In Progress Emperor of Nothing [40k CYOA]

[baud]

3 for more guns

 

[Neanderthal]

Each Primarch was created with dormant power in the Warp, they are partially creatures of the Empyrean, for instance Corax's power has awoken and now he dwells in the Warp as a dark entity hunting Demons and Chaos Space Marines, whom even the Demon Prince Lorgar is wary of. If one wishes to teach Girlyman to harness the Warp perhaps he would be better served consulting the Sword which is a part of his father, who knows him down to the genetic level, was the greatest Psyker to ever exist, and perhaps could awaken whatever gift he was bestowed with under the Himalayas.

This is a fantastic point. The only reason that I'm not voting for it is because I don't trust the Emperor, his goals or his motives. On the other hand, we sort of know where the Eldar stand (on our side of the battle lines). Plus, they are flesh and blood, so we can outwit them. Not so with the Emperor.

So we can't trust the Emperor who has sat screaming in agony for ten thousand years projecting the Astronomicon, guiding his adherents through the tarot, and holding back chaos singlehandedly all for humanity. His sword and Avatar also saved Girlyman personally in the Plague War. We should however trust the Xenos who have spent those ten millenia betraying, decieving and attacking humanity as the barely sapient Monkeigh they believe them to be.

I'm sorry but that doesn't sound particularly sensible.

Uh, no. We should take advantage of the Eldar as we would of any other Imperial resource. I don't trust Eldrad or his conclave any more than the Emperor on a personal level. But they are under our power and, really, they need us which gives us a certain amount of leverage over them.
Plus, they are flesh and blood, with quantifiable flesh and blood desires like survival and the continuation of their species.
The Emperor, on the other hand, is not. We know nothing about him, we can't control him and we have no leverage over him. He basically owns us and that is why we can't trust him.

Purge the Xenos.

Oh, get over it. Best girl is the Empress now.

So embrace the enemy and distrust our saviour and greatest ally? Yeah good luck with that, very 40k-ish.

 

[Baltika9]

Each Primarch was created with dormant power in the Warp, they are partially creatures of the Empyrean, for instance Corax's power has awoken and now he dwells in the Warp as a dark entity hunting Demons and Chaos Space Marines, whom even the Demon Prince Lorgar is wary of. If one wishes to teach Girlyman to harness the Warp perhaps he would be better served consulting the Sword which is a part of his father, who knows him down to the genetic level, was the greatest Psyker to ever exist, and perhaps could awaken whatever gift he was bestowed with under the Himalayas.

This is a fantastic point. The only reason that I'm not voting for it is because I don't trust the Emperor, his goals or his motives. On the other hand, we sort of know where the Eldar stand (on our side of the battle lines). Plus, they are flesh and blood, so we can outwit them. Not so with the Emperor.

So we can't trust the Emperor who has sat screaming in agony for ten thousand years projecting the Astronomicon, guiding his adherents through the tarot, and holding back chaos singlehandedly all for humanity. His sword and Avatar also saved Girlyman personally in the Plague War. We should however trust the Xenos who have spent those ten millenia betraying, decieving and attacking humanity as the barely sapient Monkeigh they believe them to be.

I'm sorry but that doesn't sound particularly sensible.

Uh, no. We should take advantage of the Eldar as we would of any other Imperial resource. I don't trust Eldrad or his conclave any more than the Emperor on a personal level. But they are under our power and, really, they need us which gives us a certain amount of leverage over them.
Plus, they are flesh and blood, with quantifiable flesh and blood desires like survival and the continuation of their species.
The Emperor, on the other hand, is not. We know nothing about him, we can't control him and we have no leverage over him. He basically owns us and that is why we can't trust him.

Purge the Xenos.

Oh, get over it. Best girl is the Empress now.

So embrace the enemy and distrust our saviour and greatest ally? Yeah good luck with that, very 40k-ish.

Good thing that we're in the 42nd millennium and our greatest enemy is chaos.
Our disagreement comes down to goals: I aim to defeat the grimdark, not masturbate to it.

 

[Neanderthal]

So not W40k, fair enough.

 

[Baltika9]

Hey, I don't make the memes.

