The following is a sample opening for a story I've been developing. Not necessarily the finished product. The story is intended to be dark and visceral. Warhammer 40,000 is the source material.

"Mankind must suffer so that mankind can survive..." In a cruel galaxy constantly besieged by the alien, the mutant, and the forces of the dark powers, the Imperium of man stood defiantly for millennia. It was an existence of endless war. The year 999 M41, was no different. On the hive world of Gelt in the Cadian sector, the massive spires of the hive cities and cathedrals of the Ecclesiarchy stood proudly as a testament to the enduring might of the Imperium. Noble houses ruled over the masses of the gargantuan cities which stretched high into the clouds, governing the daily lives of all those who resided within as the toiled for the glory of the God Emperor of Mankind. It was for His glory that they all lived to serve... Or so it was thought. Desire and temptation are insidious enemies. For the lowliest of the low, the promise of a better life can be as sweet as the finest wines of the Imperial court. For the wealthiest of nobles, the allure of power and prestige can be as intoxicating as the finest perfume. For both, they lead to heresy and damnation.

Smoke billowed up from the base of the hive city as the first explosions rocked the titanic structures. Sirens and alarms sounded as people screamed and trampled over each other in confusion. Vox casters blared out instructions from the local authorities as they tried to reestablish order. Jets roared overhead as aircraft swarmed in an attempt to put out the fires that had broken out in what was a warehouse sector in the outer ring of the lower spire, which threatened to spread into the neighboring hab sectors where many of the workers and their families lived. The first flight of aircraft began to approach from up wind, ready to drop their payload of water over the sight when a rail of white smoke erupted from down below. The trail curved and spiraled toward the lead aircraft. Confused, the pilot banked hard to the right but it was too late. The missile slammed into the cockpit and detonated instantly incinerating the crew. The remaining fireball and wreckage came crashing down into the blaze below as the remaining aircraft began to scatter. More streams of white smoke began to erupt from various alleyways and rooftops, snaking their way towards the emergency craft. It was the beginning of the end for the world of Gelt.

Near the top of one of the spires, Sister Athene stood on the landing pad and looked down at the chaos below. Her blue eyes scanned the damage and the smaller explosions taking place. Communications throughout the city had been disrupted. How and by whom had yet to be determined. As a precaution she and her sisters had been mobilized to defend the spire upon which the Cathedral was. There was a loud roar, and her white hair fluttered as the shuttle that had delivered Athene and her squad took off to make room for the next craft. She glanced back at her sisters, all clad in black ceramite powered armor. "Remove the peace bonds from your weapons," she commanded. Athene looked to one of them, a tall woman with fiery red hair and piercing green eyes. "Sister Caroline!" Athene called out over the sound of jets. "Take up an overwatch position on the upper platform of the control tower!" The woman nodded. "Yes Sister Superior!" she replied. Athene motioned to the other members of her squad to establish a perimeter around the landing platform as they waited for more forces to arrive. Athene's cool collected demeanor hid the turmoil that she felt within. Was this an accident? Or was this attack? There had been unconfirmed reports of missile fire. If it was an attach then by whom and what was their objective? Athene pushed the thoughts aside. There was time enough for analysis. Right now, she and her sisters needed to establish a beach head.

Cool.

Im always up for a little 40k ;)

However i mostly like it from the point of view of making cool characters and even cooler organizations for those characters to be part of... i also enjoy level design.

It's such a rich environment with so much room for creativity.

@akula2ssn
It sure is! Infact the more obscure the lore from 40k the more i like it!

For example, in one game i made an entire tribe of imperial navy soldiers... i dont think ill do this, this time. But thats the sort of thing i go for.

See the new kill team that came out?

@akula2ssn

Yeah, weirdly its almost like they copied my idea, because my one predated the kt one by about 7 years.

One or my story ideas was for my sister's and a naval security team exploring a space hulk

@akula2ssn

Right now my ideas center around the cold trade and basically making an army for them.

I'll also make a small imperial guard regiment if i need to... maybe from a planet near Gelt? Just to use as a back drop.

I'm open to any ideas. I posted this more as a sample of how I like to write, rather than an actual story.

@akula2ssn
Id be happy to co-gm w/ you :)

Lets take a planet, and make it a complete backwater so theres room to play around with the imperial status quo. However we want it to be big so perhaps it used to be much more impressive... i like hives so maybe its one of those? Like, hells kitchen in new york, times a thousand and stood upright!
I like your idea that gelt is in the cadian system. This would be even more fun if its just after cadia fell so everyones paranoid that they might be the next meat on the barbeque!! And thus there is stuff like a military curfew and blitz spirit.

Where u go? -.-

I notice you selected horror as a category. This is indeed the right way to play 40k.

Sorry, I dozed off lol. So maybe a place that was settled thousands of years ago. Major hive cities grew from the industry driven by it's mineral wealth. However now that the planet and it's neighboring world's have been depleted, there's nothing backing it so it has started to fall into decay. Many of the noble houses have pulled out. Much of the population has stagnated into poverty, even by Imperial standards which is already very low. The only reason why it is even on a map is because of a large space station in orbit which is used as a refueling and resupply point for starships. But overall the station itself has more strategic value than the planet itself.

I really do think that at its heart, 40k is a horror story on so many levels.

@akula2ssn
I wouldn't say that it was a hasbeen world. Instead, id say it should be fairly wealthy, which only raises the stakes. So that everyone's trying to get to it... which breeds paranoia.

Due to the local area being destabilized with the death of Cadia, our planet has been sent a few regiments of foreign imperial guard. The locals dont like these foreign intruders, but the Planetary Governors propaganda says they are there for security. They are infact there as a staging area for a counter-attack on the forces flooding out of the eye of terror, meanwhile the indomitus crusades is no where to be seen... this is worrying because everyone is wondering where they are...

One such regiment is the 50th Havelock Brutalists.

Their special issue gear is urban chemilioline great coats with sewn in flak armour. They also get close support by sentinel powerlifters per squad armed with the power lifter of course but also an underslung chainsword. The best way to describe how they employ these is brutality. They use the power lifters for counter charges and on any of the imperiums more melee oriented enemies. They are grenadiers and have just been relocated after a victorious battle fighting Orks. This Regiment is known for taking battle trophies from their foes, such as horns and fangs. Infact the squad leader is usually selected based on how many fangs they have collected. They are selected from the planets warrior caste.

Perhaps in addition to the foreign regiments, the planet is also where a lot of refugees have ended up which also feeds into the local discontent.

@akula2ssn

Yeah, refugees sounds good.

So, should we start a IC and basically... take on the roles of about 3 organisations each? Each one has; one good, one bad and one in the middle. Then we can feel free to collaborate and even oppose eachother just generally to sharpen our writing skills?

When we write the planet we can take control of different districts and cities.

I really like that idea actually. It's sometimes hard doing 40k and being limited to just one character. At least that's how I feel.

Give me a little. I have a bunch of stuff going on this evening, but I'll start drafting it up and hopefully have it posted later or tomorrow.

@akula2ssn
Sure. Add me as a co-gm.