Skyside 6: Return of the Cheddar

[Gullara]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

Kirk steps into the inn that Dena sent him the address for. He's looking for a very particular person. Based on the description, she shouldn't be hard to find.

[Shadowcaller]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

The inns and taverns as they might be called outside of Skyside, or at least by Dena, are actual what most people would see as hotels.
However, the one Ambrosia have chosen might as well be an inn considering how small it is. It only has three floors, not including the first one. It's even called the "Stargazer Inn", perhaps since besides its size its also in the least light polluted areas of the town, AKA, one of the most run-down parts. Not that it's nearly enough to do any actual star gazing as the rest of the city contributes to more than enough for the sky to be star free as Kirk arrives.

That said the place looks better on the inside, an old-fashioned wooden décor dominating the place in contrast to the grey modern streets outside, but some would likely say its a part of the charm. There is no one but an old surveillance camera at the front desk to greet him but inside by one of the tables sits a woman that has to be the one he's looking for. While he certainly can't gaze at them perhaps he should really do thank his lucky stars as this is very convenient.

She is the only person in the room besides a slouch-hatted figure sleeping in the corner. Despite facing him her, her attention is consumed by the book she's writing. It doesn't have a cover so it might just be an old-fashioned note book.

[Gullara]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

Kirk looks around the room, spotting Ambrosia almost immediately, but taking an extra moment to take in the room entirely. Apparently satisfied after a moment, he walks right up to Ambrosia's table. He seats himself across from her before bothering to announce himself. "Ambrosia, yes?"

[Shadowcaller]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

She glances up but barely seems to register him before turning back to her book. "Not right now, can't you see I'm preoccupied, sir?" Soon she does a doubletake however. "Hold on, what's your name? How do you know mine?"

[Gullara]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

"Kirk Locke, of Merc." Kirk supplies readily. "As for your name, you've been around for a while, meeting with important people. You learn things when you keep your ear to the ground. But speaking of learning things, that's why I've sought you out."

[Shadowcaller]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

Ambrosia puts away the book and her writing implement and takes a deep breath. "Companion to Dena Xifhara and one of the leaders of MERC?" She inquires in a rhetorically manner as she holds up her armoured palm. "Yes, I 'keep my eyes to the ground ' too, Mr. Locke. You're here since you want to discuss the gorgon business." She starts to eye their surroundings. "But I'd prefer to do so somewhere more privately. We both know that this isn't something you want strangers to listen in to." The look in her eyes suggests she know more about this than he might have expected.

[Gullara]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

Kirk arches an eyebrow. That does raise a lot of questions. No matter, though, Kirk can roll with it. "Of course. Where would you propose?"

[Shadowcaller]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

The scholar gestures upwards. "Let's go to my room for a bit shall we? I still have the key though I was about to check out." She don't seem to have anything but her notes, writing implements and book with her however.
If he agrees, she will lead the way up the stairs to the second floor where she unlocks and opens up a small but tastefully decorated room. Ambrosia sits down in a nearby chair and gestures for Kirk to do the same. "Now, I'm going to be as honest with you as possible regarding this as I believe you deserve it. The person that contacted you with this deal, Helios, is my father." A beat. "My adoptive father, and he contacted you on my behest.

He knew that I wanted a dragon, this kind of dragon specifically, so he set out to arrange it. This was without my knowledge mind you and he only told me about it afterwards. Here's the part where I would say that I didn't know that he was being so secretive about the whole thing with you but honestly that was wilful ignorance on my part. I know my father quite well so the fact he was being so secretive was something I should have expected. I just preferred not to ask too many questions at the time which in retrospect was a mistake. Considering what I'm asking of you we shouldn't try to keep this behind some veil of secrecy. It's just... one of my father's bad habits. He can't help it."

[Rebonack]

[SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE!]

Technically speaking Zee can fix dead, too. The result is just someone who is soulless.

One way or the other, Zee will be repairing the man's face. It's the least she can do.

"The rails are clear, I think. I'm finding this place pretty easy to read. There are more of the genestealers in the crew quarters, but they're pretty spread out," Zee reports as she stands up, looking toward the door. She frowns as she plays the situation over in her head.

Why kill everyone?

They could have pretty easily taken the ship from world to world dropping off hybrids.

