Archo Logist Dissapearance

+++++Intercepted Communication #Planet Jeriko Reach#+++++




+++Intelligence Report #DELETED#+++


Colonel #DELETED#,

Regarding the disappearance of the Archo Logist Clara Toft on the planet#DELETED#, in system Intelligence pict feeds have picked up the presence of two disconcerting anomalies. The first is the presence of a chaos cult which appears to be lead by an #DELETED# Marine whose intentions cannot be good for this system. The second being the presence of a Tyranid #DELETED# which can only mean that the Vanguard of a possible #DELETED# is on its way, possibly due to the ongoing #DELETED# on Jeriko Reach.




From what we have seen on the remarkably clear picts are Adept Tofts guards encountering the Warband from the East, and being entirely ineffective. Adept Toft is seen entering the Western most of the two domes, and being initially ignored by the #DELETED# Marine leader who entered the East dome. It is at this point that one of the anomalous auspex readings coalesced into the form of a #DELETED# which immediately took out two of the cultists before disappearing into the dome the #DELETED# Marine had gone into.


This left the cultists in some shock, but after a short time one of them was observed entering the second dome and out of sight. This was shortly followed by the emergence of the now injured #DELETED#, which sprinted to the West dome. Not fast enough to avoid fire from the cultists, who had crowded around the East entrance awaiting the emergence of their leader. This resulted in more visible injuries to the #DELETED#, even as it raced into the second dome.


It would appear that Adept Toft was captured as she raced from the West dome as the Cultists morale broke and they started to fall back. Perhaps sensing weakness the #DELETED# charged out of the dome, and straight into a solid wall of fire which left it writhing on the ground. This allowed the cultist to collect their wounded and retreat in good order. Some time later the #DELETED# was seen to move off, and out of pict range.



+++End of Intecept+++



My Lord, this presents two new threats to #DELETED#, and this station is already feeling the effects with transmissions reduced to 57% efficiency. The presence of such forces as

#FURTHER TEXT TOO GARBLED TO RECONSTRUCT#



+++#Transmission Ends#+++

War Robot Rumble

The Pontiff GM'd a game using the Rogue Trader robot rules, in which the Henrie Boys were out salvaging while Patrol Drake had tracked the rogue robot to the outskirts of a settlement.

The Henrie Boys (plus one of the war robots)

Patrol Drake (and civilians)

Dr Zarev and co await extraction atop his workshop.

+++CONTACT REPORT+++

Following Patrol Drake’s contact with the malfunctioning war robot in the wastes, I ordered Drake and his men to track this threat down and eliminate it. Within 48 hours, Drake had located the robot, closing in on the settlement of Kamirif-777.

Closing on the war robot, the patrol saw that it was not alone – a second robot was nearby. Mechanicus adepts on the HQ staff have hypothesised that the first robot was fitted with some form of transmitter, which is re-activating others of its kind that have laid dormant in the wastes since the war. We can only assume that more are out there.

The patrol reported that the robots were closing upon the workshop of one Dr Zarev, a civilian tech of use to the garrison. Drake was issued the primary objective of evacuating Dr Zarev and his staff (an aid and three of his harem), and the secondary objective of disabling or destroying the war robots.

To make matters worse, it appeared that a number of wild grox were roaming area, and that the craters that filled the area were emitting some form of radioactive field.

War Robots are bad enough, Wild Grox just make things harder...

Approaching the objective from the south, the patrol located the war robots, but found that so too had others. A party of the Henrie Clan, a familial grouping loosely associated with the Imperial Mining Concern were closing in on the robots, intent it seemed upon claiming them, and other items in the area, as salvage.

The Henrie Boys take position.

Patrol Drake's insertion point (with fire support group at the bottom)

Patrol Drake positioned a fire support group at their insertion point, Drake himself leading a party to escort the civilians to safety, while the miners engaged the robots. The patrol had learned its lesson well from its previous encounter, and made use of every available scrap of cover so as not to be targeted by the robots’ erratic combat routines. It appeared that the Henrie clan were likewise cautious, but never the less a firefight between the miners and one of the robots soon ensued. Under cover of the firefight, Patrol Drake closed on Dr Zarev’s workshop, and made contact with the civilians.

