FLIGHT DECK

There are many launch bays located on Lycurgos, which are capable of launching attack craft to support the station. With the loss of one docking arm and the capture of another, some of these decks were compromised. However, a number remain active. One of these is located near the captured docking arm and has represented a consistent thorn in the side of the Imperial assault. The crew of this particular flight deck has managed to time the launch of its attack craft in a particularly effective fashion. These small craft have damaged or destroyed more than two dozen Imperial landers sent to the star fort with various supplies and passengers. Due to the relative distance between the flight deck and the docking bay arm, Imperial Navy craft have been unable to take adequate defensive postures prior to the attack craft engagements.

Imperial Navy forces and regimental command have decided that these are unacceptable losses. The only reasonable response is for the ground forces to secure the flight deck. It is believed that if the Severan Dominate lose control of this deck, Imperial attack craft could use it instead. By both landing on the flight deck—where they would have some protection from secessionist attack—and launching attack craft from it as well, the Imperial Navy craft would be much less susceptible to attack.

This combination could provide a far better support network for any Imperial Navy landers approaching the star fort.

The Imperial Guard has accepted the task of securing the flight deck. Once the mission has been successfully completed, the Imperial Navy forces are willing to commit the vehicles and manpower necessary to keep the deck adequately staffed.

The regiment has agreed that this mission must be given highest priority, as the Imperial Navy is delaying all transfers between its vessels and the star fort until after the flight deck has been secured. The lack of reinforcements or additional supplies provides a strong motivation for the Imperial Guard to follow through on its side of the agreement.

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The relevant flight deck and landing bay is located within the core portion of the star fort. It is two decks down from the main docking arm section that the Imperials have already secured. Exterior visualisations and Imperial scouts within the station have confirmed its location. However, they have not yet identified a best possible route for moving large numbers of soldiers or vehicles to the bay. Currently, the known routes make use of maintenance shafts, which would require the troops to move in single file formations.

Regimental command believes that securing the flight deck would require a large allocation of troops, making that approach an unacceptable option.

Prior to securing the flight deck, the company is charged with first finding a secure route to reach the deck. Once that has been accomplished, they are to proceed to the target location with all possible speed. The deck must be captured intact so that Imperial forces can use it as a landing zone.

The Player Characters need not seize any enemy soldiers or materiel. Consequently, the Guardsmen are cleared to use area weapons, as long as those weapons are unlikely to do irreparable harm to the star fort.

Any stray shots that strike the stored ordnance could trigger a detonation. This has the potential to set off a chain reaction, which could destroy the entire manufactorum. In a potential worst-case scenario, this might even cause serious damage to the star fort. To represent this, any failed Ballistic Skill Test during a ranged Attack has a chance to miss wildly and strike the ordnance. If a Player Character fails a Ballistic Skill Test and achieves four or more Degrees of Failure, the shot has hit one of the dangerous containers. The Player Character rolls Damage as normal for the attack. The containers have 9 Armour Points. If the attack should deal Damage in excess of the container’s Armour Points, the unstable munitions detonate. The explosion deals 3d10+4 Explosive Damage to anyone within five metres and 1d10+4 Explosive Damage to anyone within ten metres. At this time, the Game Master should roll a d100. On a result of 91-00, the explosion sets off a chain reaction with the other unstable substances in the manufactorum. Over the following six Rounds, a series of massive explosions take place that transforms the facility into a crumbling, flaming ruin. Each Round, the Player Characters and their adversaries must each make a Challenging (+0) Agility Test. Anyone who fails this Test takes 1d10+4 Explosive Damage.

If the Player Characters can bring overwhelming force to bear upon the situation, they might attempt to force the secessionists to negotiate rather than settling the matter through violence. The secessionists are hostile to any such attempts, and are extremely loyal to their cause. These forces are unlikely to cooperate unless they are offered some impressive level of both security and compensation.

Alternatively, Imperial forces might eschew the use of ranged weapons, reverting instead to melee attacks. This certainly reduces the likelihood of any inadvertent explosion.

However, the secessionists, who are not firing towards explosives, remain willing to use their lasguns and other ranged weapons. This should lead to an interesting situation as the characters try to assault foes from surprising directions, using maintenance ducts and concealed passages.

Game Masters must use their discretion in deciding how the enemy responds to a concerted multi-front approach. If the Imperial Guard offers an opportunity for some of the forces to escape, they do so when it becomes clear that the Imperial Guard has the upper hand. At this point, they attempt to steal as many munitions as possible, or at least eliminate any of the servitors and workers. The Severan Dominate troopers only call for reinforcements after the lieutenants realise they have lost at least two squads. Additional forces, subject to Game Master discretion, can begin to arrive five minutes after a call is placed.