 

[Baltika9]

LogOS, I have two questions: does Guilliman have the potential to develop a better training regimen for human psykers if he finishes his training with the Eldar, and what is the reason that the Eldar decided to marry off Yvraine to him?
Not that I'm complaining about the latter.

 

[CappenVarra]

A seems lulzy enough to lead to immediately flip-flop purging the xenos we just allied with
B seems naive enough to lead to falling in love with the xeno we just married - never a good idea
C seems like what i would do in any RPG: pretend the main quest doesn't exist and merrily fuck off on a random side-quest for easy loot and XP

so, votan for C

 

[Baltika9]

B seems naive enough to lead to falling in love with the xeno we just married - never a good idea

How do you see that happening and how is that a bad thing?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

how is that a bad thing?

As much as I respect the Harem goals, this is 40k men. Let sleeping dogs lie.

 

[CappenVarra]

B seems naive enough to lead to falling in love with the xeno we just married - never a good idea

How do you see that happening and how is that a bad thing?

we have given them a significant enough concession already with the alliance

how about we let them prove their worth and allegiance in ways that extend the risk both ways first?

option B is immediately bending over to pick up the soap in their presence and trusting them not to, erm, thrust

 

[Baltika9]

B seems naive enough to lead to falling in love with the xeno we just married - never a good idea

How do you see that happening and how is that a bad thing?

we have given them a significant enough concession already with the alliance

how about we let them prove their worth and allegiance in ways that extend the risk both ways first?

option B is immediately bending over to pick up the soap in their presence and trusting them not to, erm, thrust

I don't agree with this stance.
Even though he is a primarch, Guilliman's greatest strengths are politics and statesmanship. We must take advantage of these capabilities and folly integrate the Eldar into the Imperium before they have a chance to change their minds.
Playing footsie with them and waiting until they take the initiative is a waste of time. We should not treat them as equals to Guilliman, but as new subjects of the Imperium whose integration must be completed as soon as possible. Otherwise, I think that they will either split with the Imperium after the immediate danger has passed, or betray us when it is convenient.

 

[Lithium Flower]

Even though he is a primarch, Guilliman's greatest strengths are politics and statesmanship. We must take advantage of these capabilities and folly integrate the Eldar into the Imperium before they have a chance to change their minds.
Playing footsie with them and waiting until they take the initiative is a waste of time. We should not treat them as equals to Guilliman, but as new subjects of the Imperium whose integration must be completed as soon as possible. Otherwise, I think that they will either split with the Imperium after the immediate danger has passed, or betray us when it is convenient.

ok bud i agree but none of this requires handing eldrad our mindbrain on an adamantium platter

its like saying ok britain and france are going to confederate but the only way to make it work is if the king of britain undergoes hypnosis by france's court physician

???

 

[Kalin]

bunch of heresy

 

[Baltika9]

Even though he is a primarch, Guilliman's greatest strengths are politics and statesmanship. We must take advantage of these capabilities and folly integrate the Eldar into the Imperium before they have a chance to change their minds.
Playing footsie with them and waiting until they take the initiative is a waste of time. We should not treat them as equals to Guilliman, but as new subjects of the Imperium whose integration must be completed as soon as possible. Otherwise, I think that they will either split with the Imperium after the immediate danger has passed, or betray us when it is convenient.

ok bud i agree but none of this requires handing eldrad our mindbrain on an adamantium platter

its like saying ok britain and france are going to confederate but the only way to make it work is if the king of britain undergoes hypnosis by france's court physician

???

I was arguing against the mindset of 'let the Eldar prove their worth.' I think that your hypnosis analogy is a bit paranoid, since Guilliman is a primarch and extremely shrewd besides, as The Brazilian Slaughter said. Besides, Eldrad is not a retard to sabotage his own plan of union against chaos. I think that this offer of assistance from the Eldar is genuine.

However, I have nothing against buffing up the Mechanicus, since humanity's greatest strength is its technology, so it sets up a decent temporary compromise where each species plays to its strength: humanity provides the BFGs, while the eldar provide the webway and warp tricks.

bunch of heresy

Because I want to defeat the grimdark, not revel in it. Here is my four step plan:
1. Make Men and Eldar bros.
2. Find the Squats.
3: ???
4:

 

[Esquilax]

Baltika's brilliant oratory has swayed me to 3. Also, a dungeon crawl is always good fun.