Patrol Drake close on Dr Zarev's workshop.

The bold Henrie Boys engage a War Robot.

Meanwhile, the miners had come under heavy fire from one of the robots, while the other blundered towards the patrol. A number of the miners were wounded as they were targeted, before specialists armed with plasma and melta weaponry disabled a robot.

Rahld bags himself some damn fine salvagin'

As the patrol escorted the civilians to safety, they were forced to engage the other robot, which was now blocking the escape route. A meltagun blast stunned it, and then Drake himself, equipped with his power fist, charged and destroyed it.

Drake's meltagunner distracts the robot...

...and Drake finishes the job!

Both robots were now disabled, and a firefight ensued between the exfiltrating patrol and the miners. The fight was brief but intense, and a number of miners were wounded by the fire support group, though it is not known whether any were killed.

The civilians escorted to safety, Patrol Drake disengaged. Trooper Serik was wounded, but Trooper Reko administered combat first aid. The patrol’s primary objective was satisfactorily achieved, while its secondary mission was at least partially successful. Despite this, it appears that the miners escaped with a significant amount of salvage, which they will no doubt dispose of on the black market for a considerable sum.

Intelligence now suggests that the Henrie clan are engaged in some form of power grab, perhaps taking advantage of the generally declining security situation on Jeriko Reach to establish themselves as a powerful faction. We can scarce afford to be fighting both the uprising and renegade factions too.

Colonel Kane, Jeriko Reach Garrison C in C.

Disturbing Reports

+++++Intercepted Communication #Planet Jeriko Reach#+++++

+++Patrol Report #DELETED#+++

Colonel #DELETED#,
I have disturbing findings to report from the patrol into the equatorial belt, lead by Cpl Drake. They ran into more than just the expected Eldar Pirates, who were suspected of holding one of the Mining Guilds men in an abandoned tropical zone. This resulted in the possible death of at least one Guardsman, and the Guilder. There are also disturbing reports of troopers suffering inexplicable physical problems leading to the jailing of one Guardsman. We have limited Pict scans from the area, due to the aggressive nature of the local flora and fauna to the machine spirits on the equipment supplied #DELETED#.

From the outset there are inconclusive scans of two quicksilver mutants who over ran the pirate position in the first moments of the engagement. The Eldar were ripped to pieces before they could get a single shot off. The creatures identified as possible #DELETED# and were so fast that they caused the patrol severe difficulties to deal with at all. Unfortunately the Pict scans show #DELETED#; however the mutants caused enough of a distraction and allowed the tribesmen following time to get into favourable positions. From the ensuing fire fight several Guardsmen were knocked off their feet, and only the swift actions of the medic saved the patrol from destruction by healing Cpl Drake and several other members of the team.

Cpl Drake is to be commended for taking control of the situation, after his wounding. In decisively taking the fight to the enemy, enough casualties were caused to force the mutants to retreat. It appears they were broken after concentrated fire from the entire patrol and are suspected to be #DELETED#. No remains of the #DELETED# were found after the action, unfortunately. However one tribesman was captured and is currently imprisoned, and guarded by sanctioned Psykers along with the guardsman who suffered mysterious effects during the mission.

+++End of Intercept+++

My Lord, I believe this has to be of interest to you. Your knowledge of the splinter fleets can help us +++Transmission Lost. Unknown cause+++ pict files are currently being re-built

+++++End of Report+++++

Pirate hijack

Patrol Drake was mobilised as a quick reaction force yesterday, as one of our Argus flyers was stolen, the unknown thief making for the hills to the north. Yet, before the flyer could reach the hills, it was intercepted and downed, by the same band of Eldar pirates we have encountered in the past.

