Rogue Trader: Session 1 – Halcyon Rising

The explorers have been discovering, scanning and searching for the Mechanicus vessel, an unnamed system with a healthy yellow star with ill-omened warp storms ravaging the systems elliptic.

The crew were initially relieved to be out of the empyrean and into real space, until they felt the chill up their spines and the feeling of always being watched.

The explorers delved closer, first discovering and examining a thoroughly mined cracked planet, the remains creating grand clusters of space-borne rock.

The next discovery a strange Xeno platform, partially cut in a grey opalescent material, a keen screaming emanating from beyond your senses, wisely leaving it unexplored after an ominous energy build-up,.

Exploring multiple clouds throughout the system, one of which made of ice filling a vast region, but alas no sign of the mechanicus or anybody for that matter.

Weeks pass as they map, eventually gliding into range of an asteroid belt within the primary zone of the system, auspex reading indicating large magnetic fields from the rock as well as powerful radiological signatures.

This proved an excellent ambush point for the Chaos Reaver ship Pale Eye, launching a surprise assault upon the Halcyon Blade, landing hits with torpedo’s, manned with savage Reavers eager to plunder the Imperial Clipper, dead to rights they assumed.

The two void-ships began dueling within the treacherous asteroid belt, neither able to use speed to the advantage, the crew of the Blade fighting tooth and nail, the S.A.S engaging without quarter, Kerghan and Esteban Visscher joined the hunting party from the Pale Eye but used guile and strength to survive the boarding after all they have just come from the Reave rship.

Esteban challenged the Navigator Mia to a duel, tearing each others soul apart until only he stood, blackmailing the crew into taking him aboard as their Navigator. Khergan matching axes with the Warleader, a tall huntress who relishes in the taking of lives, trading powerful man-felling blows as Gabriel Gideon Pikkofule Arcadia LXIX defends his ship, shooting the Warleader in the back, thankfully Kerghan eviscerated his opponent and turned the hit-and-run attempt, potentially saving the ship and the Lord-Captain knows it.

Casmirri Orthesian out of options burning hard in his starhawk bomber, unlatched from the Reaver ship and crash landing in a cargo lander-bay aboard the Halcyon Blade, managing to convince the deck-hands he’s friendly, taking him to the bridge to the Lord-Captain.

A brief reprieve, the Pale Eye retreating, unable to afford battling the talented opponent, captained by a bully and not a warrior, they began to initiate repairs whilst tethered to a large asteroid, expecting the radiation and gravity-wells to protect them, they did not count of duplicity and the honour of those who were enslaved.

With the insight of Esteban, the reading from Casmirri’s ship and the instinct of Kerghan the enemy ship was located, ambushed by the Blade, disabled her engines and boarded her, a kill mission, successfully exterminating the captain, leaving the ship to burn out, the salvation pods used as target practice by the point defense gunnery-crews.

Unable to use the teleportarium for retrieval the explorers head to the personal landing bay of the dead Reaver captain, finding an icon of Imperial Dominance sitting in his bay, marred with runic symbols across it’s flank and it’s paint now debased was unmistakably a Thunderhawk, every child knew what these were.

And within half a day the ship had gone from hunted to hunter to victor, at this point the Blade received a message, static visual feed showing a silhouette, the audio crazed with distortion, and then it was gone, all indications it came from the planet, half hidden within the Storms.

Chart-Masters Teuthranes Armengarde report: Storm System