Sea of Stars - IC III

[Destro_Yersul]

"I don't have a contact number for the Auditor, but they like using intermediaries. Thule's been hard to reach lately, but he does have a workshop I could point you at, if you want to drop in."

[PotatoGolem]

Perhaps busy with an important new client? Macharius smiles grimly. His location would be much appreciated.

[Haval]

"I'll take your job offer, if it's a serious one. Things to do here, to prepare for handover. Where should I go when it's done?"

Anika will pass on her contact details. 'We have temporary apartments on the upper levels. Or I suppose you could come to my families apartments at the palace.'

"I don't have a contact number for the Auditor, but they like using intermediaries. Thule's been hard to reach lately, but he does have a workshop I could point you at, if you want to drop in."

'About that. Does he take as much care to defend himself as you?'

[Destro_Yersul]

"Not last I checked."

---

The location Harmon had supplied for Thule's workshop was in the underhive, in an area that still had power and easy access to midhive through some disused ventilation shafts. It would be possible to pick through the tangled nest of corridors and fallend buildings that was the surrounding underhive to get there, but it was far easier to drop down the shafts. Easier, of course, did not mean 'safe.' The access ladder built into the side of the shaft was badly rusted, with missing rungs, and looked as though it wouldn't support Anika, let alone any of their entourage. Fortunately someone, probably Thule, had rigged a lift platform fixed to the walls by much sturdier wels, and supported by crossbeams fitted into slots left behind when the support struts for the massive ventilation vans the shaft once held had been removed. The platform was operated by means of a massive mechanical winch, with wires which down the cables to a control panel on the platform.

Unfortunately, the platform was currently on the lower level, twenty meters down from the maintenance gantry they had access to. There didn't seem to be any means of calling it. Beneath the platform, the shaft plunged into inky darkness, past shredded metal mesh and down to who knew what bottom. One of the praetorians kicked a discarded soycaf can off the gantry and listened to the echoes as the can bounced and clanged its way to the bottom. It was at least thirty seconds before the noise finally stopped.

[Haval]

Anika will put on her preysense goggles just to see if there was anything producing heat down there. 'It's like he's pulled up his drawbridge behind him. I'll bet this means that he doesn't have a backdoor though.' To Macharius, 'I suppose we could check to see if Thule answers his vox.'

Spoiler: ooc

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Auspex tests
Awareness vs. Per 43 (Awareness +10) (Auspex +20)
(1d100)[82]

Tech-Use vs. Int 53
(1d100)[56]

[Destro_Yersul]

The world through the preysense goggles was dark blue, only the other people in the shaft showing up as blobs of warmer red. Even the winch for the lift platform was dark and cold.

[Haval]

Red String Board

Since the Logis device had raised the party link, Anika has made an effort to collect names that had attended the parties thrown by the various Stalker victims. At the very least it might corroborate something eventually. Obviously the dead could be removed from the list, but otherwise she'll attempt to establish a list of anyone who attended each of the parties. For the most part she would expect the list to consist of various members of the Scintillan nobility so even if the list was quite large there might be a finite number of names. In theory the list could be reduced further for any name that could be confirmed as having an alibi.

Spoiler

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I reread the thread and made a to do list.

Writing the above in case it's useful to Anika at some point. Obviously it's taking the broad approach and there's no reason to think I'll get anything from it immediately.

Edmund Hamsha

At some point Anika will call Hamsha and see if he was willing to meet with her. If neccessary, she'll lean on her own family connections to the Scintillan Fusilliers to help convince him.

Thule

'I can't see anyone alive down there. Which doesn't neccessarily prove anything.' Anika will retrieve her clip harness from her bag. 'I could lower one of you down I suppose. i'd do it myself but on balance I'd rather have someone with armour do it.'

[Blarghy]

Thule

The Rings waited hopefully for one of the better-armored Praetorians to step forward, but after a moment, Granos Zophel moved to the edge and looked down into the emptiness. He turned back and volunteered, "I am prepared for this task, Lady Vanhal."

[Destro_Yersul]

Secured in the clip harness, Granos dropped slowly from the higher platform to the lower one. One of the Praetorians helped Anika feed the line, and after a few harrowing moments the Ring landed securely lower down. Nothing appeared from the shadows to attack. Activating the lift, the winch struggled to life, humming as it slowly spooled in cable and the attached platform rose up to the higher level. It wasn't large enough to hold everyone in the group, nor did it look sturdy enough to support more than a few at a time.

Spoiler: OOC

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How many trips do you want to do? You can send the lift back up empty, but it'll only hold three people at a time on the way down.