Patrol Drake arrived at the crash site at the same moment as the enemy that had downed the shuttle, finding the area strewn with cargo pods. Drake was ordered to repel the attackers and recover the cargo, for it was not known what the pods contained.

Drake stationed a fire support group consisting of his missile and grenade lanucher specialists to cover the shuttle, while he led an assault team to the left to engage two enemies and secure a number of cargo pods in that area. Two more of the patrol, accompanied by the psykana operative Gramatrix Apphia worked their way to the right, towards the shuttle, led by Lance Corporal Kash.

Unfortunately, the very first shot to be fired resulted in a misfire for the missile launcher, though luckily Specialist Falk was not badly wounded. Specialist Kiri however kept up a steady fire of frag grenades, aiming to stall the enemy advance towards the shuttle.

On the left, Drake's group gained a ridge, to fire down upon the advancing Eldar, wounding one and forcing the other to withdraw. However, an alien armed with some form of launcher spotted Drake as he crested the rise and fired a high yield missile at him. The projectile struck, but truly the Emperor was watching, for Drake was unwounded, the missile having rebounded from his shoulded armour before detonating some distance behind him. Fire from the second Eldar though wounded Drake, who had to be extracted by his men.

Meanwhile, on the right flank, Lance Corporal Kash and Trooper Kleve engaged a group of pirates advancing on the shuttle, wounding one of them in the initial exchange of fire. But at the very moment Kash lined up a perfect shot a local saurian creature wandered across his arc and spoiled the shot. This allowed another pirate to gain the shuttle's entrance ramp and take control of it. Less than a minute later, the shuttle was in the air, yet the pirate apparantly had no experience of its controls, and not long after it crashed once more, the Eldar being ejected through the canopy.

At this point, Kash saw that the situation was slipping and ordered a withdrawal. The patrol carried the wounded, including Drake to their rendesvous point, and were extracted by Chimera six hours later. The patrol recovered three of the cargo pods from the shuttle, though these appear to have been empty. We have no clue as the identity of the thief, or why he was heading towards the region controlled by the hill tribes. Investigations into the issue are now underway, and Patrol Drake is back on QRF cover duty.

The Emperor Protects.

Colonel Kane
Jeriko Reach Garrison

Out of character - we played a Scavengers mission, with the downed shuttle counting as one of the loot counters, and having some ad hoc rules for controlling it. Possession of a cargo pod allowed a free roll on the Outlaw Trading Post Rare Trade Chart, which for Drakes men resulted in a number of narcotic substances such as Icrotic Slime and Stinger Mould being recovered (these were not declared during mission debrief...)

Attack on Silo D-12/zz

(Hit and Run scenario, using Necromunda Event Cards deck.)

Sergeant Grey's Iridian Rangers, led by the mysterious xenos psyker.

Patrol Drake, accompanied by psykana operative Aeon Gayle.

Following psykana reports detecting an abhorrent presence in Zone D-12, I dispatched Patrol Drake, accompanied by psykana operative Aeon Gayle to investigate. Upon arrival in the zone, Gayle immediately reported a psychic spore closing in on Defence Silo D-12/zz, and Drake ordered those troopers in the immediate vicinity to take up a defensive posture at the silo’s control station while the remainder of his patrol were recalled. Strangely, three of the patrol did not return until long after the coming battle, and appear unable to account for their actions during that time. Commissariat and psykana interrogation pending.

After an hour, the enemy arrived. It was the same traitors of the Iridian 9th, the Swamp Tigers, led once more by the mysterious individual with prodigious psychic powers. Though they had prepared well, taking commanding positions atop the control station, Drake’s men were initially taken by surprise as the enemy worked around the left flank. The opening salvo felled Trooper Zain, who later proved to have died from his injuries, and wounded Specialist Falk.

