RedSand's Heresy

[RedSand]

Rain batters the roof of your shuttle. A storm rages on amidst your flight, giving the drive a steady chorus of pitters and patters. The shuttle flies low as distant sounds of thunder menace the sky. The more superstitious among you might consider that a bad omen, but the driver tells you that on Minerva VI, it's always raining, and he certainly hopes you brought a coat.

The city seems built for it. The spires of the upper hives, normally tall and defiant, seem to have been built lower and wider, like iron ziggurats, and even the proudest are burnt in places. Every structure, large to small, looks to be a part of a planetwide drainage system; the streets themselves seem to be half walkway, half sluice. If you listen carefully, you can just barely hear the moan of rainwater rushing through pipes, a citywide expression of discomfort.

The sound just might fit the atmosphere of the shuttle, though. With five passengers, the shuttle was cramped, not enough that anyone lacked for leg room, but just enough that there was nowhere to look without someone occupying the corner of their eyes. Each of them held a ticket with a symbol on it that no one quite understood. None of them were from the same occupation, or looked to even be from the same planet. None of them knew each other's name,or where they were going. But that ticket had gotten them on this planet, and on this shuttle, and then onto who knows where. The driver kept his eyes on course, and tried not to think inquisitive thoughts. After all, everyone knew that only led to trouble...


Alright. Time to get posting. Feel free to introduce your characters in whatever way you see fit. Be sure to give a description of what they look like, in as much detail as you fancy. Roll any checks you feel appropriate, but keep anything you roll inside a spoiler tag. Do the same for any immediate concerns or questions regarding a scene you wouldn't want addressed in the OOC chat.
This scene will conclude at noon Monday, barring requests or sudden bursts of activity.

[Saulk]

The rain falling outside of the shuttle was faintly echoed by the tapping of a single padded finger upon the bench where Gaius Fabrex say. The sound made a pattern occasionally, but mostly seemed to be random to anyone who was listening. Tap...Tap Tap...Tap Tap...The steady cadence continued as the Tech Priest stared absently forward, neither noticing or caring if anything moved within his field of vision. Strands of stringy and oil-soaked nearly white hair fell down over his face, occasionally hanging in front of his eyes as the motion of the shuttle jarred the strands, but he paid no mind. The only sound that showed the Priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus was even alive was the slow, patient hiss of air coming in and out of his respirator. His heavy red robes were wrapped around his spindly form, bulky only around the back and in the middle, around the lower part of his spine and rib-cage. In his other hand, the hand not tapping the bench, he held a long black metallic staff, carved across its entire length with circuit like lines, glowing a faint blue even in the relatively grimy light of the shuttle. A las-carbine was clearly slung across his back. Heavy boots covered his feet, protruding from the floor-length robes the Priest wore. His pallor showed up immensely in the light of the shuttle, clearly marking him as one of the voidborn. He shifted almost effortlessly amidst the turbulence of the craft, a marking of his origin. Another part and parcel of his origin, the sense of malaise that others felt around his type, would surely set in, but it would take an act of the Emperor or the Omnissiah himself to make Gaius notice. Abruptly, the tapping that had been going on ever since the ship first entered the storm stopped, and the tapping hand returned to hold his staff.

"Calculations complete. There is a less than 1% chance this craft will be struck by a significant electrical discharge. Rain drop patterns conform to spread Epsilon-Alpha 14, suggesting pressure indicative of normal conditions along our current vector." The voice came grating and mechanical from the grille of his vox-respirator. It was the first words he had spoken since boarding the shuttle, and the only he spoke for some time. After completing his statement, he paused, turning towards each of his fellow passengers, his eyes now alive but moving disturbingly rapidly and seemingly at random, scanning each of them. His eyes lingered on any distinguishing characteristics, weaponry, or other technology, continuing from the head of the person he is currently observing, all the way down to the feet. When he was done with one, he would pause for a moment, close his eyes, and then move on to the next, doing the same for each of his fellow passengers.

[KasmKat]

Constantine sat quietly near the back of the shuttle, a Hulking brute of a man, His fine robes looking too small for him and a quiet smile upon his face, as if he knew something no-one else did. Idly stroking the eagle resting on his lap and he looked around, seeming to, for the first time, notice he wasn’t actually alone on the flight, His hand unconsciously closing on the Locked black case attached to his belt.

“So, how did all of you get roped into this then?” He asks quietly, His cultured voice giving the lie to his appearance, Inspecting each of his apparent companions carefully, keeping all but the smallest sneer from showing on His face. Not waiting for anyone to answer he continues speaking, “Well it certainly looks like a miserable place, Why couldn’t we have been sent to one of those pleasure planets, that’s what I want to know? I’m sure they have plenty there that would keep us distracted…” He adds with a conspiratorial wink to no-one in particular.

Seeming to lose interest in what anyone has to say, his hand once more strokes the eagle on his lap as it softly flaps it's wings, "No Laschiel, calmly now..." he mutters softly to it, his eyes half closing as he slips back into his previous half sleeping state, inspecting the others again from beneath his lowered eyes, Wondering, as he was sure they were, just what he had gotten himself into, and how to get back out of it, His hand idly drumming on the case at his belt.

[Saulk]

Gaius's eyes first fell upon the robed figure bearing the bird. His mental assessment stops, and he tilts his head slightly at the question, beginning to answer quietly, noticing that the figure has not stopped to hear the answer. "A ticket was received. Orders were given to depart and pursue this path. Attention to answer has waned. Returning to previous examination."

His eyes continued to flick across the hulking figure, noticing the mannerisms he was displaying, as well as the eagle. "Eagle. Deemed irrelevant for future conversation. Purpose unknown. "Pleasure planet" is also inconsistent with the designation of Minerva VI." He finally looked directly at the hulking man. "I am designated Gaius Fabrex. Who are you, and what is your purpose?"

[Dr.Gara]

Darius, a tall, heavily built bald man, in the flak armor of the Imperial Guard. He is light skinned, and has a long scar down the side of his face, the mark of some old battle, some wound. He checks his gear, again, counting out shells and looking at his lasrifle's power cell. He checks the edge of his large combat knife, before sliding it back into it's sheath high on his chest. He rubs at his temples, fighting a headache, and closes his eyes.

"I pulled a guy out of a firefight. Now I'm here." he looks at the Tech-Priest when he speaks, quickly suppressing any feeling of being unnerved. He's a holy man. The faithful have nothing to fear of them. He looks back at Constantine. "The rain's not too bad. Gives a bit of texture to the air. Besides, place like this, you know what's going on more. Less likely to catch a knife in the back when you're already looking behind you. He checks his gear again, unconsciously, before snapping out a book and opening it. He sighs, trying to relax himself. Nerves get you killed all too well.

[Saulk]

"Imperial Guardsman. Training and discipline satisfactory. Attention to the gun's spirit: admirable. Facial wound present. Rudimentary medical implantation does not permit diagnosis of potential impairment. Preliminary assessment: Minimal impairment." Gaius's eyes fell on the gun once more. His head tilted slightly. "I possess an inclination to hypothesize. Indulging in primitive mental instinct." His tone changed to something that was slightly (but only very slightly) more human-like. "I think we're going to end up working together. We all have the same ticket after all. There has to be some purpose." The moment could almost be felt to pass, before he began to speak the way he had been previously. He extended a hand, pointing almost uncomfortably straight at the lasrifle. "If the spirit of the machine becomes ill-tempered in possible ensuing combat, I will ease its soul." He let his hand fall.

[KasmKat]

Looking back at Gaius, Constantine smiles slightly, that same Knowing Smile from before, “I am Constantine Litlelus, just a humble Scholar. and yes, I too Believe we are going to be working together, I do hope whatever I can do to help is enough."

Looking over towards the guardsman with a friendlier smile, inspecting him closer, “Do you believe we are in fact going to need to look out for people stabbing us in the back, surely you don’t already suspect one of us?” waving towards the other passengers, his smile changing to a shocked look, with just the hint of a smirk in his eyes and the twitch of his lip giving lie to his true feelings.

[Dr.Gara]

Darius first looks at the priest, putting away the small book. "Thank you, Priest. The maintenance of the machine spirit is important to function, and none perform better then your kind. I pray that it isn't needed." He exhales quietly, calming himself. The faithful have nothing to fear of him. Darius is faithful. He has no reason to fear the Tech Priest.

He turns to Constantine, studying him, staring at him. He breaks his staring, and clears his throat. "Oh no, of course not. I don't think I have to worry about anyone in this cabin. I'm Darius. And if we aren't working together, then I have absolutely no idea what line of coincidence lead us here. It's either a conspiracy, or another conspiracy. Either way, we're here." He doesn't check his weapons again, it having been pointed out by the priest.

[Cogsrow]

-Meanwhile as they talk, lasciel simply sat in the back of the shuttle ignoring them, she was slowly twisting her ring of suffrage as she recited the 1001 solemn prayers of the emperor. She was a woman of average height and build, though figure and such was hard to tell through the carapace armor on her body. She had a mesh cowl pulled over her head, hiding anything but a few whispy strands of short snow white hair. on her hip was a bolt pistol and a flail.-

[OOPWER]

A yawn betrayed Caleb's boredom as he waited for the shuttle to arrive at their destination. A pistol was holstered at his side, and an autogun was held in his lap. His mind briefly flickered back to home, the Questing Wolf, his family's ship. There he'd been a duelist, and he still missed his old sword: a work of art beautifully forged as an elegant rapier. But alas, he had passed it on to his successor, some distant cousin or other, when he had left the ship to "pay old debts." Whatever that meant.

Responding to the giant's question, he said, "Not really sure why I'm here. Thought I'd gotten a free vacation."

[Saulk]

Letting his gaze fall on the Battle Sister, it sounds almost as if the volume of a set of speakers has been turned down, the words seeming to be directed only towards himself. "Sister of Battle, engaged in prayer to the Emperor. Appears to be engaged in the social convention of ignoring discourse participants. Armament: Bolt Pistol. Takes priority in combat efficiency maintenance. Ave Deus Mechanicus."

Finally, he turned to the last of the current speakers. "Combat effectiveness, undetermined. Maintain vigilance on current subject. Referencing of primitive mental stores does not yield past experience of 'vacation'." He looked one last time at the Sister of Battle and there almost appeared to be a deep breath in. What followed was a sound not unlike a chittering machine, as he began to speak the binary litany and prayers to the Omnissiah as the ship continued its descent into the rains.

[RedSand]

The shuttle lands suddenly and without ceremony. The bay doors open, and the driver points you to a large granite building that even the most sheltered among you recognize as a church. Most of the clergy seem well at work, divulging in their early evening prayers, but a lone cleric loitering around the door perks up at the sight of you and hurries you to a small door near the back, that leads to an unassuming flight of stairs.

Descending two flights stairs, you reach a small grey room, completely bereft of adornment save some chairs, an unimpressive table with a large pot of recaf and a half-eaten tray of biscuits, and a small, impatient looking man in a fine coat. At a glance, the man looks to be a nobleman, with well-cut hair and a fine red coat. Upon further inspection, though, you can't help but notice a certain...greasiness to him, especially in his hair. A light jaundice colors his skin, and as he notices you and furrows his brow, you detect an uncanny scrunchiness to his skin.

In any case, the little man doesn't simply perform his aforementioned brow-furrowing and move onto business. Instead, he glances back at his stack of papers, rifles through them quickly, glancing over multiple forms while making histrionic mmmms and hmmphs, before reorganizing them and throwing them back down on the table. He whips his head to the side, his long hair whiplashing back, before pulling out a golden pocketwatch, eyeing it intently, and shaking his head with a little tut-tut-tut. He then finally turns back to you, and in a voice that could be described as nothing but most disappointed, he say's "You are all late".

None of you are quite certain whether he means to be serious.

Ironically, this is a few hours late, and perhaps more ironically, you can kinda blame a religious holiday. ANYWAY:
Everyone can feel free to roll awareness(+20) or scrutiny(-10) against our new friend. Scrutiny checks can be made in general(to simply try and size a person up) or against specific lines of dialog, quoted in the spoiler tag. Awareness checks, at least against people, will give you details about their physical makeup, or perhaps their gear. You may make the checks before choosing to write your interactions with him, or after.
Everyone may add 50 xp to your sheets for properly introducing yourselves.

[RedSand]

Gaius carefully examines the little man. From what he can tell, the man suffered from some form of mutation, but to what effect was beyond his knowledge. What was within his knowledge was the man's clothes: they imitated a noble's outfit well enough to fool party guests, but any warrior or craftsman with a keen eye would recognize the thread as tougher and a little heavier, not quite flak, but something akin. In addition, he noted an obvious heft in the man's sleeve, most likely a knife or small arms to be drawn in haste.

