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The Crypt Belt of Rabat It has been a successful season of piracy on the high void for Lord-Captain Vitaly Velexandros and the crew of the Ragna. The holds are piled high with plunder from free traders operating on the verges of the Lancer Reach, some plying the forbidden trade between Orgell and Idria, but most simply glorified Chartists operating routes between Qantar, Wyrmire, Lancer Station and the Imperial forces on Restival. The Ragna is bloodied but unbroken, her ancient, scarred hull boasting a few new pockmarked scabs, but little in the way of real damage. A few thousand kilometres off the starboard bow, a merchant frigate lies burning - the last vessel to cross the Ragna's path, a free trader operating semi-independently under the banner of the Sorosi trade-house, no doubt loaded down with semi-legal pharmaceuticals from Orgell. Most captains are wise enough to surrender their cargoes after a few warning shots from the star galleon's superior las-batteries, but the master of the Whisper of Angels had too little wisdom, and too much courage. And now he is almost certainly dead, along with the rest of his crew, given that the last few gasps of the Whisper's air are being consumed by the immense drive-flame, bright enough to illuminate nearby asteroids. The Command Bridge of the Ragna - 8/8 hull points  "The drive wedge has collapsed - she won't be stable for much longer!" comes a shout from the augur-pits. The immense, cathedral-like bridge is a hive of activity, still reeling from the swiftness of the destruction of the Whisper of Angels. Lance-fire from the dorsal turrets was meant to cripple the merchantman, not send her to the Emperor's grace. A certain lack of precision on the part of Lance Turret Gammeron had lead to the drive core collapsing in upon itself far faster than anyone could have predicted, and the Whisper's fate was sealed before she'd even got close enough to the Ragna to open fire. And now her valuable cargo of lho and vinterspice is likely to be destroyed before the Ragna's crew can get her hands on it. Though the billowing flame of the Whisper's drive collapse is starting to gutter and jitter for lack of fuel, the damage to the superstructure is probably too much for the ship to stand, and the gravitic plates will start to tear the ship apart. "Lord-Captain, your orders?" ---- Lord-Captain Vitaly - Will you try to rescue the Whisper's valuable cargo? What would be your punishment for the gunnery crew of Lance Turret Gammeron? Darrius Xomatov - You've met the (late) captain of the Whisper of Angels before - Mahjon Danassar, a craven man with a bad gambling habit and no stomach for cards. You wouldn't think him the type to risk his ship against the far-larger Ranga. What could have possessed him to try? Beithir - What do your people say about the Crypt-Fields of Rabat? Navigator Arietrix - You're lucky that the Whisper's collapse didn't lead to a warp rift. Tell me, did you know the navigator aboard the Whisper? Any important facts you'd like to mention to the rest of the crew? Bledger - The humie ship going up in flames sure is pretty, but your augur-whatsits had picked up an unusual signal, indicating some kind of technology that you'd have given your right arm to loot, if you hadn't already replaced it with a power klaw. What was it? Marcus Cannix - Your sword, The Emperor's Light, has been known to flicker gold and green in the presence of sorcerors and heretics. It's flickering now, but only since after the Whisper went up in flames. What do you do? Marshal haut Suranga - Your company is already suited up and ready to launch a boarding action. They'd follow you into battle - but will they follow you into a burning, collapsing hulk - the closest thing to hell this side of the Eye of Terror? ---- Welcome to the first SA RTA gamethread! It's a pleasure to have you all. Please start each post with your character's name - maybe even with a link to your character sheet - so I don't get too confused. TheLoneAmigo fucked around with this message at Mar 4, 2013 around 07:36 |
| # ? Mar 4, 2013 07:29 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 09:55 |
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Bledger, Da Ork Wot Makes Tings Werk Roight "You gitz! STOP FIRING! Stupid 'umies, don't you even know what's on that ship?" The bridge's atmosphere is suddenly disrupted by an angry Ork, and a rather large specimen at that, charging in armed to the teeth and wearing red power armor. "That Whispers wreck contains the most valuable and holy of Technorklogical Artifacts, an STC Terminal! It has instructions for constructions that beget devastating destructions and all sorts of other valuable data in its technorklogical databanks. The knowledge contained in those machines is how da Orks stopped being feral and learned to build and break so many things!" He realizes it might not have any data of particular use to this ship at this time and the Imperium would be willing to move heaven and Terra to get it back but decides that would cloud the judgement of anyone who may be of a cowardly persuasion. "Now, we have to go get it before the entire ship burns down, you 'umie GENIUSES." Bledger has donned his power armor! Don Power Armor: 2d6+2 8 He holds 2 to activate special moves of his power armor. Also, if the Power Klaw is incorporated into my MEGA KUSTOM ARMOR I don't think I've given up my right arm to put it in directly. Yet. MiltonSlavemasta fucked around with this message at Mar 4, 2013 around 08:29 |
| # ? Mar 4, 2013 08:12 |
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Beithir "Such an ugly display of brute force, typical", Beithir though as he watched the frigate burn and crack. "First they make a show and then they'll want me to risk my neck on that death trap. Splendid." The Eldar began innocently wandering, trying to look busy and to stay out of captain's sight. The common knowledge says that the world once belonged to squats, mercilessly pushed out by a trading cartel wishing to erase them from existence to maximise it's profits. Mon-Keigh sneakily ravaged the small world, polluting the waters and poisoning the air, so that it could sustain no life anymore. From what little we could find on the surface, it appears the remaining squats sealed themselves in their massive underground tombs, swearing eternal revenge. Who knows what could happen to them over those years?
