TM

THE FATE OF THE SWORD OF HALCYON

The Space Marine vessel The Sword of Halcyon left the orbit of the planet Falkhan and prepared for the journey through the warp back to Earth. A Chaos uprising had taken place on Falkhan and some of the Space Marine squads posted there had fallen to temptation. Their commander, seduced by the power of Chaos, had been taken prisoner and was to be brought back for interrogation. Upon entering the warp the Sword of Halcyon jolted suddenly and came to a halt. Instantly the ships alarms rang and all aboard prepared for the worst. Reports from the navigator came back that the ship had encountered a warp storm. The vessel rocked and swung around in a five mile wide arc, then disappeared momentarily. The ships scanners went wild, indicating huge metallic structures as big as cities, and then nothing. Massive rifts in the warp tide hurtled the Sword of Halcyon through pockets in the flux. A giant space hulk appeared as the storm came to its climax, a mile long streak of purple lightning hitting the ship and causing all aboard to brace themselves as it crashed into the massive hulk. Churning through layers of twisted metal, the whole side of the ship caved in. Finally, explosions briefly fused the ship with the growing hulk, before the Sword of Halcyon was violently thrown out of the warp, slowly spinning into nowhere. The alarms stopped, the fires died out, and the survivors slowly recovered. Then everything fell silent. From the front section of the ship, which had plunged through the hull of the space hulk, functioning scanners showed a steady build up of new, alien life signs. The moans of the injured and dying, audible throughout the ship, suddenly changed pitch. They now became a cacophony of terror and pain, mingled with the chatter of bolter fire and the bestial shrieks of an enemy all dreaded, but none dared to name: Genestealers. The survivors in the rear section of the vessel had no option but to retreat to the escape capsules. They were cut off from their companions by walls of buckled metal, and The Sword of Halcyon was becoming increasingly unstable. Within an hour and a half of its jettison, the escape pods were picked up by the Imperial battlebarge Mayan. During this time, The Sword of Halcyon had drifted in space, flames periodically guttering across its surface bearing testimony to the destruction within. Sergeant Lexon, a survivor from The Sword of Halcyon held an emergency conference with the Blood Angels on board the Mayan. It was swiftly decided that for the honour of the chapter they must attempt to recapture the ship from the Genestealers. The Blood Angels Terminators prepared for battle, and with grim resolution the order was given to launch boarding torpedos.

Mission 1

IMPACT
No sooner had Squad Lexon been dispatched to the boarding torpedo than the launch sequence began. Hovering silently in the vacuum, three miles starboard of the dark, brooding architecture of the vast ship, the Mayan launched the boarding vessel. For brief seconds the tiny projectile traced a graceful, spiralling trajectory between the two vessels before puncturing the skin of the Sword of Halcyon. The scream of rending metal and the whine of snapping cables were swallowed by black space, and but for a flare of sparks the ship retained its quiet appearance of calm. Inside the boarding torpedo, despite being securely strapped in place, the Space Marines were shaken to their very cores as the pod exploded through several floors of buckled metal platforms and leaking conduits. Finally the vessel ground to a screeching halt, its bulk filling an antechamber of the armoury section of the Sword of Halcyon. External sensors flickered into life on board the docking torpedo, and grainy low light images flashed up on the ships consoles to dance across the Blood Angels visors. Behind their impassive helmets, despite their violent arrival, the Terminators softly chanted the Litanies of Hatred. The enemy they were about to encounter was an enemy of life itself, and it was aboard a ship belonging to their beloved chapter. A reckoning was called for. Inside the helmets the tinny voice of the servitor on board the Mayan came through, area secure he said, Squad Lexon, prepare to disembark.

BACKGROUND
The armoury must be taken swiftly. The quicker the assault the more chance there is of not only retrieving any weaponry that may have remained aboard, but also of making the vessel safe for further boarding actions.

SPACE MARINES
FORCES: 2 squads of Space Marines Squad Lexon and Squad Jacta (a squad consists of 1 Sergeant, 1 Space Marine armed with a heavy flamer, and 3 Space Marines armed with storm bolters). The two squads are deployed on the yellow corridors. BRIEFING: The Space Marines win if they can collect the weaponry from the rooms marked on the map before the end of turn 14. It takes 1 AP to pick up a pile of weapons.
The Space Marines move first in this mission.

GENESTEALERS
FORCES: The Genestealer player receives no blips at the start of the game, and then 1 reinforcement blip per turn. Each blip may enter via any of the entry points. BRIEFING: The Genestealers win if they kill all the Space Marines, or if they prevent the Terminators from collecting the weapons before the end of turn 14.

