RT2.0 Playtest IC - Team Villainy

[The Glyphstone]

You have come to Port Wander in search of trade, profit, and most important of all, glory. Perched on the edge of the Calixis Sector, in the far reaches of the Drusian Marches, Port Wander is the gateway to the Koronus Expanse and the vast untamed void beyond. The station itself hangs massive and silent in the baleful light of Rubycon II, surrounded by the shattered remnants of ancient asteroids and serviced by a flotilla of Imperial vessels both large and small.

Upon your arrival you have been greeted by several formal envoys and salutations from both the Imperial Authority and other Rogue Traders, welcoming your dynasty to port and honouring your right to passage. This kind of reception is one you have grown used to and is no less than you would expect. However, one vox message stands out and demands your attention. Recorded in your dynasty’s personal cipher, the message is from a man who calls himself Orbest Dray. He says he has been waiting a long time for a member of the Ersatz family line to return, and carries a message and a gift from Askalaman Ban Ersatz, Kalisa's great-grandfather. He would meet with you as soon as you have docked at a specified location in the Court of the Dead; Port Wander’s vast markets. It is a matter, he says, that promises great glory.



Dojango - Ronaldo, Arch-Militant
Sinewmire - Mattias Shadrach, Senschal
ToxicMind - Kalisa Ben Ersatz, Rogue Trader
OptimumSquare - Romulos Typho, Explorator

[Toxic Mind]

Kalisa walks along the gantries of Port Wander, heading towards the Court of the Dead. Her retinue surrounds her, a small cadre of house guard armed with finely maintained lasguns, enough to show force but not enough to be seen as threatening, or more importantly, a sign of weakness or fear. Among the carapace armored soldiers are her command crew, the ones that deigned to come with at least. All of them, guards and officers, wear the same emblem upon their shoulders, the sigil of house Ersatz, a sword above a field of fire, with one major exception - a black line bisects the sigil from corner to corner. Her own addition to the house livery, a small measure to nettle her family, and express her unending disdain.

"So Mattias, Ronaldo" she says conversationally "What do you think it is this time? Another map to a lost ship of the dynasty? A poor defenseless mining colony? A vault of hidden archeotech? Or will this one try to shoot us like the last two?" Her voice is jovial, as if discussing the weather or the quality of the most recent grox-meat shipment, but underneath there is steel. Its not difficult to see why; she cuts an imposing figure in her power armor, looking like she would be more at home in a Sororitas convent than the underdecks of a space station. It wasn't far from the truth, but fate is so rarely what we want it to be. With each stride, there is the soft tap of metal on metal as the haft of the long glaive she carries rests lightly on the deck below her feet. With the blade, its as tall as she is in her armor, and she carries it with the ease of one long used to such a burden.

She does not pause for a response to her question - if idle talk was to be done, it was done en route to an objective, and never at the cost of security or speed. She has to remind herself yet again that this is Port Wander, not a battlefield. The danger here is more in politics than in firearms, though there was always the possibility of that too...

[dojango]

Ronaldo followed a step behind Lady Ersatz. Ronaldo had, in fact, just come from the underdecks of the station. He and a few dozen men had been rounding up new crewmen when Lady Ersatz asked him to join her. He absently flecked some vomit off the cuff of his new coat. Expertly tailored by the staff back on the ship, it covered and concealed his armor. The ship's tailor had even thoughtfully added his family's heraldry to the coat, a rearing xenotiger, pierced with arrows, in green and gold. It was in an inferior position to Ersatz's, of course, but there. The drunken voidsman he had sucker-punched and thrown on the cart had vomited on his arm, regrettably. But the ship was down a few hundred crew, and they couldn't be picky at the moment. He would have the cost of cleaning the coat deducted from the man's wages. Not that he needed to, of course, but it was the principle of the thing.

Ronaldo chuckled politely at her jest, but continued his wary scan of the crowds. "The message came in your dynasty's cipher, which, as i understand, is only used by a few thousand people. So that does limit the potential sources." He frowned for a minute as his mind leapt to the logical conclusion. "Possibly a family member, then? Anyone we know on station? Anyone trying to move up in the line of succession recently?"

[Sinewmire]

Matthias nods politely at Ronaldo's suggestions. He's dressed better than usual, his habitual dusty grey working gear changed for a showier shore-going outfit in trader Ersatz' livery with it's strike-through firesword emblem on the shoulder. It wouldn't do to shame the ship or the captain with shabbiness and, to his mind, a little calculated gaudiness makes him less eyecatching in the entourage.

Walking at his accustomed half-pace behind Ronaldo's left, Matthias keeps his gravelly smoker's voice pitched appropriately respectfully neutral, with just a dash of dry humour. Even in a jocular mood there was always the unspoken thread of high temper running in the Captain's steely posture. "No doubt, your Ladyship. In time-honoured Port Wander fashion, I 'spect it'll be business before pleasure. Enigmatic threats then the shooting." Matthias' Malfian hive-world accent, never quite shed, adds to the scrape of his voice. Yer Ladyship, business before pleshah. "Let's hope we can keep the collateral damage down this time, eh Master von Drakkan? They must've been moppin' up that Antarxian hit squad for months."

Forebearing from speculating on the origin of the letter - they all know it's likely a trap, and mention of the Family is most like to upset the Captain - Matthias triple-checks the rest of the entourage, names and faces. Better to march into a situation being sure of your companions. As sure as anyone can be in the Emperor's galaxy, anyway.

[Toxic Mind]

At Ronaldo's suggestion of moving up the line, she snorts. "That list is as long as there are people with the name." It wasn't far from the truth - the Ersatz family was ruled by the strong, and the weak either served or died. It was a rare scion who could balance the knife-edge of family politics. Those that could, herself included she supposed, were all the more dangerous for the experience. "Though I suppose Cousin Archibald likely still holds a grudge after we tagged his xenotech shipment for the Arbites. Last I heard he framed the Merchant's Guild for the sale - got him out of the firing line, but cost him an obscene amount of coin." She shrugs at this. It was old hat for her family, buying out the law and punishment with wealth and power. It would catch up to them in the end, but for now she took what pleasure she could at making their lives difficult.

As they approach the market, she shakes her head softly at Matthias' insinuation. "You still have much to learn about Rogue Traders, Seneschal of mine. For my family, the shooting is the business and the pleasure in one." What was the old saying? 'When dealing with one Rogue Trader, prepare for war. When dealing with two, you've already got one.'

[dojango]

Responding to Matthias, "Mmmm, I hope not. I rather liked that restaurant. We did leave a substantial tip, after all. Besides, it was extraordinarily impolite to attack us before the main course. As I always say, betrayal is like a heavy port wine. Either serve it with dessert, or not at all."

[optimumsquare]

Romulos Typho marched along with his Rogue Trader's cohort. The red robes of Mars draped and obscured a misshapen figure. His face was hidden behind a cowl and a built in rebreather so that only two dark eyes could be seen. An ocular mechandrite snaked back and forth above his head, constantly observing for something unknowable. He bore the Omnissian Power Axe which he leaned heavily on as he walked. Flitting about him was a servo skull, which constantly darted about.

[The Glyphstone]

The Court of the Dead is a massive, open-air (for what little the term is worth on a space station) bazaar in one of the lower levels of Port Wander. Crowds of people swarm hither and yon, their simple garb variously marking them as traders, merchants, or common workers. The stench of concentrated humanity is strong here, and it takes several moments of scanning the crowds before the man who must be Orbus Dray stands out near a row of booths close to an exit tunnel. He is an old man dressed no differently than anyone else in the bazaar, the simple and extensively mended robes of a Administratum scribe hanging loose on his frame. The House sigil gleams from a badge clipped to the neck of his tunic, and he is moving towards the group where most others are avoiding or moving around the heavily armed party.

[Toxic Mind]

Kalisa does not break stride. With a gesture to the house guard, no spoken word or command, they fan out, expanding the cordon and zone of protection. They don't stop people from walking or even push them around, but few are willing to go near the armed guards either way. "Dray." It is not a question, but rather a watchword, a signal of mutual understanding. "I received your message, and have come. Now why don't we retire somewhere more quiet and have this out. The Bazaar is hardly a place for a meeting." The first in a series of tests and gambles. No one would discuss secret business in the Bazaar under the watchful eyes and constantly listening ears of under-deck dwellers, so if the matter is worthless, she will know before a single offer passes his vocal cords. Solitude serves her purposes as well, given her reputation among her family - if she needed to dispose of him, it was far cheaper with less witnesses.

[Sinewmire]

"Very good Mamzel, business-like pleasure, no doubt."
As Dray is spotted Matthias watches unobtrusively, easy enough next to a figure as imposing as Kalisa. Clearly the time for sang-froidly chitchat is over, and Matthias is forced to leave Ronaldo's observation unanswered. Better to let the high-borns have the last word anyway.

Matthias eyes Dray as trader Ersatz begins her social assault. The opening moments might well reveal his intentions. Once their discussion begins in earnest, he allows his eyes to wander away from Dray, Kalisa, Ronaldo and Magos Typho. They play over the rest of the Commercia level, like the gaze of the Emperor, seeing all. He is looking for anyone who might have long-hearing techno-arcana, or even someone displaying a suspicious degree of nonchalance. After all, Dray likely has *lots* of attention now, and Matthias is not the bodyguard. Better to be looking where nobody else is.

Absent-mindedly, Matthias puts a hand on the scabbard at his waist, feeling it's scaled crotalisk-hide length for the familiar dents and nicks.


Scrutiny on Dray, specifically for reactions to being addressed.
[roll0] vs 53

Awareness to spot anyone looking at us too hard or not enough.
[roll1] vs 33

reroll from Keen Intuition if failed
[roll2] vs 23

[dojango]

Recognizing the badge, if not the man attached to it, Ronaldo moves behind Dray, carefully watching him for sudden movements, hidden weapons and the like.

[roll0] v 33

[The Glyphstone]

Dray answers with a string of seemingly gibberish syllables, apparently expecting a response in kind from Kalina. When none comes, he scowls and replies in Low Gothic. "Fine. There's no shortage of empty corridors this far down, unless you're worried about the rats eavesdropping on us."

A diffident gesture towards the myriad of connecting passages leading into and out of the Bazaar invites her to pick one.


Dray is grumpy and irritated - he got grumpier when he saw Kalina's sigil, and even grumpier when she didn't respond to whatever private cant he used. But if he intends malice or outright hostility, there is no sign of it in his demeanor.



Dray does have a pistol holster under his robes from the outline it makes on the fabric, but no other apparent weapons.

[Toxic Mind]

Kalisa gestures down one of the tunnels, away from the bazaar, and the guards move to secure the area before she takes a step. "Clearly," she says as they wait, "you have yet to run afoul of the Pirate Prince Or'an'eth, called "The Piper". He had an entire ship of mentally enslaved rodents which ran the entire frigate. Filthy xenotech, obviously, but surprisingly effective. Those rats were far smarter than the average voidsman, to be sure." Kalisa muses. At the signal from her house guard that the area was safe, or relatively so, she moves without looking to see if Dray followed.

[optimumsquare]

Romulos begins chattering. "What a fascinating dialect you have there. Is it a void cant? A code? A xenos language?" Romulos inhales sharply through his built in rebreather. The sound that this generates is somewhere between a hiss and the error tone of a cogitator. "Are you a heretic?" Not that Romulous has a problem with Heretics. His favorite person is a heretic. Well, alleged heretic. Romulos disputes that claim.

[dojango]

"Now, now, Master Magos. We don't accuse people of heresy. At least, not on the first date." Ronaldo signals to two of his men and they sweep through the alley, removing any lurking vagrants at bayonet point. Once done, he makes a sweeping bow to the lady and says, "After you."

[Sinewmire]

Matthias goes with Ronaldo's men, with a respectful nod at the man himself for his efficiency. He busies himself discreetly double-checking their work. He has a network of informers on and off the ship, that's his job, but he can never quite trust something unless he's seen it, felt it, made sure of it. Like a knot on a climbing rope, you want to be sure.

He raises an eye at the Magos' spurt of talk. Is he talking to me? He wonders. Keeping out of the Magos' enginarium is a matter of convenient politeness and also a touch of religious dread. Never did care for the mysteries of the mechanicus, nor the dead-eyed stare of that many servitors. Matthias is a trained expert in reading people, but the Magos, on the rare occasions they meet, makes him ever-so-slightly nervous.

Hand on the butt of his hellpistol, Matthias walks to the auspicious location chosen for the clandestine assignation. Witnessing Ronaldo's courtly bow, he frowns for a microsecond. How did the man manage to make it look as graceful and practiced as walking? "Hardly a privacy-fielded booth in the Castellan's chambers, Lady Captain Ben Ersatz, but it's no pulpit neither."


[roll0] vs 53 Checking chosen location for listening devices, bombs, inadvisable decor etc.

[The Glyphstone]

The passage has some clutter from itinerant vendors and vagrants, but nothing that seems to indicate a pre-prepared ambush.


Dray gives Romulos an even more foul look, if that was possible, but otherwise does not deign to answer the question. Once they're separate from the teeming crowds, he stops and gives Kalina a stiff bow - precise to the millimeter within the minimum of respectful, a visible contrast to Ronaldo's grandiose gesture.

"I don't need any proof of your identity, Lady Rogue Trader, even if you can't speak the tongue. No one who wasn't of the blood would dare deface the sigil like that. At least they wouldn't have when I was an armsman, who knows now. But I made an oath, and I'll carry it out."

From the folds of his robes, he produces a small, sealed stasis casket. "A hundred years ago and change, Lord Askalaman dropped me off here on Port Wander. Told me to make myself scarce, cut every tie I had and wait until the next time he or one of his line set foot on the station. I was to give this to them. It's gene-locked to Ben Ersatz blood, so I have no idea what's inside. Maybe it's a map to some lost ship of the dynasty. Maybe a vault of hidden archaeotech. Maybe it's just a tox dispenser, he was the sort of man to think that uproariously funny."

[optimumsquare]

"Dibs on the archaeotech!" shouted Romulos. When everyone just shoots him a withering stare he timidly recoils. "Sorry, dibs probably doesn't a apply here. You see when I was void wrecked, and some one would die, whoever called dibs got to eat him first. Come to think of it, dibs was never honored, because we were all starving and if you let someone else eat first you were probably going to die next. Looking back, that always led to a fight. Just forget I said anything. What's in the box?"

[Toxic Mind]

Kalisa takes the box. It was possible that her ancestor had left some trap, but far more likely was the possibility that there was some information of grave import within. It was fortuitous that she had arrived here and not one of her brothers or cousins. Anything left for the Ersatz family that she could deny them was a victory in her book. Besides, even if it was a trap, she had her blessed Rosarius to protect her. The field within the icon had not failed her yet, and she took it as an ever-present symbol of the God-Emperor's approval of her current course of action. "Something that will annoy my family to no end that I possess and they do not" she says absentmindedly to Romulos. She barely acknowledges his ramblings anymore - the man, if he could still be called such, was a genius with machines, but his mind was certainly cracked in many places. His musings had lost their humor long ago.

Slowly, with some deference, she places her finger into the gene-sensor.

[dojango]

The talk of hidden tox dispensers had put Ronaldo on edge. Losing one Rogue Trader had been bad enough, losing two would be embarrassing. He put an arm around Dray and said, "One hundred years and you finally get to see what's inside! Big day, eh? What exactly was your position with the late Lord Askalaman's fleet?"

[The Glyphstone]

Stiffly, Drey answers, "I was my Lord's chief armsman."

The needle of the gene-scanner bites into Kalisa's fingertip, verifying her identity. Lights flicker as the ancient device wakes fully, disengaging the preservative stasis field and cracking open to reveal its contents. Inside sits a smooth lump of black stone and a small pict-projector, which hums to life and begins to project the holographic image of a man's face; broad and heavy-jowled with dark, cold eyes.

"Congratulations, my lucky descendant. If you're the one who killed me, I hope I didn't make it easy on you. If you're further down the line than that, I hope you made them beg before the end. This is my insurance policy, because if I can't get my hands on the treasure, better one of my blood than some weak-livered hymn-slinging fool, and you seeing this message means I failed. I've found a map that leads to the Righteous Path - go ahead, laugh. It's real, I know where it is, and I'm going to go and loot it. Or you are, I suppose. There's a copy of the map in this box, and I've given it to my armsman....Ray..Grey...something like that...to hold until either I come back or a successor comes following my footsteps. Qui non quæ sua sunt quærunt pupillo defendite viduam, Est igitur meritis indebita. Now go get rich, and give someone hell."

The recording ends, leaving the broad corridor silent. Drey looks like someone shot his puppy in front of him. "The Righteous Path, my lord? You marooned me here at the ass end of nowhere, left your dynasty to rot, and went haring off to follow a drunken voidsman's ghost story?"

[Toxic Mind]

Kalisa snorts and shakes her head. "The fact, Drey, that this surprises you in the slightest means you didn't know my family at all." There is a note of genuine sadness now. "Loyalty, to House Ersatz, is simply another coin to be spent and discarded. 'Loyalty has the greatest return on investment of any currency, but only if you know when to spend it.'" She says solemnly, as if reciting from a book. "My father told me that when I was ten. Then he killed my Atraxian Hunting Hound for having the audacity to growl at him after he struck me." A single hand raises, almost involuntarily, to a cheek, then returns to the box in front of her.

She shuts the box sharply, and the moment snaps like an over-taut bowstring. "Now - if my filth of a relative saw fit to leave this, there must be some value in it. It's not the Path, of course, but it might be some other wreck of value." She turns to her command crew. "Thoughts and opinions," then looks at Romulos "keep them short and to the point." Drey is back to being ignored, though the house guard prevent him from going anywhere, if he should attempt such a thing.

[optimumsquare]

"That is so sad!" Said Romulos. "Atraxian Hunting Hounds are such a handsome bread. Surprising cuddly when given proper care. Was it a cuddler?" He redirects his attention to Drey. "And you," he points at the armsman. "He didn't even remember your name. You gave up over a a century for a man who didn't know your name. Throne of Terra that rips a hole in my synthetic heart. Do you need a hug?" Romulous opens his mechanical limbs for an embrace. Drey looks at him with a mixture of befuddlement and contempt. "Right," Romulos says, retracting his arms beneath the red robes of Mars. When his rogue trader gives him a look of utter disgust, he realizes that this wasn't the commentary she was looking for. "Oh, well, you probably wanted to hear what I thought about this Righteous Path, didn't you? Well I've never heard of it. It's a nice proper noun, but the message could have said I need you to find the Inquistors Toilet Paper, and it would have meant the same to me. What is the Righeous path? You seem to know."

[The Glyphstone]

"And you misunderstand as well, Lady ben Ersatz. My life and service was his to spend however he wished; I'm simply offended he spent it on something stupid..."