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| # ? Mar 4, 2013 09:57 |
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Arietrix Arietrix erupts from the dire embossing of a doorway that leads into the orrery-habitat, still pulling the feeder tube out of her nose. She seems unusually perky but she might have taken a jolt of something in anticipation of a longer space battle. She sniffs several times. Then she flings the piece of medicae equipment at the general direction of the gunnery station. "What grox-turd of a loving maniac fired dead at the loving DRIVE CORE?!" Shaking her hair out and bundling it up to button up in her naval-pattern armor, Arietrix keeps shouting. "We're all lucky we're not saying hello to the Ruinous Powers in person! Emperor's balls!" She kicks a stray brass skull, the boot toe of the armor gaining yet another of its characteristic dings at this pointless activity. (The skull remains unharmed.) After hyperventilating for a moment and reaching up to rub her forehead, brushing her head against the embossed piece of brass and semiprecious gems that spares the crew from having their souls HORRIFYINGLY SHRIVEN, Arietrix says, "Right, I'm calmer now." "The lowborn toad on that ship," and here Arietrix pulls out her sword and brandishes at the diamond-glass plate that is pointing in the right direction, "seemed like a Golokvo, if I have any guess, or else a Breetva; either of them are shocking to see slumming it up out here." A sniff again, and then the sword is sheathed as she pulls out a nose-wipe to do the obvious. "Anyway, I've left more talent in the head than they've got in /their/ heads, but I imagine in this situation they'd be pleased to buy passage at generous rates." She also squints at Bledger's words. "Well this is a stroke of luck, isn't it?" She leans forwards slightly, the visions coming: the shuddering unreality of the warp filtering itself through her memories of the old holovids of the sky guards of the Integracalc Nebulon Cluster. Clouds forming, pillars shaping, around that guttering wreckage! Arietrix peers into the immaterium to see what the haps are. Peer into the Warp: 2d6+2 10
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| # ? Mar 4, 2013 10:39 |
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Marshall haut Suranga stands at his post, one hand to the comm bead in his left ear. "My Lord Velexandros, we'll never get her holds cleared out if she keep burning like that. I can put a raiding team on board any time you like, but they'd better not tarry if we want any of them back." The auspex team looks up as he moves over to them. "I'll see if I can't find their secure cargo. Chief, direct your scans to the bridge area, and what's left of the ship's core. I want any hard returns plotted, both ship's structural elements and especially anything that isn't on their blueprints." Assessing the Sitch, +adroit. 2d6+0 Questions in priority order: * what’s the most profitable opportunity here? * what should I be on the lookout for? * where’s my best way in ? Scanning the crippled ship: 2d6+0 4 It's on fire. We knew that, thanks scan chief. I'll mark an XP and think about the boarding action. As a suggestion, should the improved auspex component also add +1 to an Assess the Sitch roll in addition to the damage bonus ? Not that it would have helped.
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| # ? Mar 4, 2013 23:01 |
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Nessus posted:
It is a banality amongst Navigators to speak of the Immaterium as a storm, or an ocean, or a jungle. For these are metaphors that the unsighted can comprehend as they grasp for meaning in a realm that hurls nothing but contempt at the semiotic thought-lines of man. To speak of thunder & waves & predators & prey & shoals & reefs in such a world is laughable, contemptible, pathetic, like watching the shadows of clouds play across the fields of Wyrmire and claiming to understand the weather. But we are not blessed with the Third Sight. Our eyes have not been opened to the great beyond. Our minds have not pierced the veil between worlds. And thus I, your faithful narrator, must describe the visions of Arietrix Astraskata in flat, paper terms so that your flat, paper minds can understand them... Sharks. Thousands upon thousands of them, swirling around the great guttered hulk of the Whisper of Angels like flies on rotted meat, consuming the souls of her crew as they break from their mortal forms and dissipate into the great beyond. There will be no Emperor's grace for them. The veil between worlds has not been pierced. There are no vines and tendrils of the Warp snaking their way into the Materium, no snatching flytraps nor terrible monsters able to manifest themselves in the shadow of the Whisper's destruction. But while the spectral sharks that swarm around the hulk may not form an immediate threat, they will swallow the souls of any who die aboard the wreck - and they are not a common sight. These immaterial scavengers only manifest at the sight of great moral corruption - they are drawn to it like hummingbirds drawn to beautiful, terrible flowers of heresy and madness. Most notably, they flock around Dark Eldar like dolphins flock around ships at sea... What do you do? TheLoneAmigo fucked around with this message at Mar 4, 2013 around 23:37 |
| # ? Mar 4, 2013 23:26 |
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Bledger da Ork Bledger nods at the Marshall's brief assessment. Apparently this one was not much for mucking about, which is good. "Let us get to the Tellyporta. The most valuable cargo on that ship is one big unit about the size of a small wagon. We might need more of a plan to not get all your boyz burned up, though. Boyz are supposed to die in battle, not in some fire caused by 'umie GENIUSES." It is a scary sight as Bledger pushes the Augur-crew aside. His armor seems, against all odds, to be equipped to interface with the human technology manually. Various wires extend from his arms and shoulders into the plethora of I/O ports available. His augmented eye begins to flash a prismatic array of rainbow colors all over the room and his bellows fill the entire bridge. "Come on, Bledger, think, think! Wotsit all mean!? Why's this stinking 'umie ship got something so valuable out here in the graveyard lands!? Why's I feelin' a bit uneasy about this whole setup!? Why aren't these augur-whatsits going harder...harder...HARDER!!!" The various screens in the room are overridden by green text on black background, repeated numbers and obscure characters which mean nothing to most present. Bledger probably couldn't read it either, but trying to sit down and read it would be mucking about. No, that's how human teks acquire data, by reading it. Orks download it directly into the brain. But, maybe, Bledger got a little excited this time and downloaded too much. Open Mind to Immaterium: 2d6+1 6 Bledger's now insane. I mark 1 xp.