[Saulk]

"Interruption required. Hierarchy within local group is not established. I request immediate clarification of roles, priority of leader." There is a slight whirring as Gaius focuses on the little man. "Advise taking no further action until hierarchy is clarified. Situational Analysis is pending leader request." At this, Gaius stops moving altogether, no longer even taking steps closer to the little man, essentially stopping and freezing in mid-step.

[RedSand]

The man chuckles at Gaius. "Not bad, cog boy. Good to see your superiors haven't forgotten how to make mechanical eyes, along with everything else they've lost."

With a gleeful flourish, the man flicked his wrist and spun a stub automatic out of his sleeve, wheeling it through his fingers and balancing it on his pinky before dramatically slamming it on the table. "That said, none of you are in any position to be demanding my place among the rank and file. If you want to know why I'm here...well now, do any of you even know why you're here?

[Cogsrow]

rolling awareness then posting based on it,
[roll0]

"Lasciel had her bolt pistol drawn and pointed at the man in a moment" I do not suffer mutants in in my presence let alone armed ones. If this is a trap for the faithful know I will not hesitate and burn all corruption I see.

[Saulk]

"Action has been taken. Interpreting first motion as sign of command. Battle Sister, situation report forthcoming. Mutation is present in this subject. Exact nature indeterminate. Fiber and make of clothing do not match true Imperial Noble Format. Stitching is performed with a variance of at least 5 microns in width from Imperial design. Analysis: Attempting to masquerade as nobility. Thickness suggests armour. Concealed weapon noted, but point determined moot now."

[RedSand]

" Analysis: Attempting to masquerade as nobility. "

The man's face scrunches for a second at that, but he regains his composure quickly, and, as dramatically as ever, he throws his hands up and leans back in his chair, in attempt to nonverbally calm things a bit.

"Now, now, everyone can settle down. I'm not threatening anyone, and while I may not be wearing your average sash and vest, if I were going to kill you, I'd be wearing something a lot better and packing far more than a stub".

From what Lasciel can tell, he isn't carrying any more than a stub, though even his attempts at parleying carry a sardonic bite that makes them hard to believe.

"In any case, I'm going to take that as a no, none of you know what you're doing here, not even the Sororitas; surprisingly shrewd, now that I think of it. Here's the rub, then; from the second the lot of you picked up that ticket, you stopped being a Guardsman or an Adept or whatever. From now on, you're an Acolyte of the Ordo Hereticus-a servant of a proper Inquisitor".

You can tell he's enjoying himself.

Not me, if that's what you're thinking. I'm what you'd call a...business associate of your new boss. Person of interest. Couldn't make this little meeting, and by serendipity I happened to be within range, so I'm here as a personal favor. You're welcome, by the way".

[KasmKat]

Stepping in front of Sister Lasciel and placing his hand upon her bolt pistol, slowly pressing it down, his other hand reflexively clamping down on the case at his side, Constantine looks into her eyes and calmly says, “Settle sister, I’m sure he means us no harm, all creatures have a purpose before the god emperor.”

Turning to face the finely dressed man, the smile slipping slightly and his eagle taking flight from its perch on his shoulder, “Now then, I don’t believe I caught your name Mr..? Well never mind I’m sure you’ll inform us later. As to why we are here I’m not sure whether or not we should be trusting you with that information. As my companion just stated you are obviously attempting to disguise yourself as a member of the nobility, on top of that you are a mutant. While I am not as trigger happy as my friend here, I am also not entirely trusting either. Perhaps it would be best for you to inform us of who you are and what you are doing here before I take a step to the side, Wouldn’t you think?”

Turning back to face sister Lasciel and removing his hand from her gun, once again in a calm voice he states, “Now then sister, how about we let the man speak before killing him then, I’ve always found getting answers from dead men much harder than live ones.”

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel doesn't let him lower the bolt pistol, she glares at him- "And dead men commit no sins. Touch my weapon again and the only remourse I will feel would be wasting ammo on one as lowly as yourself -she holsters her weapon- Now you speak of an inquisitor mutant, from such a twisted tongue I expect only lies, why should we believe you?

[KasmKat]

Smiling back at her, Constantine shrugs, “You would do well sister, Not to threaten me, I have faced down worse than you before, and I am still Here.”

Stepping aside from the sister he turns to face the finely dressed man again, his eagle once more landing on his shoulder, “Please ignore our discussion there, Subordinates can be troublesome at times, as I’m sure you know. Now not that I would accuse you of lying, never even think of it, But you wouldn’t have some kind of proof of your identity and statement would you?”

[RedSand]

The man glared back at Lasciel with a practically zen amount of amusement. "If I was lying, dear sister, how would I know about the tickets you received prior to getting here? How would I know about this little room here? Why did the clerics allow me in here, and why did the other clergymen let you in? You do know what a cleric looks like, dear girl? They did teach you some things, correct?"

"Or-he gestures to inside of your coat-Why does the symbol on that ticket I shouldn't know about look so very much like that inquisitorial seal the people all blanche at?"

He turns to Constantine. "As for my name, it's still none of your business, but if you must know..."

He holds up a hand to signify not to fire at him, and pulls a small card from his breast pocket, sliding across the table towards Constantine. The majority of it is High Gothic, unreadable to a Hiver, but Constantine can still make out the name printed in large, gaudy gold: Uhrai Sinderfell.

"Now, if you want proof, have a look at these". He slides the stack of papers forward, within the entirety of the group's reach.

[Cogsrow]

-She looks at him with cold eyes- The most Dangerous enemy is that which appears as a friend, the roots of heresy lie everywhere. Clergymen have fallen to darker things before. Their presence is not a sign of innocence. nor is a seal that can be reproduced. - LAsciel reaches to take the papers, reading them-

[KasmKat]

Constantine steps forward, pulling a chair up to the table and sitting down, Pocketing the card at the same time, Beginning to leaf through the papers in front of him. “Well Mr Sinderfell you do indeed appear to know what you are talking about, Allow me to introduce myself, Master Constantine Litlelus, and this is my eagle, we are at your service until such time as informed otherwise.” Extending his hand and obviously expecting the man to shake it.

[Saulk]

((Please excuse my lack of colour - using an iphone))

"Threat level has been greatly reduced. Proceeding to normal directives."

Gaius continued his motion forward, as if he never stopped, looking over the other two's shoulders at the papers. A sound that might have been disgust emanated from his grille. "Paper..."

He reached forward, pulling one to himself to read.

[RedSand]

Uhrai takes Constantine's hand without any lip, and gives a small bow to the hawk. He stays silent, letting Lasciel read.

The top papers had DARIUS written across it large black print, followed by what appeared to be a fair amount of information regarding his skills, abilities, and major achievements. The first bits were written in high gothic, but skimming through, she found the same information neatly stapled to the back in Low Gothic.

Looking down, she could see four other dossiers, including one with her own name and similar information on her. At the very bottom was a space marked "Acolyte signature", next to a larger black box, which had "place seal here" scribbled neatly onto the side after printing.

Following her lead, Gaius pulled a packet marked with his own name on the cover, and found the same.

[KasmKat]

Finding the Folder labelled with his name Constantine pulls it out of the pile, interested to see what it says of him, and equally determined not to let anyone else see it. “I assume you’ve looked through these Mr Sinderfell?” After finishing reading his file he carefully opens the case at his side, slipping the file in and closing it before anyone can see what else it contains. "Hmm... ...Well anyway, I presume you have our next instructions?"

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel was reading hers- So busy tohide your secret heresies? -she asks Constantine with no particular inflection. as she rasies an eyebrow at what she read, huh they knew even that too-

[KasmKat]

“I feel no need to hide anything from those worthy of the knowledge or my superiors Sister Lasciel, However you might note that you are neither of those things.” States Constantine, Leaning back in his chair and staring directly at the sister.

[Cogsrow]

As A member of the Ecclesiarchy I am more than welcome to any information I require to root out heresy, personal or not -she says mater a factly as she sets the papers back down on the desk-

[RedSand]

Uhrai ignores your bickering, too glad to be back on track, or at least, something resembling a track.

"Quite. Your inquisitor needs to sign those forms for you. She also needs you all, as I'm led to believe she's recently suffered a significant deficit in the amount of acolytes currently serving under her. Probably why she had to come personally to this waterlogged scrap heap. And believe me, it's urgent. From what I understand, until those dossiers get signed, your respective organizations ackowledge you exist, and on the off-chance she leaves the planet without you, well...my condolences to your career prospects."

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel signs the paper- If this is a trick, there awill not be words for the amount of pain your fate will bring mutant

[KasmKat]

Smiling softly towards the sister, “You are too uptight sister, you need to relax. Does this man really seem such a threat to you that you are constantly compensating by threatening him in return.”

Turning once more towards Mr Sinderfell, “So are you our guide to this inquisitor or simply our greeting committee then?” Constantine asks with an almost hidden smirk.

[RedSand]

"Greetings and briefing only. They told me to tell you to talk to the red-headed nun on the third floor-said she'd probably be blessing water or something. Women was too paranoid to give me any details regarding her work. Either way, it's not much skin off my nose. Just means I can get offworld and warm quicker. Also-

He rummages around his pocket for a bit, and pulls out a metallic sphere the size of a grape, with a bright red button jutting out. "This is a microbead. You'll be needing one of these-it's how you'll stay in contact with your superiors once you've actually gotten yourself a job. Let's you communicate with people across vast distances. Your inquisitor also has one, though she never picks up during work, or maybe she's just being a bitch again." He twitchs momentarily, once again. "You didn't hear that."

"Anyway, you got anything else you need to ask? Because I'm itching to leave."

[OOPWER]

Caleb sighed inside, almost regretting taking the ticket that dragged him here.

With a broad, friendly grin he responded to Sinderfell, "Well, glad to see that we've got something to do. Do you happen to have this woman's name? Or the name of the Inquisitor who pulled us out here?"

[Saulk]

Gaius extends a hand, not holding his staff towards Sinderfell. "You will place the transmission device in my keeping. Devices matching this classification belong in the custodianship of the Adeptus Mechanicus."

The microbead seemed to interest him more than whatever was written on the paper. His past was already fully recorded in the vast network of Mechanicus records stored on Mars. He tucked the packet into an inside pocket of his robes, and turned to look towards the stairs. "Subsequent path: determined."

[Dr.Gara]

Darius takes and signs his paperwork, standing and securing his gear across his body. "That's really not what we want to hear, about the acolytes." he sighs. "Now, if we're done with the threats and posturing, lets get the hell out of here. I'm already tired of this shuttle. Darius keeps his hands low, near his holstered laspistol, eyes on the gun happy Sister. "And lets not threaten people? I don't see the cause in it, and I doubt our Inquisitor would be particularly happy about us headshotting her associate with a bolt pistol. And as scary as you are, she's already scarier." Darius stands at what amounts to a parade rest, staring at the sister, before, snapping to the mutant.

[RedSand]

Uhrai returns Caleb's smile with a little chuckle. "Y'know, it's funny, but as I've learned over the years, giving out physical descriptions of Inquisitors-in any space, public or private-isn't the best policy. But I will tell you this-you'll know her when you see her, and it'll be because of her hair. Trust me on this one.

And with that, I think I'll take my leave. It's been fun, boys and girls, but I do have other work to attend to."

He gets up from his seat, gives a small bow to everyone, and begins moving towards the door, eyeing Lasciel bemusedly.

Does everyone let him leave?

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel watches the mutant closely- guard yourself mutant, the eyes of the emperor watch some more than others -Lasciel then leaves to find this nun that will lead htem to the inquisitor-

[RedSand]

Uhrai sniggers at the Sister and does a little skip out the door before he hurries up the stairs, readying an umbrella as he runs out the door and disappears into the rain-soaked crowds of the Middle Hive. You have a horrible feeling you haven't seen the last of him.

That went fairly well. You've now got a microbead, a mission, and paperwork to file. Find your inquisitor!
Everyone may add 25 xp to their totals for a successful chat/interrogation.

[Dr.Gara]

Information and contact method passed out, target in mind, Darius steps out to lead the way on exploring towards the red headed nun they need to make contact with. He keeps an eye on corners, none too happy about the environment, and trudges through. He keeps his weapons slung, and hand by the laspistol, and resting on the hilt of the sword on his hip.

[OOPWER]

Caleb follows Darius, though not visually so guarded, but nearly carefree. Rain doesn't happen on a starship, and the Green was enjoying the sensation of the sky and falling water. Despite his smile, his eyes flickered from place to place, part of him keeping himself ready for trouble.

