Dark Heresy: One Innocent Man

[LeSwordfish]

Dark Heresy- One Innocent Man


Chapter One- Throne's Landing


As soon as you pass out from under the wing of the lander, the wind hits you, a massive force that pulls your clothing sharply sideways, tugs your bags wildly in your hands, and strafes your eyes with thick dust. In the shadow of the massive grain silos, it’s bitterly cold, though you can see the sun baking the nearby fields dry. Your fellow passengers lean into the wind with a practiced angle, and begin making their way toward the cluster of low buildings that await incoming travellers over by the high wire fence that marks the edge of the pad.

It has been a long journey- several weeks as passengers aboard a large cargo ship, your only companions the handful of missionaries and soldiers in the large, empty passenger decks, followed by a half-dozen hours on the first o the large landing craft, strapped into your seats, listening to three hundred tons of agricultural equipment shifting in the none-too-tight straps used to hold it in place. Your first view of Celephon was through a series of small viewpoints, and through inch-thick glass you got only an idea of it- miles and miles of farmland, dry yellow grain, green sugarcane, and bright fuelseed, a great coloured checkerboard across an entire planet, spotted by minor farmsteads and split by the perfectly straight shapes of the massive irrigation pipelines and channels. When you reach Throne’s Landing, your destination and the planetary capital, you spy the aptness of the name immediately- the landing pads, large enough for hundreds of cargo lifters at once- take up a larger space than the rest of the city. Even they pale into insignificance next to the silos, though- the span of cathedrals, the height of skyscrapers, jutting from the landing pads like the fingers of some kind of steel god. Those of you from hive cities are unimpressed, but have to admit- for a seemingly low-key world, Celephon does things on a large scale.

Another gust of wind returns you to the present. The last passenger from the ship, an elderly man with an unfeasibly large backpack and walking stick, turns to you. “You lot off-world? You need to register at the hauler company offices. They’ll tell you where your accommodation is, and what farmstead you’ve been assigned to. It’s this way.” This last was delivered as he walked off himself, seemingly only half-interested if you follow him or not. While you don’t know much about your mission here, you do know that your current cover is as agricultural workers as he’s taken you for, and further information should be available from the offices he indicates you toward.

[Codemus]

Novus

Hearing the old man but refraining from taking his eyes away from the glorious sight, he filed the information away for later. "I must admit, I find this world to be beautiful. Breath taking almost." Novus closed his eyes and shook his head, then turned to the others. "Well friends, shall we make our way to the offices that nice old man informed us about? It sounded somewhat important."

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar strides from the lander, robes whipping about him like prayer banners, and looks up. The sky is ... huge. The silo-city behind him is impressive, to be sure, but it is as nothing beneath the sky above - a lucent expanse of delicate, cloudless blue, a testament to their safe journey through the void. He mutters a short thanksgiving to Emperor and Guilliman before turning to the psyker beside him.

I have no objection, Brother Attilas.

He pauses a second, to shoulder his pack - a long canvas bag that clanks alarmingly as he moves - and then sets off in hot pursuit of the fellow passenger heading off to the hauler offices. In ten long strides, he is at his side.

So, Brother, what farmsteads are there for a man to be assigned to? You will pardon my asking, but we all are new to this world, and would know whether we should thank the Emperor for hard work and honest toil, or for the respite from labour that he gifts us with. I'm sure you understand ...

[Caimheul]

Drake

The spacer pauses to adjust the seal of his respirator, and after blinking owlishly in the sunlight, dons a pair of goggles. "I still don't understand how you can stand to breath this unclean air." he says to his fellow acolytes. The comforting weight of his shoulder holster hidden by the folds of his cloak reassures him. He shoulders his naval duffle, it's carefully packed contents barely shifting. "Well, we came here for work, sounds like it's the best place to start."

Status:
Wounds: 8/8
Fate Points: 3/3

Hunting Rifle: 5/5 Normal
30/30 Man-Stopper | 16/16 Normal Rounds

Armsman-10: 13/13 | 13/13
260/260 Normal Rounds

Palantine: 20/20
2/2 Pistol Charge Packs

[Joe07]

Dunwutch
Dunwitch adjusted his collar, he had gotten use to some pretty bad enviroments both his time as a guardsmen and an acolyte. So this world seemed rather pleasent. He quickly ran his hands over his over coat feeling his armour under neath as he made sure his weapons were there. He smiled, after all these years basic weapon training was still drilled firmly into his head. He glanced at his companions as he walked with them. " Let us hope our work will go relativly smothly. I for one do not wish another clean up job."

Dunwitch is a tall and lean man, he has light brown hair cropped short in military style and is increadably clean shaven. His hands are calloused and cut from long years of service using heavy weapons in arrid conditions. His eye's are grayish and generally has a tired look to them, no matter how much sleep he get's.

[LeSwordfish]

The old man scratches his neck enthusiastically. "You really 'ent been on-planet long? There's 'bout a million farmsteads around the planet. You're early for this season, so you'll be on one'a tha little ones. Trent or Neumann, now, they'll be for the hivers on the work exchange. Pray'ta the throne you end up in the south is my advice." He laughs like a groundcar misfiring. "I got me a regular place in Trent. South as you can get."

[Caimheul]

Drake

Behind his respirator, Drake's pale face smiles remembering some of the previous missions. "Oh, I don't know, they reminded me a bit of home." He pulls his cloak's hood over his head to protect his fair skin from the sun's light, covering his short ginger hair. "Hopefully we'll have a better idea as to what we'll be doing soon."

[Joe07]

" I agree." Said Dunwitch " I do not like being dumped on a planet with no orders. There are is no direction in it." He sighed and his hand went to his top pocket. His primer was in there. He always kept it on him even though he had more than outgrown his use for it.

[Morganatic]

Orar

The burly ex-serf smiles.

'Well then, Brother, we shall pray indeed, pray for Trent. Just hope that there is enough work for all of us there! Those grain silos may loom imposingly now, but I am sure we shall fill them up in no time!'

He slaps the old man on the back with a jovial mailed hand, then slows, allowing the others to catch up with him. He lowers his voice, but, even in his hushed tones, there is a certain degree of zeal and purpose.

'Friends, can we not begin our mission even here? Look about you, learn. We can never learn what may be useful to our assignment, only gird ourselves for it beforehand. For as Kallmann would have it, knowledge is power, and,'

He reaches for a pocket of his oversuit, matching Dunwitch book for book.

'Is it not written, that


http://i.imgur.com/BK5Bb.png "The reason the enlightened prince and the wise general conquer the enemy whenever they move and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men is foreknowledge"?1' http://i.imgur.com/BK5Bb.png

With an expert gesture, Orar flips the little book back into his pocket.

1 Codex Astartes, Vol. 5, Ch. 1, ed. Roboute Guilliman.

[Codemus]

Novus

"Well said good sir, well said indeed. But please, let us leave such talk for later. One step at a time, and the Emperor’s work will be done before you know it."

[Caimheul]

"I would assume it is, but I can't verify that for you." the illiterate assassin replies to the tech-priest. He keeps his eyes peeled for anything that seems odd.

Awareness: [roll0] TN 34

[Mekboy]

Blinking a couple of times as stops staring into space, Jarrion returns his thoughts to the here and now. Heh. As he says, knowledge is power. Let's find some more about this place. Adjusting his clothes and shifting the weight of his haphazardly filled backpack, he follows the rest of the group, and smiles amiably to their guide
"Oh? What's so bad about the North then?"

[Joe07]

Dunwitch surveyed the area, mentally going through the rotuine he always did, checking every area for defendable positions and possible threats. " As far as I can see this place is just landing pads and dust. Then again I'm not a thinker."

[Hawkwings]

Katarina

Pulling her cloak tight, Katarina finished her prayers to the Emperor thanking him for a safe trip, then hurried over to catch up with the group. The strong wind whipping dust everywhere made even opening one's eyes a danger, but careful placement of hand and hood alleviated the irritation at least slightly.

After catching up a bit with the conversation happening among the acolytes, Katarina offered, "Even in the humblest of things can be discovered the foundations of success. We should keep our eyes and ears, as well as our wits, about us at all times. I ask you then, Brother Orar, what did conversing with that elderly traveler reveal?"

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar tries - with, to be fair to him, some success - to restrain his booming voice.

'I have the latest hot tips on where to land cushy employment on Celephon, Sister Vaeden! That, and a suggestion that there is regular employment to be found upon this world. This world, that so recently was torn by the strife of Chaos revolt, is now hiring, has a working labour exchange, and has resumed agricultural production on a scale that literally scrapes the sky. What role does our target play in this recovery? A cause of it? An instigator of it? Someone taking shelter in the chaos of the war?

He smiles enigmatically. In truth, he has no real idea what any of this means, and is as in the dark as the rest of them. He is content not to assemble the puzzle yet; the Codex provides ample material on the virtues of patience.

[Caimheul]

Drake

"Perhaps the work assignment we are given will provide a clue. No telling what arrangements may have been made for us." Drake says, wondering what the precise nature of the problem they have been called in to solve. "Hopefully we aren't just here for some kind of humbling experience."

[LeSwordfish]

The old man gives Jarrion a brief, blank look. "North's up where the badlands is. Most'a the north farms get their water pumped in from the sea, 'cross the badlands, and every so often someone cuts the pipelines and you're tryna keep a few million fuelseed stalks alive when the grounds's jest dryin' up an blowin' away."

By now you've reached the doorway into the main building. Inside, a bored-looking clerk behind a desk waves the old man through with a glance at his papers, then motions you to stop.

"Aaaand you're last. You must be the Orar group, correct?" He doesn't wait for a reply, instead ducking under the desk and pulling out a heavy kitbag. "Apparently this is for you." He dumps it on the desk, then turns back to his papers. "You're the ones whose disposition papers haven't come through yet. Nothing i can do about that i'm afraid- the work exchange is run by the Subsector Administratum, and if they dont send something through you really are in trouble." He pauses, apparently aware that he's begun to babble. "Sorry. Head to a lodging-house in town and drop in here in a week or so, is my only advice."

[Joe07]

A week! Dunwitch internally screamed, normally he wouldn't mind the time off but a week here on this planet. He couldn't imagine what he'd do for a week. He sighed " And you're sure there is no way you can speed up this process at all."

[Caimheul]

Drake

Drake discretely opens the kitbag, and keeping the opening out of view of the clerk, gives the contents a cursory once over. Hmmm... I guess our investigation is supposed to begin in town. he thinks to himself. "Do you know of any work that could be found in town while we wait? We are rather eager to get to work." Drake asks, trying to keep their cover intact.

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar off-handedly positions himself to peer into the kitbag (the fact that he's concealing it from the view of the clerk is merely a happy concidence, surely), and then peers in.

Under his breath, he whispers to Drake.

Might it be a little better to open that in a private place? I am, of course, interested to see what is inside, though ...

[Caimheul]

Drake

Drake whispers back to the tech-priest "If it were private, don't you think it would have been locked? Not really anything keeping other people out."

[Joe07]

Sighing the guardsmen glanced at the two he said under his breath to them " Having a whispered argument is very likely to draw attention."

[LeSwordfish]

The clerk shrugs, seemingly uninterested in the debate over the bag. "It's out of my hands. I imagine it'll come through when the hivers get here. As for other work, well, you could ask around. I'm sure half the farmers could use a hand getting ready for the harvest. Don't ask me, i've got a job."

The Contents Of The Bag, To be opened whenever you deem fit.
The bag contains several dataslates, and a neat vellum envelope, folded inside a neat set of robes.

The Envelope
The Envelope contains two hundred thrones in currency notes, and a set of false identification cards, marking you as sanctioned mercenaries, working for imperial interests. It also contains three guest passes for some kind of upscale officer's club, named Icarus'.

The Dataslates
One of the dataslates has "Read me first" displayed on the screen. On touching any of the buttons, the screen displays "Bio-print authorisation accepted." briefly, and then switches to display the following text.

Acolytes. I hope that you are now able to read this in private.

Your task is to find and capture, alive, the imperial guard corpsman Mikal Salo. It is imperative Salo is brought in alive, and uninjured if best. Salo has shown signs of strong loyalty in the past, and so should be easily persuaded to join you. As soon as you have found Salo and won his allegiance, return to Throne’s Landing for extraction.

The complexity of this task is based on the difficulty of accurately locating Salo. Salo is a member of the Valhallan 199th regiment, fourth platoon, and was positively identified as being on-planet with his regiment in a record of a minor disciplinary action last year. However details of precisely where on-planet his platoon and squad have been assigned to is more difficult to find- these records will be stored in the Imperial Records Office in Throne’s landing, under guard. An open approach is not possible for this mission, as it is becoming increasingly apparent that corruption, and chaos elements are active on Celephon. As such, trust no-one.

Collecting the disposition information from the Records Office could be achieved in a variety of ways. The office is lightly guarded, so either an outright attack or a stealth approach could plausibly extract the records. A less risky, less conventional method is also possible. A high-ranking imperial officer could grant you access to the records legitimately, and possibly provide assistance in finding Salo. Many Imperial officers, including the officer in charge of all imperial forces on Celephon, General Cass, meet regularly on evenings at the officers club Icarus, in the center of town. I have managed to accquire three guest passes for entry to this club. Enter the club, and see if Cass, one of the few men on the planet i trust implicitly, can assist you in finding Salo.

Also included are several Mercenary licences. These will give you greater freedom than most imperial citizens, or the agricultural workers i needed you to pose as in order to land on the planet. Since the war, Celephon has been extremely cautious as to who it allows on-planet, with the exception of the agri-workers it so desperately needs.

This mission is highly time-sensitive. Many enemies of the imperium and imperial interests are also searching for Salo. Should he be killed, or fall into the wrong hands, expect retribution, and the extreme displeasure of the inquisition. Do not fail me.
Kallman.

The other Data-slates contain breif descriptions of the history and geography of Celephon.
Celephon is one of the largest and most productive agri-worlds in the sector, if not the imperium. Devoted almost entirely to a small selection of grains and Fuelseed, several quirks of Celephon's orbit and geography have made it able to supply a significantpercentage of these products to each of the sectors hive worlds. Firstly, celephon has an elliptical orbit, giving it two warm seasons and two cold ones, allowing for double yield and biannual harvests. Secondly, the planet has an unnaturally large arable surface area, with neither large seas, polar ice-caps or significant areas of desert. Such suspiciously good conditions suggest possibly some long-forgotten attempt at planetary terraforming from the Dark Ages of Technology, but this has never been fully explored.

The southern hemisphere of the planet is predominantly fed by aquifers and pumps water up from underground caverns in the rock. The northern hemisphere's water supply is mostly drawn by pump and pipeline from Celephon's only surface water, a ocean located around the north pole. The only non-farmed land outside of Celephon's few cities is here, rocky coastal regions known as the Badlands.

Three years ago, elements of the Hand of Tzeentch cult snuck onto the planet. They immediately began enticing and converting imperial citizens, eventually launching an uprising that closed Celephon's main cities for two years. This uprising was only eventually forced down by several regiments of imperial guard, with assistance from the Adeptus Sororitas and Ordo Hereticus Inquisitors Kallman and Meredyth. Most of the cultists were destroyed, but a small group escaped into the badlands. A imperial guard contingent remains there to this day, mostly guarding the badlands from a series of fortifications built around it.