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| # ? Mar 4, 2013 23:42 |
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Marcus Cannix Marcus steps from his post next to the Lord Captain, shaking his head at the Navigator and hooking a meaty finger back at the golden radiance curling, spitting and crackling around the entire length of his sword's sheath. "We may not be facing the Ruinous Powers in person, but certainly their servants. Just look at how the Emperor's Light is shining. That ship is besieged by the Warp at this very moment and if we get much closer, I'd wager so will we be. Is whatever the ork's talking about really -that- valuable?"
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| # ? Mar 5, 2013 00:12 |
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Bledger da Ork Bledger, dizzy from overloading his head with too much data, tries to explain what could be at stake inside the terminal. He squints at Marcus and notices the armor and the lasgun. "You've got some flash bitz 'umie, but I reckon you started out with the guardies on the low level. Tell me, 'umie, when you were a guardie, pinned down by Orks or Buggers or Chaos Gitz, how did it make you feel to hear the words 'Leman Russ' or 'Baneblade?' Do you remember what it's like to have a big drat tank break the enemy lines and send them scattering before you? Also your Land Raiders, your Lasguns, so many things..." Gesticulating with his power claw about intellectual matters makes the Ork a comical sight. "Basically, 'umie, this thing has ancient designs much better than anything 'umie teks can invent for new today. The value of it to Chaos Gitz is big. The value of it to the Emperor's Gitz, probably even bigger. Imagine if Chaos Gitz found better designs than the rest of the 'umies and started a great big Chaos WAAAGH! with their new hardware. It would be the best scrap ever! We should sell it to them when they get here!" Bledger grins; It's not clear to what extent he's being serious or sarcastic at the very end, but it doesn't seem like he's outright lying.
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| # ? Mar 5, 2013 01:32 |
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quote:
The Rogue Trader stands up from his lord-captain's throne at the center of the bridge. His throat-vox crackles. "I've heard enough. Marshal, put together a team to go search the vessel. I want you to handpick them and to personally lead it. Take experienced scavengers and warriors. Cannix, you're the best fighter on my vessel, go with them and keep them alive. Don't throw your lives away; riches do you no good when you're dead. Am I understood?" He looks at the gesticulating Ork. "Bledger, you're babbling again. You're not going." Looking up in the general direction of the station at fault for the current state of affairs, Vitaly (very artificially and electronically) sighs. "Send the crew of Lance-Turret Gammeron to the brig. For every member of the boarding party that perishes, I want one of them turned into a servitor."
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| # ? Mar 5, 2013 02:24 |
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Darrius Darrius had been quiet during the recent hubbub, firstly because his talents lay in areas besides naval combat, and secondly because the revelation about the STC had temporarily made his vision swim with thrones. However, the question by the guardsman shook him out of his daydream. Or maybe it was the ork opening his mouth again, who knows. Regardless, an involuntary note of incredulity crept into his voice as he turned towards him. "Is it valuable?! Mr. Cannix, I've heard tell of a duo who'd somehow managed to stumble across an STC that wasn't being fought over. They turned it over the the Mechanicum, and they were each rewarded with rule over a fairly-major planet. Do you know what that particular STC was? A knife, slightly lighter than the ones that'd been used before, but just as strong. If this contains anything like that...No wonder Mahjon tried to fight us off, this was his ticket to glory. Bastard still owed me money, too." A few moments of consideration later, the gambler asked no one in particular, "We've got enough void suits on board, right?"
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| # ? Mar 5, 2013 02:46 |
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Marcus Cannix Marcus nods to the Lord-Captain, smiling a wide smile full of slightly stained teeth. "Always nice to hear truth spoken. Right then. We'd best move fast. That place is falling apart as we speak." As he turns to stride out of the room, sword still glowing that distracting gold, he notes to the young noble: "It's always important to modify perceived value by just how dead you're likely to get trying for it. But if the Lord-Captain's adjudged it a worthy trade, who am I to say otherwise?"