Before Romulos can reply, a flurry of noise and activity from the perimeter being held by the house guards draws everyone's attention. As one of them shouts an alarm, a handful of small spheres fly in low arcs from out of sight to land amongst the guardsmen before detonating in vicious blasts of light and sound. The pounding of booted feet follows instantly behind the stun grenades as a half-squad of masked and armored troopers charge around the corner, guns leveled at the command group even as a second half-squad rounds the corner from the other side. Drey blinks at them, swears, and pulls a hellpistol as he prepares to dive for what meager cover the corridor can offer - it's plain he has no idea who the attackers are.



Simultaneously, a winged avian shape swoops downward from the darkness of support beams high above, metal claws extended to snatch the casket out of Kalisa's hand.

(you can take a Half Action to interfere with the theft before combat begins. How you do so is up to you.)


Initiative tracker:
Matthias @ 14
Kalisa @ 13
Romulus @ 13
Hostile Armsmen @ 9
Ronaldo @ 6
Orbus Drey @ 5

(Everyone except Ronaldo post a combat action please. SOMEBODY decided to go off the rails here:smallsmile:, I don't have a pre-fabricated combat map. There are five hostiles each to the north and south, roughly 40m away on either side. The corridor is mostly open, but you can take a Half Action to crouch behind something and gain 2 AP worth of cover.)

[optimumsquare]

(Posting now, but will act on my initiative order. Unless Marcus/Kalisa do something crazy, it's going to be the same).

Romulos's plasma pistol is in his hand before the end of the grenade barrage (quick draw talent). He takes a quick snap shot at the unknown attacker before diving behind a pile of refuse. "Rogue Trader Kalisa Estaz," he calls out over the din. "I would like to revise my assesment of Armsman Drey's news. I think it is of great value since apparently these people are willing to kill over it, and we should investigate further. Either that, or Drey owes people a lot of money. He could be a bad gambler. We should capture and interrogate one of these men to determine which it is."

Quick draw weapon as a free action, shoot as a half action, get in cover as a half action
Roll: (1d100 vs 39:
Damage: [roll]1d10+6 energy, pen 6

[optimumsquare]

trying again for damage: [roll0] energy damage, 6 penetration

[Sinewmire]

"There's a huge reward on it, even if it's not this legendary wreck. Worth a look, in my option, Lady Captain. It's risky, but what isn't in these times?"
Matthias, watching always what the others are not, reacts a split second before everyone else, and sees, from the corner of an eye, the shadowy avian swoop, recognising the troops for what they are. A diversion.

"It's always the second carnosaur that gets you! The one you don't see."

With no time to consider, Matthias draws his hellpistol, not more than an inch from his hand anyway. As the whatever-it-is swoops from the darkness, a shot of high-powered laser energy might just frak up it's eyes long enough to foil it, Emperor willing.


Quick-Draw weapon
To Hit: [roll0] vs 50 (Fate for +10, BS40)
Damage: [roll1] + 4, Pen7

Spend 1 fate point to blind target for 3 rounds using Crippling Strike


Once the airborne menace has been fired at, looking for the best cover, he will point it out to his captain before finding the second best cover.

Once he's out of immediate danger of being shot or synapse-locked, Matthias spends a moment taking stock of their enemies. Station security perhaps? Stun grenades suggests Enforcers, but guns less so.
[roll2] vs 53

I assume that's all I'll have time for in my round - point, shout, dive for cover and take a peek.

[Toxic Mind]

Kalisa dives for cover, seeking to pull the box to her and away from prying talons or claws or hands or whatever. With the next movement, she guards herself, and searches for the offending thing.

Take Cover, Guarded Action

[The Glyphstone]

As the bulk of the group is turned to face the dual-sided threat, Matthias is the only one to look up and see the third jaw of the trap. With lightning speed, he draws his pistol and fires a perfectly aimed shot into the descended creature. Blinded and out of control, its triumphant cry turns into a confused and distressed squawk as it rams headlong into the stasis casket in Kalisa's hand, knocking it loose and sending both box and cyber-augmented bird plummeting to the ground. The casket cracks open on impact, sending its contents bouncing across the deckplates.

Matthias himself dives for cover with Kalisa following suit. Romulos pops off a shot from his plasma pistol at the closest of the attackers and elicits a bellow of pain from the man while joining his compatriots behind something fairly solid. This proves to be a wise decision for all involved, as seconds later the northern half-squad of attackers opens fire, filling the hallway with a veritable storm of bullets. They don't appear to be aiming at anything or anyone in particular, but the sheer volume of lead in the air makes it hard to move anywhere but down. The southern five instead begin firing point-blank shots into the handful of stunned and helpless house armsmen they are mingled with.


All characters must roll Willpower at -20 (-30 if your origin path includes The Hand of War) or become Pinned. Pinning has the following effects:
-You may only take a Half Action on your turn, and suffer -20 to Ballistic Skill tests.
-If you are in cover, you may not leave that cover. If you are not in cover, your action must be spent getting into cover.
-At the end of your turn, you may test Willpower to recover from the Pinning condition - +0 normally, -10 with The Hand of War. Being in cover grants an additional +30 to this check.


All four PCs may post their actions after resolving the Pinning tests, though Ronaldo will take precedence due to being at the 'top' of the round now.

[Toxic Mind]

As the bullets whip overhead, Kalisa keeps her head down, quickly drawing her pistol. "Get the map!" she whispers through gritted teeth to Matthias. Whatever the truth, someone thinks this is worth killing for.

Pinning: [roll0] vs 9

[Sinewmire]

[roll0] vs 17 (WP 27, +10 Captain's Rosarius, -20 Difficulty)

Arrr, that means no.

[optimumsquare]

Willpower [roll0] vs 16

[dojango]

[roll0] v. 24

[dojango]

Ronaldo is too busy keeping an eye on Dray. As the stun grenades go off and bullets start flying, all he can do is sputter, "I say. I say, what d'ye think you're doing!" he shouts out as he ducks down past a few stacked pallets. He had not been planning to be shot at today...

pinned, so spending my half action to get into cover

[The Glyphstone]

Drey dives to the ground as well, scuttling behind the nearest piece of cover with surprising spryness for an old man.

[dojango]

[roll0] v. 44

[Sinewmire]

Matthias attempts a cautious peek at the nearest soldiers, but the suppressing fire hitting the overturned commercia-cart he's sheltering behind snap him back into the cover. No point seeing them if it's the last thing you see.

"Sorry Lady Captain, but I don't want to get blood all over it, least of all mine!"

Matthias can't risk leaving cover right now. He admires the Captain's bravado, but who does she think he is, some Tempestus Scion? Maybe he doesn't have to risk his hide, though...

Matthias unsheathes his sword and tries to reach the map with the tip. Maybe I can sort of slide it along the deck plating towards me? He thinks out loud, tongue poking out of the side of his mouth as he finagles the blade.

[Sinewmire]

[roll0] vs 12 (WS - 20 for size)

[optimumsquare]

Romulos fires a shot over cover. With a quick command in binary, he directs his servo-skull to retrieve the holoprojector.


Shooting [roll0] vs. 19
WP test [roll1] vs 66

[optimumsquare]

And his plasma pistol overheats!


Energy damage [roll0] - 10 armor (7 from power armor, 2 from subdermal implants, 1 from armor monger)

He screams in binary. "Cursed weak flesh" as pain shoots up his arm. "Will someone please remind me to look at the available bionics while we are here?" After a moment of rubbing his wounded hand, he remebers that he has logis-implant that allows him perfect recall. "Wait, never mind" he shouts out, "I'll remember." To himself he mutters, "Or will I? I forgot I had that implant. Is it damaged? Should I get them to remind me anyways?" A laser burns away a portion of the crate he's using for cover. "No, no, I'll remember."

Wound Tracker: 1 of 15

[Toxic Mind]

[roll0] vs 59

Kalisa readies herself to bring death to these scum. There had been enough hiding for one day.

Wounds: 9/9
Fate: 5/5
Rosarius: 4/5

[The Glyphstone]

Matthias successfully catches the black stone with the tip of his sword, pulling it almost to his feet. The cyber-raven chirps angrily and spins in his direction - still visibly blind, but its head is unerringly aimed at the stone nonetheless. It lunges forward, scooping up the stone in its beak and giving a harsh screech of triumph. Unfortunately for it, this sends the stone dropping out of its grasp back to the floor next to Matthias. The bird is frozen for a moment, head tilted and wings drooped in an almost human-like expression of embarrassment.

Elsewhere, the five attackers engaged with the crew cease their unaimed barrage and begun firing carefully aimed bursts instead. Bullets smack into the ground, whatever cover is available, and possibly unprotected flesh...


Everyone ends up taking 2 hits from the autogun fire; Ronaldo was the unlucky sap who got two attackers, but the second missed outright. Roll your Dodge reactions; for each hit you fail to negate you lose a Field charge (if you have one) or suffer 6 Impact damage, Pen 3.

Ronaldo is up for regular actions, I believe.

[Sinewmire]

His attention on the mischevious psyber-raven, Matthias has little chance to dodge the bullets, now they're not just whizzing around above his head.

[roll0] vs 14
Autofire tears through the flimsy reconstituted panelling of the commerce-cart, large chunks blasted away. A few slugs bury themselves in the backplate of Matthias' flak armour, hard enough to bruise, but not deadly. This cover's getting torn up like the mud in front of a trench. These boys really came loaded for Behj.

[dojango]

Ronaldo was outraged. These... common guttersnipes, interfering with their business! The anger made him forget about the bullets winging past. A few shots bounced off the pallet he was standing behind, and he felt a sudden thud as one connected, but he was too angry to stop and worry about it. Besides, his fine armor (embossed with the heraldry of his prior employer, may he rest in the emperor's grace), was proof against such meager insults. His rifle was strapped to his back. He quickly pulled it out and hip-fired it at one of the interlopers. One of the attackers staggered back as the shot took him in the chest.


Dodge Test: [roll0] v. 54
Standard Attack: [roll1] v. 81 (51+ 10 (AM) + 10 (Standard attack) + 10 (Short range)

Dmg: [roll2] (4 pen)

[The Glyphstone]

Ronaldo's shot lands true, elicting a grunt of pain from his target. Off to the side, Drey levels his hellpistol and fires at the same man, but the shot goes wild.



Matthias, Kalisa, and Romulus can act. Targets are still 40m away, with the following wounds states: Unwounded, Unwounded, Lightly Wounded (15/18), Unwounded, Lightly Wounded (11/18).

[Sinewmire]

[roll0] vs 57 (27 WP + 30 cover etc)

[Sinewmire]

Lot of bullets, not my job. Map. My job.
Matthias nods to himself. Priorities, right.
Ignoring the cover around him rapidly disintegrating (well, mostly) Matthias levels his hellpistol at the psyber-raven. No thief, no theft. The Master-of-Arms can take care of the bully-boys along with the captain for now, surely?

[roll0] vs 60 BS 40, pinning -20, Point Blank Range +30, +10 Single shot
[roll1]+4 dmg pen 7

[Sinewmire]

[roll0] vs 57 (as per last turn)

[Toxic Mind]

As two more shots sizzle into nothingness off her Rosarius' field, Kalisa levels her plasma pistol at the bird-thing that was attempting to steal from them. If these goons wanted what was hers, they'd have to take it in close combat.

Aim +10
Plasma Pistol: [roll0] vs 45

[Toxic Mind]

The plasma gun overheats, and with a howl she drops the offending item to the alleyway. Figures. she thinks angrily to herself. This is why you use a melta-gun.

[The Glyphstone]

Matthias's hellpistol shot takes the cyber-raven square in the chest, and the creature promptly explodes in a cloud of superheated fluids and augmetic shards. From somewhere behind the attackers, a faint feminine scream is clearly audible over the gunfire.

As if reacting to a signal of some kind, the group of ambushers stop shooting and begin to disengage. The south half-squad sprints back around the corner and vanishes, leaving behind them a scattering of still-warm armsman corpses. The five that were exchanging fire with Kalisa and her command crew attempt to do the same, but as they fall back into the Court of the Dead a new voice booms out above the shouts. "STATION SECURITY! DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER!" More autogun fire answers the amplified enforcer, which is in turn replaced by the throaty roar of riot shotguns.

[dojango]

"Looks like we've got a job opening for you, Master Dray, should you be in need of work," says Ronaldo. He shoulders his rifle again and strides out as the men retreat. "Station Security! Good of you to come. Lord von Drakkan de Vieques. These guttersnipes were attacking a rogue trader during the execution of her warrant. Send any survivors to our ship so we can do an enhanced interrogation. Several of them escaped to the south; such reprobates who would raise a hand against an Imperial noble should not go unpunished."

[Toxic Mind]

Kalisa quickly takes the map and the recording and secrets them on her person. She wasn't about to have the station security confiscate them as 'evidence' just so they could disappear anyways. Retrieving her pistol and standing, she walks towards the voices, glaive in hand and standing tall, her Rosarius displayed prominently atop her Sororitas Pattern Power Armour. As she reaches the newcomers, she removes her helmet so they can see her face. "Stand down, men." she says to the remaining 3 house guard. Their other 3 companions lay bleeding out on the floor, and the order was quite unnecessary, but by the God-Emperor she was in command here and they would remember it.

[optimumsquare]

Romulos retrieves his plasma pistol and holsters it, although he leaves it unclapsed for easy access should the situation escalate. He turns towards station security but sets his occular mechandrite to follow the actions of the enforcer ambushers. Who are doing what now that station security has shown up?

[The Glyphstone]

The Court of the Dead is mostly clear by this point - the noises caused by excessive quantities of gunfire are an excellent incentive to vacate the vicinity. This makes singling out the remaining occupants easy. Of the five people who attempted to ambush the crew, two are clearly dead - likely the two already wounded from exchanging shots with Ronaldo and Romulos. One is unconscious and being roughly tended two by an enforcer medic, and the remaining two manacled on the ground. The dozen Arbites troopers surrounding them look no worse for the wear other than being slightly out of breath, and their sergeant gives Ronaldo a tight-lipped smile.

"Arbitrator-Sergeant Targos, Port Wander Security. Your offer is much appreciated, milord, but rest assured the Adeptus Arbites is well capable of performing its own enhanced interrogations. I am curious as to what you might know about their potential motives, though. Acts of violence are not uncommon here on Port Wander, but ones of this scale inevitably draw attention."

His eyes flicker briefly to Kalisa as she emerges from the passage with her surviving armsmen forming up in a protective close triangle, but says nothing.

[Sinewmire]

Matthias slips the gemstone into his coat's inside pocket, noting with annoyance that his fine jacket was now torn and blackened with gunfire.
After making a few mental notes about the bird and the female shout he heard, Matthias shelves it - not the sort of thing to talk about in front of the Enforcers.
Sheathing his pistol and returning his sword to it's scabbard, he briefly checks the Enforcers' heraldry. Are they obviously fake? Probably not important, if you can provide fake enforcers you can probably provide fake heraldry too.

So who is looking to see what the enforcers are doing? Who wants to know who has lived or died? Is there a woman glaring at me with hatred? There's plenty of eyes on the main target, what else is going on?

[roll0]vs 53

[roll1] vs 33

[Toxic Mind]

"You're all fired." she says curtly to the house guard. "Allowing an enemy force to encircle and pin us. Unacceptable." The guards don't move, and they don't respond. By now, they know better. "Your pay will be docked until I decide otherwise, which will likely be until the scuffs in my armor have been properly buffed out. By hand." she adds vehemently.

As an afterthought, Kalisa looks at the two dead House Guard, and sighs. "You survived, so you'll receive a raise as well. It will be less," she wags a finger in front of one of their faces "than your pay is being docked. So I expect my armor to be spotless."

After the tirade, she turns to the Arbitrator. "Sergeant Targos, was it?" Fury radiates from her armor like a melta bomb blast. "Two of my men are dead because of your incompetence, and my command crew could have been seriously injured in the attack. Explain to me exactly how Port Wander intends to make this right." She gestures to the other arbitrators, as if they were responsible.

Command: [roll0] vs 53
Using Air of Authority to affect them all.

[dojango]

"Mmm, yes. Well, once we interrogate these miscreants, we will know as well? I will tell you what, Lady ban Ersatz is always happy to support the station. We can split the prisoners. That way we can each interrogate one." Ronaldo draws his power sword and points it at the two men manacled on the ground. "But there's an odd number. Which one should we split in half? Start talking, lads, unless you'd like to volunteer to be cut in half."

Gonna try to intimidate some mooks. Any situational bonus for them being prisoners? [roll0] v. Strength of 30

[The Glyphstone]

Everything about the Arbitrators indicate they are legitimate. No one else is watching.


Ronaldo's dramatic posturing has no effect on the three prisoners, though several of the arbitrators are barely concealing smiles. Sergeant Targos, on the other hand, is not smiling at all anymore.

"Right now, Lady Rogue Trader, I'll be investigating the crimes that happened in my patrol beat. Good men and women are hurt or killed when your ilk bring their petty squabbles into Port Wander, and every time the people really responsible just walk away behind their precious Warrants. You think I give a damn about hired thugs who took your coin to wear your colors? These perpetrators will all be going into Arbites custody; if you want to know what we find out, ask for Precept-Marshall Valkyran at the precinct complex. Otherwise, finish your business here and leave before anyone important starts getting shot at."

Turning away from her, he barks orders to the troopers - the prisoners are roughly manhandled to their feet, with three others picking up the unconscious or dead bodies, and they start marching in loose order away across the court.

[optimumsquare]

As Romulos's occular mechandrite follows the withdrawing arbites and prisoners, his other eyes notice the remains of the cyber raven that attempted to magpie the map. While Ronaldo "distracts" the arbitor, he snakes out a mechandrite that pulls the charred remains of the enhanced creature. Hopefully, the creatures bionics will offer some clue as to it's owner.


To be used when Romulos has time to examine the bird.
[roll0] Vs. 49

[Sinewmire]

Matthias finishes skimming the crowd. Nobody is watching, so he ratchets his paranoia down 16% or so.

"Fascinating diversion, Lady Captain. What are your current orders? If you didn't have anything in mind, then I could perhaps make a few discreet inquiries about those soljers. Likely it won't turn up anyfin' but it might be worth trying on the off-chance. I 'ope you will excuse the presumption, but might we find ourselves a medicus, perhaps back aboard? Sire Typho's plasma burn could probably use a little medicae attention. No sense risking infection."

Matthias draws near - not too near, mind, mustn't be familiar - to the captain he subvocalises into his micro-bead.

"Might want to get our haul aboard, and discuss our next steps in private."

Matthias flashes a death-glare at Romulos in the hopes that he'll take the hint, and, prepares to vox-call for additional armsmen to rendezvous en-route. Is that the flash-fried avian in his hand? Matthias frowns slightly. He's an odd one, the Magos. "You alright, Sire Typho? I 'preciated you blasting away with that pistol of yours."

To Ranaldo:
"Never mind Sire von Drakken, maybe the Senioris back at their Fortress-precinct might be more minded to negotiate. I thought it was a good offer m'self."

[dojango]

Ronaldo sheathes the power sword. "Mmm, yes. Very fair. The warrants and titles will impress the Marshall, I am sure he understands the way of things more than his enforcers do. Dray, help the other armsmen with the body. Vacation time's over, back to work, eh? Once we find out who these troublemakers are working for, we can repay the debt, with interest. Bad for business if we don't, eh milady?"