Did the crew get wise to what they were up to and the genestealers kill everyone?

But the people here aren't dead from woulds.

Decompression, maybe?

[Shadowcaller]

[SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE!]

Technically speaking Zee can fix dead, too. The result is just someone who is soulless.

One way or the other, Zee will be repairing the man's face. It's the least she can do.

"The rails are clear, I think. I'm finding this place pretty easy to read. There are more of the genestealers in the crew quarters, but they're pretty spread out," Zee reports as she stands up, looking toward the door. She frowns as she plays the situation over in her head.

Why kill everyone?

They could have pretty easily taken the ship from world to world dropping off hybrids.

Did the crew get wise to what they were up to and the genestealers kill everyone?

But the people here aren't dead from woulds.

Decompression, maybe?

SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE!

The claws missed his brain, passing through his nose, sinuses and the top of his mouth. Had the strike hit higher, it would have been far more fatal. Zee probably can fix it, however.

Most of the genestealers are elsewhere in the ship, in the cargo bay and crew quarters. There aren't any close by- but this is a docking bay. The railway at the far end as well as many of the other doors lead to crew quarters or the cargo bay. And to get to the Engineerium to destroy the vessel, they'll have to pass through some of the crew quarters.

The tech-priestess disembarks, hovering over and ignoring the injured man. She carries her arc pistol in one hand and an auspex in the other, scanning their surroundings. "No other lifesigns in this docking bay, I think. Thick metal interferes with the machine spirit." Such as the adamantium plates of the floor, walls, and ceiling, as well as the hull of the other shuttle and the steel sides of the cargo containers. She'll hover towards the nearest airlock, one of her mechadendrites snaking up from her spine and plugging into the door's interface and starting to open up. "I don't see any xenos on the other side. Wait! No, that's a cogroach. Very large one. Also a pair of dead crew. Not clear what killed them, however. This route bypasses most of the crew quarters, but is the longest. Hmm. Psyker, can you assess if there's any genestealers on the tracks of the monorail? That would be the fastest route, but I am saving it for our escape. Once we have sabotaged the atomic furnace, we will need to leave quickly." And if they use it to get there, chances are the genestealers will be blocking the route back and expecting the party to use it.

[SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE!]

Minerva will borrow a gun from one of the soldiers, not wanting to waste her own expensive ammo for what she was going to do, and approaches the tech-priestess. She will then fire a couple of shots at the two corpses to see if there is any reaction before using her flamer to set them on fire.
"Burn any corpses you find." She declares while handing back the gun to the soldier, assuming of course there's no reaction from the corpses first.

[Gullara]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

Well that's interesting now isn't it. Someone willing to give him a straight answer, or so it appears. "I'm not one to comment on how families handle their own business." Kirk shrugs. His own, though a distant memory at this point, was a dysfunctional as they come. "Were you aware of this... means of acquiring a dragon before your father's intervention? Or did you find it out from him just as we did? As I understand, you're something of an expert on dragons."

[Shadowcaller]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

Ambrosia nods. "I've known about the method for a long time actually, in fact I was the one that re-discovered it through my research. The problem was always finding the specific type of gorgon that was required for it. But I had no idea that miss Xifhara was a match until my father brought up the offer he had made. My guess is that he realized that I probably wouldn't have approached you myself even with this knowledge. To ask a total stranger to do this for you... it's more than I would have have the heart to do. Which is also why you ended up coming to me rather than the other way around. I had dreaded this conversation but knew that I eventually would have to take it." She let's out a small sigh. "Is miss Xifhara even considering it? Since I imagine the conversation with her would be even worse."

[Earl of Purple]

SPAAAAACE!

Zee might be able to find clues as to what happened, if she gets to one of the bodies before Minerva has them burnt. The ones in the hanger might have died of decompression, since that cavernous chamber was exposed to the vacuum, but there's still air on the other side of the airlock leading into the ship.

Coincidentally, the corpses don't respond to being shot. The Gunslinger returns her pistols to under her jacket, pulling out instead a pair of compact single-shot flamethrowers that can be held one-handed. She adds her fire to Minerva's promethium.