Missing five full harvests has been extremely damaging to Celephon's reputation, and a further half of the next being burned due to suspected corruption has lead to this dropping further. Although the Imperium has pumped extremely large amounts of funding into Celephon, allowing the farming infrastructure to be rebuilt, Celephon's last harvest was considerably below quota due to a lack of manpower. Press-ganged manpower from several nearby hive cities is being brought to Celephon in their billions shortly after your arrival, to make up the numbers and hopefully allow Celephon to return to its former output and glory.

The robes are a normal set of mid-quality clerical robes. Their only purpose seems to be to wrap the other contents of the bag in, to bulk it out and make it less suspicious to any but the true reciever, an old trick you remember Kallman pulling before.

[Caimheul]

Drake
"Well, thanks for your time anyway." Drake says to the clerk, as he reseals the kitbag, throws it over one shoulder and heads for the door. After leaving the office he starts walking towards the town, seemingly unconcerned if the others follow. "How about we find a place to stay and then examine the contents of this bag a little closer eh?"

[Hawkwings]

Katarina

Katarina was a bit baffled by how things appeared to be run. Then again, she had spent enough time in the employ of the Inquisition to know that bureaucracy dominated all aspects of the Imperium, and that in the vast majority of cases, fighting it was like railing against the ocean: futile, pointless, and ultimately unnecessary.

The appearance of the kitbag was a good sign, the only one so far of them actually being on some sort of assignment and not simply stranded here on-planet by some administrative error. After they left the small office, Katarina said "Apparently we were not meant to actually pose as agri workers, otherwise I am sure that our patron would have had the necessary work permits prepared. I agree with Drake, we should head into town and secure lodging, there is preparation to be done and things to be learned about this place."

[Caimheul]

Drake

Drake chuckles behind his respirator. "I honestly don't see us being able to maintain that job for long anyway. Besides, I prefer working pest control to digging ditches and nurturing crops."

[Joe07]

"Given the choice I'd rather do neither." Said Dunwitch " Still the Throne calls those willing to serve. Let us find occomodation before we discuss this further, if we are to find work on this planet." He said keeping the facade up, Dunwitch had learned to keep up a steady level of paronia, ducking at every noise was usually what saved you from the bullet that wizzed overhead. He wasn't about to risk exposure to someone listening in on them.

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus, who had been quiet since the landing, spoke up when Dunwich mentioned accomidations. "We should probably get seperate rooms, but all on the same floor. I am unsure of the rates we might face, but I belive I have enough thrones. At least for myself."

[Caimheul]

Drake

"I uh, might need a loan. After expenses from the last job, I'm down to my last two." Drake admits with some discomfort.

[Hawkwings]

Katarina

"Separate rooms? I would guess that the lodging house is dormitory style at best. In any case, what would we need separate rooms for? Lodging together would increase our security, especially at nighttime."

Katarina mused, "In any case, I cannot imagine it will be too expensive. Agri-workers are not the wealthiest of people, and we cannot be the first to arrive without a work assignment in hand. Likely they will simply indebt us pending our work orders, and take their fees out of our eventual pay."

[Joe07]

" I agree It's safer if we stay close toghether, if we are taken by suprise we need to mobilise quickly, can't trust rival merc groups on a planet like this. " Said Dunwitch

[Mekboy]

"Not to mention that a single room would probably be cheaper."

[Caimheul]

"Merc groups? why would merc groups bother ag workers? Maybe we should find somewhere private to go through this package before we look for lodgings, something may have been arranged for us?" Drake says. "And if it hasn't then renting only one room is the cheapest option." Here he lowers his voice "We probably shouldn't flash our cash if we're supposed to be here looking for work."

[LeSwordfish]

The walk to the city proper is an extremely long one. A handful of private citizens are sitting dicing beside a line of groundcars or vans, each with a sign, reading the cost to take travellers into the city, propped beside it. The costs vary, but for as large a group as yours it'll cost 15-20 thrones. Either that or you can walk, but crossing the landing pads to the city might take as much as an hour, and already the sun is dropping towards the horizon.

[Caimheul]

"Anyone have funds for a ride? Probably as private a place as we're going to find until we get into town, and we have some reading material..."

[Mekboy]

"Seems like a good idea to me. Plus it's getting dark, and I don't particularly want to have to find my way through an unfamiliar city by night."

[Joe07]

" I agree getting a ride is preferable to being mugged." Said Dunwitch as he pulled his coat closer to himself

[Sycor]

Vrgil catches up to the rest of group, huffing a bit with his two bags of gear. He seems to have brought just about everything he owns (which in fact is true.) Hmmph, so there is no work for us. He looks down at his very merger purse and an expression crosses his face.

I too think common lodging might be best, we can lessen the cost of food and lodging by sharing. I propose we get the cheapest ride we can, usually they know the most, having to work hard to scrape enuff to just eakk out an living.

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus held his hands up in a sign of defeat. "Very well, I merely thought it might turn away undue interest. If my colleagues object, then I shall back down on the matter.” He laid a restraining hand on Virgl’s arm. “Please, allow me to pay for our ride. Though in the future, I suggest we look to getting a vehicle of our own.”

He would walk over to a vehicle that looked like it could hold all of them and speak to the driver. “Hello, I’d like to purchase a ride to the city for me and my friends. Preferably to somewhere we can rent out living quarters.”

[LeSwordfish]

The Driver hauls himself laboriously to his feet, and scans along the line of acolytes. He clearly doesn't want to take you, and leave his game, but... "Sixteen thrones. And you'll have to sit in the back." He gestures at his vehicle, a van painted in a bland military grey.

[Codemus]

Novus

"Gladly." He reached into a pouch on his belt and produced the desired amount, plus an extra five. "And here is a little tip. We'd like to get there fast."

[LeSwordfish]

"Certainly, sir." He seems a lot happier now the money's in his hand, and he moves around the van to open the doors with positive haste for a man of his bulk.

[Caimheul]

Drake

Drake hops into the back of the van first, putting his duffle at his feet and the kitbag in his lap. While the others load up he pulls out a dataslate and starts skimming it for the general idea of their mission. "Well, that's good." he says aloud. When the adept seats himself, Drake hands him the dataslate. "Here, you'll probably find this article quite interesting," he says, knowing the adept is more detail oriented.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch climbed into the van positoning himself at the side, his eye's drift towards the windows, if we are attacked we're in a tight spot. He shook the thought from his head, he needed to stop thinking like that, at least all of the time. " Do you know were we could find lodgings for the night." He asked the driver.

[Morganatic]

Orar

Once safely ensconced within the vehicle, Orar surreptitiously reaches into the duffle, and withdraws the ID. To all intents and purposes, Abantias Orar, servant to Inquisitors and Angels of Death alike, is now Abi Orr, the mercenary everyman. http://i.imgur.com/BK5Bb.png Camouflage may be the colour of cowardice http://i.imgur.com/BK5Bb.png, but he could appreciate the wisdom of a little cover and deception in such an engagement. Indeed, did not the Primarch lay out means and methods of deception in the Book?

Indeed, Brother McTarnaghan, I was reading it but earlier. What did you think of it? I would show it to our friend, if we could find him. But so many people are doubtless looking for him. I wonder if they intend to use the vox-phone book, as well. Might be worth seeing who they are.

[Caimheul]

Drake

After the tech-priest rudely grabs his ID out of the bag still in Drake's lap, the assassin pulls the rest of the mercenary licenses out and passes them to their owners. The money and invites he leaves in the envelope, and tucks it under his robes into a pocket of his bodyglove for the group to deal with later. Flashing that much cash might not be a good idea.
"Well, if we're lucky he'll be able to make time for us. Although he may need some assistance with his work."

[LeSwordfish]

The Driver nodded. "There's a buncha places in town, provide a place to sleep for the agri-workers before they ship out. I'll take you to one of them, kay?"

[Joe07]

"Good." Said Dunwitch sitting back, he accepted the liscence and read over it. A clever disguise, he could play the mercenery quite well, it was only a few steps beyond the guardsmen he use to be. He had to admit the inqusition had been beter to him than the Imperial guard, better food in the least.

[Morganatic]

Orar

Talking in code is a little tiresome, but necessary, Orar reflects.

'I was more worried about the other people who might be looking for him, to see where out mutual friend has got to. That would be something to bear in mind - our competition?'

[Caimheul]

Drake

Drake nods in agreement. "Oh I agree wholeheartedly. I simply meant that he might already be under contract by one of our competitors and therefore we might need to help him get out from under contract." One of these days the acolytes really should develope their own secret language to allow them to speak freely about such matters. The assassin grins behind his respirator. "Of course, most of the fun of such tasks lies in permantly discouraging the competition. "

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus hopped in the van with the others. "I doubt the competition will be a problem. I have complete faith that things will work out."

[Sycor]

Vgril looks around at his companion with an almost confused expression on his face. He pulls his ID out of his bag and looks at it as if it were some strange item he is just now seeing for the forst time. Uh hun is about the only understandable words that come out of his mouth as he slips it in a pockect.

Looking towards the driver, he attempts to strike up a conversation with him. As it progresses he attepmts to steer it towards what is new in the city and on planet without apearing too interested.

Inquiry: [roll0] vs Fel:35+10

[LeSwordfish]

The driver is quite hard to steer in a conversation. Once he's found a sympathetic ear he simply turns into a stream of conciousness, largely complaing about things. The arrival of the work-exchange hive worlders plays heavy on his mind, particularly since they'll be driven by the organisers, and himself and the other private drivers will have almost no work. But this is the only salient information you can pick out. A lot of the rest seems to be about the weather.

As you drive into the city, the buildings cluster up around you. It's a fairly typical imperial city, arranged around a central cathedral, with low, ornate buildings stretching outward to the main hab-blocks, which are taller, and less ornate, made out of grim concrete.

The accomodation- a hostel for agri-workers- is conveniently near the city center, only a few streets from the cathedral. As you predicted it is dormitory style, but so nearly empty that you are able to get a single dormitory to yourself. The woman who runs the place- seemingly deeply suspicious of you- gives you a breif oerview of the sparse faculties and, for the first time since you began your journey, you are left alone to talk.

OOC: Am i going too fast? Do say, and i can rewind a tad.

[Joe07]

( While still in the cab. )

"Competion can be easily beated off." Said Dunwitch sitting back " You just need to know were to push."

( In the dorm.)

Dunwitch immeditaly began to check the room, defensible positons places to stash weapons and cash snipers points and entry positions " Never can be too carefull." He muttered

[Caimheul]

Drake

Drake sets down his duffle and the kitbag on one of the beds, taking out the envelope and tossing it alongside them on the bed. "Alright, so what's our next move? At least it seems we shouldn't have to dip too far into our own pockets this time." He says as he takes his hunting rifle out and begins reassembling it, checking it over for damage.

[Codemus]

Novus

Finally in seclusion, Novus drops his pleasant façade. He no longer smiles, and drops the flowery nice speech. "Hold up, before we plan too far ahead. Do none of you know the acolyte's tongue? I assure you, it is a skill we will need before long." He shook his head and sighed. “Whatever, I’ll teach it to you lot latter. Like Drake said, planning our next move. Why don’t you show us all what was in the bag back at that office?”

ooc: Nonsense, things are moving along at a good speed.:smallwink:

[Joe07]

Dunwitch drew his stub revolver and held it by his side. " I don't like being shipped to a unknown world like this. I pefer a formal breifing. The Emporer works in mysterious ways indeed." He said checking the windows.

[Caimheul]

Drake

"Well, there's the licenses I handed out to each of you already, the dataslate I handed to Jarrion to study in the ground car, a few other dataslates, and a fair bit of spending money. Apparently ag workers have an easier time getting on this mudball, but mercs have more freedom. We're here for an extraction." Drake shrugged. "I didn't study it that closely. Ask one of the thinkers who read it, or better yet, read it for yourself."

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus nodded along with what Drake said. "Okay, so we are mercs now. Not bad, it will allow us to wear our gear more openly." He walked over to a cot and sat down. "How much cash was there? We could use it for acquiring our own vehicle. I dislike relying on drivers like that last one. As soon as bullets start flying, they run away.” It irritated him that he couldn't read, but he tried to hide that. He will work on it, alone.

ooc: Oops, I missed the part where you said you handed out the id's. :smallredface:

[Caimheul]

Drake

"200. Do you want to be refunded for the ride here? It might be a bit tight to obtain a vehicle with that. There are very cheap ways to obtain a vehicle in an emergency, however..." the assassin trails off as pulls his compact laspistol out of it's hiding spot and checks the charge pack to make sure it has a full charge.

OOC: no worries, figured I'd subtly remind you/point it out :smallbiggrin:

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus grunted. "Hmm... Don’t worry about it, I've got around 430 on me. We can always just jack a vehicle, but then authorities might start looking for it. The risk might be worth it, however. I am sure we will come up with something tomorrow. At the very least, I need to make some purchases to shore up my gear.” Novus pulled a small flask from inside his jacket and unscrewed the cap. He took a swig then replaced the top. "Ah, amasec."

Ooc: Derp, just realized that I've been wearing my gear in the open already. Boy howdy, I'm stealthy alright. :smallbiggrin:

[Caimheul]

Drake

Drake shrugs. "It's easier to blend in with it worn under clothing. Just means I shouldn't get my rifle confiscated if I need to carry it to a perch. And I didn't mean to borrow them long term, just to get out of a sticky spot." Drake pulls the robe out of the kitbag. "Oh, I forgot this was in there too. Any objections to me keeping it? Never know when a change of clothes will help one disappear. Should probably wait to go shopping until we know what we're doing. I think the datapad has some leads in it, but I only glanced at it to get the highlights. There was something about these passes..." Drake holds up the three passes to the club as he says this.

[LeSwordfish]

The room is an appalling defensive position. It has a good view from the windows- you can see most of the main concourse down to the cathedral- but the walls are paper-thin, the door doesn't even lock, and none of the furniture is sturdy enough for barricades. Some of the furniture is barely sturdy enough for it's intended use, with many of the beds having broken legs or multiple missing spars.

The passes are flimsy paper things, with some kind of scannable patch on them. They give an address for Icarus'- it's apparently only a few streets away, on the other side of the cathedral square.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch sighed, they were in deep **** should someone choose to attack them. He turned back to the rest of them " I'm comfertable with pretending to be a merc. I could use more of my weapons on me. "

[Mekboy]

While in cab: Thanking Drake for the slates, Jarrion settles down to read through them and do what he does best: digest information, ready to spit it out later. Making a mental note to find out more about the cultists, he spends the rest of the trip scanning through the slates.

In the room: Jarrion glances around at the room, particularly noticing the walls. Tapping one, he comments "These can't be too soundproof. For now, I don't feel particularly comfortable discussing these dataslates, after all, who knows who's listening?". He offers the slates around "Here they are to read, though. As for the passes, I understand they're for an officer's club. May I have one? Although my family is quite a minor one, I'm sure a bit of name dropping should help me out there. "


OOC: Sorry for not posting yesterday. Completely forgot.