I'm fine with 1 as well.

I'm aware that, as Kayerts pointed out, that in this grimdark LP, that we are merely choosing the manner of our demise, I nevertheless would prefer to be surprised by it than fully expecting it.

 

[LogOS]

So, by my very failure-prone considerations, the Hexarchion Expedition has barely won over trying to tame stormbringer the black blade? am I correct in this?

 

[Azira]

 

[Kz3r0]

 

[ERYFKRAD]

 

[LogOS]

So, by my very failure-prone considerations, the Hexarchion Expedition has barely won over trying to tame stormbringer the black blade? am I correct in this?

i remain unsure actually, did I count properly?

 

[Baltika9]

Alright, alright. Guess I'm counting the votes for this one.

A = 5

Spoiler

Sheev
Kalin
Storyfag
Neanderthal
Lambchop19

B = 5

Spoiler

The Brazilian Slaughter
Azira
Kipeci
Baltika9
ItsChon

C = 13

Spoiler

the_biologist
oscar
Darth Roxor
ERYFKRAD
Kz3r0
rolandz_baton_PRO D
Lithium Flower
Grimgravy
GreyViper
Kayerts
baud
CappenVarra
Esquilax

 

[Brotherman Bill]

I vote C as well

Superfluous as it is

Ideally in the long term, we can find some way to create technology outside of the mechanicum, perhaps by creating an alternative institution or somesuch.

 

[LogOS]

THE EMPEROR


“Noble Princeps, behold!”


Guilliman, peering up at the silvered structure at the center of the chamber, is reminded of an immense earthshaker shell polished to gleaming by an overzealous quartermaster. It seems to lack all wires, pipes and the other myriad accretions the Primarch has come to regard as a fixture of Martian technology.


“Behold what, Cawl?”


“From within this capsule, thirty millennia of human achievement look down on us.”


The Archmagos’ vox apparatus strains to keep up with the unsightly glee behind his every word. The red robed hulk slithers across the chamber, mechadendrites coming to rest on a lectern with a smooth mirror finish. Cawl strikes a jaunty pose as a single human hand snakes out from under the folds, fingers dancing a fast jig.


“What is it?”


“Forbidden science.”


Guilliman sighs, knowing the idiosyncratic behavior of his companion will only allow revelation at a suitably dramatic moment. He sits down, propping up his elbows on his knees, and takes in the oval chamber. Its dimensions are massive; perhaps a hundred meters high and half again as much in diameter, nearly all of it glossy white and devoid of ornamentation. There is no obvious source of illumination, though the space is bathed in a diffuse orange glow.


A very faint hum now comes from the central structure, which Belisarius calls capsule but the Primarch cannot help thinking of as a munition. He is on edge, the first time since the audience before the Throne, his every sense suffused with a wrongness.


A rectangular panel, previously invisible, silently detaches itself from the structure to reveal an opening. Vapour billows out as some viscous substance pools before it. Guilliman hears a click and the buzz of plasma warming up. Cato Sicarius stands a few paces to his left, his pistol raised and pointed at the opening.


There is a scream of rending air and Sicarius’ right arm is consumed in azure conflagration, but before the Ultramarine can react Guilliman is already in motion, impossibly fast, tackling the figure coming out of the capsule before it can close the distance with the wounded captain.


After a brief scuffle the Primarch stands, unharmed, dragging the attacker by the neck as he looks to the Captain of his Victrix Guard. Sicarius seems transfixed by the apparition. All thought of dismemberment forgotten, he prostrates himself on the floor, whimpering and whispering unintelligible words.


The Lord Commander of the Imperium turns to look, and meets his father’s eyes.


“Omnissiah preserve us!”


Cawl's voice seems to come from far away, but Guilliman hardly registers the blubbering speech surrounding him. The God-Emperor of Mankind regards his thirteenth son dispassionately, evincing no recognition, unfazed by the pressure at his throat. Father and son lock gazes, neither giving an inch, until the Emperor finally speaks, every syllable a testament to ageless authority:


“You always were the most stubborn son.”