The reinforcements do not attempt to press an attack if it is clear that there is a significant risk of detonating the manufactorum.

II: Something Wicked Lurks

Captain Mordecai Horatio (see page 129) is particularly helpful during any discussions regarding the flight deck.

He offers his advice about the likely make-up of attack craft present, as well as the support crew and equipment that should be in use. He can also offer insight as regards the expected time required for Imperial Navy craft to reach the flight deck from any of the ships that remain in the region.

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Reaching the flight deck through the maintenance tunnels is a difficult process, but hardly an overwhelming one. The greatest danger is that the secessionists patrol these passages as well as the star fort’s main corridors. Because soldiers must traverse the tunnels in a single file fashion, trying to move a large force of foot soldiers through them is an agonisingly slow process. Enemy forces can also inflict significant

damage within the constrained location through the use of explosives, flamers, or other area weapons. The preferred approach is to first scout out an appropriate lift, and make use of that to transfer to the level where the

deck is located.

Game Masters can use their discretion for the difficulty in securing a lift.

Any force occupying the station requires these massive machines, so

the Severan Dominate forces are hesitant to inflict severe damage to one. Each is capable of moving

several super-heavy tanks, or a company of vehicles, or more than a thousand soldiers at a time between the star fort’s decks. Less than a dozen of these lifts remain functional aboard Lycurgos, and the closest working one to the secured docking arm and the targeted flight deck is two kilometres away from the docking arm. The Severan

Dominate has at least a platoon of fifty soldiers holding the lift.

If the Guardsmen attempt to overpower them to secure it, the secessionists immediately

call for reinforcements, comprising an additional two platoons of foot, or two squadrons of three vehicles each. They take roughly ten minutes to arrive. If the Imperial forces hurry, this provides just enough time for the lift to descend a level prior to the arrival of the enemy forces.

Capturing any crew and staff for questioning is considered a secondary objective. Lycurgos may have unknown or unusual security measures in place to secure the flight deck. If this is the case, a thorough interrogation of any crew or pilots might reveal those measures prior to the arrival of the first Imperial Navy craft. Capturing existing craft, consumables, and tools is also considered a secondary objective. It is very possible that any vehicles or supplies could be contaminated or trapped.

This risk makes capturing the devices a much lower priority.

Severan Dominate units should not be permitted to use any of these devices further, if the possibility can be avoided. If any of the craft attempt to launch during the assault, the Guardsmen are expected to prevent successful launches, or to destroy the vessels as they clear the flight deck. The briefing officer reminds the Player Characters at this point that any such destruction must not incur significant damage to the flight deck.

Similarly, if any of the secessionists attempt to flee the flight deck with tools, ammunition, or other equipment, they must be stopped, so that the tools cannot be used to further the secessionist agenda.

The lieutenant is not adverse to a strategy that incorporates approaching the flight deck from the outside. The secessionists are unlikely to expect a significant number of soldiers to simultaneously enter the deck from the star fort’s outer hull.

However, if this approach is used, the secessionists might be able to quickly move supporting units to the flight deck from the interior of the star fort. Consequently, he advises that such an approach must have measures included to defend the flight deck from such an assault. If they strongly advocate this approach, he makes certain to include void suits as part of their mission assignment gear.

Otherwise, there is no special equipment included.

II: Something Wicked Lurks

within bunkers, though they do move to use the nearby attack craft and assorted maintenance equipment for cover from attack. When the Player Characters reach the flight deck, read or paraphrase the following:

Six attack craft and a lander are on standby to launch, but the deck otherwise appears to be fully loaded with craft. You are uncertain if any are about to fly a mission, as maintenance workers and countless servitors scurry from vessel to vessel, performing arcane rituals and applying sacred substances to assure their function. You spot two squads of guards near the entrances, but they seem to be lounging, hardly prepared for an attack. The workers, conversely, are so focused upon their labours that they might not even notice if they were actually under fire.

The deck is roughly 100 metres in width, but only twenty-five metres deep. The ceiling is fifteen metres above the deck level. There is no exterior wall to the flight deck.

Instead, an energy field keeps the atmosphere within the star fort, permitting attack craft and shuttles to launch from the deck or to land upon it. A control panel near the wall can be used to change the field’s status or to close a set of reinforced armoured doors in the event of an energy failure. Three armoured hatches, wide enough to accommodate a tank or transport, connect the interior wall of the flight deck with the star fort’s perimeter corridor. Unless the flight deck has been placed on an alert status, these hatches are retracted into the floor and ceiling when the Guardsmen arrive. Armoured glass viewports (Armour Rating 6), are present between the hatches, offering a clear view into the flight deck’s interior.

