Rogue Trader CYOA Story
Set-Up
Budget 100 TG
Standard Warrant - 10 TG
90 TG
Dauntless-Class Cruiser (His Glorious Aspirations) - 20 TG
70 TG
Nine Weapons Slots
Three Forward Mounted
Light Marco Cannons
- 1 TG
Light Lance
- 2 TG
- 1 Power
Twin Torpedo Tubes
- 4 TG
Eight Torpedos
- 1 TG
62 TG
Three Port Mounted
Marco cannon battery
- 5 TG
Three Starboard Mounted
Marco cannon battery
- 5 TG
52 TG
Power 29
Naval Veterans - 5 TG
47 TG
Powered Hull Plates
- 1 TG
- 1 Power
46 TG
Power 28
Extra Point Defence
- 2 TG
- 1 Power
45 TG
27 Power
Heavy Void Shield
- 5 TG
- 4 Power
40 TG
22 Power
Warp Shield
- 5 TG
- 5 Power
35 TG
18 Power
High Power Auger
- 5 TG
- 1 Power
30 TG
17 Power
Fitted Crew Quarters
- 2 TG
28 TG
17 Power
Guard Regiment
- 1 TG
27 TG
17 Power
Palace Fortress
- 1 TG
26 TG
17 Power
Manufactorum
- 8 TG
18 TG
17 Power
Cloning Vats
- 5 TG
13 TG
17 Power
Ministorum Temple
- 5 TG
8 TG
17 Power
Luxury Yacht
- 1 TG
7 TG
17 Power
Juvenat Gland
- 5 TG
2 TG
17 Power
Gene Sculpting
- 1 TG
1 TG
17 Power
Battle Harem
01 Milla Jovovich
02 Angelina Jolie
03 Lucy Lawless
04 Sarah Michelle Gellar
05 Lucy Liu
06 Scarlett Johansson (Imperial Assassin called Black Widow)
07 Jeri Ryan
08 Amanda Tapping
09 Summer Glau
10 Natalie Portman
11 Lena Headey
12 Gillian Anderson
13 Claudia Black
14 Kristanna Loken
15 Emma Watson
16 Lexi Dogg
17 Claudia Christian
18 Daisy Ridley
19 Kate Beckinsale
20 Eliza Dushku
- 1 TG
0 TG
17 Power
Boon
Admech - Untested Warp Drive
Personal Equipment
Carapace Armour
Hellpistol
Power Sabre
Valyrian Steel Dagger
Signet Ring
Characters
Rogue Trader Lord-Captain Maximinus Thrax (SI)
Daenerys Thrax nee Targaryen
The Ecclesiarchy
Palatine Brigicia of the Adepta Sororitas
The Imperial Guard
Major Gwynenya 'Gwen' Ionael
The Adeptus Mechanicus
Archmagos Del Arx
Rogue Trader CYOA Story 2
"My sword is at the Emperor's command. I answer to no other man, living or dead"
- Chapter Master Tu'shan
Part 1
His Glorious Aspirations. Star Dock.
My reasons for wanting to limit my time in this universe were many and all were valid, yet I could not simply sail off into another part of the multiverse, not until my ship and crew were ready to go. That process was getting slowed down by the Ad-Mech who ran the Forge-World that supplied the star dock that my cruiser was currently using to be resupplied. They were stopping the work they'd just put it way down on their list of things to do so that it would take months rather than weeks to get finished. If not for the fact that the people in charge of the Forge-World had purged themselves of human feelings I'd say that someone was being petty.
To deal with this problem and to discuss other matters I'd ordered my seneschal, a clone of Petyr Baelish aka Littlefinger who'd been grown more quickly than expected thanks to the good worked of an Ad-Mech Magos who oversaw the cloning lab I'd had installed on my ship. The Magos had given the clone a great deal of attention to ensure that Peter became what I needed him to be. Upon returning to the Forge-World the clone had been upgraded with an implant that allowed him to perform his work to an even higher level.