The Tech-Priestess opens the airlock and activates the monorail. "I will send the personnel conveyor to our destination. We will need to escape in a hurry, and if we use it now it might attract attention. I don't know if these xenos are intelligent enough to ambush us on our return, but any surviving cultists would be." The genestealers don't need the cultists to tell them that, either- they're smart enough to do it alone. The soldiers march through the doorway, covering each other and keeping eyes out as they advance deeper into the ship. They aren't stopped and there's no immediate response; though they pass a servitor, slumped and deactivated; the brushes covering its limbs and the lemon-scented liquid seeping from a tank mounted to its back suggest it is a cleaning servitor. There's no spark of life in it, and the tech-priestess stops to run a diagnostic.

[Rebonack]

[SPAAAAAACE!]

"Ooof, decompression got them," Zee says as the bodies are burned because...

Reasons?

She really isn't sure what the point of that was.

"The cultists must have vented atmosphere to kill the crew. Why, though? Did they think they were catching on?" she ponders aloud. "They won't be able to crew the ship if everyone is dead, right?"

Further into the ship they go!

And find a servitor?

Zee isn't totally sure what a servitor is. Some kind of robot? Probably not a robot though because the 40k folks really don't like robots, right? This is one of the downsides to her mode of visualizing the world around her. Sometimes she doesn't get very good details on her surroundings and just has to sort of... guess.

[Gullara]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

"Let's just say if she were totally uninterested I wouldn't be here right now." Kirk scrutinizes her for a moment. "What exactly is your angle here? All thus business about acquiring a dragon. When strange people show up asking to be given children, well it raises some obvious concerns."

[Shadowcaller]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

The scholar nods. "Yes, I completely understand your confusion. I should have involved myself from day one rather than letting my father deal with this." Ambrosia folds her armored hands together and closes her eyes for a moment. "I want to raise this dragon-child as my own, Mr. Locke. While I might not have any experience with children I believe my knowledge regarding this type of dragon will leave me a better candidate than most people. But if anyone else feel they might do a better job than me I would gladly assist them with my knowledge as I only want what would be best for the child." She opens her eyes and meets Kirk's gaze. "For this reason I will tell my father to back off, so you will only be dealing with me from now on. Does that sound like it could work out? I know he can be rather unnerving and if this whole ordeal has shown anything it's that he lacks the empathy to deal with matters concerning children."

[SPAAAAAACE!]

The corpses might be infested, Zee!

That or xenos are hiding within them. Minerva honestly wasn't sure but from her point of view human corpses were only a resource the enemy could use and therefore it was best to get rid of it. It was also the most dignified way to preserve the sanctity of those poor souls even if she doubted that they deserved it.

"Seal off the ship as much as possible and leave the five people most knowledgeable of its functions, besides yourself, behind." Minerva orders while turned towards the techpriestess "They need to be able to at least get it out of the hangar if we don't return or the xenos attack it before we do." She quickly surveys the airlock. "If the controls were sabotaged, would we still be able to return to the ship somehow? Could probably blow up this door if needed but I'd be extremely inconvenient." She frowns behind her helmet. "Suppose it can't be helped so we'll just have to leave it open."

Then she finally turns to the servitor, trusting its corpse slightly more than the others due to in being mostly composed of metal. "Finding anything? We need a map of this place so we can plan our route. As you said, we need to get out of here as soon as possible." Which was partly her reasoning for leaving the airlock open. Of course, that might be impossible if her player misunderstood the situation.

[Earl of Purple]

SPAAAAAAAAAACE!

The bodies on the other side of the airlock can't have died of decompression; there's still air here. The Gunslinger burns the first few they find, but there's probably going to be more, if Zee wants to examine any.

The servitor is also not being burnt, and it's a lobotomised cyborg, the fleshy parts a human criminal or possibly a vat-grown clone, and the mechanical parts replace most of its internal organs and limbs with things that make it more effective as a cleaner. "It should be working fine. The mechanics are in perfect condition, there's no reason for it to suffer an organic system failure. Yet it has. How curious. A map? Of course." Zee's phone- if she's kept it- should bing at this point with an incoming text. It's got no real text, but there's a map of the route the Tech-Priestess is planning to take on it. "Do you have a dataslate integrated with your helm, to assist in navigation? If I have the correct blessing, I could transfer the map across." Earl isn't sure if such a feature is possible in 40k, nor if it is integrated with a Sororitas-pattern power armour helmet. Given the fact Space Marines are often used to board and clear Space Hulks, it seems a sensible feature to include.