The enemy pressed the left flank, the NCO believed to be called Sergeant Grey leading them. As Grey and another his men paused in the lee of an outhouse, Aeon Gayle unleashed a psychic attack on them. Grey was temporarily sent mad, spinning around and shouting, and actually shooting the man next to him. As more Swamp Tigers arrived on the scene to press the attack, chaos broke out. A native life form referred to by the garrison as a ‘mousehound’ burst from the stinking outhouse and attacked Sergeant Grey before disappearing once more. One of the Iridians closed on the control station, only to find Drake himself waiting for him. Drake cut the man down with ease and slammed the traitor’s body in to the power feed to the outhouse, which erupted in sparks, killing the Swamp Tiger dead. Unfortunately, Drake’s prised power sword was destroyed in the brief fight.

Meanwhile, the Iridians’ grenade launcher was walking krak grenade shells towards the silo’s master control panel, the destruction of which would have rendered the silo unusable. Worse still, more enemy, including the psyker-leader had appeared on the scene, and were barely held at bay by Lance Corporal Kash and Specialist Kiri, who kept up a steady barrage of smoke grenades. Kash gunned down an enemy trooper at close range, moments before he would have been assaulted.

Back at the control silo, Aeon Gayle unleashed another mental assault on Grey, sending him into a mad rage. He then engaged Drake in all-in combat, knocking him out before moving on to assault the master control panel, which he wrecked in a furious attack. At the last, the remainder of Patrol Drake arrived and opened fire on Grey. Realising he was surrounded, the traitor dove for Aeon Gayle, grabbing her from her hiding place. He then used her body as a human shield, backing away from the approaching troops. The Aeon’s powers deserted her, and Grey escaped, throwing the Aeon to the ground as he made good his escape.

It appears the enemy were guided in their flanking move by turncoat Betheljinn tribesmen, and that a more general uprising is imminent. All garrison units standing by for widespread uprising.

The Emperor Protects.

Colonel Kane, Jeriko Reach garrison battle group.

The Iridian attackers close in.

Trooper Zain and Specialist Falk atop the silo command building.

Grey and Drake clash, again!

Grey withdraws having destroyed the master control, using the Aeon as a human shield!

Betrayal!

Having regrouped at Garrison HQ, Corporal Drake’s patrol was sent out into the Alkatine Groves to conduct a sweep of the many small settlements skirting the death zones. What he encountered has far reaching and disturbing consequences for the garrison, and potentially for Imperial rule on the Reach.

Whilst approaching a tumbledown shack known to be occupied by an unstable old squat engineer, Patrol Drake encountered another garrison unit, a patrol under Sergeant Grey of the 9th Iridian Rangers (The Swamp Tigers), another unit of the Jeriko Reach Garrison, that had been billeted in a number of settlements thereabouts.

Before he could approach Grey, Drake’s patrol was fired upon. Clearly, we have lost Grey and his men. The traitors were led by the same leader we have observed in the past, an individual of prodigious psychic potential. It was fortunate then that Drake was accompanied by an Adept of the Telepathica, Gramatrix Apphia, to provide some psionic punch.

Upon contact a firefight soon developed. Drake positioned his missile and grenade launcher along with a sniper and the Gramatrix to his left flank in order to fix the bulk of the enemy, and led a flanking party in a wide sweep to the right. This took him right past the old shack, and the party found itself fired upon by the irascible occupant. Trooper Kleve was winged but not wounded by the shot, and the troopers did very well to restrain themselves and not fire back.

A moment later Swamp Tiger fire set off a pocket of previously undetected Nauka gas, enveloping three of the the traitor troopers in an explosion, though none were injured.

Meanwhile, Trooper Falk’s missile launcher misfired and the sniper, Trooper Zain was wounded, and out of the fight. The Gramatrix inflicted a psionic attack upon a traitor before she herself was put down. Falk later reported that Apphia displayed very poor fieldcraft, and it has been noted that future battlefield attachments from the Psykana must be better trained and prepared.

