Sea of Stars - IC

[Leon]

++Very well but an adjacent hold if sufficiently clear would be useful as then we could accept arrivals here and then process them into a secure space while reducing the clutter in here if we need to accept a increased volume of traffic++

++Wont be anything fancy but i expect we can have a restricted access area up soon enough and if all else fails add more armsmen with shotcannon++

[rax]

"Good enough for me," Hannabel growls into the command crew's secure channel.

Back on the bridge, she keeps her eyes glued to the augers, alert for any signs of ambush.

[Haval]

Anika will see if she can find more space. 'How many of these survivors can there be anyway? As long as we can avoid slowing down in the middle of all this to move them to the Fury then I'm sure we'll manage.'

As they approached Blight, 'If the people there are that deep underground I take it we'll have to go down there and find them?' She'll check for vox signals anyway.

[Destro_Yersul]

The wash of hulks was getting thicker and more difficult to navigate, but by trailing along in the lee of Blight they were able to avoid any potential of damage, following the hollow planetoid as it carved a wake through a sea of twisted metal. Anika couldn't find any active vox signals, though, even as the approached the large world. The channels were filled with whispers and static, and ocassional bursts of garbled pleading. Some of them were nothing but dead silence, punctuated by the groan of slowly shifting metal echoing through lightless depths, like a Spectorin submarine being torn apart in slow motion. This close in, the augurs were able to get better readings, free of interference. There were hundreds of tunnels winding through Blight's core, many of them large enough to pilot the Sting through. Some were even larger, big enough to fit even a cruiser, but even sailing through those would be treacherous, and a single wrong move would leave the Sting trapped forever, bound the cold stone of a dead world.

Ravia had overseen the settlement of the outcasts into a temporary habitation set up in an empty cargo bay. They were under constant guard by the armsmen, and there was enough room in the bay to fit several hundred, let alone the tiny handful there were now. The lighter they had arrived in was rapidly deemed to be beyond repair without a complete refit, but a vessel of that size would be much more capable of navigating the maze of tunnels drilled through Blight, if the occupants didn't mind taking a void walk to rescue any survivors once they reached the trapped Frigate.

[Haval]

With some strain, Anika will try to ignore the sounds of pleading coming over the vox. It wasn't as if they could do anything about it even if it was real.

Looking at the tunnels on Blight, 'Even if we were to try taking the Sting in there you'd have to wonder how stable it is if we bump into something. On the other hand it'll be a lot safer if we get attacked again.' Although it wasn't really her decision. To Hannabel, 'As our pilot how would you rate our chances?'

[rax]

"No point in flying Sting in there unless we happen to know that the survivors are camping out in or very near a tunnel big enough to hold her. We don't know that, so I think it's better to go in there with an Aquila or two and some of the survivors we picked up to help navigate and make the introductions. Once we've secured an evac route we can bring in as many lighters as we need. Manticore's Sting, the Fury, and Torgan's Pride can all take up station close enough for a dash to and from Blight, as well as provide cover for us if something big and nasty turns up to fight."

[Haval]

'Speaking of which, can we confirm how far in they are? We do not have the time to search these tunnels properly.' Anika will adjust the auger to see what it could pick up.

Spoiler: ooc

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Scrutiny vs. Per 43 (Sting's Detection +20)
(1d100)[46]

[Destro_Yersul]

Anika fiddled with the augur controls, keeping an eye on the readouts as she tried to zero in on the outcasts they were here for. There were a lot of shipwrecks buried in the tunnels, big masses of metal clogging the deeper areas. Very few of the shipwrecks were near the surface, probably because any that were got pulled apart in short order. Anika was coming up with nothing until she decided to try for heat signatures. The rock and metal were mostly cold, but one of the deeper wrecks was less cold than the others. It was a Sword frigate, the buried drive section bleeding heat into the surrounding rock. Loading the coordinates into the Aquila's cogitators would be easy. The hard part would be finding a way to it through the maze of tunnels.

[Haval]

'Found them. At that depth I'm surprised their ship still works.' Anika will take some notes on her data slate. 'Let's try not to get lost down there.'

Spoiler: ooc

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I think Ravia's the only one with Navigate (Surface)

[PotatoGolem]

Splendid work, Anika! Now, as to the small matter of finding a route. Anika, Magos, any ideas? We don;t want to waste precious time or risk getting lost in here.