Also with us was my first officer, a long serving navy officer, who had been overseeing the repair and rearming work, as slow as it was, someone had to coordinate the efforts as ever he did a great job. I'd talk to Peter later on about increasing the man's pay.
"So what exactly is the problem?" I asked "We brought back plenty of metals and serfs, Forge-Worlds never have enough of either".
I knew this to be true, the world we currented orbited not only serviced visiting Imperial vessels, it also produce tons of war materials every day and the Ad-Mech didn't concern itself much with worker safety as such they never had enough healthy bodies for their work. I'd come back from Planetos or Thrax Primaris as it would be known in Imperial records, with more than just gold, the Ad-Mech people who travelled on my ship had minded quite a lot of raw ore while I'd been off making money from the locals. I'd come here with tens of thousands of serfs ready to slave away in the forges for the glory of the Machine god.
Planetos hadn't been a totally complaint Imperial world when I'd left, but the Lord-General had more than enough resources and soldiers to finish the job and the task of converting the locals to the worship of Big E was not my problem. I'd given the Church a big foothold on that world and while it might take generations for the holy word to reach everyone's ear it would be done. One day I would return and check up on Planetos, for now I had other concerns.
"The problem isn't what we have to trade my lord. The issue is that the Magi entrusted you with a unique piece of technology that you were meant to use on a test run before returning" said my First Officer "You didn't exactly misuse the device, it's just that they were expecting you back much sooner. You threw off their time tables and the cogboys don't like that. The slowness of the work is their way of showing their displeasure".
So they were being petty. I'd not thought much about how the drive was simply on loan and the cogboys who'd gone to Planetos with me seemed quite pleased by how things had worked out, or at least they had never complained.
"Is there any way we can soothe their egos?" I wondered.
If we'd brought back some cool tech there wouldn't be an issue, so for my next trip out of this dimension.
"We'd have to promise to bring them something better next time" said Peter "The Ad-Mech are long term thinkers and they know the potential of the drive, about how it can reach places normal warp drive can not. Your use of the drive is an investment they want to pay off. The fact they are doing the repair work and are not demanding that the drive be returned tells us that while they are displeased they haven't written off this investment".
Well I'd not been planning to head off to another primitive world my Rogue Trader Dynasty was not ready to deal with more advanced organisations that had access to the kind of technology that would appease the Ad-Mech. Plus it had to be human made technology with no known connection to any xenos or magic. Thankfully I had a world already in mind.
"So I need ask for forgiveness and promise to make better use of their drive" I summarised.
Even the cogboys weren't above the human need to feel superior, a good thing since they had some humanity left in them then they were more predictable, and while my authority outside of the Imperium was supposed to be absolute we were currently within the Imperium. Not that my authority had been so unlimited when I'd first started out, but I'd been untested back then, a newly minted Rogue Trader with little support and less experience.
"I suspect that after we send the Fabricator-General a well written letter expressing your desire to repent in the eyes of the Omnissiah that the Magos will pick up their pace" said my seneschal "I'll write up a suitable letter for you to sign and have it on your desk before you retire".
Cloning Littlefinger really had been the smart move.
"We do have good news Lord Captain" reported my First Officer "Sister Brigicia has been promoted to Palatine and placed in charge of a mission".
A Palatine is a high-ranking officer of the various Orders of the Adepta Sororitas who is often responsible for commanding a Sororitas Mission among the Orders Militant. Palatines can wield considerable political influence within the Imperium of Man and often work side by side with Inquisitors, Astra Militarum generals and as it turned out Rogue Traders. A Mission was normally made up a few squads of Battle Sisters who are sent to fight without support from a convent. That I was getting this support didn't surprise me as my defeat of an Archenemy force had already made me popular with the faith and I'd spread the light of the God-Emperor to a heathen world.
"Wasn't she serving as a bodyguard for Inquisitor Allectus Jacobus?" I asked.
I'd not had much contact with the sister so I didn't know why she'd not left with Jacobus.
