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 Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:09 am
Psycosele: March of the Imperium
CHAPTER I
In a time from long before we can remember, the planet was settled. A vast nation spread itself across the stars, and thus Remus was founded. But then, the Age of Darkness came. The world was once covered with colonists, all serving together joyously, but they all lost connection with each other. The colonies fell into ruin, and few survived the following disaster. The vast nation of the stars abandoned the planet, in order to fight the great enemy, and that enemy sent vanguard troops to the planet, destroying many of the peaceful colonies before being repulsed. The great enemy was never seen again, but the colonies lost all contact with each other, and over the centuries, empires were build, and other came into ruin.
But now is the Age of Expansion, as the Venerable Imperiator has commanded his armies to venture to the Wastes and conquer them in His name. His lands reign from the Great Sea in the South and East to the Ematian Mountains in the West. Those are set and defined limits, but to the North, is another story. A series of forts were constructed along the northern border, as that any settlements were left ghost towns, and scout parties never return. The Imperium is composed mainly of wastes and deserts, but to this northern land, there is life; vast forests and fields and meadows cover it, making a much better land for acquiring food.
Therein lies the problem however, you can't just march up there and take the lands and use them as your own; That is why these series of fortifications were constructed. The Menace. That is all that they are known by, as that is all they are, a menace, a nightmare really. Any encounter disturbs even the resolute Imperial soldiers. And encounters have escalated. It seems that they are pushing for war, so the Imperiator has decided, why don't we push back...
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:11 am
Setting (Okay, it decided to shrink it for me...b*****d. That dark spot over where the river forks is the capital. I think the rest you can pretty much gather, other than city names and such.)The lands are mostly wastes. A single river, the Tigris runs through the Imperium?s lands, and breaths the very life into it. To the West lays the Ematian Mountains, and in the South and East lays the Great Sea. And, to the North, lays vast forests. The Wastes are desolate, infertile, and for the most part, uninhabitable. The soil is a tough, dry, brownish-red dirt, thinner than clay but thicker than sand. It somehow manages to have the worst qualities of both. Every so often, perhaps one every square mile, is a dead tree, as if it had been dead for centuries. Brittle, tough plants, likely inedible, dot the ground every so often, made of a dark brown, almost green, color. During the day, the light is dull, and a hot, dry air bellows across the land, blowing sand anywhere, and everywhere; and during night, it is cool and winds often subside, but it becomes near pitch black, requiring night vision equipment for basic guard duty. Along the River however, life is good, and this is why most of the cities are built upon it. The ground is fertile and soft, and grass grows upon it for a few miles out. Twisted, gnarled trees speckle the area, their leaves blowing in cool, soft winds. Most of the populous however, never really gets to see much of this area. And the same with the Usad plains. The area is nice, serine, but most of it is set aside for farming. However, as that it is so dark in day or night, the beauty of the place has almost an eerie feel to it, seeming only a slight bit brighter than dusk all day. The Coasts are similar to the River, and almost as populated. Grass and plants grow to about a mile inland, but are all gnarled and shaped to odd directions because of heavy winds. The waters are always a dark blue, yet almost grey, adding to the dismal feel felt anywhere else in the known world. Waves are often docile, but will on occasion reach heights of over a hundred feet, keeping people from sporadically building along the coast. Most Cities are monoliths of steel, shooting up into the sky and expanding off into the distance. However, usually the rich literally live upon the poor. The rich, who can afford better housing, will buy penthouses high up in buildings, and as you go down these buildings, the people tend to get poorer, and at the bottom, there is poverty, starvation, and violence. Police forces seldom go down there. And as nice and clean as the upper levels are, the lower are grimy and dirty. Smaller Towns and Villages are often made of stone and metals, though not as professionally made. The streets are merely packed dirt, but the people seem to have well enough lives. Most are loyal to the Imperium, but seeing as many of these do not have regular contact with large cities or fortifications, they will often become partisan, raider, or otherwise malignant settlements. To the North is an area like no other in the known world, and for good reason. As you travel further north, first off, it gets brighter, not by much, but a noticeable difference. Also, there are forests, and much fertile land, and much of it is just left fallow! However, not much is known of these lands, and for good reason, the Menace.
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:14 am
THE CHAPTER BEGINS...
In the Northern Front. His most Glorious armies, that of the Imperium, had been sent to repel and hopefully take the lands of that most dreaded enemy, those known only as the Menace. But before large armies could be mustered and sent to the aid of the defending fortifications and boundaries, the existing troops where told to dig in and defend the border. And that is what they did, quite literally. Expansive trench networks were formed to defend greater territories than a few castles would have provided.
It could be an understatement that the soldiers were unhappy with the conditions. It was constantly dry and all they had to do is sit in a ditch and examine the horizon. Food was harder to distribute, and there was nowhere to attend to personal hygiene, but this was of no consequence in comparison to the horrors that await them. Men would go missing in the night, most often when they went to go take a leak, giving rise to many a joke about never coming back from relieving themselves. But alas, it was no laughing matter.
Soon, the War would begin. Armies of the Menace attacked lines along the trench, taking men screaming into the night. In some areas, the defenders were able to repel the attacker, but in other areas, all contact was lost. When troops were sent to retake the area, they either found it empty, or they themselves went missing. And thus, to save scarce resources and limited men, lines were no longer reinforced. But the Imperium's military would be here soon, they would retake the entire front soon, but would it be soon enough?
The battle-bunker Namus Rock would be a key point in the defense of the Northern Front. The trench networks on either side of it had been taken, and if it was taken, then not only would that give enough room for the Menace to launch a full scale invasion, but also supply lines to the eastern third of the front would be completely cut off, thus leaving much of the country undefended. Here a decisive victory must be won. Here a stand must be made. Here the Menace must be repelled into whatever Hell they came from.
The Commanding Officer of Namus Rock, a man named Major Contectius, was luckily a brilliant strategist. He had the middle section of the land in front of the trenches and areas beside them covered in landmines, forcing the enemy into two groups. Any large groups of soldiers would be hit with artillery and either scattered or decimated, weakening them. That takes care of generalized infantry. However, he knew that the Menace had at their disposal some more... unconventional soldiers, who with their great agility and auspex could pass through the minefields unharmed. And for them, he had a small contingency of the Black Hand, numbering only about half a dozen. They were elite close-combat fighters, and where designed to encage in close quarters. Having them face off against general infantry however, would likely get them killed. Two of them where placed at base of each of the minefields, and where to take out any of the men who made it through. The leader of these men was a man named Thanni, and he would be issuing orders as a field officer for the area.
The battle was expected to be long, grueling, gritty, dirty, bloody, and god-damned near anything else that you wouldn't want from a battle. But it must be fought, and this battle would prove a decisive win for either side. New territory for the Menace, but for the Imperium, the survival of millions counted on this battle. In the name of the Imperiator the soldiers do pray.
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