Assuming they continue on, since without 'volunteers' the Tech-Priestess can't get the servitor working again (though Zee might be able to...) the next point of interest is where their route takes them through a small chapel, the main doors sealed shut- the red-robed adept leads them in and out using a narrower access gantry hidden in the walls along a power conduit. The Gunners and the Mechanicus aren't interested in the chamber, but Minerva might. It looks pretty standard, for a ship-based chapel; there's an aquila hanging above an altar, pews, a nave, and some relics. The altar is covered in the skulls of prior priests who had served this void-parish, and slumped against it is an old, shrivelled corpse; much longer dead than the others, an old man with long white hair and beard, and still clutching a bolt pistol, and he's left three spare magazines on the altar. Two other corpses are in the room, equally mummified; a bald three-armed mutant clutching an autorifle, three clawed fingers on the chitinous extra arm lodged in the floor and a bald woman, naked but for weird, coiling wyrmform tattoos across her skin holding a large pistol. The priest was a loyalist, it seems, and didn't go down without a fight.

[Gullara]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

"I imagine most people would feel better dealing with you than your father." Kirk comments. Perhaps unkindly, but is it not true? He moves past the fact she wants to raise the child and her justifications for it without comment. She's got the qualifications of anyone else that pops out a kid on their own; he doesn't need the justifications. "So how do you know about any of this? Last I heard these dragons have been extinct for generations. How'd you get it in your head to want to raise one, and how'd you know how to bring them back in the first place?"

[Shadowcaller]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

Ambrosia looks away for a moment. "Well..." She takes a deep breath and turns back to Kirk. "I promised the whole truth but I prefer if this stays between us and your partner, you understand? It's important." The scholar looks for some sign of agreement from Kirk before she continues. "There are... other dragons. Female dragons and I now need a male dragon as crass as that might sound. To raise a child wouldn't have been my first choice but-" Ambrosia pauses and shakes her head as if intruded by a bad thought. "Sorry, I know that I keep getting back to my reasoning. It just feels important that you understand that I've set my mind to caring for this child and that I will make sure that they will be raised properly." She breathes out slowly, focusing. "So with that aside, I believe that miss Xifhara's child would be male as human gorgons always give birth to female dragons while species supposedly would give birth to male ones. Why's that? I don't know. But the information I do have comes from a lifetime devoted to the study of the subject. I've traveled around searching libaries from Elshar to Hyshun, all the way up to the mythical northern states. I've even visited dig-sites my father my father arranged for me, uncovering the relics from the legendary dragon age. What I'm telling you right now is the fruits of my labour, as incomplete as it might be."

The scholar leans in closer. "So why am I doing this? Considerably easier to answer." Ambrosia quickly clears her throat. "If you would just give me a moment, Mr. Locke. I need to focus for this." She moves away and closes her eyes and puts her hands together in what seems to be a meditative stance.

A few moments later he can hear a voice coming from his right. It's so deep that it's distinctively inhuman, yet it still somehow reminds him of Ambrosia's. "Here I am, Mr. Locke. I apologize if I startle you but perhaps you've suspected this already."
To his side is a what would be best described as a dragon that is roughly as tall as he is as its standing on its hindlegs for the moment. Two large raven-like wings spread outward into a impressive wingspan, especially for its relatively small size. It's yellow reptilian eyes meet his and the corners of its mouth form into a smile without showing what likely are the row of razor-like teeth behind it. "I understand it's somehow of a tradition for you to see women naked when you meet them in private so let's not give up on that one, shall we?" The dragon gestures down at itself with its relatively short limbs. It's, in a very technical sense, naked. Then it raises its claw as if objecting to something. "And before you ask, I'm not the dragon that I intend for the child to eventually bound with. I've tracked down other potential partners for him."

[Gullara]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

Kirk waits patiently, and Ambrosia manages to catch him off guard. The drow pops out of his seat, hand disappearing into his jacket. He pauses like that for a moment, and then straightens. "You shouldn't surprise me like that." He smooths out his suit. "I suppose that goes a long way in explaining the situation." She wants to preserve her own species, not just some dragons.