Mission 1

IMPACT
X X
The Purple arrows mark the Genestealer entry areas

Door

The two squads of Space Marines deploy on these shaded corridors

Mission 2

SALVAGE THE BRIDGE

Tech-Priests on board the Mayan surveyed the banks of monitors before them, translating the garbled stream of data into relevant information to relay to the Terminators on board The Sword of Halcyon. They were co-ordinating a damage assessment on the vessels bridge in order to provide intelligence to the Space Marine squads currently en route. Initial scans did not look promising. Plasma explosions from a breach in the reactors venting system had torn through this section of the ship before bulkhead doors had slammed to, automatically isolating the leak. The damage was extensive, and as yet it was unclear just how severe. In the wrecked halls outside the bridge area, halon lamps cut through the gloom. From their secure areas on either side of the labyrinth of corridors leading to the bridge, the Terminators stood motionless, waiting for the order to strike. Within the otherwise expressionless facades of the squads, the pale light of vengeance glittered in their eyes.

BACKGROUND
The Space Marines must battle their way through to the bridge, and once there obtain a full damage assessment from the bridge computer. However, reports from the Mayan confirm that the console is down so it must be repaired before it is possible to proceed with the report. Portable back up systems have been supplied for this purpose.

SPACE MARINES
FORCES: 2 squads of Space Marines Squad Lionus and Squad Vetora (a squad consists of 1 Sergeant, 1 Space Marine armed with a heavy flamer, and 3 Space Marines armed with storm bolters). One Space Marine from each squad carries vital components to repair the computer console. Nominate the Space Marine before the mission begins. BRIEFING: The Space Marine with the components must spend 2 APs repairing the computer console. Place the computer console counter on the square marked with an X.
The Space Marines move first in this mission.

GENESTEALERS
FORCES: At the start of the game the Genestealer player receives one blip placed in each of the shaded rooms. During the game, the Genestealer player receives one reinforcement blip per turn. These blips enter via any of the entry areas. BRIEFING: The Genestealers win if they stop the Space Marines repairing the computer console before the end of turn 12.

Mission 2

SALVAGE THE BRIDGE

The Purple arrows mark the Genestealer entry areas

The two squads of Space Marines deploy on the shaded corridors

Mission 3

SHUT DOWN
Towering metallic structures dominated this region of the ship, their lengthening shadows casting a black pall to conceal the horrors lurking amidst their nooks and crannies. Dampness and vapours hung heavily in the air, forming a slick sheen on the plasteel shell of the engine room. As the Terminators drew ever closer to their destination, piercing shrieks echoed through the dank air of the ships belly. The aliens were massing to strike in force. Pausing occasionally to fix their eyes on their scanners, the Space Marines watched the blips that slowly circled their position, the number growing with each revolution. Sergeant Veilas face split into a grin of feral satisfaction. Let the abominations come, he thought. The lengthy corridors here were ideally suited to long range combat and they would pile the halls high with disgusting Genestealer corpses before they were done. Above them, in the dark, cold alien eyes reckoned their movements with unfathomable purpose. The Genestealers were driven by a will which transcended the mere survival of the individual, a trait which made them a dangerously unpredictable foe. For what human mind could ever hope to accurately foretell the machinations of such a deviant intellect as the Genestealers.

BACKGROUND
It is imperative that The Sword of Halcyon not be allowed to continue drifting. In order to achieve this the Space Marines must manually seal off each of the four blastproof bulkheads leading to each of the four reactor cores. This will allow the Space Marines to safely shut down the reactor manually. This is the only way to initiate the reactor shutdown process whilst the bridge controls are down.

SPACE MARINES
FORCES: 2 squads of Space Marines Squad Laora and Squad Veila (a squad consists of 1 Sergeant, 1 Space Marine armed with a heavy flamer, and 3 Space Marines armed with storm bolters). The two squads are deployed in the indicated rooms. BRIEFING: The Space Marine player wins by closing off all the entry areas with bulkheads. A bulkhead is sealed by spending 1 AP whilst standing in an adjacent square.
The Space Marines move first in this mission.

GENESTEALERS
FORCES: The Genestealer player receives no blips at the start of the game and then 2 reinforcement blips per turn. If only 1 entry area is open, the Genestealer player only receives one reinforcement per turn. BRIEFING: The Genestealers win if they kill all the Space Marines, or they prevent the Space Marines from closing all the bulkheads before turn 12.

