[Dolnikan]

I wrote a short piece about Semplice's reaction to what has just happened. I must confess that I did not expect that.

[Koval]

Well, it's still a distraction that helps you

[Koval]

Octavian: Burnett is catatonic at this point, and unless he's been screaming down the vox since Haines left the bridge, it's unlikely that he'll be able to get any kind of message across to the Hammer of Justice. Considering that the Asculum is now a burning hulk in space, Marwan al-Kalil (Lord Tiberius) is more likely to be alive at the time of your post. It's also Lord Tiberius that got taken over; these two things might as well just be name-changes, though.

Wagner must be one hell of a helmsman to turn thirty megatons of spaceship around so quickly, which to be honest I'm finding a little implausible since you're not accounting at all for inertia or the Hammer's current velocity. The nova cannon thing I can let go because Holst had already had it loaded (though keep in mind that these things take around an hour to reload after firing) but since nova cannons are fixed forwards, they can't just turn around like a turret to fire backwards, so at least have some mention of what's going on while Wagner's turning the ship around.

[Dolnikan]

Well, it's still a distraction that helps you

And I'm grateful for it.

[Inquisitor Octavian Lars]

I remember in Warriors of ultramar that it took half an hour, but I forgot I was facing the wrong way!

[Koval]

I remember in Warriors of ultramar that it took half an hour, but I forgot I was facing the wrong way!

I'm going by the rules in Rogue Trader ("may fire every other turn" and "a space turn is about half an hour"; the rest follows logically), especially seeing as Battlefleet Gothic is much less specific. Suffice it to say, though, that it'll take a very long time to reload after firing.
Rogue Trader's also where I got the figure for the ship's mass from (where a cruiser's mass is actually a bit less than 30MT; reasoning that the guns, nova cannon et cetera would've added mass, I rounded up to make it a nice round thirty)

Weren't they really pushing themselves to reload in Warriors of Ultramar, to the point where the crew got fed up and beat their overseer to death? Or was that a different novel?

[Inquisitor Octavian Lars]

Can't remember, I just remember the figure. Ultimately, your the GM so you decide, half or full hour.

[Koval]

"A really long time" is all we realistically need to worry about at this point

[Inquisitor Octavian Lars]

Thanks for your post, it's awesome! Holst doesn't have much blood left to turn cold though!

[Koval]

Just a little something for you to deal with. Keep in mind that Zagan can fling ships at you until the cows come home, and if he runs out then he's perfectly capable of enslaving the airlock controls and venting all your oxygen. He's decided not to do that just yet because the psychological impact of the fleet tearing itself apart is more devastating, and it eliminates the problem of there still being ships around the planet.

Which reminds me, the Asculum's life pods are likely to come down somewhere within a 200km radius of either Portiswade or Coveton (whoever posts the life pod landing can choose which one it is; Portiswade is by the Coracian Sea, and Coveton's a market town over the River Sacris)

Holst doesn't have much blood left to turn cold though!

True. He's likely being autosanguinated. I've altered the metaphor accordingly.

[Dolnikan]

Then I'll probably have Semplice land around the same location so he doesn;t end up on the other side of the planet while losing his transport.

[Inquisitor Octavian Lars]

Is there any way to halt the void battle/ destroy the grand cruiser?

[Koval]

Zagan's held onto it for millennia and has been constantly upgrading and augmenting it. In between it being better than an Exorcist should be, and being filled to the brim with all manner of arcane machinery and archaeotech, and the fact that his preferred fighting style is "control other ships and have them do it for me", I'd say the only way to end the space battle at the moment is to withdraw beyond the range where he cares about your existence. He's much more interested in the planet anyway, and at the moment, the Hammer is an irritant at best.

It being an Exorcist, the ship has rather a lot of bombers to discourage any attempts to get close, to say nothing for its guns or the fact that Zagan can just enslave your systems.

There's a reason why he can do that, by the way, and before anyone asks what it is, all I will tell you is that he is XII Legion -- sorcery is a no-go.

[MarcoSkoll]

Is there any way to halt the void battle/destroy the grand cruiser?

That plot armour's too strong for blasters.

[Inquisitor Sargoth]

I like the plot armour comment, Marco.This vastly simplifies how Sonneillon and company will arrive. Annoyingly, I'm now on a different computer (still with spotty 'clave access...) until Monday and I have a lot of my main intro post already written on my main PC. So I'm afraid my intro will have to wait. I promise to make it as interesting as possible to make up for this.

Also, this was actually really fun to read. This is the kind of melodrama I adore. My comments about your improved style hold true, Koval, and I rather enjoyed Zagan's dialogue. Not overkeen on the name, mind.