Timestamp: 7.876.999.M41

Location: Corax Secundus, Golgenna Reach, Calixis Sector

Situation: Waiting for the arrival of the Maiden

Body: It's been a while since Haxtes last set foot upon the soil of Corax Secundus. Three, three and a half years. Well, maybe not all that long. There is a term for it in High Gothic, but it just sounds crude in Low - 'it's been a lot' or something like that. Certainly it has been a lot. Four years ago Haxtes was a young and promising assassin with the Veiled Hand. He already had several contract kills to his name and was starting to get a glimpse of what the inner circles could offer. But that was not to be. The Astartes had come - the Inquisition had declared the Hand heretical. And all heretics must die. But the Inquisitor, this Tancred - the master whom Haxtes had never even truly seen, just briefly experienced a psychic echo of - had other plans. Somehow he had seen Haxtes from beyond the stars and across time, found his destiny to be important, and claimed Haxtes for himself. Or rather, he had sent his pretty little assistant Xersa to pick Haxtes up. Just like he had sent Xersa to pick up the others. Xersa's Eight. What a silly name really. It was merely coincidence that Xerza had picked up those eight duign that particular voyage. There had been other names on that list of hers as well, but for one reason or another it had not worked out. She had come too late or the recruits turned out to be...disappointments. A few had been summarily executed, others had fallen along the way, or been handed to the Black Ships. It was easy, but ultimately futile, to wonder about what could have been had other people mad up Xerza's Eight, or Seven or Nine.

Haxtes had changed quite a bit over the course of those four years. Or maybe he hadn't. maybe he was still the same, only adapted to suite the surroundings. Corax also looked like it had changed. The surface city was a mess, a blasted and forlorn former warzone. The hive was a gutted ruin. Big changes. But maybe it hadn't changes so much after all. Orks still prowled the wilderness. There were still people living here. The ratlings still thrived in the dark. Starships continued to call on Corax. Maybe Corax had just adapted too.

Haxtes lies on a rock, surveying the valley, the ruins and the black pit where the hive lies hidden. Lord Inquisitor Skane has her own binoculars out.

"This is really pretty Haxtes. What world is this anyway? An 'independent' colony or a rogue world perhaps?"

As of...right about now (meaning mid-way in 2.2.5 and 2.3):

---

MAINS

• Maiden: On an extended cruise
• Xerza: Went to Quaddis aboard the Maiden

XERZA'S EIGHT

• Maxi: Baraspine...duh!
• Haxtes: Ditto
• Silon: Last seen whoring across Skaltine
• Ignace/Odessa: Lounging around Illeville
• Vern: Acting the part of a steward/majordomo/etc.
• Jarra: Polishing her guns
• Venus: Somewhere nearby, examining shards of old Baraspine cogitators

FIELD AGENTS

• Jeb/Parsifal: Off somewhere doing the good work (actually guarding an astropathic relay on Malfi)

ILLEVILLE CADRE

• Col. Stone: Illeville, ]I[ division, security and operations
• Maj. Dustos: With Maxi, Chief Necromundan liaison
• Lt. Rabalias: Commandant of the Illeville Garrison

MAIDEN CREW

• Jax: With the Maiden of course
• Messinus: Maiden
• Erasmus: Maiden
• Azhmut: With the Maiden

While you wait for the DM's next post you might want to watch this trailer multiple times:

http://www.thelordinquisitor.com/

Absolutely stunning animations. The war machines are brilliant, as are the daemons and the Grey Knights and everything else...

...a must see!

The Mars-class Battlecruiser is an older STC-pattern that is currently out of favor with the Lord Admirals at Cypra Mundi, but remains an important part of Battlefleet Calixis. With few exceptions the Mars is the most potent warship available to a Calixian fleet commander. Most are assigned to a battleship division (two Mars-class vessels) stationed at key defensive points throughout the sector, ready to respond to major threats (in practice the Mars vessels spend most of their time at anchor, being too valuable to waste on patrols and minor incursions).

The Mars is a flexible design that, much like the smaller Lunar, is capable of dealing with virtually any combat scenario. The Mars, however, has a much heavier weapons loadout than the Lunar - including powerful batteries, multiple launch bays, lances, and a spinal-mounted weapon (the so-called 'Nova Cannon'). The combination of attack squadrons and spinal mount give the Mars excellent standoff range. The Mars is somewhat weak on the defensive and it's speed is also mediocre at best. It also lacks the definite kill capacity of more modern battleship designs at medium-short ranges.

The Sword-class Frigate has been an important part of Battlefleet Calixis even since before its founding. Numerous Sword-class vessels accompanied Angevin's armies into the Carlyx Expanse. Their role was to scout out new systems and watch out for enemies - and to screen the many troop transport and supply convoys going into the Expanse. To this day they continue to serve in mostly those same capacities - either as fleet escorts or as long-range scouts.