[KasmKat]

Flicking his hood up, Constantine follows the others, seemingly at ease, his eagle once more settled upon his shoulder. “Well we might as well get this party on the move then guys, Come along sister, I’m sure you’ll get a chance to shoot someone any minute now.” He states cheerfully, grinning around him, eyes carefully taking in every detail of his companions, the way they walk, talk, stand... All of it being stored away for future use.

[Saulk]

"The likelihood of combat within this stairwell is negligible. It is probable that the Battle Sister will discharge her weapon at 'some minute'. Exact minute is unable to be determined given current data." Gaius took a position near the rear of the group as they made their way up the stairs. As the only member of the Mechanicus present, he considered his survivability to be paramount and the rear guard position gave him that survivability. He had very carefully put the microbead within the folds of his robe, a glimmer of something that he used to call excitement flickering through him as he thought about the possibility of analyzing that piece of technology. Later, of course. Now he had to go and meet with this inquisitor who knew a great deal about him.

[RedSand]

The Initiate at the door is more than happy to point you to the stairs, but asks to you to be careful-the third floor has only recently been converted into the local Ecclesiarchal winery, and quite a bit of the equipment is old and in poor condition-they've "already had more accidents than they can spare, things as they are".

You arrive to find the place fairly busy-over a dozen lowly novices and intiates ignore you as they scuttle about, polishing rice and patching up barrels and doing seemingly anything to embody Imperial principles of hard work and self-sacrifice. The only exception in sight is a scrawny red-headed girl, kneeling in the corner and quietly reciting a short prayer over and over, forehead barely brushing against a worn prayer mat.

Most of the cell think nothing of the haste on display, with the exception of Constantine and Darius, who, in a moment of clarity, sense a hint of nervousness-fear, even-not normally seen in workers looking to avoid a priestly lashing. Darius himself is the only one among you to note that, as each of them slowly begins to acknowledge your existence, their vision pauses as they look over Sister Lasciel, and everyone in the room seems pretty damn eager to avoid her own gaze.

Lasciel, you may roll an intelligence check to recognize the prayer the girl is reciting. Anyone else can roll Common Lore(Imperium) at a -20 for the same. Do note that any other applicable rolls you can think of can try, though ask for a modifier in OOC if you think it should be fairly easy/difficult.

[Saulk]

Before I react in character, I'd like to roll Logic and Tech Use to determine whether there is anything fundamentally unsafe about what they are constructing (in other words, something that is likely to collapse on or injure us right now) and then attempt (if the second role passes) to either direct the bustling folk to fix it, or fix it myself.

Logic Roll - [roll0] (Needs 36) Failed
Tech-Use Roll - [roll1] (Needs 36) Failed

Lousy Rolls...


Gaius could not help thinking about the fascinating weight of the microbead, wishing fervently to be able to utilize it. Such was his interest and focus in this, that he scarcely saw the acolytes busying themselves with their task. The woman with red hair, while he knew she was praying, the words held little meaning to him and were certainly not recognized. He shifted himself into a position near the rest of the cadre, his eyes scanning the room slowly, faint whirring and clicking as he focused on each element.

[Cogsrow]

rolling to see if she recognizes, then editing in post
[roll0]
nope

-Lasciel smiles and politely walks up to the red haired woman and waits for her prayer to be done, anyone that dare even look like they are going to interrupt her will get a glare that could melt stone. once the woman is finished lasciel speaks softly; A prayer I've never heard, but the faith rings true in every word -she smiles kindly- Greetings, I am sister Lasciel, of the order of the Ebon chalice. I am here on ecclesiarchal business for it seems one of his might's highest agents requires not only my assistance, but the ones behind me. We have been lead to believe you either know of her locations or the orders we are to fufill in his name

[Dr.Gara]

Darius, noting that people are scared, imagine that, of the scary battle sister, he stays behind her, eyes on her for a few seconds, before scanning the room and snapping back to her. He's mostly waiting for her to turn the aggro on, which he suspects she will. He just keeps eyes open, head on a swivel, and ready to act as soon as things even look like they might have a slight sideways tilt.

[RedSand]

Lasciel's sudden appearance and (far more suprising to the put-upon initiate) sudden friendliness startle her to attention, and she stares at her for a minute, wide-eyed and nakedly in fear, before rushing to her feet.

"Oh, uh-yes, yes, I met a, a person earlier today, she was-I mean, she told she wasn't going to send any-I, uh...She chuckles nervously, and with some effort and a very noticeable glance behind Lasciel, composes herself. "Yes, I spoke to her...three hours ago. I sent her to a bar in the Lower Hives and then she just leapt out the door to...there. So, uh, here-she scribbles a set of instructions furiously onto a sheet of spare parchment. And...that's all I know about where to find her, so guess I'll just go back to praying now. She stares awkwardly at Lasciel, not yet daring to kneel back on her mat yet clearly wishing to.

[Cogsrow]

-Lasicel smiles and pats her shoulder- Thank you, you may return to your prayers, maybe after I have finished my duties you could teach me that prayer. It admittedly is one I do not know. A rarity in my life -She takes the written instructions and turns towards the others- Now I believe we have a bar to go find -she looks at the map and heads off in the directions given.-

[Saulk]

"Subject stated: 'she told me she wasn't going to send any-'. Imperative: Continue thought. Error was apparent in human cognition. Correct Error." With no show of emotion, Gaius walked over towards the girl now staring at Lasciel, in case she was confused enough not to notice his question was directed at her. "Commencing interaction protocols: Child. You can help us. We are...nice." He paused for a moment, before letting the glow of his photoreceptors and various lenses soften and glow a much more pale and 'gentle' colour.

[RedSand]

"Oh, uh...She just said she was investigating on her own, her and her big robed friend. That there wouldn't be anyone else to trouble us."

[Dr.Gara]

"Big robed friend? What'd he look like? And I doubt she told you what she was looking into?"
Darius tries to read over Lasciel's shoulder, probably not the hardest thing in the world, with his height. "Sorry, wanted to get a look at this real quick. He reads words!

[Cogsrow]

-She smiles and hands the piece of paper to darius- It is okay, but remember you manners and ask next time -right Lasciel was either insane, or had a temper like a ill-made grenade-

[RedSand]

"He was this really tall, wide...thing. He was completely covered in bright red robes like your friend over there(points to Gaius), and he walked with this big slow gait and I think he even had mechanical eyes like your friend." She stops for a second, mulling it over.

"Oh. And the woman was wearing some kind of weird padded armor and a big metal helmet. She was looking into the church burnings, I thought maybe that tavern might have some people who knew something. There's always shady character roaming around there."

[Dr.Gara]

Darius is almost more comfortable when she's threatening people. He can deal with that, he understands all that. Her being nice unnerves him more then anything. "Right, sorry, thank you." He takes it, and reads the thing! He ponders whether Lasciel is more or less sane based on this. He figures more, because consistency is key.

[RedSand]

Darius reads the note. From what he can tell, they are definitely directions to a tavern, written in a bright girly purple. They're very detailed, and it definitely looks like she's written them before.

[Dr.Gara]

Darius the Pointman is going to lead the way to where the bar is supposed to be, in the same paranoid-check-the-corners fashion he had on the way in. He might be a little overparanoid about anything lurking, but mistakes breed deaths, and deaths are not what you want on your first day, before you even meet the new boss.

[Saulk]

"Another Mechanicus presence on this planet is desirable. Communication with Mechanicus will be efficient." Gaius follows the rest of the party from the church.

[OOPWER]

Caleb gives the poor Initiate his best smile, and says, "Thanks for helping us out little lady. Think you can keep a room warm for us just in case?"


Charm [roll0] vs. 40 (Fellowship)
Trying to set up a safe place to retreat to if necessary, among other things.

[RedSand]

The girl seemed more than ingratiated to you before your attempts to honey your words, and now she seems more eager to please than ever. "Yes, of course. You have a Sister of Battle with you, and you're with that investigator, and...well...I'll go get started right now!" She grabs several other workers, who hadn't really paid attention to their duties since your arrival, and rushed downstairs to make cots in the lower levels.
"You'll want to hurry to meet your friend! Oh, and you should grab some rations from the mess before you leave! And good luck!"

[KasmKat]

Following along with the others silently, Constantine never the less observes as much as he can, noticing the Nervousness and possibly fear coming from the people. Sparing the party his wit, he simply follows along, nodding when people appear to direct comments at him, stroking his eagle. At the mention of a pub however he perks up, looking around and looking closely at the directions over Darius’s shoulder.

[RedSand]

Hive Worlds,almost as a rule, are never very well-designed; they were made quickly and cheaply, and eventually, large part of them stop working. On Minerva VI, the rain made sure eventually came early. While the Upper and Middle Hive had been largely reconstructed, with street canals and an army of cleverly-placed piping systems, the designers of the Lower Hives appear to have settled for a much simpler design: over half the streets are composed of gutters, of varying size with no real sense of pattern or sanity, and as you pass over some of the larger ones, you're almost certain they're responsible for more than a few fatalities. Rain no longer batters your heads, but there's shallow water in almost every walkway, and your feet don't particularly grateful.

The bar is located between two alleyways, just hidden away from the line of sight of anyone on the street. A man, easily recognized as a doctor via a very ostentatious coat and case of equipment, strolls out just as you make your way to the door. You can hear a few loud voices chattering inside, but the thick hiver dialect and gurgle of the pipes makes eavesdropping difficult.

Does anyone enter the bar?

[Dr.Gara]

Darius will push into the bar, scanning across the room. He's here for business, and he's not letting a Hiver distract him from that right now. He knows who he's looking for, he knows that she should be here.

IF: Darius ends up seeing the Inquisitor, THEN: He will start over to her.

IF: Darius does not end up seeing the Inquisitor, THEN: He will head for the bar for more interrogation.

I'm not sure how appropriate if, then statements are, so if this is improper, I apologize. And, in the case it's ever out of line, use the highest option on the list. I'll try to only use it for the situations where there's not very many variables at play.

[Saulk]

Gaius watches Darius enter, pausing to look carefully around the outside of the building, making a very careful examination of the entrances and exits for the bar. Each of these he makes a mental note of which ones will be the best in case of the need for a hasty exit. He will enter after everyone else does, keeping track of locations providing cover.

[Saulk]

[roll0] - Logic Check to analyze egress points - Failed (My luck is continuing hehe)

[OOPWER]

Watching the dead serious gentlemen enter, Caleb turned to Lasciel and smiled at her with the same grin he'd brought out for the initiate earlier and opened to door for her, arms indicating a welcome: "Shall we, good lady?"

[RedSand]

Darius goes in first. From the door, he can only three people in the bar, and none of them look like inquisitors. The first is hard at work scrubbing the counter, trying to get off quite a bit of blood; the second, broom at the ready, is trying very hard to pick up after a broken table and set of chairs. The third is the source of most of the noise, yelling into what looks to be a microbead with his a stitched, bloodied leg hoisted over the countertop. He turns to Darius, and looks him over for a brief second, in his guardsman armor.

"Oh, fockin' 'ell, ooh are you?"

[Dr.Gara]

Darius looks at the man, and clears his throat. "I'm Darius, and I've been sent to find a woman who frequents here. Strange hair, and was with a member of the Mechanius. She was here, at the very least once, recently. He looks at the other two people in the room, but keeps his focus on the guy he's speaking with.

[RedSand]

All three of the men are now looking at you, and they all look just the slightest bit nervous. The man with the injured leg regains composure quickly, and hangs up his microbead.

"Why are you lookin' for 'er?"

[Dr.Gara]

"Business." Darius is not at all interested in telling him what kind of business, that's probably not conductive to his desires at the moment. He'll just tell him as little as possible, and if need me, throw threats. That'll get the job done!

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel was looking around and she wrings the water out of her hair- if only so I don't feel like a drowned grox -she steps in looking the scene over and spots the man with the stitched leg hearing the conversation she clears her throat- it is not your position to ask questions of the ecclesiarch citizen.

[RedSand]

"Oh. Oh, I see."His brow furrows as he eyes Lasciel's carapace breastplate. "Okay. Everything's fine. I can tell you. She uh, she said she'd be going to the Upper Hive to look uh, look for information. From the arbites, I mean, they're always on top of things around here. Probably getting to the bottom of those church burnings right quick. Just...go wherever the arbites are in the Upper Hive, she'll be there, her and her...pet thing."

For some reason, you have trouble believing him.

[Dr.Gara]

"I really recommend you go for a... 'creative retelling' of that story. You don't want to be accidentally found guilty lying to her, would you? I certainly wouldn't want to be. Of course, we could go to the Arbites , and tell them all about how you waylayed us on our business, if you aren't already worried about the Sister infront of you. Darius puts his hand on his pistol, and stares the man down.