Macharius has ensured that the rescued crew are being watched by armed guards constantly, if not overtly aggressively. He doesn't trust them, especially with this talk of men suddenly turning on their fellows. The soldiers assigned to watch them are also rotated frequently and examined for any odd behaviors. He instructs the ship's confessors to reemphasize the duty to report aberrant behavior in their sermons.

[Destro_Yersul]

Ravia transferred as much data as the augers were able to gather to a dataslate, and began to plot a route even before Hannabel had lifted the Aquila off the deck. The lander blasted out from the Sting's launch bay, whipping around a small chunk of floating debris. Blight lay ahead, its surface pocked with giant irregular holes, the entrances to the many tunnels below the surface. From space it looked like nothing so much as a lotus pod, but as the Aquila drew in closer and the sheer scale of the place became evident, it started to look more and more like a proper world. The Aquila skimmed low over the surface, zeroing in on the tunnel entrance Ravia had identified as most likely to be the shortest starting point from which to reach their target.

It was a great crater, the surface scoured bare of debris, that funneled down towards a particularly large tunnel entrance. The Aquila shot through, and instantly they were in another world. Rock walls closed in around them, and Hannabel kept the Aquila steady in the middle of the tunnel. Flying through Blight was a little like trying to navigate through a sponge. Tunnels opened into hundreds of other tunnels, some narrowed and closed off, some widening out to massive galleries. At each of these junctures, Ravia would point out a specific opening, directing Hannabel's flight path.

Here and there they saw signs of the world outside, in the form of great chunks of armour plating or small wrecks embedded in the stone. Hannabel couldn't help but imagine the Sting suffering such a fate, the thought creeping in unbidden. They saw no Hollow Men on their route, the scavengers apparently not in residence today. Vox contact with the fleet outside became more and more tenous the further they penetrated into the bowels of Blight. By the time they reached their destination, it was reduced to crackling, barely legible static. At last, Hannabel whipped the Aquila around a protruding chunk of wreckage, twisted ladders and spars jutting out from the torn metal edges, and they saw it.

The frigate rested in one of the large galleries, drawn down here by means unknown. Its front section was entirely crumpled in, its figurehead and prow obliterated long ago. Vast rents ran up the middle section, between the gunports, torn and battered metal opening much of the interior to the void. Only the drive section remained largely intact, nestled in against the walls of the cavern, only a few smaller breaches marring the near side. The ship would clearly never fly again, but for now it still served, in a fashion; this was the home of one of the outcast groups.

[Haval]

Anika has been anxiously watching the roof of the tunnels as they pass through them, although if any of it collapsed they could hardly do anything about it.

'Did they fly that frigate in here?' She'll look for any signs of movement outside. 'If it was me I'd want to have a watch up so maybe they already know we're here.'

Spoiler

Show

Awareness for the hell of it
vs. Per 43 (should still include the -10 for mental trauma)
(1d100)[13]

[rax]

"Well, 'thar she blows', and all that," Hannabel notes drily as the frigate comes into view. "Someone want to start broadcasting the call signs the other survivors gave us?"

OOC: I'm taking a little liberty here. Hannabel suggested bringing some of the rescued survivors along to contact this group, but Destro hasn't noted that any are accompanying us. I figure Hannabel would at least demand that the search party be given some means of identifying ourselves as friendly before she's prepared to set off. Hence, call signs.

[Kaptin Keen]

I find it near impossible to imagine this isn't going to explode in our faces one moment from now. I wish we'd brought a battalion of men. Can we fetch a battalion from the ship? Felidae will nervously check that she has her full arsenal of weapons and grenades, pretty convinced this is somehow a trap, or similar imminent disaster.

[Haval]

'I'd like to think that most of the threats out here aren't the type to try and call you first, but we don't want our intentions to be misunderstood.' If you were paranoid enough Anika could imagine situations where code phrases could be taken by force if someone wanted them enough, but they still might be enough to get them in the door.

Over the vox, on the frequency they were given, she'll give the names and ranks of three of those who were in charge of the group left behind by Umboldt. For good measure she'll finish with a few lines from the prayer to the Imperial Saint of Lost Voidfarers and will then loop the broadcast until they got a response. 'They'll respond or they won't. Assuming there's anyone still down there.'

