Nexus Psi Campaign Book

A DEADZONE CAMPAIGN
THE FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL ON A DOOMED WORLD
Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)
A spacefaring traveller, The Survivor is the only known living being to have been infected by the Plague and survive
a Containment Protocol. Since then he has had only one desire: to retrieve a piece of a Plague Artefact and try to
synthesise a cure for himself. For The Survivor it is simply a race against time before the Alien Virus overcomes his
biological defences and he succumbs to the infection - a race he cannot afford to lose.
Game Design
Additional SCENERY
Jake Thornton
Antenocitis Workshop, Armorcast,

Quantum Gothic, Rust Forge
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
Dave Boddy, Greg Smith, Guy Haley,
James M Hewitt
Chris Webb
SPECIAL THANKS
Photography
Matt Gilbert
Ben Sandum
Internal Art
Painting
Heath Foley, Jonas Springborg, Kris

Carter, Luigi Terzi, Roberto Cirillo
Chris Webb, Dave Neild, Golem Painting

Studio, Matt Gilbert, Nick Williams, Paul
Scott, Winterdyne Commission Modelling
Sculpting
Ben Skinner,Bob Naismith,Dave Kidd,
Derek Miller, Francesco Pizzo, Gregor
Adrian, Grgory Clavilier, MKUltra Studio,
Rmy Tremblay, Steve Eserin, Steve
Saunders, Sylvain Quirion, Tim Prow
3 - NEXUS
PSI (order #5652513)
Matthew
McDonald
GRAPhic Design
RETURN TO NEXUS PSI

Nexus Psi is a two-player campaign set on the colony of the same name. It is a desperate and unforgiving series of
battles between the Plague and their enemies with the whole planet as the prize.
These rules describe nine new scenarios for you to play through, together with the process of linking them together
into a campaign. This builds on the campaign rules listed in the main rulebook and should be read in conjunction
with them.
During the campaign some of your models will be injured or killed, most will gain experience as they hone their
battle skills, and all of them will have stories to tell. Their collective experiences form the heroic tale of your Strike
Force as it struggles to fulfil its missions and take control of the planet from an unforgiving and relentless foe.
NEW RULES
THE FACTIONS
Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
CSW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Indirect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Long Reload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Non-combatant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Enforcers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Corporations of Nexus Psi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Enforcer Ships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Plague . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Clarifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Rebs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
THE CAMPAIGN
Marauders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Nexus Psi Rules Modifications 14
The Next Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
CHAMPIONS OF NEXUS PSI
A. Intelligence Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
S1. Shattered Hopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
S2. Bunker Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
S3. Landing Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
S4. Long Way Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
S5. Health Assurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
19
20
22
23
X. Screaming Fans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Y. Ambush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Z.The Gauntlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Hostile Acquisitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Recon Unit N32-19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Doctor Simmonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Project Oberon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nastanza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chovar Psychic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Helfather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Survivor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Boomer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blaine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Freya Oerlikon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
48
49
51
53
55
57
59
60
61
62
63
Nexus Psi Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4 - NEXUS PSI

4
Where the more bestial Stage 1 and Stage 2 infected are the most outwardly imposing, it is arguably the Stage
3 that is to be most feared. Retaining their intelligence, if not their humanity, it is these creatures that form the
tactical arm of the plague. As well as operating weapons and heavy equipment, they also act as forward scouts,
searching for supplies, information and survivors that can be recruited.
NEXUS PSI - 5
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6
The Frontier
A World of Potential
The Galactic Co-Prosperity Sphere is a vast

conglomerate of systems, held together by numerous
agreements, licenses and treaties. The Core Worlds are
the political and geographical centre of this huge web,
but at its outer limits there is the Frontier, a region of
space whose borders are forever expanding outwards
as new worlds are colonised and settled.
Nexus Psi was picked up by a SanMar scout ship on a

routine sweep of the Frontier, and was immediately
categorised as Category D suitable for immediate
human occupation. It was a warm, wet world teeming
with life, especially in the thick concentrations of
equatorial jungle that rings the planet. Initial scans
showed some the scattered remains of an ancient
civilisation, but no signs of active sentient life. Most
notably, it was one of the few Category D planets at
the furthest reaches of the Frontier. In time, if it was
correctly developed, it could become the hub for a brand
new phase of expansion.
Unlike the technologically advanced worlds of the

Core, where anything is possible providing you can pay
for it, life on the Frontier isnt easy. This is especially
true on newly-discovered worlds. Once a planet has
been scanned by scout ships and marked as suitable
for incorporation, a small band of advance colonists
and engineers will make their way there as part of an
Exploration Fleet. Their job is to undertake the first
stages of colonisation; terraforming, setting up basic
outposts, and starting the mammoth task of cataloguing
the planets indigenous life.
As with many things in the GCPS, obtaining the rights
to settle a new world is a minefield of contractual
legislation. Every corporation wants to expand its
territory, and the race to obtain the licence to an
unspoiled world is always intense. Although only one
corporation will be granted the licence, the fight is
not over even once the decision is made; following
expansion drives by corporations such as SanMar and
McAelis, in which they licensed hundreds of planets at a
time but left them undeveloped for decades, all licences
now contain a mandatory break clause. Under this
clause, a licence is not fully granted unless the colony
conforms to certain benchmarks by a given timestamp.
Should a corporation fail to meet these standards, the
licence is reopened for bidding. This means that once
a licence is obtained, every second is vital. As a result,
Exploration Fleets consist entirely of small vessels
equipped with McKinley Drives that let them traverse
huge expanses of space in a relatively short time.
These fleets make their way out from the closest
available port as soon as the word is given by their
parent Corporation, racing to reach the new planet and
begin laying the foundations of a colony. Unfortunately,
the McKinley Drive has several limitations the most
obvious one being the fact that it is only safe to use
with ships no larger than a small hauler. To save on
fuel costs, most Fleets transport everything in Shensig
Interplanetarys Habtainers modular shipping
containers which can be easily repurposed into almost
any kind of building once they have been unpacked. This
cuts out dead weight, allowing the advance party to take
everything they need without incurring massive costs or
waiting for slower bulk carriers to make their way to the
Frontier. Of course, this also means that most Frontier
colonies look the same: a cluster of low-lying buildings
bearing the familiar design of a Shensig Habtainer.
Within seconds of the planets existence being

advertised, a licence request was submitted by the
Reiker Corporation. Reiker specialises in developing
new worlds and leasing surface space to other
developers, and has teams of operatives scouring the
infosphere for news of potential sites. Its Acquisitions
department was one of sixty-two applicants for the
licence to Nexus Psi, including their long-time rivals
at the Magani Corporation, but won out following a
series of complex negotiations and a tense auction. Not
even taking a moment to celebrate the victory, Reikers
operations manager gave the word to launch their
waiting Exploration Fleet. Everything was set to open up
the latest in a string of Reiker conquests.
Then, something unusual happened.
The Council of Seven the executive body that rules
the GCPS in all but name has the right to overturn
any agreement made under Corporate law, and they
exercised it to place an indefinite stay on the Nexus
Psi licence. Reikers board of directors was furious;
they had spent good money equipping and launching
their fleet, and now they stood to lose it all. Of course,
they knew better than to directly oppose an edict from
the Council. Instead, their legal agents began work on
one of the most complex cases of their careers, and
after several weeks of preparation a carefully-worded
appeal was made. After a period of consideration, it was
partially granted. Reiker was given leave to continue
with the colonisation, with the expectation that a full
licence would eventually be granted, but it would be
held by the Council for the time being. This was seen
as a minor (but important) victory, as well as a suitable
compromise, and the Exploration Fleet continued on its
way. It wasnt long before outposts were being set up
across the planets surface.
Death of a Dream
Across the Frontier, particularly the area of space
known as the Death Arc, a series of alien Artefacts
have been found. They can take many different forms:
some are large, some are small; some display intricate
carvings, while others feature complex mechanisms or
appear to be made from an unclassifiable substance.
They would be indistinguishable from any other
xenoarchaeological relics if not for the fact that they
NEXUS PSI - 7
share a unique energy signature. The Council offers

large rewards to anyone who turns in a genuine
specimen, but these have never been claimed due to the
sentient virus that lays dormant within them.
Nexus Psi had been colonised for almost two standard
years when a team of geohistorians picked up the
Artefact signature above a series of tunnels in the
equatorial jungles near Outpost W4. The team called
for backup to verify their findings, and an exploration /
retrieval team was dispatched to excavate the source
of the emissions. They came in force, taking every
excavator and hauler available around W4. After five
days of digging they unearthed their target. It was
a stone slab, less than a metre across, covered in
pictograms of unknown origin.
The exp/ret team was returning their find to W4 when
it activated, and unleashed its deadly virus. The first
victims were the technicians driving the hauler on
which it was being transported, with their colleagues
in other vehicles falling in turn. The virus affected
over half of the team, most of them dying in agony as
it tore through their bodies. They were the lucky ones.
The remainder, apparently chosen as suitable hosts to
The Artefact Conspiracy

According to dissidents and activists across
the GCPS, Corporation Central houses
an entire datafarm of encrypted stacks
containing records of every cover-up the
Council has engineered. A secessionist
agitator known only as Guru surfaced on
several subnet forums not long before the
Nexus Psi incident, claiming to have accessed
the datafarm and cracked the encryption. He
(or she?) claimed that in 81% of Containment
Protocols, the planet or system in question
was the site of an Artefact discovery. More
intriguingly, the Council had already imposed
a stay on licensing when the discovery was
made almost as though it knew what would
be found, long before any humans had landed.
This was derided as nonsense by most users,
especially considering the lack of evidence,
and Guru never surfaced again. Some saw
this as proof that he was just a lonely kid
trying to get peoples attention, while others
assumed a darker significance behind his
withdrawal. Nexus Psis disappearance from
official records, following Reikers wellpublicised battle against a Council-imposed
stay, was later championed as proof that he
was more than an imaginative crackpot.
spread the infection, were mutated beyond recognition.

These unfortunates were wracked with spasms as the
virus rewrote their genetic code, remaking them in its
awful image. When the transformation was complete,
nothing remained of the scientists and technicians that
had been; in their place stood hulking monsters, titanic
slabs of muscle and bone that wasted no time in tearing
apart the remains of the convoy.
A handful of survivors escaped, making it back to the
outpost and sending a distress signal to Corporation
Central. The only response they received was dead air.
Containment Protocol had already been enacted.
Desperate Measures
When something as serious as a Plague outbreak takes
place, quarantine is the only option. This is an action
of last resort that can only be ordered by the Council
of Seven itself, for its repercussions are immense
and it can cost Corporations countless millions of
credits. When a Containment Protocol is called, the
planet in question (or sometimes even the whole
surrounding system) is entirely cut off from outside
contact. Planetary and interplanetary communications
are jammed, and any ships in orbit or on the surface
are grounded. The location is scrubbed from NavCorp
records, rendering it almost impossible for any vessel to
find it without resorting to illegal means, and published
records will be altered to remove any reference to it.
For all intents and purposes, it ceases to exist. It is
testament to the invasive power of the Council that all of
this is possible with a few commands given trillions of
kilometres away.
At the same time, a blockade fleet will move into
place. While this is mostly made up of Enforcer patrol
ships, Corporation military vessels can be pressed
into service if necessary, although they wont be given
any more information than is absolutely necessary
to prevent anything entering or leaving the planets
atmosphere.
While the administrative process of Containment
Protocol is relatively simple, the reality on-world is
horrific, especially on a developing world like Nexus Psi.
Isolated outposts reliant on radio contact suddenly find
themselves cut off from the rest of the world. Supply
lines with nearby production systems are suddenly cut,
leading to rapid shortages of essential resources. Most
importantly, the planets inhabitants are stranded on the
surface with whatever caused the quarantine.
Nexus Psi was overrun by the Plague in a matter of days.
From the equatorial jungle it spread like wildfire, with
each creature mutated by the Artefact infecting dozens
of colonists, who in turn acted as vectors to spread the
infection to thousands of others. Pockets of resistance
remained for some time, including Outpost W4, which
organised a solid defence and only fell after nearly two
weeks of driving back constant attacks by the infected.
None of them lasted more than a month.
In time, the planet fell silent.
8 - NEXUS PSI

8
NEW RULES
NEXUS PSI - 9
Faction Booster packs are a great way to upgrade your

Strike Force in a way that suits your style of play. They
contain a mixture of new miniatures and existing ones
from the Faction Starter sets, letting you customise
your collection and give your opponents some new
challenges.
The stat cards for all of these new miniatures can be
found in the existing Faction Deck, but some of them
use new abilities that werent printed in the Deadzone
rulebook. This section includes those abilities, most of
which let you add some heavy firepower such as the
Goblin Guntrack and TK-Zero Weapons team to your
games.
The two most popular Guntrack loadouts, the

HEW Cannon and Heavy Mortar, are based
off the same technology, both relying on
autofissive fuel rods to generate
low-yield neutron projectiles.
The only real difference
is in the delivery method
the HEWs long barrel
gives it greater range and
penetrative power, while
the Mortar utilises a lower
muzzle velocity to lob shots
over intervening terrain.
10 - NEXUS PSI

10
CSW
The card represents a Crew Served Weapon (CSW)
team. The CSW ability includes Beast. A model with
CSW behaves as if Beast was written on its stat card.
Some weapons are just too big to be effectively used
by a single trooper. Often these are carried by vehicles
instead, but vehicles dont get deployed on every
mission. Inevitably someone will find a way to bring this
kind of firepower to an infantry battle.
CSWs come in a wide variety of types and the rules here
apply to all of them. Regardless of their actual weapon
type, CSWs all share common features such as bulky
ammunition or power packs and heavy or cumbersome
launchers, mounts, sights and so on. Extra crew can
help carry the equipment, set up, load the weapon, and
spot for the fall of shot all very useful.
A CSW will start a battle with two crew: a gunner and
a loader. Both crew members (and the weapon if it is
a separate model) are included on a single stat card
and both crew are assumed to have identical stats.
Treat each crew model separately for purposes of
scatter by blast, aggression level, injuries and death (as
appropriate). If the weapon is a separate model it cannot
be targeted separately and will always scatter with the
gunner. The points cost listed is for the whole CSW.
Note that CSW teams retain a size of 2 even if one of the
crew is killed or the models are separated. This reflects
the burden of additional and awkward equipment they

always carry.
A separate weapon model can be moved by the gunner
as part of any action that takes him into a new cube. It
does not take actions on its own and cannot be captured.
If the crew are killed then the model is removed.
Both crew models in a CSW are activated at the same
time as if they were a single model. However, if you
choose, they can move and select the action they take
independently. It is unusual to do this because it makes
their weapon less effective, though it may be needed in
extreme circumstances.
Only the CSW gunner can fire the weapon and to do so
must either be modelled carrying it or be in base-tobase contact with it if it is a separate model. All ranges
and LOS for the CSWs main weapon are measured from
the gunner model.
If the loader is Pinned, Suppressed, dead or not in baseto-base contact with either the gunner or the weapon (if it
is a separate model) then the CSW gets the Long Reload
and Slow abilities. If the gunner has a Reload counter
then it must remove that counter before it can fire, even if
the loader has moved back into base contact.
If the gunner is killed when the loader is in base-tobase contact with it then the loader will pick up the
weapon instead and become the new gunner. If the
weapon is modelled on the gunner figure then the most
practical way to deal with this is to swap the positions of
the two models and then remove the loader.
INDIRECT
A weapon with this ability can be fired at the enemy in
a new way. If the model has either the Vehicle or CSW
rule then it is so large that it can only fire Indirectly and
may not use either Shoot or Blaze Away. Models without
Vehicle or CSW use Indirect as a new attack option as
an alternative to Shoot or Blaze Away as appropriate.
As normal, decide which form of attack you will make
with the weapon before you roll any dice. The following
rule changes and restrictions only apply if the weapon is
used to make an Indirect attack.
Indirect fire takes a little while to set up as coordinates

for the battlefield are entered, ranges determined
and targets zeroed in. This only needs to be done once
for each battle as the combat area is so small and
subsequent shots can be easily corrected from the
initial data. No weapon may be used to make an Indirect
attack in that Strike Teams first Turn.
An Indirect weapon can be used to attack targets that
the model cannot see. However, the Indirect weapon
itself, its gunner (if it is a CSW ), and the target model
must all be visible when viewed from directly above
their cube.
An Indirect attack cannot target anything that is under
half the weapons listed Range. For example, a Range
6 weapon cannot target anything at a distance of 1-3
cubes when used to make an Indirect attack.
It was still raining. The outpost was already halfflooded but the heavens were in no hurry to let
up. The sky was lit by another flash of lightning,
and something heavy crashed over in the howling
wind. It was as if the world itself knew how sick it
was, and it was trying to flush the infection.
The water tower swayed, support struts creaking
in protest, and Rixon pushed down another wave
of nausea. Thinking back to her training, she
occupied her mind by checking the TK-Zero at
her side. Sights seemed clear. Firing mechanism
was clean. Despite the driving gale, no water had
made it into the chamber. The makeshift shelter,
little more than a tarp snaptacked to a pair of
railings, was doing better than shed hoped.
She glanced over at Ygo. The big trooper was sat
with his back to the tower, looking out across the
outpost. If she didnt know him so well shed have
thought he was calmly surveying for their target,
but shed worked with him long enough to notice
the pallor in his skin and the sweat beading on his
brow. She almost cracked a joke about how shed
never have thought a Sphyr could get sea-sick,
but she stopped herself. He was clearly enjoying
their vantage point even less than she was.
The wind calmed momentarily, and Rixon started.
Over the sound of the rain shed heard an engine;
she was sure of it. The target was somewhere
nearby. She sprang up into a crouch, hefting the
launcher into a ready position. It was lighter than
it looked, something that always surprised the
rookies, and she was confident in her ability to
track moving targets with the same ease as any
rifleman. Thats why she was here, after all.
Ygo moved up next to her. Like most of his kind
his eyesight was remarkable, making him an
exceptional spotter, but this weather would
probably have slazzed with even Enforcer visuals.
She wasnt surprised when he took his scope
from its pouch and scanned it across the scene
below.
A few moments later, the Sphyr lowered the
device and pointed. Rixon followed the line of
his gesture and saw the Guntrack. The heavy
artillery pieces were little different to the Orx
that employed them: brutal and efficient, utterly
unkillable in a straight fight, and only vulnerable
if you got the drop on them. This one was moving
at a fair speed, its crew wrapped up against the
harsh weather.
Rixon gave a slight smile, raising the TK-Zero
and sighting on the Guntracks exposed power
core. Shed taken two down already since she
arrived on-world, and she had every intention
of doubling that number. At least. She held
the weapon steady as Ygo slid a round into the
chamber, giving a practiced nod when he touched
her on the shoulder, and took a moment to steady
herself as she tracked left to follow her target
NEXUS PSI - 11
An Indirect attack is inherently inaccurate and cannot Aim.

