IC: DH The Purity of Sacrifice

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

Marcella followed in the centre of the group, her nose assaulted by the acrid scent of the pit they were wandering through. How people could live down here she didn't know. Though she was not used to luxury or the finer comforts of life, Marcella had been raised in the cramped conditions of an orbital munitions station in which her and other children plied their way through the ozone-choked pipeways...and even she found down here to to be a wretched and scummified place.

Not wanting to be caught off-guard, Marcella was ensuring her mind was constantly rolling its perceptions of the surrounding area.

Should she sense of particular danger or hidden reinforcements Sola might pull on them, Marcella does as the others do - she puts her pack on the ground between her arms, and crawls through to the large area.

[Morovir]

Xerros-926 shakes his head at Luis' lamentation.

"Chastisement: Do not be lacking in your faith. Explanation: The Omnissiah provides."

Reaching into his robes, he extracts a glow lamp and activates it.

"Statement: Praise be to the Omnissiah."

Spoiler: OOC:

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Had to check back through Xerros' character sheet, but yep, he has a glow lamp.

[Bennosuke]

The lamp sheds an eerie luminescent green. In the light of the lamp you can see that you are hunched over in some sort of metal airshaft, likely meant to deliver the leftover warmed and recycled air from the upper hives down to the lowest depths of the underhive. The tunnel appears to go off quiet some distance in both directions, but you can also see that at several points connecting shafts come down from above, creating perfectly circular apertures in the top of the tunnel. The nearest such aperture is about ten yards away, and interestingly, a makeshift ladder has been set up extending upwards into the ascending tunnel.

Sola follows the others into the tunnel, and pointing to the ladder says, "That's where we're going."

(OOC: Can I get either an awareness or if you have it Survival roll from the characters?)

[Wyndeward]

The lamp sheds an eerie luminescent green. In the light of the lamp you can see that you are hunched over in some sort of metal airshaft, likely meant to deliver the leftover warmed and recycled air from the upper hives down to the lowest depths of the underhive. The tunnel appears to go off quiet some distance in both directions, but you can also see that at several points connecting shafts come down from above, creating perfectly circular apertures in the top of the tunnel. The nearest such aperture is about ten yards away, and interestingly, a makeshift ladder has been set up extending upwards into the ascending tunnel.

Sola follows the others into the tunnel, and pointing to the ladder says, "That's where we're going."

(OOC: Can I get either an awareness or if you have it Survival roll from the characters?)

Arl looks around and listens intently.

Spoiler: Die Roll

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(1d100)[41]

[Bennosuke]

Both feral warriors picked up on it, though perhaps Luis was slightly faster than Arl; the feint smell of rodent droppings. Xerros' lamp light was too dim, and too focused on the ladder and the path ahead to show it, but both Luis and Arl knew what they smelled.

Because of this, they were able to warn the group, and no one was surprised when the tunnel lit up with six pairs of glowing green feral eyes.

(OOC: Please roll initiative)

[dojango]

Luis sniffs at the air, the scent of prey in the air. He draws his flintlock and says to the others, "It would be rude of us to come to our hosts without bearing gifts of meat."

Spoiler

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(1d10+32)[41] initiative

[Morovir]

"Warning: Engaging kill protocol." Xerros-926 intoned as he opened up with his lascarbine at the closest of the ryders.

Spoiler: OOC:

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Initiative: (1d10+3)[12]
Semi-Auto Burst (Full Action): (1d100)[45] TN 55 (BS45 -10 firing one-handed)
Damage: (1d10+2)[11] (1d10+2)[5] (Only 1 hit, so deleted second damage roll)

[Wyndeward]

"Dammit, not these things again

With that, Arl pulls his revolver and snaps off a shot!

Spoiler: Initiative

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(1d10+3)[12]

[dojango]

There is a loud crack and a puff of gunsmoke fills the narrow corridor as Luis takes a moment to aim between the red eyes and fires.

Spoiler

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(1d100)[44] v. 47, (1d10+2)[5] dmg

[BananaPhone]

Marcella


Marcella's eyes widen as she see's the forest of green eyes light up before them.

Remembering their last encounter with this scumful lot, Marcella pulled the warp about her and hardened her image. She was no longer the easy-on-the-eyes, friendly person. Instead, she drew about her a dreadful visage that struck into the nerve-stem of those who would behold her with ill-intent...


ooc:

Spoiler

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Casting Fearful Aura.

Psychic Roll: [rollv]2D10[/rollv]

[Wyndeward]

"Dammit, not these things again

With that, Arl pulls his revolver and snaps off a shot!