[Caimheul]

Drake

"Yeah I know. Problem being I think at least a couple of us haven't had many opportunities to learn to read. Here take all three, since it'll be your neck, only fair you pick the two who'll watch your back. If you'd like I can discretely follow you and the other two that go, then cover the outside while you're in there, or try and break in."

[Joe07]

" If this is an officers club for the guard then I should assist. I know how these people work and operate. I can watch for someone who's out of place or dissent." Said Dunwitch

[Morganatic]

Orar

'The walls have ears, you suspect, Brother Kalt?That they may, be we have eyes.'

From his own bag - which he is in the process of meticulously unpacking - Orar produces a very old, somewhat decrepit auspex. More than one of its antennae has been field-replaced with lengths of foil and wiring, it stubbornly displays phantom signals rushing towards the wielder, and it is missing several of its brass skull rivets, but it is still very much functional.

Rolling Tech Use to use Orar's auspex to detect human life signs, and/or electrical (listening) devices in the general area of the other rooms. Thin walls shouldn't block the signal too much, and I believe Orar can account for the electrical devices actually in this room. [roll0] vs. Tech-use +10 = 64.

'As to the matter at hand, I fear that I may not be particularly adept at dissembling my way into a herd of sheep, let alone an Officers' Club. The Record Office, however, might also be an alternative route for others amongst us, and might also allow us to have a look to see if anyone else has been looking after the target. If they have, and have sought him through those channels, then such information might be useful. Any thoughts as to getting in? I am confident that we might simply force entry, but perhaps a suitable lie, a cover, a blind, might be devised?'

[Caimheul]

Drake

"Now I just skimmed it, but didn't it mention contacting someone at the club in order to get the information from that office legitimately?"

[Joe07]

"We should at least attempt legitimate methods before resorting to harming imperial citizens. I vote for going to the club first. Even if we just gather information. " Said Dunwitch checking his weapons as he unloaded them, double checking ammo and deciding what one's to take with him.

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus smirked when Orar pulled out the auspex. "If you are worried about listening devices, I believe I can help. My methods, unfortunately, would affect us just as much. But I wouldn't be too concerned just yet. How would someone know we would stay here? I'd be more concerned about eavesdroppers than machines." He put away his flask. "I think the club would be a good place to start. But we need to be careful how we go about it. Three passes? Then I suppose the rest of us can watch the entrances, ready to swoop in and save the day should it be needed."

[Sycor]

Vgril starts to get into his armor, lifting pieces into the right spots and cinching them down with a half dozens straps. Putting his Arbitrator Id in a secure spot, he dons the Mercancy Id in a chest pouch.

Looking around at the other Acolytes brings a flash of memory <another barracks, other men and women set with grim faces, settling themselves into their gear>

Vrgil shakes it off, holstering his pistol in a crossdraw and putting the hellgun in a friction strap across his back. I may be able to help in the Officers Club, I have learned how to talk to people when the need suits. I do think we need to set some sort of point man though; cheif; head-honcho for when (not if) the **** hits the fan we need to have a go to hell plan.

[Joe07]

Dunwithc nodded at Novus " That would be the prefered idea."
He glanced at Vrgil " I'm open to suggestion on who the 'point man' should be. I simply kill people."

[Caimheul]

Drake

"Well, since the point man should be one of the people on the inside, the choice then is obvious from your comments: Jarrion. Those of us on the outside won't have a clear picture of what's going on inside. So that leaves Novus, Brother Orar, Sister Vaeden, and myself as backup. Which means while Novus is out shopping, I'll be on a field trip." Drake begins lovingly disassembling his rifle again to stow it back in his duffle. "Anyone else have a microbead or a commbead? Would be a good idea for the two groups to be able to stay in touch. Encrypted would be best, but regular will do if necessary. Unfortunately I only have a regular one, so mine would have to be replaced."

[LeSwordfish]

Orar
Rolling Tech Use to use Orar's auspex to detect human life signs, and/or electrical (listening) devices in the general area of the other rooms. Thin walls shouldn't block the signal too much, and I believe Orar can account for the electrical devices actually in this room. [roll0] vs. Tech-use +10 = 64.


There's nothing unusual to be detected. The only other people in the building are the hostess and a few workers, downstairs, and two other lodgers at the end of the corridor. None are within hearing distance. There are no bugs, though there is a substantial colony of vermin life-forms in the next room.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch nodded " Alright, I shall acompany Jarrion into the club in case anything should go wrong on the inside, besides It would be nice to be amongst the guard again."

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus shook his head. "Sorry drake, I do not have one. I'll keep an eye out for them, unlikely as that may be. In other news, while the main team is inside, the rest of us should probably pair off. So Orar goes with one of us, and Katarina the other. I doubt anything would happen, but precautions need to be taken."

[Caimheul]

Drake
"In that case, try to get two commbeads so each team has one. Tonight I say we get some rest, and while you're out shopping tomorrow, I'll scout out the area around the club, get an idea of where to set up. It would be folly to attempt to make contact tonight, going in completely blind. I'd rather do my recon alone, as I'm more likely to avoid notice that way, but if you insist I'll take Sister Katarina as Brother Orar will probably prove more useful in helping with your shopping. Late afternoon we should probably get back together before proceeding to the club that evening." Drake removes his bags from the bed he's claimed, organizing the blankets and pillows in the vague form of someone laying in the bed. Taking the robe that was in the kitbag, he folds it up for use as a pillow to sleep on the floor, attempting to use the bed he claimed to hide him from the doorway. "What's the watch schedule?"

[Joe07]

" I'll take first and last." Said Dunwitch " I'm use to it by now. "

[Codemus]

Novus

"In that case I'll take the middle watch. Just wake me up when it's my shift." Novus removed his jacket and his robes, leaving him in only his pants. Tattooed in large print across his chest was 6876 in large print, nearly taking up his whole chest. Removing the rest of his gear, he slid his revolver under his pillow (if there even was one. He'd just clutch it to his chest otherwise). "Emperor protect my sleep." He sprawled out on his chosen cot and closed his eyes.

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar, having finished his sweep and determined that the room is clean, informs the group of his findings: no bugs (save a few of the six-legged kind), and no-one in adjoining rooms.

'As to the issue of comm-beads -

He taps the collar of his ragged void-suit.

- we have another one here, although I fear it might not be detachable from the suit. Using esoteric military bandwidths, so, while it is not secured to a good cryptographic standard, it would at least be on a channel that few are likely to be listening in on. It should not be particularly difficult to locate another, or another few, and entreat them and any we already have to accept the requisite frequencies. Brother McTarnaghan? Yours, if you will.

Between short bursts of activity working on the group's equipment, the serf makes his own bed. His own rifle is pointedly not disassembled, and his idea of beds seems to be limited to shaking off the worst of the insect shell-casings, then lying upon it, still wearing his armour.

[Joe07]

Dunwith periodically switched postion between watching the doors and windows. He was use to taking shifts and made a habit of it. He held his shotgun in his hands as he walked, In the morning work began.

[Caimheul]

"Drake

Drake hands his over to the tech-priest with a slight hesitation. "I assume you're resetting the frequency Brother?" He thanks the tech-priest when it is returned, then fall asleep on the floor. After sleeping on deckplating for years alongside the other Ratcatchers, the assassin found matresses far too soft. Besides, people expected the bed to be occupied, and he'd completed more than one assignment while the the target slept.

[Sycor]

Vrgil

Vrgil goes over to the tech=priest ans hands him his Arbiter micro bead. Perhaps if you used military scramble on a Arbiter frequency, it would at least throw off the casual snooping, add in a touch of your own sequencing.

Heading over to his own bed, I'll split the middle shift with Novus, or overlap where necessary. I don't sleep that much anymore anyways and I never dream now. Vrgil lays down for an attempt at sleep

[LeSwordfish]

OOC:
Tech-Use test to encrypt the microbeads. You should be able to encrypt them against casual contact, but they aren't designed for the sort of strong encryption that would be hard to break. In addition, remember that the military is active on Celephon, so beware of military frequencies.

Also, awareness test for those on watch.

[Joe07]

OOC
Right I got 69 for awareness roll

[LeSwordfish]

OOC:
OOC
Right I got 69 for awareness roll

Okay, so neither of you see anything. It would be great if you could use the forum dice roller though, and if you could finish up your character and copy it into the OOC thread- you still have Awareness twice, and you havent chosen whether you're taking Two-Weapon wielder for Melee or Ballistic.

[Mekboy]

"So it's sorted then. Tommorrow we'll get to work."With this said, Jarrion sorts the bed into some semblance of comfortability, before carefully stripping down, folding his clothes and placing them within his bag. Grumbling vaguely at the lumps in the bed, Jarrion does what he can to get to sleep.

[Morganatic]

Orar
That is the plan, Brother. While I imagine that traditional bandwidths may be listened to, certain bands tend to be restricted to the Angels of Death. Using them is considered somewhat hubristic, but we are in the service of the Inquisition now - its needs override all, do they not?

The armourer pries the back off a micro-bead with a screwdriver, and digs around in its innards.

Tech-use vs 64 - [roll0].

sick nasty rolling there!

[Caimheul]

Drake

Drake winches as the tech-priest opens up his microbead. "Well at least each group will have one. Would be better if each of us had our own in case we should need to split up, and I would imagine it's a bit easier to find four as opposed to six." Drake watches the tech-priest at work, worried about the state of his microbead. Once the work is completed he goes to sleep.

[LeSwordfish]

The night passes without incident. Distant noise filters through the thin curtains all night- industrial machinery, a distant arterial, voices from the rowdier areas in the west of the city. You are all well used to city noise though, and get as good a night`s sleep as can be expected under the circumstances.

The next morning is every bit as hot as the previous evening, but with heat and humidity hanging in the air in a way that promises thunder and rain later. The streets are crowded during the morning commute, and at all times of the morning enough people are hanging around for you to get a feel for the city unobtrusively.

One of the main things you noticeis the lack of private vehicles. The occasional black staff car or omnibus has to slowly nose through the crowds of pedestrians walking on the wide,well-maintained streets. The only other vehicles are available for rent, gunmetal grey vans or groundcars with hourly rates chalked on their sides and bored drivers sitting on the bonnets, chain-smoking lho-sticks, clustered near main landmarks and inportant setting-off points.

Those of you with a militay background spy obvious old scars on the city. Tanks have left deep scars in many of the boulevards and halfway up the walls of several buildings. The occasional splatter of bullet-scores around a window remain as testament tho some unlucky sniper's messy end. For the most part though, these signs are conspicuous by their absence. Someone has been spending a considerable amount of money on making the city look as good as new. There are no partially destroyed buildings, but every third building in some streets is simply gone, replaced withodd patces of grass or concrete.

OOC: will post a description of your stakeout of Icarus` tomorrow. I'm absolutely exhausted and typing this on a kindle, whih is a pretty laborious process. for the stakeout results, make a +10 scrutiny check for extra details. if there's some part of the city you want to investigate, just say.

[Caimheul]

Drake

The assassin wakes up as first beams of light touch the room's windows, and immediately begins going through a complex ritual of stretches, limbering up for the day ahead. "Whenever you're ready, Sister." he says as the Sister begins her own morning ritual.
...
The assassin does his best to act casually and blend into the crowd, just another person walking through the crowd with a bag slung over their shoulder. As the two acolytes walk around Icarus, Drake remains alert for entrances, security measures, and good positions to cover the building.


I thought scrutiny was use to determine if someone was lying, and awareness was used for noticing details about surroundings?
Regardless: [roll0] TN Scrutiny: 37 (34/2 +10 Difficulty +10 Heightened Sense(Sight/Hearing) Awareness: 54 (54 +10 Difficulty +10 Heightened Sense(Sight/Hearing)

[LeSwordfish]

OOC: I was under the impression that scrutiny was actively looking for something, albeit a lie, a concealed weapon, or anything, whereas Awareness was to notice something passively, kinda like the difference between Spot and Search in D&D.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch glanced passively at the street outside the dorm. While Drake and Katarina had gone off to do recon he had opted to stay at the dorm and assist the rest of the team. He knew Orar would be out shopping with Novus, he waited calmy until he would be accompanying Jarrion into Icarus.

[Caimheul]

OOC: I was under the impression that scrutiny was actively looking for something, albeit a lie, a concealed weapon, or anything, whereas Awareness was to notice something passively, kinda like the difference between Spot and Search in D&D.

OOC:
Was away from book, am on lunch break so pulled it up: Scrutiny (page 106 of core): Use the Scrutiny skill to make assessments about people you encounter, to determine if someone is lying to you, to sense ulterior motives and generally appraise the worth of another being. Also used to counteract attempts to manipulate you through Interaction skills.
Awareness (page 98): The awareness skill reflects your ability to perceive hidden dangers and to notice small details about your physical surroundings. You use the Awareness skill to notice ambushes, spot traps, and discern other threats.

Yeah, I agree the names are a bit ambiguous, but it seems that the correlation is more Scrutiny => Sense motive, Awareness =>Spot. and Search => Search

So not really sure what should apply... just let me know what you decide.

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar strolls through the streets of Throne's Landing, his bulky ex-void suit snapping in the wind off the plains, trying to adopt the rolling military swagger that he expects a confident military operator to have. He may not be the most capable bargainer (nor is the sanctionate, he suspects), but he certainly will be able to know a functional micro-bead when he sees one.

Taking my own 185 thrones, then presumably getting a receipt.

[roll0] vs. evaluate 54 to see if I can get any cool deals on microbeads.

[Hawkwings]

Katarina finishes her morning prayers soon after the assassin is ready. She gave all her equipment a final look over, then said to him "Ready. May the God-Emperor guide our path today."

-----

Moving through the crowd at a respectable distance away from Drake, Katarina tries to get a feel for the people of this city and their moods. The noticeable absence of private groundcars was a bit disconcerting, especially after having been in crowded cities before and dodging traffic at every turn. Perhaps they were prohibitively expensive? Or simply prohibited to normal citizens. Katarina would have to investigate further.


I'll just roll a d100 and you can figure out what it tests against. Awareness needs 40 or under to pass.
[roll0]

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus walked right alongside Orar, walking staff in hand. He was all smiles now that they were in public again. "If we find some, we may want to get an extra. Just in case." He now also wore his sword and pistol more openly.

[LeSwordfish]

Abrantius and Novus (And anyone else shopping)
Military hardware isn't hard to buy on Celephon. In the rough market that has sprung up around the cathedral square, many of the stalls sell nothing else. Bits of lasguns, odd scrapings of armour, entrenching tools, and many loose bits of military kit are scattered around. Abrantius, you can tell at a glance that many of them are in terrible condition. Rust, decay, and damage affects almost all of them. They are clearly raided weapons, picked from the black market or from old battlefields. Some seem to have been taken straight from the dead. One stall sells cheap augumetic eyes from jars, many with loose flaps of wizened, decaying skin or nerves trailing behind them, another is dedicated entirely to dog-tags, with the names poorly filed off. Nowhere can you find anyone selling this equipment legitimately.

Microbeads are common around here. While most are in poor condition, Abrantius has the knack for spotting those that aren't. Four microbeads are in servicable condition, and appear to be black-market as opposed to. Two of them are more expensive models, and will be possible to encrypt to a greater level of security than the others. (So, common-quality at 20 thrones each, or good-quality at forty.)