Treat an Indirect attack as a Throw Grenade action.
Long Reload
The weapon takes a longer time than usual between
shots. After the weapon has been fired, mark it with a
Reload counter. A weapon that is marked with a Reload
counter cannot Shoot or Blaze Away or use an Indirect
attack until it is removed. The model using this weapon
may remove the Reload counter by spending a long
action to do so.
NON-COMBATANT
This model cannot or will not fight. They may not use
any weapon and must choose to use Survive if engaged
in a Fight.
Vehicle
The model is a Vehicle. If the model comes with
separate crew figures then you can choose to either
attach them to the main chassis, or leave them loose
so the main vehicle can be used as a wreck (or scenery
in battles where it is not used in the Strike Team). They
have no specific game function beyond looking good and
showing that the Vehicle is still in the battle.
For example, a successful AP 2 attack hits an Armour 3

Vehicle (4) with a potential damage of 3. The AP reduces
the effective Armour to 1 which is subtracted from the
potential damage as normal. The remaining damage is
2 which would normally kill a model. However, because
the target is a Vehicle it suffers 2 damage instead. As
a Vehicle (4) is only destroyed when it suffers a total
of 4 damage, this means that it can continue to move
and fight until it suffers two more. You can use Injured
counters to help keep track cumulative vehicle damage
as you would for other models.
Vehicles are large and cumbersome so cannot move

about the battlefield with the same ease as smaller
models. A Vehicle can only change level by moving up
or down a ramp. They may not climb up or down walls.
This means that a Vehicle cannot usually use the Climb
action, though the final limitation will be based on how
you have built your terrain.
A Vehicle is not affected by the movement portion of
attacks such as Knockback, Blasts or Frags of any
type or size. It cannot be moved into another cube by
an attack. However, it still suffers damage from these
types of attack as normal.
When a Vehicle is destroyed it is left in place on the
battlefield. It is now treated as part of the battlefields
terrain and makes that cube count as cover. For the
sake of appearance you might like to remove any crew
models and add a small piece of cotton wool to look like
a smoking wreck.
The Vehicle ability includes Construct and Beast. A

Vehicle model behaves as if Construct and Beast was
written on its stat card.
Vehicles are listed with a number in brackets, eg Vehicle

(4). This is a reflection of how much punishment they can
take before they are destroyed. Vehicles take damage as
normal with the exception that they are not automatically
killed when they suffer 2 or more points of damage.
Instead, they suffer the amount of damage caused by
each attack after armour and so on has been factored in
as normal (see page 34 of the main rulebook). Vehicles
accumulate damage until they reach the total listed
in brackets, at which point they are destroyed. So, the
Vehicle (4) mentioned above would be destroyed if it took
a total of 4 or more damage, either in a single attack or
as the cumulative result of several hits.
Clarifications
A couple of points have come up since the game has been released.
1)
When setting up your Strike Team at the start of a game, you cannot
place a model in a cube that it could not normally move into.
2)
Medi-Packs and the Medic ability may not be used on models with
either the Construct or Vehicle abilities.
12 - NEXUS PSI

12
THE CAMPAIGN
NEXUS PSI - 13
The Nexus Psi campaign is designed as a two-player campaign. This means that the
experience of playing it will be different from a campaign with many different commanders,
even though it shares most of the same campaign rules. The main difference is not a rule as
such, but a likely outcome: intensity. This can make for long sessions where you are able to
immerse yourselves in the world and your force, fighting through several battles in a single
sitting. Just one more scenario is a common cause of late nights.
With only one enemy to fight against, you learn their tricks and ways to trick them in return.
Your Strike Force will evolve to fight against them specifically, and in any future games you will
be able to draw on a deep pool of experience in dealing with that particular foe. Its a great way
to learn how to fight a specific enemy.
Unlike most Deadzone games that arent
focussed on holding ground, the Nexus
Psi campaign is about eradicating, or
spreading, the Plague within a fixed
territory. For this reason, many of the
battles are about taking control of
particular Strategic Locations important
concentrations of population or resources.
Only when one player controls all of these
will the Plague have been cleansed, or the
planet lost.
Overall, a two-player campaign such as
Nexus Psi is a very different experience
from the ever-changing free-for-all that
is a normal campaign as described in the
main rules.
14 - NEXUS PSI

14
Getting Started
Strategic Locations
The first thing to do is decide who is going to play in the

campaign and which side they will take.
The Nexus Psi campaign is a struggle to claim or

reclaim the planet. This is represented by defining key
positions as Strategic Locations. The success of each
Strike Force is determined by the number of Strategic
Locations they control.
One player must take the Plague. After all, its not much
of an outbreak if they dont turn up. The other player
can take any faction they like, except the Plague. Both
players choose their Strike Forces as defined in the
campaign rules in the main rulebook.
The Scenarios
The campaign is made up of 9 scenarios:
A. Intelligence Run
S1.
S2.
S3.
S4.
S5.
Shattered Hopes
Bunker Hill
Landing Zone
Long Way Down
Health Assurance
X. Screaming Fans
Y. Ambush!
Z. The Gauntlet
Each scenario includes:
A map of the battlefield with specific set up
requirements.
The size of Strike Team each side can deploy
plus any restrictions there might be on them.
Deployment areas for the Strike Teams.
Any special rules.
Victory conditions.
Aftermath.
Scenarios S1S5 are each battles for control of one of

these Strategic Locations. Other scenarios do not affect
the outcome of the campaign as a whole, though they
may be a great help to your Strike Team, or a problem
for your opponents. The Plague start the campaign
in control of all five Strategic Locations. If they lose a
scenario (numbered S1S5) then they lose control of
that Location.
Page 63 of this book includes a campaign map of the five
Strategic Locations. You can mark which side controls
them with spare models, counters or coloured dice.
Winning The Campaign

Start the campaign with scenario A and keep track of
how many battles you have fought. At the end of the
sixth battle, and after every subsequent battle, check
to see if either side has won. Victory in the campaign
then goes to the first side to control all five Strategic
Locations at once. This forces the Plagues opponent to
act aggressively to take some ground as the Plague will
win by default if they dont make headway.
Note that this campaign can take quite a few battles
to resolve, though the exact number depends on the
players choices and how evenly matched they are in
skill. If you want to play a shorter campaign then all you
need to do is remove one or two of scenarios S1S5 and
play for control of less than five Strategic Locations.
NEXUS PSI - 15
Nexus Psi Rule Modifications

All scenarios in the Nexus Psi campaign use the
following new rules - unless stated otherwise the
normal campaign and set-up rules are followed as per
the main rule book. If these do not modify the normal
campaign rules then there is no change.
Starting The Campaign

The campaign starts with the Plague as the defender in
scenario A.
Attacker And Defender

In every scenario one player will be the attacker and the
other the defender. The player that chose the scenario
to be fought is always the attacker
Battlefield
The example on top shows ideal terrain placement. The

The defender lays out the scenery for each battle
second example includes a 3 cube x 3 cube empty area
within the restrictions given in the scenario. To give
(marked in red) which may lead to horrific bloodbaths.
yourself an interesting and varied layout, you should
start each scenario by setting up your scenery over the
Finally, the defender should make the minimum number
whole battlefield. Aim for a combination of something
of changes necessary to integrate the scenario specific
that looks both believable and interesting to play on.
scenery into the rest of the board and to give you an
However, before you get started, check to see if there
interesting and good-looking battlefield to fight over.
are any scenario specific scenery elements and put
these to one side for later. Unless a scenario specifically Intel items generally do nothing in these scenarios
as VPs are not used. However, they should be left in
calls for a larger open area, do not leave any 3 cube x
the counter mix unless the scenario says otherwise.
3 cube areas of the lowest level completely empty of
They still help to tell an interesting story, provide an
buildings. This is a minimum requirement, and you will
usually find that more densely packed terrain makes for opportunity for booby traps, and give more variation to
the possible value of items.
a better-balanced and more entertaining game.
Once the defender has finished setting up the scenery,
the attacker chooses which way round the board goes.
This indicates which edge will be at the bottom of the
scenario map and therefore where the deployment
zones, objectives, etc will be relative to the scenery. You
may find it convenient to rotate the board accordingly.
On top of this general layout you will need to place
objectives, items and any scenario specific scenery
elements that you put aside earlier. Add these at the
end, once you know which way up the board goes.
16 - NEXUS PSI

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When you refight a scenario you do not need to worry

about making the layout identical to a previous version
of that battlefield. In reality, each Strategic Location
covers a far larger area than can be shown on a single
Deadzone battlefield. Each time you play the scenario
you are likely to be focussing on a slightly different
section of the location as strategic deployments of
defenders shift, routes of advance are compromised or
the latest intel identifies new weaknesses. Just follow
the rules listed in each scenario and youll get the
flavour of each area, which is the important thing.
SCENARIO SPECIAL RULES

There are several scenario special rules that may apply
to the scenario. These include:
Man The Barricades! This rule applies to some
scenarios and modifies the process of setting up
the battlefield and choosing the defending Strike
Team.
Other than cover cubes that are inside buildings
(see page 37 of the main rulebook) there are
no cover cubes unless they are bought by the
defender. Each cube worth of cover costs 3 points
from the Strike Teams points allocation. The
defender can spend up to half their Strike Teams
points on buying cover. The defender places the
models to mark cover cubes along with the rest
of the scenery when setting up the battlefield,
before the attacker chooses the orientation (ie,
his route of advance).
In addition to any specific victory conditions, all scenarios

can be ended by one side choosing to abort. Aborting a
mission works differently in this campaign. You may only
choose to abort a mission at the end of a Round, and no
earlier than the end of the third Round of the scenario. If
you choose to abort a campaign mission then you simply
give up and withdraw, leaving the enemy in control of the
battlefield. The scenario ends and the Strike Team that
aborted the mission automatically loses the scenario. At
the end of a Round, the attacker must decide whether or
not they will abort the mission before the defender.
Gamers are often inclined to fight to the last man, and
this is particularly true in one-off battles. In campaigns,
where models gain experience and have a life beyond the
immediate battle, it can sometimes be best to cut your
losses and retreat before you lose a lot of good men.
Balancing when to retire gracefully and when to make
one last push is something that you will only learn with
practice.
After The Battle

A Cunning Plan. This rule applies to some
scenarios and modifies the process of setting up
the battlefield. Instead of placing objectives at
random as normal, the attacker places them on
the positions marked on the map only after he has
looked at each counter. The attacker can chose
which objective counter goes in each position.
In this way he will know which is which and the
defender will not.
After the battlefield has been completely set up,
but before either side has deployed, the attacker
secretly writes down which objective will be his
goal for the battle (X, Y or Z).
Apart from the Reputation rewards explained above, use

the normal campaign rules on page 52-55 of the main
rulebook unless the scenario you have just played says
otherwise.
The Next Battle

The winner of a battle has the strategic initiative and
must choose the next scenario to be fought from those
currently available to them in the campaign. The same
player that chooses the scenario to be played is also the
attacker for that battle. Most scenarios can be fought
more than once. However, there are some restrictions:
Scenario A: always available.
Other scenario special rules are noted on the applicable

scenarios page.
Scenarios S1S5: may only be chosen if you do

not currently control the corresponding Strategic
Location.
Deployment And First Turn
Scenario X: may only be chosen once during the

campaign, and may not be chosen by the Plague
player.
This process has been changed slightly for this

campaign. Use the normal deployment rules for the
sequence of model placement, with the defender
counting as starting player (even though they will not
take the first Turn). The attacker always takes the first
Turn. This slight change shows the more aggressive
nature of these scenarios.
Missions
Normal mission cards are not used. Instead, each
scenario lists its own victory conditions and Reputation
rewards for winner and loser. These Reputation
rewards replace the first three situations listed on page
52 of the main rulebook. If you included a Mercenary in
your Strike Team then this reward is modified by -3 as
usual.
Scenario Y: may only be chosen once during the

campaign, and may not be chosen by the Plague
player.
Scenario Z: may only be chosen once during the
campaign, and may only be chosen by the Plague
player.
In addition, scenarios Y and Z are special cases. They are
chosen by the losing player from the previous scenario,
not the winner. Each player has one of these special
scenarios to call on to try and turn the tide of battle. Each
gives an advantage to the side that calls it. The loser
simply declares that they will play one of these instead
of the winners choice and that becomes the next battle
to be fought. As these scenarios are only playable once
each, when you choose to use them is very important.
NEXUS PSI - 17
SCENARIO
INTELLIGENCE RUN
Forewarned is forearmed. The motto of the GCPS Intelligence Agency is an ancient

proverb, but it is as relevant in modern warzones as it was on Old Earth. Knowing your
enemys movements before they know yours can be the difference between victory and
defeat. The force commanders on Nexus Psi take every opportunity to gather intelligence
on their enemies, knowing that any scrap of information can make a vital difference to
their ongoing mission.
seT Up
Scenario Special Rules
There are no special scenery requirements for this

scenario.
Intel Gathering. The intel counter is not removed when it

is found and is not worth a VP. Instead it must be carried
off the battlefield by one of your models from a cube in
your own deployment zone. In all other respects the intel
behaves as a normal item counter and can be dropped,
passed to another model, etc.
Use the normal game rules for determining deployment

zones. Objectives are not needed in Intelligence Run.
Items use a different set up to normal, though you still
use the set of 16 counters with the crate on the back.
Remove the ? counter and put it back in the box. Take
the intel counter and place it face down to one side.
Shuffle the remaining 14 item counters and draw 7 at
random. Place these with the intel counter and mix them
all together so that you have 8 random counters including
the intel. Starting with the defender, take turns placing
these face down in the grey central zone, one at a time,
on any level. Place no more than one item per cube.
Available Forces
Both attacker and defender have 50 point Strike Teams.
Other than the restricted points, these are chosen using
the normal rules.
Victory Conditions
When a model carries the intel off the battlefield then the
game ends immediately. The Strike Team that carried the
intel off is the winner. If one side aborts the mission then
the other side is the winner. If the game ends in any other
circumstances then both sides count as losing the battle
and this scenario is played again as the next battle with
roles of attacker and defender reversed.
Aftermath
For a short time the winner has much better intel
than their enemy. The loser must show the winner the
composition of his Strike Team for the next battle before
the winner chooses theirs. This only applies for the
immediately following battle, but the winner (usually)
gets to choose this too so the combination can be used to
great effect.
The winner gains 8 Reputation, the loser gains 4.
18 - NEXUS PSI

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SCENARIO
S1
SHATTERED HOPES
Although Nexus Psi was a relatively new colony, it had been established long enough for
several decent-sized settlements such as Outpost 504K to spring up. The Soak now
stands silent, but amid the dead ad-splays there are still analogue billboards proudly
displaying corporate slogans and smiling mascots, and hand-painted signs marking out
independent start-ups that were doomed even before the infection hit. Such outposts are
always popular targets for strike forces looking to resupply. The makeshift barricades that
still stand from the initial outbreak, now bullet-ridden and draped with festering corpses,
are often pressed into use when rival factions converge on the same location.
SET UP
Available Forces
A normal 70 point Strike Team for the attacker and 50
points for the defender.

Man the Barricades!, A Cunning Plan (see page 15).
Victory Conditions
If, at the end of any Round, the attacker controls the
objective they secretly wrote down before the game
began then they are the winner.
If one Strike Team is wiped out or aborts the mission
then they lose.
Aftermath
Use the deployment zones shown on the map. Attacker
is shown in blue, defender in red and the neutral zone in
grey.
The three objective cubes in the central grey area
should be inside buildings.
The winner controls the S1 Strategic Location. As

long as he retains control he may add 10 points to the
maximum he is allowed to spend on his Strike Team in
any scenario. This bonus is cumulative if he controls
more than one Strategic Location.
NEXUS PSI - 19
The rotating dials of the horolog seemed to show the

impossible. It felt like an age had passed, but she had
been on-world for just under nine spins. Freya snapped
down the cover of her vambrace and swore effusively.
The sweeper in her vambrace gave a low ping, vibrating

against the inside of her wrist. She lifted the cover and
adjusted the play. A trace gathered info focus on the tiny
screen. Then another. And another.
The first night had been the hardest, with a ruptured

drive core and waves of the heintj closing in to
investigate the crash site. Shed had to choose between
ditching her cargo and saving her skin, and the decision
to flee hadnt come easy. She had a reputation to
maintain, after all. The core detonation had taken care
of the creatures, which was something, but now she
was stuck on a quarantined world without a means of
escape.
One of the crew was it Zarnoz, or Zerez? gave a

cry of alarm. Freya turned on the spot, seeing that the
Zee had a sweeper unit of his own. Fillon, the crews
commander, peered down from the squat roof, her rifle
cradled casually in one arm. The scavenger looked up
at her.
At least she wasnt alone any more. Shed run into a

rebel crew two spins back as they were backing out
of a fight with a group of bugam, and shed offered her
services as a guide without a second thought. It was
something she was more than prepared for; shed
reviewed the planets geography as a matter of course,
committing it to memory as best she could, and had
salvaged her charts from the Firesteel before it had
gone up. Now, having led her new allies to a hilltop
bunker that was somehow still standing, she was trying
to figure out her next step while they busied themselves
with looting anything that wasnt nailed down.
South perimeter! The call came from Belwin.