The voice is impossible, but unmistakable. Guilliman releases his grip, momentarily reeling with a thousand calculations and emotions even a superhuman is unequipped to deal with. The naked man, covered in some viscous, semi-transparent substance, sweeps Guilliman’s legs and in one fluid movement wrests both pistol and sword. It takes a brief moment for the Primarch’s will to reassert control over his unruly body, and as he climbs to his feet, realizes the man in front of him is barely out of adolescence, far in size and posture from the hulking warlord of millenia past.


“Who are you?”


“He – It – Is a relic of the Age of Unification” – Cawl speaks quickly, regaining his composure – “when the Mechanicum thought to use dangerous Archeotech to challenge the Emperor’s rise. A perfect imitation in all respects, save, I suspect, for one. Observe!”


A servo-skull, studded with psy-foci and arcane mechanica, dislodges itself from Cawl’s carapace and hovers near the false Emperor without incident.


“Notice there is no reaction; it is as much a psyker as my own good self! The Mechanicum could not imbue its flesh creation with the boundless psychic potential of the Omnissiah. It is spiritually deficient.”


“You knew of this?”


Cawl ignores the question, moving around the man, scanning him intently with senses not wholly human. During Cawl's expostulation, he remains silent, unmoving, expressionless eyes gazing out from under the Emperor's brow.


“Records were erased, of course, and the experiments cunningly hidden, but there has always been talk among the Adeptus Mechanicus. I suspected, and through ten thousand years of research, compilation, inference and extrapolation, my genius arrived at certain inescapable conclusions.”


The Primarch notices a small rent in the detached panel of the capsule. He eyes the naked man, sizing him up, readies himself for a struggle he has often considered, but always seemed absurd. He snaps at Cawl:


“Spare me, Magos! Such craftsmanship far surpasses the capacity of Mechanicum and Mechanicus both.”


“You will not find in me an opponent to that argument! I believe this was a desperate gamble, created using axioms from the Dark Age of Technology… Perhaps under the direction of Arkhan Land, perhaps aided by more esoteric forces.”


At the mention of Land, the man turns to look at Cawl for the first time.


“Can you imagine what would have happened, had the Mechanicum persisted? Mars may well have been destroyed in retribution!” – The Archmagos seems disturbed by the attention – “Happily, the priesthood ultimately acknowledged the Emperor as Omnissiah and the program was thus abandoned.”


“You are certain it was abandoned? What was the name of this program?”


Cawl attempts a shrug, with mixed results.


“The Telos” – The false Emperor answers unprompted – “We are Telohim.” He adds, right hand extended towards the pillar-like birthing pod. A drop of blood runs down his palm, where slivers of a silvery metal are embedded. Guilliman pinches the bridge of his nose, a gesture oddly human in this place. Sighing, he asks:

“How many, Cawl?”


“This data-lectern indicates 144 surviving specimens out of an attempted ten thousand. Most likely died from catastrophic systems failure, or never achieved maturation.”


One hundred and forty four imitations of the God-Emperor of Mankind, lacking only his spiritual might. Equal, so the Archmagos seems to imply, in every other characteristic. One hundred and forty four beings mightier than Primarchs, made to stand toe to toe with gods, mass-produced. Why were they not used? How deep is their flaw? And how did a single one acquire penetrating insight in seconds?


“How can the Mechanicum have made them, Cawl? Are you certain they are perfect imitations?”


“If you will allow me to study these specimens, I can render a more definitive judgment on the matter.”




A) If this creature possesses the Emperor’s intellect but not his strength of purpose, it is only a liability. Destroy it and be content with the other discoveries made in the Hexarchion Vaults.


B) If you take but a single specimen, the risk is therefore reduced. Let Cawl study it; who knows what can be gleaned from this. Further, could you not benefit from its aid, if properly trained? A tame Emperor is a tantalizing prospect.


C) An army of Emperor facsimiles would be undefeated in battle, psykers or no. Take all of the 144 and condition them to serve you. What force in the universe would be able to stand against them?

 

[ItsChon]

C)

 

[oscar]

C) They will make perfect generals