Rogyapa Flight

[Ron Bleac]

"Death is the termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism."

- Common fucking sense.

Sky burial is the ancient religious practice of leaving the dead out in the open for vultures and other animals to consume. Prior to the ritual, "body breakers" or Rogyapa attend the scene of the ritual to break the body appart to allow for easier consumption. The process is brutal, involving knives, mallets and heavy bladed objects. Squadron #13556, completed training courses and familiarization in 44,407. #13556 was renamed to Rogyapa Flight after the battle of Planet Teotoburg by the only surviving member, Centurion T. Hatgui Andil. Deployed to the Wars of Silence in 44,409 to serve with the Orcanus Class Capital Dreadnought Gloria Lua, carrying the emperor Paul Xerxes Vesperia. Rogyapa Flight quickly built a reputation for their absolute loyalty, never questioning or disobeying an order, it became the home for political or religious radicals used for the most dangerous of missions, often with no chance for survival. People didn't join Rogyapa Flight to experience adventure, enjoy the large payments of Imperial credits or get all the chicks. People joined Rogyapa Flight to die, so command would always send them to where they could do exactly that.

44,409 was no different.

Aboard the Imperial Flagship Gloria Lua preparations are in full swing as the ship and its crew on their way to engage with the largest Juthungi force encountered in recent times. 1,200 ships including battleships, destroyers, cruisers, frigates and fortress ships stand by to engage with a force three times the size of their own. A Juthungi force commanded by an extremely competent and carismatic leader by the name of Hiemerstahl awaits on the death world of Tännhauser. The Gloria Lua is a massive ship by all standards, the main armament consisting of eight automatic 1200MM two-barreled turrets on the very front with thirty decks in between to absorb shock. Or the 600 smaller turrets dotted around the gargantuan hull in "small" star shaped formations. The ship itself is a large disc, with engines at the back, crew quarters for housing the 12,000 crewmen at the bottom decks, the fully armored and shock absorbant bridge at the front, factories for producing armored vehicles, ammunition and other necessities situated on the sides with separate hangars for reception of materials directly below them. In addition, towards the rear end of the ship are the 16 Massfunker produced engines meant for pulling moons out of orbit powering the maneuvering ability of the battlehulk. These huge engines functioning on power derived from fusion power not just the maneuvering of the ship, but all electrical appliances on board. The ship depends on its engines for life. But most of all, the ship depends on its captain, Xerxes Vesperia and the 2,000 fighter pilots onboard. Dominatum Astra, the Emperor's talons, protect the ship from all external harm.

"Flight has been transferred to the base ship and is standing by for CAP missions for the fleet, m'lord."

- "Roger that. This is the XO speaking. All combat stations prepare to report. FTL?"

"Go!"

- "Weapons?"

"Go!"

- "Tactical?"

"Go!"

- "Engineering?"

"Go!"

- "Damage control?"

"Go!"

- "Main armaments?"

"Online and ready for battle, M'lord. Top guns experiencing problems with operation, but all other guns standing by for battle. 1200MM armor piercing with nuclear warheads loaded and hot. Standing by to remove all further safeguards."

- "Remove safeguards and secure all blast doors on all decks."

As the safeguards to the main shells are removed, the ship creaks with dread as the crew stands by for what could possibly be a very violent death. 12,000 men sit still and stare at the empty hallways, but luckily enough nothing happens. The shells are now armed and hot, ready to plunge into any and all enemy targets that the barrels are directed towards. 1200MM of pure brutal power. If one was to look out of the viewing decks, they would see an endless amount of ships stretching from horizon to horizon in empty space. 1,200 fleetships standing by for what could possibly be their final battle, waiting for the order to drop into Tännhauser airspace and engage the Juthungi fleet waiting on the surface of the planet.

Triplicarius Hatgui awaits in one of the armories on the 126th deck, the closest armory to the bridge. He along with a platoon from the 385th Infantry Cohors, Century 122 have been assigned to protect the bridge from boarding action as well as helping with damage control. Hatgui had donned his UCA belt along with his standard BDU and fighting vest upon his pressurized flight suit. The ship is bustling with activity and the armory experiences a constant flow of soldiers preparing their weaponry. From Milites to Praefectus, troops are picking up fresh ammunition and weaponry, stripping the cupboards bare from anything that might be of use to them in the coming battle. Each armory carries a standard of 100,000 rounds of ammunition of all shapes and sizes, 16 different types of weaponry and several tanks to use inside the ship itself. Seeing as the corridors are nearly 12 meters wide each with several transportable facilities on each side, tanks will no doubt be of great use. At will, these tanks could also be dropped onto the surface of the planet, which they will no doubt have to do as well.

While Orel shifts through his equipment one more time, the lighting shifts from a bright white to a shade of red, standing for attention to be paid to something about to happen. A loudspeaker on the wall crackles to life.

- "This is the Emperor speaking."

The ship falls silent.

- "Triplicarius Hatgui to the bridge please."

"Me gusta.~"

Hatgui said and picked up his gear, knowing it's time for business. As he rushed out of the armory and passed through the blast door, thoughts of bacon flooded his mind. On his way, Hatgui greets each one of his friends with a special sacktap performed with the knee placed against the male testicles at extremely high speeds.

Then Curia came and ruined his day.

I'll write more later, D/with it.

[Dempster Duncker]

"Triplicarius Hatgui to the bridge please."

"Me gusta.~"