Raiders of the Lost Hive

+++++TRANSINTERCEPT+++++
"--aise the Omnissiah!"
"Hold your station!"
"Engines to full, bring us into the shadow of the planet-"
"--vity well will pull--"
"Follow your orders, damn you! We have to outrun the wavefront!"
"--oomed, we're all doo--"
"--achine spirits have forsaken us! We can't break free!"
"We're spiralling in!"
"You've killed us all, you meatbag fool!"
+++++ENDTRANS+++++

=I= INQUISITORIAL REPORT EYES ONLY =I=

My retinue and I were aboard the last ship to leave the Atreus system; all the others were consumed by the Warp Storm that erupted from the Caliban Cascade. The loss of the manufactoria and forges of Hive Karhonnen was certainly a blow to the Padisha Sector but we have slowly recovered. To this date I have been unable to determine whether the storm was as natural an occurance as anything to do with the Warp can be, or if it was summoned by some activity of the Great Enemy. The details of my investigation are contained in CASEFILE SYCORAX but I suspect that the Ruinous Powers were caught as much by suprise as the sudden swallowing of the entire planet Leto as we were.

Given this, if the planet has re-emerged then there is a good chance it has been lost in the Warp and not colonised by the powers of Chaos. If this is so, then all the equipment resources and research contained in Hive Karhonnen should still be intact: and if, as I suspect, the Adeptus Mechanicus Research Vessel Rakkis crashed on the surface, then its cargo of [REDACTED] should be secured immediately.

I would recommend that strike teams small enough to infiltrate whatever is left of the Hive but large enough to deal with any possible interference be inserted. Astartes are the obvious choice but given that the Atreus system lies close to the border of many Xeno races, you may find it prudent to send some Guard Units and possibly even an Inquisitorial retinue if one can be found.

I remain, sir, your most obedient servant,

Inquisitor [REDACTED]

=I= ---------------------- =I=

His breath rasping in his mask, Georgiou looked up from the red ochre dust that caked his boots. It was still there. Vast. Impossible.

"Seriously, Sarge," he said again. "Where are we going?"

The Sergeant slowly raised his arms and pointed. "There, Guardsman. There."

Before them was a Hive, like a thousand others on a thousand other worlds. A spire, tens of kilometres high, a man-made mountain that would have once housed millions. Now, however, it was an impossibility. A vast spacecraft was embedded in the side of it, melded and fused into the very fabric of the Hive by some warpcraft Georgiou couldn't comprehend. 

"Ok, Sarge," he said. With a sigh he continued to march towards Hive Karhonnen. 

********                                       **********

With the games club at work doing very well, it seems like the time is right to kick the Shadow Wars Armageddon league up a notch. The idea is very simple -  a narrative campaign baseda round a number of different Kill Teams attempting to infiltrate an abandoned Hive.

At the start, each team will say secretly where they are attempting to enter the Hive - from the Underhive, from the Lower Levels, from the MidHive where the Rakkis crashed or the Upper Hive.

That will determine who meets who in the first matches. Underhive games will be tunnel fighting using the Necromunda Boards. Lower levels and the Upper Spires will be on traditional Necromunda/SWA multi-level scenery (although there will be some interesting enviromental effects). The mid Hive is the most dangerous area because of the structural damage caused by the Rakkis.

The final round for each team will be fought in the corridors of the Rakkis.

Each team has a secret objective - either a macguffin to acquire or another team they need to take out - and there will be a movement system for teams to move around the Hive.

The teams that will be starting the campaign are:

• Necrons
• Space Wolves
• Orks
• Space MArines
• Valhallans IG
• Plague Marines
• Inquisition
• Stalkers IG (this is my team but I think I'll be passing these over to one of the students who's joined late as I'll probably be busy umpiring and running some the other forces that have colonised the ruined Hive...)

We'll be using the scenery we've created at work, so we'll be all good to go over the next couple of weeks. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.