[Toxic Mind]

Kalisa bristles. "You will regret those words, Arbitrator, of that you can be sure." Still, she lets the offensive man leave with no further words.

"We'll need to reconvene at the ship, of course." She nods at Matthias, taking his meaning. "Then visit the Marshal - he will explain this to my satisfaction or there will be hell to pay."

As she begins to leave, she gestures over her shoulder to Drey. "Collect that. We may have use of it."

[optimumsquare]

"What is it with your family and not knowing names?" Romulous asks as he helps up Drey. "He introduced himself not five minutes ago." Nevertheless he helps up Drey and begins walking with him to the ship. "It's Frank right?" he asks Drey.

[The Glyphstone]

Romulos studies the remains of the bird, but can learn nothing from his examination of its remains. He does, however, note fragmentary portions of some sort of crystalline matrix woven into its cyber-augments, the mechanical function of which he is uncertain.

Drey accepts his aid in getting to his feet, wavering a bit before steadying and holstering his pistol once more, but he makes no move to follow the group back towards the ship. "It is in her blood, whether she admits it to herself or not. No one is truly real to an Ersatz scion except themselves - not you, nor me, nor those guards, nor any living soul on this station, not even family members. We are tools to be wielded, toys to be amused by, or obstacles to be overcome. The cautious ones learn to hide it, to pretend that they think other humans are people like they are. The smart ones learn to control it, to use themselves as ruthlessly as they do anyone else to further their ends. The great ones...make all of that worth it to follow, for they remake the world around them as they wish it to be."

[Toxic Mind]

"Beautiful Poetry." Kalisa says, dryly. "It was not a request. You've seen the map, and are therefore a liability. You will accompany us, or I will add another to the Arbites body count." Her face is more like ceramite than flesh and her voice is an angry hiss as she gets right in his face. "Make no mistake, Drey. I would kill to protect my family in a heartbeat. Not my blood relatives, craven that they are, but the family I chose, who chose me. You are not family. You are a functionary of my worthless relations and have done nothing more than a paid courier would for me and mine. Do not speak to me of my blood relations again, and if you ever refer to me by that name, I will have your tongue."

She turns her back on the man and resumes her walk back to the ship, nodding for the house guard to fall in around her.

[The Glyphstone]

For the first time, a hint of a smile crosses the old man's face. He says nothing, but falls in to trail behind the group as they leave the Court of the Dead.

[Sinewmire]

Matthias accompanies the entourage back to the ship, watching out for pickpockets, spies and ne'er-do-wells.
He talks quietly with Drey as they walk back.
"No point railing against the nature of the galaxy, master Drey. Might as well try to talk down a charging Ork. It won't change anything and you waste your breath. The trick is to be really good at your job, serve your master well and then you'll have the patronage to achieve your own goals."

[roll0] vs 53 to chat up Drey

"I'll 'ave you assigned a comfortable couple of rooms in the officers' quarters for your stay. You must've heard some interesting rumours living on the station for so long. What's new in the subsector?"

[roll1] vs 63 to pump Drey for info

[optimumsquare]

Taking note of the crystalline matrix, Romulos takes the remains of the cyber raven to his enginarium on the ship. There he uses his tools to make a more thorough investigation.


Spend one Fate point to reroll tech use [roll0] vs 49

[dojango]

Ronaldo returns to his quarters on the ship. The voidsmen, of course, keep their quarters in the cramped spaces between the machinery they tend so carefully, while the run-of-the mill officers have their rooms in some particularly spacious fuel tanks that have been converted into living quarters. The few, the true nobility and the high officers have their quarters adjoining the magnificent luxury quarters on the castle of the ship. Ronaldo, naturally claimed the third-finest stateroom on the ship (the other two belonging to the rogue trader and the navigator), as befits his rank. While in the drawing room, his manservant helps him change out of his damaged coat. "More bullet holes, I'm afraid. Have the ship's tailor see to it, and add a little more space for the bolt pistol holster. It bunches up around holster. It looks dreadful."

The manservant bows, and lays out another coat. Not one with the ban Ersatz heraldry on it. "I thought something more... discrete... for your meeting with the Marshall, sir?" he says. Ronaldo allows the manservant to help him into the coat. He's quite certain that the manservant is one of the seneschal's informants, and so he takes the advice politely. Once neatly attired, he heads to his private dining room for a fine roasted void-quail with exotic potatoes, served thinly sliced and fried in the ancient french style. After dinner, selects a bottle of amasec from his wine-cellar and takes a private shuttle to a discrete dock on Port Wander, and heads for the fortress-precinct. He hands the secretary an embossed calling card. "Lord von Drakkan de Vieques here to see Precept-Marshall Valkryan, mm? Important business, be a darling and let him know I've arrived?" Folded up behind the card is a hundred-throne note.

Once he is into see the Marshall, he hands her the bottle of amasec. "Lady ban Ersatz's compliments, miss. You have a fine batch of men serving you. I am sure this is the first, and last time those miscreants will dare to disrupt the peace on your fine station? Her ladyship has a mandate to spread the Emperor's light into the darkest reaches of the galaxy, and she is concerned that there is an unknown hand trying to impede her sacred task, hmm? Have you determined just who, or what, motivated this brazen attempt to impede her ladyship?"

Going to try and charm the precept-Marshall to let us know who these scoundrels are. [roll0] v. TN 43.

FP if needed: [roll1]

[The Glyphstone]

Drey is still reserved, but friendly enough in return to Matthias. Now that the recent events are over he seems more tired than anything; close to a century and a half old with only back-alley rejuv treatments to sustain him. Unfortunately, he knows little of rumors or gossip, having apparently cut his ties and contacts as thoroughly as he was supposed to. The only exception was keeping an eye on who was known to be the current holder of the House Warrant, as to not be caught out by an imposter; Matthias learns that Kalisa's warrant has changed hands upwards of thirty times in the past century, ranging in duration from over ten years to less than an hour.


Back in his enginarium, the superior instruments and tools available to Romulos prove to be far more effective than a cursory field examination. After cross-referencing with his files and records, he is quite certain that the crystalline matrix overlying the more conventional bionics is intended for the purpose of psy-bonding; this raven was no mere servitor-analogue, but the linked familiar of a psyker. Such bonds permit the master to project their senses through their familiar and sometimes even their witch-powers. After an even more extensive archive trawl, Romulos is even able to identify the specific type of crystals, a rare type of gem made valuable by its affinity for pyrokinetic warp energies.


Ronaldo's visit to the looming bulk of the fortress-precinct goes smoothly. He is required to surrender his sidearm into a secured container while on the premises, though he is allowed to keep his sword. At the central desk, the uniformed Arbites officer raises an eyebrow at Ronaldo's address, but takes the card and bribe without another expression. "I'll see if the Precept-Marshall has a moment in her schedule to meet with you, Lord von Drakkan de Vieques."

He waves over an enforcer trainee from the wall, one of the half-dozen or so serving as couriers within the building, and hands him a note with orders to check the Precept-Marshall's availability. After about ten minutes of waiting, the courier returns and hands off his message to the officer to read. "You are in luck, milord. Precept-Marshall Valkyran has just returned from the interrogation cells and will see you. Please follow the guide to her office."

It takes almost five minutes of walking through sterile, unadorned corridors to reach their destination, and Ronaldo is let in through the guarded door. Inside, an extremely dour-looking woman in Arbites uniform and sporting a spectacular scar across both cheeks is seated at a desk. The offer of amasec apparently goes a long way towards lightening her sour moo, enough that she calls for a chair to let Ronaldo sit as well. "At least the Lady ban Ersatz is polite when not under fire, even if once removed. You are correct in two of your statements, and wrong in at least one. Most of these men were known to us as muscle for hire, though after today they will indeed never commit another crime here or anywhere else.And while I do not know exactly what this exercise in Trader politics-by-violence was motivated by, I do know at least one party that was definitely involved. Before I share anything further, Lord von Drakken de Vieques, you will need to explain what we found in the possession of their leader."

From a pouch, she pulls a piece of cloth, cut neatly from a uniform not dissimilar to those Kalisa's armsmen wear. Upon it is a sigil, which is again not dissimilar to Kalisa's. In fact, aside from the lack of a black bar drawn through the center, the sigil is identical in every respect - a sword above a field of fire.

[dojango]

"Yeah, that's the ban Ersatz heraldry. Those idiots were probably told to attack anyone wearing the sigil. They probably have no idea who hired them, that's how it's usually done. I mean, that's how it would be done. If I were to do it. Which I certainly haven't. Anyway. You say you've figured out who hired them?"

[The Glyphstone]

"You misunderstand, sir. That sigil was cut from the body of the man the survivors identified as their leader, the one who hired them for the attack. So if this indeed Ban Ersatz heraldry, then it appears your liege lady is dealing with problems internal to her dynasty."

[dojango]

"Possible, I suppose. What were the results of the interrogation? Did they claim to be Ersatz armsmen, or were they local toughs given a spare uniform? I could dress a monkey in power armor, but that doesn't make it a space marine. Apparently Lord Askalaman Ersatz used to do that. Made them fight, as well. Not that Lady ban Ersatz would stand for that sort of thing, mind you. Terrible waste of good power armor."

[Sinewmire]

Once seeing Drey settled in decent quarters, Matthias leaves orders that he's to be treated well but not allowed to leave the ship. He makes sure the [REDACTED] is well into it's resupply of provisions, crew and luxuries. He catches up with his informants, spies and other contacts, collecting rumours, leaving orders and pay.


[roll0] vs Scrutiny 83 to check on the resupply (I prefer to use my own eyes)
[roll1] vs Inquiry 83 to check with loyal informants (reliable and dedicated but rare a)
[roll2] vs Profit Factor 60 to check with paid informants (less reliable and prone to fantasy, but easier to find, typically crew bosses junior officers, minor criminals in the lower decks)
Hopefully both of these should be Routine (+20) which I've included in the stat.


That done he makes sure the Captain's stewards are ready to arrange a secure private meeting for her and sets out his thoughts.

1. A cyber-familiar tried to snatch the crystal. Can the Magos tell us anything about such creatures? Do they need specialist handlers, as such things might be traced.
2. Does the Captain want to follow the map? Can her officers see it?
3. Does the ship desperately need anything?
4. Does Dray serve any further purpose (dun dun dunnnn)?

[The Glyphstone]

Ronaldo's questions actually seem to derail Valkyran's train of thought for a moment. "Why in the world would anyone build power armor sized for a monkey...sigh...Rogue Traders, right." A visible shake of the head returns her focus to the conversation.

"Only one of them was unknown to us - that was the man who was wearing the sigil there, who died resisting arrest in the square. The rest were, as I said, local toughs - all from a specific gang in fact; we have an arrest warrant out for the remaining known associates. They described two other men with similar adornment, along with a single woman who apparently wore a red dress and never spoke, but it does not appear any of those three were involved in the attack."

She pauses for a moment. "In fact, the criminals initially insisted they were not hired to kill the Lady Rogue Trader or her officers at all, only distract and harass them to some end. It took more than an hour of interrogation before they recanted their lies and confessed to attempted assassination of an Imperial noble. This being a capital crime, they were of course executed upon the conclusion of questioning."

[dojango]

"Very good, very proper. Not that I'd expect anything less. What was the name of the gang? Might have some of our lads pass on a message that it isn't proper to insult your betters." Ronaldo offers a deep bow. "Should you find anything else about this attack that might be useful, please let me know. And if I can assist you in any way, please don't hesitate to call upon me at the ship." He took his leave from the Marshall and headed back towards the [REDACTED].

Instead of heading to his quarters, he went to Matthias's offices. Made himself at home in the waiting area, chasing out any bothersome informants or petitioners who might be there. "Fetch Matty, would you?" He told the nearest secretary-looking person. "And a cup of recaf. Two lumps, splash of cream. The real stuff, mind you"

Once Matthias (and possibly the recaf) shows up, Ronaldo tells him what he's learned from the Marshall's office. "Marshall suspects Ersatz clan ordered the attack.
Wouldn't think they'd be so lazy to let one of their armsmen get killed wearing a uniform, but not everyone's as sharp as we are, I suppose. Have your lads keep an eye out for any Ersatz family members on the station, eh? Two men wearing Ersatz uniforms and a lady in a red dress. Not a lot to go on, but it's something. And I suppose you should inform Lady ban Ersatz that this might be a family affair..."

[Sinewmire]

Instead of heading to his quarters, he went to Matthias's offices. Made himself at home in the waiting area, chasing out any bothersome informants or petitioners who might be there. "Fetch Matty, would you?" He told the nearest secretary-looking person. "And a cup of recaf. Two lumps, splash of cream. The real stuff, mind you"


Ronaldo finds Matthias' office on the upper decks reserved for the senior bridge crew's work-spaces. It's not terribly ostentatious as far as these things go, no mock-battle scenes between stuffed Carnosaurs, no bevy of courtesans holding court nor acres of gilded floors. Instead, Matthias' tastes run to the simple and functional, his modest wealth spent on craftsmanship rather than artistry. Ronaldo knows that the vast colonnades, fawning lackeys and spotless marbles tend to make Matthias a little uncomfortable, a sure sign of his lowly hive-trash origins. Matthias' assistants are demure bookish types for the most part, bun hairdos and mono-molecularly exact scribe robes. Here and there a scarred, garish ganger-type confuses the eye somewhat.

A precise young woman in a beige double-breasted administratum-style robe and a pair of tiny eyeglasses balanced on the bridge of her nose brings Ronaldo his recaf, sugared and becreamed as requested. It's not particularly good. Clearly Matthias doesn't run servants like most of the officers do.
"The Sensechal is overseeing induction the last of the deep-void crew rations, Sire von Drakken, I'm sure he will welcome a diversion."

After a short interval, Matthias does indeed arrive, dressed in his habitual hardwearing armoured work-suit. He strips the heavy gloves off, and flomps down into a heavy chair next to Matthias, and a steaming cup of Tanna appears semi-miraculously, which he sips from as Ronaldo tells of his exploits.


"Marshall suspects Ersatz clan ordered the attack.
Wouldn't think they'd be so lazy to let one of their armsmen get killed wearing a uniform, but not everyone's as sharp as we are, I suppose. Have your lads keep an eye out for any Ersatz family members on the station, eh? Two men wearing Ersatz uniforms and a lady in a red dress. Not a lot to go on, but it's something. And I suppose you should inform Lady ban Ersatz that this might be a family affair..."

Matthias winces at that last part. "Well... thanks for telling me first, I s'pose... That does have a certain sense to it. A family as proud as the Captain's does often replace sense with pride. A mysterious lady in a red dress, eh? Sounds like one of those holo-novels about Private Enforcers. Now I think on it, I do remember 'earing a woman's voice cry out in pain, or anger, during the mugging attempt. Not the Captain's. I'd not thought anything of it at the time what with all the bullets."
Matthias leans back with a creak of upholstery.
"The timing was a little odd. They must've been stakin' out Dray knowing we'd be coming, hoping to snatch her Ladyship's prize. They went right for it, not for her. They must've been monitoring his messages. Or he's in league with them of course."
Matthias' brow furrows, and he makes a mental note to set guards on Dray's guards. He sets down his cup, now finished, and nods thoughtfully, indicating the young woman who served Ronaldo his tea.
"I'll put a vox-thief to the ground, and then go and tell the Captain. If I don't make it, Anarette's in charge."

Matthias sends out a few of the more expendable gossip-hunters and then goes to find the Captain.

[optimumsquare]

Romulos wanders about the ship for a bit. He's on his way to find the captain, but is routinely distracted by minor symptoms of deferred maintenance, unfortunate crewman who he feels need to be chatted up (every crewman he encounters), or just shiny things. Eventually though, he does find his way to the captains quarters. The doorman tries to anounce him, but Romulos wanders past him and begins speaking midway through the man's sentence. "Captain. I was wondering. How much fire retardant do we have on board? Also do you know any psykers? Who may want to kill you? Better question, do we have any psyker retardant? Or a null rod?" Ronaldo goes into an unnecessarily detailed explanation of his findings until he is presumably cut off.

[dojango]

Ronaldo chuckles at that as Matthias leaves his offices. He sits there for a few minutes, finishing his recaf as the young woman stares at him impassively. "Ah, fine, I'll go with him. Make sure it's done cleanly, if needed." He gets up and follows Matthias out the door, towards the Captain's offices.

[Toxic Mind]

Romulos is the first to arrive, and so finds Kalisa at her meditations. She is in the small shrine off her main chambers, cleverly hidden behind a false wall and locked by archaic technology that allows only her to open it. The shrine is a stark contrast to the chambers, a small glimpse into the duality of the woman that is their captain. It is a small chamber, sheet metal walls covered with catechisms and inscriptions of purity. On the floor are two items, a small prayer cloth upon which Kalisa kneels, and a statue of the God-Emperor, his severe face looking down. The statue itself is well worn by the touch of hands upon its feet and lower legs, and its plinth is covered in seals of purity. A small incense burns in front of the statue, all that is needed to fill the room with the faint scent of a far off world. Romulos knows that this incense is from Reldan, the world on which the Order of the Bloody Rose has made their convent. It is one of the few true luxuries that Kalisa allows herself that are not simply trappings of her position of Rogue Trader.

She rises upon the servants announcement, and presses the gene seal on the wall, which closes soundlessly behind her. She is wearing a simple robe now, though it is still made of fine cloth and whispers as she walks. "Master Romulos." she says as way of greeting. "Is our ship on fire?" There is a raised eyebrow at the mention of null rods, "psychic fire?"

Ronaldo and Matthias arrive shortly afterwards to find the Lady-Captain already seated atop her rather imposing desk. She detests the chair, as it makes her vulnerable should someone attack the room. The desk itself is highly reinforced, but that did little good if she couldn't get behind it before the shot came. "Gentlemen. I see its time for the staff meeting. What do we have so far?"

[Sinewmire]

Matthias stands to attention with a click of his heels before the captain's desk. He approves, mentally, of the Captain's status-play - her position forces the assembled officers to look up at her and the chairs are quite uncomfortable, making them squirm. After almost a hundred such meetings, Matthias has learned to avoid that particular trap. It's a simple trick, but effective, and Matthias has seen it's use on dozens of strangers and admires the nonverbal reinforcement of the captain's authority.

It's still quite annoying to be subjected to it himself.

"Your Ladyship. I have a few things to report.
After your defeat of the ambush on the station, 'naldo went to the Arbites Marshall, and managed to sweet-talk her into telling him what they'd picked up.
It meshes with what I've picked up. There's fairly convincing proof that, well, that your bloodline are involved."

Matthias braces himself for the explosion.

"The men were local muscle, but some were in your the Ersatz livery, bondsmen overseeing the job would be my guess. There's also reports of a woman in red with them, and I heard a woman cry out when I shot the... grab-hawk?" - Matthias shoots a glance at Romulos, unsure of the correct term - "Though she must have known her business, I didn't see her, and I was looking out."