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| # ? Mar 5, 2013 03:11 |
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Bledger da Ork Bledger frowns at the captain's assessment, but he was somewhat right. His brain was overloaded and until he could have some good Orky fun, he wasn't going to be at his best. "In that case, captain, I will 'scuse myself and talk to the navygator about technical details." He moves to pull Arietrix aside and have a few brief words with her. Arietrix: When the shuttle's about to disembark with the boarding party, find a reason to excuse yourself and meet me at the tellyporta. It's up to you whether you think you should come through with me or not, but I need someone tuned into the warp to target that when I'm all mucked up like this, and I've got an Orky feeling that there's going to be heavy security aboard that ship what with the cargo they're carrying. All I really need you to do is come and push da big red button. I'll owe you one.
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| # ? Mar 5, 2013 03:36 |
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Arietrix Arietrix answers Marcus curtly even as she stares, crosseyed, towards the wreck. "By the Throne," she then says after a suitably turgid dramaturgical pause. "They must have been doing SOMETHING awful." She then raises her voice as launch parties are prepared, waiving one hand above her head. "Keep a sharp eye, because there are the - the - You don't have the word for them. It's a sort of parasite. It shouldn't be a problem, directly, but --" And here she presses a hand to her forehead. "They're devouring the very souls of the dead. They're like sugar flies." A glance towards Marcus and Darrius. "So don't die." Then someone who does not have a soul gets her attention. Arietrix starts peeling the armor cowl over her head while consulting. She even avoids yelling. Quite so. You've got a good eye on you, as well as the two in your head, and bringing back my cousin on his knees or in a heresy disposal sack sounds like a much better use of my time than malingering here.
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| # ? Mar 5, 2013 03:59 |
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Marshall haut Suranga The Marshall glances at the Trader, shrugs, and strides over to the nearest annunciator. He keys for the shuttle bay, " "Alright you vultures ! The Lord wants his loot and we want our bonuses ! I want the first wave of shuttles in space right now, and the second wave thirty seconds after I hit the flight deck myself. Culliver, grab us a beachhead near the bridge. We're grabbing some big stuff, don't slow down for a lousy pack of lhos. I'll coordinate the grab before I board myself. Watch yourself, anyone still on board is going to hate us." Rolling leadership because I love hold like I love the Emperor, "Coordinating the raid (Leadership)": 2d6+2 9 edit: I misread the BBcode, I have one hold. mllaneza fucked around with this message at Mar 5, 2013 around 08:13 |
| # ? Mar 5, 2013 07:07 |
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The Crypt-Fields of Rabat Two waves of shuttlecraft fan out from beneath the Ragna's prow, skittering like moths towards the low, guttering flame of the Whipser. Plumes of plasma illuminate their paths, trailing behind them like kite-tails in the black. Within each shuttle, armsmen are boxed like bolter rounds, secured in makeshift braces and webbing, nervously checking their hellguns and grenades. These aren't dedicated boarding craft, so the men will have to cut through the hull manually. The first wave flies low over the hulk's prow, heading for the bridge-castellum, as per the Marshal's orders. Lieutenant Culliver's bird leads the way, ably dodging scattered debris, and slowing for a cool landing on the castellum's outer hull... which promptly collapses, like a paper ball, throwing massive amounts debris into the path of the other shuttles. In seconds, most of the first wave is dead or voidlorn, and the bridge is destroyed. The second wave is forced to rapidly scatter to dodge falling spires and augur-pylons sent flying by the destruction of the Whisper's castellum. Suranga, your auguries failed to uncover the structural weaknesses in the bridge-castellum. As a result, you've lost nearly a quarter of your men already - that's 3-harm to your company, ignoring their armour. You've got two likely choices for ingress points now - the starboard cargo holds, more likely to hold valuable cargo, or the hangar bay, significantly safer and quicker. How do you direct your men? Marcus, Darrius, Beithir, you are aboard the Marshal's shuttle. How do you react to the destruction of the first wave? Da Tellyporta One can tell when they're near the tellyporta, because of the clean melt-patterns along the corridors indicating where exactly the Ragna stops and the mass of the Ork ship that Bledger... liberated... begins, grey plascrete bulkheads suddenly melding with black-and-rust steel plating. Within the room itself, great arcs of green lightning are the sole form of illumination, crackling across the large transport-plate and casting light across the various pipes, gears, wires, and cogs that make up the Orkish machine. Bledger is already there when Arietrix arrives, puttering about the chamber, smacking conduits with his power klaw and preening over his power armour. Bledger, tell me, how does the tellyporta's targeting mechanism actually work? What does it look like? Arietrix, how do you feel about trusting your life to this Orkish mechanism? Vitaly, what are you doing while all this activity is going on? Are you leading from behind? Investigating what your teknorkikal friend and his navigator accomplice are up to? Or... are you on the boarding shuttles? What do you do when Marshal Suranga loses the first wave?
