Astra Militarum quest

This article covers the Astra Militarum quest.

Chapter 1: Life in the Guard

Gladius Prime had seemed an excellent placement for a senior Imperial administrator. With its rich resources and strategic location, it was both easy and prestigious to rule. For the local people, life had been by the book -- until the day the planet's space stations fell flaming from the sky and the Orks descended, followed by even worse Xenos horrors. The resident Space Marine chapter stood fast but could barely hold out.

As the Commander of the reinforcing Astra Militarum forces, you landed on the planet months ago -- but the unexpected reappearance of the planet's warp storms has trapped you on the surface. You've regrouped the surviving civilians and Astra Militarum troops into one city, but there are still soldiers scattered beyond the walls. We must gather them, rebuild our cities, and reclaim this planet. For the Emperor!

Stage 1

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Our first stage is to get the Imperium's war factories back online. In an Imperial Manufactorum, colonists can live and die without ever seeing the outside world, endlessly building war machines for the glory of mankind.

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To complete this stage, simply build a Manufactorum.

Stage 2

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We must find our scattered allies and foes. The Imperial Sentinel scout walker may be fragile, but its speed will allow us to explore the planet more quickly. Build one as soon as possible.

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Simple enough. You need to build a single unit of Scout Sentinels.

Stage 3

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From the safety of his sentinel, the pilot reports that surviving civilians are being hunted by the degenerate Kroot -- a polymorphic Xenos species gone feral.

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Ending

We've established the city and secured our borders. Yet our troops are severely understrength -- but that's a problem for a later time.

Chapter 2: Rallying the Remnants

Though we've rebuilt our city and cleared its perimeter, our missing soldiers outside the city are still being hunted down by the foul Xenos. Through night and day, the guardsmen's desperate pleas for help dominate our Comm-links. We must gather them, rebuild our cities, and reclaim this planet. For the Emperor!

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The guardsmen are moving in small groups, surviving by using established covert warfare techniques. Contact them and recover them.

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To recover the guardsmen...

Ending

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With this many soldiers reclaimed, we can rest more easily behind our walls. But we must still keep reinforcing -- the Xenos cannot be allowed to take this world.

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Chapter 3: A Palace Fit For A Priest

Among the surviving guardsmen of the expedition, we've made a lucky find -- an Imperial Tech-priest of Mars. He has an idea as to what might be causing the warp storms, but our current facilities aren't sufficient for his research, nor is the location of our city propitious for the rites of the Machine God. He insists we expand our civilisation beyond these walls, then build Cogitator Stations in two cities to aid his research. With distance, he theorises that he can measure disturbances in the warp between the twin cities, and use the computing machines to locate the storm's source. With his help we can surely clear the swirling clouds of the warp and call the Imperium for aid. This plan is our best -- our only -- hope.

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Make preparations for expansion and build a Cogitator Station -- the souls of the humans on this planet depend on you.

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Straightforward.

Ending

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The Cogitator Station stands tall above the plain, proclaiming the Emperor's might to any who might oppose it. Deep inside, the Tech-priest is building his laboratory.

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Chapter 4: Through the Storm

Ensconced in the subterranean workshops of the Cogitator Station, the Tech-priest has rapidly built a small army of Servitors and Skitarii, apparently to study the planet. The Astra Militarum guarding the city have been reporting strange experiments and are uneasy in his presence -- but then the cult of the Machine God has always been somewhat otherworldly. Upon emerging from his workshops, he reports that the key to the warp storms seems to be the unusual artefacts that are sometimes uncovered on the surface of the planet. He insists we bring any we find to him -- but many are in the hands of the Xenos. We will have to search, beg, barter or steal it from them.

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Each artefact is unique and highly sought-after. One of them may be the key to calming the Warp Storms -- if it is, we must find it.

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The quest is completed once you locate three artifacts for the priest.

Ending

We have found three unusual devices that fit the Tech-priest's description. Now he must research them.

Chapter 5: Hold the Line

Meeting the Tech-priest has become... difficult. The soldiers around his chamber seem less to be guarding him than guarding the city against him. You meet in something like No Man's Land inside the Cogitator Station, to transfer the artefact, surrounded by armed troops and his newly-repaired Kastelan robots. The Tech-priest's cybernetic eyes glitter red as you silently hand over the strange equipment. As he turns to go, you catch his sleeve and the soldiers all freeze. "How soon can we expect results?" you ask. His vocoder hisses static and spits "soon", before he stalks away. You leave, troubled. Soon enough you experience the results.

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Alarms ring throughout the city. Of all things to face, Enslavers! Warpborn horrors man has only heard of in folk tales are assaulting the city. And the Tech-priest has vanished. Survive the attack -- we will deal with him soon enough.

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Ending

The Enslavers are vanquished, beaten back to the warp, at great cost. In the Tech-priest's abandoned chambers you find horrors beyond human ken -- and an artefact that must have lured them. What was he doing? We must find him.

Chapter 6: The Better Part of Valour

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The Tech-priest has betrayed you -- why, you don't know. Perhaps he was always loyal to Mars, perhaps the whispers of heresy penetrated his mind. Whatever the reason, he has made his escape while you were busy building palaces and battling foes. Your scouts have located his hiding place -- he has installed an artefact on an offworld gunship, apparently hoping to punch through the warp storm with it. You must stop him before he does. Beware though -- his Kastelan war machines are amongst the best ancient Martian technology can produce. This will be a hard fight.

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The goal of this chapter is as simple as it is challenging: Wipe out the traitor's machines.

Ending

As you defeat the last of the Tech-priest's troops, a failsafe trigger is activated. The still part-repaired gunship detonates, activating the artefact. Across the planet, the psychically-sensitive sigh as the warp storm fades away. Your Astropaths make contact with the Astronomican again and send out a call for aid. Emperor willing, soon enough, the Imperial Navy will arrive and this planet will be reclaimed for the Imperium!