Matthias opens his armoured chestplate and pulls out the crystal from a secure pocket.

"Here's your clue, Captain. I figure this lady in red knew about it, found out you were coming somehow. I've got no solid facts, 'til my people report in, but I can offer a few possibilities. I think it's reasonable to assume they after this, as the bird went for it, and nobody singled you out."

"One, she's family. She couldn't turn Drey and couldn't find or convince him to give up the coffer, so had to wait for you to show up and take possession of it before she could have a go.
Two, she's not family and couldn't have opened it without your gene-code. That one means that she could 'ave been working with Drey."

[dojango]

Ronaldo came in last, and leaned up against the door-frame. "Aye, the Marshall extracted a confession from them and had em' executed. As is right and proper.
Even if they were trying to grab the thing first, raising a hand against their betters is still a grave sin. Any luck on figuring out what the map says?"

[optimumsquare]

Romulos fidgets in his chair. Something seems off, like there is a piece that is missing. Finally he has an epiphany. "My lady, your chair is off balance," he shouts. "Such shoddy craftsmanship, I will fix it post haste." Before anyone can reply, he stands up and flips his chair on to the table so that its legs are in the air. "It is a simple matter of..." He finally notices his crewmate's stares. "I'll just do it later," he says as he returns the chair to its proper place.

"Ahem. We have other data points to consider. First, the grab hawk is actually a cyber familiar, although I'm unfamiliar with that species of avian. I myself thought it was a raven, but I will defer to Master Matthias knowledge of birds. Perhaps on our next expedition to a suitable planet, we can all go bird watching together. I understand it is quite relaxing." More stares.

Romulos continues as though he said nothing out of the ordinary. "The cyber familiar was bound to a psyker, specifically a pyromancer. Someone who presumably wants to burn us. Given that we heard a cry as the cyber grab hawk was destroyed, it is a reasonable assumption that she was present at the attack, and may even be this woman in red. Before confronting this women, I recommend preparing accordingly. Fire resistant armor, such as ceramite plating, or anti psyker materials such as null rods, would both be useful if they can be procured."

[The Glyphstone]

Resupplying the Redacted goes without incident.

Gathering information from trustworthy informants proves to be much harder, as the local underworld scene is in chaos. It seems the Adeptus Arbites are tearing several underdeck sectors apart looking for the remaining members of the gang that attacked Kalisa and her crew, along with anyone whoever worked with them, was friends with them, or possibly walked on the same side of the street as them once. In short, they're using the attack as an excuse to sweep up dozens if not scores of long-running headaches, and anyone with a lick of sense is keeping their head well down.

With care and effort, Matthias's agents do locate some relatively reliable sources. He learns the gangers in question took the job mostly because they were desperate and out of other options; a few other scav gangs were approached but found the offer of an easy job to 'just scare people, shoot a bunch of bullets around and distract them for a bit' to smell far too good to be true. Most of those other gangs were currently congratulating themselves on their good sense. There are a few rumors about the woman in red who accompanied the men doing the hiring - or possibly being guarded by her, it's unclear. They all agree that no one heard her speak, though a few claim her companions seemed to be taking orders from her anyways. The ones who saw her directly agree that she didn't come off as nobility, more like a favored servant of some kind.

One inquirer hears a story about four unrecognizably charred and burnt corpses piled up in an alleyway; whispers are already spreading about if they are the so-far-unlocated gangers, and if so how they died so horribly.

[Toxic Mind]

"If my family is involved" Kalisa starts, keeping her voice calm despite the fire that burned through her veins, "this is only the start." She pauses for a moment, collecting herself, and consciously releasing her grip from the edge of the desk. The wood beneath it is gouged from her nails. "We have the map. We could leave, draw our pursuers into the void - they would be forced to follow us. Or we could hunt down this woman in red - but she could hide anywhere, and we have no leads, beyond that she might be a psyker."

[optimumsquare]

"Have we decoded the map? Do we know where it leads?"

[dojango]

Ronaldo nods. He rubs the tips of his waxed moustache. "An excellent idea. We hare off in the direction indicated on the map. Once the enemy arrives in at the destination, they will be too blinded by the prize to notice the hunter lying in wait... Say. Have you asked old three-eyes to look at the damned thing?"

[Sinewmire]

"We have the map. We could leave, draw our pursuers into the void - they would be forced to follow us. Or we could hunt down this woman in red - but she could hide anywhere, and we have no leads, beyond that she might be a psyker."

Ah, quiet rage. The worst sign of all. "As you say, Captain. The Arbites are using this as an excuse to stamp down on anything vaguely suspicious. If this red lady has any sense she'll have stowed herself away somewhere quiet and made sure there's nobody left to give her away. I'm no expert on the matter, but from what I've 'eard, a psyker would be right on the money. I'd wager she'd be a functionary, rather than family itself, in that case. I'm sure we'd 'ave heard about a psychic Ersatz."


"An excellent idea. We hare off in the direction indicated on the map. Once the enemy arrives in at the destination, they will be too blinded by the prize to notice the hunter lying in wait... Say. Have you asked old three-eyes to look at the damned thing?"

"That's... certainly one way to look at it, Master Ronaldo. Another would be to let us do all the work and then step in and snatch our prize, pre'y much what happened in our meeting. Luckily I shot the feathery little sneak."
Matthias smirks a little.
"If that is their endgame, maybe that's a good omen?"


"The cyber familiar was bound to a psyker, specifically a pyromancer. Someone who presumably wants to burn us. Given that we heard a cry as the cyber grab hawk was destroyed, it is a reasonable assumption that she was present at the attack, and may even be this woman in red. Before confronting this women, I recommend preparing accordingly. Fire resistant armor, such as ceramite plating, or anti psyker materials such as null rods, would both be useful if they can be procured."

"Well, I can't claim to be any expert in animals, birds or whatever. Hawk? Raven? Not my thing, Magos, but that'd mesh with what I heard about some burned-out bodies. A null-rod? Can't say I've ever heard of such a thing. I can discreetly ask around for any anti-psyker ware though. Not something I've dealt with before. Probably harder now the Arbites are turning everything upside down."
"I think you're right, Captain. I hate the idea of being someone else's ablative armour, but if the Arbites can't find anyone, I doubt we will. They're not as plodding as people make out. Might be worth checking what other Void Ships are on station and see who we run across in the future."

[optimumsquare]

"My lady... is that the appropriate title? I'm a little fuzzy on non Mechanicus titles. Anyways, I'm going to assume that the psyker who sent this cyber grab hawk, who can light things on fire, such as myself, is going to make another attempt to retrieve this map. I'm also going to assume that she, or he, will try to light things on fire in the attempt. Such as myself. Before we go to find this... ship wreck? It is a ship wreck right? I don't think that question was ever answered. Anyways, I'm going to try and find things that will keep me less on fire. While I'm doing that, someone should ask three eyes where the map takes us, because I don't think we know. Is three eyes his name or his title? Also, is it a he or a she?" With that, Romulos goes off to find things that will help against a pyromaniac psyker.


It's been a while since I made one of these checks so check my math
Profit Factor check for ceramite plating Common Craftsman ship +0 Rare Item -10 Squad size +20 Total + 10
[roll0] vs ?? + 10
Sorry, I know you gave us our profit factor at some point, but I can't find it. Sorry!
Ouch, not that it matters.

[Toxic Mind]

"Lady-Captain is customary," she says with the look of long suffering. "I will take the crystal to the Navigator - perhaps she can decipher it."

[dojango]

"Excellent, excellent. And, as an aside, it was very unsporting of those bastards to use stun grenades on us. I've sent my manservant to pick some up from the station's armory. Two can play at that game, plebian as it may be."


[roll0] v. 90: Stun Grenades

[Sinewmire]

As the other start to leave, Matthias takes that as his cue.
"Well then, Lady Captain. If I've time before we slip grav-anchor, with your permission I'll see what I can find out about anti-psyker warfare, in case we end up against Lady in Red or her ilk again. You didn't 'appen to pick up anything of that nature in the Convent-fortress by any chance?"

Matthias takes whatever his Captain says on board, clicks his heels and makes the sign of the Aquila in salute and exits.

There is one organisation he *knows* will know how to combat psykers, but he's loathe to come to their attention if it's not absolutely necessary, so he'll seek out Bounty Hunters, fixers who might have dealt with Wyrds, ecclesiarch witch-hunters and other grubby types who might have fought the witch-kind before, and won. I'll do some shopping to provide me with a cover story.

Before he leaves, he'll spend some time on his Calculance Array. Matthias' pride and joy, the finance engine takes up a brushed steel cabinet. Edged in brass and filled with gut-like cables and whirring cogs, it is enough to make a enginseer drool and a banker sweat. If I swap these holdings here and change the currency from Gudrun scrip to Hydraphur Adamant Coin... maybe I can squeeze a few thousand more out of Bellington the currency agent on this station...


Inquiry to find out about anti-Psyker measures from ne'er do wells and desperadoes and maybe even naughty minor heretics!
[roll0] vs (63)
Common Lore : Underworld if it helps
[roll1] vs (42)

Aquiring:
Good Quality Photo-visor, to help avoid being stunned!
Commerce: [roll2] vs (73) 53 Fel, +10 Skill, +10 Calc. Array) - Opposed
Profit Factor roll [roll3] vs 60* (40 PF +0 Scarce, -10 Quality, +30 Negligible Scale, +/- * depending on Commerce)

Enforcer Light Carapace - I got shot today and I didn't care for it
Commerce: [roll4] vs (73) 53 Fel, +10 Skill, +10 Calc. Array) - Opposed
Profit Factor roll [roll5] vs (60) (40 PF +0 Scarce, -10 Good Quality, +30 Negligible Scale, +/- * depending on Commerce)

Book of Puritan Ecclesiarchical Sermons for the captain (inspirational reading)
Commerce: [roll6] vs (73) 53 Fel, +10 Skill, +10 Calc. Array) - Opposed
Profit Factor roll [roll7] vs (70) (40 PF +30 Plentiful, -30 Best Quality, +30 Negligible Scale, +/- * depending on Commerce)

Bottle of Coriolis ploin-juice infused amasec (great booze)
Commerce: [roll8] vs (73) 53 Fel, +10 Skill, +10 Calc. Array) - Opposed
Profit Factor roll [roll9] vs (40) (40 PF +0 Scarce, -30 Quality, +30 Negligible Scale, +/- * depending on Commerce)

Self-extruding fractal steel rosebush (mechanical sculpture)
Commerce: [roll10] vs (73) 53 Fel, +10 Skill, +10 Calc. Array) - Opposed
Profit Factor roll [roll11] vs (40) (40 PF -20 Very rare, -10 Quality, +30 Negligible Scale, +/- * depending on Commerce)

[Toxic Mind]

"No, but I do have some contacts. I will see what I can find." Kalisa knew that something like a null rod, or the armaments used on the Black Ships was unlikely to be found here, but if witchery was involved, she just might be able to find someone to inscribe sigils of warding on her armor. With faith and fury in equal parts, they would go a long way in keeping her safe.

She adjourns the meeting and heads to the Navis' quarters. Relations with the Navigator were always a bit tense - both knew that the other did not particularly enjoy their company, but each was necessary in their own way. She greets the two House Guard. "Is the Lady Navis available?" It was her ship, she could force the issue, but there were some things you did not wish to interrupt, and a great many of them came from Navigators and their strange rituals.

[roll0] vs 40
Hexagrammatic Warding: Ex Rare (-30) Single (+30) Base PF: 40
Wounds: 9/9
Fate: 4/5
Rosarius: 5/5

[The Glyphstone]

One of the guards protecting the Navigatrix's quarters bows and goes inside, returning a moment later. "Lady Zayth will see you, Lady-Captain." He holds the door for her, passing her through into the suite beyond.

The Navigatrix is waiting, giving a polite nod of greeting. "Lady-Captain ben Ersatz, a pleasure to have your company. Would you care for tea?" If Kalisa accepts, she summons one of the attendant-servitors to bring a platter of tea and small cakes to the sitting room, but is not otherwise discomfited by a refusal. She is dressed as customary in her usual floor-length dark silks, with the only spot of brilliant color being the gemstone on her headband - emerald green today, though as always cut to resemble a stylized staring eye.

Once they are both seated, she looks at Kalisa. "May I ask what brings you to visit today, Lady-Captain?"

[Toxic Mind]

"Tea would be lovely, thank you." Whatever else, Zayth did have the best tea. Kalisa sits down, straightening her clothing almost absentmindedly, uncomfortable out of her armor. She reaches into one of the pockets and produces the crystal. "I was hoping you could decipher this, or at least point me in the direction of someone who could. I have good reason to believe it is a map of some kind, and if it proves so, our next destination." She proffers the crystal to the other woman.

[The Glyphstone]

Zayth leans forward slightly, and Kalisa gets the faint uncomfortable feeling the other woman is studying the crystal with more than just her normal vision.

"Why, that's a memnolith. Haven't seen one of those in quite a while. If it has our next port of call encoded in it, that's a welcome sight - but you're in the wrong place to read it, I'm afraid. Astropaths use them to record messages, but any psyker with a bit of training can read whatever's stored inside it at a touch. You'd want the Choir chambers to decipher the map, if that's what you think it has inside it."

[Toxic Mind]

"..." There is a long pause as Kalisa processes. "Zayth, do you know if a psyker could read a memnolith through a familiar?"

[The Glyphstone]

Zayth frowns, uncertain. "I wouldn't want to say for certain either way; I know a little bit about psychic phenomena, but it's not really my field the way it would be for a Sanctionite. That disclaimer aside, I would not be surprised if they could - strong psykers and their familiars can be so closely linked it's like watching one person in two bodies. Honestly a bit creepy if you've ever seen them in action."

[Toxic Mind]

"Your help, as always, has been invaluable." Kalisa says, taking care to keep her voice calm and even. "Please prepare to depart - I will vox with coordinates soon, and we will leave as soon as we have them." Kalisa stands, nods respectfully, and walks towards the door. "The tea was lovely, as always." She leaves, shutting the door behind her. The tea cup sits, cooling and untouched.

Kalisa's stride lengthens as soon as she exits the door, and she keys the vox to her command crew. "I'm on my way to the choir to decipher the coordinates. They know where we are going already - we're already behind. Prepare to set sail immediately. Any man or woman not at their station by the time I reach the helm is to be flogged for slothful behavior." Kalisa moves to the grav-lifts quickly, and makes for the Choir Chambers with all haste.

I assume we have a small choir. If not, Kalisa will gather her command crew to go to the station's choir.

[optimumsquare]

Hearing the captains words, Romulos makes his way to the enginarium and prepares the rituals necessary to make the ship ready for warp travel.

[dojango]

Ronaldo had been attending the services for the fallen armsmen. It was held in the barracks chapel, which also doubled as a firing range and mess hall B. The men's bodies had been committed to the recycling tanks, and the lay deacon was just beginning the homily, equating death and service in the name of one's lawful superiors to be death and service in the emperor's name. When the merry jingle of the commbead went off, the deacon glared angrily, before realizing it was Ronaldo's. Ronaldo answered it, "Hello? Yes. OK. Meet her at the choir? Duty Stations. Flogging. Got it. OK." He put away the commbead and got up to leave. "Wrap it up quickly," he whispered in the ear of the deacon as he left the room, heading for the choir chambers.

[The Glyphstone]

As Kalisa nears the door to the Choir chamber, it opens from the other side to reveal the diminutive form of the ship's Astropath-Transcendant Mordicai. Barely taller than the average Ratling, and frail enough to seemingly be blown away by a stiff breeze, the psyker looks up at her with empty eyes hidden behind a star-studded black blindfold.

"Excellent, please let me see it and I will attempt to read its contents." A moment passes, then Mordecai twitches and looks embarassed.

"...My humble apologies, Lady Captain. I should answer your question after you ask it, not before. I forget which order to do it in sometimes."

[Sinewmire]

Matthias frowned at the provisioner. The woman's upper-class shop was so high caste there was no indication that it was a shop, instead it just appeared to be a gilded lounge. The green stuff in the little sandwiches was probably some luxurious high provender, but it just tasted cold to him.

"True, the vintage is unusual, and I am very cognisant of the difficulties of transporting the case through the Empyrean, but I also-"
The com-bead chirps in his ear in the sequence indicating the Captain's personal cypher.
"Sorry, I have to take this."
Matthias turns his back on the woman's outraged expression and listens with horror to the Captain's message.

"I'm on my way to the choir to decipher the coordinates. They know where we are going already - we're already behind. Prepare to set sail immediately. Any man or woman not at their station by the time I reach the helm is to be flogged for slothful behavior."
Frack.
"Another time, got to go, so lovely, we must again sometime, goodbye!"
Matthias grabs his escorts and dashes for the ship. So much for that new chestplate! At least he'd only put down a small deposit...

=\2/=

Arriving back at the [Redacted] at a canter, Matthias runs past vast umbilical cabling being disconnected and crew-serfs being herded back from their station-leave. Making sure his new purchases are seen to his quarters, Matthias heads straight for the heavyily guarded arterial passageways that will lead him towards the voidship's critical systems. In this case, the bridge.

Matthias doesn't have a specific station on the bridge - he is no master gunner or pilot. Usually he moves about to oversee the Captain's orders are being carried out, though his natural sneakiness means that he has a nominal place near the auspex relay readouts. Slinking onto the bridge under the fearsome gaze of De Marchant, the Captain's rockrete solid Master of Armsmen, Matthias carefully watches the controlled anarchy of a Voidship preparing to make way.

The Captain does not appear to be on the bridge yet, which is a huge relief.

[Toxic Mind]

"Either my Regicide face is slipping, or you've forgotten what happened to the last psyker who tried to help himself to my thoughts." Kalisa says, her voice deadpan. Her eyes tell another story. "Still, expediency becomes us enough... for now." She hands the memnolith over.

[The Glyphstone]

"I didn't read your mind, Lady-Captain, I read your future. Except then you changed that future before it become your present, so it's past instead of future that might have been present except it's neither and oh it's just too confusing to explain properly..."

Mordechai reaches up and takes the stone, holding it in two wizened fingers for several seconds. The muscles around his eye sockets twitch, reflexively attempting to move eyes that have long ceased to occupy them, before his trance breaks.

"Interesting...it's very old, this stone. I saw a star - a pulsar, the last stuttering gasps of a dying sun on the edges of a nebula. I saw a planet, its life scorched away by the heat and radiation. Something left on that planet, built long ago by a people long dead - some sort of titanic xenos telescope, aimed at the star's cometary halo."

He offers the stone back to her. "The you-that-wasn't didn't explain why you wanted me to read it. Will the you-that-is share why those images are important?"

[Toxic Mind]

"It came with a message, a message that claimed this crystal would lead us to a myth," Kalisa says. She doesn't much care for prophecy or destiny, and never has. She does, however, care for her crew, in her own way. "And a great deal of profit, hopefully. Do you recognize this place?"