[RedSand]

"Fine. Listen, she came in after some bugger and started a fight. She looted a couple of their corpses, than left. The bodies are in the basement, you can go search them yourself. Alright?"

He points to a basement door behind the counter.

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel clears her throat and smile ever so politely- Tell me sir. Why would you lie to a sister? I mean all we wish to do is protect and root out heresy. Which means if you're lying, you're a heretic.and let me tell you I've seen many times what a flamer will do to a heretic. see first thing that happens is the skin is seared as the promethium clings to the skin. Then it burns down liquefying the fat as it burns away the skin and hair. the heat is so intense your blood boils and your tendons snap as they grow brittle. The best part is, is after the first minute the heat is so intense the water in your eyes boils, but you won't be caring about that as the flames burn away your nerves, replacing all sensations with the cold embrace of nerve death. Finally you slowly feel the heat in your skull, at this point your bones are so hot even if the fire is put out, you're still gonna die....you'll just die slower as the heat boils the fluids in your brain and renders it down into a goop. so I'm going to ask again. Where is the woman we are looking for.


Not changing this ;3 took to long to type and Lasciel wants to scare the lier for anymore information

[RedSand]

The man shuffles through a variety of faces throughout Lasciels' tirade, from fear to offense to anger to a resigned, bitter look he held to the end. "Well, pity we don't have more flamers here then. Love to see what it does to the rain. Or the bloody drainpipes. Or the mutants that keep popping up here. Or the stupid, ignorant, good-for-noth-"

Bartum!" One of the workers tries to stop him.

"It's all well and good, boys. Just keep your hearing good, is all."

He looks to the open tavern door, from which three masked men in hoods emerge, weapons at the ready. Two have lasguns at the ready, and a larger third readies a hammer. The workers themselves pull out knives, and bar owner removes a pistol from his coat.

"They're with the inquisitor bitch! Kill 'em!"
Congratulations! You're in combat for the first time. Everyone roll for initiative.

[Dr.Gara]

Well, then, it's time to purge the heretics and uncover their secrets.
[roll0]

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel dives behind a table for cover and draws her pistol fireing at one of the men with the las rifle-

initiative [roll0]

ballistic skill test [roll1] BS 44 so hit ;3

[Saulk]

[roll0] - Initiative Roll

[KasmKat]

Initiative - [roll0]
Yay not last...

[Saulk]

As Gaius moves, he speaks over his motions, even in battle. He quickly draws his laspistol, a fluid motion bringing it up to aim at one of the men with the lasguns. "Threat analysis: In progress. Targets bearing lasguns identified as highest priority." He seemed almost to brace himself against his staff in one hand as he squeezed the trigger, leveling a blast directly at the masked figure with the lasgun. "Querying primitive mental functions: Extreme sanction: unnecessary at current time. Continue to utilize projectile weaponry."

Actions
Half Action #1 - Draw Pistol
Half Action #2 - Fire Pistol [roll0] - Fail

[RedSand]

The hiver scum on the left reacts first, dropping his broom, pulling out a knife and charging Darius, blade in hand.

[roll0] vs 40

The masked figure with the hammer reacts at about the same time. He takes one look at Lasciel's and jumps at her in melee, clumsily putting every bit of his momentum into his swing.

[roll1] vs 60

[RedSand]

The hiver scum trips over his own, stabbing, and all the momentum of his charge moves across his arm into his hand and right into his cheek.

[roll0]

The hammer guy does less embarrassingly, in that he only misses horribly as he swings too far right and hits a nearby chair.

Gaius is next in initiative order.

[Saulk]

As Gaius moves, he speaks over his motions, even in battle. He quickly draws his laspistol, a fluid motion bringing it up to aim at one of the men with the lasguns. "Threat analysis: In progress. Targets bearing lasguns identified as highest priority." He seemed almost to brace himself against his staff in one hand as he squeezed the trigger, leveling a blast directly at the masked figure with the lasgun. "Querying primitive mental functions: Extreme sanction: unnecessary at current time. Continue to utilize projectile weaponry."

Actions
Half Action #1 - Draw Pistol
Half Action #2 - Fire Pistol [roll0] - Fail


Reroll for Firing Pistol with Fate Point - [roll0] - SUCCESS!
Voidborn Chance to recover Fate - [roll1]

[Saulk]

Reroll for Firing Pistol with Fate Point - [roll0] - SUCCESS!
Voidborn Chance to recover Fate - [roll1]


Damage
Laspistol Damage - [roll0]

[RedSand]

Gaius's shot grazes the arm of the left gunner, burning him at the elbow. He doesn't seem particularly fazed, however and shoots back at Gaius, after taking careful aim.

[roll0] vs 65

The gunner to the right scarcely cares about Gaius, and targets what he sees as another guardsman. He fires two shots at Darius in rapid succession, hoping suppression will get through his armor.

[roll1] vs 55

[RedSand]

The left gunner's aim is rewarded with a shot to Gaius's left leg.

1d10+3

The right isn't as lucky; only the first shot hits Darius, square in the chest, while the other flies past him.

[roll0]

[RedSand]

The gm is a dope.

[roll0]

[RedSand]

The shop owner is up next, and while he seems a bit weak off his leg, he figures that doesn't matter. After all, he's got an automatic weapon.

[roll0] vs 35

The other worker is looking more than a little nervous after what happened to his friend, and decides the guy in the robes would probably be an easier target. He charges Constantine.

[roll1] vs 40

[RedSand]

Unfortunately, Bartum also has really **** aim. He unloads six rounds into his own roof, and water pours humiliatingly onto his head. His worker barely does better, and just scarcely avoids tripping over his own feet as fails to hit Constantine, who is next in the initiative order.

Meanwhile, Lasciel shoots the hammer guy straight in the chest. He screams briefly, and just barely avoids toppling over, but his ability to fight doesn't seem to have been negatively affected.

[KasmKat]

Crouching down slightly as Bartum and the worker attempt to attack him, Constantine pulls out his pistol, calmy waits until the worker has finished his unsuccessful swing and fires off one round.

Looking him in the eyes as the round slams into his right arm with a meaty thunk, "You guys aren't a patch on my old gang, go home before you end up in a box."

Ready Weapon - half Action
Standard attack at the worker (Half Action) - BS (35), Point Blank Range (+30) = 65 - [roll0]

Damage if it hits - [roll1] Pen 0

[Dr.Gara]

Darius shrugs off the blast, and readies his rifle. He doesn't bother with close aiming: He doesn't have the time right now. Only time to kill. He fires his Lasgun at the guy who shot at him!


First, ready the rifle as a half action.

And then, standard attack at the guy who shot him. [roll0] Vs. 46!

Only I miss because RNG hates me!

[Dr.Gara]

You know what, no, I'm going to spend a fate point to reroll that shot.


[roll0] Still 46, still shooting the same guy.
I'm cursed, I swear.

[RedSand]

The first scum gets up, pulls his own knife out of his cheek, and decides to switch targets, and attacks Caleb, though he no longer feels like charging.

[roll0] vs 30

He just barely avoids tripping over himself again. He's not feeling very confident, and if you look closely, he might look like he's crying.

The hammer guy, fairly unhappy at his being shot, stays on Lasciel.

[roll1] vs 60

[RedSand]

Hammer guy, however hits his mark this time, plunging his weapon into Lasciel's gut.

[roll0]

His hit is a bit weak, though, and doesn't quite make up for Lasciel's armor, though she can tell whatever kind of hammer that is, it's very well made.

[Cogsrow]

BS aiming so at 54 [roll0]
if hit damage [roll1] pen 6

-Lasciel takes the hit and moves back with it in a trained motion and raises her pistol to fire at the hammerer.-

[Cogsrow]

fate point reroll [roll0]

[Saulk]

Gaius looks down at the wound that he has taken, and then back towards the assailants, shrugging off whatever pain has made it through his machine-like form as he raises the pistol once more. This time, he takes more careful aim, before squeezing the trigger, aiming for the same man he previously struck.

Actions
Half Action #1 - Aim - +10 to BS
Half Action #2 - Fire - [roll0] vs 75 (Provided he is actually within extremely close range) - SUCCESS!

[Saulk]

Gaius looks down at the wound that he has taken, and then back towards the assailants, shrugging off whatever pain has made it through his machine-like form as he raises the pistol once more. This time, he takes more careful aim, before squeezing the trigger, aiming for the same man he previously struck.

Actions
Half Action #1 - Aim - +10 to BS
Half Action #2 - Fire - [roll0] vs 75 (Provided he is actually within extremely close range) - SUCCESS!


Damage
Laspistol - [roll0]

[RedSand]

The masked men decide to do something terrible; they start working together. The left continues to aim and shoot, while the other goes for semi-automatic fire, both at Darius.

[roll0] vs 65

[roll1] vs 55

Bartum shoots again, hoping his automatic fire will eventually overcome his incompetence. The second hiver hopes the same as he puts his entire body in his next swing.

[roll2]vs 35

[roll3] vs 50

[RedSand]

The first gunner's gun jams, and he curses as it spews smog and whistling loudly. The second performs much better, in that he just misses completely, despite shooting twice.

Bartum and his worker are far luckier. By some miracle, one of the six bullets he errantly sprayed at Lasciel hits her in her back. His worker scores retribution against Constantine, his blade slashing at his arm.

[roll0] to Lasciel's body

[roll1] to Constantine's arm.

[RedSand]

Lasciel responds to her assailant(at least, the one in her face) with a second bolt round, which sends him flying four meters backwards and knocking him prone.

[RedSand]

Constantine continues his duel, aiming and shooting despite the disadvantage of bringing a gun to a knifefight.

[roll0] vs 25

[Dr.Gara]

Darius takes a close aim at the guy who took semi-auto shots at him. He then fires a shot of his own, and with murderous intent



Half-Action to Aim: +10 to BS.

Half-Action to Shoot: Versus 56!

[roll]1d10+3 I shot! I hit! I will exact holy vengeance!

[Dr.Gara]

[roll0] Now I roll damage? Lets try that again.

[Dr.Gara]

[roll0] Vs 56, for RIGHTEOUS FURY.

Oh well. I still did 13 damage.

[RedSand]

He stumbles, gasping heavily as Darius's shot burns through his vest . The hit wasn't lethal, but it seems to have knocked the wind out of him.

[OOPWER]

Knife in hand, Caleb slashes at the hammer wielding minion, telling him, "It's not nice to hit ladies."


I've got a turn!

All Out Attack: [roll0] vs. 57 (37 + 20)
Damage (If it hits) [roll1] + 3 (SB)

[RedSand]

Caleb's pounces on the hammer-wielding man, stabbing at his arm. His knife cuts four of the fingers from his right hand, and after a good deal of screaming and bleeding, he collapses on the floor, unconscious and beginning to bleed to death.

[RedSand]

The Hammer wielder is prone on the floor, unconcious with his right hand completely destroyed.

The left gunner has had the breath knocked out of him by lasfire. Has a lasgun.

The right gunner has been shot once in the arm, but seems okay. Has a lasgun.

The first worker has stabbed himself in the face, seems badly injured, and is currenly in melee with Caleb. Has a knife.

The second worker is engaged in melee with Constantine, and is lightly wounded from a shot to the arm. Has a knife.

Bartum seemed fairly hurt before the fight began, but hasn't been struck. He has an autopistol.

[RedSand]

The Hiver scum takes another swipe, once again putting his entire body into a lunge at Caleb.

[roll0] vs 50

The left gunner, still trying to catch his breath, can only fire another quick shot at Darius.

[roll1] vs 55

The right, however, is feeling very uneasy with Lasciel's bolt pistol, and after taking careful aim, shoots directly at her left leg.

[roll2] vs 55

The second worker scum continues assaulting Constantine with whatever he can muster.

[roll3] vs 50

Bartum, tired and angry, tries for one last automatic burst at Lasciel, emptying his clip.

[roll4] vs 35

[RedSand]

The worker stabs himself again, this time sending the blade plunging into his knee.

[roll0]

The left gunner hits Darius in the chest once again.

[roll1]

The right gunner, quite pleased with himself, hits Lasciel right in her unarmored leg.

[roll2]

Bartum wastes the last of his ammo, and the second worker swings too high to hit Constantine.

The worker's errant swing ruptures the inside of his knee, and he slumps to the floor, whimpering and bleeding. Without medical attention, it doesn't seem like he'll be getting up anytime this side of eternity.

[Saulk]

"Suggestion: Cease hostilities. Continued living possible if information regarding your attack is provided. Continued hostility will bring death. Supplying proof." Gaius lines up his shot carefully, aiming at the lasgunner that he has been plugging away at all along before pulling the trigger.