Mission 3

SHUT DOWN

The Purple arrows mark the Genestealer entry areas

The two squads of Space Marines deploy in these shaded rooms

Bulkhead

Mission 4

PURIFY
Brilliant white light flooded the corridor, throwing stark contrasts over what was previously soft gloom. Photo-sensitive filters in the Terminators armour instantly compensated for the sudden change, preventing their occupants from being blinded. The Space Marines, drilled to almost machine-like perfection, adopted combat positions in the blink of an eye, thinking that an enemy was upon them. They relaxed as they realised the truth of the matter. They had crossed a threshold which had caused the computer to activate the ships life support systems. Scanners indicated the presence of a considerable number of life signs in the area, although no survivors were thought to have remained from the initial impact. The scanners flicked out piercing beams of light as they triangulated the positions of the readings. No movement came as yet. Exhaled air hissed and condensed, curling upwards from outlets on the Blood Angels helmets. The Space Marines were nearing the cryogenic chambers and the displays within their visors showed a sharp decline in external temperature. The light in the corridors was becoming stronger and clearer, almost ephemeral. Every step taken by the Terminators resonated through the hollow metal floors, threatening to rouse their prey from frozen slumber. The lifesigns were those of dormant Genestealers interred within the stasis cylinders, racked upon one another like repulsive larvae awaiting metamorphosis.

BACKGROUND
The Genestealers have infiltrated the cryogenic chambers and some of them have already entered stasis. They must not be allowed to survive since they could jeopardise further salvage attempts on this vessel. There is a limited time frame in which this must be achieved, then the Terminators must clear the area.

SPACE MARINES
FORCES: 2 squads of Space Marines Squad Tullar and Squad Fultun (a squad consists of 1 Sergeant, 1 Space Marine armed with a heavy flamer, and 3 Space Marines armed with storm bolters). BRIEFING: The Space Marine player must kill all the dormant Genestealers. The Space Marines may shoot or flame a blip. A hit will kill all the Genestealers in that blip. If a blip survives an attack it will become available for the Genestealer player to use.
The Space Marines move first in this mission.

GENESTEALERS
FORCES: The Genestealer player receives 20 blips at the start of the game, these lie dormant in the shaded areas. Each turn the Genestealer player may roll to awaken a blip on a roll of 6, even if the Space Marines can see the blip. BRIEFING: The Genestealers win if they kill all the Space Marines, or if there are still any dormant blips left at the end of turn 10.

Mission 4

PURIFY

The two squads of Space Marines deploy in these shaded corridors

The Purple squares mark the Genestealer starting positions

Mission 5

INNER SANCTUM
Perhaps more so than for any of the other squads involved in this operation, the cold fire of hatred burned in the armour-clad breasts of the Terminators of squads Marius and Sparta. Each mind narrowed to a bitter point focused on revenge. The displays on their scanners scrolled more rapidly as they closed on their destination, their wrath lending haste to the Space Marines step. The Genestealers had dared to defile the sanctity of the crafts sanctum with their intolerable presence. In terms of honour this mission was of the greatest import, and vengeance must be absolute. The sanctum was pure, and that the aliens had defiled it was an insult to the whole Chapter. In their desire for bloodshed, the normally implacable Terminators were overtaken by a rage which overthrew the usual considerations of tactics and strategy. Between all of them there existed only the desire to kill, and to cleanse with righteous fire any part of the sanctum tarnished by the hateful enemy. Charging heedlessly into the fray, a hail of bolter fire marked the start of the carnage.

BACKGROUND
The sanctum is a place of spiritual retreat for the Space Marines on board such crafts as The Sword of Halcyon. A place where they might contemplate their faith in the Emperor and dedicate their prayers to victory in battle. Some of the Genestealers had made a nest in the inner part of the sanctum, rendering it forever tainted with their vile, inhuman, psychic spoor. Only one avenue of action was open to the Space Marines in this bleakest of affairs. Their beloved sanctum was infected with an alien presence and as such their obligation, however onerous, was to burn out the contamination for good.

SPACE MARINES
FORCES: 2 squads of Space Marines Squad Sparta and Squad Marius (a squad consists of 1 Sergeant, 1 Space Marine armed with a heavy flamer, and 3 Space Marines armed with storm bolters). The Space Marines set up in the shaded corridors. BRIEFING: The Space Marines with heavy flamers must flame the three shaded X rooms.
The Space Marines move first in this mission.

GENESTEALERS
FORCES: The Genestealer player receives 3 blips at the start of the game, placed in the shaded rooms, and then two reinforcement blips per turn. BRIEFING: The Genestealers win either by killing the Space Marines with heavy flamers, or by preventing them from cleansing the rooms by the end of turn 12.

Mission 5

INNER SANCTUM
The two squads of Space Marines deploy in these shaded corridors

X X X

The Purple arrows mark the Genestealer entry areas