[The Glyphstone]

"The nebula looked like part of the Halo Stars. So wherever this mythical treasure is, it must be in the Koronus Expanse across the Maw, and very close to the edge at that. I'm not familiar with the astrography of the Expanse, but pulsars are very rare phenomena. There can't be many of them to pick from. The Navy might have maps of the region, or I'm sure there are private cartographers on the station. Barring all else, Port Wander must have many veteran voidfarers who have seen the Expanse and returned; some of them might even know what a pulsar is."

[dojango]

Ronaldo saunters up to the choir chamber and leans idly against the wall as the astropath "reads" the stone. He frowns at the mention of xenos ruins. "That ain't a xeno stone, is it? Or is it human-made?"

[The Glyphstone]

"Oh, this one is human. I've heard of xenos artifacts that perform a similar function of recording psychic resonances though."

[Toxic Mind]

"Then our destination is the Expanse." Kalisa states with somber finality. "Let us not tarry further."

With those words, she makes her way to the bridge, to begin the process of their journey.

[dojango]

As Lady ban Ersatz headed to the bridge, Ronaldo stopped a few minutes to think. A few of his old school chums, minor nobles and second sons from his homeworld had gone into the navy. Shouldn't be too hard to track one of them down... Unfortunately, the Proud Mary, a fine ship with a friendly officer's mess, had headed back up the warp-stream towards Nova Memfis, while the New New Carissa, where one of Ronaldo's old flames served as a junior commander, had left for points unknown. The officer's bars and dining rooms of Port Wander were looking a little sparse, as Ronaldo drifted between them, staring past the unfamiliar faces of the naval stations. Finally, he ended up at the Golden Hook, musing over a glass of mediocre Malfian sherry. He was just about to give up and head back to the [REDACTED], when a familiar face was making a beeline for him. "Sandro?, said Ronaldo. "What're ye doing here?"

The man grinned. Ronaldo hadn't seen him since their old employer's unfortunate demise. Sandro Marasabessy had been one of the senior officers on the ship. The new heir had fired most of the senior staff, of course, to bring on her own loyalists, and Sandro had been drifting for a few years since. Unwilling to take a demotion in rank, and having a dislike for the strict rules of the Navy had made it hard for him, as far as Ronaldo knew. He was debating offering to put in a good word for Sandro with the Lady ban Ersatz, but Sandro pre-empted him by offering Ronaldo a job. "You're a keen shot, and we could use a fine gunner..." Sandro had said. "Sorry mate, working on something right now. Say, you know where I could score some charts of the expanse? Plottin' an expedition out there." Sandro laughed at that, and made a crude joke about the Navigators. Sandro and Ronaldo toasted 'new ventures' and 'old friends for a drink or three', before Ronaldo weaved his way back to the ship. No luck on the charts, but it was good to see an old friend again.

[roll0] v. 35

[Sinewmire]

Matthias drums his fingers on the plastek cowl of an Auspex relay. Well, the Captain doesn't usually overstate urgency, but if she's not here yet...


"They know where we are going already - we're already behind."

Matthias walks briskly to the vox alcove, where half a dozen translation-adepts and scribes are going through the usual permissions to break hard-seal with Port Wander.

"Joviax, give me the master-vox and get me a line to the port control, would you?"

The harassed vox-operator winces microscopically, but then does as he's told. Kalisa runs a tight ship.

"Port Wander, this is the [REDACTED], we're clearing for departure and we're late for our rendezvous. Can you tell me if the... Esquil... Equisel... Eks... can you tell me which voidships have departed in the last 24 hours? Believe me, you do not want to be on Lady Trader Ersatz's bad side."


[roll0] vs 63
Would Total Recall help me remember what ships were in dock when we got in? Might be worth a +10?

Likely it would have been an Astropathic message rather than the Red Lady's own ship, but it would be good to rule out one possibility.
Throne of Earth, I'm standing on a voidship right now.

Holding his hand over the reciever of the vox-horn, Matthias orders an auspex sweep of the system. What could be more natural for a vessel about to take leave?

[The Glyphstone]

The port authority is initially hesitant, but apparently decides that the request is not unreasonable enough to warrant potentially generating bad blood with a Rogue Trader, and obligingly reads off a dozen names with their weight classes thrown in as an apparent freebie. Two are a pair of Imperial Navy destroyers; six others are chartist bulk transports. Of the last four, the Glory of Quinalt is an Orion fast transport; St. Daphne The Martyr and The Black Trident are both Havoc-class heavy raiders; Third To Arrive is a Sword-class frigate.

To the best of Matthias's memory, all of them were already docked when their ship arrived in port.

[Sinewmire]

"L'tenant Shrubb, would you run an auspex scan of the system? Best to 'ave the information for when the Captain is ready rather than scrambling to when she asks, right? No, I'd use the theta band for scanning in that frequency."


[roll0] vs 66 (Scrutiny 53 + Detection 13)

[The Glyphstone]

With a bit of finesse, the auspex bands easily highlight the faint dots of light that mark the plasma exhaust of six voidships, all making for the system's Mandeville point at various distances. Transponder beacons identify them as the previously mentioned Navy destroyers, two of the chartist haulers, the Glory of Quinalt, and the Third To Arrive - the frigate is the closest, but still several hours out; the star clipper's notoriously overpowered engines shine brighter despite it being further away than the larger ship.

[dojango]

ATTN ARMSMEN:

Tomorrow is the 'secret tithe' for Emperormas. Participation is entirely voluntary, of course. Those armsmen not wishing to participate may submit a signed statement to the ship's confessor detailing why they do not partake in this joyous celebration. The gift limit is twenty thrones for ratings, two hundred thrones for officers. ABSOLUTELY NO EXPLOSIVE DEVICES. We will not have a repeat of last year's unpleasantness. All armsmen will be given an additional thirty minutes break-time to exchange gifts and partake in their bonus grog ration. I have also distributed meal-tickets to each armsman allowing them to receive an additional 2 cookies or biscuits from the ship's mess. May the Emperor's blessings shine upon us this year, as they did the last.

Your esteemed leader,
Sir Ronaldo Augustus von Drakkan de Vieques, St. C, Esq., Col (PDF-ret)

[Toxic Mind]

Even as the auspex scan pings across the system, a sonorous bell tolls across the vox-speakers of the ship. Across the ship, heads turn towards the speakers, as all know the tone - a warning and a pledge, that once again they will venture to the stars. On the bridge, Kalisa stands armed and armored, as is her tradition. "Take us to the Madeville Point, helmsmen. From there - the Expanse."

[optimumsquare]

Never one to let go of an idea, Romulos scavenges the ship for anything that can be used to fire proof his armor. He can be seen in various parts of the ship removing bulkheads, floor paneling and wall sections.


[roll0] vs 79 (tech use +20 Master Enginseer +10)


Trailing Romulos are some of the ships junior magos, frantically trying to repair the damage as fast as Romulos can apply it.

[The Glyphstone]

The various other ships ahead of the vessel have all vanished into the Warp by the time they reach the Mandeville Point. After several hours of repetitive chanting, percussive maintenance rituals, and similar preparations - the immense warp engines flare and breach a hole in reality to grant passage into the Warp.

No journey in the Immaterium is safe or calm, but this one seems slightly above average. For several days, the worst that occurs is a somewhat harrowing few hours as Lady Zayth - ensconced in her protective chamber at the heart of the bridge - dictates a zig-zagging course between a set of previously nonexistent or uncharted warp reefs. On day four of the voyage, though, they drop out as planned at the halfway point of the Koronus Passage. This is the Battleground, an empty starless void of space where dozens if not hundreds of shattered hulks and ships have drifted free of the Warp's tides. A stable region, it is a useful waypoint for ships traveling the Passage to get their bearings and receive a period of respite from the stress of warp travel.

Shortly afterwards, the vox operator reports an incoming distress signal - the automated salvation-beacon of a ship identifying to be a pilgrim transport called the Pentinent Traveller. No direct communication is evident from the clustered debris fields where the beacon pulses originate, nor do the augurs detect any signs of active ship activity.

[Toxic Mind]

Kalisa sits in her command throne, as she did during every journey through the Immaterium. To see a member, albeit former, of the Adepta Sororitas sitting unconcerned on the bridge during the most harrowing phase of any journey inspired the crew, made them resilient. Kalisa had seen what miracles faith could work - she ever tried to promote that faith in her crew.

"Take us in. Silent Running, if you please. These shoals are filled with hunters, but we will not leave innocents here if we can save them. Particularly not the faithful." she says softly to the helmsman. An old voidfarer by the name of Albrekt, he piloted the ship almost all the time. There were only two exceptions - the Immaterium, where her steady hands were most needed, and combat, if she was not needed elsewhere. Redundancy had kept the Ardent Glory safe many times when she was needed elsewhere, or otherwise indisposed.

"All hands at the ready." The command blares across the ship; Kalisa wasn't taking any chances.

[dojango]

ATTN ARMSMEN:

Remember: If a gold-tier passenger is found in a restricted area, summon an officer immediately to have them be politely escorted back to the passenger decks of the ship. If a silver-tier passenger is found in a restricted area, firmly escort them back to their quarters. On a second offense, they are to be confined to quarters for the duration of the voyage. If a bronze-tier passenger is found in a restricted area, they are to be given 10 lashes before having their identification and access cards confiscated for the duration of the voyage. On a second offense, they are to be given 20 lashes and be immediately impressed into the crew.

As a member of a wealthy and influential noble house, Ronaldo wasn't merely an troubleshooter, of course. He was an investor. And so he had no specific duties to attend to, although he graciously oversaw the vessel's armsmen. Naturally, De Marchant handled the day to day operations and training of the men, so Ronaldo had a good deal of free time on his hands during the voyage. He began spending a lot more time in the officer's gym, so much so that he finally felt a lot more athletic than he had just a few days ago. And quicker on the draw, as well. He had been embarrassed by how quickly those ruffians had got the drop on him, and resolved to not run into that problem again.

The remainder of his time, he spent hob-nobbing with the wealthier passengers. Playing cards, swapping implausible war stories, drinking expensive wines. Anything to make the voyage a pleasant one for the ship's honored guests. However, when the word came out that the ship was to be leaving the warp, he headed to the bridge, to be on hand in case there was trouble that needed to be shot. "Mmm, just a distress call," he mused, as a white-gloved steward handed him a cup of spiced recaf. "Of course, whatever put the vessel in such distress might be lurking, you ken?" Redundant, of course. Her ladyship had already ordered the ship to go to silent running. He held up the now-empty cup, where after a moment, it was quietly whisked away. Patience was the watchword, now.

[Sinewmire]

Matthias stalked across the bridge of the Ardent Glory, breathing easily now the peril they were in was a simpler one of lance batteries and gravity wells. The Captain's hand-picked bridge crew worked well, quietly carrying reports and attending their stations.

Matthias didn't really know ships, though he'd picked up the basics. He did know people though. If it were him he'd be in ambush near the prize, relying on a crew heady with relief at a safe exit from the Immaterium. Matthias stalked over to the Auspex crew in their recessed nest, underlit by the glow of vista-plates and listening intently into vox-recievers.

"Extra alert, boys and girls. If two micrometeors hit each other out there I want to know about it. If I were out there I'd be staying silent, so don't believe some cold hunk of rock is what it says it is. No such thing as innocence, as they say."


[roll0] vs 66 Awareness 53 + Detection 13

[Sinewmire]

[roll0] vs 63

[optimumsquare]

RE: Passengers
Ronaldo
We have passengers? Also if we're going to just impress some of them into the crew after their third offense, can I just have them instead? I have this medicae servitor, but I'm not really good at using it. I could use practice.
Romulos

Romulos stalks the engine room, examining the monolithic power cores, pistons, and fuel pumps that were his charge. At the Lady-Captain's command, he soothed them into a peaceful repose.

[The Glyphstone]

As the ship glides closer to the distress beacon, all seems silent at first aside from the slowly pulsing signal. But something flickers on the screens that catches Matthias's eye - a bit more enhancement and refinement picks out the energies of two raider-class vessels lurking amidst the debris. They are spread just wide enough to be obviously planning a pincer attack on the approaching Ardent Glory while still remaining in comms range. Worse, they are subtly adjusting their bearings to keep the Glory bracketed - they know she is coming, though whether they know she knows they know is impossible to discern.

[The Glyphstone]

Apparently losing patience with the slow stalk, the pair of raiders flare bright on sensors as their engines go to full power and they swoop out of the debris field on an attack course. The distance and forewarning is more than enough to bring the Ardent Glory to full battle stations. No surrender demands are transmitted or warning shots fired, only the flickering of laser batteries and silent thunder of macro-cannons hurling shells at their prey. The range proves to be their enemy, however, and the initial salvos gained by the ambush are wasted against the empty void.

(No damage to the ship.)

[dojango]

Ronaldo watched the two ships appear on the auspex screens. "Trying to flush out targs, eh? Seems like they've caught a carnosaur instead." He stood over the gun consoles, where two nervous midshipmen tried to ignore him as they make ready to fire the ship's powerful weapons. "Are the batteries charged yet? he asks. "How about now?"

[Toxic Mind]

"I'll take the helm, Albrekt" she says coolly. Amateurs. Not even waiting for range. Kalisa broadcasts ship-wide. "The enemy lies before us. They thing they are the wolves in this tale, but we will show them whose fangs are sharper. Let your benedictions to the Emperor ring so loud they can be heard 'cross the Void and unto the Walls of Holy Terra. Sons and Daughters of the Emperor, Show them your Fury!"

[roll0] vs 68

[Sinewmire]

Matthias paces the bridge, watching the crew jump to, obeying their Captain's orders. The gunnery crew are calculating something. Firing solutions maybe? It involves tri-d charts, cones and lots of maths and cogitation. Maybe they're just guessing?

As he completes his casual circle of the bridge, listening to the hubbub of voices and smelling the incense wafting from the censers he comes to rest, again, at the auspex station. He's no seasoned void-fighter, but when you're sniping in a darkened underhive you look for movement, reflections, shiny buttons or knife blades... indications.

"Alright 'tenant Shrubb, ladies and gents, whilst the Captain's laying down some wrath, you are going to keep cool heads and tell me what you're seeing out there. We know where they are, but can you get me their facing, their loadout? Are they, God-Emperor willing, bouncing any unusual radiation off'f their hulls? I want all that good stuff on.... that one."


[roll0] vs 76 [Scrutiny 63 + Detection rating 13]

Once the report has been compiled, a dataslate with the information is scurried across to the Sieur von Drakken by a rating.

[dojango]

Ronaldo watches coolly as the Ardent Glory leaps into range. Data is transmitted to the gunnery consoles as the midshipmen feverishly make their stations ready. Within minutes, amber lights turn green as the capacitors reach full charge and the gun-crews huddle behind their shielding. Ronaldo looks over the data and says, "Remember to lead them a bit, son. Try to let them cross into our shots, rather than have the shots chase them. Wait for it, wait for it... NOW!" he shouts as soon as they've crossed into the optimal target zone. Vast streams of killing energy arc out from the ship as the sunsear batteries fire at their foe.

[roll0] v. 56.

[dojango]

Cheers ring out across the bridge as the powerful lasers carve deep wounds into the enemy vessel. Moments later, the runes indicating the lance weapon's readiness turn green as well. Ronaldo watches as the duty officer at that console struggles to move the targeting array over the enemy ship. "Steady on, lad. Lean into it. Wait until helms finishes correcting our course from the last salvo. Don't want that to spoil your aim..." too late, though. The man pulled the trigger as the ship made a minute course correction, sending the powerful energies of the lance into the endless void.

[roll0] v. 56

[dojango]

In the depths of the ships, crews rushed out of their shielded waiting rooms, dragging massive power cables to attach to the energy weapons. Other men wrestled out massive hoses, and began spraying red-hot machinery. Steam billowed from the cooling guns. Tech-priests began their chanting, supplicating the ardent machine spirits, thanking them for their service, and begging them to fire true again. Officers ran back and forth, re-calibrating the targeting instruments. Down on the floor, a man took a short-cut past a sparking relay... an arcing blast caught him, reducing the hapless rating to a charred mess in an instant. His comrades cursed his name as they ran around his body. All in all, the usual scenes of a veteran crew going about their work. Up on the bridge, Ronaldo and the gunnery officers shook hands and poured out glasses of brandy. "Terra and Victory!" toasted Ronaldo. "Kill them all!" responded the gunners.

[roll0]: Laser battery damage.

[optimumsquare]

Deep within the Enginarium the engines roar to life as the Ardent Glory charges into combat. Although no longer capable of smiling, (the lower half of his face long ago was replaced by a more efficient rebreather), Romulos eyes light up with glee at the ship's full fury is unleashed. Screaming order to his fellow Tech Priest in Binary, he prepares the ships War Cry. An ancient right from the dark age of technology, the technique channels the fury of the machine spirit into the comms, deafening the enemy's communication and causing weaker machine spirits to falter. His fellow machine priests gather round the altar of the Omnissiah in preparation.


[roll0] vs. 79

[Sinewmire]

Matthias slaps the back of Lieutenant Shrubb as he watches the gunnery team's celebrations. "Good work, lads and lasses, good work. Keep it up, and don't worry, I'll make sure the Captain knows."
As the young auspex officers continue to interpret the portents and signs the techno-arcana brings in to them, Matthias takes another turn around the bridge, leaning back into an alcove behind a gilded, eagle encrusted stanchion. The light from the great vista-plate illuminates his eyes as he watches the results of the broadside streak towards the enemy ships. The bright motes seem to be moving almost gently, the eye fooled by the astronomical distances.
I really hate void war. How did I end up on a Voidships' crew? He thinks to himself.
Not for the first time Matthias runs over his history and various misfortunes. It helps him to ignore the fact that a stray macroshell could kill everyone here, and throw their ruined corpses into space. Matthias pats, absent-mindedly the battered charge-saber at his hip.

[The Glyphstone]

The Ardent Glory's own lasers lash out in reply at the attacking pirates, scoring against one of the two and inflicting significant damage, even as the ship's lance locks onto a similarly sized asteroid and annihilates the innocentclearly heretical rock.

Wounded but not dissuaded from their attack, the paired raiders arc around and inward towards the Glory, pounding her from both sides at once with a merciless barrage of laser and macrobattery fire even. Tremors shake the hull and warning klaxons sound as armor shatters and gouges are torn into her flanks, though the overall damage is relatively minor. Unfortunately for the enemy, their maneuver proves to be a pyrrhic decision - as Romulos blankets the local auspex bands and vox channels with destructive interference, the two lose the ability to track each other's movement and coordinate salvos. One pirate accidentally strays into the other's arc of fire, visibly venting atmosphere and broken hull fragments.

[Toxic Mind]

If our lance doesn't start hitting home, I'll be using the current gunnery crew-master as target practice for the next. Kalisa thinks angrily to herself. How dare they damage my ship!

"Tear them apart. I want nothing but dust left behind when we are through." She says coldly. The fools had already brought themselves into the broadsides with their amateur maneuvers. Now it just remained to line up the shot.