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| # ? Mar 6, 2013 00:33 |
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Bledger Introducing the targeting mechanism to Arietrix, Bledger stands outside of the big circle on the floor painted red. "You have to paint the floor red, see, so it knows things from which part of the floor to take, and there has to be a railing to remind gitz to keep their limbs in one place." He points up to the ceiling, which extends a full five feed above his head, making it a very high vault for a shipboard room. "Point big weapons up. That way, you're sure to bring all of your gun." Arietrix looks a bit stunned that the Tellyporta is this simple. A few big energy reactors and conduits wired to a railing surrounding a big red circle painted on the floor. "The most important part, though, and the part I need you to use, is the targeting mechanism. You must move the stick until the place you want to go is on the screen. You can adjust position in three dimensions! Very advanced technology." Bledger beams with pride at what appears to be an old video feed wired to a joystick with a single big red button beside it. There's something strange going on, though; The video screen doesn't seem to be receiving input from anywhere. It just displays the space around the ship of its own accord, somehow. The whole thing is made of parts that should do nothing, sputter, or explode, and yet there's an accurate video feed of the ship's surroundings. Bledger then lifts up the targeting mechanism and moves it to a place reachable from within the tellyporta. "There, now you can come too. Remember, just navygate to where you want to tellyport and push the red button. That's all there is to it." Bledger's belief in his own technology is intended to help +1 Arietrix's roll to activate the Tellyporta. "Uh, I think I must have left out something important. You figure it out alright?" Helping Ariestrix: 2d6+1 6 Failed, mark xp MiltonSlavemasta fucked around with this message at Mar 6, 2013 around 01:22 |
| # ? Mar 6, 2013 00:52 |
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You have to roll to help. Roll +1 because you have 1 bond with Arietrix.
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| # ? Mar 6, 2013 01:16 |
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Marcus Cannix Marcus's eyes widen subtly as he takes in the carnage on the shuttle monitors, one meaty hand tightening on the hilt of his sword, rubbing it a little like a luck charm. This is the part of travelling with a Rogue Trader he hates most - those moments when all that stands between him and a messy death is the skill of a pilot and the quality of their intel. He's long since lost any real fear of the average close combat, his strength, cunning and gear always a match for seemingly overwhelming odds, and he's also figured out when the situation calls for him to cut and run. But he simply doesn't have any control over his fate on these boarding shuttles.
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| # ? Mar 6, 2013 02:40 |
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Vitaly Velexandros When the report comes in, it's not greeted well. The captain would grit his teeth, if he still had a jaw. Instead, his eye narrows. "Begin the conversions of the turret crew. Highest-ranking first." It was most likely a green crewman that hosed all this up. But their superiors should have known better than to let them take part if they weren't ready. Hell, if the crewman survives, this should teach them a lesson that they'll truly never forget. Their surviving peers and superiors surely won't. He feels no personal guilt for the casualties. This isn't the sort of action he takes part in personally, not anymore. There is no way he's putting his life in the hands of simple chance. To risk a death in battle, sure. But there is no glory in dying like that. He's run enough raw risks in his life. The multiple augmentations he sports today weren't medical procedures undergone for leisure or curiosity. Still, he gets up out of his chair and begins to walk about the bridge restlessly. The deaths don't weigh on his conscience; but he's got some particularly useful assets from his crew in the fire. If he loses them he's likely not gaining anything from the affair in compensation. Yeah, I'm aware that PCs have a few small scraps of plot armour; he's not though. Am I doing a pretty good job of playing him as a cold viper of a man?
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| # ? Mar 6, 2013 03:58 |
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Darrius Xomatov "Bother!" muttered Darrius, as the debris started to fly up. The pilot quickly threw the shuttle out of the way, slamming the occupants against its sides but keeping them alive. "What in all the hells just happened?" Though he originally hadn't planned on tagging along, Darrius had gotten caught up in the great crush of humanity-and-Beithir heading towards the shuttle bay. He couldn't very well decide to leave at that point, so upon grabbing his void suit he'd climbed aboard the Marshall's shuttle. He quickly decided he would go straight to the Parlour and get himself some of his best amasec immediately upon returning.
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| # ? Mar 6, 2013 04:46 |
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Marshall haut Suranga The Marshall grips the tactical console as the shuttle weaves throughout the debris field. "Culliver ! Culliver ! Cully you stupid son of a b… All shuttles make for the Whisper's shuttle bay ! First arrivals secure and hold, prepare to offload cargo." If it takes a hold to rally the first wave and get them doing their jobs, then it does. On the off chance they aren't used to sudden and massive casualties, these troops are veterans after all.
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| # ? Mar 6, 2013 07:26 |
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Arietrix Arietrix frowns extensively as she grips the joystick decisively in one hand, wiggling it around as she says, in response to Bledger's assurances, "Ye-es... so I see." Arietrix recalls very clearly seeing herself walking around in the... ...not too distant future, eating a slice of grox roast and yelling at someone, which is the primary weakener of her dubiosity as she arches the thing around, looking as she flicks through various areas of space for something wide open. And then, a fateful lowering of the hand! WHAT SHALL COME TO PASS?? Arietrix is attempting to work this Orkish sorcery. She has Foreseen that she isn't going to get mulched by it... this time. Operate Orky Teknorkology: 2d6+2 8 Oh boy!! I'm going to opt for "arrive off target" and "suffer horrific visions," neither of which involves mulching. Can I somehow use one of my Destiny Foreseen usages for this round to avoid teamkill? Anyway, holding true roll for efficency's sake: Stand Fast in the face of Horrifying Orky Vision: 2d6+2 7 So I guess I don't go nuts?? 