The Sword-class is heavy on energy-based weaponry, both in terms of turrets, batteries and demi-lances. It has a solar generator to match, giving it a very good energy-to-mass ratio. Excess power can be routed to propulsion and shielding when guns are not needed, making the Sword a very flexible vessel. Make no mistake though - the Sword is no cruiser, for it cannot maintain speed, shielding AND fire at full power at the same time. But in the hands of a skilled and daring commander the Sword can be quite potent.

The Cobra-class destroyer is one of the smallest battle-worthy ships in Battlefleet Calixis, with a main hull measuring a little over 500 meters in length (the forward 'beak' and plasma baffles are in addition to this). As a military ship the Cobra is filled with all kinds of systems and ordnance, making the vessel feel compact and crowded when compared to larger ships. The Cobra is a tried-and-true STC pattern that is relatively simple to produce - many of Calixis cobra as produced in-sector.

The Cobra-class is a fast torpedo carrier. Armed with massive anti-warship torpedoes, squadrons of Cobras are fast and agile enough to dart into fleet engagements, launch spreads of heavy ordnance, then retreat in good order. The Cobra has rather weak void shielding - it's massive engines eat up most of the energy its solar generator can produce - but its compact hull is well armored. Since Battlefleet Calixis is short on battleships the Cobra is a very important part of all Calixian fleets - working with Lunar-class cruisers the Cobra the primary weapon employed against enemy battleships.

The Lunar-class Cruiser forms the backbone of Battlefleet Calixis, with over <classified> in service with various subordinate Fleets. The Lunar-class is a robust and versatile vessel. It has a balanced loadout of weaponry, combining a powerful torpedo battery with multiple long-range lances and numerous secondary batteries. The class is also well-armored and shielded, and has sufficient defensive turrets for a vessel of its size. Speed is average for a cruiser. The Lunar has multiple small-craft, but it is not designed for carrier operations. Given Battlefleet Claixis' general lack of battleships the Lunar is often employed in roles more suitable for heavier warships.

Overall the Lunar is an excellent vessel, lacking any obvious weak spots and carrying enough firepower to compete with other cruisers. Its greatest strength, however, lies in its ease of construction and maintenance.  The Lunar is a shining example of the majesty of a pure STC-template construct. It it can be manufactured in orbit of hive and industrial worlds with little-to-no shipbuilding expertise - there are even examples of Lunars having been painstakingly assembled over primitive worlds - using whatever materials and components are available. Because of this great flexibility in the Lunar-class STC-template there are literally no two Lunars that are exactly the same.

The Imperial Dauntless-class light cruiser is optimized for scouting and escort duties. The Dauntless forms the mainstay of the CL component of Battlefleet Calixis, with an aestimated <censored> number of ships in active service at any given time. Light cruisers carry enough firepower to drive off opposing escorts and enough fuel and supplies to remain away from Imperial fleet bases for months of subjective time.

The Dauntless is a very capable vessel of its class, as fast and maneuverable as many destroyers and frigates, but with a ferociously powerful frontal lance armament for its size. It has a decent battery load-out, but short-range definite-kill capacity remains somewhat limited. Defensive systems are considered average; better than most destroyers and frigates, but significantly weaker than any true cruiser. The Dauntless-class commonly operates in divisions of 2-3 ships, either with or without a destroyer or frigate division in support (a supporting frigate detachment is obvisouly preferable for scouting duties, destroyers for more active combat duty).

Timestamp: 807.M41

Location: Tranch, Adrantis sub, Calisis Sector

Situtation: A mutant uprising in the soot warrens of the minor (by Imperial standards, by Calixian standards Tranch was an important world) industrialised hive world of Tranch rapidly develops into a planet-wide insurrections which topples the ruling class, the brutal Oligarchs of Tranch. The mutants have formed together into a unified faction calling itself the Pale Throng, led by a cabal of terrifyingly powerful witches and mutant-psykers known as the Shroud Council. As rumours of the successful rebellion spread, so do brushfire revolts and uprisings on other worlds in the sector, and the flames of malcontent are fanned. Lord Sector Hax realises the wider threat to Imperial order and declares a mass counter-invasion of the war-torn world to bring the rebellion to heel, calling on the Inquisition to dispose of the Shroud council, which they do, whilst Ordo Hereticus launches Operation Bellerophon to decapitate the mutant forces. At huge cost in lives and at the price of laying waste to much of Tranch, the Pale Throng is crushed, but its many factions manage to scatter off-world, while sympathisers still raise revolt in the pale Throngs name elsewhere.