"He seems to have departed at some point" Peter let me know "We've received no news if we will be getting any new Inquisitorial oversight or not".
It would be best to assume that there was an Inquisitor about.
"The Sisters will require space of their own" said my First Officer "That can easily be arranged. We'll want to keep them separate from the rest of the crew".
We didn't need to worry about members of my crew trying to sexually the nuns with guns as they could look after themselves and my ship had its own joy girls, it was just that things would run smoother if the fanatics didn't mingle much with the others on board my ship. Any minor issues with having them onboard hardly mattered given how useful a few squads of battle sisters could be to me should I need the extra firepower.
"What about the regiment?" I questioned.
I'd brought the 2nd Thrax regiment from Planetos with me. They were a mix of former navy armsmen, some veteran Imperial Guard, Unsullied and recruits taken from both Westeros and Essos. The only reason the regiment worked at all was because of the leadership of Major Gwynenya 'Gwen' Ionael, who should be making the rank of Colonel unless someone who outranked her turned up to take charge of the 2nd Thrax regiment.
"Good news" said Peter "We will be receiving several squads of veteran guardsmen to help keep the others inline along with armour support and an experienced commissar. Baring any accidents that should give you a fighting force of around ten thousand soldiers".
That was a very large regiment. Thankfully I could afford to support it.
"Anything else that needs my attention?" I questioned.
The navy officer shook his head and saluted before he departed were as my seneschal simply advised me to wait. As much as I didn't like hanging around in this messed up excuse for a galaxy I knew that trying to leave before the ship was ready would only place me in danger. So I just had to wait.
As I relaxed behind my desk Number 006, one of my Battle Harem. entered my office and sat down, now looking more relaxed than I'd ever seen her.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
The Scarlett Johansson lookalike smiled at me. It was unnerving.
"Lord Captain I am Black Widow a member of the Officio Assassinorum" she informed me.
I knew The Officio Assassinorum to be a highly secretive agency, one so important that it had a seat in the Imperium of Man's highest level of government and that employs different "temples" to train its agents. Like the Imperial Guard, the Inquisation and the Space Marines the Offico Assassuinorum exists to protect the security of the Imperium of Man. But the assassins are much more subtle in their work and if one of them had been sent to kill me then my battle harem would not be able to stop them. By the looks of things they had failed.
Assassins such as the one before me are typically deployed alone wherever feasible, having been trained to operate extensively behind enemy lines with no support for great lengths of time so I had no how long ago Number 006 had been replaced by this Black Widow, assuming that there ever had been an original Number 006 to replace. The fact that she looked exactly the actress who played the Marvel character Black Widow had to some higher powers idea of a joke.
Another thing that I knew was that authorization to assassinate a target must come from the very highest echelons of Imperial command. So it seemed as if I'd somehow managed to come to the attention of the High Lords of Terra, who shouldn't even known that I exist given that when I was in the galaxy I stayed closed to the fringes.
"So why aren't I dead?" I asked.
Was this some test of the assassin's skills or did her master wish for me to know why I was about to be made into a corpse.
"You misunderstand my presence here Lord Captain" said Black Widow "I'm not here to kill you my job is to keep you safe by removing your enemies. Most of the time I will play the role of 006, and carry out any duty you require, but should you need someone killed simply say the name and I'll see it done. The Callidus temple selected me for this task because I trained harder than anyone and I've never failed to take down a target".
The Callidus Temple is the subtlest of the ancient temples of the Officio Assassinorum, specialising in the artful deception of the enemies of the Imperium. I knew them to be specialists in infiltration, deceit and impersonation, these Human chameleons will often take the place of a trusted aide or adjutant through their utmost mastery of disguise.
To achieve the exacting tasks assigned to it, the Callidus Temple specialises in the use and development of the shape-altering drug Polymorphine to enable its Assassins to undergo dramatic physical changes, altering their appearance to assume the features of any humanoid. I remember reading about one who managed to infiltrate a genestealer cult somehow. Using their technique, the Callidus Assassin can get close to enemy commanders or powerful warlords, influencing their strategy and finally killing them when the opportunity arises.