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| # ? Mar 6, 2013 07:28 |
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Beithir "Listen Marcus", xeno began, seemingly untouched by the fate of dead armsmen, "we do this the usual way: if I'm to flank them from the left, say Alai, if from the right, say Yngir. If you see their commander, shout Marathag." Sticking to Eldar codenames was rather impractical for his new allies, but these were the words Beitir learned to react to in a blink of an eye. Therefore, he chose to torment a single human with them, quietly enjoying the little bit of dominance he could exert on somebody. "If they're in cover, say... You remembered? Good. It would be prudent if you repeated all of them again", he said and his mind drifted away. As much as he tried to look undisturbed by the happenings, he secretly tried to discern the deckplan of the burning frigate. Just in case this was second iron coffin requiring to rapidly teleport away from. Yeah, I know we're probably too far for that, shut up. Assess the Situation: 11. * Where’s my best way in? - I'm explicitly looking for my way, not the way for puny humans. * What should I be on the lookout for? * What’s my enemy’s true position? Honestly, I'd be happy to wait with the answers until we actually set foot on the Whisper.
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| # ? Mar 6, 2013 18:24 |
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Bledger and Arietrix For a few terrible moments, the void opens itself like a flower to the mek and the navigator, pulling them through the space between as if they were thread through a needle. Hurtling through the immaterial plane, they are surrounded by the push & the pulse & the screams & the echoes & the teeth & the maws & the tentacles & the claws & worse as they warp-beasts tear apart the souls of the dead. One can only hope that that they will not catch the scent of the living souls that fly through their domain... And then with a pulse of green lightning, the materium flickers back into existence around them, and it's almost worse. The two land on a wobbling catwalk, barely able to hold their weight, high above a lake of fire... the Whisper's promethite reserve, ignited by the drive core fire and somehow still burning... What do you do? Bledger, you know the promethite reserve is just below the vault that apparently contains the STC. Beithir, Suranga, Darrius, and Marcus The second wave of shuttles easily punch through into the Whisper's hangar bay, without much difficulty, landing gracefully amongst the shuttles and cargo-lifters. Corpses with their lungs sucked out through their mouths lie strewn around the cargo-bay - it doesn't look like the crew of the Whisper will be making much of a stand. As Suranga's veterans expertly take up positions and sweep the landing bay, however, something does give them pause. A spacecraft that doesn't look like it fits in with the blocky cargo-lifters of the Whisper, all swept curves and cruel spikes. A vehicle that Beithir immediately recognizes. Those others who know their xenos ships feel their blood go cold. A Dark Eldar Slavebringer. What do you do? Beithir, your enemy's true position? Your advanced Eldar augurs pick up some life signs (about 30 of them) still making their way through the ship, pattering through the central cargo hold, towards the hangar bay. You suspect them to be fallen kin, as they burn brighter than mon-keigh, but you can't be entirely certain. Best way in, for you - use your Warp Spider armour to appear behind them! What should you be on the lookout for? A small slaver crew like this? Most likely lead by an Incubus, an elite warrior of the Dark Ones, a master of melee combat and possibly even certain psychic disciplines - most likely biomancy. Take +1 forward to your next move if you act on these answers. Suranga, you don't have to spend your one and only hold. Like you say, your men are veterans, and they hold together here by themselves. Another loss, though, and they'll be hard put to stay in place.
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| # ? Mar 7, 2013 03:14 |
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Vitaly Aboard the Ragna, the augur-pit is still bustling as the ship gives directions to the boarding party. Working with all the technological might they can bring to bear to cut through the static, they pick up the fragmentary life-signs only after Beithir's advanced Eldar augurs detect them - and still with less precision. As the augur-pits scramble, static crackles in Vitaly's ear, and the voice of the Ragna whispers to him. "The void twists, my captain, and my crew is lessened by two souls, the one-who-sees-beyond and the one-who-fixes-that-which-is-not-broken... they vanished from within the green cancer, the beast-machine that drinks of my lifeblood..." What do you do?
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| # ? Mar 7, 2013 03:47 |
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Marcus Cannix Marcus repeats the xenos phrases after Beithir dutifully, clumsy human tongue stumbling over them, mangling the pronunciation horribly but coming close enough to be understood. He well knows the value of catching the foe between himself and the eldar warrior, having concluded more than one fight in such a manner. Doesn't mean he has any intention of trying to master the skinny bastard's language. When the shuttle finally lands, he's the first one off, swinging out the door with easy grace and heavy bolter at the ready. Not going to stay on that deathtrap a moment longer than necessary. When he catches sight of the Dark Eldar vessel, his eyes narrow. Of course. -That- would explain the warp presence here. He voxes quietly to Beithir, "Any of the buggers stay behind to guard the ship?" The barrel of the bolter angles towards the vessel's airlock.
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| # ? Mar 7, 2013 04:11 |
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Vitaly Velexandros Vitaly considers the words of the spirit. Wait. Does that mean every one of his major problem-solving crew assets is on that doomed vessel? What the loving hellish perils of the warp has he gotten his ship into? Oh wait, no, there's Xomatov, that crazy bastard who talked him into building that casino. Surely he'd be smart enough to stay back. Well, he's going to have a word with the Navigator and that damned-fool Ork; if they loving survive, anyway. He fumes and resumes pacing around the bridge. gently caress, why not just put his rear end on the warp-damned ship while they're at it?