Actions
Half Action #1 - Aim (+10 to BS)
Half Action #2 - Fire Laspistol - [roll0] vs. 35 + 30 (Extreme Close Range) + 10 (Aim) = vs. 75

Damage (if it) = [roll1]

[Dr.Gara]

Darius fires a short burst at the man man who he's been pounding at, the one who he hit last turn.


Semi-Auto fire is a Full Action. Darius takes his action to fire three blasts! [roll0] 46 base +10 from Semi and +10 from range = 66.

[Dr.Gara]

Darius's shots hit true, thrice marking his enemy.
[roll0] First hit, for succeeding at all.
[roll1] My second hit, at 46
[roll2] My third hit, at 26

[RedSand]

Darius fires a quick three-round burst into the gunner's leg, which promptly bursts into white-hot flames that immediately arcs up and spreads to his torso. He falls to the floor, and is a charred corpse in a matter of seconds.

[KasmKat]

Constantine keeps trying to Shoot the person trying to stab him, aiming and firing.

Half action aim
Half action - standard attack
[roll0] - against Bs 35, +10 (Aim) = 45

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel grimaces and fires a semi auto burst at the man that just shot her,-

54 skill [roll0]

[Cogsrow]

[roll0]
[roll1]
all at pen 4

[OOPWER]

Caleb, seeing the battle lady safe, turned to the next person in need of his skills: Constantine. With no hesitation, the Green duelist charged the knife wielder threatening his comrade to engage him in blade to blade combat.


Charge (Full Action)
Attack Roll: [roll0] vs. 47 (WS + 10)
Damage (If necessary): [roll1] + 3 (SB)

[RedSand]

Lasciel shoots well. The first round goes straight through the gunner's neck as the second slams into his skull, sending his head flying out the door and leaving the rest of him behind. Blood spews out his neck, forming a pool around the door.

Caleb performs in a similar manner, stabbing into the scum's shoulder and sending him crumpling to the ground. He quickly fades into unconsciousness, but doesn't appear to be bleeding to death.

Now only Bartum remains, with a spent autopistol.

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel Clears her throat and looks at bartum, wipeing the blood away from her face that had splattered when she hit the hammer wielding man- You can spill all the knowledge you know now, or after I enact the eleven rights of the inquisition on you and turn you into a servitor. take your pick

[RedSand]

Bartum curses under his breath, sighs, and throws his autopistol to the side.

"Fine. I know where the stupid woman is. She found me after talking to some reheaded dyke, the one what brewed all that grain alcohol. Sent her out to a warehouse a couple miles from here, in the subdistrict-119. It's owned by some noble ****er, last name Zell. Look for the one that stores batteries, big ones, for tanks or something. It's a meeting place for the heretics she was looking for."

[Cogsrow]

-She smiles as she kneels down infront of him ignoring her burnt leg and the pain it brought- Okay now, Mr.bartum, you should realize right now how much trouble you are in case -fires her gun twice blowing out both his knees- you're not going to escape, no the life of a servitor is all that's fit for you, forever a husk of a man reduced to nothing more than tedious labor for all eternity, perfectly aware of how much you lost due to your own stupidity for threatening those serving the emperor. know that as you mind shatters after centuries of being aware but unable to control your own actions. this fate was brought on by you -she spits on him and turns to her allies smiling- everyone alright?

[Dr.Gara]

Darius checks the bodies, making sure they aren't faking, going right over the charred corpse he made, before cycling back to Lasciel. "I'm just fine. Took a shot to the chest, but it's not that bad. Are you alright? You took a nasty shot to the leg, before the fight turned." Darius doesn't even seem to notice that Bartum is still there.

[KasmKat]

“Just fine sister, not even a scratch, now I believe the first thing to do would be to search the bodies for anything that might prove useful,” Constantine says, walking over to the Battle sister and Tech-Priest, “And also perhaps restraining this one before he wakes up.” He adds pointing to the one who spent some time attacking him, “Persistent little bugger…” He adds quietly, bending down to search the unconscious man.

[RedSand]

Constantine rummages through the scum's things. He finds little besides the shiv, which isn't even factory-made, but appears to be carved from some kind of heavy bone; besides that, all the man has on him are a few Lho-sticks,16 throne gelt, and his tattered gang leathers, which were fairly worthless, but in good condition. As he searches him, he can feel the man's heartbeat slow and eventually stop.

If he loots the rest of them, he'd find a total of 59 more gelt, a second knife, two lasguns of obvious poor quality, a fire bomb, and a curiously well-balanced hammer with several carvings and Imperial markings etched onto it. He also find quilted vests on each of the masked men, each of which is in varying states of disrepair.

[Dr.Gara]

Darius, who knows his stuff, checks out the Lasgun's ammo packs. He's not interested in the guns: He already has one. The ammo, though, is something to check out. More ammo packs to recharge and carry isn't something to scoff at, if it really hits the fan and he manages to run his ammo down to nil.

He also strips the masked men of their armor and money, because it's hard to turn down Thrones for him. Real hard.

[Dr.Gara]

[roll0] 30 flat Intelligence, +30 from directive!

[KasmKat]

Constantine appropriates one of the other lasguns some of the money (20 Gelt), both of the knives and the hammer, slipping the strap for the lasgun over his shoulder and the two knives into his boots he inspects the hammer.

I wish to inspect the hammer, see if i can tell why it's so balanced or what the carvings are? what should I roll against?

[RedSand]

It's fairly obvious from the enormous I with a skull in the middle that the hammer comes from someone in the Adeptus Ministorum; what's slightly less obvious, at least to Constantine, is what the rest of the etchings mean. From what he can tell, it's definitely not something given to the common rank and file, and well it's certainly well-made, it doesn't seem to have seen too much combat before today. If he had to guess, Constantine would assume it was more for ornamentation than anything else, though he also couldn't help but notice something of a pattern-the etching weren't done at random to look cool, this he knows for sure. He knows they have significance-he just doesn't know what.

[Dr.Gara]

Darius scoops up the ammo, and brings them to Gaius. "Priest, I need your help. I took a look at these charge packs, to try to see if they were usable, but I wasn't able to tell. If you would please take a look, I don't want to upset the lasgun's spirit in trying to use ammo it doesn't like." He offers the packs to him.

[Saulk]

Gaius nods, taking the charge packs almost tenderly into his hands. "Omnissiah bless these charge packs. Grant to me your secrets." He began a thorough examination of the objects, turning them over carefully in his hands as his lenses flick over every surface, reading the signs and portents of the Machine God within their build.

Rolls
[roll0] - TechUse - Failure, unless there's a modifier

[RedSand]

You didn't need to roll, but since you did, and you have a +20 modifier in this situation, here's some exposition

As a techpriest, you know what professionally made charge packs look like, and they look like the charge packs you're currently holding. You have no doubt that they are entirely safe to use. What does strike you is the condition of the guns compared to the packs; the lasguns do not look like they were made in an Omnissiah-blessed, sweat-and-toil factory. In fact, they look to be half-scrap metal, and they don't seem to be capable of firing at standard regulation rates.

[Saulk]

"Charge packs are efficient and well made. They will serve you, Guardsman. Their spirit is found capable of service. Guns, however, do not match craftsmanship of charge packs. Lasguns are abomination. Not sanctified by the Machine God. Inconsistencies found." Gaius turns towards Constantine. "The hammer requires examination. Provide." He extends a waiting hand.

For when I do get the hammer
Tech Use - [roll0] - Which is a great roll!

[KasmKat]

Constantine hands over the hammer with some reluctance, "I'll expect it back, you understand?" Watching everything the Tech-priest does carefully.

[Dr.Gara]

"Thank you. What would you have me do with the weapons? I think it might be best to destroy them, but it's not a knowledge I'm trained in." He is a little more unsure with this particular suggestion, but he did just they were profane.

[RedSand]

Hammers aren't really in a techpriest's wheelhouse, but being one still grants one a relatively advanced understanding of metalwork and mechanisms. Gaius knows nothing of the etchings, or what they mean, but he can tell that that they weren't added on after creation-every bit of the hammer is roughly the same age, and that age is old. Not that the thing seems any worse for the wear. There also appear to tiny grooves in the head of the hammer, at the base where one generally hits people. This puzzles Gaius, as they aren't immediately obvious and don't seem to improve the weapon's lethality.

[Saulk]

"Grooves at striking head present a puzzle. I will process this information. Guardsman: Usable parts are to be reclaimed, the rest consigned to furnace. No furnace is present. I will reclaim the spare parts and allow spirit to depart. The remainder may stay on this ground." Gaius handed the hammer back to Constantine.

Those that knew Gaius would know that something bothered him, or perhaps a puzzle unsolved, as he went to the lasguns and began to strip them of any usable parts. Anything he could salvage, he attempted to do so, speaking words of appeasement to the machine spirit, advising it that he would euthanize it from its tortured frame, releasing it back to the Machine God. When this was completed, he put the parts back into his robes and rose.

"Requesting next destination." He looked at the rest of the company, checking his laspistol once before reholstering it.

[Dr.Gara]

Darius makes ready to leave. "Warehouse down in subdistrict-119, stores big batteries. Evidently, a meeting point for heretics. I'm ready to leave, nothing left for us here. Darius checks all his weapons, ready to get out of here.

[KasmKat]

Constantine slides the hammer through a loop in his belt, ignoring Bartum and looking behind the bar for any more loot, slipping whatever he finds into his backpack and pockets, “I think we should look around a bit first, if this place is clear it might make a decent fall back spot, perhaps even earn us some money, bars are always popular…” he says quietly before going to inspect the other rooms, listening carefully at the doors before entering and repeating his looting in the other rooms.

Bar Search - Int -10 (32) - [roll0]
Layout - Awareness - Per (36) - [roll1] - [roll2] - [roll3]
Please let the dice be low...

[RedSand]

Constantine looks behind the counter, and then into a room in the back. He finds little besides booze, lho-sticks, salted meat and rags, though he certainly finds plenty of those. Bartum, currently caught in a quantum-state between life and death, makes no objections to him poking around.


Make two intelligence checks, one at a +10 and another at a +30.

[KasmKat]

Int +10 (52) - [roll0] - Seriously... (5 degrees failure...) God these dice hate me
Int +30 (72) - [roll1] - Better (6 degrees of success)

another question - is there a cash register, and can i break it open. also I'm claiming all the booze, lho sticks and salted meat, probably the rags as well... Molotov time :P

[RedSand]

It occurs to Constantine, as he tries to figure out a way to carry three shelves worth of liquor and meat on his person, that alcohol and rags can be used to make basic firebombs. His life spent in the underhives tells him that most rotgut booze is barely drinkable, yet alone of a very high proof, and yet quite a bit of the newer bottles stacked in the front look to be actual, properly-brewed grain alcohol.

After a few minutes of searching(he dare not ask Bartum, as thinking about him made everything taste purple), he found what used to be a strongbox, the lock shot off and the remains looted.

Making fire bombs will take time you don't precisely have. You can grab as many rags as you damn well please, but the meat will be about four pounds altogether, and the grain alcohol will be a pound a bottle, of which you can fit about eight in your pack.

[Saulk]

Roll for Dismantling Lasguns
- Tech Use +10 - Success - thank goodness for the +10!

[RedSand]

While Constantine searches, Gaius guts the second lasgun, breaking the majority of the inner workings in his hand as he passes judgement on each wire and circuit. After about five minutes, he's left with two spare parts and the leftover lasgun chassis.

[RedSand]

Everyone grabs their gear, finishes looting their kills and heads out to the warehouse district, leaving the stench of five bloodied corpses and the rubble of a totaled tavern on their heels. Hopefully one of you remembered to close the door.

Alright, you did some basic investigating, looted things, and had your first combat. Everyone may add 100 xp to their character sheets. Kasmkat and Gaius, add 25 extra xp to your sheets, due to doing some extra investigating/learning to craft respectively.

[RedSand]

You arrive at the warehouse district without incident. The subdistrict Bartum informed you of is gated off and appears to be private property. It also appears to be unguarded, not as though the Zell family skimped on the security budget, but more so that every guard appears to have taken a very long lunch; several outposts watch over more than a dozen storage facilities, all of them empty. After a few minutes of wandering, you find the district devoted to large batteries. Appropriately enough, there are several corpses lying around.

You can hear screaming just a couple yards away, echoing through the endless parade of locked gates and steel walkways. They're good, long screams, seasoned with quite a few panicked sobs and the occasional blubbering. The second you hear it, there isn't a one of you who can't tell exactly where it's coming from, or why it's happening. Someone nearby is being tortured. Very effectively.

Do you follow the screams?