On the right flank, the flanking party found themselves under sustained psionic attack by the enemy leader, who appeared to be attempting to take control of the minds of Drake’s men. Fortunately he was not successful, though his attacks were a constant drain. Trooper Kleve was once more winged, this time by a poorly, even negligently aimed shot from Trooper Serik, who is on report as we speak. Trooper Tyrik was wounded by Swamp Tiger fire, but was attended by Medic Reko and was soon back in the fight. At the last, Drake’s party assaulted the enemy position from the lee of the shack. The attack descended into a hand-to-hand affair in which Drake was wounded in combat with Sergeant Grey.

After Drake went down, Trooper Kash took control, leading the troopers in a final push which saw off the traitors. Kash has received a field brevet of Lance Corporal for his efforts. After the action, Jawar Rajiv, a native defence volunteer attached to the patrol was found incapacitated. Though he recovered, he appears mentally scarred by some experience he will not, or cannot relate.

It appears an uprising is beginning on Jeriko Reach, and units of the Garrison have turned coat. All units are now on full alert.

Illegal Aliens...

Data Capture Assessment

Source: Public Order Auger System – Augustine’s Regret (AR) (Vid file:02129)

Visual Image Ref:999880 (VF:02130)

Four unknown armed humanoids possibly xenos enter AR and approach militia unit Charlie 7 zero (Mission: Secure Recovery assignment 99879b)

Later data capture shows evident hostile intent and wargear of alien origin.

(at this point the unknown assailants appear to be cautiously approaching the militia patrol with drawn weapons)

Visual Image Ref 999885 (VF:02131)

Visual feed shows a short and bloody fire-fight where the patrol are gunned down by rapid firing semi silenced projectile weapons - at this point audio probes detect a distress call from patrol Charlie 7 Zero.

Subsequent visual feed is intermittent and scrambled (possibly interference from a high power xenos vox-caster unit) however auger#38987 reveals definite evidence of xenos equipment in use by the raiders before it is disabled by an explosion (tactical evaluation suggests this may be a frag charge from an imperial launcher given the distinctive audio signature).

Assessment ongoing, current threat level intermediate – advise all stations raise alert state to Jade

And away from the table….

In layman’s terms we played the Necormunda ‘stand off’ mission.

An imperial patrol had been sent to liaise in a secret mission with a notorious ‘free trader’ on the behalf of the governor.

The Firehand’s Grey Legion had been tipped off that this known smuggler would be in the area and had decide to see if they could steal away the prize before the imperial forces got there and hold it to ransom, unfortunately both parties arrived at the same time and a ‘stand off occurred in the town square.

As both gangs faced each other the eldar’s nerve broke first. They unleashed a flurry of fire from their shuriken weaponry decimating the guardsmen… as the guard called for back up and panicking citizens fled the area the eldar rear guard moved in to secure the area.

The guard back up team, moving in to evacuate their buddies, walked more or less into wholesale slaughter, rarely managing to mass enough fire power to pin the well equipped xenos. A well placed shot from a guardsmen felled one of the aliens but on the whole the weight of fire was simply too much and the Imperial forces bottled out leaving the field to the alien raiders.

An armed uprising... trouble in the hills.

I was disturbed prior to evening devotions today by brother Shal, he informed me that Arik Karem of the Bethaljinn tribes ( a respected elder no less) had arrived at the chapter house in an excited state and demanding an audience with me.

Arik Karem was soon admitted to my chambers where I served him warm k’vash to calm this noble warriors nerves but the tale he told me soon unsettled mine.

Nearly a year ago, Arik told me, the Bethaljinn had received a visitation from a mighty being, they had seen the fire fall from the sky and followed it to its destination in the hills, there they apparently met an angel accompanied by a mighty host of warriors.

This angel had helped the Bethaljinn realise that they were merely slaves of the Imperium and that the true emperor and his warriors had sent the angel to free them of their chains.

This in itself was nothing new to me, our missionaries to the hill tribes have seen the emergence of the Bethaljinn tribes spider cult and believed it to be closely based on our own belief of the all protecting emperor whose many arms surround us, what Arik was to tell me next has disturbed me greatly and I fear for the future.