[Haval]

"I am prepared for this task, Lady Vanhal."

'Why thank you.' If there weren't any obvious dangers Anika will descend with any second group so she could have a look around down there.

Spoiler

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I'm not sure how many people we have total in the group. Anika and presumably Macharius plus some Praetorians and Rings


I don't know if we want to leave a rear guard but I'll leave that for others to decide.

[Destro_Yersul]

Anika and two more of the Rings went down first, now that Granos had cleared the immediate vicinity of the lower level. They were followed by the rest of Granos' team of Rings, then Macharius with two of the Praetorians. The others stayed up top as rearguard. The winch creaked and groaned, especially with the heavier groups, but the cable held and nothing obvious broke.

While the platform was going up for Macharius, Anika got a look around the lower level, while the Rings spread out and melted into the shadows. The maintenance hatch off the side of the ventilation shaft entered into an antechamber of some sort with old rusted pipes hanging from the walls. A sump rat skittered squeaking away into the darkness as Anika approached, but there was no other movement. Battery powered luminators had been attached to the walls, a trail of thin light leading off down the corridor that went to Thule's workshop. Anika spotted a picter attached to the wall, but the power light was dark and the device looked dead. A thick steel door hung loosely from corroded hinges. It probably hadn't been able to close for quite some time.

[Haval]

Anika had been prepared to look out for defensive measures like the picter. At worse perhaps there were actual traps here to guard Thule's workshop but from the look of the place she was prepared to believe that Thule wasn't even here.

Spoiler

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Awareness vs. Per 43 (Awareness +10) (if Auspex +20)
(1d100)[44]

[Blarghy]

Thule might be--and probably was--gone, even gone-gone in the permanent sense, but the Rings thought that hardly meant this place was safe. Whatever drove away the original occupant or murdered him might still be around. To say nothing of leftover traps that weren't set off during the prior assault that seemed to have occurred here.

While his team spread out, shotguns in hand, Granos drew his mono-falchion and stood by Anika's side. "If we find the man you're after," he spoke softly, "or whoever broke into his lab, I assume you want them alive for questioning in either case, right, my lady?" He patted his strait-cape for emphasis.

[Haval]

While his team spread out, shotguns in hand, Granos drew his mono-falchion and stood by Anika's side. "If we find the man you're after," he spoke softly, "or whoever broke into his lab, I assume you want them alive for questioning in either case, right, my lady?" He patted his strait-cape for emphasis.

'Yes. Try not to kill anyone who isn't trying to kill you first. Assuming there's anyone here of course.'

[Destro_Yersul]

Moving forward, it seemed increasingly likely that there was nobody home. The sump rat had scurried away, no longer registering on Anika's auspex, which wasn't picking up any other life signs either. The first proper sign that something had gone wrong here was spotted by Granos, as he and Anika moved past the hanging door. A trail of dried servofluid on the floor led through a shredded grate on the left, into which a mangled sentry servitor had been shoved. Getting it back out would be difficult, but they didn't have to; another dead machine was slumped behind a stack of crates. Its heavy stubber still had a full magazine. Anika spotted more unpowered picters, and a bundle of cables - neatly sliced through - that helped explain why they were all unpowered.

Strangely, the door to Thule's workshop didn't seem to have been forced. It was open, but undamaged, its lock disengaged. Easing inside, the group found Thule. Or at least, what was left of him. The shop had been ransacked, drawyers pulled out, papers scattered, screens and dataslates smashed. A Tarantula sentry turret, mounted to the ceiling, had been torn to pieces, its components and ammunition scattered across the room. Thule was lying in a pool of dried blood and torn robes, clearly quite dead. The attack looked like the Stalker victims Anika had seen previously, even at first glance. The tech-adept, who bore few augmentations to make the task more difficult, had been taken to pieces with a blade.

[Haval]

For a moment Anika will just exhale as she sees the body. She had seen worse, and it wasn't as if she was unfamilar with the sort of mess that the Stalker tended to leave, but this did have certain implications. 'I'd say someone is clearing up loose ends. Why else would they bother doing this now?' She'll spend a few moments trying to get some light shone around the walls of the workshop just in case the Stalker hadn't quite managed to get around to leaving the area yet. Assuming there's no obvious threat she'll go and inspect the body. To any of the Praetorians or the Rings who might be here (or Ravia for that matter), 'Do any of you happen to have medicae training? It would be nice to have a professional opinion on how long ago this happened.'

