Grimdank

The last members of the advance party exited the Devourer dropship Fire of Faith , the cavernous maw of the transport closing with a sharp report behind them. "Atmosphere appears to be breathable, sir. It's a good thing this landing bay is still powered, or we'd all be sucking vacuum right about now." The commander sighed, delivering a curt strike to the back of private Kowalski's head. How protocol had slipped so far was beyond him, especially amongst so many new recruits. They were barely out of basic training, for Emperor's sake! Turning to his lieutenants beside him, Walicz began issuing orders to reconnoitre the immediate area. It wasn't often that something as extensive as this hulk remained intact, let alone powered. As the sensor teams started to spread out, exploring the myriad tunnels and doorways leading off from the bay, he took stock of the environment. Efficient, sensible Imperial architecture blended seamlessly into misshapen, almo...

Centuries ago, a prison barge headed for Xantos (a mining agri-world) intercepted an as-yet undiscovered space hulk, crash-landing on the surface of the mammoth structure. The survivors of the crash banded together, searching for a place within the hulk to call their own. Eventually they discovered a grotto, deep in the bowels of the vessel where metal, stone and earth melded into a series of echoing caverns and myriad tunnels. Here they created their new home, named Freedom’s Landing in bittersweet memory of the ship that brought them here and saved them from their fate on Xantos. Unbeknownst to them, they shared their new home with a terrifying organism - whether it had arrived with them on their prison barge, or had already been present on the hulk was unknown. Whatever the case may be, they soon found members of their small community missing. As the days and months passed, more and more members vanished into the eternal gloom of the tunnels around Freedom’s Landing . Until, ...