Katarina and Drake (And anyone else scoping out Icarus')
The club is built in a tall brick building in a row of identical ones, seemingly on the bottom two floors, with accommodation and private rooms above and a kitchen and store-room in the basement. The front has a flight of stairs up to a grand porch and door, by which a doorman stands, sweltering in the heat of the morning.

Around the back, the building shares a courtyard with several other establishments. Large ramps lead down to the basement, and a cast-iron fire escape sneaks up the back. This area is constantly abuzz with activity- at least one van is being unloaded at any time, and it's very rare not to see a group of workers smoking on the fire escape and flicking cigarette ends at the others working below. It wouldn't be hard to remain unnoticed here, though the harsh lighting provides very little place to actually hide.

(Apologies for mixing up the tests. Abrantius passed his awareness test, so i'll give you the benefits for success and presume he turns up later and points this out. Or something.)

The building is constantly guarded. A pair of guardsmen wait by the front door, another hang around on the fire escape at the back. They seem to be actual guardsmen as opposed to private security, although a quantity of that is visible too. While the guardsmen of His Most Holy Will slouch and lean on the handrails, the private security look distinctly out-of-place in purple and gold, with polished swords and laspistols, and proud military bearings. The workers tend to completely ignore them.

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar has spent most of his life on Crusade with the Astartes, and where their equipment was not ancient, battle-tested, and venerable, it was new, clean, and slickly machined in the industrial heart of Calth or Konor. His time in the Inquisition has disabused him of some of this notion, but he is still distressed to see Celephon's war flotsam and jetsam being sold for scrap in a market like this. Nonetheless, he swallows the faint sense of horror, and sidles up to one of the stalls, where he spots some likely-looking equipment.

'Good day, Sister! It is a pleasure to see such a wide selection of the Omnissiah's work on display. I am currently in the market for communication and teleinformatics. Tell me, would you be willing to part with this, that, that one, and the one under the pile of broken lasguns?'

He picks out, seemingly at random, the two good quality micro-beads, and two of the poor-quality, near broken ones. He's no dissimulator, but he knows that not looking like he knows what he's talking about would help him attract less attention. He picks one up, pretends to have a cursory look at it.

'They are good workmanship - guard issue? - but it would be my life's work to get them back to working order. I would give you, say, eighty two, eighty three for the lot.'

[Sycor]

Vrgil

The ex-Arbitrator wakes in the morning, trying to clear his head. He still has no dreams, no nightmares, no true restful sleep. Emporers morning to you all. Seeing everyone else heading out he decides to put his skills to the best use he can. He will head out and try to pick up what rumors and information he can. Targetting both the Arbitrators and the Crimminals, he seems to have a knack of ferreting out information in a casual way.

He'll be out most of the morning and earlry afternoon, attempting to to gain contacts and rumors. He'll leave the armor behind as well as the hellgun, his pistol will definitely be coming with him, dont want to attract too much unwanted attention.

OOC
[roll0] vs Fel(35)+10 <45> Inquiry skill: The Inquiry skill is your ability to pick up rumours, secrets and guarded information by asking questions,
buying drinks and generally watching and listening for anything of interest that might bubble up.

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus leaned in and looked around the accumulated junk. "Also, do you have a backpack? And maybe some booze?"

[Mekboy]

Waking from his usual deep slumber, Jarrion takes a while to remember where he is. Finally getting his bearings once more, he gets dressed and prepares to go out to find more about their surroundings. The more he knew about the place, the easier it would be to blend in. Quickly checking his weapon, he slides it into its holster and wanders out into town. "Time to make some new friends"

OOC
I'll be using the inquiry skill to get to know the area better, and to find out if anything strange has been going on. [roll0] vs 40.

[LeSwordfish]

Orar and Novus
The woman behind the stall accepts Abrantius's offer with ill-concealed annoyance, and turns to Novus. "I got a backpack here, ten thrones. As fer booze, try that stall over there, or one of the legit shops."

(OOC: Any alcohol/drugs of Average rarity of better can be bought for the listed price.)

Jarrion and Virgil
The city is buzzing about the upcoming harvests. Many of the native agri-workers have already taken up places in the fields, and crowded as the streets are, several people assure you that this is nothing, you should have seen it before the war.

Most people are excited about the arrival of the hive-worlders, though there is a general feeling that despite their numbers they'll never be as good as the born-and-bred Celephon agri-workers who died or deserted the planet in droves. Estimates as to the numbers of hive-worlders vary wildly. Nobody puts the numbers at less than a hundred million. Some estimate a billion, transported in an entire fleet of battleships. These numbers are vast, and ridiculous, but you know that it would barely scratch the surface of the population of many of the hive worlds they are being shipped from. Most of the people in the streets gloss over the specifics and the logistics in favour of the discussion of the massive boosts to trade and commerce.

Nobody wants to talk about the war. Any attempts to bring it up are met with evasion and changing the subject. "We'd rather look to the future." an elderly ex-guardsman with an augumetic leg offered. "The past's still happening, we're just better at avoiding it now."

[Joe07]

OOC:( How exactly do I use the site dice roller.)

Dunwitch decided it would be best if he scoped out the records office where the files that would tell them were Salo was. In case icarius yielded no results they'd need a back up plan. He was going to try and scope out the defenses, see how difficult it would be to enter the building.

[LeSwordfish]

Dunwitch
OOC: The forum dice roller info can be found quoted in This Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181299). 90% of everything you'll need for Dark Heresy is 1d100, and it doesn't work in edited posts.

It's about an hour's walk to the records building, one of several standard-pattern buildings, set in a compound just outside the city. A series of several different types of prefabs, surrounded by a high wire fence, the only routes in or out are guarded gates. Heavy weapons troopers manning autocannon emplacements give you a funny look as you hang around, and every so often a large military vehicle drives past, throwing up clouds of yellow-grey dust. You have, at least, solved the mystery of where the private vehicles all are- most of them now seem to be parked in this compound, repainted military grey. Apparently the imperial guard has been requisitioning cars for their own purposes.

OOC: Sadly there's only so much information you can get from hanging around outside- you're into the countryside now, so you look more than a little suspicious just waiting outside. If you want to get further information, you can make a test of some sort to find out more-Concealment to hide and watch, or a fellowship skill to get them to leave you alone, perhaps, or test on Common Lore (War) to make some estimates of what the buildings are like.

[Joe07]

OOC
Right I'll roll for a concelment check
[roll0]

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar smiles sweetly to the woman behind the stall, pockets the micro-beads, and, once Novus is done, returns to the boarding house to test out the microbeads, and assess the extent to which his black-market acquisitions can be used to establish a secure channel of communication.

While he works, he is more than willing to lend his tactical expertise to Dunwitch should he return, and offer him a well-though-out and cunning analysis that might reveal some of the weak points and vulnerabilities of the record office - if he had, say, a company of assault marines and a division of vindicator assault tanks.

Tech-use test to set up an encrypted channel on the new micro-beads/make the poor quality ones work a little better with my 1d10 spare parts - [roll0] vs. 64.

What the Codex Astartes might say about the weaknesses of the Records Building, should Orar hear Dunwitch's account (almost certainly nothing useful, but hey, might roll an 01) - [roll1] vs. 54.

[LeSwordfish]

Dunwitch

OOC
Right I'll roll for a concelment check
[roll0]


Sadly that doesn't pass, and you're unable to find a place to conceal yourself to see any more of the base. One of the guards has taken an interest in you, and is walking over to see what you're up to. You have to choose between returning to the city or trying to talk to the guard out here. Or anything else you can think of.


Orar


Tech-use test to set up an encrypted channel on the new micro-beads/make the poor quality ones work a little better with my 1d10 spare parts - [roll0] vs. 64.

The new beads are easier to work with than the others, and you successfully set them up to work with your ciphering better than the others. The two poor-quality beads are pretty bad. One is broken completely, and the other looks distinctly untrustworthy, though it's tiny machine-spirit seems to grudgingly work as of now.



What the Codex Astartes might say about the weaknesses of the Records Building, should Orar hear Dunwitch's account (almost certainly nothing useful, but hey, might roll an 01) - [roll1] vs. 54.

All your extensive experience with the astartes can summon up is "Nope, they're not Astartes."

[Sycor]

Vrgil

Vrgil returns to our common rooms and awaits the rest of the team. When we are all in the housing unit, he shares what information he was able to gleen from the day.

Most distrubing to me is the fact that no one I talked to wants to talk about the war. Usually there are a few that would open up but not here. They and by they I mean the general populace are hiding something. And if everyone is hiding something, then it must be damn important to them, which makes it damn important to us and our mission.

You think this is the most you have heard Vrgil say since we landed. He seems to reciede back into himself, working on adjusting the power couplings of his hellgun. But looking up as others share what they learned.

[Caimheul]

Drake
After staking out the club all day to get an idea of shift changes and a clear picture of the security, Drake returns to their rented room. He nods at the information Vrgil shares, "Well, they recently were embroiled in a civil war cause by our usual prey, so their silence isn't too surprising." Drake replies. "The club has two guards, front and back. Luckily those of us on back up should be able to blend into the crowds around the club to avoid detection. I say we don't dawdle too long, the sooner we make contact, the sooner we can complete our job."

[Joe07]

Knowing that he was no smart talker and often fumbled his words. Dunwitch turned and returned to the city to share what little he had found.

OOC: Right I'm going to make a common lore war test to guess what's in the base
[roll0]

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar smiles to hear that the others have had a productive day.

'Excellent reconnaissance, brothers!

As to my day, I have taken time to assemble a number of additional microbeads. Regrettably, it was not possible (nor advisable, given how suspicious it might look) to acquire six of the same make; as such, we have three pairs. These two -'

He sweeps out the good-quality ones.

'Are fairly serious Mechanicus technology; better than what most guardsmen are likely to have, and running at a low level of encryption, too. I suggest that we have one of this pair inside the club, and one outside, the better to communicate effectively between our two groups.

These two are our original ones, Vrgil, Drake, rewired to employ high-frequency bandwidths typically reserved for more esoteric and covert purposes. Despite that, I suspect they have a little security in obscurity - they are unlikely to be listened in upon. Mine is similarly augmented.'

He palms the next two back to their owners, and touches one finger to his collar. He then indicates the slightly more shabby-looking final pair.

'These two, finally, are the covers that I purchased to cover our activity. I have restored them to a semblance of working order, but they are not particularly secure, nor particularly reliable. I suggest that we use these within our inside/outside groups, to aid verbal communication, but not to replace it.'

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus shelled out the 10 thrones but grumbled about the lack of booze.

Back in the bunk room Novus will move around his things so it would sit better on him, and remain there if he had to run. "Yeah, I think Drakes right. We are about as ready as we will ever be. Do we have any idea what days and time the officers go to the club?"

[Caimheul]

Drake

"Dataslate said evenings, and way I figure it, tonight's as good as any. If our friend can't get us what we need, well, we still have time to make alternate arrangements. I'm ready whenever the rest of you are." Drake says, as he double checks his weapons, slinging his hunting rifle over his shoulder wrapped up in cloth to disguise what it is.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch loaded his guns and double checked his equiptment. " I am ready when you are. But I would be aware that if there is competition for our man, then we should expect other agents. Perhaps open violence. "

[Caimheul]

Drake

"Which would be the point of the two groups covering the front and back doors. Just make sure that they offer violence first, that way the local authorities might be more likely to take our side. No need to make more enemies if we don't need to. In fact, let Jarrion make the call. You're supposed to a bodyguard anyway."

[Morganatic]

Orar

So long as General Cass is as trustworthy as Kalmann has made him out to be, I do not think he is likely to be particularly forthcoming - even under duress - about the whereabouts of Salo. That is not to say that they would not try - making our presence important - but any competition might be more likely to head straight for the Record Office, which is guarded already.

Orar's weapons do not need much checking, their ruggedised bodywork being built for reliability. He slings his own rifle over a brawny shoulder.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch nodded " I can do that just fine."

Just like I was trained too, kill. It was a small word, simple to understand. Perfect for drilling it into the head of no name grunts.

[Mekboy]

Jarrion too ensures that his weapon is in full working order, before sliding it into its holster, inside his jacket.

"I personally don't see violence as being particularly likely. But then again, best to be sure. Dunwitch, will you take the comm-bead, seeing as you're acting as a bodyguard. It may look a little obtrusive on me."

[LeSwordfish]

Later That Evening

The sun has almost completely set, but it's still hot and humid, and by now your clothes are sticking to you as you wait outside Icarus'. There's a small park behind you, and you can hear birds. The cathedral choir are rehearsing, and the doors have been left open to let the heat out, and you can hear the first three lines of "In our deaths we offer glory" repeated over and again.

Several black staff cars have pulled up outside whilst you watch, and in small groups, the officers go in, each one being discreetly stopped and identified by a portly doorman. Two private guards in purple and gold hold rifles and stand at attention. One of the two guardsmen has gone. The other is standing at attention, but only when the officers are within view.

Entering the Club
You are the only people to have arrived on foot all night, but the guardsman- a lean man wearing a rumpled tunic- still smartly salutes you. At the top of the stairs into the club, the doorman steps in front of you. "This club is a private location, sirs." he says smoothly. "Unless you have a bioprint or a guest pass, kindly find some other location." One of his eyes is a neat augumentic, and he has fine metallic tracery of some kind over his fingers.

Remaining at the Front Of the Club
Once your friends have gone inside, there isn't much to do. Cars continue driving up to the front. The guardsman takes the opportunity of a lull to smoke a thin lho-stick. Thunder rolls across behind the cathedral. A procession of adepts cross the road, covering their papers from the starting spatters of rain, heavy drops that leave penny-sized dark spots on the pavement.


Staking out the back of the club
The back of the club is in a high courtyard, and so is already dark, lit by the bright, harsh white light spilling out of the loading docks of several high-class clubs and kitchens. There's none of the buzz of activity of earlier. Aside from a few workmen playing cards in the shadow of a food van, and two private security sweating heavily next to the door to Icarus', the place is empty. Simply hanging around looks quite suspicious.

OOC: While you're split up, put your posts in spoilers, only to be read by people in the same area as you, if that's okay. Vox-messages and such i'll pass on.

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar wanders about outside the club, just ... looking around.

And then
As he does so, with each stop to readjust his kit, he changes somewhat, looking a little different. As he approached the officer's club, he was Abi Orr, mercenary everyman, travelling with his brothers and sister in arms, but now, signs and hints of Enginseer Orar are beginning to resurface, cracking away the mercenary get-up and sloughing it away like a cocoon. He has the strong, slightly hunch-backed bearing for it; he has the clanking bag of tools and equipment that would mark any repairman; and, just in case it needed further reinforcement, he has a hissing respirator festooned with skulls and cogs covering the lower half of his face. It's not enough for a full-blown disguise, but he might pass for someone different if only given a cursory examination.

Having wandered around for a short while, combi-tool and auspex out, in the attitude of a surveyor, he then wanders into the park, on the pretense of following a gleam on his auspex. He shambles over to a vantage point from where he can draw line of sight (and, thus, should he need it, line of fire) to the gate of the Club, and then begins busying himself in the prayerful activity that, when seen in a machine adept, could be interpreted as giving thanks to the bounteous geno-engineered harvests of the trees and crops of Celephon, repairing a gas-leak, or preparing (at a moment's notice) to draw a long-las and begin sniping away at assailants on the club's door.