"Someone in the highest levels of the Imperium wants you alive and well" said Black Window.
With that she left me alone to think. I knew that if the assassins wanted me dead then I never would have known that 006 wasn't who I thought her to be. I never would have even known that there was an assassin on this ship. More likely she was her to keep an eye on me and whomever had set her wanted me to know that tabs were being kept on me. I was too valuable to kill and too useful to be kept locked up. Yet I didn't doubt that should I become a threat to the IOM that Black Widow would end me.
As such my course of action hadn't really changed. I needed to make use of my freedom as a Rouge Trader and ability to travel to different parts of the multiverse to benefit mankind. I could do that by acquiring technology for the Ad-Mech. I already had in mind a world that we could visit that would supply with what I needed.
Sadly for me the IOM wasn't the only group interested in my actives. Mere seconds after Black Widow left someone else appeared in my study. Farseer Galadeer of the Yltar Craftworld. She wasn't actually here, this was some sort of psychic projection a pysker ability well beyond anything I could perform. I longed to learn how to perform such feats, but the arrogant space elf would never share such knowledge with me.
"Farseer Galadeer" I greeted "Can I help you with something".
I knew that to her even a psychic human such as myself would be looked at as something barely above an ape. Yet she was polite enough. We'd never be friends she just understood that she needed me. It must gall on her that a human was her race's only hope of escaping the insane 40k galaxy.
"Human" she replied "While you will not know it one of my people's vessel will follow you to your next destination. We can shield our presence so that none of your people will ever know that we were there, however I expect you to ensure that one looks to closely to our actions".
I'd not learned until long after it had happened that it had been the Eldar not the Inquisition who had ended all human life on the island of Dragonstone because that Red Woman who hung around Stannis was worshipping something close to what I would consider a daemon. That didn't mean it had been a creature of the warp just something as dangerous.
"What actions will those be?" I questioned.
Of course she didn't answer that and not for the first time I wondered how many of her people she'd left behind of Planetos. Did they have a hidden enclave on that world hidden away from the human population or they had settled in some other place away from what they would see as vermin?
"My people simply seek softer lands to settle" said the space elf "Aid us in this and you will be rewarded. Hinder us to your peril".
There wasn't much I could do to stop them without exposing the fact that I'd been in contact with xenos lifeforms. Even my authority as a Rogue Trader there were limits to what I was allowed to do and I'd rather not upset the space elves as they were a threat. I'd let them play their games in the shadows while I grew in power.
The projection faded away as someone entered my office without knocking. Normally this would be very rude, only the person who entered was my visible pregnant wife Princess Daenerys Targaryen or Lady Daenerys Thrax as she was now known. She wore one of her silk dressed that was just transparent enough that I could make out her nipples through the material. Yet it was her swallowed belly that got my attention.
"Princess, how are you and Rhaegar?" I asked as I rubbed her belly.
While she was no longer a member of House Targaryen having joined House Thrax her brother was a king and I held the title Prince of the Stepstones so it was acceptable to call her princess. Besides she liked it.
Rhaegar Thrax was my unborn son and future heir. He hadn't even been born yet I had already began moulding the boy as my successor. Thanks to Ad-Mech gene crafting, which allowed for the creation of a designer baby, he would have my dark hair and his mother's eyes and possibly be a psyker as the gene which causes that can pop unexpectedly. This would be another good reason to spend as little time in the 40k galaxy as possible as while I didn't hear any voices in my head that didn't mean he wouldn't. Thankfully Dany didn't hear any voices, either because she wasn't at all a psyker, her abilities were magical not psychic in nature, or because she was near me.
"Will you join me for dinner my lord?" Dany asked.
I should make some time for her as soon I would be busy. I had no plans to be around for the birth, the idea of that would be shocking for Dany, and my attention would be needed elsewhere. I wasn't worried much about my wife, she had her own servants and had been well trained her role.
"Yes I will" I told her "I only have a little paperwork to deal with".