[Cogsrow]

-lasciel follows the screams running, if she has to clear a corner she sticks to it and peaks around, if she has to go through a door she breaches, but an imperial citizen is in danger-

[RedSand]

It doesn't take her long to find the source-she hugs the wall as she moves, and finds no fights, but plenty of signs that fights took place-blood, spent casings, and the occasional actual body,-though fewer than there should be, she notes. After a minute or so of running, she reaches a fairly large warehouse, with tall, heavy doors designed to fit several lines of workers simultaneously. Unsurprisingly, it appears to be locked.

[Dr.Gara]

No, I think I'll just be going now. By which I mean, Darius ups his lasgun and moves into the structure, following behind Lasciel. He makes his way to the door, and prepares to breach the door, but waits for some kind of... permission? Acknowledgement? Before he would decide to get into the locked room.

[Cogsrow]

-She nods at him bolt pistol in two hands, she wasn't breaching with the wound she had-

[Dr.Gara]

He swaps to the shotgun for breaching, shells are good for that. He hammers a shell into the lock, and kicks the door with his boot.


I'm not sure if I need to roll anything, or if a shotgun shell into the lock and kicking it is good enough to get in.

[RedSand]

Darius shoots the lock clean off, but finds some difficulty in the "kicking down the door" bit; namely, that whoever locked it also went to the trouble of barring it via some form of metal rod. It wasn't completely ineffective, though; the victim, who had currently been stuck in the panicked sob phase, was now deathly quiet.

From the silence came a sharp thump, and the sobs resumed, in a softer tone, followed by some muffled conversation.

A voice came from behind the door. It was a male voice, heavy, and a bit tinny, as if the person were speaking through a metal helmet. It was also strangely polite, and had a slow, sophisticated pace, as if he were composing a letter. It said "It would be very wise of you to state your business now. In a manner that doesn't involve the shotgun, if you'd please."

[Dr.Gara]

Darius clears to the side of the door. "Guardsmen Darius. Investigating this building... something about heresy, murder, and a warehouse. We've, uh... we've seen the second two parts. We're looking for a couple of people, in particular, actually. Tech-Priest and some lady who trashed up a bar?" He doesn't say the big Inquisitor word. It spooks people, and he's not sure who's on the wrong side of this door.

[RedSand]

There is a quick "Oh?" followed by a momentary pause. "Well, then, Guardsman Darius, name the last three commanders you served under, with rank. Quickly, I'd advise."

[Dr.Gara]

"Major Flavion. Major Novus. Major Gallus. I can go down to the level of Captain on request. I'll give you a moment to check that out, assuming you have the documentation on hand. If you do not, then, well, we might be at an impasse. I can't leave in good faith, and you can't talk to me without some confirmation." Darius keeps at his position, not moving out infront of the door.

[RedSand]

"Oh, no need for that, Guardsman."

There is a heavy creaking noise, and one of the doors swings open. You still can't see inside, though, as the techpriest before you is doing a very good job of obstructing your view. Given his size, he might not even mean to.

And he is massive. Not just in the normal sense of being tall or beefy, though he looks very strong and stands almost a head above Sister Lasciel. No, this man is massive is the sense that he is wide. Even accounting for a loose pair of robes, he still seems to be at least twice as wide as the average man, and quite a bit of his weight seemed to be loaded to his front, as if his torso had been replaced with the front of a automobile. Hell, that might actually be the case, you observe. What little of his body wasn't wrapped tight between several layers of robes, sashes and heavy armor seemed entirely mechanical-even what little you can see of face is just a mess of wires, sheet metal and two clusters of glowing purple polygons you assume are his eyes . The more you look at him, the less likely it seems that he should be capable of standing, and yet, there he is.

"I switched the order in your dossier. Paperwork has a nasty habit of falling into improper hands. Now, then...Greetings, Guardsman. Sister Lasciel*he bows for a moment, respectfully*...I assume the other three are trailing along nearby?"

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel bows- I would assume so, granted if they didn't they obviously have no desire to protect imperial citizens.

[Dr.Gara]

"I have no doubt that any faithful citizens were nothing but safe under the care of the Tech Priest. And that leads me to the strong assumption that whatever we heard wasn't a faithful citizen." Darius feeds a shell into the shotgun, before returning it to his back. "And the others would be further behind. Myself and Sister Lasciel seem to be the most competent in combat situations, and we didn't exactly know what we were going to find down here. I find this far more acceptable then the other concerns." He stands at rest, waiting to be addressed further.

[RedSand]

"Hmm. Yes, I imagine the faithful would be several degrees safer in our current situation. In any case, I see the both of you have already used your combative skills this d-"

"Moss." It was a single syllable, and yet it sounded to you like a very long order.

"Oh, of course, madam, where are my manners? I am Sir Mossbauer of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Interrogator and Aide to the Inquisitor Lady Kali Venice of Scintil-

There is the sound of a gunshot followed by a quick whimper.

Mossbaeur turns for a moment, in mild surprise. "Madam, you appear to have made a slight deviation from your planned method of interrogation."

"Eh, he heard you guys talking and the last bit of hope got wrung out of him faster than I figured. Doesn't matter. He didn't know ****. Just bring me my stuff."

[Dr.Gara]

Darius can look forward to working under Inquisitor Venice, he thinks. He doesn't say anything, instead waiting for the wall of metal and flesh that makes up the form of Sir Mossbauer to make some kind of move. He checks his gear absentmindedly.

[Cogsrow]

-she thinks to herself that she'll love working under this inquisitor as she stands there waiting to be allowed in-

[RedSand]

"They said they're combat personnel, Moss. Let 'em in."

Mossbauer moves out of the way of your vision, snaps his fingers, and turns illuminates the room. Sister Lasciel now has a very clear understanding of where all the bodies went. There are at least two dozen corpses strewn over the floor, along with a smaller pile neatly stacked together next to a small metal folding chair holding, surprise of all surprises, a fresh corpse, with several instruments of torture sticking out it's gut and arms. Standing above it, looking somewhat bored, is your new inquisitor.

Uhrai was right, by the way; her hair is the first thing you notice. Namely that's it's red-not a dusty orange or strawberry blonde, but a dyed crimson, cut almost as short as a buzzcut with several small gemstones(also red) braided into her scalp.

The second thing you notice is her size; she looks tiny, especially in comparison to her gargantuan assistant, standing just a few inches above five feet and looking half-starved despite the assortment of precious stones braided into her hair and stapled into her face. She wore a long white coat with red trimmings that seemed just too large for her, and almost resembled a cape as she sauntered over to Mossbaeur, who produced a dented metal cup from his seemingly endless robes and poured a thick brown liquid into it. She took it swiftly, leaned against a crate and took a long sip, before sighing contentedly.

"So...where the hell have you been?"

[Dr.Gara]

"On a shuttle, then to the bar, got in a bit of a firefight, we won, came here." Darius is perfectly straight forward with her, because he was right. She is a whole lot more threatening then Lasciel.

[RedSand]

"Uhrai give you directions? Or you find your way on your own?"

She takes another long sip of what you're now somewhat certain is recaf. "Also, I'm assuming that when you say 'we', that means 'all five of you, none of whom have died yet'."

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel nods- Not to say they didn't try hard. -she has a slight limp as she walks from the wound she suffered- though the display some gave was...pitiful...

[Dr.Gara]

"We got directions. And yes, by we, I mean the five of us, none of which have died yet." He pauses. "That I'm aware of. Last I saw, they were alive and healthy." He really hopes that they didn't get themselves killed somehow.

[RedSand]

Mossbauer eyes Lasciel's leg wound. "Madam?"

"Yeah, go ahead. We've probably got time."

Mossbauer kneels towards Lasciel, holding her leg in place and giving her a quick look-over before a a strange, skull-like contraption emerges beneath his robes, poking and prodding at her wound.

Does she let him patch her up?

[Cogsrow]

-She bites her lip and waits for the pain of a medicae specialist, and does nothing to stop him-

[KasmKat]

Constantine, follows the Sister and guardsman slowly, taking his time to look around, notice anything that is odd or out of place. When he comes to the bodies he takes more time to carefully inspect and loot them, thinking that he never knows when information of gear might come in handy, he also takes the time to carefully examine their faces.

Coming around a corner he hears the sister and Guardsman talking to someone, waiting until he is sure that everything is fine before stepping out and into the room, noticing the bodies and the large bulky man before he notices the Inquisitor, “I believe you must be the inquisitor we are to be working for then?” he says quietly, standing there with his hands clearly away from his clothes.

I want to look around me as I walk through towards the Bodies, I assume awareness check - Awareness (36) - [roll0]
I also want to loot the bodies of everything, don't know if this needs a roll

[RedSand]

Surgical equipment emerges from the mouth of the skull, and becomes a quick blur along with Mossbauer's hand's, cutting, bandaging, bleeding and cleaning with machine efficiency.
[roll0]

[RedSand]

For a moment, it feels as though the mechanical giant is only making things worse, and there is an instant of pain that seems to disappear moments later, as if her imagination was starting to get the better of her.
[roll0] Heals three wounds.

From the look of things,he almost did; his cleaning of her burns and quick skin-graft seems fairly sloppy to Lasciel, though she did feel a bit better, and after a night's rest, she doubted she would have trouble putting weight on her leg again.

[RedSand]

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

The majority of the bodies have next to nothing of worth on them, not even spare gelt. A few have charge packs smuggled into their jackets, without an actual weapon to use them with. The luckier finds have charge packs that are intact. After a solid ten minutes of looting, Constantine has found little except seven charge packs for a basic laspistol.

Eventually, he turns over a small pile of bodies and finds something very curious, and yet disappointingly familiar-another battery, only this one seems much larger and much heavier, and Constantine has no idea what could possibly interface with it. It seems too compact for an automobile battery-too light as well, though it still seems to weigh enough to put a bit of strain on his back if he loads it into his pack.

[Saulk]

Gaius finally arrives on the scene, having been distracted by the prevalence of abandoned and broken technology, tsk-ing under his respirator about the shoddy conditions and lack of respect for the parts that make them up. He approaches the Inquisitor and the Magos, nodding respectfully to both. "Gaius Fabrex, Mechwright. What is our purpose?"

[RedSand]

Mossbauer, currently in the process of gathering bits of an Excruciatus Kit out a man's stomach, repeats the introduction he gave to Darius and Lasciel, and then, with a cadence that did not suit his mechanical voice, said "You are an acolyte cell of the Ordo Hereticus, tasked with upholding the fragile harmony of the Empire. You are to perform whatever duties your Inquisitors entrusts to you, in a manner that is efficient, intelligent and, when necessary, subtle. You are a regulatory force; you are the arms of an authority to which all are questionable, save our glorious Emperor himself. You shall face endless trials, deadly physical confronta "

"You'll go where I tell you to go, do what I tell you to do, and you won't be stupid. That's about it."


"...Yes. And you should be very careful to not die."

"Yup."

[Dr.Gara]

Darius nods. He understands that perfectly. "Not dying would be ideal. Hell, I spent my best years not dying. But, more directly... what now?" He very intently doesn't fiddle with his gear, looking at his new Inquisitor.

[RedSand]

Mossbauer looks to Venice, who gives him a quick nod. "Well then. For now, we're looking for something that's either been lost or stolen. I take it you've all gained a bit of firsthand knowledge as to the weather around here?"

[OOPWER]

Caleb replies as politely as possible: "Indeed. Lots of rain, though I was under the impression that the constant pour was quite natural."

[RedSand]

"Yes, the 'lot's of rain' part is very natural. It's the 'in perpetuity' part that's a bit more recent. Or at the very least, it wasn't like that before the establishment of the Hives. A fluke caused by the imperfections of the natural world, it would seem.

"In any case, the important fact is that most of the draining system was designed after the Hives were built, and the Mechanicus terraforming crew had left. Which means we are currently all standing upon a mechanical system not built by the Mechanicus. Very nearly heretical, but not actually, from what my superiors tell me."

"Moss. The point."

"Right. We can't operate the majority of the Capital's drain system via communion with the Machine spirits. Which is bad, because a large portion of the Underhive is currently flooded."

[KasmKat]

“You mean to tell me, that a large portion of the underhive has flooded killing and displacing possibly tens of thousands of people and everyone is continuing on as if nothing has happened?” Constantine says, shaking his head, “Are they all insane, all it would take is one charismatic leader in the underhive to overrun the entire upper hive…”

[RedSand]

Venice shrugs. "Yeah, that's pretty much it."

"This isn't a recent development, I'm afraid. It's been happening for decades. Because of it, this Hive has fewest scum in the system. However, due to basic evolutionary principles, and quite a few pollutants in the drainwater, the underhive also has some of the most dangerous scum in the system. And, thanks to recent developments and decreasing space, they're a mostly united terrorist group. They've bunkered down in certain areas, and while the local Arbites can stop most of them from accessing the elevators, a proper siege would be worth more than the actual planet is worth. Which is why we're here. "

[RedSand]

"Why they're here, Moss. Give 'em the mission they came here for."

