You reconvene you battle-brothers in the common room. Losis is already armored, armed, and ready; over-eager to get into a fight. Gorlin is calmly fitting new teeth onto his chainsword, meticulously saving the old, broken ones for reasons you can’t fathom. Hagrdict is murmuring an almost-inaudible prayer against the warp, bolstering his resolve for the coming mission.

You connect a dataslate to the table and activate the projectors. “Here is where we stand. As you can see, the majority of the Capitalis Congestus is as-yet unknown. Twenty-seven percent of its volume has been mapped, and approximately one percent of that same volume has been destroyed. Almost all of the exploration work so far has been in the ‘north’ and ‘east’ of the hulk, and has revealed nothing that might be a ‘Blighted Heart.’

“Our plan of action is thus: we will move to the center of the hulk,” you ‘tap’ your finger on the relevant section of the projection, “and then work our way to the ‘north-east’ corner of the Capitalis Congestus, mapping as we go. Should we not find our objective, we will asses our supplies and situation; and press onwards if we have the resources to do so. Questions?”

Gorlin shakes his head in the negative. Hagrdict locks his helm into place, ready to move. Losis racks the slide on his heavy bolter, the 1.57 caliber shell chunking into place.

You nod, not expecting anything else. “Brothers, we face unknown foes on uncertain grounds. We walk into the dark places, that others need not follow. We bring death onto the damned, fire onto the unclean. We stand as one, we stare into the abyss, and we dare it to stare back.”

Oath of Moment: The Oath of Loyalty

+1 on Cohesion Challenge rolls, +10% to resist Cohesion damage

Squad Mode Abilities: Tactical Spacing, Regroup, Soak Fire.

Cohesion: 7 / 7 (5 from fellowship, 1 from command skill, 1 from Favored Son skill)

Mission 3: Frozen Night

Type: Reconnaissance

Primary Objective: scout gridpoints F5 to G6

Secondary Objective: Survive!

Tertiary Objective: Eliminate any targets of opportunity encountered.

Personal (Bonus) Objective: Unity - Do not allow Squad Cohesion to reach 0.

You lead your kill-team through the ruins of the Arno Dorian and the Lonely Drifter. Already you can feel Gorlin and Hagrdict pulling ahead and straining at the leash, eager to take the fight to the foe. Losis, for all his arrogance and previous eagerness, is hanging back and letting the spacing in your team stretch out. Each is moving to put himself in the best position to use his own talents without thinking of the rest of the team. This will not do.

Tactical Spacing activated: Squad operating in Squad Mode, reactions are now pooled.

5 Cohesion remains.

“Kill-team, close it up. Maintain Tactical Spacing. Gorlin, take point until the wreck of the Unflagging Resolve.”

“Rrgh. Confirmed.”

“By your command Alpha-one.”

“Affirmative Hunter.”

As you continue to move through the semi-familiar decks you ponder the map in the back of your head. You will need to go ‘north’ or ‘south’ of it to press forwards, and each path has its own benefits and costs.