Infected!
20 - NEXUS PSI

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Eleven clear hits incoming. No, twelve! His voice was

shrill with panic.
Freya wasted no time, drawing her sidearm and

dragging a crate into position to act as cover. The Zees
followed suit. Fillons voice rang out from up above.
Get into cover! I want weapons live and firing as soon
as you see them. Were sitting on all the ammo we need,
so no need to be shy. This bunkers ours. I dont intend
on giving it up any time soon!
The first creature crested the hill, and Freya wondered
why shed ever left the military.
SCENARIO
S2
BUNKER HILL
One of the many dangers facing Frontier settlers is the ever-present threat of attack.
Millions of kilometres from the nearest Enforcer patrol, colonies can suddenly find
themselves targeted by rebels and alien raiders. This is an unavoidable peril of life on the
Frontier, and colonists do what they can to prepare against them. Survival shelters and
armoured redoubts were built to give civilians shelter during these attacks, stockpiled
with supplies and military-grade hardware. In most cases the Plague struck too quickly
them to be used, and now they are sought after by the many strike forces that battle
across Nexus Psi.
SET UP
Victory Conditions
If, at the end of any Round, the attacker has captured
two or more cubes of the bunker then they are the
winner.
then they lose.
Aftermath
In addition, the Strike Force that controls Bunker Hill
may buy items of equipment between battles for 1 point
less per item (to a minimum cost of 1 point each).

grey.
The grey area is a single, 2-level bunker with a roof
(occupying a total of 12 cubes).
Objective counters are not used in this scenario.
Available Forces

Man The Barricades!
Bombardment. After deployment but before the first
Turn, supporting forces drop a lightning barrage of 3
rounds on the defences in an effort to soften them up.
The attacker chooses three different cubes to be the
target of long range, Indirect, Massive Frag attacks.
These attacks are resolved at a value of 5+.
NEXUS PSI - 21
SCENARIO
S3
SET UP
LANDING ZONE
Like most newly-colonised worlds, Nexus Psi has only one major star port, at Reiker
City. Instead, most outposts have tertiary-scale landing pads that can handle minor
drops and outbound pickups. These are usually bulk-produced by Almar Incorporated
to be compatible with their fleets of cargo boats, then offered free of charge to Frontier
colonies as part of a standard logistics deal. Post-outbreak, the remaining landing pads
are vital strategic locations. While registered ships have had their launch codes stripped,
smaller suborbital craft can still use the pads to make secure landings and redeploy
troops across the surface of Nexus Psi.
grey.
The grey area (plus the central cube marked in blue) is
a single, 2-level landing pad. The top level of the landing
pad must be clear of cover and other obstacles (so it is
clear to use for landing). In addition, there must be at
least one attached tower, stairs or ramp in an adjacent
cube to allow for easy access.
The attacker may only place model from his Inserted
force (see below) in the deployment zone on the landing
pad itself, and only on the top level. The remainder of
his models must deploy in the larger of the two blue
zones.
The defender must split his Strike Force into X, Y and
Z groups before he places any of them. He can divide
them in any way as long as each part contains at least
one model. The deployment zone that each of these
groups may deploy in is determined by placing a random
objective counter in each of the three red deployment
zones. Only the group with the matching letter may set
up in each deployment zone. After deployment, remove
the objective markers. They are not used for their
normal function in this scenario.
22 - NEXUS PSI

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Available Forces
Victory Conditions
A normal 70 point Strike Team for each side. In

addition, the attacker may choose 20 points of models
to Insert. These models can be freely chosen from his
Strike Force and ignore the normal limitations of type.
Additional points allowed to the attacker for control
of other Strategic Locations may not be added to the
Inserted group.
Starting at the end of Round 3, check for victory at the

end of each Round. If one side has the only models on
the top level of the landing pad then they are the winner.
Only consider the 3x3 area shown on the map, not any
attached towers, stairs, ramps, etc. Also, ignore the
lower levels of the landing pad. If one side controls the
top then they can bring in reinforcements and easily
push out any remaining opposition.

then they lose.
Man The Barricades! Note that cover may not be placed

on the top level of the landing pad.
Insert. Before the first Turn, a small group of attackers
was inserted onto the landing pad itself. They may have
jumped, fast-roped, glided or descended by low-grav
chutes from a hovering vehicle. However they got into
position, their arrival signals the start of the attack.
The inserted group cannot include any models with a
size of 3 or 4, nor may it include any Vehicles. Other than
that, the only restriction is the points limitation listed
above.
At the end of the battle, any surviving model of the
Inserted group gets an additional point of experience.
Aftermath
In addition, the Strike Force that controls the Almar
Landing Zone may position one additional model in each
battle as if that model had Scout. This model does not
gain the ability, permanently, merely being placed as
if they had it as long as their Strike Force controls this
Strategic Locations easy access to transports and air
support.
NEXUS PSI - 23
SCENARIO
S4
LONG WAY DOWN
When Nexus Psi scored highly on initial scans to reveal its natural resources, several
mining corporations stepped forward to offer their services to whoever won the licensing
bid. Thanks to several days of pre-negotiation, Reiker was able to offer the contract to
Mi-Gan the moment they were granted a license. A fleet of drop-rigs was dispatched
immediately. These monolithic creations, designed to be compatible with Shensigs
habtainer range, tower above the forest canopies and mountain ranges, drilling down via
armour-plated shafts that bypass the surface entirely. These vast, abandoned machines
offer access to valuable resources for any that can capture them.
SET UP
Available Forces
There are no special scenery requirements for this

scenario in terms of buildings. However, the battlefield
represents something very different from usual.
A normal 70 point Strike Team for both sides.
This battle is fought among the gantries and walkways

of the underside of a large mining rig. Between the grid
of the walkway, and through the railings, you can see
the long drop to the planets surface below.
Lay out the battlefield with a raised series of walkways
(of any width) connecting as much as possible in a
lattice. Leave gaps between them. This could include
stairs, ramps and other means of getting up and down
levels as well as buildings. The underside of the
rig is a large and complex place. However, this whole
battlefield is suspended high in the air, so assume that
the battle mat itself represents a fatal drop rather than
the ground.
Use the normal game rules for determining deployment
zones and placing objectives. All items and objectives
must be on walkways, not on the gaps between them.

Man The Barricades!
Underbelly. Because the underside of a rig is an
awkward and difficult place to get to, no Vehicles are
allowed in either Strike Team. Also, as it has a solid roof
(the floor of the rig above), Indirect fire is not allowed.
Falling off the rigs walkways is invariably fatal and
nobody will risk trying to find the corpse. Anyone falling
off is permanently removed from the Strike Forces
roster. You cannot get the medics to treat a body you
dont have.
Victory Conditions
If, at the end of any Round, one side controls two of the
three objectives then they are the winner. If one Strike
Team is wiped out or aborts the mission then they lose.
If the game times out then the defender wins.
Aftermath
If any model(s) from either side fall off the walkways
to their deaths, all models that survive this battle from
either side gain one additional point of experience.
Setting up this battlefield can be quite scenery

intensive. One way to reduce the number of
pieces you need is not to raise the walkways
off the mat. You must still assume that the mat
itself represents a long drop onto the surface,
but it will save a number of scenery pieces and
allow you to make more connections.
24 - NEXUS PSI

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SCENARIO
S5
HEALTH ASSURANCE
Mazon Labs has medical outposts set up across of Nexus Psi, but their primary location
is the Deepwater Medicentre. It was a fully-stocked alpha care centre, catering to serious
illnesses and injuries from anywhere on-world. It still stands, battered by the Plague
but not destroyed outright, most of its plentiful medical resources still salvageable by a
team with the right know-how. From a military standpoint it is one of the most important
strategic objectives on Nexus Psi; field treatments and first aid are nothing compared to
what Deepwater can offer.
SET Up
Set up items as normal. In addition, place 4 of the round

item counters at random as well. Regardless of what
the counter art is on these last items, assume they are
all medi-packs.
Available Forces

Man The Barricades!
Victory Conditions
If, at the end of any Round, the attacker has captured all
three objectives then they are the winner.
then they lose.
is shown in blue, defender in red and the neutral zones
in grey.
Aftermath
The grey areas can be represented by separate

buildings or by areas within buildings (operating
theatres, data offices, etc) as you choose. A least part of
the grey areas should be multi-level.
In addition, the Strike Force that controls the Deepwater

Medicentre may roll 2 dice instead of 1 for each model
that is resurrected. Choose the result you prefer.
The winner controls the S5 Strategic Location.
NEXUS PSI - 25
DREADBALL GUARD
RCERS
DREADBALL JACK
WORKS FOR: ANYONE EXCEPT ENFORCERS
DREADBALL STRIKER
WORKS FOR: ANYONE EXCEPT ENFORCERS
OVERWATCH: MOVE
OVERWATCH:
MOVE
OVERWATCH: MOVE
ABILITIES: BRAWLER, RESOURCEFUL
ABILITIES:
FAST, RESOURCEFUL
ABILITIES: FAST, RESOURCEFUL
WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT:

DREADBALL GLOVE:
RANGE 3, ONE-USE, KNOCKBACK
26 - NEXUS PSI

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DREADBALL GLOVE:
RANGE 3, ONE-USE, KNOCKBACK
SCENARIO
SCREAMING FANS
The Red Forest Arena is the most remote DreadBall stadium in the entire GCPS. It
was ordered as a personal project by Tavis Carver, a legendary DreadBall fan with
his own private arena-side box at the Co-Prosperity Park Arena, who did not want to
miss his favourite sport while overseeing the first stages of Reiker Citys construction.
Containment Protocol be damned; the DGB is unwilling to let its superstar players die far
away from their adoring fans, and will pay handsomely for their rescue and extraction.
SET UP
Rescue. When an attacking model reaches the cube

containing an objective he may look at it as normal. If it
is the objective at which the attacker declared the MVP
was hiding then the model is placed on the table and
marked as activated for this Round. Their aggression
starts at Alert. Use any non-GIANT DreadBall MVP you
have available. Their Deadzone stats depend on their
role:
The MVP is happy to see his rescuers, though that
doesnt make them any more pleased about being in
the middle of a battle. The MVP is treated as part of the
attacking Strike Team for the remainder of the battle.
If a defending model locates the MVP first then they
are placed on the board as described above and must
immediately Fight the enemy model that moved into that
cube.
Victory Conditions

is shown in blue, defender in red and the neutral zones
in grey.
The green area of the map is the edge of a DreadBall
pitch and so is flat and open. No items or models can be
placed or deployed in this area at the start of the game.
The rest of the board represents the seating, changing
rooms, concession stalls and myriad other behind the
scenes rooms that serve the teams and the sports
loving public.
When the MVP has exited the board or has been

killed then the game ends. If the MVP is dead then the
defenders win. If the MVP exits the board via a cube in
the attackers deployment zone then the attackers win.
Aftermath
If the attacker wins then every member of the Strike
Team gets an autographed DreadBall and a lifetime
pass to the MVPs home arena. As well as that, they
each get one additional point of experience.
Before the battle starts, the attacker must state out

loud which objective the MVP is hiding at (see Rescue,
below). Note that the placement of the objective
counters is still random.
Available Forces
A normal 70 point Strike Team.

Inside. The battlefield is all inside a DreadBall arena
complex. Indirect attacks may not be used in this
scenario.
NEXUS PSI - 27
SCENARIO
AMBUSH!
It was always going to be tough to wrest control of Nexus Psi from the Plague, but its
Nexus Psi is lost to the Plague. Packs of infected roam the streets of every outpost and
stalk the plains and forests. If you ever thought you stood a chance of wresting the world
from their clutches, you now know that hope to be futile. However, there is still a chance.
If you can take back a handful of key strategic locations, your mission here could still be
accomplished. You could still even the odds. You will need to strike quickly if you wish to
catch your enemy with their guard down
SET UP
Victory Conditions
When there are no more defending models left alive on
the board then the game ends.
Unless the attacker aborts the mission or is wiped out
then they win this scenario.
Aftermath
Each of the surviving defending models get one
additional experience.

is shown in blue, defender in red.
Objectives are not used in Ambush!
Available Forces
The defender has a normal 70 point Strike Team.
The attacker may use 100 points and ignores the normal
limitations on model type. If the total Strike Force is
under 100 points then it is immediately expanded to this
level with fresh recruits as per campaign step 9.
At least one attacking model must be placed in each of
the deployment zones.

Its A Trap! The defenders realise its a trap a moment
too late. They must try to slip away as quickly as
possible and can leave the board along any edge
marked in red. Different models can escape across
different edges. Their scattered forces will rally later.
28 - NEXUS PSI

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Nothing exhibits the pragmatism of the Marauders more than the Mawbeast Bomber. Noting the tendency of enemy
to gun down the creatures as they closed in for the kill, they saw the potential for a new weapon. Strapped with
compact loads of high explosives, these enthusiastic - if short lived - creatures have been the downfall of many an
otherwise secure outpost.
NEXUS PSI - 29
SCENARIO
THE GAUNTLET
The moment the Artefact was awoken, this world was lost. Nothing could stand in the
way of the Plague and hope to survive. There are still pockets of resistance, but these are
nothing more than the last, dying spasms of a creature too dull-witted to know that its
end has come. However, your ambitions stretch beyond Nexus Psi, and there is one group
of enemies that could almost stand to thwart your plans. This cannot be allowed. You will
attack when they are at their least prepared and overwhelm them with your numbers and
might. Their resistance ends here.
SET UP
Available Forces
The defender has a normal 70 point Strike Team.
The attacker may use 100 points and ignores the normal
limitations on model type. If the total Strike Force is
under 100 points then it is immediately expanded to this
level with fresh recruits as per campaign step 9.

Its A Trap! The defenders realise its a trap a moment
too late. They must try to slip away as quickly as
possible and can leave the board along the edge marked
in red.
Victory Conditions
When there are no more defending models left alive on
the board then the game ends.
Unless the attacker aborts the mission or is wiped out
then they win this scenario.
is shown in blue, defender in red.
The attacker cannot place a second model in a given
cube until all cubes within his deployment zones have a
model in. This forces his Strike Team to spread out.
Aftermath
Each of the surviving defending models get one
additional experience.
30 - NEXUS PSI

30
THE FACTIONS
NEXUS PSI - 31
Within the GCPS there are hundreds, if not thousands,

of military forces. As well as the private armies,
security fleets and merc companies, there are the
standing Corporate Armies. Each of these forces
exists for the sole purpose of protecting their parent
corporations interests, so it is no surprise that this can
lead to clashes between rival forces when licensing
agreements overlap, or when they both lay claim to
a particular asset. They can also be called on to deal
with threats from outside the GCPS, under direct edict
from the Council of Seven. When territory debates
get out of hand, or when corporate forces come up
against something they cant handle (such as when
guerrilla fighters on Azure IX massacred the Gorsch
corporations mining crews, or when the Arklyte
Cluster erupted in open rebellion), the Council has at its
disposal its own elite military force.
For a long time, the Council simply used veteran
soldiers recruited from the larger Corporate Armies.
Unfortunately, most human troopers seemed to lack the
stomach for some of the more clandestine operations
that were required of them. They were gradually
replaced with highly-trained squads of Orx following the
Klandax Treaty, who combined brutal effectiveness with
utter discretion. Though successful for a time, this was
brought to a bloody end by the events of the Mandrake
Rebellion. A new solution was required, and one was
found in the Enforcers.
32 - NEXUS PSI

32
The exact details of the origins of this elite military

force are shrouded in mystery, known only to a select
few outside the council. This knowledge is kept secret
by these individuals on pain of extreme sanction. In
any case, regardless of where they come from, the
Enforcers are without a doubt the living embodiment of
the Councils will.
In the field, Enforcers are disciplined and deadly. Their
training allows them to detach themselves from the
horrors of war, stripping away their humanity and
leaving only a cold, relentless drive to complete their
mission no matter the cost. Further to this, they eschew
names in the field, instead referring to each other
by serial numbers and squad codes. To the outside
observer, each Enforcer looks identical, with very few
armour variations or personal touches to mark them
apart from their squad-mates. This is intentional; if the
enemy cannot identify individuals, it is harder for him to
ascertain their numbers.
Cutting-Edge Technology
Enforcers are equipped with the best equipment
that money can buy. Indeed, most of their kit is so
specialised that nothing like it is available on the
common market, even through illicit sources. Their
armour is proof against most small arms fire and is
power-assisted, granting Enforcers enhanced strength
and speed. The ubiquitous helmet is designed to inspire
fear in the enemy, and a stylised graphic of it is used

as a warning icon in Council-protected facilities across
the GCPS. Proof against most hostile environments,
including hard vacuum, the armour incorporates
extensive rebreathing, recycling and medical
technology, allowing its wearer to fight in virtually all
situations. It also features high-end comms technology,
geolocation beacons and countless other devices that
grant the wearer autonomy in the field.
Despite this wealth of onboard systems, the armour is
light and manoeuvrable, a fact further enhanced by the
lightweight jump pack that is mounted into every suit.
This lets Enforcers overcome obstacles, perform high
altitude combat drops in hotly contested landing zone,
and redeploy from one area of a battlefield to another
without relying on cumbersome transport vehicles.
Each suit of armour also possesses a self-destruct
mechanism, intended to keep the suits secrets from
falling into enemy hands. Unless this is overridden by a
superior officer, this function will activate within a few
minutes of the wearers death, reducing both the armour
and the Enforcer inside to a fine ash.
Tools of Destruction
The standard weapon carried by Enforcer teams is the
Genling 45 HLR-X, which is a modified version of the
Heavy Laser Rifle used by some corporate military
units. The 32 HLP-X acts as their standard sidearm, or in
the case of Assault units, their primary ranged weapon.
These troopers are also equipped with the Magnurba
Wristblade, a nanomolecular edged weapon that
extends from a housing on the Enforcers right forearm.
Wristblades are closer in aspect to a sword than a knife,
and are sharp enough to penetrate anything from carbon
lattice to the thick hides of silicon-based life forms.
When the blades retract they are automatically cleaned

and honed, making them remarkably durable and longlasting compared to conventional melee weaponry.
Aside from variants of the Genling laser rifle, such as
the 58 LSW-X Burst Laser and the 50 APR-X sniper
rifle, most Enforcer support weaponry is supplied by
Recoil Industries. Strike Forces regularly enter combat
with their missile launchers and various other special
weaponry, such as the Thermal Rifle, the Incinerator
and the Fusion Gun. While each Enforcer is given basic
training in the use of each of these weapons, they are
generally only taken to the field by specialists except in
particularly unusual situations.
The Genling Corporation was famously granted

an exclusive munitions license to supply
Enforcer units in 3102, and produced multiple
variants of the same HLR technology, including
sidearm and support weapon versions, until
their merger six years later. Accutek now
reserves the Genling brand for Enforcer
weaponry, and has validated over a dozen
alterations to the original design to improve
accuracy, stopping power and ease of use.
Children of Science
Only a very limited amount is known about the journey
taken by an Enforcer recruit. One thing that is for certain
is that the results are remarkable considering that the
average timeframe seems to be less than a standard
year. Consequently, it is almost certainly the case that
Enforcers are physically altered through unnatural
NEXUS PSI - 33
means. Whether this is via internal nanite machinery,

gross cybernetic change or biogenetic modification
remains unknown. What is obvious to anyone who
has watched them in action is that they are certainly
more than human. They have been seen to fight on
with terrible wounds, and their medics will work on
the most even the most grievously wounded casualties
in a manner that suggests an expectation of recovery,
while their enormous strength cannot be entirely
explained by the assistance granted by their armour
alone. Some of the more fanciful infosphere posts on
the topic have suggested they might also possess acidic
blood, the capacity to go weeks without sleep and the
ability to survive a hard vacuum without their armour,
but these are almost certainly little more than gross
exaggerations. Regardless of the truth, the Council of
Seven is all too happy to allow this wild theorising; after
all, it shrouds the Enforcers true nature and makes
their reputation even more terrifying.
In The Deadzone
The Enforcers were sent to Nexus Psi to protect the
interests of the Council of Seven, but their actions have
much wider-ranging implications than the whims of
the Spheres ruling caste. The Plague is a deadly threat
to the future of the GCPS, and while it is technically
confined to the surface, Containment Protocol is never
as secure or final as intended. Quarantined worlds
Deadzones, as they are generally known are popular
targets for rebels and raiders alike, not to mention
some of the more underhanded corporations who dont
wish to lose whatever assets were held on-planet.
NavCorp is only one of many systems that can be used
to navigate space, and no matter how tightly organised
a blockade is, there are always gaps for shrewd ship
captains to sneak through. If even a single landing
craft were to be commandeered, and a lone First-Stage
Infected left the planet, there is no telling how far the
contagion could spread.
Although the Enforcers primary mission is therefore

to hunt and kill any Plague they can find, they may
have dozens of secondary objectives. They might be
looking to recover sensitive information or equipment
before it can fall into enemy hands, or rescuing
particular members of a corporations staff so that
they can continue whatever secret task the Council
has given them. They do not concern themselves with
anything outside their mission, meaning that the rescue
of doomed citizens is not even a tertiary concern.
Survivors who see Enforcers approaching may be filled
with hope and relief at first, but they will soon come to
realise that their nightmare is far from over
I am a product of the greatest military

programme in the history of the man. I am
briefed on all forms of combat, and every
enemy known to the Sphere. My training left no
room for emotions like fear or hatred.
That is why, as I sprint across the wreckage
that used to be a motor pool or a mech depot or
maybe a transit site, the only thing on my mind
is a situational re-evaluation.
My heart rate is elevated beyond acceptable
levels. This is understandable, given the
loss of my assault blade and right forearm.
My uplink is faulting and I cannot contact my
squad. Beyond that, I am at full capability.
The enemy were strong, and they were fast. I
did not see the unit that fired the opening shot,
but damage spread and aftereffect suggests
a heavy drone. The rest of my squad took
firing positions in response while I advanced.
I sighted three combat drones and made for
them at speed.
The melee that followed was surprisingly
short. My swing went wide as my target
sidestepped, grasped my overextended right
arm and severed it at the elbow joint. The ease
with which it neutralised my primary weapon
was troubling. Furthermore, my visual stream
showed that three of my squad had fallen.
I ducked past its second strike and kicked out
at its knee joint. It gave slightly, just enough
to give me an opening. Without looking back, I
broke into a sprint.
It is a rare enemy that takes us by surprise.
Standard procedure in this instance is to
scatter and regroup. I will circle around to the
rally point and trade my sidearm for a rifle. We
will reconsider and re-engage.
It is not our purpose to take revenge. We will
simply annihilate them.
34 - NEXUS PSI