After a long kiss she left and I began to plan how I would best exploit the world of Fallout.
(Line Break)
His Glorious Aspirations. Fallout Universe.
In science fiction combat between space ships in the void is often very dramatic with the fighting vessels getting into close range as they blast each other with advanced weapons and sometimes there will be fighter craft as well just to add the display of CGI effects. I was now discovering that the space combat is actually done at a great distance as energy weapons have ranges in the hundreds of kilometres maybe more and if anything exploded then I didn't see it. Instead what I got were members of my bridge crew shouting out numbers at each other as we did battle with two alien space craft.
This time when we'd come out of The Warp and into a new universe we'd done so much close to the systems primary, its sun, than we would normally, possibly because I'd been to confident when using the drive, and before long we'd ended up fighting some aliens. We knew that they were xenos because they called us up and shouted something very inhuman before moving to attack.
Which was insane because both of the alien motherships, the scanners, or auger as the Imperials called them, had picked smaller craft leaving the bigger two, we'd also scanned the mothership and found that we outgunned both vessels to the point that this battle bordered on the comical. These aliens even had to lower their shields to fire.
"So these xenos have armour that might as well be paper when compared to ours, shields they have to drop in order to fire, only one weapon worthy of the name and that is limited to the kind of energy required for a nuclear strike were as we our weapons can reduce a continent to ruins with a single salvo" I said to my First Officer "and they charged right at us".
All aliens were mad, it was the only explanation.
"It is possible that their augers did not warn them of the danger of entering combat with us" speculated the experienced navy man "These xenos are clearly primitive".
Or desperate to defend something.
"The mind of an alien can never be known to humanity" stated Archmagos Del Arx.
The magos didn't normally venture to the bridge, but since I was making an effect to get the Ad-Mech more on my side I'd invited him here. So far he hadn't gotten involved in the battle, rather he simply observed.
"The alien ships are opening fire" I was warned.
There was no shaking or anything like that. If I hadn't been informed I might not even have noticed that anything happened. There was a slight strain on the void shields according to the readout I had access to thanks to me sitting in command throne, but the defensive barrier held strong.
"Return fire!" I shouted.
Given the aliens had moved into close range my cruiser's forward facing weapons
"We have crippled one of the alien motherships" reported the Master of Etherics.
"Do you wish to use the light lance to finish off the enemy ship?" enquired the Master of Ordnance.
A light lance could easily destroy the crippled mothership by directly hitting what passed for a power core.
"No reload the Marcocannon and focus on the second xenos vessel" I ordered we don't want them trying to escape".
While we had them outgunned and our defences were vastly superior I had no idea what kind of FTL drive, if any, they made use of or what kind of slower than light engines they might have. Best to finish this fight quickly and to avoid alien inference later on.
"The other vessel is crippled" I was informed.
These aliens, the Zetans I think they were called, proved to be total pushovers. Their technology was very impressive in some ways, I knew that they had teleporters and ray guns, but when it came to ship to ship combat they were wussies, I wondered if they had ever faced an enemy with the technology to fight them in space. If they hadn't encountered other space faring species that might explain why they were so unprepared to fight us.
"Finish them off" I commanded.
Given the extreme xenophobia of the IOM I didn't wish to be branded a heretic for showing interest in alien tech. Just destroying the motherships was a huge waste of resources, but I had to be careful with so many powerful organisations watching me. Besides I'd come here for the tech on Fallout Earth not to mess about with the impure xenos.
"Praise be to the Emperor for our swift victory!" shouted the First Officer.
"Ave Imperator!" everyone shouted.
Since I didn't do any yelling and someone might have noticed I decided that I would soon need to start giving out some orders so as keep everyone's minds on some task.
"This world I have brought us to seems to be a human world" I told my officers "Vox signals speak of a Brotherhood of Steel and there appears to a number of transmissions coming from this world that suggest humans with a level of technology much greater than the feudal world that we brought into the Emperor's light. We will travel to this world and brings the Emperor's light to it if they are ignorant of his Imperial Majesty and if the aliens threaten this world we will be there to defend it. I want this ship placed to defend this planet and to explore its surface".
