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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zen_Pollo" data-source="post: 5262646" data-attributes="member: 11404">In the Year of the Light of the Golden Throne 074.816.M41++The Continuing Voyages of His Divine-Majesty's  Ship, the Dawn TreaderLord Captain's Log; The Countess Lucretia Von Krak, CommandingIn the Year of the Light of the Golden Throne 074.816.M41++Supplemental Comments, Continued:  I just finished my repast courtesy of the agri-world, Lucien's Breath. Where was I?Ah, yes. Yesterday after my away-team had dispatched Lady Ash, we retreated back down the ridge quietly so as not attract any attention from the remaining orcs.I worried initially the Brother Mordechai would become irate over the murder of the unsanctioned psyker, yet der arschhusten merely sullenly refueled his flamer and fell into line.  Perhaps the Missionary has come to accept the order of this ship...In any case, we made our way to the Xenos Ruin known as The Star Mirror.  The white stone structure was a large cylindrical tower with a series of broad, deep steps leading to the single entrance.  Once inside the arched doorway, the open interior space revealed the object of our expedition: The Star Mirror itself.The Star Mirror was a strange, blurry, chaotic collage of streaking lights and pictures floating suspended in mid-air.  There was no apparent infrastructure projecting the image into the space.  Moreover, the lights themselves made no sense whatsoever – it was a completely random form.After looking into the Star-Mirror for some time, I gave up trying to make sense of the device.  One-by-one, the other members of the crew also caved-in – except the Tech-Priest.Octus continued to stare deep into the maddening form suspended above us; he eyes wide and pupils dilated.  Slowly, the Explorator began to smile, “I see the past and present as one!”“What are you blathering about, Tech Priest?” I queried.The saucer-eyed Explorator muttered, “I can see the past and the present as one – they are separated by space.  Time is Space.  Space is Time.  The Time and the Space are one!  It is a continuum of Space-Time!”  Octus began to cackle manically to himself...Volkner Alessander slapped the Explorator across the face, sending spittle flying, and, eventually, the Tech Priest returned to his senses and explained his vision:The Star Mirror recorded all the events of the solar system as though it were a giant picto-monitor.  Except, instead of only showing the present, the Star Mirror displayed all of the past events which had transpired since the device was first built.  By focusing on different points of space, Octus was able to see the past events and then follow the trajectory of those events as they led into the present.  And that was not all the Explorator discovered...“I've located the The Righteous Path!” exclaimed the Tech-Priest.  When the vessel first made warp-fall in the system, the Star Mirror began recording its position and course.  By focusing on  different points of  “Space-Time” within the images, Octus had been to follow the ship's voyages throughout the Magoros system – including its final resting place on an asteroid in the Shard Halo!“Wait a minute,” asked Quinn Vanberg, “Can you use the same technique to locate the Fell Hand?”  Octus returned to his observations and shortly confirmed the arrival of the Rogue Trader, Hadarak Fel, into the system as well as his current position and heading.  Das schwein was not far from the The Righteous Path but couldn't locate the vessel almost right under his nose!  Knowing the precise location of your enemy while remaining unbekannt is a powerful advantage in naval combat.  With the right tactics, I might be able to leverage the element of surprise to launch a ship-to-ship assault against my adversary...At first, I thought this “Space-Time” could be a useful concept.  So I began waving around my chrono to see if I could observe this phenomena personally; yet, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary.  Bah, “Space-Time” – what a farce!  No wonder this stupid Xenos empire failed!As there was no alien plunder to be had and the Star Mirror itself was too large to move, the away team made our way out of the building.And that is when the second mob of orcs set upon us...The exterior of the Star Mirror has a series of wide, deep steps leading up to the entrance of the hall.  There was no cover to be had and the stairs themselves would prove no impediment to the charging orcs.  Alas, we faced other challenges...“These orcs have Shootas,” sighed the Void-Master.Quinn Vanberg was right.  The twelve primitive orcs wielded a mismatch of Choppas and Shootas.  