34
The Corporations of Nexus Psi

Although the Reiker Corporation was never granted a full licence to Nexus Psi, it was given leave to begin leasing
areas of the surface to secondary concerns. As soon as it opened the application process, bids flooded in from dozens
of corporations, large and small. As construction began, each started to carve out its territory, bringing all kinds of
services to the local settlers. At the time Containment Protocol was enacted almost two dozen Corporations had a
presence on-world, but five stood out as most active.
The Reiker Corporation
At the forefront of expansion

Reiker grew out of a merger between several smaller corporations with a shared interest:
planetary development. 42% of planetary licences in the fourth and fifth Spheres are held
at the top level by Reiker, and they receive an estimated 7.1 teracredits annually as revenue
generated by their sub-licensees. They were in the process of setting up a management hub
on Nexus Psi when the planet was lost.
Carver, Inc.
Standing Strong
Carver is a construction company that specialises in building in harsh climates and wild
areas. It has become increasingly known for its work on frontier planets, where it provides
permanent buildings to replace the temporary constructs built by early settlers. Its only
project on Nexus Psi when the Plague broke out was Reiker City, a habitation complex built
around the planets primary star port.
Accutek
Your safety is our business

The largest manufacturer of arms and ordnance in the GCPS, Accutek has spent several years
buying out its rivals and taking on their military and civilian contracts. Their research centre
on Nexus Psi was rumoured to be conducting testing on new super-weapons for deployment
by the Councils elite Enforcer units; if this were true, the Containment Protocol would have
meant untold losses for the company.
Mazon Labs
For a better galaxy

One of the leading names in medical care and research, Mazon Labs (a subsidiary of the
Mazon Corporation) is universally recognised for its comprehensive health assurance
packages. It regularly sets up Frontier Outposts in new colonies, ensuring that its paying
subscribers on the fringe of the GCPS are covered in the case of any mishaps.
Almar Incorporated
Weve got your back
If Almars corporate literature is to be believed, it can trace its roots back to Old Earth itself.
Regardless of its history, it is the only name that most Corporations trust in the field of
logistics and distribution. Almar bought into Reikers promise of Nexus Psi becoming a new
hub of expansion, and hundreds of abandoned warehouses now litter the planets surface.
NEXUS PSI - 35
Enforcer Ships
Much like their weapons and armour, the ships of the
Enforcer Corps represent a level of efficiency and
lethality an order of magnitude larger than those used
by corporate fleets. Equipped with advanced scanning
arrays, passive and active ship to ship countermeasures
and a full array of tactical ordnance, each class utilised
by the Enforcers is more than capable of taking on
bigger and heavier ships and winning.
Equipped with extensive flight hangars and troop decks,

a single Wyvern can deploy enough Enforcers, support
weapons and vehicles to assault an entire continent.
It also mounts fearsome ordnance capability, with an
internal stockpile of warheads extensive and varied
enough to deal with any situation. The mere arrival of
a Wyvern in-system is often enough to provoke enemy
forces to surrender.
These craft are manufactured under terms of absolute

exclusivity by the yards of the Xian Seng Corporation.
Having risen to fame for its superior luxury cruisers,
which are still seen as a status symbol by the richest
of the super-elite, Xian Seng suddenly ceased trading
to private consumers around the same time that the
Enforcer programme went live. The corporation had
always been dogged by whispers of experimental
technology derived from unincorporated aliens, but
while it is certainly true that they manufactured ships
light years ahead of their competitors, nothing concrete
was ever proved. Regardless, Xian Seng was clearly
deemed fit to serve the purposes of the Council, which
is now their only client.
While the Wyvern is only seen in the direst

circumstances, the XSM-76 Drakon is a much more
commonly-used ship. It is the main deployment craft
used by the Enforcers, one of the smallest military
craft fitted with a McKinley Drive. They are typically
used as rapid reaction ships, and most blockades
around quarantined planets are initially made up of
these ships. Minimally crewed, Drakons still represent
a real threat to any foolish enough to try and breach
the cordon. Although there are some variants, most
are fitted with an internal shuttle bay housing an
XSM-762 Stallion dropship that can carry a full patrol
force of thirty Enforcers plus supporting equipment.
The Stallion is essential in the deployment of Recon
troopers to a planets surface prior to the verification of
a Containment Protocol, and its silhouette has become
associated with coming danger.
Xian Seng manufacture two main classes of starship

for the Enforcers, and most of what is known about
them is based on limited observation and hearsay.
The XSM-85 Wyvern is a heavier ship, designed for
mass deployment of Enforcers into areas of heavy
fighting, and it is rare to see more than one of these
beasts in any given deployment zone.
36 - NEXUS PSI

36
NEXUS PSI - 37
To the galactic north-east of the GCPS lies the Death

Arc, a region of space that is considered by some to be
one of the greatest mysteries of the galaxy. It was first
explored by long-range scout ships from the Canco
Corporation, who discovered a world whose verdant
forests hid the ruins of a widespread urban culture.
The scouts duly noted this, conducted a brief survey
and moved on. At the time, little was thought of the
deceased population. Intelligent life is common in the
galaxy, but many species fail to make the transition to a
hi-tech society without destroying themselves through
war or environmental collapse. The planet-sized graves
of those failed peoples dot the stars.
What the Canco scouts had found, however, was not a
lone tomb, but the first headstone in a cemetery.
As they went onwards, the scouts found world after
world where desiccated bones littered the crumbling
streets and towering buildings stood like lonely
monoliths, cracked with age and webbed with plant life.
There were no signs of remainging intelligent life on
any of the worlds. Unnerved and out of range of their
nearest hub, the scouts turned back. The Death Arc was
labelled as Unexploited and left alone.
Time moved on. The Co-Prosperity Sphere continued
its glorious expansion, and eventually the Frontier
expanded to meet the edge of the Death Arc. Records
of Cancos expedition were dug out of the archives and
re-examined. These worlds harboured a wealth of
exploitable assets, so it was no surprise when licensing
was opened and bids flooded in.
As Exploration Fleets made their way across the Death

Arc, more detailed studies of the fallen civilisations
began to filter back to Corporation Central. The
reports were all similar: damage to the fabric of the
civilisations infrastructure was not commensurate
with large-scale warfare, save in two exceptions
where atomic weapons had been deployed, but there
were widespread indications of large-scale civil
unrest, followed by societal collapse. Each planets
population showed a sharp drop in number, which
precipitated a rapid decline in technological aptitude.
The last few survivors appeared to have been living at
sub-metalworking levels before dying out altogether.
Some of the civilisations in question had no contact
with other worlds, while others appeared to be parts of
thriving multi-system states with ties to other similar
civilisations. All had met the same fate.
As coincidence, cosmic phenomena and interstellar
war were ruled out, the similarity of the worlds ends
seemed to point to one thing only: disease. Some kind
of terrifying, interplanetary pandemic. Epidemiological
techniques revealed that the supposed contagion had
apparently spread from somewhere deeper within
the Death Arc. Even more disturbingly, teams of
archeobiologists uncovered evidence that the contagion
might not be as dead as they first thought; it appeared
that it had died out several times, only to come back
hundreds, if not thousands of years later.
STAGE 2As
STAGE 1A
38 - NEXUS
Matthew
McDonald
After a tense debate on Corporation Central, a verdict

was reached. The resurgence of a contagion as
brutal as the one that had devastated the Death Arc,
one that could apparently travel between planets,
was considered to be too high a risk to allow further
exploration. For the first time in its history, the Galactic
Co-Prosperity Sphere made the decision not to expand.
The Death Arc would be its first permanent border, held
firmly by a blockade of Enforcer ships.
That decision might have gone down in history as one
that saved the GCPS, had the contagion been confined to
the Death Arc.
Adriana Falls
Years passed, and the threat of the dead worlds was
forgotten. When sudden outbreaks of rioting and
looting were reported on Adriana, one of the more
well-developed planets in the Frontier, no one in the
Core took notice; after all, it was something for the
local security patrols to deal with. Then video streams
started arriving, showing terrified colonists being
hunted down and killed by brutish thugs clad in torn
rags and the skins of their fellow men. These butchers
were accompanied by strange, giant mutant creatures
that bounded through the burning streets, hunting
for prey like pack animals. From the comfort of their
booths in the watch stations of Corporation Central,
intelligence operatives watched as the beasts fell upon
helpless citizens half a galaxy away.
Enforcer patrols were rerouted to investigate the
planet from orbit, expecting to find some kind of alien
attack force, but there was nothing in orbit other than
Adrianas moons. Scans of the surface seemed to point
to the violence having spilled out from a central location
in the northern hemisphere, and it was postulated that
the creatures had emerged from below ground. One
man stood up against this and put forth a new theory:
contagion.
Before his promotion to watch operative, Tomas

Ledecker had been loosely involved in the collation
of data from the Death Arc. Had he not been at his
station at the right time, things may have turned out
very differently; luckily, he was present to point out the
similarities between the happenings on Adriana and the
projected events that had led up to the fall of so many
worlds in the Death Arc. He raised the point with his
supervisor, who passed it up the chain of command. The
stream footage was examined more closely, and the
operatives hardened agents who had witnessed some
of the worst atrocities in Corporation space let out a
collective gasp. The large creatures were pouncing on
their targets, but were not killing them. Their victims
were wracked with a series of convulsions, their flesh
seeming to contort and their musculature seeming to
expand, before rising to join the ranks of the hunters.
It was a contagion, likely the same one that had caused
untold death on so many worlds. It had to be contained.
This news reached the Enforcer Wyvern Deucalion just
in time. Fixed in a geostationary orbit around Adriana,
the cruiser registered a ship dusting off from New
Brunnen Starport. It was only a small commercial
vessel, but it showed close to two dozen life signs far
more than would normally have been expected for a
ship of its size to carry. Deucalion ordered it to arrest
its ascent, but nothing came back across the comms
net. Only pausing momentarily to confirm orders with
Corporation Central, the warship opened fire, atomising
the smaller ship in seconds.
Exodus Massacre
Across the planet, more craft were beginning to dust
off. It was a mass exodus. There was no way of knowing
which of them held innocent civilians trying to escape
the horrors, but it didnt matter. The orders were clear.
Enforcer ships spread out to form a cordon around
the planet, and nothing was allowed to leave. It is
estimated that almost a fifth of the worlds population
STAGE 3As
NEXUS PSI - 39
was massacred in the skies before the starports were

targeted from orbit, preventing any further ships from
leaving.
The ships stayed in position for an entire month as
Corporation Central debated what to do. There were
calls to carpetbomb Adriana from orbit, but this
was refuted by representatives from some of the
larger Corporations. A Lu-Fan spokesperson gave an
impassioned speech, making the case that while the
creatures on the planet had rampaged through the
populace, they had left structures mostly intact. Many
of those structures represented a significant credit
value, and in some cases several years of investment.
Certainly, they were off-limits for now, but once the
contagion died down, there was nothing to say they
couldnt be reclaimed. They refused to budge on the
issue, and eventually the decision was passed up to the
Council of Seven. A simple response was returned:
Contain outbreak. Preserve Infrastructure.
Adriana was completely quarantined, the first victim
of what is now known as Containment Protocol. It
was stripped from NavCorp records, removed from
logs, and references to it in official and commercial
documentation were amended. This was seen as
a significant risk, but sure enough no one stepped
forward to question the disappearance of an entire
planet. Either no one noticed, or more likely, according
to the Spheres many conspiracy theorists dissenters
were silenced before they could make their voices
heard. This was so effective that it became a codified
practice, and was used in years to come as a response
to a variety of scenarios from outbreaks of contagion to
hostile alien incursions.
The Frontier Artefact

In the aftermath of the Adriana incident, as intelligence
operatives combed through archived data packets
sent in the run-up to the outbreak, the source of the
creatures (which had, by this point, been dubbed The
Plague) became clear. Shortly before the first report
of violence, a construction team had struck a metallic
object while laying foundations for a research station.
The object was big, almost as large as the excavator
that had uncovered it, and seemed impervious to
damage. It had eventually been unearthed and properly
examined. The log report did not go into much further
detail, but it did give the full analysis report that had
been completed on the site. The object had possessed
an unusual radioactive signature which echoed one that,
sure enough, been found by one of the science teams
investigating the Death Arc.
This was only the first Artefact to be discovered on the
Frontier. More followed, and each time there came the
Plague, and another Containment Protocol. By the time
the Artefact on Nexus Psi was unearthed, almost three
dozen planets had been quarantined.
40 - NEXUS
Matthew
McDonald
Frm//Corp/Lu-Fan/xxx/hleish
To//Corp/Lu-Fan/ctrl/zmeng
Subj: Findings re intra-infected violence
Please find below the summary of the recently
completed research project into intra-infected
behaviour, focussing mainly on aggression.
In short, despite the violent tendencies of the
infected, out-and-out aggression between
vectors is rare. This is concurrent with initial
theories laid down following the study of
visual records from quarantined worlds.
Study of captive vectors lends weight to
this theory. Whatever stage the disease has
reached, the infected emit complex, artificial
hydrocarbons through their membranous
tissues. These function in a similar manner
to pheromones in more standard mammals.
Changes to the olfactory epithelia and
olfactory bulb make this scent highly
distinctive to the infected, and it has been
proposed although not yet conclusively
proven by researcher Guillermo Cortez
that this results in inhibited aggression
between those who carry the Plague. This
is the sole adaptation common throughout
all Plague hosts, regardless of species (and,
interestingly, whether or not they regularly
possess an olfactory sense), and suggests it is
reflective of some fundamental aspect of the
presumed alien species that seeded worlds
with their Artefacts.
We will continue to aggressively pursue
this avenue of research, as if the theory of
intelligent design is correct, then every crumb
of information, no matter how small, is a
potential feast. In any case, we are currently
working on a way of mimicking the scent to
allow our operatives to move undetected
among the ranks of the infected. This would
mostly benefit scientific retrieval teams, and
would be of little to no use to the military; in
our studies, the inhibition of aggression is
annulled once hostilities are initiated.
Our work continues, to the ongoing glory of
Lu-Fan.
Ranged Weaponry
Melee Weaponry
Although Stage 3 infected scavenge weapons from a

huge variety of sources, from fallen security agents to
Marauder units and Reb crews, the vast majority come
from the Accutek Corporations Backworlder range.
As well as ranged weapons, most Stage 3s carry

crude hand-made blades. Based on footage collected
from surveillance streams, it has been noted that the
fabrication of these weapons is one of the first acts of a
newly-infected subject. This appears to be a hard-coded
reflex, and has been the subject of intensive research by
those that wish to understand the Plague. After all, it is
one of the few examples of the infected creating rather
than destroying.
Nexus Psi has a thriving ecosystem, with a vast array

of dangerous fauna, and most outposts employed
teams of dedicated huntsmen to watch the perimeters
for predators. Accutek gladly supplied these units,
scattering shots of triumphant hunters cradling
Beastmaster .78 Rifles and Wagoner Spread-Cannons
across their marketing streams.
When the Plague came, no amount of experience
could have prepared even these specialists for the
approaching tide. Their attempts to thin the herd were
in vain, and they fell with those they were trying to
save, dying in droves or succumbing to the virus. Their
firearms, designed with the Frontier in mind to be
reliable and easy to maintain, made perfect weapons for
the growing surge of the infected.
The most popular theory behind this behaviour is that

as the mutation rewires the subjects brain, it regresses
to its most basic needs. Simple bladed weapons have
served primitive cultures for millennia, so they are an
almost instinctive choice when the infected are driven
to arm themselves. The sheer variety of such weapons
that have been recovered from quarantined areas is
a chilling testament to the twisted ingenuity of these
monsters.
NEXUS PSI - 41
The GCPS sells itself as a utopian society, and there are

many in the Core Worlds who would agree. After all,
why wouldnt they? These are the ultra-privileged, the
cream of human society. They never need to leave their
beautiful homes overlooking incredible vistas. Robot
servants act out their every wish while hoverdrones
bring them anything they ask for, in their choice of
colours and flavours. They want for nothing
with the exception of freedom.
This is the belief of a rising number of citizens who
see the abundance of choice as nothing more than a
distraction from the true horrors of life in the GCPS,
especially the Core. There are increasing numbers
of subnet bulletins, passed between friends and coworkers, calling for change. You are a prisoner, they
blare. The Council rules your life from birth to death.
Its hard to argue; after all, its a well-documented
fact that the Corporations store inordinate amounts
of data on each and every citizen in their jurisdiction.
Every transaction, every message, some say even
every thought is logged and archived, used for research
purposes and targeted marketing. Almost every flat
surface features a screencam, observing citizens
behaviour while streaming endless commercials and
promos. After all, a good citizen is a good consumer, and
theres always something new and shiny to think about
instead of what goes on outside the neon brilliance of
the Core. Although the messages calling for awareness
are increasing in number, they mostly fall on deaf ears.
SPHYR
42 - NEXUS
Matthew
McDonald
HUMAN
Luxury is hard to give up, even if the cost is personal

liberty, and most choose to ignore the bigger picture in
favour of fitting in.
Those who do listen are taking the first steps on
a dangerous path. The Council of Seven is wary of
dissenting voices, and is not beyond engineering the
sudden disappearance of anyone seen to be stepping too
far out of line. This is a relatively recent development
in the history of the GCPS. For a long time, free thought
was tolerated, even though it was not encouraged. Then
everything changed.
Dissent in the Core