"Right." I'll just collect your paperwork..."

He relieves you of your dossiers and pulls out a large black stamp featuring the inquisitorial seal, along with several scribbles at the bottom you can't quite make out. He stamps your papers and gingerly hands them to one of his mechadendrites, which tucks them away somewhere in his enormous chassis.

"From this moment forward, you are all formally declared acolytes of the Lady Inquisitor Venice. Your current objective is as follows: Find the control mechanism for the planetary drain system and flood all zones deemed heretical."

[KasmKat]

“Hold on a minute… You actually want us to flood the underhive?” Constantine says, startled, looking between the inquisitor and tech priest, “If we do that, there’s no knowing the consequences, if we aren’t fast enough we could accidentally start the very rebellion it sounds as if you’re trying to put down. And even if we are fast enough then we could do untold damage to the Hive. Not just the underhive but the whole hive, to rapidly and efficiently flood an undetermined number of underhive sectors, the water pressure and volume would have to be truly massive… And of course this is leaving aside the fact that the leaders of this ‘Terrorist Group' may in fact not be underhive scum, or if they are they may have moved out of the underhive, or even modified their sector so it will not flood.”

[Dr.Gara]

Darius really isn't sure how to feel about that. Constantine has some really good points, here. He'd, really, rather burn them out, or gas them, or do any number of other things besides throwing around a bunch of water in ways he really doesn't get. He's also not sure how his inquisitor is going to like the arguing either. So, he doesn't say anything, yet.

[RedSand]

"The water is damaging the Hive, young man. The very foundation of the cities are starting to erode due to being flooded for so long. Not relocating it isn't an option. And frankly, this isn't just our idea; the aristocracy have approved this plan. They believe the threat of flooding, coupled with the constant shuffling around they'll be doing to keep any any area from erosion, will keep whoever survives in line.

Now, if they've somehow managed to repurpose their homes to be resistant to floods, or found some way to survive in an entirely flooded area, then this is officially the problem of the Imperial Guard, and if the aristocracy keeps complaining we'll probably just ignore them or order Exterminatus on the place. The only reason this is within our jurisdiction is due to the church burnings and the stolen church contraband."

[KasmKat]

Constantine considers the tech-priests statement carefully, nodding as he recognises the validity of it, “Well in that case we must do what we can then, but you mentioned church burning and stolen church contraband, are you able to give us any more details about this, any specific areas the churches have been burned in, or what the stolen contraband was, or for that matter why the churches had the contraband?”

[Dr.Gara]

Darius keeps an eye on Venice. He watches her, trying to see how she reacts to the slight resistance to her orders that Constantine is pulling.




Appears I've used up the one good roll I get this campaign.
[roll0] Out of 35!

[RedSand]

"The burnings started about a year ago, but up until about two month prior, they were limited to the Lower Hives, which meant not many outside the Ecclesiarchy cared, and even then, Lower Hive churches are basically just big stone chapels with a confession box-easily rebuilt and assaulted irregularly. However, they've been getting bolder recently, and about two weeks ago an Ecclesiarchal library was burnt to the ground, by men dressed as clergy. That's when it became our business.

The burnings were done via church-brewed alcohol. I believe we already instructed you to speak with Miss Abigail at the church? She and several other clerics were selling them grain alcohol from their reserves. We'd have killed her, but we didn't want to make it too obvious that she'd been compromised. Suffice to say she won't be leaving that church, one way or another.

As for the contraband, we're fairly certain that church library had quite a few records regarding the Underhive's flooding system, and we're also fairly certain they were burnt along with the rest of the place. Which is troubling, because again, the local Mechanicus know nothing about it. There was also some form of key, a symbol of office that doubled as a means for controlling the floodgates. It's missing, and it would've survived the fire."

[RedSand]

Darius eyes his Inquisitor, trying not to look suspicious, but sizing her up all the same. She's watching Constantine as he speaks, and the look on her face...isn't angry? Entirely? She seems less disinterested, and if anything, less actively hostile, but he can't make out what's on her mind or how she'd react to outright rebellion.

He glances at her gear. She's armed with at least two pistols, big ones that look kind of like Lasciel's boltpistol, but with a smaller handle and trigger that seemed to fit perfectly into her small hands. He wouldn't have noticed, but she'd been twirling around in her fingers for the last few minutes, as if carefully weighing it in her hands, letting it leap from finger to finger, faintly tapping on the trigger as it flew through her grip, but never firing.

[Dr.Gara]

Darius clears his throat. "Well. It sounds like we have a very limited number of leads. One would be pulling aside and interrogating Abigail, or checking out the ruins, but I don't feel too strongly about the last one. Something tells me it'll already be well picked over, but it wouldn't hurt." He thinks about her pistols. They must be custom made. He figures they must have a heavy trigger weight to not go off as they bounce. He wonders how he could get his hands on something like that. "So. Summary, hunt the treasonous heretics before it gets to the point where you call in the Guard and or kill the planet."

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel sighs, as the ache of her leg slowly eased- So our only real lead is Abigail....she probably knows nothing, our best bet will be to observe her and watch for her selling alcohol, they may use her to gain a supply of flammable materials.

[RedSand]

"I don't believe you understand. Minerva VI is in no way considered an important planet. It is entirely run-of-the-mill, it's factories produce batteries that are made in literally thousands of other places, and it has climate concerns that make it a headache for the Administorum. If it becomes the problem of the Imperial Guard, they won't spend resources on this planet. And they'll keep bugging us, which means Minerva VI will be labeled as a problem planet and source of interplanetary scum and mutants. Which means we'll blow it up.

"As for the heretics, I'd recommend you not go charging into battle with them. They're not well-armed, but they're tough, and there are literal thousands of them working together. Find the flood controls, wherever they may be, and slaughter them indirectly. If you can't do that within the week, call us, and we'll have you off this planet and doing things of import elsewhere."

[RedSand]

Venice turns to Lasciel. "She doesn't know anything. She led us to Bartum, and he led us here. People here didn't know much. Their leader's some kind of heretek. Probably makes weapons-he didn't say he does, but he was holding something out when I asked him about it, and that's the only thing grunts like these *she points to the plethora of corpses littering the warehouse* would know about the head."

"Check the records on that church in the Upper Hives. Ask around the Clerics. I'd have done it, but **** paperwork, y'know."

She pours herself another cup, and her eyes glaze over again as she resumes her pistol tricks. "Do whatever. Just don't be stupid. Or slow. You've got a week."

[OOPWER]

With a nod, Caleb says, "Right then, let's get to it."

[Saulk]

"Agreed. There is no need for delay in confronting the heretek. Blasphemy requires elimination." Gaius makes a last cursory look around the group and their new "employers", updating his operating procedures and parameters to account for their new task. "Files updated. I have unpacked files on basic triage. We are prepared."

[KasmKat]

“Very well then, if that is our time limit then so be it.” Constantine says quietly, considering the options available to them, “I believe the best course of action would be to inspect the most recent church burning, and talk to the priests, someone always misses something important…”

[RedSand]

"Good." Venice puts her gun away and stands up, and begins walking out the door at a brisk pace. "Moss, finish the briefing and pay them."

"Oh! Of course." Another mechadedrite emerges from his shoulder and politely places a small coinpurse in Lasciel's hands. "That is a stipend of 150 gelt for finding us before her Ladyship became too impatient. Divide it amongst yourselves as you see freely, and if you complete your next objective with a similar amount of success, you may also be rewarded then.

As for the warehouses here-the guards are all either being questioned or have been shot, and it's worth noting the owner is under investigation and house arrest.

"Moss."

"Oh! Also, the grounds will be under Arbite supervision probably right this moment, so I would suggest you leave with us."


You all turn to leave, following behind Inquisitor Venice, whose tiny frame nevertheless seemed very protective as you strode out the district. The nervousness of the arbites who met you at the gate helped along that impression, you might think.
"Oh, right. Forgot something. Okay, all of you, listen up, because this isn't something that's fun to repeat. You notice how at that warehouse, I came in guns blazing, left a ton of evidence on the floor, and made it real damn clear that the Inquisition was in town?
Don't do that. Not unless you've got a good reason. Don't go telling every piker you meet you're with the Inquisition. Don't cause a panic. Don't tip off potential enemies. If I wanted a problem shot to death, I'd do it myself. So don't. Be. Stupid. Understood?"

[Dr.Gara]

Darius nods. "I'll make sure we don't make too much of a mess. If that was all, we have work." Darius really hopes he doesn't have to try to keep the good Sister Lasciel from murdering people. He turns to his group. "Now. Where to? We've only got so much time."

[RedSand]

"It's your investigation now. Go where you want." She shrugs and boards the elevator, her enormous metal aide on her heels. He bows to you as he leaves. "May your resolve be as untenable as the purest of machines."

Your boss is gone, and now you've got a proper mission statement? From this point, you can go pretty much anywhere and do whatever you damn well please-but remember, you've got a week.
Everyone can add 50 xp to their current totals. For going in first and being the most observant, Darius may add an additional 25 xp.

[Dr.Gara]

Darius sighs. "Well. Guess the first thing to do is find out where exactly that church is, and if it's already been looked into. If it has been, then we get to know things. If it hasn't, which I doubt, then we're going to have to look over it really well." He has no idea where the hell he is even going to go to find any information.

[Saulk]

"Agreed. The church seems a viable location. Blasphemous hereteks seek machinery. Finding sources of machinery will provide us with a likely point of access for hereteks. Further suggestion: Follow liquid systems to point of origin and control. Will wait for consensus. Operation deemed group effort."

[Dr.Gara]

"Not a bad idea, at all, I didn't think of that. As soon as we can, we should be underway. Talking to clerics or Arbites might not be the worst idea, they would've already looked into it, I think. If not, well, we pity time lost."

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel checks her bolt pistol- so what's the fastest way to the church then?

[RedSand]

You take the elevator after your boss(Mossbaeur's weight being what it is) and arrive at the Arbite checkpoint for the Upper Hives within an hour. It's immediately obvious that it's better secured than the middle or lower hive entrances: You count six arbites at the front gate alone, and you spot a few towers in the distance that you're fairly certain aren't for the sake of tourism.

A large, balding man with dark skin and a shotgun at his side greets you with a terse "papers out, weapons to the side." He looks all of you over carefully, turns to Constantine and says "You're not allowed to be here, mutant. Get back on that elevator and go pollute someplace else with your stench.

[Cogsrow]

-Lasicel steps up to the man and shows her badge of being a sister of battle- I am Sister Lasciel of the order of the sacred rose and I have been conducting his emperor's business. Those with me are part of a group assigned to aide me. Unfortunately it does include the mutant. Do not worry if he steps out of line I will not hesitate to put one of the emperor's holy boltshells through his wretched heart -She stands up straight looking the arbitrator straight in the eye.-

[RedSand]

He stares back at Lasciel. "Now, see, that's funny-because right now, I've got a few executive order's lying in my lap-that's from the big top Arbitrators, in case some of you weren't properly educated-and at the top of those orders it tells me to do two things-keep anyone who looks Underhive out, and consider all Ecclesiarchal IDs to be highly suspect. Do you have any reason why your Ecclesiarchal identification would not be highly suspect, given your current company?"

[Saulk]

Gaius continues to walk from the elevators. "Peacekeepers preventing lawful business. Mutant under guard. Proceed. Internal chronometric analysis suggests haste."

[RedSand]

The guard turns his attention to Gaius. "You can go, as soon as you submit to a search. As a favor to yourself, you might want to declare any weapons you're carrying so we don't get too...startled by anything we find."

[Cogsrow]

-She rubs her forehead_ I don't have time for this.....Fine we'll submit to a search, I have 4 sacred fire bombs, 2 frag grenades and my sororitas bolt pistol. As for what those fools have I don't know.

[RedSand]

All six of the guards around seem to come alive at the phrase "sacred fire bomb". "Well, now, Ma'am, I hope you have time for an indefinite detention, because until we see those bombs, that's what you're getting."

[Saulk]

Gaius turns to the guard, eyeing him in a very coldly analytical way. "Staff, metal. Lascarbine, shouldered. Laspistol, three shots expended. Lasgun, dismantled. No other weapons. Assumption: Guard knows better than to examine dorsal-contained mechanicus mysteries."

[RedSand]

The guard addresses Gaius without taking his eyes off Lasciel. "I do, thanks. Enjoy your stay on the Upper Hives."