Arik continued his tale to tell me that the Bethaljinn had hoarded vast amounts of wargear and supplies over the last harvest season and intended to stake out a new land for the servants of the spider emperor and now the time had come.

I knew of the small clashes between tribesmen and farmer and of the clumsy ‘policing‘ conducted by the Imperial forces on Jeriko Reach but Arik informed me that in the last month they had ambushed an Imperial patrol. He claimed they had done their best to make it appear as if a landslide in the hills had obliterated the patrol and I know from my conversations with local dignitaries that this patrol had being considered ‘missing’.

Today it appears however the Bethaljinn had used this stolen transport to ambush a patrol of the garrison, massacring them to a man and looting an imperial supply drop outside of a vapour distillation plant.

As I inclined my head to listen better Arik continued his tale…

The Bethaljinn approached the plant at a steady speed so as not to attract suspicion, the garrison sentry waved cheerfully at them believing them to be the lost patrol. To his horror he realised his mistake far too late as the holy warriors spilled from the access ports of the stolen chimera - unleashing a fusillade of las fire that cut the man down before he could even unsling his rifle.

Within seconds the tribes men were racing for the drop canisters and hauling their contents back to the vehicle and at this point, presumably attracted by the sounds of gunfire, the patrol sent for the drop doubled onto the scene.

Arik’s warriors split into two groups and dashed for the remaining canisters, Arik ordered his men to set their las-guns to maximum overcharge, a risky manoeuvre that paid off – nearly every shot that struck home claimed an imperial life but his men soon found their ammunition supply running dangerously low.

A major firefight erupted near the hab units with both Arik’s warriors and the garrison troopers finding themselves diving for cover among the amphora, Arik felt his men needed fire support and sent their single rocket launcher to assist. Struggling for breath the gunner reached his brethren and levelled his sights on the cluster of guardsmen he pressed the firing stud but to no avail, shaking the weapon rapidly to clear any sand blockage he smiled as the rocket motor engaged with a whining sound only to be sent flying seconds later as the warhed exploded prematurely within the tube… wounding him lightly. Throwing the wrecked and treacherous weapon to one side he dived for cover.

At the other side of the plant a trio of tribal warriors gained the height advantage in the hills and ambushed two guardsmen attempting to recover a drop canister.

As Daram Var placed careful las shots into the guardsmen causing htem to take cover, Alem Sol praised the gods and unleashed a hail of plasma fire upon the infidels badly wounding both.

Back at the habstead the warriors were still deadlocked by the tenacious defence of the troopers. Suddenly, crying a battle cry to the gods, Kolak Shuh unsheathed his dris blade and launched himself through a hail of lasfire at the nearest man.

Stunned by this recklessness the man barely had time to gasp as Kolak’s blade found the gap between the hard plates of him armour and sent him onwards.

Arik’s men, he told me, had now recovered a substantial horde or weaponry and so he ordered his men back to the transport, Kaseem Orah kept a watchful rear guard as his warriors inched their way back to the armoured safety of Chimera 153.

Realsing the day was lost the guard patrol too seemed to relaise further bloodshed would only fare badly for them and retired away form the drop zone dragging their wounded with them.

As Arik checked each man in he smiled as he saw Daram Var struggle back with the burley form of a an Imperial Guard Sergeant over his shoulder – knowing full well the angels would thanks him for this trophy above all others… this elation was only dampened when one of the brethren failed to return, presumably cut down in the battle for the habstead units. Further tragedy struck when Ulin Kel fell silent and died of his wounds in the back of the transport.

As Arik finished his tale I poured us both another drink and feigned congratulations upon his victory (not wishing to anger the elder), although I was shocked at this outward violence I had suspected the oppressed hill tribes would one day rebel,. I shudder to think what will happen next.

I pray the governor does not decree martial law or worse still summon for outside intervention.

Peace be upon you children of Jeriko Reach