Its impossible to pinpoint the dawn of the Rebellion.
For as long as there has been a ruling class, there have
been those who stood against it. However, the point at
which it changed from a group of political idealists to a
force of organised separatists is plain to see. For a long
time, those who disagreed with Corporation Centrals
leadership were mostly content to hold their rallies
and protests, arriving on Corporation Central in their
hundreds or thousands and spending a day clashing
with local security forces, then returning to their
mundane lives to plan their next grand move. This cycle
continued for years, with no real change ever coming as
a result.
ZEES
YNDIJ
Then the Council of Seven passed a new item of

legislation. It was nothing more controversial than
anything that had gone before, simply a minor increase
in taxation on second-Sphere properties, but this time
there was a different atmosphere among the protestors
on Corporation Central. They seemed more agitated,
more restless. When Enforcers were brought in,
forming cordons around several important buildings,
something snapped.
Projectiles were already being thrown when the first
shots were fired from the crowd, severely injuring
a CCM agent. Reports flared across the infosphere,
prompting countless questions from the concerned
public. Why had someone had brought a weapon to
an allegedly peaceful protest? What would be the
punishment for the crime? Why hadnt they already
caught the anarchist responsible?
In retrospect, the answer to this last question is clear.
After the shots were fired, the Enforcers reacted almost
instantly. Defender units with tower shields made their
way to the front lines, clearing the streets by smashing
aside anyone too slow or stupid to get out of their way.
Behind them, their squadmates laid down suppressing
fire with their heavy rifles, singling out armed rioters
but catching others in the crossfire. The massed crowd
men, women, even some children tried to flee, but
were blockaded by armoured transports and security
patrols. In the largest mass arrest ever to take place,
over a thousand protesters, most of them simply
standing peacefully for something they believed in,
were detained in mass underground holding pens. Their
sentence was swift and brutal: everyone present in the
riots was to be deported to Niobe, a prison world in the
Third Sphere.
TERATON
The Niobe Breakout

If things had gone the way the Council of Seven had
intended, the fate of the Corporation Central rioters
would never have been revealed. However, something
had changed that day. Although the CorpCast streams
continued their countless distractions, a record
number of citizens were refusing to tune in. Instead,
the subnet the Council-approved Infospheres darker
counterpart was ablaze with information. From all
across the GCPS, people from all walks of life began
to piece together the full story of what had happened.
Surveillance operatives, operating clandestinely within
Corporation HQ, jacked into crypt-locked channels to
release classified streams. Lecturers and labourers
worked with each other to piece together evidence.
Even prison guards on Niobe, outraged at the innocent
people being thrust into their charge to live among
murderers and rapists, added overheard eyewitness
accounts. A picture began to emerge. Although it was
certainly the case that the Enforcers on Corporation
Central had been reacting to gunfire from the crowd,
it had only been one aggressor with one weapon. The
Enforcers acted far too quickly; it was almost as though
they had been planning to march on the crowd all along.
Also, there was precious little surveillance footage of
what happened that day an incredible number of feeds
had either been down for maintenance or obscured by
vehicles and display boards. As information was shared
on crypt-locked channels and more of the picture began
to emerge, people began to talk of action. A movement
was beginning to form.
KRAAW
NEXUS PSI - 43
Before, dissidents had tried to urge the Council of Seven

to share its power, tried to talk it into changing its ways.
Now, for the first time, there was talk of open revolt. No
one used the term rebellion, but it was on everyones
mind as they began to make their plans.
The first action of the Rebs, as they were quickly dubbed
by underground media channels, was aimed at Niobe
Prime Correctional Complex. It was meticulously
planned. At the midnight guard rotation, all hell broke
loose. Explosives were detonated at key locations
to prevent guard movement; smoke bombs and EMP
charges killed all audio and visual streams. A small
flotilla of transports approached on a low vector,
straight past anti-air turrets that were mysteriously
deactivated, as planted agents ushered the protesters
from their cells and into the courtyard. Sixteen minutes
after the first detonation, there was no sign of the
prisoners or their rescuers.
The Birth of a Movement

The mass exodus from Niobe Prime was the catalyst for
the start of a more formalised Rebellion. Exchanging
coded information via the subnet, groups began to
coalesce together, moving out from the Core Worlds
and setting up base camps in the Expansion Zone. As
before, they came from all walks of life, many with
useful skills and contacts that helped the fledgling
movement gain momentum. Former quartermasters
and illicit arms dealers worked together to source
weapons, while engineers and technicians began work
on communications gear and explosives. As leaders
began to emerge from the ranks, discussing what their
eventual goals would be, it was agreed that all-out war
would never be an option. They could never stand up to
even a single full-strength Corporate Army, let alone an
Enforcer patrol. Theirs would be a guerrilla war.
JUDWAN
44 - NEXUS
Matthew
McDonald
HUMAN
Years went by, and the Rebellion grew in strength.

They spread themselves across the entire arc of the
Frontier, never staying in one place for long for fear of
retaliation. It came occasionally; entire enclaves would
be wiped out when Corporation Central managed to
gather enough information to trace them. Still, any
survivors would soon find their way to another group,
and those that were killed were held up as martyrs for
the cause. The worst blow came in 3101, when a summit
of enclaves was ambushed in the Aizu Quadrant by a
massive Enforcer armada. The Rebellion lost over two
thirds of its number in a single conflict, and has been
working to rebuild ever since.
New Beginnings
Although the Rebellion has maintained its informal
nature, the sheer size of the movement meant that
some structure became a necessity. A loose chain of
command was built up over time, although the use of
ranks and titles is reserved for the military wing, which
only forms a small percentage of the Rebs overall
numbers. Everyone else is expected to be able to take
up arms and fight, of course, should the need arise.
The majority of the Rebellion is made up of planted
operatives working within the GCPS to bring it down,
and support workers furthering the work of their cause
through the subnet and other communication channels.
The Reb military wing is roughly divided into groups
known as Crews. The name is a result of the fact
that they are generally made up of as many fighters
as can comfortably fit into whichever craft they are
assigned. They act autonomously, each with its own
Field Commander a relevant name, as while they are
in the field, they assume total control of their mission,
although they may defer to more experienced officers in
HUMAN
SORAK
the same combat zone. Crews undertake a huge variety

of missions, from supporting secession attempts to
entering warzones to strike at the GCPS when it is
already stretched to breaking point. Most dangerous
of all, particularly brave Crews will make their way to
Deadzones, where entire Corporation installations will
have been abandoned. Its not without its risks, but the
potential windfall from such a raid could easily fund
entire guerrilla campaigns.
Aliens in the Rebellion

The GCPS is overtly founded on the principles of
equality for all and benign governance, with an offer
of incorporation theoretically extended to anyone
who shares the galaxy with mankind. Some species
and cultures, such as the Forge Fathers, are shrewd
enough to remain unincorporated. Others, like the Orx
and the Zzor, are considered dangerous and would not
be approached with such an offer (with the exceptions
of those who have been granted amnesty by the DGB).
However, those that agree to become part of the
GCPS soon discover that the promises of equality and
progressiveness are a little different to the truth.
The ancient Teraton Empire is a prime example of this.
Initially approached by ambassadors from the McAelia
Corporation, they looked on mankind as newcomers to
the galactic stage and refused to take them seriously.
They agreed to their offer as a kindness, the way a
smiling elderly relative would acknowledge a childs
crude painting, not realising their mistake until it was
far too late. Now they have found themselves yoked to
multifarious Corporations through trade agreements
and licences, all of which are binding under their own
laws as well as those of the GCPS. Their once-glorious
Empire is in decline, and there is nothing they can do to
stop it.
Elsewhere, Incorporation was only offered after the

initial violence died down. The Yndij of Azure IX tried
to resist the mining crews that came to their mineralrich world, only to be massacred in their thousands
by Enforcers before a chance intervention by the
Rebellion. Scores of Yndij left their homeworld on rebel
ships, but those that remained sorrowfully pledged
their allegiance to the GCPS. Now they live as thirdclass citizens on their own home soil, restricted to
reservations and seen as little more than an oddity for
tourists to stare at.
There are countless other stories of alien species being
subjugated in the name of progress, most of them too
scattered, scared or underpowered to consider fighting
back by themselves. For those among them who wish
to do something about the Corporations stranglehold,
there is one place to go: the Rebellion.
It would be a mistake to assume that the humans of
the Rebellion are all beneficent, selfless folk who see
aliens as their equals. The Rebellion contains as many
xenophobic individuals and groups as any collection
of humans in history. However, much as some Rebs
might not get along with the aliens in their ranks,
they are nothing if not pragmatic. The enemy of my
enemy is my friend, after all, and doubly so when he
happens to be eight feet tall and able to outpunch
an Enforcer. Only the staunchest xenophobe could
doubt the incredible potential alien species bring to
the Rebellion. It is a common misconception that the
Rebellion is a single organised body, but in truth the
Rebs are as split by personality, creed and philosophy
as any other organisation. Some cells even go so far
as to wholeheartedly blame aliens for the state of the
Corporations they rally against. As a result, one rebel
crew might have a large number of aliens in its ranks,
while another has none. One might be composed almost
entirely of Sorak, while others will happily hunt down
Teratons for their hides like any corporate-funded
hunting party. After all, they argue, the Rebellion needs
all the money it can get, from whatever source.
SURVEY DRONE
GROGAN
NEXUS PSI - 45
The Marauders are not a species, but rather a rough

faction of an alien species who call themselves Orx.
Hailing from a cluster of systems halfway toward the
spinward edge of the Sagittarius arm, they were first
discovered several hundred years ago by an ill-fated
expedition by the Klandax Corporation. The name of the
commander of that first expedition is lost to history,
though it was to set off a chain of events whose effects
are felt to this day.
As the body responsible for governing an everexpanding human realm throughout the galaxy,
Corporation Central was always keenly aware of
its need for a dedicated military force with which
to maintain its authority over the growing GCPS.
To achieve this, Corporation Central relied on the
Central Combined Military, created from tithes of
soldiers drawn from the military forces of each of the
corporations and indoctrinated into the loyal service
of the Council itself. However, the requirements of
their duties were very straining, often involving the
prosecution of genocidal campaigns against hostile
alien populations, as well as actions against rebellious
humans and even on occasion rogue corporations
themselves.
As the GCPS grew, and certain corporations amassed
great wealth and power from contracts and corporate
planetary annexations, these intra-corporate conflicts
became more frequent. The obvious concern of
potentially conflicting loyalties if a Central force was
ever called upon to censure the corporation from which
it originally derived was unfortunately and calamitously
realised in the Sandort uprising of 2976. This made
it clearer than ever that the council needed its own

permanent force, who would answer only to them,
independent of the corporations and their politicking
and without any of the moral qualms that regular troops
might have over some of their more unsavoury duties. It
didnt take them long to find their ideal candidates.
First Contact
The Orx first came to the attention of the GCPS after
they annihilated the Klandax Corporation expedition
which landed on their homeworld, Gora. Such
expeditions had been plying the stars for decades,
encountering and subduing many dozens of alien
species, as humanity expanded rapidly outwards.
Their first reports from the planets surface spoke
of a hostile, primitive indigenous race, but then the
reports stopped abruptly. No further telemetry was
received from the fleet. The loss of an expedition was
not particularly unusual in and of itself, but the speed
with which it had occurred was. Automated distress
transmissions received from the fleet indicated that
they had been wiped out within seventy two hours
of initial contact. Klandax responded immediately,
dispatching a full military strike force to recover the
expedition fleets expensive equipment and establish
a firm claim on Gora before other corporations took
advantage of their perceived weakness and moved in.
HULK
GOBLIN GUNTRACK
46 - NEXUS
Matthew
McDonald
GOBLIN SNIPER
This force, under Commander Mitrandesh, arrived in

system to find the ships of the forerunner fleet drifting,
apparently deserted. Dozens of shuttles disgorged from
the military fleet, carrying ship crew and engineers
to reclaim the ghost ships, as the troop ships took up
position to begin a planetary landing. Mitrandesh,
unwilling to take any chances on the unknown foe
beneath, and not suspecting such primitive foes to be
able to attack their orbital craft, deployed his entire
force.
The shuttles reached their destinations, docking in the
wide hangar bays of the expedition fleets ships and
offloading their crews before heading back to their
parent ships to bring a second wave of support. They did
not go back alone.
The Orx, displaying a cunning that belied their primitive
nature, had observed drop-ships from the expeditionary
fleet landing and taking off on supply runs, and their
natural impetuousness had led groups of them to creep
aboard. Having made it onto the ships in orbit they had
overpowered the crews, unwittingly cutting off fleet
support to the expeditions below and leaving them easy
targets for their fellows. Now they repeated the same
trick, making their way to the military fleet. They carved
their way through unsuspecting deck crews and made
their way into the corridors of the battleships before
being hunted down by the short-handed security staff
that remained on-board. The hunt took several days,
and by the time the last of the Orx was taken down the
situation on the planet had taken a severe turn, and
ground support had been severely compromised.
Mitrandesh was furious, and vowed revenge. The
troops he commanded were the best that the Klandax
Corporation could muster, veterans of many successful
campaigns, and he had every confidence in their ability
to destroy the primitive aliens. When they first met their
quarry in full-on combat, the Orx opened with a frontal
assault which resulted in heavy casualties. Mitrandeshs
confidence was boosted their foe might be able to
overpower a force made up primarily of explorers, but
it would swiftly capitulate when confronted with real
military steel.
He had not expected the Orx to have learned their
lessons so well. Having decided that all-out attack
was ineffective against this new foe, they resorted to
guerrilla tactics, using their innate knowledge of the
land to launch a series of lightning hit-and-run raids.
They had moved from using primitive clubs and spears
to wielding the weapons of their fallen enemies, and
the Klandax force was whittled from five thousand
men to just over a hundred within less than a week. It
didnt help that Gora was as hostile as its inhabitants,
subject to extremes of temperature from its erratic
orbit around its sun, and covered in mountainous,
inhospitable terrain. Despite this, the aliens didnt seem
to tire, and had no observable reaction to heat, cold
or even pain. Mitrandesh was able to activate a final
emergency beacon before being ultimately overwhelmed.
With the loss of one of their most highly-decorated
commanders and a large chunk of their military force,
as well as an expeditionary fleet, Klandax petitioned

Corporation Central for aid. The Council itself
authorised the redeployment of a man responsible for
some of their most widespread alien purges: General
Julius Klimt, to deal with the problem. Klimt was an
experienced career soldier, a living hero whose steelblue eyes and chiselled jaw had been used on more
than one occasion in CCM recruitment visuals. He had
lasted as long as he had because he knew exactly when
and where to press an advantage. As he surveyed the
reports from Gora, he saw immediately that brute force
had not worked on these creatures, and resolved to take
a single ship.
Entering the system, Klimt was confronted with
panicked radio calls from Mitradeshs flagship
announcing that the aliens had captured the fleet,
though they showed little interest in actually going
anywhere. They seemed instead content devouring the
onboard supplies and hunting the remaining crew for
sport. Klimt, following his keen instincts, resolved to
meet the aliens face to face. He boarded a shuttle and
made his way, alone, to the flagship.
With no witnesses, nobody ever knew exactly what
passed between Klimt and the Orx, but he returned
unharmed to his ship some twenty seven hours later,
announcing that he had found a solution. Surprisingly,
the Orx stood aside and allowed the ships crews to
resume their positions, and the battered flotilla made
its way back to Corporation Central.
Klimt presented the leaders of the Orx to the Council,
suggesting that the very soldiers they had been seeking
for so long were right in front of them. The Orx were
tough, resourceful, possessed of a crude but undeniably
quick ability to learn, and were above all pragmatic.
They had no religion, and no concept of politics.
Straightforward in the extreme, they were more than
happy to fight for anyone who would pay them.
Professional Soldiery
These then were the first mercenaries of the Orx race.
Pressed into immediate service and trained under
the watchful eye of Klimt himself, they were inducted,
equipped and led on various expeditions the galaxy
over. They adapted to this life with astonishing speed
and capability, and gradually came to replace the
CCM wholesale. Eventually, as more and more were
recruited from Gora, they even came to lead themselves
exceptional specimens being promoted to officer
status and leading battalions of their fellows to war.
What happened to precipitate the dark period of time
known as the Mandrake Uprising is something that
nobody but the Council themselves will ever know
the truth of. Certainly, it had been noted that Orx
were ruthless creatures, utterly without anything so
complex as a moral code, and happy to fight and kill
whatever was put in front of them (other Orx included)
for the right price. Rumours persist that certain
humans, disillusioned with the dictatorial authority of
the Council, began to whisper in the ears of the lead
NEXUS PSI - 47
Orx, trying to turn them against their masters. Some

point to the various sub-species within the Orx race
and speak in hushed tones about Council-sanctioned
experiments with live specimens in gene-splicing and
genetic engineering that went horribly wrong, leading to
outrage in the alien ranks.
Whatever the truth, there came a day when the Orx
elected to throw off their corporate shackles. How the
war began, who fired the first shots or why it grew as
it did, are all details now deemed too dangerous to be
public knowledge. Certainly the war reached a point
where the Council no longer considered any Orx to
be friendly. Klimt, disgraced by the failure of his pet
project, was finally killed leading a charge against
his erstwhile prodigies. Drawing upon the combined
military assets of all of the major corporations,
including several former CCM troopers that had
been reassigned to their original units, the Council
ordered that the Orx were to be obliterated. Their great
fleets scattered; gradually, out of preservation and
circumstance, they splintered into smaller and smaller
bands. The Marauder civilisation a disparate race of
pirates and guns for hire, loosely linked by a common
background was born.
Today, Marauders range from small commando forces
available to the highest bidder, to large piratical bands
working the dark corners of the shipping lanes for their
own profit. As mercenaries, they hire themselves out
to any faction willing to pay their fees, ad are always
available for the right price. Experience quickly taught
them to play heavily on the fact that they are generally
viewed as brutish and stupid, when the truth is anything
but. Smart, well-trained and highly adaptable, they take
great pleasure in duping those who think otherwise.
Many are those who lived to rue the day that they
underestimated an Orx band.
RIPPER SUIT
48 - NEXUS
Matthew
McDonald
In their time as the footsoldiers of the Council,

the Marauders were exposed to the truth
behind Deadzones, and so are well aware of
the signs that point to one. Being naturally
immune to the Plague (something the Council
would desperately like to replicate in its
Enforcers) they have no issues whatsoever
in dealing with the beasts that it creates.
This makes them valuable assets to any
Corporations brave or foolish enough to
risk the ire of the Council by hiring them.
In the cut-throat world of GCPS politics any
opportunity to steal a march on a rival is worth
such risks to some, and a Deadzone is the
ideal cover for an Orx raid to steal whatever
their competition might be working on.
Orx themselves are also fully aware of the
spoils to be had on planets under Containment
Protocol, and often a powerful commander
will elect to take his band into a Deadzone to
pilfer whatever they can find for their own use,
whether from the facilities on the planet or
from other opportunists on the surface.
In any case, although the details may change
from one band to another, the Orx reasons for
being on Nexus Psi will always come back to
the same thing their next big payday.
COMMANDO
WARLORD
CHAMPIONS OF NEXUS PSI