As he works, he issues a short, soft, call-response on his microbead.

- Come in, Malfi. How good's the reception in there? -

[Sycor]

Vrgil dresses as upscale as he can but with his limited selection of clothes, he can barely pass as not someone who doesnt live on the street.
Uniform (Good Quality)

Using knowledge gained, he attempts to conceal his pistol in an unorthodox method.
1d100 vs Decieve (35) + 10 (from Common Knowledge: Arbitrator placing the gun in a spot usually not patted down)

[Sycor]

Cant roll in an edit.. here is the roll for the above post:

[roll0]

[Caimheul]

Drake
Back of club:

"Damn. Any chance you could charm our way into that card game Sister?" Drake whispers to his partner.

[Joe07]

OOC(: Before we go to the club.)

Dunwitch nodded " I think that's sensible." He said

At the club.
Dunwitch was dressed in his guardsmen uniform he kept a grim expression. His hand was lowered into his coat pocket were he kept his stub pistol ready. He knew that violence was unlikey. But he was prepared just in case. He glanced at Jarion, he was the talker Dunwitch was hired help.

[Mekboy]

With a smile and a slight flourish, Jarrion hands the doorman the guest passes.
"Excellent, can't the wrong sort getting in now, can we? Here's the passes for my companions and I."

[Codemus]

Novus

Wearing his shabbier robes to appear as a vagrant, Novus followed Orar into the park and (depending on the foliage) flopped down with some amount of trees and shrubs between him and the entrance. He wasn't too concerned with maintaning direct line of sight on the entrance.

[LeSwordfish]

Jarrion, Dumwitch, Vrgil
The doorman inspects the passes, his augumetic whirring to flick them with a line of red light. "Everything seem's to be in order." He admits with a well-concealed tone of surprise. "Carry on in. Leave any weapons in the cloakroom, then pass through the scanner."

Inside the door is a dark wood-panelled anteroom. A large archway leads into the next room, protected by a pair of bird-faced scanners that curl into the top corners and flick their heads back and forth, skeweing the doorway with blue light. Music can be heard through the heavy curtain behind the door. Behind a desk, a cloakroom servitor waits next to a rack of heavy coats and pistols and swords in holsters.

The Microbead crackles softly into life.
- Come in, Malfi. How good's the reception in there? -

Novus and Abrantius
Concealment or Disguise checks please. Disguise is at +10 for Abrantius, Concealment at +10 for Novus.

Hawkwings
Let me know you're still alive, mate.

[Morganatic]

Orar
Disguise vs. [roll0] vs. 25.

[Joe07]

" Reception is fine." Dunwitch Whispered into his mico bead. He examined the area, he wasn't happy about having to give his weapons. It felt like he would going in naked, vunerable.

[Codemus]

Novus

Concealment check: [roll0] vs. 25 (31 Agility, -1/2 Untrained, +10 bonus)

[Mekboy]

Jarrion passes his weapon to the servitor, keeping an eye on where it was put. If for whatever reason he needed it, being able to find it quickly would be useful. Passing through the scanner, Jarrion pushes aside the curtain, glancing around the new room.

[Hawkwings]

Katarina


Katarina sighed and said "Well, it looks as if we must find some reason to stay in this alley. Those guards do not appear to be taking kindly to our presence here."

Striding over to the van, Katarina sized up the group and said "This a friendly game? What's the chance my friend and I could join you for a bit?"

OOC: charm vs target of 30
[roll0]

Also: awareness to notice anything strange or unusual here - vs target of 40
[roll1]

[LeSwordfish]

Novus and Abrantius
The comm-bead flicked back to life. "Reception is fine." Dunwitch replied quietly.
OOC: Are you going to carry on talking to those inside, or should I skip ahead to something happening?

Katarina and Drake
The workers look a little surprised at the two of you joining them, but obligingly make room and, the next time the game starts, deal you in. There are three of them- a bulky cook, a stick-think, stringy valet in his shirtsleeves, and the driver and owner of the van, a tall man with a ex-army greatcoat.

"What are you doing around here at this time?" The cook asks curiously as the valet deals the cards.

[Caimheul]

Drake and Katarina

"We got a gig working security for a visiting blue blood. He had an invite to the club, we got stuck waiting outside. Am glad we found something to help pass the time." Drake says, knowing that sometimes telling the truth can be the best cover of all.

[Morganatic]

Orar, out front
Good. Novus and myself are waiting out front should you find yourself in hot water, and you can guess about the others. If you need anything ...

Orar replaces the comm-bead, and waits.

I'm fine with waiting for some cool stuff to happen, if Codemus is.

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus pretends like he is sleeping, but really he is focusing inward to prepare himself for directing his power should the need arise.

I'm cool with skipping ahead.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch hands over his weapons. He gritted his teeth as he gave them up. If a firefight did break out then they were at a pretty big disadvantage. He passed through the weapon scanner and followed Jarrion.

[LeSwordfish]

Orar and Novus
You've been out there for nearly an hour before something happens. The air has been getting sharply cooler, and the rain has started to fall in earnest now. Perhaps it's the rain, or the rising wind in the trees that masks the approach of the man, but when he speaks, lying inbetween you completly unnoticed, it comes as a definite surprise.

"You aren't a mechanicus operative. And you aren't a vagrant. You wouldn't be out here in the park when there's a service on at the templum on the other side of the town. Not unless you're a lot less important than you seem to be, from those markings. And frankly i'd hope that the mechanicus keeps their adepts working hard enough to not give them an evening off to spend in a park. And you"- now adressing Novus- "you're dressed for the part, but I've never met a vagrant with a neatly shaven head. Granted, it could be for some unusual reason, but i'm not going to give you the benefit of the doubt thanks to the fact that you keep glancing at our mechanicus friend here. And HE keeps looking at the door to a military target." The man pulls himself into a squatting position, and scratches his chin. "But you'd have fooled most others. Sharpest eyes in the subsector, me."

Katarina and Drake
"I thought a bodyguard of two was allowed in the club?" the valet asked.
"Yeah" snorted the cook, "they're simply this guy's third and fourth favourite people." He pulled a hip-flask from his belt and took a hefty swig, then cursed creatively at his cards.

OOC: Gamble test if you care whether you win or lose, otherwise i'll handwave it. The other men aren't playing for money, though forced losing might improve your chances on a charm test. If you don't want to talk to them about anything specific, i'll fast-forward to something happening.

Dunwitch, Vrgil, Jarrion
The interior of the club proper is richly decorated with wood-panelling and velvet drapes. Small, round tables and booths are lit by oil lamps. Several waiter-servitors cycle the room with trays, and a barman at a heavy, well-lit bar serves more unusual beverages. A stage in one corner is unoccupied and gathering dust. One wall of the club is taken up by a huge mirror, the other by a series of inspirational paintings of advancing titans: the overall effect is a disconcerting one of being in between two lines of advancing god-machines.

The clubs clientèle can be easily discerned from each other. The officers relax and laugh, full drinks in their hands. Adjutants and bodyguards sit back from the main group awkwardly. And the third element, the criminals are just as joined into the conversations as the officers, thin narco-sellers and joygirls, tolerated entirely by all but the most puritanical officers. Overall, in this room alone there are over a hundred people, and two sets of double doors at the end hint that the club may well go on: you'd certainly be surprised if a place like this didn't have private rooms.

[Caimheul]

Drake

Darke give a curt nod at the cook's comment. "Got it in one mate. But I'd rather be out here anyway, slightly less stressful." Drake play the card game and chews the fat with the workers, keeping an eye and ear out for trouble.
I'm fine with fast forwarding, however: Awareness check:[roll0] TN PER+10 (am posting from phone so can't recall per score, will update with it later.)

[Morganatic]

Orar

The presence of this stranger is worrisome, certainly, but not completely unmanageable. Layers within layers, Orar; layers within layers.

'And, beyond that, you would be ... what? The man who watches the watchers? Come, sit, and watch with us, if you would. Squatting like that isn't very good for your legs, I can tell you that much.

I would take it you are not operating under any particularly official aegis, or your eagle eyes would have got together with your voluble tongue and gone scampering off to the local Enforcer HQ, right? So, let's say we make a trade. Who you are, for who I am? You first, of course. You've taken a secret, it is only fair that you give one back before us.'

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus gave up the ghost of pretending to sleep and sat up. He looked mildly offended. "'Neatly Shaven'? Sir, I will have you know that I do not have a single follicle of hair on my entire body. Lost it in a warp jump accident. Effected the entire ship, everybody lost their hair." He was a little nervous about some random passerby poking around where it shouldn't belong, but he at least knew he could handle it should they come to blows.

[LeSwordfish]

Orar and Novus
The man chuckled. "Much as i'd love to take a seat in what will soon be some... lovely mud, we're not staying here." He extended a hand toward Abrantius to shake. "Jaime Lingk. Scout trooper, Kaledon three-oh-eighth. As for official... well, that's one of those funny words that can mean all sorts of things. Like... "Suspicious". Why don't yis come with me and we can discuss things that are suspicious with the sargeant." He pulls himself lightly to his feet, and in the dying light you get your first proper glimpse of him. A tall, lean man, wearing a cameoline cloak and thin body armour, carrying a lasgun and a small, short-handled axe, wearing the cloaks hood over his cropped bright-red hair. He offers a hand to help Novus up. "My mistake. You must be one of the many vagrants experienced in warp travel. No money for food, but a jaunt to the empyrean and back, yeah?" He smiles, and it's clear he's not exacly mailcious. "What a misunderstanding. You stay here in the mud, while me and your buddy pop inside for a dram o amasec and a chat."

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar, heart sinking, maintains his outward smile.

'Abi Orr, late of the Ultramar Auxilia Engineering Corps, now into private security consulting. We are a long way from home, you and me both, Brother.'


He draws out his mercenary ID from inside his void-suit. His hand - entirely accidentally, of course - brushes the toggle on his microbead, switching it to transmit, and he thanks Omnissiah and Guilliman that he's wearing a more discrete suit-mic, worked into his armour, as opposed to one of the more noticeable ones. Broadcasting, now.

'I shall gladly head on in with you, Private Lingk, and would certainly be eager to talk with your sergeant. Is he in the club? Perhaps we might even swap a few stories! It would be good if my brother Attilas here,'

He gestures to Novus.

'Could stay where he is, however. I've no objection to coming with you, but it would ruin our ability to get contracts in the future, if we're seen as the sort who fraternise with charming locals. Hope you understand.'

Orar hopes that the others in his group will get the message, and be able to work out what's going on.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch quickly glanced around the room taking in as much as he could. Have to stay aware in here. Can never be too carefull.

(OOC: Rolling for perception. 1d100 )

[Codemus]

Novus

His eyes lit up at the mention of Amasec, but he looked dejected when Orar said he should stay. He waived away the man’s hand. "Don't mind me, I can promise I will be right here enjoying this lovely squalor when you return. Just… uh… perhaps nip me a bottle on the way back?"

[Sycor]

Vrgil

Vrgil hands his gun to the servitor and joins his fellows in the throng of people. Looking over the crowded room he appears to relax and take in the moment, however inside his head is a jumble of thoughts, seeming random crowds mixed and overlayed with the one in this place. Closing his eyes for a moment he clears his mind and starts to casually scan the crowd as he lights a lho-stick. He is looking for rank insignia of a command general or greater.

Well my friends, lets go blend in and make conversation. Perhaps try and talk to the military and see if we can find out who this General Cass is..

[Morganatic]

Orar
'Do not worry brother, I shall bring amasec enough to warm you through the freezing chill of the Celephoni night. At that point, I suppose that I shall be expected to spell your shift for you, but such is a mercenary's lot in life.'

He gets up, shakes himself, turns to Jaime, chuckling.

'You had better make sure I return unharmed, intact, and soon, brother! Else, you shall deprive a vagabond of his rotgut!'

[LeSwordfish]

Novus and Orar
Lingk laughed. "I think yis misunderstanding. I were joking, yis both coming with me. Don't worry about you're client, he'll be just fine with the club's security." He patted his lasrifle. "Get up now. I don't want to be pointin' this thing and calling yis mothersekkers, but if i have to i will. I just prefer this the civil way."

Drake and Katerina
Nothing unusual seems to be happening You can't spot anything suspicious or out of the ordinary.

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus stood up in an unhurried manner. "*Sigh* All right, all right. I'm coming. There is no need for that kind of diplomacy."

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar rises too, a little more of an edge to his voice and manner.

'Well then, let us do as the good trooper Lingk says!

Only, I hope you do not take it amiss if we do not disarm. We don't know you from Alpharius. As you say, civility is a wonderful thing, and relatively balanced positions of power would go a long way towards keeping this civil, as opposed to a shakedown.'

Still broadcasting. Hopefully the other acolytes will be able to understand what's going on.

[LeSwordfish]

Novus and Orar
Lingk shrugs. "Fine by me. This way." He begins to lead you out of the park and back toward the club, heading for the narrow metal stairs leading down to the basement door at the front.

[Caimheul]

Drake

Drake listens for microbead transmissions while he plays cards, only half paying attention to the game and the conversation.

[LeSwordfish]

Drake and Katerina
Aside from a brief discussion about the reception between Dunwitch and Abrantius, nothing comes over the comm-link for nearly an hour. The game of cards continues. The cook gets steadily more drunk. The valet wins several rounds in a row.

And then the microbead crackles into life. It's the tech-priest's voice.

"'I shall gladly head on in with you, Private Lingk, and would certainly be eager to talk with your sergeant. Is he in the club? Perhaps we might even swap a few stories! It would be good if my brother Attilas here could stay where he is, however. I've no objection to coming with you, but it would ruin our ability to get contracts in the future, if we're seen as the sort who fraternise with charming locals. Hope you understand.'
There's a forced, nervous note to Orar's charm, and the response- a man with a thick Kaledonian accent, made indistinct through distance- gives some reason why. "I think yis misunderstanding. I were joking, yis both coming with me. Don't worry about your client, he'll be just fine with the club's security."

[Caimheul]

Drake
Back of Club:
"Excuse me a second folks, have to check in with the boss. Wants to be sure he's getting his money's worth." he jokes. Drake moves a short distance away from the card game, doing so out of not wanting to interrupt the conversation as true privacy would be too suspicious.
Micro-/comm-beads:
"Read you loud and clear. Let me know when and where to meet up when you're done, or if you need us to run an errand." Drake says softly into his micro-bead.

[LeSwordfish]

Drake and Katerina
Instead of Abrantius, the man's voice continues. "Get up now. I don't want to be pointin' this thing and calling yis mothersekkers, but if i have to i will. I just prefer this the civil way." There is a pause, and then a voice you recognise as Novus', even more faded and indistinct. "...coming. There is no need for ... of diplomacy.". Abrantius speaks again. He's the only one you can hear properly, and there's a hard edge to his voice now. 'Well then, let us do as the good trooper Lingk says! Only, I hope you do not take it amiss if we do not disarm. We don't know you from Alpharius. As you say, civility is a wonderful thing, and relatively balanced positions of power would go a long way towards keeping this civil, as opposed to a shakedown.'