Spoiler: Initiative

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(1d100)[61]

Spoiler: Arl's Shot

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(1d100)[61]

Arl's shot

Spoiler: Damage, if appropriate

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(1d10+3)[10]

[Bennosuke]

Sola is the first to act, a stub revolver seeming to materializing in her hand. She snaps a shot off at the first rodent caught in Xerros' lamp light, catching the hissing thing in the torso before it even starts to move. The shot blows a hole in the thing's rump, and it shrieks loud enough to be heard over the report of the pistol. It scrabbles forward awkwardly, pulling itself forward on twitching drunk hind legs.

(OOC: Sola's shot hits and does 7 wounds, the thing is just barely still alive)

Luis' flintlock pistol kicks hard in his hand, it's report ringing in the tunnel in sudden reply to Sola's shot. A second Ryder is kicked sideways as the round lead projectile smashes into it's flank, opening up a black bloody gash.

(OOC: Luis hits, but after T modifier only does 2 wounds to the second Ryder)

Xerros draws his las carbine, but is suddenly left with the challenge of trying to wield the short rifle while also using his lamp.

(OOC: So Xerros is the only character with a light source. A las carbine can be used in one hand, but at -10, which would cause Xerros' shots to miss. Morovir, I will give you this tough choice. Xerros can place the lamp down and fire with no penalty, going off of where the lamp light was just pointed and taking no penalty but casting the tunnel into shadow and giving everyone after him a -20 penalty, or he can spend a whole turn carefully placing the lamp down and saving his rolls for round two, or lastly, he can continue to wield both the lamp and the carbine each in one hand, causing his shots to miss. I need you to answer before I can finish resolving the round)

[Bennosuke]

(OOC: Morovir messaged me that he was having Xerros drop the lamp... but I'm an idiot, because I didn't move forward and see what I would be resolving after Xerros' turn, so I kind of made everyone wait for an extended time for what would inevitably be a win by Marcella again. Seriously, my apologies.)

Xerros' shot goes wide as he fires while trying to set down his lamp, then Arl's goes wide as well. The rodents begin to close in on the group, their red eyes glowing in the low lamp light, their hisses echoing louder and louder in the tunnel.

Suddenly, it is as if a corona of fire envelopes Marcella. A wave of heat rolls down the icy tunnel, and the roar of a ferocious predator bellows deep from within her throat. The rats that were just a moment ago bearing down on the acolytes begin to screech. Their little claws clamber on the tunnel floor as the pack of ryders turns and flees.

In the low light of Xerros' lamp, Marcella can see Sola backing away, a clawed hand covering her mouth. The psyker can hear the ganger whisper under her breath, "Witch! Demon!"

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

Her tactic had worked once more, as the simple, instinct-driven minds of the ryder's beheld Marcella's terrifying mien and turned tail to flee. Given the damage they inflicted last time, the short exposure was more than enough for the psyker.

"Witch! Demon!"

Marcella relaxed her mind and allowed the fear-inducing aura about her to subside and wash away. As she did so, Sola's words reached her ears, and the blonde turned her head to look upon Sola with a perked eyebrow and lopsided smirk. Marcella remembered her already calling her a witch once on the train in which they met, so her psychic status was no secret.

With the fear-aura now rescinded and removed, Marcella spoke.

"Easy," she reassured the ganger.

"Just a scare-show for the Ryders," she gestured down to the tunnel through which the rodents had fled.

The detail of Sola's clawed hand was not lost on the psyker.

[Bennosuke]

The woman's gun was up, pointed at Marcella, and she took a step back for every one the psyker took forward. "How, how did you do that," Sola stammered, her eyes wide and wild in the faint light of Xerros' lamp, which still resided on the floor.

[dojango]

Luis has finished reloading his pistol. It's still pointed up, away from Sola, but he says, "Easy now. She may be a witch, but she's the Emperor's witch. All legal, like. Our boss made sure of it."

[Bennosuke]

Sola again takes a step back away from Marcella, lifting her pistol with trembling hands. "So she is a witch," the ganger hisses, eyes wide, "Emperor protect me!"

(OOC: Okay, gonna call for some kind of Fellowship roll here now)

[BananaPhone]

Marcella


This wasn't going well.

"Easy, Sola..." Marcella reassured again, her voice soft and calm as she glowed with a gentle inner light. The Psyker had her hands to her side with open palms as further indication that she was no threat.

"I have stood before the Emperor and come to his notice. I carry his mark. You are in no danger from me. We are both working towards a common goal."

It was a bit rich to be judged by the mutant as a threat, but Marcella kept that to herself.

[Bennosuke]

Sola lowers her weapon hand, eyes straining in the dark to study Marcella's sanctioning brand. "You... you have the Emperor's blessing," she stammers with confusion. The ganger shakes her head in disbelief, directing her question to the entire group, "Who are you all, really?"

[Wyndeward]

Sola lowers her weapon hand, eyes straining in the dark to study Marcella's sanctioning brand. "You... you have the Emperor's blessing," she stammers with confusion. The ganger shakes her head in disbelief, directing her question to the entire group, "Who are you all, really?"