Spoiler: ooc

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Scrutiny to examine the body vs. Per 43
(1d100)[98]

[Blarghy]

Granos slowly shook his head, taking in this scene. "I'm afraid not, Lady Vanhal. We're more the type to create corpses than study them. Would you like us to gather the documents and search for any dataslates or cogitators with a bit of life left in them? Perhaps that would help you learn something."

Spoiler

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The Rings will carefully look through the lab; they aren't the Tech-y types, but they'll pile up any paperwork for later reading and hunt for machinery that's only mostly-busted, and above all else, any secret passages or compartments. Let's hope that Thule has a hidden safe with all his incriminating evidence locked away.

Search (40): (1d100)[61]

[Haval]

'Every squad needs a medic. Perhaps we could work on that at some point.' Anika will help the Rings in gathering together the least broken devices. Breaking a dataslate didn't mean that the data on it was gone.

Spoiler: ooc

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Tech-Use to find find anything that Anika can salvage
vs. Int 53
(1d100)[62]

[Leon]

When the message comes in to come down to the planet again there will be considerable swearing in binary and she will ask for a shuttle to be readied as she then sets some work group tasks for the the cohort and collects her favorite away servitor.

++I had hoped to be done with this place++

[Haval]

++I had hoped to be done with this place++

'Working on it. How do we all feel about bullying the Kindjals on the chance that something comes of it? Technically we don't even have to be there if we want to deny being involved.' Anika will say that over the command channel so that everyone can hear.

Spoiler: ooc

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Potato hasn't been online since the end of September so there are no other PCs with Anika to talk about this with.

[PotatoGolem]

Awfully rude of the blighter to get murdered before talking to us, what? Interesting that she's killed her tech-adept though. Clearly, she had no further use for him, but why?

We need as much evidence as possible before going to the Kindjals. What do you have so far? A mis-step could be quite unpleasant for us. It could also scare off the Stalker. Or have her skulking aboutthe ship, which is most improper, hoho!

Perhaps your friends would be more willing to divulge who they put in touch with Thule now? It is quite rude to murder him after they make the introduction, after all.

[Haval]

Awfully rude of the blighter to get murdered before talking to us, what? Interesting that she's killed her tech-adept though. Clearly, she had no further use for him, but why?

We need as much evidence as possible before going to the Kindjals. What do you have so far? A mis-step could be quite unpleasant for us. It could also scare off the Stalker. Or have her skulking aboutthe ship, which is most improper, hoho!

Perhaps your friends would be more willing to divulge who they put in touch with Thule now? It is quite rude to murder him after they make the introduction, after all.

'Best guess is that Thule knew who she was. Which makes me curious to know if Thule bothered to keep records of his customers. The Stalker knew enough to cut the power to the cameras but I would be surprised if she stuck around for long enough to check for something that might incriminate her.'

On evidence, 'I feel like the record of a xenos in the woman's house might be enough by itself. I don't know how the Commissariat might feel about it but I can't see them being in favour. But if we don't want to do that purely as a fishing expedition I'd say we need to link the xenos in that woman's house to whatever Cold Trader brought it here in the first place. Unless we're to assume that it's been here for decades I'd say that someone on Scintilla is likely to know what it is and how it got there.'

On talking to the Kasballica, 'I can ask but we may need leverage to get their help. I would like to think though that Thule was useful enough to them that they'd prefer he wasn't murdered. Frankly if the Stalker is killing law abiding criminals whose to say she wouldn't come for one of them at some point?'

[Blarghy]

'How do we all feel about bullying the Kindjals on the chance that something comes of it? Technically we don't even have to be there if we want to deny being involved.' Anika will say that over the command channel so that everyone can hear.

Kennoch, being out of the loop on these latest developments and knowing nothing about evidence of xenos at the Kindjal estate, had a series of questions first. Once he was informed, it should come as no surprise that the conservative Navigator was fully on board with bringing the Emperor's justice. He honestly felt delighted at the opportunity to do the right thing by Imperium tradition; compared to the thorny issue of Galimina, this problem seemed straightforward to him.

"We should not should hesitate to impose hesitate the force of law force law on these corrupt nobles corrupt corrupt corrupt," he replied righteously. "Even if they even if are not involved are not with the Spire Stalker Stalker Spire Stalker, their guilt is clear guilt. Without proper permission proper, harboring a xeno harboring is a foul crime foul, and I am sure I am Lord-Governor Hax Hax Hax Hax will permit us permit to deliver justice justice." Without any trace of irony, he reached down to pet Ms. Rana's furiously-pulsing head, as the lizard scowled at his nearby bodyguards.

So, apparently Anika wouldn't have to worry about enlisting Echo and his Voidborn regiment if she decided to go that route.