[Morganatic]

Orar

'Very well then! Lead on, trooper.'

When Lingk has pulled ahead a little, Orar gives Novus, then the guardsman, a significant look, and raises his eyebrows, shrugging slightly. He's not yet seen the sanctionate employ his powers - it would be too much to hope that he could project bioelectrical storms from his fingertips, or warp mind and matter with but a glance, but it is at least one ace up the pair's sleeve, that can't be easily taken away from them. Not yet, though.

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus shook his head. While he could use his powers and the both of them subdue the guardsman, he wanted to see who exactly knew they were here. Unless they weren’t watching for them at all and they were just that bad at trying to blend in. That was possible too.

Still, he wasn't too worried. They should be able to handle any supprises. Plus it probably wasn't a smart idea to drop a guard out on the streets.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch
The guardsmen watched as the club went past wary of anyone looking suspucious who passed by him. He looked over at the officers, watching them to try and indentify their contact.

[Hawkwings]

Katarina

Distractedly playing cards and being quite middling at it, Katarina was surprised when Drake suddenly stood up to go converse with "the boss" inside the club. What should have been at most a short conversation was taking a while, with not too much talking on this side. A bit worried, Katarina asked the other card players "Are you around this club often? Ever hear of or see any trouble there?"

[LeSwordfish]

Inside the club
OOC: To find Cass, make a +10 Inquiry check or a -10 Awareness or Search. Dunwitch with his military experience ignores the penalties on the awareness or search. Peer (Nobility) or (Military) will apply. Also, guys, stick to spoilers. This WILL become really important later on.

You don't seem to be attracting much attention in the club. You resemble the Mercenaries that are a not uncommon feature of the club, and while a few people give you brief glances, nobody you see looks twice at you.

Orar and Novus
Lingk leads you wordlessly down the cast-iron stairs and in through a narrow service door. A white-painted corridor leads past the kitchens. An iceroom on the other side breaths coolant fumes into the corridor. You are in the back areas of the club now, bland tile and concrete contrasting with the opulence you imagine above. Around the corner, a clanking metal service lift takes you up to one of the upper floors. Through a door discretely hidden behind a wooden panel, you reenter the clubs public areas. You are now in a corridor leading between several private rooms, one of which Lingk leads you into.

"Sarge." He says, giving a languid attempt at a salute. "The men i was telling you about."

The private room was obviously once a neat, opulent room, with small tables and chairs arranged around a central desk. Now most of the furniture is piled away tightly into the corner, and bedrolls and guardsmen's packs take up most of the floor space. One guardsman is asleep on his bedroll, another is sharpeneing her axe. Everyone in the room has the red hair and pale skin of Kaledonian natives, and several sets of Kaledonian Mesh-Mail are folded by the door.

The sergeant Lingk is addressing is seated behind the large table in the private room, a neatly disassembled frag missile on a stretched tarpaulin in front of her. She's every bit as tall and lean as him, and heavily scarred around the neck and shoulders. She appears to be tweaking some small segment of the detonator with a combitool, and is wearing what appears to be a jeweller's eyeglass. When you enter the room, she pushes the eyeglass back from her face, and places the detonator segment down carefully. "It's you, then? I was worried yis'd tried to shoot yis way out and he'd had to kill yis."

Katerina
The valet shrugs. "Nothing more than the usual. Occasional fight. Mercs make trouble sometimes when they're after the same job. We've had a squad of guardsmen billeted here for a few months, and they keep security and behaviour good." The cook interrupted him at this point. "Hey. Hey hey. Stop talking and deal again." There was a definite smell of alcohol on his breath. He looked as if he'd have trouble holding the cards, let alone playing the game. The valet looked at him apprasingly, then winked at Katerina. "Say, friends, care for a wager? Say, thirty thrones?"

"I'm in." The cook said instantly, weaving slightly.

The driver laughed. "No thanks. I'm neither as stupid or as rich as you take me for."

[Joe07]

Dunwitch

OOC:( Alright I'm going to roll inquiry to find this person.
[roll0]

[Morganatic]

Orar


Orar gives a very slight bow, inclined enough to show the butt of his own weapon slung over his back.

'Yes, it is us, the ones who were clearly not good enough to hide from your man Lingk. He is to be commended on his eyes, although I would still be surprised if he could overpower two reasonably experienced mercs. Abi Orr, at your service - I understand that you wish to have some words with us?

He looks around, taking in the barracks.

'If it not too impertinent to ask, what authority do you hold here, sergeant, beyond that over your Kaledonians? You are keeping a close guard on this club, to be sure, but do you expect to be fighting a war some time soon? Frag rockets are surely overkill for crowd control. Apologies, but it is good to know to whom one speaks, and what they intend.'

[roll0] vs. common lore (tech) +10 (TN: 64), evaluate (TN: 54), tech-use +10 (64), whichever's most appropriate, to get an impression of what she was doing with that frag missile detonator. Arming it, activating it, using its components for something else (by the Emperor, Novus, a bomb! A bomb!), or just performing routine maintenance.]

[Mekboy]

Jarrion


Smiling, Jarrion also begins to mingle with the crowd, knowing that he's now in his element. He casually wanders over a group of military-looking men, before asking about the general. "Excuse me, my good sirs, but I'm looking for someone. Would any of you be able to help me in finding General Cass? I urgently need to speak to him."

Roll for inquiry:[roll0] vs 60

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus shrugged. "It was about a fifty fifty toss up as to gut him or follow him." He indicated Lingk with a jab from his thumb. "Looks like we chose the right one. So what can we do for you beautiful?"

[LeSwordfish]

Novus and Orar
When Abrantius comments on Lingks fighting ability, he gives a small, smug smile and shrug that says "You think that if you like" before lighting up a lho-stick, and when Novus calls the sargeant beautiful he snorts and coughs heavily, nearly dropping the lit lho-stick in an attempt not to laugh. The sergeant gives him a hard look, before putting her combi-tool down with a heavy click.

"Trooper. Go out and get Fenix to vox the Captain-Commissar. Keep him updated. Ask him if he wants to come up here and ask a few questions for himself."

She turns back to you as, sniggering, Lingk leaves the room. "My authority?" she asks coldly. "I assure yeh, as sergeant of the squad detailed to defend this position and the high-value targets downstairs, my authority is quite sufficient to interrogate suspicious men waiting outside wi' sniper rifles. Funny that." She leans back in her chair. On the mat, the guard sharpening her axe is now standing, leaning against the wall watchfully. "So yis answer my questions now. Why were yis out there watching the club?"

The Rocket
She appears to be customising it in the same way as most guardsmen do with their weapons to an extent, though few are so heedless of the Omnissiah's wrath as to do so to explosive weapons.

She seems to be shortening the firing pin, and carefully reshaping it. There could be several resons for this. Making more compact rockets or explosives is one, changing the payload or fitting rockets to an incompatible launcher being others.

Inside The Club
OOC: Ooch, bad luck with those rolls. Feel free to try the other available tests, or use a fate point.

[Caimheul]

Drake

After the last transmission Drake rejoins the card players. "Sorry about that, he just wanted to make sure we weren't sleeping. What'd I miss?"

[LeSwordfish]

Drake and Katerina
The valet grins toothily at Drake rejoining them. "We're upping the stakes, friend. Care to throw, say, thirty thrones into the pot?"

[Caimheul]

Drake and Katerina

"Sorry I'm tapped out until next payday. I had to replace a few things after the last job."

[LeSwordfish]

Drake and Katerina
The valet gave a sympathetic wince. "I feels ya, man. I'm sure our friend here will match my wager." He shuffled the cards with a snap and shot a cheerful smile at the cook, who coughed heavily, releasing a breath alcoholic enough to burn.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch
Right I'm going to try an awareness test
[roll0]

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus sighed, the looked over to Orar. "Well, I think the jigs up. Might as well tell them." He looked back to the sergeant and crossed his arms. "We were simply providing backup for the rest of our team who were inside the club. While they were meeting a contact, we were going to hold ground outside. In doing so, we hoped to be in prime position to swing in and save the day should it be warranted. So, you know, if they wind up dead I'll hold you responsible."

[Mekboy]

Jarrion

Getting few useful responses, Jarrion thanks the men anyway before resorting to simpler methods - just looking around.

Awareness vs 40 [roll0]

[Morganatic]

Orar

'That is essentially the case, I am afraid, to say, yes. We were commissioned to make sure that the meeting - which was to be discreet, with certain members of the local military presence - was safe. Not to cast aspersions on the quality of Kaledonian soldiery, Sister, but another pair of pairs of eyes never hurt, especially if they knew what they might be looking for.

It strikes me now that neither of the two hired door guards, nor your highly talented trooper, is now currently watching the door. While I am sure there are more guards in place, it would seem worryingly undermanned at present.'

[LeSwordfish]

Inside the Club
Speaking to the clientele reveals noting, but as your sharp eyes flick around the room, you begin to notice that most of the soldiers are wearing full dress uniform, with rank pips attached. The only one with a colonel's markings is a portly man, currently leaving the room towards the private rooms in the company of a pair of commissars and a nervous adjutant.

Abrantius and Novus
The Sargeant gives you a long look. "And what was to be discussed at this meeting? This don't mean i believe yis, mind."

"Also." The guardsman with the axe says. "Sargeant Remora's not so stupid as to leave this place unguarded. There's three more..."

"Sit down, Kaydey." Remora says wearily. "Would ye like to send our dispositions out via pict-plate, too?"

[Morganatic]

Orar


'What, do you think they would tell us? Not a chance - we are but the hired muscle. All I know is that we are to look after a group of off-worlders doing a deal with some cover-ups. They did not seem like drug-dealers, if that is what you worry about; more like information brokers. Trying to get the latest news from the planet - getting Celephonian agriculture back on its feet is a fairly lucrative prospect!

And worry not, Kaydey, your top-secret military dispositions are safe with us. Although I'd still hazard that six pairs of eyes are better than three.'

He gestures to himself, Novus, and Lingk.

[Joe07]

Dunwtich
He glanced over at Jarrion " See anything usefull I'm getting nothing here."

[Caimheul]

Drake and Katarina

Drake eyes the drunk cook and sighs "Yeah, starting to wish I had the capital myself."
Awareness: [roll0] TN 34

[Mekboy]

Jarrion

In response to Dunwitch, Jarrion points towards the private rooms. "There! Him!"
Having said this, he makes his way after the Colonel.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch
He followed Jarrion moving through the crowd as he made for the colonel. If this was there lead then he would not let it get away.

[LeSwordfish]

Abrantius and Novus
Kaydey gives you a grateful smile, but Remora cuts across it angrily. "Then i suppose yis won't mind showing yis mercenary licences?"

Inside The Club
You catch up with Cass just before he passes through the doorway. He turns to see what the commotion is, and, as he does so, a second member of club security steps out in front of you. "Sorry sirs." The massive guard rumbles. "Premium only."

Drake and Katarina
"Well." The valet says, and flicks the cards one last time. "You will be privy to an extremely good match, am i right friend?" The cook nods heavily "Damn... Damn right", and the begin playing.
The valet wins, two, three times in a row. It's hardly surprising, considering how massively drunk the cook is. The fourth victory, with the cook now over a hundred thrones in the hole, and he begins swearing heavily.

"Whoa. Whoa, friend, there's no need to be rude" The valet says, shooting you a sideways smile.

"Bastard." The cook growls. "Scamming Bastard. Give me my money back."

The valet grins even wider. "Now, now. No one's been scammed here. That was fair and square." He winks at you. "I take it you don't want to play another round?"

"Give me my fething money back." the cook demands, then turns sharply to you. "Make him give me my fething money back."

[Morganatic]

Orar

'Here are the set we usually operate under, at any rate.'

Orar hands over his ID.


Now, if you skimped on this Kalmann, we're going to be so cross.

[Caimheul]

Drake and Katarina

"Why should I? No one forced you to gamble with him, it's your own fault. That's how gambling goes: sometimes you win, and sometimes you loose." The assassin shrugs, unconcerned with the foolish drunken gambling of a dirtsucker.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch
Dunwitch swore to himself. Well this is a crap situation isn't it. " And just who exatcly is allowed into the the premium section"

[Codemus]

Novus

"Of course, of course." Novus tossed his own id onto the Remora's desk.

[LeSwordfish]

Abrantius and Novus
Remora takes the licences and gives them a long look. "Well, either they're genuine, or i'm impressed enough to let yis go anyway." She laughed shortly. "All this effort and yis out of my jurisdiction." She seems considerably more relaxed now- on Celephon these licences hold a lot of weight, and showing such realistic ones has persuaded her that you have legitimate business.

She sighs in annoyance. "Right. I'm in half a mind to demand to talk to yis boss, but i'm sure that'd get me in the cacky with yis guild, or whatever you have, so i'll drop it. If yis were planning on blowing this place up, do me a favour and do it a week frae now, aye? I'll be long gone by then."

Lingk re-enters. "Sarge. Major-commisar says drop it, he's got bigger fish to fry, and we're moving out. Like, tomorrow dawn. Something's come up. He says if you want more details, get out of the cage and vox him yehself."

Remora sighs again. "Right, right. Bastard bloody cage." She pauses, then turns to Abrantius. "Eh. Ye're a cogboy. Any idea how to get signals through a Leibmann cage?"

OOC:
Common Lore (Tech) or Tech-Use test to see if you know the answer. You do vaguely know what a Liebmann cage is: It's a bit more beefed-up version of a Faraday cage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage

You two are moving way faster than the others. Don't worry though, the half-assed accents will end soon enough.



Drake and Katerina
"You're in it!" The cook snarls suddenly, standing up. "You bastards are in it too."
The valet stands, leans forward and places a hand on his shoulder, mock-conciliatorily. "Now, friend, let's not cast aspersions on our new gamers. Why don't you sit down and let me fetch you out another drink, then i'll give you a chance to..." and there he stops, because the cook has drawn a short-bladed knife from a belt loop, and thrust it into his stomach.

OOC:Right! Fight time. From now on we're on combat time. Hawkwings, post something by thursday or i'm basically presuming Katarina is in a coma until you do.

The cook had surprise, and he's used it to stab the valet.
Cook' s to hit:[roll0]
Cook's damage:[roll1]

Now you're all rolling initiative. If you beat the cook's roll, feel free to take your turn.
Cook's Initiative:[roll2]

I'm not one for complex combat maps*. You're at Point Blank range, basically.

*Not when i'm this busy. Later, for bigger combats, sure.

Inside the Club
"Premium members, or the guests of premium members only sir."

Cass is giving you a particularly hard stare. "You. Guardsman." He says suddenly, looking directly at Dunwitch. "Do I recognise you? Were you at Ammon Kor? I never forget a face."

OOC: You've heard of Ammon Kor- it was a battle against the Orks, about ten years ago, but never been there.

[Morganatic]

Orar
Orar's interested to learn the reason for having lost all contact with the others up above. Doubly interested to find out why there's a signal blocking apparatus down here.

'Oh, I assure you, we will certainly give sufficient warning before letting loose with the fyceline. Just wish they provided us with some occasionally - we never get the fun jobs.'

He looks round to Lingk, then back to Remora.

