work together (or not…) to achieve victory. My plan is for each battle to feature three objectives, and for each group to have a limited number of posts to complete them. I am thinking of using three rounds of posts (i.e. 3 posts from each player in the team) as the limit for the first battle, and adjusting if this proves too short for people. I will reply to each player post (or round of posts) detailing the outcomes of their tactical moves and / or throwing new obstacles in their path. After the three rounds are complete I will judge whether the objective has been completed or failed, and move the story on accordingly. This may involve jumping to another section of the battlefield, especially if the fight has gone badly and most of the player units are dead.

The Imperial / Patriot covert storylines will follow a more traditional RP format, though each will have four distinct chapters that roughly coincide with the battles of the other storylines.

Battles will be purely narrative rather than dice- or points-based, with myself NPCing the enemy forces as well as any relevant player allies. Generally I will be rewarding tactics that would work for a real-life military, although since this is 40K, if you do something sufficiently awesome and entertaining I’ll probably give you the win. And every now and then I’ll be a dick and throw you an unfair setback no matter how good your last post was, to see if you can claw your way back to victory. Whether the players win or lose each campaign will influence the ongoing storyline, but not so much that a team who lose an early battle will be handicapped for the rest of the war.

Ground, space and covert players may find themselves operating in similar areas, but generally will not be directly interacting with each other. Likewise players from opposing sides won’t be directly fighting each other until the fourth and final battle. However, I am happy for players to write their own PvP mini-battles around the main campaigns, although I may not have time to arbitrate them all.

As each player group will be working as a team, you may occasionally have to wait for someone else to post and catch up. However, if they are taking too long I will make GM posts to move them along with whatever the more active players are doing.

Players will be answerable to some kind of senior officer or command ship in each battle, which will issue general orders that they are then free to carry out in whatever way they see fit. Flagrantly disobeying orders may have consequences. Player units / ships will also frequently have NPC support to call on, though how willing and able they are to carry out requests may vary.

OTHER RULES AND GUIDELINES

Naturally, all standard RPA rules apply, but here’s a few of my own (which will no doubt be familiar to my regulars…). Mostly, they’re to help the readability of the IC threads.

• Please write all IC posts in third person, past tense. That is, “he drew his pistol”; never “he draws his pistol” or “I drew my pistol.”
• Please don’t use quote boxes in the IC. If you’re reproducing someone else’s text to help put your own post in context, then please just indicate the copied text in a different colour.
• If you’re copying someone else’s text into your post, please do not copy any more than is necessary to give context (i.e. don’t reproduce their entire post!)
• Please do not use coloured text just to indicate that your character is speaking aloud. Speech marks are fine.
• You can take a break or bow out of the RP at any time, for any reason. I understand that real life can get in the way, and sometimes people just aren’t feeling a story any more. But, if you plan to leave, please have the courtesy to leave a message in the OOC, so that the rest of us aren’t left waiting around for you.

As far as additional guidelines go, I strongly encourage you to include a physical description of your character in their first IC post, as this will help establish the character in the other players' minds. Also, anything written in your character’s background section should get at least a passing mention in the IC.

INFORMATION

Spoiler: The Adrantis Nebula subsector 

Tephaine - hive world; the subsector capital. Stoked by a mixture of governor Tierce's vision and the demagoguery of pro-independence nobles like chancellor Souvage, Tephaine is the hub of the Adrantean revolution.

Tephaine Minor - agri world; located adjacent to the capital and comfortably within the star's Goldilocks Zone, it exports primarily to the three hive worlds of the Adrantis subsector.

Reth - paradise world; one orbit outwards from Tephaine, but warmed by a thick atmosphere and active geological activity. A popular destination for Tephaini nobles with the money for interstellar travel. Characterised by many island chains, and notable only for some crop exports and a Hospitaller enclave that the Patriots are loathe to attack. All attempts at negotiation have failed, and the sisters there remain under blockade.