I turned to the Archmagos.
"We need to learn as much about this world as quickly as we can" I said to him "I trust you can begin an investigation".
The red robed figured bowed before departing and since I knew that it would be many hours before the Archmagos would be starting a briefing I had time to rest.
(Line Break)
His Glorious Aspirations. Fallout Universe.
Like we had before ever setting foot on Planetos the leaders of each faction of the Imperium that supported met in a briefing room, around a table which could project holograms. Archmagos Del Arx of the Adeptus Mechanicus presented the rest of us with the information he had been able to gather. A lot of which was shocking to those gathered.
Aside from the Archmagos I had with me Palatine Brigicia of the Adepta Sororitas and the newly promoted Colonel Gwynenya Ionael of the Imperial Guard. Black Widow was also here, but as far as I knew no one other than myself knew that she was here on behalf of someone very high up in the Imperium's leadership. I suspected the Inquisition had sent her to keep an eye on me, assuming that there wasn't an actual Inquistor hanging around.
Palatine Brigicia wore her normal plain robes as did the Archmagos, by contrast the Colonel and I were overdressed having come here in military uniforms. I'd at least made the effort not to look as if I should be hanging about with Napoléon Bonaparte. Not that I had any desire to ever spend time with any Frenchmen.
"We appear to be in orbit of Holy Terra" said the red robed cyborg "Or at least some version of mankind's cradle world".
This was met by a stunned silence that wasn't broken for at least thirty seconds.
"Could you repeat that" requested the colonel.
If I hadn't know exactly where I'd brought us I'd have been as shocked as the others and they didn't take it any better when the Magos repeated his words exactly.
"I think what the colonel desired was a more detailed explanation of our current situation" I said to the senior Ad-Mech priest.
I felt sure that Del Arx had known this and that sometimes the cogboys were annoying on purpose.
"We are in orbit over what seems to be Holy Terra only a younger version of the planet" he explained a voice too human for on of his rank "There is no Imperial Palace, no orbital defences, and the psykers detect no trace of the Emperor's presence outside of this vessel. The vox traffic we are receiving is primitive and in a variety of pre-Gothic forms of speech, some of which we can translate".
The red robed cyborg did something to the holotable and then filled the air with what I knew to be something transmitted by a radio station.
"Comin' to you taped from my fortified bunker in the middle of a D.C. hellhole".
There was more and when some music started to play the Magos shut it down.
"After hours spent gathering information we have concluded that we have arrived at some point during a period of human history called The Stellar Exodus" we were all told "This is very poorly-understood period of human history which is generally accepted to cover the majority of Mankind's initial forays into interstellar space and the genesis of most of the oldest human colonies, beginning at some unknown point in the mid-to-late 3rd Millennium. This period is generally understood to lead into the Dark Age of Technology sometime around the 15th Millennium. We believe that we have arrived early in the 3rd Millennium since mankind has little presence in the solar system".
I noticed that he used the word little rather than none.
"Therefore I conclude that we travelled through both space and time, perhaps into another dimension" said the cyborg "One that lacks the Emperor".
Palatine Brigicia didn't not like hearing that.
"The Emperor is eternal" she stated.
If looks could kill the Archmagos would be screaming by now.
"According to the histories the Emperor did not reveal his presence to mankind until the Age of Strife" I said to the nun who thankfully at this time did not carry a gun "Before then he worked behind the scenes to protect mankind".
This was both dogma and the truth. At least back in the 40k galaxy.
"We are not in our own universe" stated the Archmagos "I suspect as much when we travelled to the feudal world and now my investigation confirms it".
He gave some explanation that went way over my head because of all the needless mumbo jumbo the Ad-Mech like to surround any science with.
"So this world we orbit is not Holy Terra of the past, but rather its counterpart in another universe" I summarised.
