IC: DH The Purity of Sacrifice

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

Marc listened to Arl and nodded.

"We trace the line up to the Rogue Trader. If we neutralise or flip him as a threat, that's half the equation. That and Drimmle will give us what we need to go after the Upperhiver."

That Upperhiver being Lord Durchess.

"We go looking for Harl Kander then and he'll lead us to Perrus Casmirre?" turning to Orla, assuming she had been listening, "can you lead us to Kander, or where we could find him?"

[bramblefoot]

milo agrees with what is said

[Haval]

Orla considers herself a hireling here but has been listening. 'Sure. Go to enough Underhive bars and I'll find him eventually. Or I find someone who knows what he's up to at the moment.'

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

"Bar hopping? You better off on your own or want some of us to come with?"

[Haval]

Marcella

"Bar hopping? You better off on your own or want some of us to come with?"

Orla considers that. 'Couldn't hurt, but some of you stand out more then others. How quiet do you want to be about it?'

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

Marc's eyelids rippled slightly as if she were suppressing a burst of excitement that would have otherwise crossed her features. Would she get to dye her hair to fit in?

Looking at her companions, "I could accompany Orla, you three stay nearby as a separate set of eyes and ears. Milo is a traveling missionary, Hound is his adjutant and Arl his bodyguard, that'll draw attention away from us. What do you think?"

[Haval]

Orla added, 'Maybe don't pretend to be Underhivers. You all look too well fed for that.'

[bramblefoot]

"not gonna argue with you there" milo says. "underhivers have that lean, almost starved look"

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

Marc smirked as she looked down at herself for inspection.

"I can't really change that now..." she smiled, "dying and shaving my hair or something to fit in? Wear something different?" she asked Orla quietly while waiting for the others to decide whether they approved or not.

[Haval]

'Just dress cheaply and don't try to do an accent.' Orla will look Marcella up and down. 'We don't completely lack for outsiders. Maybe a trader or a missionary would be the easiest story to sell. Or someone like me but you don't seem the type.'

[rax]

"Harl Kander is, as far as we know, a free agent who was working for Magus Petrovskii. He may have the man Mercutio's gun, but as yet we have no credible information that ties him directly to Casmirre. Why do you suppose he can get us the Rogue Trader?" Hound suddenly interjects.

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

Internally, Marcella let out a little 'aww'. The dress code of the Psykana Scholastica was strict when she was growing up, and though she understood the need for rules and discipline, it would have been fun to try something new with the legitimate excuse that it was necessary for field work!

Besides, the exercise regime, regular food and proper grooming and cleanliness meant that Marc would've probably just looked like some rich girl from the Upperhive who ran off to 'go slumming'. Not the most sincere or respectable of fronts.

No matter.

"A trader? Looking for exotic weapons after hearing rumours of a trade? I can do that!" Marc smiled brightly, though Hound brought up a good point.

"That Magus was definitely hiding something," Marcella confirms, "I wouldn't put it beyond an overly ambitious Magus to be tempted by the type of goods the Rogue Trader was bringing in, and using a middle man like Kander to do his dirty work..." she said, bringing up a third and overlooked branch of higher up involvement: the local branch of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The Magus hadn't been too enthusiastic to destroy those xenos weapons they had entrusted to his disposal, now that Marc thought about it.

There were a lot of potential targets. Looking to Hound, Marc asked "who should we start with first?"

[Wyndeward]

Marcella

Marc's eyelids rippled slightly as if she were suppressing a burst of excitement that would have otherwise crossed her features. Would she get to dye her hair to fit in?

Looking at her companions, "I could accompany Orla, you three stay nearby as a separate set of eyes and ears. Milo is a traveling missionary, Hound is his adjutant and Arl his bodyguard, that'll draw attention away from us. What do you think?"

Arl looked thoughtfully at Marcella's suggestion, then nodded.

"I think that would probably work, so long as we don't run into any "old friends" down below."

[Haval]

Orla considers Hounds comment. 'If he's got the gun he might just have taken it off of Mercutio's body. From the sound of it he'd have some balls to get too close considering what happened.' She had only heard second hand stories about the gunfight but took them seriously.

'I wouldn't know about some cogboy. If you don't want to try Kander first I could ask around some people I know up in the mid hive. Trouble is, anyone whose involved with that probably won't want to share it with me. Even if I'm really nice to them. Maybe best I could do is that someone saw the people doing it but doesn't know what it meant. Is there anything odd about these weapons to see? Do they glow a funny colour or something?'