Siculi - agri world; the fourth inhabited planet in the Tephaine system. A mercantile world, which exports primarily protoalgae. It is vital for feeding the capital, and until recently, other worlds outside the sub-sector...one of the reasons why the Imperial counterattack has been so swift. Siculi was the site of the first clash between the inquisition and the Nebula corps, with the undercover inquisitor Nalaran suspecting the Nebulas' tech-heresy and staging a kidnapping of governor Tierce in order to draw the Nebulas into a trap. Although a full third of the Nebula corps was destroyed, Alicia Tarran took command, rescued the governor and killed Nalaran, earning herself the title of the Hero of Siculi. The Nebulas' secrets remained safe until the intervention of inquisitor Machairi several years later.

Baraspine - hive world; a rival to Tephaine's crown, due to it possessing the most stable warp routes to the wider Calixis sector. Riven by glass storms, it boasts two major hives and a sprawling orbital ring known as the Agglomeration. Both sides know that the first blow of the Imperial counterattack will fall here. Although the Patriots have fortified the Glom and stepped up training ops at the system edge void station, the surface is not as well protected as they would like; due largely to the recent Dominion Crisis that nearly lost the planet to anarchy and also catapulted governor Tierce to military fame. The Baraspini are generally disliked on Tephaine, partly due to economic rivalry, and partly due to the Baraspini cultural practice of hiding their faces behind masks.

Tranch - hive world; the third industrial hub of the Adrantis sector, it possesses stable warp routes to Baraspine and Tephaine. Its strategic value is well recognised, and defended by surface theatre shields and rings of orbital defences. Due to its large mutant population, Tranch saw significant unrest even before the revolution and most of its population are hard-line gene purists.

Perinetus - forge world; the primary mechanicus hub in Adrantis, and site of a major shipyard. After a failed assassination attempt on the planet's ruling archmagos, the Patriot tech-priest Delzharian made his move and allowed the Adrantean faction to take control of the shipyards and much of the surface. The planet is currently embroiled in civil war, while other mechanicus enclaves look on and wait to see who will emerge victorious.

Marioch - frontier world; where most of the research for the Nebula corps was conducted, under the eye of magos Delzharian and rogue trader Nibenay. Nibenay eventually struck out on his own, seeking a quick route to power through Chaos, and ultimately became a victim of his own creations. Though now firmly back under control, Marioch retains a stigma as a haunt of cultists. Nevertheless, the Mariochi remain staunchly pro-Adrantean, and their PDF units are some of the best in the subsector.

Coseflame - feudal world; valued for its ore exports and noted for its cavern cities, and the base of operations for the sororitas convent of the Silent Vigil. The Vigil have spies all over Adrantis, and that is unlikely to have changed despite the revolution. The planet fell under Patriot control in the first days of the war, after the Vigil's convent was lanced from orbit by the Nebula hulk.

Soryth - mining world; its frozen gas mines are a strategic asset, but the unstable warp routes surrounding the system make it a risky target.

Omnicron - forge world; withdrew into isolation following the uprising and neither side has been able to make headway.

Skorgulian - forge world; the scheming rulers of the planet are currently maintaining a malevolent neutrality towards all parties. Taking the world intact by force would be near impossible, but its resources could tip the balance if deployed.

Mortressa - death world; notable for the Mortressa Scythewind regiment, currently serving in the Ixaniad sector and attempting to organise recall. Strategic significance minimal.

Endrite - feral world; marked for exploitation by Baraspine mining cartels, despite technically belonging to the neighbouring Drusus Marches subsector. However, development missions have been delayed by the chaos of the recent uprising. Possesses stable warp routes to both Baraspine and Tephaine.

Volonx - feral world; the local tribes aren't even aware yet that there has been a change of government. Strategic significance minimal.

Lehyde X - frontier world; uninhibited after several failed attempts at colonisation. Strategic significance minimal.

Grangold - dead world; holds a single shrine to St Drusus. Strategic significance minimal.

That’s everything for now - head over to one of the OOC threads and have fun!