The Barbed Hook

+just surprised you still care+

OOC. so i hear you brits failed the cross-antarctic challenge... yet again....
remember that one time your guys tried to be the first to reach the south pole, and when they got there, they found a norwegian flag, then they died on the way back? yeah... that may have been a sign that the antarctic is not meant for you....

On an unrelated note, i started a Civ 5 game as Venice... that means, i can only ever have 1 city(plus puppets, but those are nigh worthless). I am so filthy rich, i can(and did) literally just buy the allegiance of every single city state on the map... if i want something to pass in the world congress, i can just pay off even the most ferocious opposers with the change in my pockets. I just discovered uranium tiles and realised that there isnt a single source in any city state territory for me to claim... So i just casually bought a pretty good city with a source and a natural wonder from Portugal(it was their third city, i think)....
Man, money.... the best superpower...
....also... I am somehow still #1 on army size, even though i have a single city, i have never attacked anyone but a barb camp, and havent built a single military unit....
I should note that this is a 22 player game... its chaos and anarchy... everyone is denouncing literally everyone... i cant even keep track of anything anymore... everyone just hates everyone, especially me...

+Perhaps im just soft+

+Enough to not shoot us?+

+If i was the one who found you, perhaps, depends if i was in a good mood+

+soft eh?+

+That's soft for a marine, especially one you've crossed once already+

*in the background you can hear engines spinning up*

*the pod's already launched aint it?*
+Crossed? really?+

+You certainly betrayed my trust+ *the engine noise is coming from the vox*

+We obeyed our orders, that's all.+

+Seriously, you didnt even suggest anything to us before we were in the pod+

+exept that you should probably go get medical attention? That was a pretty strong suggestion.+

+Right right....look. We'll touchdown, I'll get patched up...then there's a quiet spot in no man's land I know. We'll talk+

+And I'm to believe you won't lead twenty of your mates there to kill me? Rather a big risk to take on nothing but your word+

*he sounds mildly irate, the biggest tone change you've got out of him since you first met*

+At what point did you confuse me for alpha legion? Hell what would I gain from that?+

*The pod enters the atmosphere*

+favour from your masters, I'm sure they'd love you for bringing a loyalist to them+

+I've killed imperials before, one more wouldnt be special to them+

+say I trust you, what do we have to discuss?+

+hard to have a conversation while we're slowly moving out of vox range in an assault claw+

+send me the coordinates, I'll be there+

OOC Eternal Crusade came out on Steam today, it's Alpha state but I don't care too much

+Alright. Transmitting+

meanwhile the bridge of the salamanders flagship receives a hailing call on a heavily encoded frequency

+This is Captain Lance, please identify yourself+

+*garbled or masked slightly* I wish to speak to pyriel, it is a matter of utmost importance+

+Captain Pyriel is currently on operations, you may speak to me, i'll make sure he is notified+

+This is for his ears only. I cannot trust it to be heard by anyone else+

+I'm afraid his private channel is non disclosable, who even are you?+

+Someone with information vital to your war effort+

+I'm somehow disinclined to believe you, with the alpha legion in the sector, i'm feeling rather cautious+

+It is the alpha legion who are the reason I can only give this information to him+

+I'll patch you through+ *after a few seconds of static and interference, pyriel speaks, calm and collected.* +I was told you had information for me+

*the voice suddenly clears up*
+Excellent. Greetings captain. I am Djurah, Warsmith of the iron warriors. I believe you have heard of me+

+*He sighs loudly* Yes, i've been rather looking forward to this little chat+

+I'll cut to the chase. This transmission is heavily encoded and psychically protected in order to keep anyone from listening in, it is impossible for anyone to hear our words except the two of us. There is a thorn in both of our sides. a thorn that requires removing.+

+Oh do tell. enemy of my enemy blah blah, drop the drama.+

+Good, I need to do little explaining+

+It's the alpha legion isn't it?+

+Correct. They cannot be trusted, as you well know+

+I'm fairly sure you can't be trusted+

+More so than the sons of alpharius. We are up front with shooting you, we do not stab you in the back. And before you mention istvaan, we made sure you were facing us.+

+I would call that betrayal of the highest order, brother+ *he says brother with disgust*

+And I wouldn't call you wrong. But you will find it most difficult to punish us with the blade of the twentieth legion at your throat+

+I was planning on dealing with them on my own.+

+And how would you do that? They know you are against them, they will be ready for anything you pull by yourself+

+baiting them in by using our traditional tactics, then closing a trap. engaging them in close quarters, where they will be obliterated+

+Traditional tactics? as in tactics you've used before and therefore they know about and know how to counter?+

+exactly.+