On Marcella's disguise, 'If you do try that don't trust anyone. Mid hivers that look like they can't defend themselves are likely to get robbed and have their throats cut.'

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

"They don't glow...but they are..." Marcella thought how best to phrase it.

"Imagine a creepy, haunted doll," she started, knowing the parable sounded strange.

"You swear you sometimes see it move out of the corner of your eye, but you never actually catch it doing so. It emanates an unnerving aura that weighs upon your mind. The small batch we collected...the woman practically begged us to get them away from her. We never looked in the box, but you don't need to: you know it's them."

In a world as superstitious and full of warp-born horrors as this one, it wasn't difficult to see why xenos tech of this nature had to be hunted down and destroyed.

"They're being brought on-world by a Rogue Trader, Casmirre. Who knows what constant exposure is doing to his ship and crew, or where he's getting them from. The gangers aren't handling them long enough to retain any residual effects, as far as we can tell. The Magus did not seem particularly motivated to destroy them, and now we learn that he's got this Kander middle man working for him who is connected by 6 degrees of separation to Casmirre. The final branch is the Upperhiver, a name best not spoken right now, who is funding it all through a high up credit guilder we recently interrogated and need to re-visit in the future. What this Upperhiver wants with this stuff is anyones guess, but either he doen't know with what powers he is meddling in which case this entire hive is at risk, or he does and...well, that just might be worse."

No pressure, or anything.

[Haval]

Orla looks impressed at the description. 'That might help. Sounds like the sort of thing you'd remember if you saw it.'

[rax]

"Yes, Petrovskii is a concern, but as yet not a primary suspect," Hound replies to Marcella. "Do we know whether there were any survivors of the firefight between Sabay and Tora? You recovered a human hand at the scene, did you not? Magos Petrovskii said that analysis indicated that it came from a well-fed off-worlder, which could make it Mercutio's hand, lost at the same time as he lost his gun. If he survived, he would likely have been in urgent need of medical attention - so perhaps we could start by listening for tales of a one-handed off-worlder seeking help from some local sawbones?" he suggested.

OOC: Do we know if anyone survived the firefight?

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

Marcella nodded.

"Check out the areas doctors for medical records of such a wound at the estimated time of the firefight, while taking the chance to find out what dealings Clan Sabbay have with Casimirre?" she offered.

[Haval]

"Yes, Petrovskii is a concern, but as yet not a primary suspect," Hound replies to Marcella. "Do we know whether there were any survivors of the firefight between Sabay and Tora? You recovered a human hand at the scene, did you not? Magos Petrovskii said that analysis indicated that it came from a well-fed off-worlder, which could make it Mercutio's hand, lost at the same time as he lost his gun. If he survived, he would likely have been in urgent need of medical attention - so perhaps we could start by listening for tales of a one-handed off-worlder seeking help from some local sawbones?" he suggested.

"Check out the areas doctors for medical records of such a wound at the estimated time of the firefight, while taking the chance to find out what dealings Clan Sabbay have with Casimirre?" she offered.

Orla looks briefly angry, 'I'm told my sister Ria was a witness to all that. Maybe she could have told us something if the Enforcers hadn't got to her first. Might be other people like that out there. From the way Ria reacted I'm sure they would have been noticed if they saw these weapons in action.'

To Marcella, 'If anyone who knows how to fix people down there keeps medical records I'd be very surprised. But a one handed man ought to be easy to remember at least.'

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Realised I have not yet mentioned that Orla's part of Clan Raptore, but she has no reason to hide it

[rax]

"You are Raptore?" Hound responded to Orla with a surprised look. "Does your Clan know you are meeting with us? Will they assist you with inquiries if you ask them?"

[Haval]

"You are Raptore?" Hound responded to Orla with a surprised look. "Does your Clan know you are meeting with us? Will they assist you with inquiries if you ask them?"

'Well I'm away a lot from coming up here so I'm not in contact everyday. What I do for money is my own business as long as I throw some their way sometimes. You know any reason why they wouldn't want me talking to you?'

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

Marcella paused.

"Wait..." she said, her eyes drifting up a little as she thought about something way back.

"Kander..." she started, "is he about yay tall...has a scruffy, large beard...?" she made a gesture beneath her chin to emphasise it.

"Carries an ornate laspistol?"

When this was confirmed as so, Marcella gives a "Ah..." as she nods, looking off slightly, eyes narrowing into irritated slits. He had been the one they had met and took them to the place of the firefight, and he had leered at the Sister and Marc, at least Marcella remembered it as such.