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel sighs and opens up her coat to reveal the four professional made and military grade promethium bombs with the ecclesiarch logo on them and prayer papers wrapped around them- As you can see these were given to me by the adeptus sororitas.

[RedSand]

[roll0]

The head guard takes Lasciel's fire bombs and hands them to another Arbite, who carefully turns one around in his hand.

"They're not like the ones that were reported earlier. Bottle's different. I'm not sure if you'd find these kind here."

"Well, anything else you can you tell about the make?"

[RedSand]

[roll0]

The other guard seems right-at least, to the other he is. Unlike your average rag in the top molotov, Lasciel's had an actual igniting powder in the cap of the bottle, which was round and clearly meant to be thrown. He removes the cap, takes a long sniff, and takes a brief sip for good measure.

"Nope. All the Ecclesiarchal wine here is made with rice from the local patties. This is proper grain alcohol-if she's an arsonist like the others, she went out of her way to import her stuff."

"Huh. Underhivers don't have the money or the connections for that. Well then, darling, it would appear your ID checks out-you're not from around here." He looks to his compatriots. "Alright, search the guy in guard flak next. We can save the mutant for last."

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel looks at them- It's an impact activated blasting cap, twist it to prime it then throw, when it hits the ground it shatters the vial releasing the promethium....which you just drank some...that's not good for you.....wait it's alcohol? -She blinks and sighs rubbing her head- I grabbed the wrong ones then.

[RedSand]

Two arbites approach Darius and give him a quick pat down, this time without asking him how he felt about it.
[roll0]
Their handiwork is somewhat sloppy, but they don't seem to harbor much suspicion about him anyway. The hand him back his ID and give him permission to leave.

[Dr.Gara]

Darius has absolutely nothing important or scary. He's got a Lasgun. He's got a Laspistol. He's got a shotgun. He's got a big knife. He's got a sword. He moves through, with his plethora of death making implements, and waits for the rest of his party, tapping his heel and just a bit ready to make a few issues if they try to keep Constantine. He's part of the squad, even if he is a Emperor cursed mutant.

[RedSand]

"Alright, boys, now the mutant. Check 'em."

Both of the arbites turn to Constantine. How does he respond?

[KasmKat]

Constantine steps forward, hands where they can be clearly seen, away from the pistol and case on his belt. “Very well then men, I have this pistol here, assorted alcohol in my pack and various other bits and pieces. Please try not to break anything.” He smiles, sort of, walking forward slowly.

[RedSand]

[roll0]
[roll1]

They check his pack and inside his cloak.

Constantine can tell they're doing a laughably bad job of it, completely ignoring the enormous battery pack and multiple knives on him as they examined his gun and the alcohol he took off the bar.

"It's just alcohol, sir. No kind of blast powder, and he doesn't have a light on him. I think he's clean."

They don't, however, do a bad enough job to miss the enormous hammer hanging from his belt buckle. "Now what's this, then? You didn't mention this." The guard squints at the runes on hand, then hands it to his boss.

[RedSand]

[roll0]

The head guard takes it and examines it closely as well. "I'm guessing this was a gift from your nunnery friends too, then?"
He softens a bit, and leans back in his chair. "Fine. You can come through, but be warned; those towers up there? They're full of arbites who'll have a bead on you. They'll know if you enter a building, and they'll know how long you stay. Watch yourself."

[KasmKat]

Constantine carefully keeps the interest off his face at the mention of the nunnery in regards to the hammer, keeping quiet and stepping through the gates, “I promise to be on my best behavior officers…”

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel nods- He better or I promise I will show him the emperor's mercy personally

[RedSand]

The Arbite shoos you out into the Upper Hive, and a greeter gives you directions to the Head Church. His directions aren't very long, mind-despite the scale of the place, it's only about two miles from the elevator you got off on.

The structure of the building, ironically, doesn't appear to be particularly orthodox. None of the buildings of the Upper Hive are particularly tall, so as not to tempt too the lighting, but out of all the buildings littering the sky, the "Arch-Ministorum", as the adorning it's front proclaims...doesn't. It couldn't be more than a three or four stories, high. The Ministorum Guard, unlike the arbites, who sat high above any potential prey, stood still as a rock, hammers out, lined across the building like the frame around a picture and glaring down what felt like the entire Hive.

Surprisingly, they give the cell no flak;they seem to trust Lasciel's seal, and don't seem too perturbed by the rest of the group's prescense?

"Now is not the time for public prayer, citizens. Why is it you come to this palace of the Emperor if you are not here to beg his forgiveness?

[Cogsrow]

-She bows and smiles politely- We've been scent to investigate the church burnings, we'd like access to the archives and to question any priests that were in the area.

[RedSand]

The guard is silent for a moment, and Lasciel isn't quite sure why. "The remainder of your party are bounty hunters, then? We've gotten quite a few of those skulking around the place. Archbishop tells me they do too much in these trying times to oust them." Everyone besides Lasciel gets the sense he isn't excluding present company.

"In any case, you'll probably end up fighting them for information. That Ministorum was not particularly loved, and there was little documented about it before all this, I've heard. Don't be afraid to cut a bit of mercenary throat in your pursuit, Sister."

[Dr.Gara]

"I can assure you that the rest of us aren't bounty hunters. We don't get payed like that, at all. Besides, what are mercenaries doing here? What money is there to be made? I'm not seeing it." He's not at all happy of being accused of being a merc, and it shows in his voice.

[RedSand]

The guard's face cracks a bit at Darius. He seems just a mite amused at his obvious frustration."It's his lordship. Put a bounty on the heads of the arsonists-100 thrones per human head, 150 per mutant, I think it was. Big enough bounty to attract a couple dozen green Assassinorium pikers. Trouble for them, now, and us, is his lordship decreed the kills would only be acceptable if they found and shot 'em outside the Underhive. So now, every would-be cadaver in this place is trying to play detective, predict their next plan of attack. Which is a pain in the arse, but the archbishop voiced support for the bounty, so now we've got to accommodate the filthy little muggers.

[Dr.Gara]

Darius sighs. Why can't things be easier? "Ah, I see. That's.. Really not great. We're working to different means, and we really don't give a damn about the bounty hunters. If they're an issue to us, well, they'll be solved. Is there anything you could do to help us out? Emperor knows we need it right now."

[KasmKat]

Listening to the guard Constantine considers his options carefully, 100 throne per head does sound good… “Why did he decree they had to be taken outside the underhive? Won’t that simply mean there will be a lot of fighting in the upper hive? Accademic interest, nothing else I assure you…” He looks around carefully, trying to see if anything seems to be odd or out of place, or if the guards actions are different to what he’d expect…

Awareness for the surroundings, trying to see if anything seems odd - Awareness (36) - [roll0]

Scrutiny test to see if he seems normal / is telling the truth - Scrutiny (basic - 18) - [roll1]

[RedSand]

The Guards turns to Darius first, after a bit of rumination. As he does, Constantine studies him carefully.
"Well...there isn't much I personally could do for your investigation...but I do know something that might. The library here is public, which means there's not much we have on file that we're allowed to deny those thugs outside. But there are things that aren't normally allowed to be seen that, in times of crise such as this, exceptions have historicaly been made in terms of sharing. Things such as clergy testimonials. Those are basically complaints, general reports, observations about the public in a certain area...probably end up being useless, but it would be stuff only you'd know to check." Constantine knows nothing about running a church, but he believes him.

"But...before you do, I could use a favor. See, those ruffians broke a terminal a couple halls down a few hours ago, and since you seem to have a member of the Mechanicus with you...you scratch my back, I scratch yours?" As he speaks, Constantine notes a slight variance in his speed-slow than fast, slow, than fast. It could be nothing, but it makes his request seem just a bit off.

He turns to Constantine. "Oh, right. He didn't say. Some of the higher-ups think he's trying to keep vigilante's out of the Underhive, keep things from escalating too fast. Bit redundant a notion, you ask me, but since I'm not a bounty hunter, it's hardly my problem."

[Saulk]

"Colloquial euphemism interpreted. Request for quid pro quo transaction accepted. Direct me to this machine."

[RedSand]

He pulls out a bit of parchment, of which he seems to have quite a bit, and writes out some very specific instructions. "Here. Emperor bless your task."

[Cogsrow]

-Lasciel looks at them- I'll go start looking for information, Darius come with me, the rest of you can go deal with that broken terminal. Time is after all of hte essence.

[KasmKat]

“Sister Lasciel, you are not actually in charge here, Accustomed to leading you may be, but working with others requires more than just orders.” Constantins says, looking towards the sister with a frown, “Your suggestion is valid however. In the future though ask, not order.” Turning from her before she could see the glint in his eyes and the smirk on his lips, looking towards Gaius he continues, “Gaius, if you are ready shall we head to this machine they apparently wish repaired?”

[Cogsrow]

-She looks at constantine- No I very much am in charge, now scamper off to help get that terminal functioning. We don't have much time to waste if any at all

[KasmKat]

Constantine finds a convenient place to sit down, staring pointedly at Sister Lasciel, “I have never been informed you were in charge sister, and simply because you wish me to accept that fact does not make it true, nor does it mean I will accept it. I am not now, nor, as I have said before, Ever intend upon being under your orders or command, you would do well to remember this.” His piece said he leans back, still staring at the sister, his hand resting on the case at his side and his eagle sitting alertly upon his shoulder.

[Cogsrow]

-She starts walking to the library completely ignoreing him- We havn't tiem for petty squabbles over who's in charge, accept my orders or don't that's your call, but you are simply wasteing time.

[RedSand]

The party hears a very loud "ahem" from the Guard. You all immediately become aware of the line of guards spectating your shouting match, not moving to look at you, just kind of throwing their collective prescence.
"This is a house of the Emperor. Fighting among the faithful is not allowed. Are we clear?" As he stresses his words, he eyes Constantine, patting the handle of his hammer.

[Dr.Gara]

"Cut it. Both of you are acting like children. Lets go, Lasciel." Darius looks pissed. He turns to the guards. "Apologies about that... I assure you it won't be an issue here again." He starts to follow the Lasciel.

[KasmKat]

Chuckling quietly Constantine stands again, “Of course, it is simply that one needs to state one’s position on some things, as I’m sure you understand.” He says turning and facing the guard, his hand straying near the hammer on his belt slowly, tapping the head softly. “However I will stop disturbing you and do as the sister has Suggested.”

[Cogsrow]

-SHe raises an eyebrow- It wasn't a fight, it was a discussion -She bows to the guards- Have a good day -walks with Darius and looks at him- I don't like that constantine, he reeks of something fowl

[Dr.Gara]

"He's yet to try to kill us. I doubt he will. I don't quite trust him, but I don't have active reason to distrust him, either. Not sure if it'll be worth keeping an eye on, but I will anyway." He clears his throat. "That said. You could do not to antagonize him, intentionally or otherwise. We have reason to have some semblance of group consolidation.

[Cogsrow]

-She looks at darius- Someone has to lead, and when dealing with members of the church it is most prudent to make it seem like the member of the sisters of battle is in charge, that lends weight to our actions, we arn't outsiders we are trusted allies. He ruined that, now we seem divisive and not all acting towards the same goal

[Saulk]

"The conversation should be terminated. We will proceed to the machine. You should be honoured. You will see a small part of the Mechanicus rituals. Come." With a more purposeful movement, Gaius proceeds in the direction of the data terminal, and arriving at it, kneels down in front of it, his hands folded in prayer to the Mechanical God, the words sounding like verbal renderings of binary code. When this is completed, he removes his vials of machine oil and other items, spreading them out on an unfolded red cloth in front of the machine. "Speak, I ask: Tell me of your troubles that I may repair." He paused once more, this time almost as if listening to the machine. When he is finished with this, he begins to manipulate the machine, the entire time chanting in a vox-grille enhanced voice.

Actions
Logic - [roll0] vs. 36 to analyze the situation and decide a best course of action and what ails the machine spirit
Tech Use - [roll1] vs. 46 to placate the machine

Well, I obviously have no idea what's wrong with the machine, but damned if I can't fix it ;]

[KasmKat]

Constantine Follows the Mechanicus Priest happily, knowing that attempting to get a reaction out of him will be pointless he simply observes the surroundings, carefully checking everywhere they go.

Awareness to notice anything off or unusual about the area or the machine Gaius is working on (36) - [roll0] - Fail :(

[RedSand]

That's what Gaius expects to happen, anyway. When he arrives at the prayer room to find a small, out of the way-hall with several papers messily strewn about. Gaius can see into the room via an open door. A man and a woman are arguing loudly in a thick hiver dialect, while a third stands at a large console that is clearly malfunctioning from improper use. He slams his fist into the keys, cursing at it. None of them notice Gaius and company approaching.