[Destro_Yersul]

Digging through the ruins was a time-consuming task, made harder when you weren't sure quite what to look for. Anika grabbed a bunch of slates and things she wasn't sure were still viable, while Echo and the search team he'd conscripted went through the workshop taking a closer look at everything; there were no papers, Thule had lived in an area known for being damp with ironically poor ventilation, and every record he'd kept was electronic. Nor did the body turn up anything useful - Anika knew enough to tell that it was probably done by the Stalker, though the body WAS missing the cranial injury all the others had - she checked.

[Blarghy]

Despite managing a little progress, mostly collecting tech for the Magos and Seneschal to examine further, Kennoch didn't feel like he'd accomplished very much. The cluster of warriors around him were also useful but distracting at the same time. After a while of this, the frustrated Navis turned and waved them back irritably. He walked alone deeper into the lab and breathed meditatively. He didn't open his Warp-eye, but nonetheless expanded his senses, setting his worries aside for a moment to make space for his keen eye for detail. He moved slowly, casually, letting his instincts pull him along rather than exploring under a strict methodology.

What are you hiding? What ghosts and memories linger in this place? Surrender your secrets to me...

[PotatoGolem]

Macharius mostly stayed out of the for the search, although he had the Praetorians assist with the search. Shame about his poor record-keeping, what? You would think someone in his line of work would keep files on his employers, in case someone tried to do something like this.

He thinks for a moment, then grins. Perhaps he did! Perhaps Thule kept secret records, undisturbed in his lab, and his killer didn't find them. And perhaps, in our search, we found them. And perhaps we're going to go to Lord Hax with what we've found, information that would unmask the Stalker and, of course, lead to the ruin of her whole family... He winks at Anika. I imagine the Stalker would be quite upset that we'd found that information. Might make her desperate enough to risk an attack. Or even a parley.

[Haval]

Macharius mostly stayed out of the for the search, although he had the Praetorians assist with the search. Shame about his poor record-keeping, what? You would think someone in his line of work would keep files on his employers, in case someone tried to do something like this.

He thinks for a moment, then grins. Perhaps he did! Perhaps Thule kept secret records, undisturbed in his lab, and his killer didn't find them. And perhaps, in our search, we found them. And perhaps we're going to go to Lord Hax with what we've found, information that would unmask the Stalker and, of course, lead to the ruin of her whole family... He winks at Anika. I imagine the Stalker would be quite upset that we'd found that information. Might make her desperate enough to risk an attack. Or even a parley.

'Just because we haven't found it yet doesn't mean there's nothing here. Perhaps Thule needed to organise his lab a little better.' After considering Macharius' plan, 'I'd be willing to try it if you are, and if we make this official it would give you a good excuse to network.'

[Leon]

++Well, what ever happened down here Thule wen to pieces over it++
++should have brought a medical mop++

Setting the Servitor to collate Thule particles Ravia will see about assisting with the survey of the chambers

[Destro_Yersul]

As they went through the place, something about this particular murder as opposed to the others became clear. This one hadn't been a meticulously planned, carefully orchestrated crime that was intended to be as close to perfect as possible. This one, the Stalker hadn't been worried so much about someone caring enough to do a thorough investigation. This was a smash and grab. In, out, get the job done, tie up the loose ends.

Unfortunately for the Stalker, this meant that they'd gone through the place in a hurry, broken everything accessible, and not been as rigourous as they might have done. The first breakthrough was Echo noticing that one of the wall panels was inset slightly, and a pipe that ran down it wasn't actually connected to anything. Pulling on that made the whole panel slide open, revealing a ladder. The space at the bottom, which had apparently served as a combination living and monitoring space, was undisturbed. It was lit only by red emergency lighting, and the screens on the walls were unpowered, taken out by the same sabotage that had cut off the cameras, but the datastacks that backed up the recordings were intact. Anika checked the tiny kitchen space, only to find it was mostly just filled with stacks of ration bars. Ravia, though, was able to reroute the power through a secondary line. The emergency lights snapped off, replaced by harsh white flourescence, and the cogitators and screens powered up with a hum.

Upstairs, the Rings were treated to the same return of power. A black box on the wall, that everyone had previously just taken to be a junction box, lit up. A timer appeared on a small screen, five minutes counting down...

[Haval]

Even if there wasn't any countdown down in Thule's panic room, Anika was likely to be alerted by the Rings that were still upstairs. 'Everyone who doesn't know machines start making for the lift.' Finding this place had been a stroke of luck and she's not entirely willing to give it up yet. To Ravia, 'How are you at defusing explosives?' Anika will look into removing the datastacks as quickly as she could.