[roll0] vs 68

[dojango]

Ronaldo took a tight grip on the back of the gunner's chairs as the ship shook under the enemy's assault. Wouldn't do to take a faceplant in front of the junior officers. Sets a bad example, y'know? Once their consoles indicated that the massive weapons were ready to fire, Ronaldo pointed at the damaged ship. "Aye, nothing but dust. Pour your fire on that one." The gunnery officers leapt to comply. The harried lance battery gunner was about to fire, when Ronaldo put his hand on his shoulder. "Breathe in. Breathe out. Again. Fire as you exhale. Let the animal walk into your shot." The talk seemed to calm the man down. Cheers rang out as the massive energies smashed into the hapless enemy.

Sunsear Battery: [roll0] TN 51
Lance Battery: [roll1] TN 51
FP if needed: [roll2] TN 51
dmg hits (as needed): [roll3]

[The Glyphstone]

Already wounded from the mis-aimed fire of its erstwhile partner, the hapless pirate doesn't stand a chance. Carefully serried bursts of laser fire shatter its void shields and tear great wounds into its hull. As it flies past the prow of the Ardent Glory, plasma drives flicking in failure, it spins on thrusters to stare prow-to-prow with its killer. Lances lash out, drilling a hole through the tiny raider from prow to stern until they reach the drive and immolate the wreckage in a cloud of fire.

Shocked into apparent panic by the complete destruction of their squadmate, the second raider jerks away from the Ardent Glory to an apparent safe path back inside the shifting and swirling wreckage of the Battleground. Unluckily for them, what looks to be the rear third of a demolished cruiser happened to be intersecting that exact vector; unable to re-adjust their course in time with the hashing of their augurs. The resultant impact adds slightly more dispersed debris to the Battleground's contents.

[Toxic Mind]

"Scan the wreckage for survivors. The Penal Colonies can always use more hands." To waste human life was a sin against the God-Emperor. Any survivors would be pressed into service, of course, but they would atone for their failings until the Imperium released them from its service, not a moment before.

[Sinewmire]

The Captain's voice rings out across the bridge. "Scan the wreckage for survivors. The Penal Colonies can always use more hands."

Matthias nods, good sense. Might even be able to find someone who can tell us who hired them to attack us.

"Hop to, lads and lasses. The Captain's spoken, and she has a foot on the steps to Golden Throne."

A dozen ideas and calculations run across Matthias' mind. Crew, yes, but if we're taking the time to pick up prisoners, what else can we glean from the wreckage? Vox-logs, void-charts, objets d'art, weapons, supplies... techno-arcana, maybe... maybe void-pirates would even have heard rumour of the thrice-times-thrice-damned Castelas. Matthias unconsciously fiddles with the hilt of his battered sword as the reports come in.

Grabbing a vox-orderly, Matthias dictates a message to be taken to chief engineer Romulos. "Captain may wish to investigate the wreckage of a couple of raiders. Should she wish to do so, it would be a good idea to have scav -no, don't write that- hostile reclamation crews on standby. Just in case."


[roll0] vs 76 (Scrutiny + Detection)

[The Glyphstone]

Pulses of auspex radiation sweep over the wreckage, but to no immediate avail. Both raiders died too swiftly and unexpectedly to abandon ship for savior pods or voidsuits - there are no shortage of bodies scattered amidst the wreckage, but none bear signs of life.

But the wreckage cluster is not empty regardless, as the scanners report a third ship - immobile, behind one of the larger pieces of debris and hidden from previous scans. There is heat, power, and life signs aboard, and its location matches the pings of the pilgrim ship's distress beacon.

[dojango]

"Be sure to send a team out to recover some of the wreckage." Ronaldo said. The Hall of Triumph, leading from the Enginarium to the main chapel had wreckage from all the ships defeated by the Ardent Glory installed on the floor, so that the crew could trample the enemies of the Emperor and be reminded of the great victories of the ship. "I suppose we should send some repair crews to that vessel. And some interrogators, to see if they were confederates or victims of the late raiding ships."

[Toxic Mind]

"Keep weapons ready until we can determine their status. Hail them, open channel." Kalisa says. She hopes that the ship contains prisoners of the raiders, and not further heresies. It did not, however, pay to be incautious.

"This is Kalisa Ban Ersatz. We are responding to your distress hymnal. If you remain faithful to the God-Emperor of Mankind, stow your weapons and prepare to be boarded. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear."

[optimumsquare]

"Ooooh goody. It looks like I may have some live subjects to practice my Medicae skills on." After reading the Auspex scanns showing the hidden vessel behind the asteroid he voxes the captain. "Captain-Lady. That is the correct title yes? Recommend destroying the debris hiding the enemy vessel. It is possible that the resulting explosion would cripple the ship further, optimizing our available attack patterns. If nothing else, it would remove their cover and give us an opening for aggressive reclamation of the Omnissah's works. And it's another excellent opportunity to unleash the fury of this vessels machine spirit."

[Toxic Mind]

"Until we have confirmation of their hostile intent, we will treat them as loyal servants of the Emperor." Kalisa says with no amount of iron in her voice.

[The Glyphstone]

No answer comes from the other ship, though whether that is because they cannot or will not reply is impossible to immediately ascertain - only the continual, faint pulsing of the distress hymn from its secondary automatic vox-transmitters. As the impeding debris spins, it is revealed to be a small transport ship, anchored directly to the chunk of rubble by means of massive crude docking chains drilled into to its hull. It has no weapons, and where the main vox arrays would have been there are only scarred and burnt streaks of warped hull plating.

[Toxic Mind]

"Assemble a boarding team. I want to know what happened to them. At the very least, we can inform the Ecclesiarchy of their fate and keep this trap from ensnaring anyone else."

[dojango]

Ronaldo ambles over to one of the vox units. "Gamma squad. Assemble at the citadel dockinarium. Void gear, weapons loaded. Have my manservant meet me there with my gear. I shall personally see to the mission. Would you care to join us, Lady?"

[Toxic Mind]

"I will admit my curiosity is piqued. I believe I shall join you." Kalisa says, standing and gathering her weapons. "Albrekt, you have the helm."

[optimumsquare]

Romulos is waiting for the boarding party in the hangar bay. "Ahh, Captain. Going to go go kill the enemy in person eh? The Emperor would be proud, I'm sure. I'll happily assist with the destruction of the Omnissah's foes." He gives his bolt and plasma pistol a quick check before tapping his Mechanicum Axe against the hull.

[The Glyphstone]

The departing boarding shuttle draws the same lack of reaction from the tethered transport as the Ardent Glory itself, the smaller ship dark and silent without its running lights active. Augur reports indicate the power and heat are localized to a single deck at the rear of the ship, just above the main plasma drives running at bare minimum output, along with the life signatures.

An empty, airless small craft deck welcomes the boarding party - its machine-spirits wake obediently when Romulos interfaces with their control link, though they complain bitterly to him of low power and significant damage in certain key sectors. Following directions given by the Glory's augurs, a path is slowly traced through one lightless deck after another. The interior corridors still retain atmosphere, but little else until Kalisa and her team draw close to the indicated deck. Finally, a single heavily barred door blocks their entry; luckily, the bars and locks are on their side, meant to keep whoever is inside from getting out rather than preventing Kalisa from getting in.

[Sinewmire]

Matthias frowns through his void suit's armourglas visor. An obvious trap is obvious. Now, what is less obvious?
Always making sure to not waste energy on looking at what a dozen other people are scrutinising. The door is the obvious thing. What about the floor? The walls, or ceiling? The bulkhead door they've just passed through? Maybe it's set to shut and trap us in here...

"Chief Romulos, can you make auguries for explosives, traps, alarms... anything that isn't that door? Seems a little too obvious to my mind. Maybe someone wants us focusing on the door."

Looking for traps
[roll0] vs Scrutiny 63

[optimumsquare]

"As a matter of fact I can." From the tumor like mass of machinery on his back, a small extension with a green lensed camera protrudes. The cybernetic eye sweeps back and forth across the hall. "Interesting story about this," he says gesturing to the enhanced augur. "I had to kill three canibals to get it, and then I turned their corpses into servitors to help me install it. They were nice guys. Before they were servitors of course. Servitors are terrible conversationalists."


Awareness [roll0] vs 69
Tech use [roll1] vs 79
Succseful tech use lets me see through walls less than 50 cm thick, non visible radiation and gasses, nearby signs of life, and (this is a quote from the hand book) "other things as appropriate". Total range is 50 meters. augur is good quality.

[optimumsquare]

Fate point to reroll tech use [roll0]

[dojango]

Ronaldo pushes forward. "What's the hold up?" he asks. Watching the others scan their surroundings, he takes a look around the dismal corridor as well. The pilgrim ship's decor had been... well, it was what it was. Cheap devotional paintings, ubiquitous shrines, tacky 'relics' at every corridor.

Scrutiny [roll0] v. 33

[The Glyphstone]

Neither Matthias nor Romulos see anything out of the ordinary immediately, though Romulos's scanners definitely detect a mechanism attached to the door - it takes Ronaldo's keen eyes to pick the device out from the tacky and poorly gilded decorations on the door, despite its apparent lack of any deliberate concealment. The object is nothing more than a sensor, a simple relay that detects whether or not the door has been opened and sends this information via datacable. Based on Romulos's scans, the destination of the sensor alert appears to be both very close by and outwards - on the exterior of the hull nearby, or just inside it.

[Toxic Mind]

"Could be a bomb. Or a sensorium buoy to serve as a warning."

[optimumsquare]

"Agreed. I will attempt to disable it."


[roll0]v79

[The Glyphstone]

Thanks to his extensive collection of Mechanicus training holovids, Romulos remembers to cut the red wire splice in a loop of surplus cabling to the circuit, enabling the door to be safely opened and closed without breaking the trigger loop of the sensor welded to its doorframe.

[Toxic Mind]

"Weapons at the ready." She says to the armsmen and her crew. Then, cautiously, she opened the door.

[Sinewmire]

Matthias watches Ronaldo work. Strange one that, but his interpretations of the mysteries are pretty good.


"Interesting story about this," he says gesturing to the enhanced augur. "I had to kill three canibals to get it, and then I turned their corpses into servitors to help me install it. They were nice guys. Before they were servitors of course. Servitors are terrible conversationalists."

"Er... well, I... that's... very practical, Magos. I do like it when things come with a story."


"Could be a bomb. Or a sensorium buoy to serve as a warning."

"As you say Sire de Vieques. Were I to put ten eagles on it, I'd say a vox-transmitter, or maybe a restrainer for some beastie. I s'pose we'll find out."


"Weapons at the ready." The captain says to the armsmen and her crew. Then, cautiously, she opened the door.
Matthias winces as the Captain moves to open the door herself. She's brave, but she'll never make an old corpse that way. Drawing his sword and pistol, he makes ready to shoot someone and, if necessary, defend himself. Moving to the middle of the group, he turns sideways to the door - just in case something happens behind them.

[Sinewmire]

[roll0]
[roll1]

+5 to the highest, from Constant Vigilance)

[The Glyphstone]

The barricaded door is not difficult to open - the various deadbolts are all accessible, and the handful of physical locks are easily cut through with power blades. The alarm mechanism attached to the frame clicks uselessly as the hatch swings, its connection to whatever malefic device lay on the other end of the cables severed, and beyond the doorway wait...

A crowd of men and women in dirt-stained, low-grade clothing. Many carry crude weapons of some kind, improvised knives or clubs, with a smattering of small autopistols or hand cannons in evidence. All are tensed and look ready to rush the doorway for a moment, until the sight of the group on the other side makes them freeze in hesitation. A long moment passes before one man at the head warily asks, "You're not the Wolfpack...who are you?"

[Toxic Mind]

"I am Kalisa Ban Ersatz. We have destroyed the pirates, and are here to rescue you. Which one of you is in charge?" She says, and raises her Rosarius so the ragged masses can see the sign of the Ecclesiarchy.

[roll0] vs 63 [53 + 10 Rosarius]

[The Glyphstone]

A hushed silence fills the room as the first ranks of the mob see her armor and Rosarius, those behind them struggling for a glimpse, before the whispers start to make their way back through the crowd.

"The Daughters of the Emperor are here...the Sisters of Battle have come...we're saved..."

Whatever half-panicked cohesiveness the group had disintegrates, assorted pilgrims breaking out into cheers, weeping tears, or fervent prayer. Amidst the clamor, a fresh-faced young man in a priest's vestment - barely more than a boy, really - makes his way to the front in response to Kalisa's query.

"I'm Curate Pellaeon, Sister. Well, Preacher Pellaeon now, I suppose; I was Preacher Mitt's aide before the Wolves killed him along with the other senior officers. You are real, aren't you?"

[optimumsquare]

Romulos eyes the survivors suspiciously. As a ship lorn survivor himself, it is difficult for him to believe that these people are not cannibals. "What happened here. How have you survived? Have you been... eating right?"

[Toxic Mind]

"Preacher Pellaeon." She intones her head in respect, and acknowledgement of his somewhat battlefield promotion. "I am Kalisa Ban Ersatz, formerly of the Order of the Bloody Rose. Now, I serve the God-Emperor as one of His Rogue Traders, bringing his light to the dark places of the galaxy. Today, that place is here." She directs the next statement to the huddled masses. "My ship, the Ardent Glory, has medical supplies and food, and we offer safe passage to Footfall for those that wish it, or service aboard the ship for those who would prefer such." Now back to the Preacher, she says more softly. "I can surmise that your ship was attacked by the Wolfpack, which led you here, but why were you left alive?"

[The Glyphstone]

The preacher bows his head in return. "We owe you our lives, Lady ban Ersatz, all of us. We have little but the clothes we wear now, with the damage done to our ship, but if that debt can be returned in some minute degree none of us would hesitate to offer. As to our survival...the Wolfpack pirates gave us food. Not enough to be healthy, but enough to keep us alive. We were bait in their trap, for those a simple salvation beacon would not attract. Eventually, I suspect we were meant to be sold for slaves or...darker purposes."

[Sinewmire]

Matthias, as usual, hangs back and watches for what others are not. The preachers' story makes sense, but then it would, wouldn't it?
Maybe they're just here to delay us. I suppose they'd need food to register as life-signs on the auspex... wouldn't they?

The preacher will be perfect, he's the spokesman. What about the others? Is there a carnosaur in grox's clothing?


[roll0] vs 63

Matthias murmurs covertly to the one of the armsmen, not eager to be pointed out to strangers.
"Make sure Master de Vieques recalls that we'll need to deactivate that beacon."

[dojango]

Once the pilgrims are revealed, Ronaldo puts down his raised weapon. He orders his manservant to pour out a glass of sherry for the preacher. Putting his arm around the young lad, Ronaldo says, "The Emperor has guided us to you, just as surely as he guided our shots to destroy the waiting pirates. A fine lad like yourself could go far under the ban Ersatz colors, especially if he can prevail upon his flock to aid us in our great task? D'ya think the ship is salvageable? We could take her under tow to Footfall, perhaps, repair her, and have her fly again. With the Emperor's blessing, of course."

Can we save the ship? If not, we'll have the armsmen strip it of anything not nailed down and then use it as target practice as we leave. [roll0] v. 43 + whatever modifiers charm test so that the preacher gets his flock to help us out.

[optimumsquare]

While Ronaldo talks to the preacher, Romulos pulls Mathias aside. Modulating his vox chords so that only Mathias can hear he says, "Does this feel wrong to you? There's not enough desperation. They haven't even started eating eachother yet. A true void wreck would be devoid of hope, and I've never heard of pirates feeding the survivors."

[The Glyphstone]

Matthias gets no untoward impressions from the young preacher. His face is lined, with the wear of someone with recent stress undue his age, and the stark manner certain bones are highlighted beneath his skin indicate an extended period of near-subsistence diet. It could still be a psychic illusion of some fashion, or merely the lies of a truly talented deceiver more capable than Matthias's ability to detect those lies, but taken at surface value there is nothing visible to indicate treachery.


Pellaeon is visibly unbalanced by Ronaldo's sudden generosity - Matthias can see the boy tense slightly in suspicion, warring against his desire to for the rescue to be genuine. When the sherry proves to not be poisoned in any fashion, the gift washes away even that hint of uncertainty and brings a smile at last to his face.

"I cannot speak for the spaceworthiness of the ship, though I fear it will never move again. The Wolves already pillaged it for loot once, and none of our enginseers survived the attack to judge if it can be repaired. We were originally headed for Valcetti's Salvation - I am oath-bound to continue to guide however many of my flock wish to continue their pilgrimage, but any who wish to take your colors will not be held back. At the very least, we can work our passage to Footfall in hopes of finding another berth forward."


With no enginseer training of his own, Ronaldo cannot judge such things either. But if the interior of the ship is as badly damaged as the exterior, the transport would need weeks in a dockyard to even be capable of moving under its own power, let alone surviving a warp transit. There is still value to be found in stripping it of anything the pirates left behind, though whether those treasures are given back to its owners or retained to compensate the dynasty for its efforts in saving them is a different question.

[Sinewmire]

"Healthy skepticism, Magos. Personally I only really trust people I've seen buried. This lot seem wretched enough to be ship-lorn and were I a pirate captain I'd want all my crew aboard my ship. Easier to leave behind prisoners you don't care about than your own prime crew. That said, as we're not low on crew... well, that's up to the captain... but I know how I'll counsel her."
Matthias pats his hellpistol meaningfully.
"Maybe now's a good time to check on that trap, Magos?"

Matthias steps forward to Kalisa's left, a few paces behind to show the proper deference.
"With your permission Captain, I'll 'ave our medicus prepare relief quarters for these people. Food, wartah, medicae facilities and hot showers. Perhaps a couple of these good souls could stay with us to help point out a few personal effects and material goods these holy folks might want to bring?"

Matthias will find a quiet corner to vox back to the ship. "Watch officer, I'm gonna need some quarantine bays made available. We've got survivors, and I want every single one of 'em locked down tight as Cadia, til we decide what to do with them. They're not going into general pop, and if I find out any of 'em slink off during embarkation, I'm gonna make the refined tortures of the most holy inquisition seem like a bleedin' Sanguinala. Got it?"

[optimumsquare]

Nodding to Mathias, Romulos sets out. He summons his "fellow" tech priest. "Brothers. Repurpose what we can of this vessel of the Omnissiah." Beckoning his medicae skull-servitor, he gives it a command in Binary to diagnose/monitor the survivors while he supervises the salvage operations.

[dojango]

Ronaldo puts his hand on the priest's shoulder. "Your persistence gives you credit, padre. You have been delivered from the ship of doubts and your tormentors slain by the power of the Emperor. I wish you the best of luck on your journey, and remember us in your prayers!" With that, orders the armsmen to escort the tech-priests on their mission of 'salvage'. Just in case some hullghasts or lower deck mutants still lurked aboard the ship.

He joined Kalisa, Romulos and Matthias. "Well, I suppose that concludes this business. I understand our officers are throwing a feast to celebrate our victory in the officer's mess in a few hours. Would you care to join me in honoring the party with our presence?"