NEXUS PSI - 49
Hostile Acquisitions
Above all, remember this one rule: everything has a price
Karstark & Klein executive induction pack.
I waited for the Sevens in a dank alley on the outskirts

of Outpost 504K, the scent of low-level corrosion and
rot filling my nose. Moisture-slick neocrete paving
stretched away into the night, a thin veneer of sodden
paper refuse and fluid spills staining its surface.
Around me, prefab habtainers and storage units rose
unsteadily, rust spots and peeling paint showing that
whatever profit Lu-Fan was exploiting here hadnt
trickled all the way down. The megacorp hadnt put
down many roots on Nexus Psi, but theyd left their
mark on 504K. As I looked up into the starless night
sky, my eye was drawn to the giant sign advertising the
outposts owning corporation. Elder Ho, the kindly faced
patrician mascot of Lu-Fan, smiled benignly from the
hoarding, radiating approval from his grandfatherly
human-standard Asiatic features. At some point, some
slazz-wit had clambered up there and added a speech
balloon in thick white spraytint, a play on the assigned
codename for this development showing what passed
for wit here. Welcome to the Soak, the old man now
said, his face slicked with the constant downpour that
blessed this part of the world.
I freely admit: I hated this planet. I hated the constant
bone-deep aching chill that was caused by the incessant
rain. I hated the do-or-die gung-ho personality
that most of these frontier prospectors displayed, in
defiance of the clear fact that if the galaxy had an arse,
this planet was the hole at the end of it. All the same, I
knew that my hatred of the place meant nothing. K&Ks
orders were clear. Kayla Reis wanted out, and was so
desperate to jump she was offering a big sweetener.
Like it or not, I was here to do a job, and profit always
comes first where the corporations are concerned. Of
course, it all hinged on the Sevens, and if they didnt
show soon Reis and I would lose our exit window.
I pulled my coat closer against the rain and hunched
into the scant cover afforded by a half-rotten awning.
The Maxil-9 was a reassuring weight under my left arm,
the Tebit blade a cool line against the small of my back. I
didnt plan on using either of them; after all, the Sevens
were supposed to be bringing enough hardware to see
this extraction through. Grendyl was getting a big payoff, so hed be expecting to throw down against serious
Lu-Fan security. Not that the Marauders needed any
excuse. I just hoped theyd turn up soon.
Official GCPS policy on the Marauders was shoot on
sight, no quarter given. Unofficially, there were plenty
of corporations some big, some small who still saw
a potential for profit in the Orx. Karstark & Klein sat
firmly in that camp. We were nothing compared to the
big players, but we still had our niche as specialists
in security and conflict investment, supplying
arms, armour and personal security to franchise
50 - NEXUS PSI

50
corporations. It certainly didnt hurt our numbers if we

occasionally paid a Marauder band to put the hurt on
vulnerable franchisees, then swooped in to showcase
our range of security options. This would have been a
dangerous game to play in the Core, but this far out no
one was any the wiser.
We also had a quieter specialisation: extraction. In other
words, pulling out execs from jobs they couldnt walk
away from. Most corporations saw their exec staff as
lifers, bound to their contracts until retirement or death
brought them to a close. Running to play for another
team was seen as a betrayal, pure and simple. Thats
where we came in. One of our external assets, usually
Grendyl and his Bloody Sevens, would make a big noise,
cause a mess, and provide cover for us to snatch the
target. The owning corporation wrote it off as a pirate
raid, the exec was noted down as a regrettable but
affordable loss, and I made sure they got a new identity
and job courtesy of K&K. In exchange we got a fat stack
of credits, so happy faces all round. Except this time,
Grendyl was late and it looked like the krat was about to
hit the fan.
The bass rumble of a cargo hauler engine shook me
from my misery. It pulled to a halt at the end of the
alley, exhaust grumbling fumes into the sodden night
air as the cab door swung open, revealing the shadowy
bulk of the Marauders inside. It took a certain low
cunning and restraint for Orx to come this far into GCPS
territory, but Grendyl certainly had the guts to pull it
off. He was worryingly intelligent sometimes, almost
to the point you could forget he was easily capable of
removing your head with his bare hands, and it paid to
be careful around him. Still, that stone-cold cunning
was why I worked with him so often. He understood the
importance of a good payday as much as the next exec
and was a funtload more honest about it. Clambering
into the musty cab, the first thing that hit me was the
smell. No one could mistake it; a combined reek of
adrenaline, old leather and something bitter that hit the
back of the throat.
I took a last lungful of night air and hauled myself
up next to Callax. The long-limbed goblin with the
ridiculous filth-crusted dreadlocks sneered at me,
thin lips twisting in a dismissive smile and exposing
yellowed needle fangs. The smile didnt reach his beady
eyes as he stroked the bull-pup carbine in his lap. I
nodded at him as courteously as I could manage; over
the ten years Id been working with the Sevens, Callax
had never lost the disdain with which hed greeted
me when we first met. Considering the bulk of his
earnings came from the retainer Id set up to secure
their services, Id have expected him to be a little more
accepting, but maybe that was the point. Perhaps the
alien just hated being in the pocket of the corporations.
RECON UNIT N32-19

When Containment Protocols were first introduced
following the Adriana incident, the agents responsible
for their enactment were admittedly a little triggerhappy, often containing worlds where there was no
actual evidence of such action being necessary. This
came to an end when a number of Corporations lodged
formal grievances as the result of massive losses in
revenue. A new system was clearly required.
Following a long-winded testing phase, the new
Containment Protocol Verification Framework came
into effect, and has been mainly unchanged since. It
ensures beyond doubt that a planet is a viable target for
containment, and that salvage is impossible. There is a
rigorous checklist for each potential situation that could
arise, from Veer-myn infestations to uncontrollable
rebel uprisings, but the checklist in the case of a Plague
outbreak is very simple, consisting of a single point:
> Has there been visual confirmation of an infected

creature by a qualified operative?
These qualified operatives are usually Enforcer Recon
Units, as they are the most capable of surviving on a
potentially hazardous world while being entirely selfsufficient. As soon as Corporation Central receives
notification that an Artefact has been uncovered, an
appropriately-sized team (five troopers, in the case
of Nexus Psi) is dispatched to the planets surface.
Each one, wearing the stripped-back Enforcer armour
sported by all Recon Units, is landed at a strategically
vital point on the planets surface, and given a particular
task to perform. Most will be instructed to gather
information pertaining to the status of key targets or
personnel on-world, but one the most experienced

member of the team will be given the most important
task. On Nexus Psi, that position fell to Trooper Maxon,
a.k.a. Recon Unit N32-19.
N32-19 landed several kilometres out from the
site where the alleged Artefact was discovered,
and immediately went about setting up the array of
equipment that he had brought for the task. Most
importantly, he set up the Vigilance Control System,
one of the key elements of the recon sweep. This
was a safeguard, a dead-mans trigger that would
automatically flag the planet for containment if it was
not deactivated before a given timestamp. Once the
VCS was set, N32-19 released a cloud of surveillance
drones and set off to complete his mission. The device
was never deactivated, and Containment Protocol soon
followed.
Standard procedure follows that although the Recon
Units are primarily on-world to gather information, this
gives them a distinct tactical advantage, so they are
not extracted once full Enforcer units move in. Instead,
they act as guides and scouts, using their extensive
knowledge of local terrain to guide Strike Teams to their
targets. N32-19 was no different, and spent much of his
time before VCS expiration tracking the Stage One that
he believed to have been Dr Remy Urovic, the first to be
infected according to the datalogs he streamjacked from
a nearby outpost. Urovics position as a lead scientist on
Nexus Psi had meant he was privy to a huge quantity of
information that would be tactically useful to the enemy,
and N32-19 took it upon himself to tag the creature for
priority disposal by the first force to land.
NEXUS PSI - 51
Pinkskin. The age-old slur hissed from Callaxs lips

as readily as any greeting. I ignored him, pushed down
the flare of rage he never failed to illicit and nodded at
Grendyl instead.
The squads leader was an altogether different beast
from the Goblin. Hunched over the wheel of the hauler,
slabs of muscle bulged at the seams of the stitchedtogether hides forming his undershirt and the flak-vest
thrown over the top of that. His armour was a mix of
different pieces, a few shards of his old auxiliary-issue
ballistic plate here and there, a battered shoulder guard
from an Enforcer, other less identifiable pieces. His
skin still had a greyish cast to it, the legacy of hi-rad
bleaching from a lifetime of war. A bass rumble crept
out of his thickset jaw by way of acknowledgement.
Cutting it fine, Gren.
Had to detour. Roadblocks springing up, lots of comm
chatter talking about containment. You playing me?
The last came out as a threatening growl.
Containment? It was the last thing Id expected to
hear, and I couldnt help a note of panic from entering
my voice. Not playing you, but if theyre locking down it
means we need to hurry.
Not wrong. The crew dont like being holed up in the
trailer. Could get messy if we keep them in there much
longer. Grendyl and his crew ran much closer to the
common perception of Marauders as animalistic thugs
than most of the crews Id worked with, and I didnt
doubt that it had taken an effort to get them to lie low.
As if to emphasise his point, a muffled bang came from
the trailer unit behind us.
So can we get moving? If we miss the rendezvous we
miss Reis, and that means no payday.
We miss our payday, you miss your trip out, Ander.
I didnt push the issue any further. Working with
Marauders was difficult at the best of times, and each
crew was different, but I knew how to handle the
Sevens. Grendyl threw the hauler into gear, gunning
the engine. The low sodium glare from the lamplights
reflecting from the rain-smeared windshield as we
pulled away, heading deeper into the Soak to collect
Kayla Reis.
Overhead, the three suns shone down mercilessly over

the blasted shard-sands stretching in every direction.
We were several hundred klicks out in the wastes,
well away from any prying eyes. The idling engine of
the Security Tetsudo was the only sound, the squat
armoured vehicle training its cannons on the massive
bulk of the Marauder chief squatting in front of us.
The alien was big, certainly, but his sheer physicality
seemed to make him bigger still. Pale green skin had
been bleached paler still by the suns above, stretched
taut across heavy bones and musculature that showed
little sign of wastage despite his obvious age. If the
52 - NEXUS PSI

52
multiple shrapnel and projectile wounds pockmarking

his flesh bothered him, he gave no sign. A Hrunka knife
lay in the sand in front of him, the hilt wrapped in cords
and fetish-tokens. The blade was snapped halfway
along its length. He fixed us with an even gaze, showing
a calm acceptance of the facts. That in itself was
worryingly indicative of the intelligence at play behind
that bestial visage.
I squatted down in front of the Marauder, within arms
reach. Dark eyes watched me, a slight tensing of that
huge frame his only reaction. Xenographical studies had
said that eye contact was important to the Orx, that it
showed courage and honesty. I hoped they were right.
You know, Harcout Consolidated is never going to
recover from what you did here. Theyre pulling out. Of
course, plenty are jumping ship to us first, so I guess I
should thank you. Youve made me a tidy profit here
I paused for effect only. The creatures name was the
first thing Id known about him. Grendyl, is it?
A ghost of a sneer touched those bestial lips, a hint of
dark ivory fang beyond.
I have an offer for you. Not employment, nothing
like that. You want your freedom and I am happy to
let you keep that. Its more of a mutually beneficial
arrangement for us both. You carry on making a mess;
I carry on cleaning up after you. The only difference is
this: you do it when and where I ask you to.
The sneer blossomed into life. I pushed down the
sudden involuntary spike of fear that rose in my gut.
When I spoke, the words came out quicker than I
intended, despite my cadence training.
Now, my people told me there would be a trust issue.
They said how important it is to you. Im hoping we can
get past that.
You pinkskins are all the same. No honour. No ghrak.
I didnt speak the Orx native language, but his meaning
was clear enough. My mind raced as I scanned his
scarred form, trying to find a way to change the course
of the negotiation. Layered under grime and blood,
tracked under wounds old and new, were thick lines of
tribal tattoos and brand-scars. I recalled my studies:
when the Marauders had been a primitive race of
hunters, they had been organised into clans, marking
themselves with ritual scars to show their allegiance.
This had carried over into crew markings. Grendyls
own was brazen on his bare chest, carved there with his
own Hrunka. An idea took root in my brain and my heart
raced. Was I really going to do this?
You need a sign that I can be trusted. I understand
that.
I drew my combat blade, noting how doll-sized it was
against the length of the Hrunka. Peeling open my
enviro-suit I exposed the pale skin of my chest, already
slick with sweat. I stared into the Marauder chiefs eyes
and pressed the tip of the blade into the skin over my
heart. Taking a deep breath, I began to cut.
DOCTOR SIMMONDS
Life used to be so simple for Gayle Simmonds.

An up and coming star in various fields, including
biomechanics and xenoarchaeology, she was one of
the genius minds dispatched to Nexus Psi by the Reiker
Corporation to prepare the planet for colonisation.
She stayed on long after her contracts break clause,
offering her guidance to the planets many research
facilities once the colonies were thriving. Thats how
she was unlucky enough to be among the first to see the
Plague outbreak.
When Exploration / Retrieval Team Six-Alpha was
assembled following the discovery of an Artefact, she
was drafted as deputy project lead under Remy Urovic,
a brilliant but challenging biophysicist. She insisted that
the discovery should be contained, following standard
procedure, contrary to Urovics wish to get it back to the
nearest outpost as quickly as possible; his decision won
out, and the resulting outbreak almost wiped out their
entire convoy. Urovic was the first to turn, and Gayle
barely escaped with her life.
She became the de facto leader of the defence at
Outpost W4 after the local security team was all but
eradicated by the first wave of infected and it became
clear that the GCPS had contained them and left them to
die. However, even a mind as brilliant as hers could not
hope to hold out forever against the unstoppable tide
of the Plague. Defiant in the clutches of a rabid 2A, her
body succumbed to the mutant virus as her mind turned
inwards and focussed on her final coherent thoughts:
her fury at the Council of Seven for what they had done.
The infection latched onto this seed of an idea, and when
she awoke, twisted into a new form, she found her mind
incredibly clear.
She, and the rest of the inhabitants of Nexus Psi, had

been left to their fate by the GCPS. They must have
known about the Artefacts hidden dangers when they
sent Six-Alpha to retrieve it. They wanted them to
get infected. Now she would make them regret that
decision.
Working within the still-functioning laboratories of
Reiker City, where a ready supply of test subjects can
still be found cowering in the ruins of the half-finished
research complexes, she has begun experimenting with
the Plague virus. She is determined to find ways to make
it even more potent, extracting it from victims on the
cusp of change and using her repository of knowledge
to weaponise it even further. She has built an army of
workers, mechanics and pilots, all devolved Stage 3s still
capable of operating machinery. Once she cracks the
Containment Protocol override codes that prevent ships
from leaving the surface, she will deliver the Plague to
the heart of human civilisation and end mankind.
//transcript:nexuspsi/
w4/25449721[FINAL]
**Theyre back. The
perimeter is down.
**If anyone picks this up,
you need to tell everyone
what happened here.
**The Council cant get
away with this.
**Tell them w
NEXUS PSI - 53
It took an hour of winding through the twisting lanes of

the Soak, edging the cargo truck down near-abandoned
streets, before we reached the rendezvous. Kayla Reis
stood out like a sore thumb. Her voluptuous frame
was packed into an art-house approximation of what a
frontier enviro-suit should be. I could just imagine what
the locals would have made of her. Long on ambition
and drive but short on realism, Reis was sick of her role
on Nexus Psi and almost pathetically grateful to have
a way out. Her long blonde hair was pulled up under
her hood, those big dark eyes of hers just visible in the
sodium light. She stood next to a compact rover that
marked her out as an outsider even more fully than her
garb, its sleek bodywork barely touched by the grime of
the Soak. Grendyl brought the cargo truck to a rumbling
halt alongside. I could almost smell his disdain for this
Core-soft executive.
Reis looked up at the truck warily, visibly sagging with
relief as the door opened and I jumped out. She leapt at
me, smothering me in a fierce embrace, full lips finding
mine in a flurry of kisses. Her voice was breathless,
shaky with adrenaline.
Shek, Nils, I thought you werent coming.
I grimaced involuntarily into her neck, turning it into a
smile as I pulled away from her. Id led her to believe
that this was more than a business transaction, and
sure, she was fun in her own way, but I knew what I
really wanted her for. She was a goldmine of potential
profit courtesy of Lu-Fan. Long term, I wanted her in
my day-to-day as much as I wanted Grendyl. She was a
spoiled Core-brat with no understanding of her place
in the galaxy. Luckily, the plan didnt call for her to be
leaving with us, but for now I had a part to play.
Kayla, sweet, would I ever leave without you? I gave
her my most reassuring smile. We need to move
quickly, love. My associates well, they dont like to be
kept waiting.
Those big eyes of hers flicked to the dark windows of
the hauler, and the vague hint of bulk inside. She didnt
know that the Sevens were anything more than a bunch
of Rebs, but that didnt make them any less intimidating
to her. Nodding, she grabbed my hand and pulled me
to the rover. The interior was cool, pleasantly-scented,
and a marked improvement over the cargo hauler. A
quick glance at the back seats showed several tote
bags packed and ready to go. Id sold Reis on the
idea of extraction, a way out of Lu-Fan and a new job
with another Corporation, one that would appreciate
her particular skills and drive, and shed bought it.
Sometimes the promise of extraction was exactly what
it looked like; other times, it was bait to land a fish and
give us a way of unlocking bigger things. This was the
latter. Reis smiled at me, trying her hardest to look
brave, but I could see how nervous she was. Her hand
shook as she thumbed the activator and gripped the
wheel. That was good; she wouldnt be looking too
hard at what we were doing if she was terrified for her
life. We peeled away from the curb, the hauler falling
54 - NEXUS PSI