The colonel made some remark about this sounding like a bad holodrama. I hadn't even known that they knew about alternate dimension even as a theory. Perhaps the humans of 40k weren't as backwards as I'd thought, or at least not all of them.
I knew that The Fallout world existed in an alternate timeline that completely diverged from the timeline of my own dimension after World War II. As a result of these changes they ended up a technologically advanced retrofuturistic atomic age where the 1950s dominated the culture and society of the Fallout world.
"That is a simplified form of what I meant" said the Magos.
Palatine Brigicia wasn't accepting of this as easily as Major Ionael.
"Is this some trick of the Archenemy?" she asked.
Again the Magos tried to explain about alternate dimensions and time not functioning in The Warp. Only she didn't get it any more the second time and to be fair the cyborg wasn't doing a very good job of explaining matters.
"Let's keep it simple and go with this world being a sibling of our Holy Terra, one that or some reason lacks to the protection of the Emperor" I decided "Perhaps he sent us here to save this world from those that mean it harm such as the xenos we have already destroyed".
That she could get behind.
"There is a brother of Holy Mars as well" mentioned Del Arx "I require a suitable craft to investigate this world to ensure that the xenos have not contaminated the planet".
That was fine with me and it would keep the Archmagoes busy for a while.
"Let us focus on this Terra for now" I said "What can you tell us about it".
Since I already knew that mankind on this world was living a radioactive hell hole I tuned out most of the briefing that followed knowing that I would have access to written copies and focused on what I wanted to do. During the information dumping session the Ad-Mech leader brought up a hologram of the Fallout world showing us what it looked like from orbit. I felt fairly sure that the seas were not meant to be green.
Europe and the Soviet Union were destroyed by internal collapse, riots over resources (much like what has been happening in France as of late, but on a larger scale), and eventual civil wars. The struggle to find resources such as fossil fuels and other essential items was too strong for these countries. South America and Africa were probably destroyed by large countries draining the resources from them. If S.A. and Africa survived then they were certainly destroyed by the resulting weather challenges brought about by the Global Nuclear Apocalypse.
China was destroyed by the United States M.A.D. program, like we have in the real world. The Mutually Assured Destruction protocol, or M.A.D., is basically an automatic response to a nuclear weapon launch. As soon as an enemy nation launched a nuclear weapon, a large portion of our nuclear arsenal would launch, wiping the enemy nation and their allies off of the face of the earth. They have similar protocols as well. The idea is that we may go down, but we will take them with us. This protocol is the main reason why the cold war in our universe never turned into a nuclear war.
Basically, all life on the planet has been irreparably damaged, or completely destroyed by the Nuclear War
"During this period of Earth's history
Merica (North America) - Merica was a massive and powerful techno-barbarian state composed of the hive cities located on the Nord Merican continent (North America).
The Mojave Wasteland was another incubator of civilization. This was due in no small part to Robert House's preparations; his secret missile defense systems ensured that Las Vegas and the surrounding desert was hit by fewer bombs than anywhere else in the region, and as time passed, the city was rebuilt through the combined efforts of House,
Once the red robed cyborg was done the colonel wanted to discuss landing troops in order to pacify the world.
"We can not invade this sibling of Holy Terra" insisted Palatine Brigicia.
That would really damage my standing with the Church.
"We will not conquer this world" I stated "Instead we will come as liberators. This world belongs to mankind and must remain so. We will lend our brothers and sisters of this world our support and help them to drive off the mutants, these raiders and any aliens who dare step foot on its surface".
If we could find a part of the planet that was more habitable than the rest we could build a city there.
"Colonel you will find a suitable spot to set up a base" I ordered "We'll need a safe haven to operate from and a place to offer our allies shelter. Once you are set up you can begin training any natives who wish to join us".
I had much more to say.
"Palatine Brigicia" I said while addressing the battle sister "These raiders and mutants are unlikely to be well organised, so you and your warriors can be sent to cleanse enemy bases. This attacks will need to be swift and brutal".