[Toxic Mind]

"I shall make an appearance." Kalisa says in response. Parties were not here thing, so to speak, but they did improve morale, so she went, and talked. "Once we are finished escorting the pilgrims aboard and with the salvage operation, we should be going - time is not our friend in this venture."

[The Glyphstone]

Salvaging even a relatively small transport ship is no mean endeavor - without the specialized facilities and equipment of a dedicated salvage ship, many otherwise functional components are left within the hulk. Several days of organized scavenging by work parties remains remarkably fruitful with the combination of bonus incentives for significant finds and draconian punishments for trying to keep anything; previous looting by the pirates was enthusiastic but haphazard, and much of value was missed or ignored. When the vessel is all but stripped of anything man-portable and not bolted down (bolts themselves do not count as being nailed down), the Ardent Glory is ready to resume its journey.

[dojango]

Ronaldo took his place at the high table of the officer's mess. The raucous banquet had started with toasts to the emperor, and the ship, to Lady ban Ersatz and the officers. After the first course had been served, came the moment everyone had been waiting for. A tech priest stood up, and read a printout. "According to the ancient formulas, the laser crews did the most damage to the enemy vessel." Cheers rang out from the laser battery's officers. The officers of the lance batteries stood up, doffed their hats, and bowed deeply to their rivals. For the next week, the normal rules of precedence would be suspended; the laser crew's officers would have priority over the lance battery's officers, no matter their normal rank or station.

Ronaldo raised another glass, and said "Three cheers for the gunners, eh? Bringing the emperor's wrath to our foes." More cheers rang out around the banquet hall. All eyes turned to the doors to the kitchen. A massive trolley, pushed by three servers, was wheeled out to where the commander of the laser battery sat. The huge cake atop the trolley had been carefully shaped into the shape of the defeated enemy ship. The commander of the lance battery picked up a serving knife and said to his rival, who sat with a broad grin on her face, "Mamzel? Which piece would you like?"

She pointed to where the laser batteries had first scored deep rents along the enemy ship's hull. "I should save the enginarium for your lads, chief. So they know what to aim for next time." The other commander bowed and sliced off a part of the cake, placing it before her. The servers then began slicing into the cake, serving the other officers. Ronaldo and the high table first, then the laser officers, the general officers, and finally the officers of the lance batteries. Ronaldo sat back in his chair, relaxing. A fine day. Enemies of the emperor cast down, holds full of valuable salvage, and a fine dinner. He was glad he had impressed the pastry chef from his family's estate.

[The Glyphstone]

With the wreckage of the pirate raiders and the remaining hull of the pilgrim ship reduced to scraps and vapor, the Ardent Glory departs the Battleground onto the next leg of its journey. It seems the Emperor may have been pleased by the detour to rescue His pilgrims, as the trip is uncommonly smooth for such a legendarily tumultous warp route as The Koronus Maw. A significantly lower-than-average percentage of the crew are driven mad by warp-spawned hallucinations, and less than a dozen minor malignancies are uncovered upon return to realspace.

The first sight upon entering the Furibundus system is the titular star - a truly titanic supermassive red giant, blazing with unnatural light and fury that seems to at times distort the very boundaries of the star itself. But far more relevant, not to mention closer, is the sprawling and disorganized collection of asteroids, artificial habitats, and stranger elements of the void-settlement called Footfall.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/a/ae/Footfall_settlement.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130403055320

A gentle swarm of vessels of all shapes and sizes swarm around the ramshackle-seeming port, but no reaction comes to the Ardent Glory's presence until it settles on a definite heading towards Footfall. Even then, it is almost an hour before a laconic, almost lazy voice transmission crackles through the long-distance vox.

"Unidentified vessel, welcome to Footfall. Be warned that this area is under the protection of the Kabalisca Mission, and hostile or disruptive actions will be met with excessively deadly force. Please state your current hull name and purpose of visit. 'None of your business, frack off' is considered a valid answer to the second question."

[optimumsquare]

"Current hull name?" Romulos says to no one in particular.

[Toxic Mind]

"This is the Ardent Glory. It seems our charts are somewhat out of date, we stopped by to pick up a replacement." It wasn't technically a lie.

[dojango]

"Hmm, yes. We also need to re-stock our wine cellars."

[The Glyphstone]

The cadence of the reply is similarly bored, with the mild sing-song cadence of a memorized and oft-repeated speech. "Thank you, Ardent Glory. The rules of Footfall are short and simple. Don't breach the atmo. Don't hinder business. Look strong enough to not be a target, but not so strong as to be a challenge, and you shouldn't have any trouble. Attached is a list of docking ports that can fit your vessel, negotiate with whichever one you like to purchase a berth. Anything you might want is for sale on Footfall, and anything will find a buyer. All deals are made at your own risk. Enjoy your stay - Footfall Void Security out."

The second pulsed transmission is, indeed, a list of private docking ports and their vox frequencies.

[dojango]

While the petty details of docking the kilometer-long ship and resupplying for the crew of thousands were being handled by the ship's crew, Ronaldo borrowed a shuttle and set off into Footfall with a half-dozen armsmen to start searching for charts of the expanse. Of course, since he had no intention of revealing the ship's destination to prospective sellers, he soon found himself staring at hundreds of charts of every different region of the expanse. With no way of verifying their accuracy, he conceded defeat and headed over to a restaurant in one of the more exclusive zones of Footfall.

[roll0] v. 43

[Toxic Mind]

Kalisa makes her way to the Naval quarters. They were far less prominent than on Port Wander, but still not terribly hard to find. As always, she is accompanied by a squad of armsmen, it would be foolish not to, and armed and armoured. She presents her identification and rosarius at the guard station. "I'm here to speak with the senior-most voidfarer on the station about a journey. Doing the God-Emperor's work is challenging, but I won't take up much of their time."

[roll0] vs 53 (63 if Rosarius Applies)

[Sinewmire]

Matthias' entry to the high-risk trader's port is rather more circumspect than his colleagues.

Accompanied by a couple of his more burly unshaven colleagues, he cuts an altogether less reputable figure in his battered old void-gear and well-used weapons. A negligent hand on pistol-hilt should keep the more survival-conscious members of the criminal fraternity at the appropriate distance.

Matthias frequents a few seedy dens, playing games of chance - hunt-the-fool, viginti et unius, knife-cochlearius and so on.

First thing on the list - who knows who we are, why we're here, and how easy is it to corner them in dark alley?


[roll0]vs 63

[The Glyphstone]

After a whirlwind visit to the thriving den of iniquity that is Footfall's largest trade district and visits to a grey-market dealer with an almost disarmingly honest-seeming demeanor, the Ardent Glory is headed deeper in-system to the Adeptus Mechanicus research station there and the attached Imperial Navy refueling depot - the largest concentration of genuine Navy personnel in the system. The base commandant is decidedly more nonchalant and laid-back than the typical professionalism expected from His naval officers - likely either the cause or an effect of his effective exile here in the Expanse. But he is also far more ready to accommodate the often eclectic needs of visiting Rogue Traders, and throws open his stellar cartography archives to Kalisa's adepts. Before a ship's day has passed, the Choir-Master's visions and the available charts are cross-referenced to good effect and leave only one possible destination - the distant Magoros system, deep within the region known as Winterscale's Realm.

[dojango]

Ronaldo had spent a pleasant few hours conversing with the naval commandant and well-bred members of his staff. Their collection of astrogation charts had been extensive, while their brandy selection had been limited. Ronaldo made sure to have a few crates delivered before the Ardent Glory left in order to remedy the latter. Back on the ship, with the navigator fussing away with the new charts, he said, "Into the unknown, aye? He who hesitates is lost. Our rivals, our quarry may be speeding onward as we speak. All haste to Magoros, Master Navigator." Leaving the bridge, he voxed the armsmen's barracks. "Security condition Orange, gentlemen. I want no surprises from within the ship."

[Toxic Mind]

"The Magoros system, if you please." Kalisa says to the Navigator and the helm. "With all due haste. We can only assume that our 'friends' remain ahead of us, given that they were not waiting in Footfall."

[The Glyphstone]

The system of Furibundus and its infamous pirate-port are only a momentary stopover in the chase, and soon the Ardent Glory is once again racing the hostile tides of the warp to a new destination. Several days pass in somewhat more eventful fashion. The most notable of which is the encounter of a fleet of ghostly, incorporeal ships, echoes of some lost voyage from the distant pass. Several times the phantom transports overlap the hull of the Ardent Glory, Gellar Field notwithstanding, and the equally insubstantial phantoms of long-dead voidfarers are seen treading the halls with grim silent purpose. Eventually their course diverges and the spectral vessels disappear, though in the aftermath a number of crew are reported to have vanished without a trace.

Eventually the journey ends, revealing the flickering, gasping remains of the star Magoros. Wide-band augurs pulse the system, and within a few hours their returns are decoded. Three planets still orbit the flaring pulsar, itself a major potential navigation hazard to the Ardent Glory's sensors and electronics. The smallest is closest to the star, blasted with lethal radiation and heat. The second is further out, potentially habitable by man but entirely shrouded in thick grey clouds. The last is on the bare outer edge of the habitable range for Magoros, an ice-crusted world that still teems with hardy fungal plant life in its poison-laced atmosphere.

[optimumsquare]

Romulos scrolls through his logis implant, trying to locate the data files that have the location of the prize he seeks. Ever since he downloaded those files from his "friend" on Footfall, his implants been acting funny. Strange geometric symbols flicker in and out of vision, and did he get into a shoot out with someone? That doesn't sound right. He shakes it from his mind. "So, the ship we're her to take. I don't see it, do you? Or our enemies, are they here, Hmm?"

[Toxic Mind]

"Hiding, as heretics and cowards are most wont to do." Kalisa says, as if it closed the matter. "We will need to draw them out."

[Sinewmire]

Switching to a private vox-channel, Matthias seeks a stanchion-shadowed spot to address the captain without doing anything so disrespectful as approaching her command pulpit without leave. He addresses his captain in a quiet tone clear as a bell to her, through her earpiece, but inaudiable outside of three feet.
"What's the notion, Captain? We could feign that we were 'urt worse by those wolfpack pirates than is the case. We could ask the magos to vent a li'l maneuvring plasma, make it look like spalling damage. It's easy to make some vox-signals that'll fool most auspexes into thinking our Void Shields are shot. I can suggest a few touches of my own. Discharge some junk components, fallen crew, that sort of thing as if we're relaxing.

Nothing so dishonourable as heretical cowardice, just a legitimate ruse de guerre, course."

Maybe I've got some untrustworthy new crew members could serve their Captain best by going out an airlock.

Matthias has served captains before and knows if she wants any more options she'll ask for them.

Lame Duck Ruse
[roll0] vs 63 Decieve

[Toxic Mind]

"Do it." Kalisa says. "If it works, we'll know soon enough. Just in case, I want options for a search pattern available."

[dojango]

"A cunning plan. Reminds me of how we used to hunt bloodfangs back on Stranix IV. Course, I wouldn't have thought we'd take the part of the wounded Grox," Ronaldo says, stroking his mustache. "Still, be good for the lads to have a bit more shooting. The lance men want to make up their score."

[The Glyphstone]

The necessary work is put in place, and the Ardent Glory becomes a very convincing imitation of a badly damaged ship. The flaring pulsar of the Magoros system is unimpressed by the theatric performance. A full day of waiting passes with no reaction from anything else in the system either.

[dojango]

While others might obsessively monitor the ship's auspex, Ronaldo goes about his daily routine. He has a fine dinner, a good night's rest. He has a good sparring session in the officer's gym, followed by a swim in the pool and a long soak. After the day has nearly passes, he strolls into the ship's bridge, sits down in the comfortable seat he'd had installed overlooking the gunnery command. A servant appears with his cup of recaf, just the way he likes it. (One sugar, and a dash of amasec). "T'were a fine ruse d' guerre, pity it ain't been needed. So. I reckon either our quarry's beaten us here and we'll find naught but dust, or they mighta been caught up in the warp and are still struggling on their way. The Emperor guides the righteous, dontcha know? Suppose we should go check out that planet that no-eyes saw." He pulls up one of the screens and starts peering at the mass of data gathered by the ship's auspex over the past day, trying to glean any useful information from the currents of space, or the distant planet.

After a few moments pass... "Yep. That sure is a planet. Wonder if there's any game to hunt? Be nice to get a trophy for the ship. A white-crested razorbeak's head would look great mounted above the officer's mess, dontcha think?"

[roll0] v. 46 (33 per + 13 detection)

[Sinewmire]

Matthias has appeared intermittently, keeping an eye on the bridge now and then, but content to let the navy types go about their business.
"You might well be right there, Sieur von Drakken. They say service is it's own reward, would've been nice to have got off an ambush though. Ah, yer can't have it all."

Matthias nurses a ships' tin mug of black syrupy caffeine and a battered bac-stick. He could have been awake for days, or could have just got up, it's difficult to tell with Matthias. He certainly doesn't have Ronaldo's flair, but his dark eyes don't miss anything.
"Not right sure what we're looking for, in the Emperor's own truth, though I'm sure we'll know it when we see it."

[optimumsquare]

Romulos paces back and forth along the bridge, leaning in uncomfortably close over unfortunate crewmembers. "Perhaps if we cannot draw them to us, we should continue on to our prize. Did the maps we acquired specify which world the treasure we seek is located on or do we need to search this system planet by planet?"

[Toxic Mind]

"If we must search the planet, then the ship may be buried by the eons." Kalisa says, with a note of regret. It would make salvage much more difficult. "Bring the Astropath up on the vox, if you would. I wish to question her - perhaps her vision might help us figure out where to start."

[The Glyphstone]

The Choir Chamber answers quickly, with the dimunitive Astropath-Transcendent on the other end of the vox. "I am at your service as always, Lady Captain. But first a question - how do you put manacles on a one-armed man?"

[Toxic Mind]

"One on his arm, one on his neck." Kalisa says, trying not to show the exasperation in her voice. He was always doing that - asking odd questions that never made sense. Until they did. She tried to head him off. "We have need of your visions. 3 planets are in this system, and a great deal of space in between. Where should we search for the ship?"

[The Glyphstone]

The relief in the psyker's voice was plain. "Excellent, you haven't become a Reaver with plans to use my face as a tea cozy. I'm not sure what ship you are referring to, but I remember the memnolith's contents clearly. This is definitely the correct system, the pulsar is unmistakable. The planet...is harder to be certain. This is a matter of impressions and feelings that cannot be directly understood as images, you understand. We seek a planet that once bore sapient life, but whoever lived there is long dead; it lies as a tomb to its former inhabitants. They built something that outlasts their memory, some form of telescope, and it points out into the cometary halo ring around the system. I did not see what it points at, but it was something very important. Perhaps the ship you seek?"

[Toxic Mind]

"My appreciation, Astropath. Your face is safe from tea cozification for another year." Kalisa responds before ending the channel. There was no point in power if you couldn't enjoy it. "Scan the planets for ruins and signs of prior habitation. If we find this telescope, we find our ship." She thinks for a moment. "We could also search the halo ring, but that might take much longer."

[The Glyphstone]

Performing direct scans of the planets from the outer system is difficult, but the long-range augurs are able to resolve cleaner visual images and fragmentary auspex returns. The innermost planet is scorched and airless, almost certainly uninhabitable to all but the most hardy of xenos. The middle world's surface is completely obscured beneath its thick grey clouds and hidden from scans. The outer world, though, shows traces of metals in distinctly artificial but inhuman patterns.

[optimumsquare]

Looking over the auspex crewman's shoulder (again, NO REGARDS FOR PERSONAL SPACE) Romulos's eyes go wide. "Captain. We should go to the third planet!" he says too loudly. "Oh," he says after a moment. "You probably want a reason. Well there is xenos tech there." Another pause. "Which we clearly need to purge? Is that the correct reasoning?"

[dojango]

"Well, first we find the telescope and find the Righteous Path. Then we purge the xenotech. Although I suppose purging the xenotech is the righteous path, hah!"

[Toxic Mind]

Kalisa sighs. "Set a course."

[optimumsquare]

Tech Roll at DM's request

[roll0] vs 79 (69 if master enginseer doesn't apply for some reason)

[dojango]

As the ship draws closer, Ronaldo takes some time to review the auspex records of their destination, hoping to divine some insight as to what riches and dangers might lie on the planet below. After a while, (and the third glass of amasec), he pushes the charts and data-flimsies aside. "Easier jes' to make landfall and see what's there. These blasted auspexes couldn't find a bottle of Tokaji in a Malfian wine-shop."

[roll0] v. 46

[The Glyphstone]

Close in orbit of the third world of Magoros, the source of the sensor readings is unmistakable. Whoever lived on the planet is long gone, its inhabitants replaced by the spreading carpets of fungal vegetation, but their artifacts remain. Vast spires of crystal and alien alloy stretch into the sky, and auspex signatures indicate the constructions pierce just as deeply into the planetary crust. Many of the xenos structures have corroded and fallen, leaving only a handful to pierce the skyline as high as any Imperial hive city.

Odd energy readings seem to emanate from the ruins - only after considerable study and analysis is Romulos able to offer conjecture on its purpose. The entire world of Magoros Secundus was once some form of colossal xenos power collector, a generator of unimaginable scale and output. More importantly, the barest trickle of its energy flow remains intact, and the vectors of the stream point directly towards Magoros Prime, the second world of the star system.

[dojango]

Ronaldo politely listens to the explanation for a little while before interrupting. "So y'say the signs lead to the next planet over? Suppose we can bomb the ruins later, then. So you's can purge the stuff. Much as I'd like to hunt whatever game hides in those strange fungal forests, it'll have to wait until we find our true quarry."

[optimumsquare]

"I agree on our next target but let's not be so hasty to bomb this world. We are supposed go forth and bring, whats the word, profit, for the Emperor yes? The ability to send power across the void between planetary bodies is worth investigating. Later of course."

[dojango]

"Oh, come now, it can't be too hard. If the Navy can project power across planets, I'm sure the Tech Priests can manage as well."

[optimumsquare]

"Oh, come now, it can't be too hard. If the Navy can project power across planets, I'm sure the Tech Priests can manage as well."

A true servant of the omnisaiah would take offense to that. Romulos does not disagree.

[Toxic Mind]

"Indeed. This system must be purged of Xenos corruption, but first our true prize awaits. Set a course for Magoros Prime, full scan and augurs. I want to know which animal scratched its nose when we arrived in orbit." Obvious conjecture, as Kalisa cared nothing for animals beyond the profit they might bring. It did, however, help bring her point across to the less socially schooled.

[The Glyphstone]

The Ardent Glory moves further in-system, leaving the ancient xenos spires behind as it heads to Magoros Prime. Close-up, the shrouded world is like a swirling marble of grey clouds that blocks any view of its surface, and greatly inhibits orbital scans of the surface beneath. Scout shuttles are dispatched into the atmosphere, disappearing into the soup and returning some hours later. Much of the planet is blasted grey wastelands, dotted here and there by sprawling clusters of shattered alien ruins. The northern-most continent, though, bears something quite different - a single immense structure at least a kilometer across, built of glittering crystal and surrounded by a vast maze of collapsed and broken ruins. The crystal dome is generating a cloud of powerful electromagnetic turbulence - non-visual scans of its interior prove impossible, and the two shuttles who dared venture too close crashed after experiencing sudden and total failure of their drive systems. If the artefact is to be investigated, it will require landing outside the perimeter of interference and going in on foot.