Historically, Reth has been entirely dependent upon its reputation as a paradise world. Consisting largely of a vast archipelago of thousands of golden islands scattered across a shallow warm turquoise sea, its climate and environment are said to be perfect for soothing and rejuvenating the tired and troubled mind. For over a thousand years, the planet's hereditary monarchs traded off this reputation, until the de Caul family staged a successful coup in the 7th century M41. The de Cauls, a mid-ranking clan of Imperial nobles, brought a new and more severe interpretation of the Imperial cult to the laid back and pleasure loving planet. While Reth remains a tropical paradise it is frequented less and less by the rich and the powerful; few care to go to paradise when local enforcers crack down on even the slightest moral deviancy.

+++PLANETARY DATA+++

CLASS: Paradise World

POPULATION: 640,000,000.

TITHE GRADE: Exactus Median

SUBSECTOR: Adrantis

SYSTEM: Tephaine system

GOVERNMENTAL TYPE: Hereditary Monarcy

CONTACT WITH OTHER WORLDS: Reth is part of the Tephaine System, and has close contact with the neighbouring worlds Tephaine, Tephaine Minor and Siculi. The nearest major world is Baraspine.

Arbitrator-Auditor is the official title of the person appointed by the Imperium to go through a planet's tithe-books. It is the Adeptus Administratum that actually collects and counts the tithe, but the Auditor is always from the Adeptus Arbites, since they are the only people trained in the finer points of tithe law. The Arbitrator-Auditor is always a senior judge and attended by a sizable staff (exactly how big depends on the size of the tithe). Being appointed Auditor is a great honor (and usually a lot of work).

The Fydae Patrol Detachment is a reinforced Imperial Navy squadron tasked with paroling the fringes of the Fydae Great Cloud. The majority of the Detachment is made up of long-range scouts, fixed monitoring stations, and the auxiliary ships to support them. At any given time there will also be 1-2 active paroling warship squadrons. These usually consists of a under-strength cruiser division (meaning one CL) and a destroyer escort division (typically 2-3 destroyers).

Baraspine is a typical staging point for such squadrons going into the hinterlands.

Illeville is the Low Gothic name of the hive-spire fief purchased by Jax Guilliman at the House of Dust and Ash auction. Formerly belonging to the Rogue Trader Erasmus Haarlock the fief has suffered from a slow but steady decline since Haarlock vanished from the face of the galaxy. Under the guidance of Baron Jax (Haxtes) and his staff the fief has slowly gotten back on its feet and is beginning to generate a small but increasing profit. Illeville has six immediate neighboring fiefs; six baronial fiefs of varying size and power and one Free Guild. The core population of Illeville was initially around 80k, but this has increased to about 110k as of the current fiscal year (pickers contracted from other nobles are not included in the figures). Illeville has a capacity of at least half a million, even without any major expansions or refurbishments.

Illeville is located in Driscol City, which is any outlying 'spire' (it's not really a spire, more of an underground complex cut into a rocky ridge a dozen clicks outside the capital) of Skaltine, the planetary capital of Baraspine. Illeville isn't a big player in Skaltine politics, with a total population of around 10 million, divided among about a dozen major factions and numerous minor ones. The barons of Driscol are all sworn to the Countess Datar, who has her own fief, and controls the main utility services and access points to the spire. Driscol City has it's own aeroport/minor spaceport - it has been expanded and refitted using the resources of the Maiden and Illeville/the Countess shares in the profits.

Skaltine is the current (has been since the 6th century M41) planetary capital of Baraspine. It is the largest of Baraspines hive cities, with a population approximately 20% of the global total (i.e. around 300 million, so not much of a hive compared to the core worlds in Segmentum Solar). Skaltine's primary opponent in local politics is Kephistron Altis (which had the governorship for much of the early part of the 41st) and its associated cities. Skaltine lies in the harsh equatorial badlands - as such it is almost completely subsurface, carved into a range of low wind-wracked mountains. Skaltine lies in one of the premiere picking zones and many of its nobles are engaged in various picking activities.

Located as it is on the far side of the Adrantis Nebula the small hive world of Barsapine is a dismal ball of rock of little importance in the grand scheme of the Calixis Sector, save for the cogitator parts its large isolationist cities produce. Its people are pious*, modest and fatalistic, rarely claiming any ambition, and tend to go about masked and cloaked so they can hide themselves from the Emperor’s sight and not commit the prideful sin of seeking out His attention**. Their true selves are revealed in private and among the planet’s countless secret societies***.

* Baraspine does have an above-average number of cathedrals/temples/shrines/other holy sites, but most are old and ill-reparied. There is also no substantial proff that the locals are more pious than any other Imperial citizens.