Several flights of Fury Interceptors are stowed close together, with wings folded inward around the perimeter of the deck. A single flight of six Furies and one Aquila lander stand ready to launch, already fuelled. The pilots of these craft are on standby in a bunk room attached to the flight deck. Dozens of maintenance workers and servitors are busily engaged performing prep work on the ready ships as well as numerous other craft. Each of the attack craft has twin-linked lascannons mounted upon its wings. Once the pilots realise the deck is under attack, they attempt to reach their Furies so that they can turn the vessels and fire those weapons upon the Guardsmen.

If the outcome of the attack seems inevitable, the attack craft attempt to scramble. The maintenance crew move towards the shuttles, while the attack craft take off, removing themselves from the reach of the Imperial Guard as quickly as possible. The lander’s interior is small enough that a single grenade or blast weapon could cause significant damage to anyone caught inside of the craft when it detonated.

If the Player Characters have not gained control of the nearby lift, the Severan Dominate moves to launch a counter attack as soon as the flight deck falls. Six Leman Russ Battle Tanks comprise the attacking force. They try to avoid inflicting structural damage upon the flight deck, but are more than willing to use their battle cannons against the occupying Imperial forces. If the lift is secured or the tank squadron is eliminated, then the secessionists do not have a quick response to the loss of the flight deck.

Notably, the secessionists do attempt to pursue to regain control of the lift. If the Guardsmen choose to leave this route unsecured, then they may be functionally cut off from the docking bay arm. This is certain to delay the arrival of any reinforcements, as well as supplies. Player Characters may recognise this risk with success on a Routine (+10) Scholastic Lore (Tactica Imperialis) Test. This would also delay the transfer of any supplies brought in aboard Imperial Navy shuttles from the captured flight deck back to the docking arm. For the mission to be a complete success, the unit must somehow capture and secure the lift.

Once the lift has either been bypassed or secured, the Guardsmen may attempt to seize control of the flight deck.

The secessionist forces do not believe that the location is easily subject to attack from inside of the star fort.

Consequently, it is only lightly defended from a ground-based assault—numerous flak cannons located on the star fort’s surface are intended to provide protection against any incoming attack craft. Two ten-man squads provide security for the flight deck. Each includes a two-man heavy bolter team and one soldier carrying a flamer. They are not set up

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Regimental command wishes to commit a single company to securing the flight deck. They are also willing to put another company on standby status, to provide reinforcements in the event of a counter attack. If the flight deck is quickly secured and kept largely operational, the Imperial Navy is prepared to send a flight of attack craft with crew to man the location. Once secured, a single company is expected to provide security for the location until such time as the Severan Dominate forces are removed from this section of the star fort.

If the Player Characters have command of a company, then at the Game Master’s discretion they could either have the assignment to capture the flight deck or represent the standby company to reinforce it in the event of a Severan Dominate attack. As platoon commanders, it would be their judgment that determined the best possible approach to seizing control of the location. If the characters have responsibility for a larger group, then they might dictate the strategy that the assigned company employs. Alternatively, if they have a lesser role, then the Game Master must determine what facet the Player Characters play in the larger conflict.

If the characters proceed with an attack from the exterior of the star fort, then vehicles are largely useless, as they cannot easily traverse that surface. Attacks that proceed through the star fort’s interior can make use of vehicles, with one important caveat. Tanks, transports, and even sentinels are far too big to travel through the maintenance hatches. In order to bring these vehicles to the battle, the Guardsmen must first find and control one of the station’s lifts so that the vehicles can travel to the lower deck.

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The primary mission objective is to verify the security of the perimeter corridor. The unit is charged with finding and triggering or deactivating any traps that might be present.

As a secondary mission, any available information about secessionist activities in the area must be confirmed. If there are signs of recent activity, then the nature of that activity must be identified. If there are no indicators of activity, then a thorough search must be conducted to verify their absence.

If enemy forces are encountered, then the unit is expected to terminate those forces provided the Guardsmen have numerical superiority. In the event that a larger secessionist unit is encountered, the highest priority is to report that group’s presence so that regimental command has the opportunity to decide how best to proceed.

Gear is allocated in such a way as to provide the unit with the most manoeuvrability possible. Regimental command is not looking for a significant engagement. Instead, they want a successful reconnaissance mission and an accurate report. If the regiment has transports or light vehicles available, then the entire group should be mounted. Similarly, if the regiment has both heavy and light tanks, then the faster ones are used for this assignment. Other than transportation, multi-tools, auspexes, and void suits are included for each soldier as part of the mission assignment gear.