[dojango]

Ronaldo was in one of the ship's luxurious salons, playing cards with a few well-heeled passengers when he heard the reports from the field. He nodded, threw down his cards. He had been losing, anyway. He snapped his fingers at his manservant, who was quietly waiting in the servant's alcove. "Mechanical troubles on the shuttle, eh? Time to do some trouble-shooting, me thinks. Hmm. Also maybe some trouble grenading. Pack my bags. And a lunch. I'm thinking something hearty for a hunting expedition. See if cookie has any of that bilge-gator stew left." With that, he got up and headed down to the lighter bay.

[optimumsquare]

"Technical difficulties you say?" In spite of his artificial vocal chords there is still a detectable hint of excitement in Romulos's voice.

[Toxic Mind]

"See to it that the names of the shuttle crews are inscribed into the Hall of Remembrance. They gave their lives in service of the God-Emperor and the Dynasty; a more fitting death there cannot be." Kalisa says upon hearing the report. "Assemble the away team and prepare yourselves to explore a planet." Orders given, she returns to her quarters to re-armor and retrieve her weapons, then makes for the hanger bay.

[The Glyphstone]

Armed and geared, the Explorer team boards their shuttle and heads down towards the surface. Below, the silvered arc of the xenos artefect gleams in the light of the wan, flickering sun like a kilometer-wide jewel. Somewhere within, the secrets of the Righteous Path's location will be found. As the shuttle enters the atmosphere, an urgent transmission comes from the Ardent Glory above.

"Lady-Captain, we are detecting a strong build-up in energies from the Magoros star. Augurs indicate the beginning of a regular pattern of stellar flares and radiation bursts that will severely damage anything not shielded by atmosphere - the wave front will reach Magoros Prime in a matter of hours. If we cannot retrieve you from the surface before then we will be forced to retreat to the outer system until it is safe to return, which may delay us by days."


You have entered a Narrative Encounter. The governing rules for Narrative Challenge sequences are Here (https://docs.google.com/document/d/15xYuFW25sELdqyP2GPYRcOzZw4npYmRs74qZccQXtQg/edit) for a refresher of memory by the curious.

Your goal is to reach the Star Mirror and return to your pickup point before the star begins flaring - this is a Descending Resource that will start at a value of 3. There are 4 players and your effective Encounter Level is 2, so you will be presented with 6 obstacles.


The secondary bridge crew of the Ardent Glory is clearly nervous, torn between their twin duties of not abandoning their Rogue Trader and not getting her ship unnecessarily damaged or even destroyed. Before vox communication is lost, suitably inspiring instructions may be necessary if they are to hold position longer than might be safe.

Objective 1: Command (+0)

[Toxic Mind]

"It is often said that the Imperium of Man is built upon the humble lasgun. We must aspire to be of the same stock, forged in fire and combat. It is in times of hardship that heroes are made, and that a person's true worth is shown. We will succeed, and when we do, all those who have shown their worth will share in the rewards. The Emperor Protects." Kalisa voxes back to the ship.

[roll0] vs 63
Fate if Needed: [roll1] vs 63
Wounds: 9/9
Fate: 4/5

[Sinewmire]

A trooper pushes back his blast-visor, revealing Matthias, who has been there the whole time.
Fumbling a little with the controls of his auspex - scraggin' fumble-finger voidsuits - Matthias follows up his Captain's orders with a few practical notes.
"Inspirin' Captain. I always felt the Emperor has got better things to do than look out for the likes of me, though. "
Matthias automatically grabs a restraint as the smallcraft bucks under them all, turning a smidgen pale.
"Mind you, in the void? I'll pray as hard as any preacher."
Matthias tries to silence himself. Not usually loose-tongued, the helplessness of shuttle transit always rattles him a little.

[The Glyphstone]

Bolstered by Kalisa's message, the ship's crew promises to hold orbit until the very last possible moment.

Diving deeper into the atmosphere, the disruptive effects of the Star Mirror on the shuttle are almost immediately apparent. The machine spirit clearly despises whatever foul xenos technology lies within the mysterious crystalline dome, and shows its displeasure through a wide assortment of errors and faults that grow more potent as the lander draws nearer to the radius of the total failure zone. Unless the recalcitrant spirit can be soothed with the appropriate rites and rituals, it will be necessary to land further away rather than risk a catastrophic crash.

Objective 1: Passed
Objective 2: Tech-Use (+0)

Time Remaining: 3

[optimumsquare]

The proper way to soothe a terrified machine spirit such as this is with the seven incantations of defragmentation, followed by the sacred rite of reinitation. Romulos does not do that. Instead, he gives the console a firm smack with his mechandrite and whispers to it in binary. "If you think this is bad, wait until you see what I'll do to you if I have to walk five klicks to the target."

[roll0] vs 79

[The Glyphstone]

Caught between the impending terror of the sensor-scrambling disruption and the much more immediate terror of an angry Explorator with tools and a logic probe at hand, the shuttle's machine spirit selects for its continued short-term survival over the dangers of a long-term unknown.

Guided partly by the almost entirely blind sensors and partly by the more primitive but reliable Mark One Eyeballs aboard, the lander is finally forced to ground in a cleared patch of ground in the middle of the alien city. A security patrol immediately disembarks to surround the ship, but finds nothing but the long-dead bones of xenos habitations reaching far into the cloud-shrouded sky. It is a profoundly unnatural environment, made worse by the thin and somewhat caustic air- breathable, yet decidedly uncomfortable. Broken spires stand between spiraling trenches and cavernous pits with no apparent logic to their arrangement - at least, not to any orderly human mind. Above everything, the massive shining dome of the artefact looms, but finding the most efficient path through the labyrinth to its center will be arduous.


Objective 1: Passed
Objective 2: Passed
Objective 3: Navigate (Surface) +0

Time Remaining: 3

[Sinewmire]

Matthias eyes the broken ruins skeptically, a sardonic frown crossing his stubbled face.
"Blasted xenos trash-heaps, it's like they take a perverse pleasure in being wierd."
As the troops form their picket, Matthias draws out his data-slate and makes a rudimentary map, marking notable ruins, inexplicable protuberances and unusually large piles of bone.
It always pays to know where you may have to evac to.
"By your leave, Captain? I think if we head too far down that slope there-" Matthias gestures with an open hand - "then we'll actually be cut off by that wall of the... the... well, whatever that building thing was, it's bigger than it looks. We need to head around that way, around that pile of rubble. Tricky, but we got good boots.
I'd watch out for an ambush there too. It seems quiet but I never trusted quiet."
Matthias proffers his map. He's no Ecclesiarchy illustrator, but it looks accurate enough.


[roll0] vs 42

[The Glyphstone]

Trying to use xenos ruins as landmarks might be futile to the sane, but even an untrained scout can navigate with natural features. Finding an efficient path through the abandoned city is as simple as mentally transforming one into the other.

Guided largely by Matthias's sense of dead reckoning and the increasingly looming shadow of the crystal dome, the squad advances deeper into the ruins. No sign of whoever built the structures is visible aside from the buildings themselves - no bodies, no tools, not even graffiti or street signs to mark the way. At rare intervals a tool of human manufacture can be found abandoned in a rubble heap, invariably corroded and broken from decades of neglect and exposure - signs of the inevitable scavengers that ply the fringes of the Cold Trade.

Finally, the winding route crosses what looks to be an avenue of some kind - broader than any previous path, and pointed directly towards the dome. It would greatly speed the process of finding the central artefact, but a nearby building has partially collapsed atop it and created a massive, jagged mountain of rubble. Going around the blockage and finding another way to reach the avenue will be time-consuming, unless a way over and through the debris can be devised.

Objective 1: Passed
Objective 2: Passed
Objective 3: Passed
Objective 4: Athletics (+0)

Time Remaining: 3

[dojango]

Ronaldo came to the fore of the expedition. "Eh, what's the hold up, lads? Is this the problem? Why, it's just like the rock wall we installed in the officer's gym. What'dya mean you haven't tried it yet? Right, you're not allowed. Well. Pass me that rope, would ya?"

[roll0] v. 30

[dojango]

Ronaldo managed to climb a few feet up, carefully moving from handhold to handhold. The sharp rocks and debris made it hard going. His foot slipped for a moment, but he caught himself. Summoning up some reserves of strength, he made a lunge for a ledge just up above his head. Once there, he could tie a rope for the others, he reckoned...

May as well throw a FP at it. [roll0]

[The Glyphstone]

The ledge crumbles under Ronaldo's touch and he plummets back down to a bruising landing. Some of the debris shifts alarmingly from the disruption as well, indicating the rubble is likely unstable and too dangerous to attempt further climbing. Dejectedly, the Explorers turn away from the blockage and begin seeking a way around it.

What seems like more fruitless wandering through xenos trenches seems inevitable. There are no inscriptions or directions inscribed on any of the walls or intersections, only the occasional patch of faded colors. The colored patches, though, are the only distinctive feature to be found at all in the passages, and the question cannot be ignored - has the team been walking past the xenos equivalent of street signs all this time, a culture too debased or primitive to employ the written word?

Objective 1: Passed
Objective 2: Passed
Objective 3: Passed
Objective 4: Failed
Objective 5: Logic (-20)

Time Remaining: 2

[dojango]

Ronaldo is in a foul mood after that, sulking quietly, eyes darting around. Any soldier that smirks (or appears to smirk. Or appears to be thinking about smirking) is quietly put on a list of people to be given bilge-patrol duty for the next week. No, two weeks. His manservant hovers behind him, trying to cheer up Ronaldo. The next time the party stops to find its bearings, he reappears with a cold-brewed recaf, spiced with just a hint of Malfian rum. Ronaldo's mood improves dramatically.

[Sinewmire]

Abashed after his guidance has led them to an apparently impassable wall, Matthias hurriedly tries to look around for an alternative. Blasted Xenos! Everything looks the same, one radiation-bleached wall after another, the detritus of aeons the only real landmarks.
"At least they liked colour. D'you think this was a mural or somefin'?"
As the group takes a break to make auspex reading, and Ronaldo chugs his fancy uphive recaf, Matthias runs a heavy-duty-gloved hand over the patch of faded pigment, sipping thoughtfully from a canister of reclaimed agua-prod.
"Can't see any pictures in it though. Throne-damned aliens can't even get art right. Unless it's got some other meanin'."
Matthias frowns, then shrugs.
"Whatever. No point trying to figure aht the way a Xenos mind works. You'll go mad at best."

[optimumsquare]

"Mad you say?" Romulos logis implant whirs into overtime as it tries to contemplate the patterns of the colors.

[roll0] vs 29


Any bonuses for having a logis implant?

[Toxic Mind]

"Now you're encouraging him." Kalisa says drolly to Matthias.

[Sinewmire]

Matthias sketches a courtly bow, made somewhat ridiculous by his utilitarian garb.
"That's what I'm for Captain, to do the dirty jobs."
Matthias' jaunty smile fades somewhat as the chief enginseer' does his work. Never could get used to the miracles of the uber-titan, and his earthly, well, voidly servants always give Matthias a slight hint of supernatural dread.
"Not meaning any disrespect, Magos."

[optimumsquare]

"None taken. When your body is turned into a servitor, I will ensure the tasks it does are no more humiliating than average."

[The Glyphstone]

Careful review of the imagery, when processed through Romulos's calculus logi implant, denotes one persistent fact - a particular shade of deep violet, almost black, is present at every intersection where a path points in the direction of the crystalline dome, and the path forks marked with that color always end up leading closer to the looming structure. Where they failed to do so, the next intersection would. Using this impromptu guideline, the group is now able to make excellent time towards their objective. The dark blotches stop only once they are close enough to be blocking out much of the horizon by now and mirror-bright in the pale sunlight - presumably the xenos assumed no one needed further directions at this point.

Presented with another multi-faceted crossroads, a previously unheard noise echoes down one of the identical curving tunnels - faint shouting, and the unmistakable cadence of heavy-caliber gunfire. Someone else is present on this world, and fighting, but the accoustics of the curving passages impede locating the source.

Objective 1: Passed
Objective 2: Passed
Objective 3: Passed
Objective 4: Failed
Objective 5: Passed
Objective 6: Awareness +0, Repeatable

Time Remaining: 2

[Sinewmire]

Matthias activates his vox-bead and subvocalises.
"All squads, all squads, this is Lizard. Sit-reps immediate-like, 'cause I can hear contact, and I don't recall hearin' no order to engage."
Matthias loosens his helmet, with it's ear defenders, the better to listen to the cries and concussions. He remembers how the tunnels of Malfi's underhive would distort and warp sounds far more than one might think. Sometimes you'd hear a muckraker's sales cry as if they were around the corner when they were a league away and sometimes you'd hear a gunshot so quiet it sounded like a raindrop.
Where is that coming from?


[roll0] vs 53

[The Glyphstone]

Matthias's keen senses compare the varying echoes and pinpoint which hallway leads to the excitement, the group cautiously advancing in that direction along a long curved corridor. It eventually loops around, opening up into a broad and slightly sloped amphitheater of some kind. At the far end of the rubble-strewn area, massive crystalline doors present an entrance into the xenos dome structure. Between here and there, either a large skirmish or a small war is in progress. All the combatants are hulking, green-skinned xenos - from a distance, little can be determined except that there appear to be two major groups of Orks busily trying to shoot and hack each other into pieces.

[The Glyphstone]

The bulk of the xenos are fixated on each other, but closest to the dome's entrance, a small group of Orks on the fringe spots the approaching humans. Apparently seeing better prospects for loot, they peel off and charge forward with their bestial cries of 'WAAAAAAAAUUGH!

Four brandish crude pistols and jagged, savage-looking cleavers. The fifth is slightly larger than the others, and instead carries some sort of primitive flamethrower.


Scale is 2m per square.
https://i.imgur.com/DIQTmDk.png

From left to right, tokens are Romulos, Kalisa, Ronaldo, and Mattias.

Initiative:
Kalisa @13
Ork Boys @10
Mattias @75
Ronaldo @6
Ork Nob @4
Romulos @4

[dojango]

Ronaldo glares at the foul orks. While they are certainly challenging opponents, there is little sport in it, and for some reason it is forbidden to mount trophies of ork heads on the ship. His rifle is in his arms in a flash and he steadies it as he aims for their cowardly leader, who seems to be hanging back. Ronaldo decides to put a bullet through its right eye.

Aim + called shot. [roll0] v. 61

[Toxic Mind]

Kalisa springs towards the pillar, trusting her speed and armor to protect her as she whirls her glaive.

Run 24m straight behind the pillar middle left

[The Glyphstone]

Kalisa takes cover behind one of the pillars, as the small mob of orks goes charging obliviously past her with loud bellows and war cries.

Ronaldo's bullet whips past the greenskin leader's ear, earning him a baleful red-eyed glare in return.


https://i.imgur.com/b7gb0Wm.jpg


Initiative:

Kalisa @13
Ork Boys @10
Mattias @7
Ronaldo @6
Ork Nob @4
Romulos @4

[Sinewmire]

Matthias squinted at the Orks, preferring to let them make their first move. In a seeming second the green-pig thugs had closed the gap, and Matthias could see their beady, empty eyes, especially the one headed right for him. What was it they'd taught him in RIP? Parry the charge then take them on the ripose? Or was it don't let them charge, and watch out for the riposte?

Splitting the difference, Matthias snatched his hellpistol, almost too fast to be seen, from it's well-worn hip-holster and snatched off a few shots at the nearest Ork, dead ahead. Without waiting to see if it crumples or ignores it, as he's heard Orcs tend to, Matthias whips out his battered sword and flicks the heavy blade in a few figure-of-eights, getting used to the weight.

That ork's big axe thingy looks heavy, but if he can redirect it's weight, it'll still miss.

Quickdraw weapons
Half-aim, semiauto fire [roll0] vs 60 (BS+Aim+Range)
[roll1] +4 Pen 7
[roll2] +4 Pen 7

[The Glyphstone]

Mattias's shots punche straight through the approaching Ork's leg, sending a spray of tissue and green ichor behind it and leaving behind a gaping crater in the flesh that continues to pump sticky green blood. A mortal wound on almost any creature, but as is typical for Orks, this one only seems to get angrier.

Back on the steps, the boss Ork bellows out at the others. "Get 'em, boyz! WAAAAAAAAUUUUGH!" In response, the charging Orks somehow seem to get even faster, barreling forward into the line of Explorers like bowling balls and swinging their cleavers with wild abandon. The Nob himself turns his gaze - and gun - towards Kalisa, letting loose a torrential blast of flame before reaching back to pull a cord hanging from a piece of machinery on his back. A primitive combustion engine sputters to life, belching puffs of black smoke as a flickering blue energy bubble springs into view around him. "Me boys gonna krump your boyz, humie. Now stop hidin' and come give me a real fight."


https://i.imgur.com/WV6bvQL.png


Romulos needs to Dodge or Parry one attacker vs. 5 DoS. or suffer (17 damage, Pen 2)
Kalisa needs to test Agility or lose a shield charge.
Mattias rolls Parry (WS32 +10 Balanced) [roll0] vs. 3 DoS, or suffer (15 damage, Pen 2) - only 1 DoS, take 15-T5-AP2=8 damage to the Left Arm.

Romulos's Turn, then Kalisa can act before the Ork Boyz get their next turn.

[optimumsquare]

Romulos attempts to side step and quick draw at the same time, and does neither well.


Dodge [roll0] vs 30
Shoot [roll1] vs 39

[Toxic Mind]

[roll0] vs 48
Kalisa rolls around the pillar, narrowly avoiding the flames. No sense in informing the xeno brute that she was protected by more than simple armor. She steps out, twirling the glaive. "You want my head, beast? Try and claim it. Your skull will make a lovely decoration in the crew latrine."
Kalisa Full move 8m to the center of the area.

[The Glyphstone]

Romulos takes a nasty hit from the orc's axe, his hastily aimed shot going wild (6 damage after Soak).

The nob looks confused. "What's I gonna want with your puny skull, humie? Ya choppa there, now that's gonna be nice to have."

Pleased with what appears to be easy prey, the group of orks continues to hack away at their opponents. Romulos finds himself being smacked back and forth by the two laughing xenos, the ball in a painful and choppy game of ping-pong, while Ronaldo and Mattias respectively are menaced by the jagged blades of their attackers as well.

(Romulos takes a 3-damage and a 4-damage hit after soak, remaining health 4/17.
Ronaldo needs to Evade a hit (0+ DoS) or suffer 4 damage after soak.
Mattias needs to Evade a hit (1+DoS) or suffer 1 damage after soak.)

Ronaldo and Mattias can act.

https://i.imgur.com/X166e4n.png