54
in behind us as we set off towards the outskirts of the

Soak and the Lu-fan warehouse where the real prize
was waiting.
Habtainers of all shapes and sizes passed in a blur,
neon lights smeared across the rain-slicked windows
of the rover where the owners could afford them,
hand-painted signs now sodden and swollen from the
rain where they couldnt. Lu-Fan owned the claim on
504K, and could have filled it with its own outlets, food
merchants and wholesalers. Instead, it had allowed
other, smaller corporations to deal with that side of
things. For a reasonable stipend, a corporation could
rent some groundspace, throw up whatever pre-fab
it could move in and try to make some credits. They
got the safety of the Lu-Fan security forces, which
saved them the bother of spending creds hiring their
own forces. Though it worked some places more than
others, it was pretty standard practice for smaller
corporations to be given this kind of opportunity out
here in the fringes. For them, it meant the chance to
make some money and contacts and matybe move a
rung or two up the ladder. For the larger corporations
like Lu Fan, it saved them the bother of shipping in their
own materials and civvies, leaving them to concentrate
on making the important discoveries and secure them
accordingly. Like almost every aspect of life under the
corporations, it was less a case of everyone winning,
more everyone cutting their losses as best they could.
Back in the core spheres, this kind of rough and ready
cooperation between rival execs would be unthinkable.
But then, back in the core, boardroom conflict was a
pursuit taken as seriously as any war, and often with
more casualties.
A drop in the rovers speed indicated we had reached
our destination. Ahead of us was a prefab that dwarfed
all around it, solid and imposing, with the symbol of Lu
Fan prominently displayed in stencil edged precision
on every wall panel. A tangled valley of razorwire
surrounded the complex, moving with the eerie grace
that spoke of a slaved AI sub-routine reacting to our
presence. The electronic tags that Reis had supplied did
their jobs, broadcasting our authority in blurts of data.
The wire responded by rolling aside in a rustling wave,
creating a bladed driveway leading up to the entrance
of the building. Reportedly this place was holding LuFans entire bio-med supplies, together with research
samples farmed from Nexus-Psi. Kayla had assured
me that security was light, Lu Fan deeming the wire
to provide adequate protection at a cheap price. As
with every other element of corporate life, it all came
down to the bottom line, squeezing every last credit
they could out of their margins. The manifests she had
supplied suggested a tidy profit in both gear and data to
be made, something easily worth the effort going into
this operation. We were expecting maybe a half-dozen
bodies, light arms only easily few enough for Grendyl
and his handful of Marauders to deal with without
breaking a sweat.
Halogen-bright lamps threw halos of cold light into the
gloom, cutting through the curtain of rain now falling.
There was a knot of security in front of the immense
doors to the warehouse, maybe a dozen troops, all clad
PROJECT OBERON
The Nameless are an unincorporated alien society from
the fringe of known space, a collection of like-minded
species who are reluctant to outright ally with the
GCPS. This reluctance will no doubt cost them in the
long term, but for now they are distant enough from the
Core to be able to exist as separatists without invoking
the wrath of the Council of Seven. They are mostly
unknown to the citizens of the Sphere, appearing only as
a novel race for DreadBall fans to cheer about, but there
are some who come to the central worlds to ply their
trade or offer their unique skills. Project Oberon is one
of the latter.
His true name remains shrouded in mystery, consisting
as it does of a string of sounds and phrases that are
unintelligible (and unpronounceable) by most humanoid
races, but Oberon serves well enough. Its not like he
finds much use for face-to-face communication in his
current employment.
While the Council of Seven famously employs Enforcers to

do its dirty work, there are times when such a hammerblow of brute force would be far too unsubtle. For those
situations, they have a much smaller force of specialist
operatives known colloquially as fixers. These lone
wolves move silently throughout all levels of society, each
using their own methods to quickly and quietly deal with
the more complex challenges that present themselves to
the central government of the GCPS.
Under their employ, Oberon has assassinated hundreds
of targets, but his work is much more far-ranging than
the simple murder of dissidents. He has discredited
would-be secessionists, prevented the leak of classified
information to subnet streams, convinced Corporate
heads that their intended course of action is unwise, and
even caused untold civilian casualties in the name of the
greater good. He is unfazed by even the most heinous
jobs that come to him; after all, these are not his people.
They are as alien to him as the Nameless are to the
citizens of the GCPS.
The Councils Best-Kept Secret

One of Oberons greatest strengths is his
peerless ability to leave a target scene clear
of evidence. His unique physiology means
he leaves no fingerprints or distinguishing
marks, or even pheromonal spoor. His
weapons of choice also reflect this aspect;
most of his assassinations are carried
out using solidified shards of a complex
neurotoxin, either thrown from a distance or
used up-close, to which he is entirely immune.
As the targets body absorbs the toxin, the
shard melts and leaves no trace.
Oberons arsenal also includes the Needler.
This bizarre weapon is unique to the
Nameless, and cannot be used by anyone
outside of his race. To the untrained eye
it resembles little more than a pair of
crystalline prisms, one held in each tentacled
hand. When activated, bolts of energy begin to
arc across the wielders body, earthing in the
prisms, until they are unleashed at a target.
The unfortunate victim will be wracked with
paresthetic contractions that intensify until
they wreak havoc with the cardiac, pulmonary
and vascular systems. Again, the weapon
leaves no obvious sign that the victim was
assassinated; it will simply look as though
they suffered sudden organ failure. The
Needler can also be used to overload delicate
electronics, allowing Oberon to disable
security systems at a distance.
NEXUS PSI - 55
in foul-weather gear and toting hefty laser rifles. This

was a serious increase in the security promised by
Kayla. As we pulled up, three of them moved forward to
intercept us, barrel-slung stab-lights probing the rover.
One moved past to flank the cargo, peering into the
darkened windows, rifle held in a professional grip. The
other two bracketed our rover, stab-lights intentionally
shone into our eyes to blind us.
Kay, what the hell is this? I muttered, unease creeping
up my spine.
II dont know, they shouldnt be herethe manifest
said nothing about this
The manifest? Funt me, have you ever even come up
here? I hissed, hands held steady and in full view of
the masked-up corporate security aiming his rifle at
me through the rover window. It might be plexglass,
but that laser would cut through it like a knife through
butter, and then do the same to my head. His colleague
was tapping on the drivers window, indicating with a
curt wave that Reis should lower it.
I risked a glance back at the cargo. It stood, engine
idling, no movement discernible through the windows.
The security back there was also trying to get the
drivers window lowered. I hoped to Sol that Grendyl
had some patience left.
Reis was babbling through the open window, trying to
reason with the impassive mask of the security visor.
She was getting nowhere fast. There was a stern
dismissal of her credentials and a blunt statement that
she wasnt authorised to be here. Desperation rising,
she stopped wheedling and threatened, trusting to her
badge to intimidate him. Bad move. He took it much as
I expected, ordering her to kill the engine and for both
of us to step out of the vehicle. He had the door open
now, aiming his sidearm at her to emphasise his point.
Another glance back showed me the security agent at
the cargo trying its door, tugging at it to open.
He half-turned to shout something to his colleagues,
when a solid two foot tempered blade tore through
the door in a squeal of tortured metal, lancing into his
chest. It pulled back in another cacophony of noise,
blood erupting from the massive wound in black loops
under the harsh lights, and the trooper dropped to the
ground. Kicking the ruined door clean from its hinges,
Grendyl emerged into the wet night, steam rising from
him as the cold air hit his flesh. A bestial roar tore free
from his tusked maw, blood-slicked Hrunka gripped
in one hand. A clatter of full-auto solid rounds split
the night air, the trooper waving his gun at Reis was
punched from his feet and the door beside him shredded
into metal shrapnel. Blood splashed, scarlet and livid
across Reiss pale features and she sat in mute shock,
shaking. One of the Marauders sprinted out from the
rear of the cargo, chaingun braced in a crude exoskeleton. There was a sound like a large zipper being
undone, and the loose group of security still at the door
just disappeared in a haze of red mist, chips of neocrete
flying.
The agent on my side was already firing, las up and
56 - NEXUS PSI

56
lancing beams into the onrushing Marauder flying at

him with axe in hand. The las itself made no sound
firing, but the ionisation of the air caused by the beams
created a crack of ionised air with every shot. Puffs
of cauterised flesh were chewed from the Marauder,
reducing its face and upper torso to charred ruin as
it fell, still howling through a heat-seared throat. His
attention elsewhere, he didnt register me opening the
door, until my Tebit sank into his side, through the gaps
in the ballistic plate. He dropped his rifle with a shocked
gasp, and I drove him quickly to the floor. Kneeling atop
his chest, I drove the knife swiftly through his throat,
hand clamped over his mouth until he stopped kicking
and relaxed. I was dimly aware that Reis had begun
screaming, her cries shrill against the cacophony of
the Bloody Sevens taking out the remaining security at
close range and bringing charges up against the heavy
doors. Two more Marauders jogged past in a loping
run as I rose, Callax along with them. Grendyl walked
behind, pace slow and deliberate, dark eyes taking in
the blood on my face in a coolly appraising gaze.
I swung round to Reiss side, pulling her from the
rover and into the rain. Face smeared with red already
washing away in the downpour, she was pale with shock.
Whatwhat are you doing? Marauders? You cant
bring them here! Her voice was shrill, shaking though
mercifully quiet, and her eyes shone with panic.
This is what you wanted Kay, your way out. This is
Extraction.
Behind me, the bass thump of shaped charges
announced the breaching of the door. The Marauders
howled their triumph into the night.
The assistant who showed me in was catwalk perfect,

the televid image of what an exec looked like. Long
limbs sheathed in synth-cotton so thin, the sunlight
from the window outlined her body in a soft glow.
Artfully cropped hair framed pale eyes straight from
the latest Lu-Fan cosmetic catalogue and the smile she
gave me was nothing short of luminous.
Mr Steyne will be with you shortly, please take a seat.
The office was understated frontier-chic, desk a
reconditioned slab of ironwood and the walls hung with
a variety of alien trophies and pic-shots of off-world
sunrises. I was unsure, new to Karstark & Klein, only
three years into the entry level exec position I had
secured in Conflict Investment. Curious, I stood by the
desk, fingering a thin blade that was obviously Sorak in
origin. The human ownership of it must have resulted in
a grave insult to the spawn-clan that forged it.
Lovely isnt it? Theres something about Sorak blades
that even the best human artisan cant capture
I fumbled the blade, dropping it to the surface of the
ironwood desk. Turning, I stood face to face with Eli
Steyne for the first time. Tall, lean, clad in a dark suit
NASTANZA
Despite her appearance, the being known as Nastanza is
neither human nor Asterian; she is an agent of something
altogether more sinister.
Accounts of her presence are few and far between,
but those that exist each share one eerily similar
observation: anyone who catches so much as a glimpse
of Nastanza seems to be hollowed out, as though the
emotion is stripped from their very soul.
She is a solitary figure, a silent reaper, stalking across
the galaxy shrouded in an impossibly advanced camoshield, taking pleasure in the pain she inflicts. She
is a fable, a legend, whose tale is told by seasoned
campaigners as they gather around watchposts. She is
the invisible executioner, a precision shot and an expert
head-hunter responsible for the murder of countless
victims.
She is the Twilight Huntress.
Despite the mystery that surrounds her, Nastanza plies
her trade among the stars like any other mercenary, and
Nexus Psi is just one more lucrative contract on her list.
Her enigmatic ways extend to the manner in which she
deals with her clients, often appearing before them even
before theyve tried to contact her. She seems to know
everything: the clients problem, the targets movements,
and the appropriate price for the job. Those few who have
declined her services soon discover that she has already
entered into negotiations with the would-be target, and
find themselves in a very precarious situation indeed.
Travelling in a lightly armed fighter craft that hints
at a larger vessel or substation she might call home,
Nastanza will stalk her prey meticulously until the right
moment, which often seems less to do with tactical
advantage and more to do with some unknown system
or pattern. Once she has executed her mark, she simply
moves onto her next client. She is inevitable, a force of
nature, and once she is on your trail the only option is to
make your peace and accept your fate.
Nastanzas exotic customised sniper

rifle traces its origins back to the
Asterian Starforges, though with several
modifications: an enhanced visual receptor
with nanomolecular interface, Corporationdeveloped reinforced armour casing to
withstand the rigours of battle and a seemingly
unique augmented power drive that gives the
rifle almost unparalleled stopping power.
NEXUS PSI - 57
that probably cost more than my annual income, he was

the poster-boy for a whole generation of upcoming K&K
execs. Dark grey eyes held my own for a long moment
before he spoke again.
I was impressed with your handling of the Jonah
Infraction. Netted us quite the tidy profit. Impressive,
how you sold out the Rebs to the local governance
straight after.
Itit was an easy call. Tidy up the loose ends, keep us
in the clear.
Steyne smiled, moving to the impressively stocked
drinks cabinet in the corner of the office.
Mm yes, very tidy. And ending up with the Jonah
coming over as well. Was that planned?
I considered lying, dismissing the idea as soon as it
appeared.
No. That was ah...an unforeseen benefit.
The smile on Steynes face was genuine now, like Id
passed a test without knowing. He offered me a thick
glass tumbler holding two fingers of malt liquor.
Mr Ander, let me talk to you about something called
extraction.
I staggered from the burning shell of the warehouse,

crashing to my knees on the neocrete as the burning
line through my gut brought me down. I could taste
blood, and my nose was thick with the smell of scorched
flesh. Looking down, I peeled my hand away from the
bloody mess below my ribs. Rich dark blood flowed
easily, pulling a moan from my lips as the pain flared
deeper inside me. Pulling myself on with one arm, I
crawled towards the rover, a slick of my own blood
following me. I heard steady footsteps crunching behind
me and turned to see the Enforcer there, framed by the
raging flames of the warehouse. It was still, impassive,
like a statue. Nothing about it suggested that it had just
torn through the Sevens like a vengeful whirlwind, save
the blood-slicked length of the sword extended from
its left vambrace. Though Id witnessed it all first hand,
it wasnt quite real, even now just fading into flashing
impressions of violence, punctuated by roars of pain
and anguish.
The Marauders glee at smashing into the warehouse
had been short lived, victorious hollering dying away as
theyd seen the empty space stretching away from them.
Ceiling mounted lights created pools of illumination,
serving only to highlight the sheer emptiness of the
warehouse as if mocking them with the utter lack of
anything approaching a profit. A snarl from Grendyl
sent the chaingun toting Seven and Callax further in, the
last two Marauders venting their frustration by hacking
into the prefab offices beside the doors. Grendyl had
turned on me, rage simmering behind his bestial face.
He didnt need to ask, I was already rounding on Kayla.
58 - NEXUS PSI

58
What the hell is this Kay? Where is everything?

The Tebit was still in my hand, unconsciously coming
up to point at her pale face. She was babbling again,
nonsense words about the manifests and stock reports
that she had seen. I took a step closer, flat of the Tebit
blade against her face now, just under her eye. Fear of
Grendyl and my own sick rage tightened my voice into a
harsh whisper.
Have you sold us out, you little --
Before I could finish, the walls of the warehouse had
erupted with flame, fire rushing along the pre-fab plate,
blossoming across every surface. The surge of intense
heat dragged the air from our lungs, driving us to our
knees. Secondary explosions thundered at the rear
of the warehouse, along with a firecracker sound that
could only be the ammunition in the chaingun cooking
off, the tell-tale zip of rounds spanking randomly
around only adding to the threat. Grendyl was already
up, bellowing his rage-filled challenge into the flames,
arms spread wide in an animalistic threat-pose. Reis
was twisting away from me, pulling us to the door
framed in fire, our only hope of escape. Looking back,
I saw something arc from the flames and hit Grendyl
square in the chest, a blackened hunk of something that
rolled to the ground between us. Charred and smoking,
dreadlocks burnt away, it was still easy to recognise
Callax. Something had sheared his head away from his
neck in a single clean blow. His face was devoid for
once of its trademark sneer, something approaching
shock written across the slack features.
Grendyl bellowed again, the remaining two Sevens
flanking him and roaring their own challenges, long
blades and heavy pistols held in firm grips. The fire was
everywhere now, spreading across the floor in great
swathes, following the now obvious spill patterns of
accelerants. Thick smoke filled the air, choking Kayla
and I but having little effect on the Marauders.
When it came forth from the fire, the Enforcer moved
with a dancers grace, calm and steady, assault blade
already extended. It came to a halt a few paces from
the Marauders and brought its blade up in greeting.
Unleashed, the two Sevens charged as one, blades
up and ready. The Enforcer moved too fast for me to
see clearly, seeming to spin through and past both the
Orx, blade held out to the side. Each of the Sevens just
collapsed, like string-cut puppets, blood arcing clear of
the falling bodies to land hissing in the raging flames.
The Enforcer cocked its visored helm at Grendyl, in an
unspoken challenge. Giving in to the beast inside, the
Marauder chief roared, spit flying from tusked jaws,
and leapt forward. His Hrunka slashed out like a vipers
tongue towards the Enforcer who brought its own slim
blade up to parry.
To give him his due, Grendyl lasted a few minutes
longer than his clan-brothers. A veteran of countless
wars, his first blows actually drove the Enforcer back
before it recovered and launched a blistering counterattack. Blade-strokes flew quicker than Reis and I could
follow, sparks flying where the forged metal touched.
I nurtured a vague hope that Grendyl would last long
CHOVAR PSYCHIC
The Chovar are among the strangest sentient creatures

encountered by the GCPS: intensely telepathic creatures
that bear a striking resemblance to the jellyfish of
Old Earth. They exist in a shared consciousness, but
despite this (or possibly because of it) they are fiercely
individualistic, constantly seeking out new cultures
and technologies. Since their incorporation into the
GCPS they are traditionally employed by corporations
to witness important contracts, but are often sent to
scientific outposts on Frontier worlds where their mindnetworks are capable of astounding computational feats
without the need for fragile high-end equipment.
In battle, Chovar Psychics are often employed to give
squad leaders a tactical advantage, and they can be
found among the ranks of everyone from Enforcers to
Rebs. A Chovar bases its projections on pure science
and statistical analysis, often giving observers the
impression of supreme foresight, which is assumed
to be the reason behind stories that they can see into
the future. They are often seen as cold and calculating,
overlooking the human element and accounting for
chance simply as a percentage point, leading some
particularly headstrong or emotional leaders to simply
ignore the advice of a Chovar. Lieutenant Fillon of the
Rebs Crew Agents of Mercy is famously critical of the
Chovar, stating on-record that fortune never favours a
foregone conclusion.
In reality, only one thing is certain the inclusion of
a Psychic in a squad signifies it is perhaps the most
important and dangerous mission a soldier will ever
take part in. After all, only the Chovar really knows if
they will ever come back.
Altimoses
Not all Chovar Psychics use their abilities for
the benefit of civilisation.
One such being known simply as Altimoses was
involved in numerous illicit activities, including
drug smuggling, gun running, and the staging
of illegal sports matches, including DreadBall
games. His success in the criminal underworld
was mainly down to his ability to pinpoint the
patrol routes of the authorities and decipher
the best routes for his shipments to take in
order to avoid any unwanted attention.
Altimoses evaded capture for many cycles,
but it seemed the game was up when he was
captured in a last-minute unplanned raid by a
combined task force of Enforcers and several
other Chovar Psychics. He was due to serve a
life sentence in Perestia Prime Correctional
Facility, but his prison ship was intercepted enroute by the Arma Blanca Cartel, a particularly
effective group of Marauders. Who had paid
them to break him free remains unclear, but the
attempt was botched and ship spiralled out of
control, eventually crash-landing on Nexus Psi.
Now the fugitive Chovar has a private army, but
that wont mean much without an exit strategy.
The Plague are closing in, and it wont be long
until they try and add this powerful psychic to
their ranks
NEXUS PSI - 59
enough for me to get out and ran to the open doorway,