'Leibmann? I think so. I am more of a Technicus than an Etherics man myself, but I might have got some knowledge squirrelled away somewhere ... what sort of set-up do you have here? How big are the apertures between the wires?'

Nah, the accents own. And we can wait a bit, if we're going too quickly.

[roll0] vs 64. Come on - I feel like I've saved up enough bad luck from the Rogue Trader game that I feel the forum roller owes me a good roll or two.

Gah. Anyway, I'm using a fate roll to help these charming people, and having a good long look at their faraday cage while I'm at it. I usually hoard my fate; might as well give it a go now. 13. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12217998#post12217998) Five degrees of success. More information about Leibmann cages than they could ever want.

[Mekboy]

Jarrion

Ignoring the bruiser, Jarrion attempts to explain what he can to Cass. "Sorry about this, sir, it's just that we need to speak with you quickly." Weighing up the pros and cons, he decides to mention the inquisitor, despite the risk that it would get them noticed, or that Cass would simply know him by another name. "Kallman sent us. Said that you were one of the few people he trusted implicitly to help us."

[Caimheul]

Drake

Caught off guard by the chef's sudden violent outburst, Drake springs to his feet, drawing his paired autopistols as his chair clatters to the ground. He aims both at the murderous chef's head, and bellows "Drop the knife! Guards, we could use some help over here!"

Half actions: ready weapon, aim
So far I've been enjoying the NPC interactions. Good job at making it so we can't just hide out in the poker game... I'm sure Drake wishes he could have just holed up in a nice, quiet sniper position about now! :smalltongue: Don't worry about the lack of battle map this combat shouldn't take too long... If it does, I dread getting in combat with a trained soldier, let alone a squad... Hope things calm down for you!

[LeSwordfish]

Orar and Novus
Remora shrugs. "I've no idea of anything about it other than it's over all the upper floors of this building. Our microbeads are completely blocked, but... some things ain't, and as i'm the closest to a techie they have, it's my job to work out how."

Orar
Leibmann cages typically require massive amounts of power to get any kind of signal in or out. A squad's main vox-caster could probably manage it, at a push, but would need something similarly good outside to recieve, and probably an unauthorised modification or two. The simpler way of doing it would be connecting a pair of relays with wires, one inside the cage and one outside.

Suitably modified, almost anything could punch a signal out, but the power requirements for a burst of more than a second or so would be enough to drain the batteries.

Inside The Club
Cass looks at you, and seems to be thinking for a long moment. Then he comes to a conclusion. "Major-commissar, Trooper Pike, if you'll excuse me, i think i need to talk with these men. They're with me, Gellman." Cass steps aside, and never taking his eyes off you, beckons you back into the premium area. The commissar and the adjudant step back and shoot curious looks at each other.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch
Dunwitch gave a nod of thanks before following him in, interesting, seems we have more friends here than I first thought. Don't let your guard down though, our competitors could have already have gotten to him. This could br a trap.

[LeSwordfish]

Drake and Katerina
The cook drops the knife and backs away sharply. Without his support, the valet falls to his knees, clutching the gaping, messy wound in his stomach, and then falls sideways. The cook continues backing away, horrified by the blood over his hands and waist, and the paired pistols aimed at him. "Help me!" He screams, and then turns to run, still screaming and sobbing. He's genuinely terrified, far more than you've ever encountered before. "Help me! Help me!", and then he stops running, stumbling and sprawling on the floor. There is a moment of silence as he lies still, twitching and writhing as if he's having a fit. You can hear shouts from up on the balcony, and see the guards advancing out of the loading bay, swords and pistols rasied. Everything seems to stand still.

Then the cook twists sharply around, writhing into a crouching position. His eyes are dead, and black, his jaw drooping and lolling to reveal a mouth of long quills and a forked tongue. The muscles on his arms are rippling, his fingers are clawing at the cobbles, and his skin glistens in the rain. He screams, a single, long, animalistic roar that seems to twist the rain and brings up the hair on the back of your neck, and sends the advancing club guards running backward. Then, running like a simian, the thing charges towards you.

Take a Challenging (+0) fear test.

The cook's turn: Full move to "run", first away from, then towards you. He's the same range as always, but closing fast. Thanks to how he's moving directly towards you, you don't take the usual BS penalty.

[Caimheul]

Drake
Microbead/Back of Club:
"DIE CHAOS SCUM!" Drake bellows.

Back of club:
The chef's sudden transformation doesn't phase the former Ratcatcher, having seen similar creatures in the holds of The Spear of Fury, instead a slight smile spreads underneath his respirator. With quiet puffs softer than the click of the pistols' firing mechanisms, he opens up at the monstrosity.

Full Round Action: Semi Auto fire, both pistols (Does that count as two separate attacks for dodge?)
Emperor's Justice: [roll0] TN 86 (46 WS -10 Dual Wield +10 Semi Auto +30 Point Blank +10 Half Action Aim)
Damage 1: [roll1] Right Arm
Damage 2: [roll2] Right Arm RF Confirmed: +2 Damage
Damage 3: [roll3] Body

Emperor's Mercy: [roll4] TN 86 (46 WS -10 Dual Wield +10 Semi Auto +30 Point Blank +10 Half Action Aim)
Damage 1: [roll5] Head
Damage 2: [roll6] Head
Damage 3: [roll7]



Status:

Emperor's Justice (Right): 10/13 current clip
Emperor's Mercy (Left): 10/13 current clip
Spare Ammo: 234/234
Palantine: 20/20
Spare Charge Packs: 1/1
Wounds: 8/8
Fate Points: 3/3

[Morganatic]

Orar

'Eh, depends what you want to do. Cages like this tend to have a fairly fine mesh, but this building is huge. You could sneak a cable through it, carrying anbaric or optical data, without any problem, and no-one would be any the wiser, but you'd need some sort of relay station at both ends, with a receiver and a transmitter. That could be anything from the size of a microbead to the size of a generator. Military hardware could get in and out - if you have had any squad vox units go missing, that's a possibility. To be honest, you send a sufficiently powerful charge down an antenna, you could get anything in or out, but to get that kind of boot, you'd be almost certain to drain the cells in seconds, or burn out the wiring.'

Orar reaches for the combi-tool and auspex on his belt, and, drawing them both across his body like a frontier-world gunfighter, mates the two devices together, turning the combi-tool into a small aerial. Holding it up the light, he squints, raps it hard a couple of times, and twists a piece of wire across a pair of connectors.

'What kind of 'things' have been getting through the net, if I may ask? Since I'm here, and have some of the equipment, I might as well have a look. Who knows, it might even count as due diligence for the protection job!'

[Mekboy]

Jarrion
Not letting his guard down, Jarrion follows Cass through into the private rooms. There was still no knowing if it was really Cass, or if they were walking into a trap. But, hey, there was no other obvious option.

[LeSwordfish]

Drake and Katerina
Toughness test: [roll0]
Stunned for: [roll1]+[roll2]
Fatigue: [roll3]
Also, Blood Loss

The hail of shots shreds the creatures arm and shoulder into bloody rags. It dies mid-charge, and carries on under its own momentum, ending up a ruined, crumpled heap at Drake's feet. As it dies, it screeches, a long high howl that shakes the buildings around. A second after its death, the streetlamps explode, in a flash of light that, until it fades away, leaves you blinded. When it clears, the courtyard is in almost complete darkness. The only light comes from the loading dock's indoor lights, and silhouetted in it are the cautiously advancing club guards, weapons raised.

OOC: Might have to have a break here until those inside the club and at the front catch up. Sorry. Nice shooting, though.

Inside the Club
Cass leads you up a flight of stairs, and into the opulently-decorated private rooms. Thick carpeting and wood panelling are the norm here, with ornate paintings and mirrors hung at discrete intervals. The only thing that spoils the rich decoration is several sets of muddy footprints in the carpet.
"It's a shame that the garrison leave these." Cass says, indicating the prints. "Quint should come down harder on them, but he's never been one for the little things, always has a big picture in mind..." He seems distracted, blathering. He leads you into one of the private rooms- this is similarly opulent, with small chairs and tables and a large wood desk- and turns to you once the door is shut. "Well. I'm sure Kallman didn't send you for small talk. What is it you want?"

[Mekboy]

Jarrion

Let's get to business then. "We need access to the Records Office. We're looking for a specific guardsman, who we know is on this planet, but we don't know his exact location." Recalling the mission brief, Jarrion tries to instill a sense of urgency into Cass. "Many enemies of the Imperium are also looking for him, so we need to find him as quickly as possible."

[Caimheul]

Drake and Katerina
Drake stands stock still, keeping his pistols trained on the creature as it slides towards him. After the chaos spawn sounds its death rattle, Drake calmly holsters one of his pistols and dons his photo-visor, completely covering his face. Rearming himself, he calmly keeps his pistols at his side as he scans the area, waiting for the guardsmen to approach.
Awareness: [roll0] TN 34
OOC: No problem with taking a break to let everyone else catch up! I'm sure it'll be obvious when they do, if not, just give me a nudge.

[LeSwordfish]

Inside the Club
Cass shakes his head. "There's no way I can get you legitimate access to the records office. I'll go in there and get the information you want myself, if i have to, but nobody short of the inquisitor himself is allowed in there without vetting. Who was it you were looking for?"

Abrantius and Novus
"The club is bugged. We found a half-dozen bugs around the place. I reckon that's all, Lingk suspects there are more. I told the Major-commissar about this, and he refused to pass it on to the club's management. Flat-out refused."

"He's the guy in charge of seeing this doesn't happen, you see?" Lingk offers. Remora nods. "He's not usually the sort for embarrasment. So something's not right."

"As for the Leibmann cage, two of the bugs we found were inside the cage. Which could be innocent. It's not exactly common knowledge, the cage. But if there is a way through the cage, i want to know about it." She turns to Lingk. "Though if we're moving out, all I can do is pass it on to the next poor buggers, yeah?"

Lingk shrugs. "Yeh get the precious gift of closure. That'll keep us warm in some foxhole somewhere."

Hawkwings, Sycor, and Codemus, you lot still around?

[Joe07]

Dunwitch

" A man called Solus." Said Dunwitch as he glanced around ensuring that there was no one around to overhear them

[Hawkwings]

Drake and Katarina



Katarina had drawn and readied her weapon, but it ultimately proved unnecessary as Drake handily dispatched the former cook singlehandedly. As the blinding light cleared from her eyes, Katarina turned to the others still alive and leveled her laspistol at the bleeding valet.

"Your soul is forfeit if you do not explain, immediately!" she declared. "All corruption will be purged, no mercy to the tainted!"

[LeSwordfish]

Drake and Katerina
The valet merely gurgles, and blood dribbles out of the corner of his mouth. Without medical attention, he's never going to explain anything ever again.

OOC:
He's suffering from Blood Loss. [roll0] , get 2+ to not die.

Drake (or anyone who can see in the dark)
With the photo-goggles on you can see somewhat better. Other doors are opening now, and various different workers are coming to see what's going on. Most of them seem unwilling to advance towards you, Katerina, or the two sprawled forms.

[Mekboy]

Jarrion

Suddenly, Jarrion realises something. He hadn't checked to see if this man is general Cass - after all, he's only wearing a colonel's rank pins. And if it isn't, then things might just have gotten a little tricky.

"Sir, this may seem rediculous but it's only just occurred to me to check who you are. This is decidedly important information, and thankfully I believe that my companion just got the name wrong. So before we tell you, could I ask your name?

[LeSwordfish]

Inside the club.
"General Petyr Cass. I have an Identity card somewhere..." He starts patting his pockets frantically.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch
Dunwitch kept his eyes on the general. Until he could prove who he was he was preparing to take him down. He wouldn't stomach someone gaining a one up on them.

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar shares a pointed look with Novus, pantomiming it to the point that he practically invites the others to partake of it too.

'Bugs, you say - Novus, do you think that it could be related to - ah, that could well be an issue, given our clients and comrades. It looks like you have found another pair of poor buggers who will at least share in this fate for a while, if not to pass it off on.

With your permission, of course, and possibly with the aid of someone from your unit that you can spare, I would very much be interested in setting out on a bug-hunt, and seeing what can be gleaned from their placement, their

There are a few possibilities to explain bugs being inside the cage - one that strikes me could be the possibility that people in the club are wanting to listen to other people inside. Does that sound like the sort of inter-regimental politics that goes on here? Alternatively, if these bugs simply record information, rather than rebroadcast it actively, then they would need to be collected and discharged regularly, but they wouldn't have to break through the cage, as whoever planted them could simply walk them out. They would risk being caught resetting them, but it would certainly work.

At the very least, finding them would take a weight off my mind and your - a few fewer bugs to worry about - and at best, they might give hints or clues as to their controllers. Would such an arrangement be useful to you? Lingk is right about closure being a potentially slim comfort, but loose lips and overheard words are the kinds of things that lead to people being in foxholes anyway.'

I'm going to be away the next few days - assuming that Remora et al. take Orar up on his offer, then he's going to meander about using his auspex, tech-use (base TN - 64) and common lore (tech) (base TN - 64) to go bug-hunting, and try to learn as much as possible about the listening devices, their capabilities, whether they're broadcasting or not, and, if possible, where they're going too.

[Codemus]

Novus

Novus sagely nodded along with that Orar said. "True enough. Say, if you are at liberty to say Sergeant, why exactly are you moving on? The timing just seems a little odd."Very sorry about the delay. I'm still around. A lot of stufff going on around here, but I'll be able to keep up with the posting. :smallwink:

[LeSwordfish]

Inside the club
Cass offers his ID card with a smile. It's genuine, as far as you can tell.
Mekboy
Cass is being entirely truthful. This is not a man to whom dissembling comes naturally.

[Caimheul]

Drake and Katarina

"Leave him be Sister. I doubt he had the ability to do that with a knife in his gut." Drake says while looking around. Spotting the guards he shouts "Hey! Guards! We need a medic over here!"

[Joe07]

Dunwitch
Dunwitch nodded " Just remeber if you are not who you say you are. There will be consequences."

[LeSwordfish]

Inside the Club
Cass smiles, rather sheepishly. "Of course. I worked in the inquisition myself. I know how it's done."

Drake and Katerina
The guards continue advancing cautiously. None of them seem willing to approach either of the fallen men. One of them is holding a basic medical kit in front of him like a shield.

"Let me see him."

The speaker steps forward confidently through the guards, a clipped, perfect scholam accent, a tall slim man in a black stormcoat, red sash, and thin black gloves. He stoops over to take a look, and the coat opens to reveal a distinctly unorthadox collection of weapons- a brace of pistols, several long knives, and a tightly rolled garotte. He kneels down in front of the valet, and nods. "A messy wound, but no bacterials on the knife. He'll live, if the damn purple shirts get over here."

"Far more interesting is you." He addresses this to the dead cook, and draws one of the knives, holding it ready as he tilts the head sideways, checking out the eyes and ears. "As I was thinking. Ragged pupils, bruised inner ears. Corruption of overuse." He stands now, and adresses you for the first time. "I don't know who you are. If i were you, i'd leave before the privates arrive. I can deal with this myself." He bends down, picks up the body of the cook, and slings it over his shoulder.It knocks the hood he's wearing, and you catch a glimpse of fair hair in a long ponytail before he tugs the hood back.