[Shadowcaller]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

Seems like her joke hadn't defused the situation as much as she had wanted. "You shouldn't go for weapons so quickly, Mr. Locke. I'm no threat to you." The dragon remarks in a calm voice as it regards him with its yellow eyes. "But I understand if my apperance is startling." It turns to look at the human Ambrosia who is still sitting there meditating. "Hence why I prefer to use my human body to communicate with humanoids like you. Would you prefer if I return it before we discuss this any further? I like to think discussing it like this is more honest though."

[Gullara]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

"It doesn't matter either way. I'd suggest just approaching from the front." Kirk's lived too long to not be a little jumpy. He's already relaxed and isn't making any threatening motions. It was just a reaction for an instant.

"So this 'ritual' your father alluded to." He returns to the topic at hand. "We've done our own research since speaking to him last and have the details on the gorgon's role in this. It was made to sound more complex than our own research revealed, though. Is Helios holding out on us for some of the details?"

[Shadowcaller]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

"Yes, in retrospect, I must apologize for my dramatic flair there. It was unnecessary." The dragon admits, its deep voice resonating through the room in what sounds like a contemplative tone.
Then dragon-Ambrosia nods towards Kirk. "Yes, what he gave you was a sample and I'm surprised he hasn't told you as much yet. His taste for secrecy really becomes irrational at some point." It lets out a distasteful snort. "But as you might have already figured out already, this gorgon-dragon connection is not something that have simply evolved naturally. It has been carefully designed, I believe as a way to introduce my species in the first place. Helios have just told you about how the gorgon can produce a dragon but you will also need permission."

The dragon opens its mouth a bit wider, those imaginary razor-like teeth suddenly becoming very real, seemingly taking a deeper breath. "I believe that the beings that orcestered all of this apparently sought to partly control just how many dragons that could be born so what you need to do is set up a commune ritual with them and essentially inquire if you can produce a new dragon as far as I've gathered. This process isn't terribly complex in itself as commune rituals essentially involve the same ritual but with a different 'lure' depending on the spirit you wish to communicate with and in this case it involves the venom from a gorgon."

[Gullara]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

"I see." Kirk remarks. He'd have to take her word for that. Ultimately the final details of this process are out of their reach without Ambrosia's help. "And you'll supply us with the information at time time Dena agrees, if she decides to do this?" He inquires, though the answer seems obvious to him.

[Shadowcaller]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

The dragon nods sagely. "Of course. I will try to cater to your every demand to the best of my ability, Mr. Locke. It's the least I can do. I would like to meet miss Xifhara though and I think she would like to meet me as well. That might this a bit less of a disaster."

[Gullara]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

"I'll tell her what we talked about today. If she wants to talk to you, she'll get in touch. Otherwise you nor your father should bring up this matter again. Understand?" Kirk says seriously. He won't stand for Dena being harassed by anyone if she wants to walk away from this.

[Shadowcaller]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

"I'll tell her what we talked about today. If she wants to talk to you, she'll get in touch. Otherwise you nor your father should bring up this matter again. Understand?" Kirk says seriously. He won't stand for Dena being harassed by anyone if she wants to walk away from this.

Once more the dragon nods. “I will respect her choice whatever it is and make sure my father will do so as well. I swear to this.” The dragon puts its claw against its chest and makes a short bow with its slender body.

[Gullara]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

Kirk nods. "Good. I think that concludes our business then. I can't say when you'll hear back, but I'll be relaying this to Dena immediately." If there's nothing else he's say some departing words and leave.

[Shadowcaller]

[An inn in Skyside of all places]

"One more thing before you go, mister Locke. If you do decide to use the communication spell please do inform me first. The beings you will communicate with, they're going to want to control the child through various means. I know that much." The dragon points out before Kirk leaves.

[bc56]

Shivernight Manor

It's been several weeks since Sapphira's last visit to this place. The fiendish queen once again appears before her helfling minion in a small burst of fire and smoke. "Hello Bluefoot. I have need of your skills again." Sapphira is dressed quite differently this time. Rather than her usual showy garments, she's clad in black metal armor with swirling crimson traceries upon its plates (although as far as armor goes, it still manages to show her figure quite well).