The 6 orcs with Choppas charged forward while the 6 orcs with Shootas formed a firing line in the rear.The only tactic which presented itself was to fire on both flanks in order to channel the remaining chargers to un kleinen front.  I issued the orders and charged down the steps to set against the first of the chargers in melee.The Arch-Militant, Volkner Alessander, opened up into the left flank with the Stormbolter and the Missionary trained his flamer to the right while the rest of the crew fired into the rushing mob.  As the  skirmishers closed, the flares of tracers, bolts, flames and slugs arced in both directions from the field.After the initial line of orcs engaged in melee, the back ranks rushed in behind them.  The original plan was to form a “V” with me anchoring the bottom point.  However the orcs rush forward in an unruly mob, negating our tactics, so the final formation ended up a “W” with Brother Mordechai and I at the two front facing positions.Safely shielded from the melee scrum, Volkner Alessander smugly snarked, “Today's forecast -- 100% chance of Death,” as he mowed down orcs on the left flank and rear with his Stormbolter.Meanwhile, Octus had difficulty, “Chaos brings the darkness and I have a blasted flashlight!” The Explorator fought a gun-battle with an orc shooting from the back line.  The two adversaries traded salvos, one scoring hits after the next, but the wounded Tech-Priest eventually persevered.  When Octus felled his foe, he exclaimed, “The blessing of the Omnissiah smiles upon me!”I fared much worse.  Initially, I slew an orc at range with my inferno pistol, but once the chargers engaged in melee, I was quickly overwhelmed.  Outnumbered two to one, the massive orcs scored hit after hit with their cruel Choppas!  Had not Quinn Vanberg rushed into melee in my support, I may have fallen to the brutes on that barren rock...Facing fewer adversaries due to the accurate fire of the Arch-Militant, the Missionary was able to slay the single orc which survived the hail of explosive bolts.  Borther Mordechai cleaved the orc from gullet to groin with his giant chain axe, spilling its viscera all over the steps.In fact, the entails on the ground were so thick and viscous, Octus activated his Logis Implant and attempted to rush the final orc standing, but he fell down in the ichor surrounding the Missionary.  And he was not alone in his troubles – both the Void-Master and I charged into melee but found no purchase amongst the muck...The Arch-Militant also fruitlessly fired into the fray, but it was the Tech-Priest whom landed the final blow, chopping off the offending orc's leg with his poweraxe and ending the encounter.The final tally of valor:Volkner Alessander: 3 killed via his StormbolterOctus:  2 ranged kills and he scored the final melee strikeQuinn Vanberg:  Dispatched one orc with his bolter and killed another with his powersword.Brother Mordechai:  Only a single orc fell to his chain axe.  Such a pitiful display...And I killed a single foe with my inferno pistol, but slew two orcs in melee combat...Once the battle ended, the Missionary tended to our casualties; I was the most wounded of the away-team.  For some reason, Brother Mordechai was unable to tend to my injuries.  “Countess, your wounds require more treatment than I can provide in these conditions,” the Missionary demurred.   Strange, that he was able to tend the to wounded Tech Priest...The rest of the crew collected some Shootas and Choppas for our trophy room.  The Explorator examined the Shootas' firing mechanisms, but found only bits of rock affixed to rickety wooden parts.  “Somehow they just made it work,” reasoned the Tech-Priest.When we collected ourselves, the team quickly retreated back to our shuttlecraft; lest any more orcs set upon us.  After the shuttle docked and we were safely ensconced in the Dawn Treader, I ordered the crew to head to the Shard Halo in clandestine fashion, running silently.In two days time, we shall arrive in the asteroid belt.  Using the information we gleaned from the Star Mirror, we may be able to circumvent the Auspexes of the Fell Hand and catch Hadarak Fel unawares.One manner or another, we mean to engage the Rogue Trader in ship-to-ship combat.  I have no illusions; the Fell Hand and the Dawn Treader are evenly matched frigates.  Should our subterfuge fail, there will no recourse but to exchange battery fire on fair terms with the outcome far from certain.Goderick Von Krak once said that naval victory is determined in the moment of first contact.  Hopefully, the element of surprise serves us well...I am Lord Captain of the Dawn Treader, The Countess Lucretia Von KrakDen Stets-Siegreichen Imperium!</blockquote>

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