Orar and Novus
Remora shrugs. "We're just the dog troops..." and then a screech rends the air, distant and high, but with enough power and horror to bring the hair on the backs of your necks up. It makes the lights in the room flicker, the sleeping man writhe in his sleep, and fills you with dread.

OOC: +0 Fear tests. Jaded won't work on this, by the way.

Lingk and Remora both visibly wince. Kaydey shudders, and lets out a small yelp. "Came from the back." Lingk barks, raising his gun. Remora nods, and slides a clip into her laspistol.

[Caimheul]

Drake and Katerina

"Names Drake, seems we have a mutual interest in our friend here. Mind if I tag along?" Drake asks the stranger, intending to leave Katerina behind to fill the others in.

[Morganatic]

Orar

[roll0] vs. 50, so, a small fail on my fear test. Do you want to roll fear results, LeSwordfish, or should I?

[Codemus]

Novus
[roll0] vs. 49

Fingers crossed. Hey it worked.

[LeSwordfish]

Abrantius and Novus
[roll0] Wait, never mind, this is a non-combat situation. You simply take a -10 to all your rolls needing concentration.

Feel free to respond.

[Mekboy]

Jarrion

"Sorry about that then sir. This stuff is important, and we can't take risks. Anyway, we're looking for a Guardsman called Salo. Mikal Salo. Part of the Valhallan 199th." Jarrion pauses. "Listen sir, I know that you can't allow us into the archives alone, but I don't suppose that it's possible if maybe one or two of us came with you? It's very important information, and we don't want it getting into the hands of the enemy."

[Codemus]

Novus

Flinching at the sound, he glanced around like a panicked rat. "Emperor preserve me, that scared the hell out of me. What in the name of all that is holy was that? Should we be worried?" Seeing everybody go for their guns made him worry a little.

[LeSwordfish]

Abrantius and Novus
"Did it sound like good news?" Lingk asked, and Left the room. Remora moved to follow him. "Kaydey, watch these men. If this is related to you," she says, turning to you. "I will personally gut you, understood?", and she's gone. You can here the whine of a powering-up laspistol from the door. Kaydey has drawn a snub-nosed carbine and is watching you intently. She looks extremely nervous.

Inside the club
Cass considers it. "It might be possible. No promises, but i'll see what i can do. Meet me at the records office at midday tomorrow. I was booked in for an entry then anyway, so it won't be at all suspicious. Is that good?"

Drake and Katerina
"I'm afraid not, Mr...Drake?" the man says. "My business is my own, and while i must thank you for providing me with this opportunity, i'm not intending to share it with some hired gun that was unlucky." By now the club security has arrived, and he addresses them. "Thank you, Pouler, for once again proving my usefulness over your own." He begins to walk toward the club, the corpse dripping blood down his front. "Guards, escort mister Drake and his companion to a bar. Buy them drinks to settle their nerves. And ensure they stay to finish them. I don't wish to be disturbed."

[Caimheul]

Drake and Katerina
Drake shrugs. "Whatever you say buddy. Can I at least know who I should pray that the Emperor to assists their research?" Drake asks, trying to find out the stranger's name

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar is extremely nervous. It doesn't manifest itself in outright, obvious fear, as it's been drilled into him since birth that he should operate on a sort of surrogate 'and they shall know no fear basis'. He's no Astartes, though, and so he does know fear and worry very well. It comes to him in an awful, powerless wave, and he begins to clench his fingers involuntarily, as if around the stock of his rifle.

'I suspect that that is something that is very much to do with us. Something that we were meant to be out there guarding against, watching for. Damn it! Novus, the other two are out there - what do we do?'

[Codemus]

Novus

He coughed lightly, then rubbed his scalp as he thought. "Uh, well.. I wouldn't worry too much. I'm sure its nothing at all." He looked Kayday in the eyes and raised his hands palms facing her. "Easy there sugar. Don't you worry about us. We aren't going to try anything so long as you don't go shooting at us."

Inwardly, he was mulling over their choices. They could make a break for it now, but that would muddy things up with the guard. Staying put for now seemed like the best option to him. Nice and easy, and maybe we could get in good with them. It wouldn't hurt things anyway.

He smiled and tried to think of something to diffuse the situation. "So, Kayday is it? How long have you served with the guard?"

[LeSwordfish]

Abrantius and Novus
"Two years." Kaydey says, looking anywhere but at you. "Lost my clan-name two years ago." She's younger than both Lingk and Remora, and clearly extremely nervous, with darker hair than the older troopers and . Her carbine remains held in a drilled military grip, a rock-steady grip ready to aim and fire any second.

Outside there is a rattle of autopistols, and another hideous scream.

Drake and Katerina
"Major-Commissar Quint. As for your prayers..." He gives a cold smile. The club guards behind him shift uneasily.

[Caimheul]

Drake and Katarina

Upon hearing the word "commissar" Drake immediately holsters his pistols, snaps to attention, and salutes. He remembers brief contact the Ratcatchers once had with the commissar from the Spear and his lack of a sense of humour. "Sir, pleasure to meet you sir. I didn't mean to hold you up, sir." he barks, reverting to the discipline drilled into him aboard ship.

[LeSwordfish]

Drake and Katerina
Quint smiles, rather cruelly. "A military background, sir? It does me good to see the title of commissar given such respect." He turns away, abruptly as if bored. "Remove these people."

[Mekboy]

Jarrion

Smiling genuinely, Jarrion nods. "That's great sir. Thank you for your help."

[Codemus]

Novus

If Novus heard the gunshots, he managed to hide his reaction. "I'll admit, I don't really know much about this worlds culture. Lost your clan name, for joining the guard I assume?" He inched a little closer to Kayday. "What about Remora?"

[Morganatic]

Orar

Orar does not like Novus' approach, not one bit. A nervous green guardsman, armed with a weapon that she certainly seems trained to fire, and Novus is pressing the matter, seemingly with the intent of taking her down or taking her weapon.

He takes a different tack, still worried about the possibilities heralded by that shooting, and interrupts.

'Novus - Drake uses twin autopistols, doesn't he? That was him in the firefight out there.'

[Joe07]

Dunwitch
The soldier turned slightly to Jarrion, "Are we ready to depart, or do you wish to linger."

[LeSwordfish]

Inside the club
Cass looks from one to the other of you. "If there's nothing else, i can show you a discrete exit."

Novus and Orar
Kaydey shuffles uneasily. "Dunno anything about Sarge. We all lose our clan names when we join the guard. Regimental spirit. Stops inter-clan rivalry."

[Mekboy]

Jarrion

Jarrion nods to Dunwitch "I don't think we have any particular reason to linger". Jarrion turns to Cass. "That would be very much appriciated. I think we're done here for now."

[Morganatic]

Orar

Right. Relax. No imminent danger. Unlikely to commence psyking right here, right now. Unable to affect conflict with Drake outside. But Orar could, at least, pursue some of the bug-related leads - something was troubling him about them.

'What about the Major-Commissar, though? He seems to be calling the shots around here, but Remora mentioned something about him not taking some of the reports on data security very seriously. Is he from one of your clans, Sister Kaydey, or is he an outsider?'

[Joe07]

Dunwitch
He nods." That would be appretiated."

[Codemus]

Novus

Crossing his arms, he ne nodded along with what Orar said.

[LeSwordfish]

Inside the club
Cass leads you over to a wooden door, set discretely into the wall, almost invisible until you know where to look. Opening it, he reveals a long, low service corridor. This is floored in concrete, and walled in cold tile, and lit only by the sickly green glow of emergency lighting arrows. it's completly empty. Cass smiles encouragingly. "This is part of the "behind the scenes" area. The valets use this to service the rooms discretely. And some of the other officers use it should they want... companions to enter discretely." He gives a wink that is entirely inappropriate for a man of his standing. "Follow the arrows to get to the rear stairs. They come out just behind the kitchens."

Novus and Orar
Kaydey seems a little more animated and garrulous when mentioning the major-commissar. "He's in charge of the security at the club. Got a brevet rank to major, but we all requested that they didn't replace him when they could. 'Cept the sarge, and she's just jealous she didn't get it. He's a really good major. He's an outsider. A mordian, or a cadian, or something." Her brow furrows a little. "It's odd that he's not bothered about the security. He's so careful about everything else." She smiles a bit more. "He probably knows something we don't though. I trust him. He's smart."

[Morganatic]

Orar

'Smart as in cunning, or smart as in wears a nice coat? Apologies for the disrespect; we never had anyone from the Commissariat with us, there was always the threat of being trampled to death by some eight-foot tall Angel of Death who just decided to go for a walk to keep us in line.'

Orar idly sweeps the auspex through the air a couple of times.

'My guess - if I may be so bold - is that he is well aware of the bugs, and is using them as a way of luring out whoever placed them. Very clever. I suppose the Schola would train him in informational warfare as well as physical. Still, that would mean that someone is trying to breach club security ...'

[Caimheul]

Drake and Katarina

"Right then, something was mentioned about a drink?" Drake turns to one of the guardsmen expectantly.

[LeSwordfish]

Orar and Novus
Kaydey opens her mouth to speak again, but Lingk re-enters before she can. "Right then. Major-commissar and sarge are headed into the basement. I've got to escort these two charming terrorists out, and you can wake up sleepy-poos here." He gestures at the sleeping guard. "Start packing the stuff up. It ain't long til we're out of here. Some merc got attacked by a mutant and moved our schedule up a little bit more."

Kaydey raised her eyebrows. "A mutant?"

"Either that, or a man with novelty dentures got his arm blown off. Wake him up, remember?"

Kaydey nods, and gives "Sleepy-poos" a vicious kick in the ribs.

Drake and Katerina
The club guard looks a little taken aback, but leads the two of you politely but firmly away from the crime scene, and out to the front of the club.

(OOC: And here we really do have to wait for the others. shouldn't be too long.)

[Morganatic]

Orar

'Charming terrorists, eh? Well, I believe I have been called worse - a graceless terrorist - so I suppose I shall let that slide.'

Frustrated at the interruption, just as he'd worked this all round to a good angle, Orar allows himself to be escorted out, although he surreptitiously keeps his auspex scanning, checking every so often to see if there are any interesting bug-like signals from inside the club. Only if his escort - who's presumably walking first - doesn't catch him, though.

[roll0] vs. 64 ± any modifiers.

[Joe07]

Dunwitch
He nodded and turned to Jarrion indicating they should get moving.

[Codemus]

Novus

Terrorists and mutants. Nice world. "Mutants are a bad sign. I reckon that was what all the gunfire was about. Probably some coin in mutant hunting." Novus was merely rambling as he followed the others out. He suspected they would have plenty to talk about with the rest of the group.

[Mekboy]

Jarrion

Chuckling slightly at the general's inproprietous sense of humour, Jarrion thanks him once more. "As I said sir, this is very much appriciated. Thank you." Making his way in the direction of the lights, he nods back to Dunwitch.

[LeSwordfish]

Inside the club
The corridor leads you to a flight of tight concrete stairs, and you've made it nearly halfway down the before a screech rends the air, distant and high, seemingly from outside, but with enough power and horror to bring the hair on the backs of your necks up. It makes the lights in the room flicker, and fills you with dread.

OOC: +0 Fear test. Jaded won't help you here. I'm also trying to hurry you guys up to keep you up with everyone else, so quick response would be great.

Novus and Abrantius
Bug SearchBugs are appearing on the auspex. Something's definitely there, but the auspex is struggling to pick up signals clear enough to pin down. It's likely that only your trusty auspex and excellent technical skills are getting even that. With more time, you might be able to track the signals down, searching meter by meter until finding the bugs is a matter of manual searching and sharp eyes, but Lingk is pusing you hard and you have no such chance.

Lingk leads you unceremoniously back to the door you entered from, finally leading you back up to street level and pushing you out into the road unceremoniously. "So nice to meet you." He drawls. "Don't drop by again."
And with that, he abandons you in the street. It's stopped raining, and clouds are clearing to reveal a sky thickly dusted with stars.

Drake and Katerina are thre too, being lead away in much the same way as you by a pair of purple-suited club guards. The guards speak to them just beriefly and then leave, heading into the club via the main entrance.

OOC: From now on, you two and Drake and Katerina are in the same group of spoilers.


Drake and Katerina
Out at the front of the club, Novus and Abrantius are being lead out at gunpoint by a tall, wiry guardsman. He says something to them you don't catch, before vanishing back inside.

"Right." The leader of the guards says. "That jumped up blackcoat can go stick it in a grox if he thinks i'm hanging around to see you stay away. Do me a favour, and bugger off, would you? The guard'll be doubled after that business, so there's no point trying to sneak back in." He doesn't wait for a response, instead strutting off to the club's main door.

OOC: From now on, you two and Abrantius and Novus are in the same group of spoilers.

[Caimheul]

Outside the Club

Drake responds jovially to the guardsmen "I won't tell him if you don't." After the guards leave, he addresses the other group while switching out the clips on his pistols. "Right, what did you lot do to annoy the locals? Weren't you guarding the front?"

[Codemus]

Outside the club

Novus nodded. "Yeah, we were. At least for about a minute anyway. We got picked up by that guardsman you saw just now, and damn quick too. And what about you two, weren't you guarding the rear? Let me guess, you were the guys to shoot the mutant?"

[Caimheul]

Outside the Club

"Found a card game to use for cover, one of the guys took advantage of a drunk, the drunk got pissed, stabbed the winner, and then somehow transformed into a creature with a severe lead allergy. One short burst before anyone else reacted, and I blew off its arm. Commissar then 'suggested' we leave and confiscated the body." Drake shrugs as he replies matter-of-factly. I'm guessing something's either wrong with your comms or they jammed 'um"

[Codemus]

Outside the Club

Novus pointed to Orar. "I'm not to sure about it, but this guy could tell you. It was some kind of cage built into the walls that blocked signals. The mutant problem is worrying, but it may not be relevant to our job." He looked around the area, then continued. "[color=sienna]Well, we should probably clear out, at least to a 'safe' distance. We can keep watch at a distance this time.color]"

[Joe07]

Dunwitch
OOC:[roll0]

[LeSwordfish]

Inside the Club
Dunwitch's hardened military sensibilities make him impervious to the terror of the scream, but Jarrion's less balanced mind takes it hard. Shocked, Jarrion is thrown off-balance. A second later, gunfire is heard. A second screech rings out, even louder, and the lights in the stairwell flicker violently, one by one.

Compared to that, the rest of your journey is almost completely eventless. A few guards scurry past, but everyone seems to ignore you. Whatever is going on is apparently important.

When the corridor ends, you come across an ajar door that leads onto the annex at the front of the building. The servitor who runs the cloakroom seems to not notice you walking out of a panel in the wall, gives you the exact same same mechanical smile as it did earlier. "Please provide Club passes for return of gear."

(OOC: Sorry to speed you along, but i want to get on with this. Do let me know if i'm moving you too fast, or doing something you'd never do.)

[Joe07]

Dunwitch
He was on edge, what ever had happened had killed someone. He turned and looked back down the cooridor. He'd need to investigate that. He went into his coat pocket and pulled out his club pass and handed it to the servitor.