shielding my face against the flames leaping all around
me. Reis was forgotten, left somewhere behind me in
the blaze. A bestial roar of pain made me turn at the
ruptured entrance to the warehouse and I saw Grendyls
huge frame on his knees, Hrunka lying a few feet away
in an eerie recreation of our first meeting. As I watched,
he fell slowly to one side, no effort made to arrest his
fall. His head landed in the flames, flesh shrivelling and
melting away under the heat.
I had no idea where the Enforcer was until something
lanced into my gut, a thin line of poly-steel transfixing
me. Inches away, linked by the length of its blade
inside my flesh, the Enforcer stood. In the polished,
featureless visor, all I could see was my own pale face,
reflected in the light of the raging flames all around.
Long seconds passed, blessedly free of pain until the
Enforcer stepped back, pulling the blade from me in one
smooth motion. Agony, pulled forth on a tide of blood,
took me to my knees. White hot pain coursed through
me, cramping every muscle it touched. Vision greying,
I say Reis bound up to the Enforcer, words of thanks on
her lips and Lu-Fan credentials waved like a talisman in
her hands.
The blade flashed once in the firelight, and Reiss head
spiralled away, loose golden hair surrounding it like a
halo. I clasped one hand over the seething hole in my
guts, and staggered to the cold wet night of the Soak.
That was how the Enforcer found me, on my back,
looking at the stars with rain pooling in my eyes and
nose. Blood soaked my clothes, plastering my hands in
sticky crimson. I couldnt move, couldnt do much more
than gasp up at the stars and feel my own life slipping
away into the wet night of Nexus-Psi. Towering over me,
the Enforcer stood at my head in silence. That impassive
mask cocked to the side again, flecks of Reiss blood
already washing away in the rain. It raised its blade arm
slowly and I hadnt even the time to gasp no before it
brought the sword flashing down and everything went
dark.
There it was. Lu-Fan. Game over. I sat myself up,

muscles protesting through the numbing haze at their
sudden use. My fingers found the wound in my gut, now
just a gnarled ridge of scar-tissue. I risked a smile.
Im sorry, you have me at a disadvantage here
My name is Naomi Solon, Mr Ander. I represent
Lu-Fans interests on Nexus-Psi, specifically their
corporate security interests. Or rather, I did when it still
mattered. She smiled, and I got the feeling Id missed
the joke. My mouth was suddenly dry.
I say thank you, as you solved two particular issues for
us and allowed Lu-Fan to remain beyond reproach. The
use of Marauders was a particularly impressive touch.
Suddenly it all fell into place. Reiss lack of knowledge
about a warehouse she supposedly managed. The
increased security when nothing was held inside.
It was a set-up wasnt it? I wet my lips, continued.
You used me to clean your own house of a suspect exec
and write off the liquidation.
Solon nodded, a tight movement that spoke of a rigid
self-control, the kind learned through years of civilised
boardroom conflict management.
Indeed. We had our doubts about Kayla Reis for several
years, but were not sure how much of our interests
she had sold on. You provided the opportune method to
evaluate how far her disloyalty went.
I recognised that look it spoke to the same emotion Id
felt all those years before in that office.
And the Enforcer?
Lets just say that was a happy coincidence. A lot more
was happening on Nexus Psi than we had anticipated,
and you just missed it. Youre a lucky man, Mr Ander.
Lucky that you didnt die from your wounds, and even
luckier that we got you off-world before that was no
longer an option.
My head was fuzzy, and her words werent making
sense. So what now? What do you want with me?
I woke to soft lights and cool sheets on my skin. A warm

numbness in my veins spoke of high-end opiates, and I
could feel the vague itch of dermal patches on my flesh.
Welcome back, Mr Ander. Good to see you awake
finally.
The voice was feminine, refined and controlled. She sat
on a plain chair in the corner of the room, slender frame
accentuated by a dark cotton suit cut in the typical high
exec fashion. Pale brown skin was framed by midlength black hair in a style calculated very carefully
to look messy and thrown-together. Her appearance
suggested her to be in her late thirties, but looks were
never a true indicator of age among the elite.
I have to say, you gave us quite the opportunity on
Nexus-Psi. On behalf of Lu-Fan, I would like to thank
you.
60 - NEXUS PSI

60
She smiled again, the predatory smile of a born hunter.

You, Mr Ander? You have proven yourself to be
extremely resourceful and capable. Lu Fan has
expended no little money and effort to bring you here
alive. Were sure you appreciate our efforts, and would
like nothing more than a chance to repay us. We would
like to offer you a job... She paused, letting it sink in,
before continuing.
in Extractions.
THE HELFATHER
The business enterprises of the Forge Fathers require
vast armies to operate across the Star Realms
frontiers. The resources and manpower at the disposal
of their rulers allow vast private armies in addition
and so when the members of the upper echelons of
Forge Father society commit to the battlefield they
are protected by an elite soldiery. Despite the buying
power afforded by Shadrek Mal-Razs majority stake
in the Furnace Valley, he is currently operating alone.
His wealth is obvious from his uniquely-customised
Aesir armour and his signature Xerxes Cannon but he
operates on Nexus Psi without an entourage.
The Mal-Drez dynasty had established itself through
several centuries of stripping back the orebodies of the
gombiky extra-solar planets passing near their space.
These rogue planets come from an earlier galactic age,
and so are fantastically rich in the heavier elements and
are almost-always lifeless. Regarded as giant, spherical
treasures the word gombiky has also passed into Forge
Father language as the name of the priceless spherical
beads worn as jewellery. Some of the wealthiest Forge
Father dynasties have become so by searching deep in
the galaxy for these planets. Outside of solar systems
their accurate detection is still beyond the bounds of the
Corporation scientists.
Shadrek was dispatched to Nexus Psi to oversee the

construction of a gravitational micolensing station
in the rapidly developing area of Corporation space.
Ostensibly a navigation station funded by the dummy
coporation FurnVal, the facility was secretly intended
to widen the Forge Father search for wealth, with the
secondary objective of putting them one-step ahead
of the Corporation. To avoid the suspicion of a Dwarf
minor noble visiting a humble relay, Shadrek and his
Clanhold bodyguard prepared to travel disguised as a
FurnVal tech team.
Approaching their final jump, Gorsch drop-rigs
communicated to the FurnVal party an unusual level
of intelligence chatter on the planet. Rumours of
Corporation agents active troubled Mal-Drez, and
he replaced his warriors with a genuine, (and more
importantly multi-racial) tech team from the FurnVal
space station. Though useless in a fight, they were able
to flawlessly lie that his Aesir armour was a reactor
protection suit when questioned at the Corporationcontrolled landing points.
Paranoia got Shadrek to Nexus Psi. But now theres a
Plague outbreak, will it prove his undoing?
NEXUS PSI - 61
THE SURVIVOR
In his former life, The Survivor was Slobodan Chovyek, a
genetic technician working for the Spiczak Corporation
who was drafted to join an expedition to Usiah, where an
Artefact had been discovered by a group of miners.
Not every victim of the Plague reacts to the virus in the
same manner. As Chovyeks colleagues succumbed to
the ravages of infection, dying in seconds or mutating
into horrifying beasts, he alone was untouched. He
expected them to turn on him, tear him limb-from-limb,
but the nightmarish creatures simply ignored him.
What came next were the worst days of his life. He
followed in the wake of the Plague, hoping to find
anyone left alive in the charnel house that had once
been Ginzu City. He was about to give up hope when he
spotted a fellow survivor and followed him to a hidden
safe-house in the basement of an Almar Interplanetary
holding station. They were wary at first, refusing to let
him in as they couldnt be sure that he wasnt infected.
He gradually convinced them that he was clear, and that
a scientist with his expertise would be a very useful
person to add to their number, and they finally threw
open the door.
After a shaky start, he was welcomed with open arms.
Almost half of the survivors were gravely wounded,
lying in a makeshift triage station manned by a small
team of medical workers. It turned out that the survivor
Chovyek had initially seen had been trying to make a run
to a nearby Mazon Labs med-station, hoping to pick up
bloodpacks, but had been unsuccessful. Every healthy
candidate from among the group had already donated
as much as they could, but it was not enough. Chovyek
didnt wait for them to ask; he rolled back his sleeve and
asked them where he needed to be.
62 - NEXUS PSI

62
What followed was utter carnage.

Although he was somehow immune to the Plagues
effects, it still thrived in his bloodstream, waiting for
a chance to be transferred to a new host. Three men
had been infected before the first began to writhe and
convulse, mutating before their eyes. The medical team
were the first to die, but at the end, Chovyek was once
again the sole survivor. As the creatures he had created
fled the confines of the basement to join their kin, he
realised the true horror of his condition. He took up
a scalpel, meaning to end his life there and then, but
he was interrupted by a soothing voice that seemed to
come from nowhere. He listened to its words, the
razor-sharp blade in his hand trembling.
The voice faded away. After a moments silence, he
nodded slowly and carefully placed the scalpel back on the
instrument tray. He understood. He had so much to do.
From that day, Slobodan Chovyek was no more. He
is now The Survivor, a mysterious stranger who has
never been seen outside of a fully enclosed Hazardous
Environment Suit. What his new-found purpose actually
is has never been fully clear; only he knows, but he has
been strangely silent since he escaped Usiah. In any
case, he seems to have made it his business to follow
tales of Artefact discoveries. Whether hes trying to
find a cure or simply further the cause of the Plague
remains to be seen
BOOMER
Boomers odious habits and utter lack of personal
hygiene are gaggingly obvious from several metres away.
Few would socialise with him voluntarily without some
pressing incentive; thankfully, he is spared a lonely life by
his undoubted skills with explosives and encyclopaedic
knowledge of grenades. Whats also obvious from the
briefest of encounters with him is that he is completely
insane, and whilst somewhat worrying in an explosives
specialist most commanders assume that one follows from
the other fairly naturally and so accept his foibles to use of
his skills.
In terms of who he is and where he came from, nobodys
asked. Boomer probably had a real name at one point;
probably had a family, clan or other group to which he felt
allegiance. Maybe people even liked him. Who can tell?
These days he is nothing more nor less than an expendable
asset who hires his not inconsiderable skills out to anyone
who can pay the exorbitant fees (and stand his presence
for more than five minutes). Its working out well for him
certainly, hes never short on clients.
Hobgoblins
Unlike their close cousins the Orx and Goblins,
Hobgoblins were not drafted into the Councils
service by General Klimt, though there were many
who still got caught in the crossfire following the
Mandrake Uprising. Forced to pick a side, they
almost unanimouslyMarauders.
Hobgoblins are bad-tempered, foul little creatures,
which is a constant thorn in the side of Goblins
across the galaxy as most outsiders struggle to
tell the difference between the two. Most tales of
Goblins being abhorrently sneaky, desperately
petty and more than a little light fingered are
usually aimed at Hobgoblins. They do have their
uses, however. With a natural ability for the
mechanical, they often work as highly capable
engineers on Marauder assault vehicles, space
craft and larger artillery weapons. Of course,
rivalry between crews (and even within them) is
rife, and it doesnt take much goading for them to
become embroiled in a fight.
Those that didnt rebel along with the Orx can
often be found in spaceports selling black-market
goods, or acting as backstreet book-keepers, loan
sharks and swindlers. By the time the authorities
turn up they are cunning enough to be long gone,
stowing away in the cargo hold of an outgoing
hauler or transport and heading to some distant
planet elsewhere in the galaxy. Such is the life of a
Hobgoblin on the road.
NEXUS PSI - 63
BLAINE
Its been said that Blaine has a face that only a mother
could love, though in his case even that seems doubtful.
According to the legends surrounding him, his first
crime was to murder his family and burn down the
family home. Certainly nobody claims him as kin. Thats
just asking for trouble.
who finally captured him on Deskin 4 support the idea

that he has some inbuilt enhancements. Those that have
seen the security vid of his breakout are even more
sure. Unfortunately all the actual witnesses died in the
escape and all we have is degraded and partly jammed
video files. That was the last confirmed sighting.
Whether this is true or not is anyones guess as he

has surgically changed his appearance a number of
times and the Blaine you see now is as much a result of
reconstructive medicine as nature. Even his true race is
the subject of some debate.
He has since been reported in a wide variety of places,

fighting alongside any number of different factions.
None of these sightings have been reliably corroborated
and he always slips away in the confusion of combat,
invariably leaving a bloody wake of maimed and dead in
his path. He seems to prefer the close kill and the fact
that he manages this against even highly sophisticated
enemies such as Forge Fathers and Enforcers is a
testament to his extraordinary skills of stealth and
evasion.
One of Blaines many peculiarities is his DNA: hes got

more than one profile. This isnt possible naturally,
which implies that Blaine has had more than cosmetic
surgery done to alter his appearance. Certainly reports
of his combat abilities and the arrest report of those
64 - NEXUS PSI

64
FREYA OERLIKON
Freya Oerlikon served in the Forge Father military as a
logistic support pilot on tours of the Nethyr Edge. Trained and
experienced across the whole arsenal of vehicles, aircraft and
spaceships, she was one of the many cogs that kept the engine
of war running smoothly in the theatre of battle. Although ztoo
nervy to serve as a front-line Firewyrm or Roskilde pilot, she
was happy to undertake the occasional duty on the front line.
Reaching the post of supervising chargehand at the time of
the Kellng Walk occupation, Freya resigned her commission
after it was announced that the battalion was to be garrisoned
there permanently. Piloting skills are always in high demand
in trading cultures, and Freya set herself up as a contract pilot
through her network of military contacts.
Though only able to perform basic repairs to hardware by
Forge Father standards, Freya was regarded as a technical
marvel in GCPS territory. Able to bypass some of the limiters
that Forge Father designers build in to tech destined for other
cultures, Freya found herself in demand for her mechanic
abilities as much as her piloting. Any ship she worked on
gained a subtle edge over its untampered counterparts and
her reputation quickly grew.
Freya accepted a charter to extract research materials from
Nexus Psi on behalf of the ExoChild Corporation, lured by
an upfront fee so generous she could purchase a restored
Firesteel-class light freighter. The ship was a classic Forge
Father design capable of crossing the gulfs of space with only
a minimal crew to make quick planetary landings. Originally
designed to deliver military supplies during the second wave
of an invasion, decommissioned Firesteels have proved
popular with smugglers who cannot, for obvious reasons, use
space ports to drop off goods.
Slipping past Nexus Psis blockade was a challenge for Freya,
but after a few days studying the Enforcer ship patterns she
had identified several holes created after the besieging craft
inexplicably shifted togeostationary orbits. The ExoChild
package was found in the Reiker City cargo facility, along with
the remains of two ExoChild contracters who she deduced had
been previously sent to recover the cargo.
In the shadows, a third Plague-infected smuggler had been
banking on a further retrieval attempt an opportunity
to spread the contagion off-planet. Waiting until she was
loading her ship hold to strike, the 3S slashed at Freya with
its distended talons. Only Freya was prepared, and unloaded
a clip of Hailstorm ammuniiton from her compact pistol.
Quickly sealing the hold she took off, panicked and keen to
break orbit as quickly as possible.
The upper-stage engines of the retreating Firesteel exploded
in a hail of laser fire. Far more vigilant on traffic leaving the
surface than arriving, Enforcer interceptors had crippled
her ship with brutal efficiency. Freya screamed in rage as
she tumbled planetward, hoping her ship could clear the city
limits before crashlanding.
NEXUS PSI - 65
66 - NEXUS PSI

66
Most of the Enforcers of Nexus Psi were diverted from standard patrol forces, but other groups were brought in
as the conflict continued. Elements from Red Division, a specialist Enforcer unit with considerable experience in
the Arklyte Cluster, were brought in to deal with concentrated numbers of Plague victims for whom the infection
had not fully taken root. These zombies had overtaken several Outposts, and were proving to be a serious
impediment to regular strike teams.
... Lost assets exceed parameters
Retrieval Teams Dispatched

When Explore / Retrieve team Six-Alpha set
out to recover a strange alien artefact from
the surface of Nexus Psi, they never realised
what horrors they would unleash. Their lines
of escape cut off by the merciless Council of
Seven, they were left to fend for themselves
against the ever-growing forces of the Plague.
Now that the initial wave has died down, new
arrivals have begun to flock to the devastated
planet. Enforcer dropships dispatch troops to
the surface, each Strike Team tasked with the
advancement of the Councils hidden agenda.
The foot-soldiers of the Rebellion come to
the surface in battered transports, looking to
recover antyhing they can from the ruins of
the once thriving frontier world. Finally there
are the Marauders, space-faring mercenaries
fulfilling salvage contracts for employers
unknown
This book contains:

-
Campaign Rules a new system for

playing a series of linked games between
one player controlling the Plague and an
opponent controlling a different faction.
Battlezone: Nexus Psi a guide to the

world on which the campaign is set,
including the events that led to the
Plague outbreak.
Faction Focus background information

on Deadzones four primary factions:
The Enforcers, the Plague, the Rebs and
the Marauders.
You will require a copy of the Deadzone

rulebook to use the material in
this supplement.
www.manticgames.com
Product Code
Barcode
ISBN
MGDZM11-1
5060208866469
978-0-9569945-9-2

Nexus Psi Campaign Book

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A DEADZONE CAMPAIGN

THE FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL ON A DOOMED WORLD

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

Antenocitis Workshop, Armorcast,

Heath Foley, Jonas Springborg, Kris

Chris Webb, Dave Neild, Golem Painting

RETURN TO NEXUS PSI

CHAMPIONS OF NEXUS PSI

Nexus Psi Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

The Galactic Co-Prosperity Sphere is a vast

Nexus Psi was picked up by a SanMar scout ship on a

Unlike the technologically advanced worlds of the

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

Within seconds of the planets existence being

share a unique energy signature. The Council offers

The Artefact Conspiracy

spread the infection, were mutated beyond recognition.

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

Faction Booster packs are a great way to upgrade your

The two most popular Guntrack loadouts, the

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

the burden of additional and awkward equipment they

Indirect fire takes a little while to set up as coordinates

An Indirect attack is inherently inaccurate and cannot Aim.

For example, a successful AP 2 attack hits an Armour 3

Vehicles are large and cumbersome so cannot move

The Vehicle ability includes Construct and Beast. A

Vehicles are listed with a number in brackets, eg Vehicle

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

The first thing to do is decide who is going to play in the

The Nexus Psi campaign is a struggle to claim or

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

Scenarios S1S5 are each battles for control of one of

Winning The Campaign

Nexus Psi Rule Modifications

Starting The Campaign

Attacker And Defender

The example on top shows ideal terrain placement. The

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

When you refight a scenario you do not need to worry

SCENARIO SPECIAL RULES

In addition to any specific victory conditions, all scenarios

After The Battle

Apart from the Reputation rewards explained above, use

The Next Battle

Other scenario special rules are noted on the applicable

Scenarios S1S5: may only be chosen if you do

Deployment And First Turn

Scenario X: may only be chosen once during the

This process has been changed slightly for this

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

Scenario Y: may only be chosen once during the

Forewarned is forearmed. The motto of the GCPS Intelligence Agency is an ancient

Scenario Special Rules

There are no special scenery requirements for this

Intel Gathering. The intel counter is not removed when it

Use the normal game rules for determining deployment

Matthew McDonald (order #5652513)

Scenario Special Rules