[Destro_Yersul]

There was someone down there, that was relatively certain. As the Aquila approached the ship, broadcasting Anika's message on the vox, they could see some of the turrets on the wreck tracking their progress. There was no incoming fire, but nobody came out to greet them, either. As the shuttle drew closer, they could see that the damage to the Sword was more extensive than it first looked. Whole sections of the wreck were open to vacuum, and there were no open bays that looked safe to land in. Some were simply sealed, but others had been torn apart, shredded into uselessness by whatever had killed the frigate.

They got a response as Hannabel was coming about for another pass. "Who's there? Identify. We've heard nothing from the others for weeks. What news do you bring?"

[rax]

"It's yer lucky day, mate. We're from the fleet of Rogue Trader Macharius Absalom. We picked up a bunch of yer mates out amongst the wrecks an' they say yer all achin' to get out o' this fine holiday establishment. So how about it? Want to come?" Hannabel answers jauntily.

[Haval]

Anika will add, 'How are things down there. We have a lighter. Can you come to us or do we need to come to you?'

[Destro_Yersul]

"Rescue?" A note of relief entered the voice on the vox. "Emperor, it's been so long. We'll come with you, gladly, but we'll need a way to get to the lighters. There's no landing bays. We'll need to patch some of our void suits, too. Do you have repair material? Or spares?"

[Kaptin Keen]

How long have they been in there, without an airlock or landing bay - no way in or out?

Look, I need to go in there, have a look around. I need to see how they survive. Any objections?

[Leon]

++In so far as you going over no but until we secure a safe way to acquire more of the specimens in a hard vacuum with their lack of access maybe wait until a stable solution is reached++

[Haval]

Anika will go looking for spare void suits. Although there was no reason to think they'd have enough for more then a few survivors at a time.

To Felidae, 'No objections here. If they sealed themselves up when the ship was wrecked then we can probably get the emergency doors open. As long as they can survive being exposed to vaccum anyway.'

[Kaptin Keen]

I don't know anything about ships, sadly. Do we have like a boarding umbilical? If so, we can just cut our way through the hull. It's not like they're going to be wanting to come back to this place. Nor could, should they want to.

[Haval]

'There's always the power axe of opening.' Anika will gesture towards Ravia. 'Although I inagine that would only take you so far.'

[Destro_Yersul]

The Aquila was a fine shuttle, excellent for transporting passengers in comfort and style. What it was not, was designed for boarding massively damaged derelicts. The supply lockers carried a small handful of spare void suits, a repair kit, and replacement oxygen canisters enough for the ship's intended compliment of pilot and seven passengers. Felidae's power armour was more than capable of allowing her to survive in void. The difficulty arose in getting from the lander to the ship. They could depressurise the cabin and open the rear ramp, but then anyone who wanted to go would need to take a void walk.

[Kaptin Keen]

So uh ... what are the odds we can tow them out of here?

[rax]

"Look, there's no need to complicate things. We know where they are now. What we still don't know is how many of them are coming out with us and how many they want to try and fly out with their own lighters. Once we know that, we can fly outside, order up as many extra shuttles and void suits as we need, and go back in and fetch them. Easy, see?" Hannabel interjects.

"Hey, nameless voice in the void? How many of you are there, how many need new suits or patch jobs, and how many working shuttles do you have?" she calls back to the person on the vox.

"Oh, and Felidae? If you really want to be a one woman boarding party, be my guest. The hatch is that way..."

[Kaptin Keen]

[COLOR="#008080"]"Oh, and Felidae? If you really want to be a one woman boarding party, be my guest. The hatch is that way..."

Felidae will roll her eyes, before switching on her vox: Survivor ship. If you have a working airlock, I'm coming over to .. uh .. assess the situation. Please prepare medical reports, supplies inventories, as well as personnel rosters. I will also review your wreck for valuable salvage - while we're nice people and all, we did not in fact come here to rescue you. We didn't expect anything living or sane to dwell here.

Then she shrugs, and makes her way to the airlock.

[Leon]

++I'm all for a launch test of the Mk1 Felidae class munition++

[Kaptin Keen]

As her helmet seals, Felidae ponders: Next time in port, I'm getting a jump pack. And a rocket launcher.