If I had access to Space Marines I'd sent them, but thirty battle sisters in power armour and carrying bolters could do a decent impression. Even the super mutants of this world could be killed by normal humans using much less advanced weaponry than what we had.
"Archmagos since we can not conquer this world we must give its human population the means to defend itself" I told the red robed cyborg "For that they will need lasguns, body armour and the other tools of war".
Simple enough given the manufacturing machines on board this vessel.
"I will comply Lord Captain" said the Del Arx "However ensuring the dominance of mankind over this world could be the work of years, and we do not have supplies for more than a few months of operations. We will need to return to the Forge-World for resupply and to gather aid for the full liberation of this world".
And to that I needed something to trade with.
"Making contact with this Brotherhood of Steel would seem to be a good first step" I said "I will play the role of diplomat and find out what sort of technology they have that the Ad-Mech will be interested in".
The Archmagos had already informed us of the Brotherhood and how it worked to protect the masses of mankind from dangerous technology. The Ad-Mech no doubt felt that they did the same.
"Their vox transmissions suggest that they are low on resources and manpower" I was told by the red robed cyborg "I would suggest offering weapons and military support in exchange for examples of any advanced technology they have to offer. If this world does predate the creation of standard template constructions as such it will of great interest to the Forge-World".
Archeotech is the term in Low Gothic used throughout the Imperium of Man to refer to formerly lost advanced Human scientific knowledge and technology from the Dark Age of Technology, the Age of Strife or even the Imperium's own Golden Age during the Great Crusade that can be recovered in the present time.
The Adeptus Mechanicus is particularly interested in the recovery of such ancient technology and considers all devices created from recovered Standard Template Construct (STC) databases to be a form of archeotech. However, some archeotech can also be considered forbidden, such as any device that could be considered to possess machine sapience.
So as long as we didn't bring any AI back with us, then the Forge-World should want as much technology as we could grab and they would pay well for it if only so they can keep all the tech for their own private us. In exchange the Ad-Mech would be happy to resupply me and maybe even offer some upgrades.
"We have also picked up Vox traffic from organisations
"Sounds as if we'll all have a part to play" said the Colonel before she turned to address the tech priest "I'm going to need detailed surface scans before we can set up a base".
Those two moved off and began to discuss possible landing sights as Palatine Brigicia came over to me.
"I wish that I had a full Commandery with me" she remarked.
A Commandery normally comprises several smaller convents or detachments of Orders Militant sisters from a single convent with up to 200 Sisters of Battle, commanded by a canoness commander. It would be like having a Space Marine company on my side only not as effective since Battle Sister don't have all those extra organs and not as much fire support. Although the Imperial Guard might be able to offer the later.
"Couldn't you recruit from the locals?" I questioned.
Normally the Sister of Battle got the majority of recruits from the Schola Progenium, having been identified by the Drill Abbesses of those Imperial orphanages as suitable candidates from an early age. A few may be transferred from outside organisations, but that was rare.
"It is not impossible" said the Palatine "I doubt this world is lacking for orphans, only training them would take years".
That could be an issue if they took heavy losses.
"I will support you if you chose to set up a Commandery on this world" I offered "My good relations with the Faith should smooth things over with your Order".
Hearing this made the battle sister smile.
"Your authority would allow me to create a Commandery" she confirmed "My sister and I are meant to meant to provide you with elite warriors should you need them not to wage war, so I ask that you call upon us only for the most dire of needs".
So my idea of using them as a strike force might not be the best course of action. The Guard did have Stormtroopers for that sort of thing, and I had my own battle harem, so perhaps it would be a good idea to let the Palatine focus on recruitment.
"When we had back to resupply I will try to arrange for more battle sisters to come to our aid" I said.
I could gone for months just to resupply due to the unreliable nature of The Warp and how long it took for the different Imperial factions to get moving, so those left behind would need to be set up to self-sustaining before I left. Not impossible for a few battle sister, but an issue for the regiment as radioactive hellholes don't tend to have a lot off food. That was something to discuss with the Colonel some time soon.