** Inquisition files note that the masking/cloaking practice is driven not solely by piety, but by two other, more pragmatical reasons. Firstly Baraspine's climate makes heavy clothing and a mask/rebreather essential for all but the idle rich. Secondly there seems to be a higher-than-average number of minor physical mutations and environmentally induced disfigurations among the locals; reason enough for them to cover themselves.

*** The locals are surly and fatalistic even in private. There IS, however, an unusual preponderance of secret and not-so-secret societies on Baraspine. It is very unusual for any adult NOT to be part of a variety of clubs, teams, bands, leagues, guilds, entourages, etc.

+++PLANETARY DATA+++

CLASS: Hive World

POPULATION: 1,500,000,000.

TITHE GRADE: Exactus Median

SUBSECTOR: Adrantis.

SYSTEM: Baraspine system; Praxys F7V primary, six failed rocky cores in highly eccentric outer system orbits (no listed settlements).

SATELLITES: No major natural satelites, numerous smaller rocky objects in stable high orbits.

GOVERNMENTAL TYPE: Divinatory Thaumocracy. Regional leaders and governorship decided by divination.

PLANETARY GOVERNOR: Her Magnificence, the Governess-Excellency Tamzin Turin, Chosen of the Soothsayers’ College.

GEOGRAPHY: Temperate desert climate. Seven continents, three populated. Baraspine has very little free-standing water, it's oceans having boiled away during some great cataclysm in the distant past. It is therefore possible to move by land between the continents - but it's highly impractical given the terrain, weather and distances involved.

Baraspine is plagued by extreme weather patterns, in particular very high winds. The winds carry with them fragments of razor-sharp ceramite that will kill unprotected humans. Sudden and violent storms aggravate the problem - during such storms anyone or anything caught outside will be ripped apart.

DEMOGRAPHY: Kephistron Altis, Kephistron Inferior (northern polar), Skaltine (planetary capital), Descrayne (southern polar). Numerous smaller isolated communities make up approximately half of the total population. The northern and southern polar regions typically communicate little and the planet’s history has included periods of war between the two. The outlying cities are largely self-governed.

ECONOMY: A significant part of Baraspine's population (serfs in the main) is engaged in 'picking' the great wasteland areas (one fiefs claimed by this noble or that) clean of any archaotech that can be found. It is believed that during the Dark Age of Technology Baraspine was home to numerous large hive cities that were destroyed in a cataclysm. The high winds of Baraspine continually reveal and redistribute these valuable pieces of the past.

The majority of the tither consists of such finds, plus locally produced cogitator parts (a craft handed down through the generations by guilds controlled by nobles houses). The rest of the tithe consists of raw materials (much of it high-quality ceramite that can be recycled and reused) and manpower (only rarely; Baraspine is listed only as a Tertiary mustering ground given the low quality of recruits).

Barsapine pottery is considered among the sector’s finest and can command high prices from collectors - there is something about the pottery that makes it unique.

PRINCIPLE EXPORTS: Salvaged ceramite and other high-durability achaotech items, locally produced cogitator parts.

PRINCIPLE IMPORTS: Luxury goods, low-grade bulk food.

Baraspine cannot feed it's population, even in an emergency, but relies on imports of food nearby systems. The relatively poor noble class is an importer of exotics and luxuries from across the sub-sector.

ADEPTUS PRESENCE: Low. Adeptus Arbites (Skaltine and Kephistron Inferior), Administratum tithing mission (Skaltine). Mechanicus monitoring station (Kephiston Altis).

MILITARY FORCES: Weak PDF. Northern Arctic Bonded Guard (low quality standing army based in Kephistron), Divinatory Guard (medium quality guard units and low quality militia based at Skaltine). Considerable rivalry between the two forces reduces their effectiveness as a planetary defence force. Orbital monitoring and defense platforms. Planet-based aerospace fighter squadrons (based at Descrayne).

CONTACT WITH OTHER WORLDS: Major warp route to Tranch; the war-torn world of Tranch is the primary transit point for Imperial ships making the journey along the Adrantis nebula to Baraspine. Minor routes lead rimward to the Drusus Marches and coreward to the Markayn Marshes (treading between the equally ill-omened Nebula and the Hazeroth Abyss).

Local trading partners include the worlds of the Tephaine system (Siculi algae keep the poor of Baraspine alive, while the wealthiest Baraspine nobles maintain estates on the pleasure-world of Reth). There is some import of rare ores and gases from Coseflame/Soryth (for the cogitator production).

In case anyone has notceid/is going to notice; there is now a new link in the header called 'Crusade'. It leads to a workspace for a potential new game (Deathwatch/Black Crusade crossover). If I have time it will launch at some point in 2012. Have a look if you're interrested.