Arl snapped his stub revolver open and loaded a fresh shell for the spent one.

He smiled as he snapped in closed again and holstered it and looked at the others.

[BananaPhone]

Marcella


The normally gentle-natured Marcella was starting to get a little annoyed with Sola's insistance on knowing who they really were, even after they had demonstrated themselves to be no threat.

It was clear that the Psyker did not want to answer, but believed she didn't have a choice.

"I am a sanctioned Psyker of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, and I and the others have been sent here to destroy those weapons you speak of, because they are a threat to the souls of this hive."

[Bennosuke]

"Holy Throne of Terra," the ganger gulps under her breath. She makes an awkward attempt at some sort of bow-curtsy thing and says to Marcella, "I'm so sorry you're... honor? Your grace? I mean no offense. I, I just have never been in the presence of a member of the Terran orders. I am but a lowly underhiver, and I hope I have not offended in my ignorance."

[BananaPhone]

Marcella



Being fawned over and grovelled to wasn't an experience Marcella was used to. To be honest, it made her a little uncomfortable. A combination of personal humility and sense of unworthiness to be prostrated to in such a way combined to make her uneasy at the sensation.

"It's alright," Marcella gently waved her hand, dismissing any offence Sola may have thought she had caused.

"We just need your help in getting rid of these weapons. I was not lying in my prior warning that if we fail, those who sent us will not hesitate in sending less...subtle methods to get the job done."

[dojango]

Luis stows the pistol and grins. "Aye, someone's givin' orders to a Mars Magos and a licensed witch. And their bodyguards," Luis indicates himself and Arl. "And that someone's really interested in makin' sure these terrible things are destroyed, and we don't want to disappoint him, so let's go see about it, eh?"

[Bennosuke]

Sola nods avidly to Marcella, though she does not seem to understand the last bit of the psyker's statement. Her confusion only seems to increase slightly with Luis, but she says nothing more. Instead she raises her hands and says, "My sincere apologies. I... I did not mean to be suspicious of anyone. Let's just keep moving."

If the group agrees, she will turn back and lead them to the makeshift ladder, made of roped together pipes and pieces of metal. "Up there," Sola says, pointing to the overhead shaft leading off into darkness, "Follow me." She takes the acolytes up the ladder, which leads through the airshaft into some sort of vent space. This area too is warmed by recycled air, a pleasant breeze blowing through the pipe. The scent of rodents is less prominent here, though Xerros' lamp is still the only source of light. Without hesitation, Sola leads the group through twisting ventilation shafts, up and down a few more makeshift ladders; navigating a labyrinthine path. At several points you find yourselves stepping around large vent grates that allow light from below to flood into the tunnel. Most of these grates overlook different sections of the underhive, one grate even looking down on the roof of The Squat's Behind, recognizable by the sign. A haggard looking man stood on the roof by himself smoking a lho stick, roasting a small Ryder on a stick over an open flame.

After what seems like an hour of travel through the ventilation tunnels, Sola leads the acolytes back down a final ladder, which ends in a cramped hallway or room. Sola moves over to let the acolytes down, but pushes by to reach a near wall, Xerros' lamp pulling back the darkness to reveal an M shaped symbol; perhaps a primitive drawing of a feral winged creature. There is a scrape as metal pulls back to reveal a view port through which harsh yellow light pours into the room. A pair of dark eyes appear in the window, furrowing as they move from Sola to the acolytes around her. "Who'd you bring wit ya Sola?" a harsh female voice scolds.

Sola speaks, doing her best to instill confidence into her voice, "Allies Sare, they've come to help us." She crosses hands across her chest in a bastardized version of the Aquila salute.


"Who's you," Sare asks of the group, her dark eyes anything but inviting.

[dojango]

"Name's Luis. Luis Crow-Tooth. We are..." Luis pauses for a moment. "We are fixing problems. Problems that are too dangerous to the good citizens of the Empire. And we heard you found something dangerous. We need to fix it... by throwing the problem in the fires of Mars, if'n you know what I mean."

[Wyndeward]

"Name's Luis. Luis Crow-Tooth. We are..." Luis pauses for a moment. "We are fixing problems. Problems that are too dangerous to the good citizens of the Empire. And we heard you found something dangerous. We need to fix it... by throwing the problem in the fires of Mars, if'n you know what I mean."

Arl cringed slightly, knowing that beginnings were delicate things. He looked over at Marcella, hoping the telepath would take the lead.

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

"We are with Sola," Marcella offered, almost interjecting over Luis.

"We are allies that have helped her avoid the authorities, and we are here on investigation."

[Bennosuke]

Sare's dark eyes remained furrowed from the other side of the porthole. They dart from one acolyte to the next, but slightly more friendly she asks, "You's all Credit Guilders or something?"

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

Marcella offered a smile and then pointed to her Credit Guilders jacket.