"Pig."

Pursing her lips, "Yeah, we met him previously, actually. He took us to the place of the fire fight. That's where we found Mercutio's hand and know about his injury. I don't think Kander has anything else of use for now, so I think we're better off checking the Sawbones of the area for that type of injury and track this Mercutio down to get to Casimirre."

[rax]

'Well I'm away a lot from coming up here so I'm not in contact everyday. What I do for money is my own business as long as I throw some their way sometimes. You know any reason why they wouldn't want me talking to you?'

"From the reports of my colleagues, I do not believe so. In fact, I understand that their previous interactions were mutually profitable. My question was rather whether your clan would be willing to assist further if needed," Hound clarified.

[bramblefoot]

milo will stay silent and watch the masters work

[Haval]

"From the reports of my colleagues, I do not believe so. In fact, I understand that their previous interactions were mutually profitable. My question was rather whether your clan would be willing to assist further if needed," Hound clarified.

'I'd say they'd be ok with it. If you're paying me you're also paying them down the line. Plus they've got reason to see these weapons dealt with for Ria's sake.'

[rax]

"Well, that is good to hear. I imagine your clan's sources of information could complement our own efforts nicely," Hound replies.

[Bennosuke]

Orla leads the group through the shadows of the midhive street till they get to storm drain sticking out of the side of the cobblestone walkway. The aperture of the drain is barely big enough to get one's head inside, should they be crazy enough to want to. But Orla gives the others a grin as she deftly lifts the stone covering over the drain, and tells everyone to jump in.

The group find themselves in a foul smelling sewer, trudging through debris and sludge that in some places is just under knee deep. Passageways twist and turn, and all the while Orla leads the way, picking and choosing which tunnel to follow at forks or splits in the sewer-way. As the group descends (they clearly are slowly working their way down), it gets colder, and the smell becomes stronger and more toxic; a reminder of the dark tunnels of the underhive.

At one point, Orla pauses, holding up a hand for the group to stop and be quiet. The group are in a tunnel wide enough for two to stand shoulder to shoulder, and just tall enough so that even the shortest acolyte is forced to stoop slightly. At first there is only the distant sound of splashing, but the noises grow closer to closer. Then, round the bend of the passage, appears a small pack of Ryders; small black mutant rodents about the size of large melon, with eight scrabbling scaly legs and a stubby fang filled head with four black blind eyes. The ryders hiss and shriek as they rush through the waterlogged garbage, tails flitting this way and that.

Orla curses loudly, and pulling her weapon makes it clear that its not safe waiting till they get close.

(OOC: Let's roll some initiatives please )

[BananaPhone]

Marcella


Marc scrunched up her nostrils at the stench through which they waded, her mind thankful that she wore her longer boots today so that they would be easier to clean later. Shudder.

When Orla rose a hand to quieten them and permit the detection of a series of splashing sounds from ahead, Marcella was about to reach her mind out to sense what it was they were, but she didn't have to. They made their presence known all too eagerly.

"These things again...!" the Psyker hissed under her breath, reaching into her coat and withdrawing her submachine gun, the Click! resonating as she pulled back the cocking handle and drew the weapon up to brace against her shoulder, aim down its sights, leaned into it and squeezed the trigger. The suppressor on the end of her weapon turned what would have been an ungodly racket in a tunnel into something more manageable as the tunnel was illuminated by the fully automatic blast flare.


ooc:

Initiative: (1D10+3)[4]
Free Action: Quick Draw her autopistol.
Action: Marc is Full Auto Burst: (1d100)[36] vs TN 58

[Haval]

Orla had wondered how capable her new employers were at defending themselves. The big one whose hand she had shook might be capable and they at least appeared to be well armed but that didn't always prove anything.

Orla is not in a position to keep quiet about her shooting and has had her pistol in one hand since they entered the tunnels. If the noise attracted anyone else they'd just have to get out of the area as quickly as possible.

As soon as the Ryders started towards them she will immediatly shoot towards the biggest cluster.

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Initiative AgB4 +1 for Wary
(1d10+5)[7]

Quick Draw Knife

Full auto with Auto Pistol
vs. BS 42 (+20 Full Auto) (range?)

See ooc where she jammed.

[bramblefoot]

milo will open fire on the ryders with his lasgun, scarlet energy bolts splashing off the walls

full auto burst

(1d100)[73]