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| # ? Mar 7, 2013 05:01 |
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The shuttle touched down moderately gently, to the relief of its less-than-willing occupant, in that he was relieved more debris hadn't decided to emulate that blasted ork's construction techniques. It's a good thing that thing is still on the ship, given how fragile this vessel evidently is. Still, they're there, and all they have to do to come back with their pride intact is find massive amounts of riches. Seeing how Suranga's men practically flew out the rear door as soon as it lowered, sticking with them would probably be the best bet to ensure a return of any sor... Hello, what's that? As Darrius steps down onto the hangar floor, pistol in hand, he catches sight of the alien craft. It's like nothing he'd seen before, and if it was trying to have an ominous presence, it was succeeding. A quick activation of his voidsuit's voxcaster later, and he's asking the boarding party's commander "Do you know what that strange ship is? I don't suppose it's anything we could take when we go?"
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| # ? Mar 7, 2013 06:00 |
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Beithir "Only one way to find out", Beithir responds cockily. "Suranga, get your rabble towards the cargo hold, the Dark Ones coming through there", he commands and vanishes without a word of explanation. Warp Spidin': 11. My exact intention is not to get a jump on them, but to prepare a position behind them, ready to strike when they all turn towards encountered humans. Also to look out for advantageous positions to jump to Lichtenstein fucked around with this message at Mar 7, 2013 around 10:03 |
| # ? Mar 7, 2013 09:58 |
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Arietrix PZZZZT, back into the desert of the real. Arietrix grips a railing for dear life for a few moments, reorienting herself and feeling the fires of the hellstars beneath her. Well, she thinks, that's not a good sign. But wait! That's promethite. Fortunately she has halfway buttoned up her armor and is thus not immediately rendered roasty toasty, merely sweating profusely as she looks along the catwalk for a way out of this horrifying broiler of an imminent demise! I am assessing the situation because oh god. Due to Abyssal Sight, I'm rolling +Warp... again! Navigators: We Roll +Warp For Everything, Including Your Mom Percieve Way To Avoid Flame-Broiling: 2d6+2 8 My question: What's my best way past... THE HORRIBLE PERIL! Bledger's input may also be important at some point. Sorry for the delay in post!
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| # ? Mar 7, 2013 12:09 |
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Marshall haut Suranga "Beither my good fellow, how many of your… opposite numbers can we expect out of that transport ? Prithy, Collins, and Daspar get your platoons forward to the hold. The deck plans are on the auspex, we want the expensive stuff. I'm with Prithy, honey girl and I will have the lead on the push. Everyone else secure the hold, Sanjuko, your people are worrying about that xenos rustbucket… and wiring it with explosives. Everyone stay sharp, these are the dangerous kind of xenos scum" I'm with one of the three groups pushing for the cargo hold based on Beither's asupex link, in front and ready to react to anything. The Dark Eldar dropship in the shuttle bay is being booby trapped by veterans who know the forbidden, and how to gently caress it up. This may leave a troop short of grenades, but it's worth it as a screw-you at least.
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| # ? Mar 7, 2013 13:36 |
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Beithir "Between twenty six and thirty four, as far as I can tell through the interference", he whispered into the comm-link hastily mounted into his helmet (can you believe they simply told me to use duct tape??!). "Might be prudent to fix bayonets."
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| # ? Mar 7, 2013 14:07 |
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Marshall haut Suranga "Bayonets he says..." Shaking his head he switches to the open channel. "All squads stay together, watch each others backs, and be ready for contact. We've got xenos in here, but try not to shoot any of the ones we brought with us. Advance on the cargo holds." The marshal turns to the rest of the "command group, "Our prize lies this way," and strides off to catch up with Prithy's platoon.
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| # ? Mar 7, 2013 21:50 |
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Marcus Cannix Marcus sighs at Beithir's response. "Yes. Your sensors. That's why I asked..." but the eldar is already gone. "drat, I hate when he does that." But as usual Marshal haut Suranga has the situation well in hand, so Marcus moves to link up with Collins' platoon. No sense keeping all the heavy hitters with the same team. He swings the massive heavy bolter around with casual ease, sweeping the hall as the platoon moves forwards.
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| # ? Mar 8, 2013 02:13 |
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Bledger - The Other Ship, On the Catwalk Bledger looks to Arietrix. "Not bad, you wasn't muckin' about, so we's not dead or spaced. BUT! The good loot is in the vault above us and this is a bad place to be. Let's move!" Bledger looks at Arie. Fortunately, he was one of the few Orks in the sector who had any respect at all for luxuries like "planning" and "thinking." "At least one of us needs to get to the room above here, and the ship is going to implode in, uh, some time, if I don't fix it. If you get the STC, just tellyport back by yourself. I will get to da foightin' and get back on a shuttle. But, we dun have much time before this catwalk gets too soft and wobbly and we burn up. So, get to plannin!" Bledger boarded a space hulk! EVERYONE mark xp!
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| # ? Mar 8, 2013 21:28 |
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Beithir: With a silent flash, you appears perhaps thirty metres behind the fallen ones, vanishing into the shadows of an alcove before they can spot you. You hustle behind them, shadowing their every move, taking careful note of their black-and-purple spiked armour, their terrible pain-whips and hook-blades. They're well-equipped for a melee, but not for a prolonged firefight, having only a few splinter cannons between them. The kabal slavers pause for a moment behind the bulkhead that leads into the hangar bay, and gather into a ragged circle, as if they're aware of what waits beyond those doors. The incubus raises his helmet to speak in guttural whispers to his men, and for a moment, you behold his terrible, scarred face... and you couldn't fail to recognize it. Who, exactly, is he? Why do you so clearly recognize it? Suranga: Three platoons hustle up into the innards of the ship, carefully routing around obstructions and collapsed bulkheads, guided by the augurists on the Ragna. Even buckled up in voidsuits, they move with the practiced efficiency of Guard veterans, carefully covering each other as they move into the hulk. With Beithir shadowing the Dark Eldar, you have their location pinned down, and you're not likely to run into them. The remainder, under the command of Lt. Sanjuko, have established covered fire positions and careful defenses in the cargo hold, staying in comms with Beithir. Still, with your force split in half, they're barely above numeric parity with the Dark Eldar slaving party. One hopes Beithir and Darrius' presence will even the odds. After maybe ten minutes, your squad makes contact with the door to the first of the major starboard holds. You're forced to blow the door open with boarding charges when your technician fails to get it open. Air rushes out like a hurricane - it's still pressurised inside the hold - followed by a mass of screaming bodies. Thousands of naked slaves are suffocating and dying in those holds! What do you do? Marcus: You're covering the vanguard when you feel the rush of atmos flow past you, bringing with it flecks of blood and spittle - and suddenly your augurs light up with thousands more life-signs. Clearly, the Whisper had some kind of tenebro-field established on the cargo holds to hid their human cargo. What do you do? Darrius: You decide to stay put, with the heavy-weapon wielding veterans of the boarding party, rather than moving further into the ship. It seems safest to stay near the shuttles and be ready for extraction, rather than heading further into the collapsing hulk. Crates are moved and crude barricades are established, firezones for heavy bolters mapped out, and impromptu mines laid around the the Dark Eldar vessel. Watching nervously, you see the dots on the augur representing the Dark Eldar lifesigns move closer and closer to the hangar bay... before stopping, suddenly, just before they enter. What do you do? Arietrix: Your abyssal sight catches the taint of the warp like scents on the breeze, emerging from the starboard cargo holds and the hangar deck. Dark things have happened aboard this vessel. But now is not the time to dwell on them. The strands of possible futures spiral out, a spider-web of varying futures, most leading to certain death. Bledger is right: you don't have a lot of time before this catwalk collapses, and this whole part of the ship crumbles away. Your best option is simple enough: run to the end of the catwalk, and follow your intuition up towards the vault door. More radical plans, like being thrown into the ceiling, carry far too much risk of a lethal end. What do you do? +1 forward to follow through on that answer (note that it's your best option, not your only one.) Bledger: Somewhere in the back of your head, a skull-radio buzzes with the chatter from the boarding party. Whatsit? Dark Eldar? In the hangar bay? Sounds like a good krumpin'! But that STC is so sweet, and Arietrix might need your help to get into the vault... What do you do? Vitaly: You continue to follow the progress of the boarding party from the bridge; you're informed of the presence of the slaves almost as soon as the marshal finds them. What do you do?
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| # ? Mar 9, 2013 00:32 |
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Beithir 1 XP The sight hit Beithir like a punch to the gut. As much as he tried to deny it, he could clearly recognise the stern face behind the scars. It's clearly impossible, but there he was. Vanadarion. Tidal Wave, as we called him back in the unit. He was without doubt one of the most brave and stubborn warriors I've seen in my life, on his way to becoming an Exarch. A terrifying force of nature on the field of battle. Back then some suspected Vanadarion had a death wish. The thing is, he should be dead. Back on Talloth, he volunteered for the ultimate sacrifice to cover our escape. I had helped fortify his bottleneck position myself. I had seen our charges detonated with my very eyes. I had fought enemies who managed to push through it in their relentless pursuit. It is impossible for this And yet, here he was.
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| # ? Mar 9, 2013 01:52 |
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Marcus Cannix Marcus whistles low and soft. That many people is going to be a hell of a problem to get off this ship intact, and while he's not incredibly fussed about the slaves themselves, he's pretty sure that that many people dying in this close proximity to Warp activity would be a very, very bad thing. Read the Situation 2d6+1=3 Marcus's mind sieves frantically through possible options, and just isn't coming up with a drat thing. poo poo. He voxes to the Marshal, "Marshal, there's active Warp presence here. If we don't get these fuckers off the ship, very bad things are probably on their way. Do -you- see any way to do that? 'cause I sure don't."
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| # ? Mar 9, 2013 05:18 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 09:55 |
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Marshall haut Suranga To the general push, "All units not in the shuttle bay, disaster protocols are in effect. Close all void doors, seal all breaches. Do this right fracking now." Shipboard troops are invariably trained in this, so the flurry of squad- and fire team-level conversations is busy but orderly. As the howling winds subside thanks to his troops damage control efforts, the Marshall turns to the nearest... clot of slaves, "Right. Which of you lot want to get out of here ? Follow me and you might." Those poor SOBs, the way out is right through the Dark Eldar. Not my problem.
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| # ? Mar 9, 2013 06:10 |
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