The Black Reaches (DW) - IC

[Servant of Dante]

Inellia, upon waking, runs into the building, an shocked expression on her face. She faces Kharvox and in a quite but still clearly furious tone says, "Do you even know what the word inconspicuous means?! This isn't some orbital assault where you come screaming down in a drop pod in a rain of death and destruction! You are serving the Holy Ordos now; if you can't do something as simple as keep the loudspeaker turned off while we are in potentially hostile territory and don't want to be noticed I don't know what to do with you. You're more clueless than those two Novices the Inquisitor put me in charge of during my last assignment."

 

Exhaling heavily, she continues, "And I'm sure you find my concern completely irrational too. Well, so be it. Please, in the future, remember that we wish to avoid unnecessary noise. I . . . assume you have decided that you want to check the inhabitants of the town for Xeno taint? If they haven't all fled from the sound of an Astartes yelling "Purge the Unbelievers" in their general direction, I think that is a good idea.
 

"Please, do let me take the lead on this one. Unfortunately, it will be impossible to do this properly without making the town look a little suspicious, but I think we can keep it to a minimum. I have two suggestions. Firstly, me and the Troopers could go house to house, thus reducing the chances that Tau surveillance picking up anything out of the ordinary, but giving any Xeno sympathizers plenty of time to escape. The other option is a full-scale processing. You," she looked around the room at each of the Astartes in turn, "would quickly and quietly round up all of the townspeople and move them to a single building, if one of sufficient size is available, without hurting the citizens. You would then remain within that building, guarding the townspeople and keeping out of sight of Xeno surveillance. With the troopers help, I would bring each person to another house in turn and question them about the Tau.

 

"Personally, I prefer the second option, since it allows us to be sure none of the people avoid questioning or escape to the Tau."

 

She sighs again, clenching her eyes closed and massaging her forehead with her hand, "whatever we do, we may end up driving more people to the Tau than we find who are already sympathetic to their cause. Such is the insidious heresy of the Xeno."

[Servant of Dante]

As she is speaking, the sister begins donning her armour, a little faster than she normally would. Just in case.

[Cryptix]

The sound of Kharvox's voice brings the villagers running, setting off most of the screamers at once. The immense noise scares most of them off, with a side effect that the two troopers and Inellia also being stunned, but one, a little girl, stays and comes closer, even at the behest of her mother screaming at her in a guttural language. Something about the child seems...off.

(I need someone to do a Hard Psyniscience check, anybody)

[Servant of Dante]

So, first off I'm making a toughness check for the Iron Jaw talent to ignore the effects of stunning.

 

T=43, roll=26

http://orokos.com/roll/443609

Pass!

 

Inellia doesn't have Psyessence. :P

[Slips]

I don't have Psyniscience as a skill but I can still try it at an untrained -20 with a further -30 due to the test being Hard but with a Perception of 38, this is basically impossible for me to attempt.

 

"...Glad you could join us Sister." He says as she enters the tent and finishes her lecture, his helmeted head turning ever so slightly to face the Iron Hand.

 

As the Screamers all go off, he quickly Draws his Power Sword and Bolt Pistol and rushes out of the tent to face the now-fleeing crowd. As the little girl approaches, he levels his Bolt Pistol at her at states "Halt, Mortal, approach no further! Madam, reclaim your progeny this instant or I will be forced to act this is your only warning!"

 

Over the vox he mentions to the team "Keep an eye out on our environs. The screamers are bound to have drawn unwanted attention and we might be forced to abandon this location sooner rather than later. Sister, your presence is required."

[Servant of Dante]

((Ok, is Inellia finished putting her armour on? it's kinda important for me to know. As to the Psyessence test, I was going off DH1 where you couldn't even attempt advanced skills if you where not trained. In any case, Inellia's Fel is in the 30s so there's not much use anyway))

Inellia comes out of the building at the Templar's call. As she views the situation she calls to the marine, "I want you to restrain the mother, but be careful. It looks like only the child is unnatural, but you can never be sure. Keep the her alive; if anything happens I want her for questioning."

As she draws her inferno pistol the Sister calls over her shoulder, "brother librarian, your assistance! Can you determine anything about this child?"

The Sister moves into optimal range for her weapon, staying just under 20m away from the child. Leveling her pistol at the advancing girl she steels her mind against psychic assault.

((I'm not sure if this is an option Cryptix, but the instant the Librarian says the kid is a psyker (if he does) Inellia pulls the trigger.))

 

Edit: ((I do NOT want to go for a called shot.))

[Servant of Dante]

Inellia glances over her shoulder, looking for the Novamarine Librarian. He was no where in sight. She sighs. Even sanctioned witches tend to appear and disappear at the most inopportune times. Snapping her attention back to the advancing girl, the Sister focuses on finding out what she can about the child herself.

 

WP = 62 -20 (hard test) = 42, roll = (the Emperor is with us!) 6 (3 degrees of success)

[Servant of Dante]

((OK, so I don't know if we're supposed to be going in initiative or what, but since Cryptix has not called for Initiative rolls, I'm going to act))

 

After a few seconds, Inellia's eyes widen behind the face plate of her helmet. Under her breath the Sister mutters, "this is going to get interesting."

 

She yells, "Don't shoot anyone! She's not a witch!" over both the internal armour vox network and her armours external vox. Shutting off external vox casters, Inellia continues, "Brother Faramond, do secure the mother. I do want to speak with her, but do not to harm her, she has done nothing wrong . . . that I can tell. 

 

"Librarian Bessor, you will want to remain within the structure for the time being."

 

Switching to her external vox and lowering her pistol Inellia grimaces and moves toward the eerie child and attempting to grab her by the shoulder with her free hand. Addressing the mother she says, "ma'am, please don't shout. We are not going to harm you or your child," she glaces at the Templar before continuing, "though I would appreciate it if you would answer a few questions for me."

 

After her immediate concerns are addressed, the Sister switches once more to internal vox only, "it appears that the girl manifests the Pariah gene."

[Slips]

Grunting audibly in acquiescence, the Templar lowers his bolt pistol and maglocks it to his thigh plate but keeps his power sword drawn and walks over to the Child's Mother, eyeing any unconcerned individuals behind his emotionless mask that is is helmet as he approaches. Once he reaches the women, he quickly and brusquely grabs her arm and starts to lead her back in an inhumanly firm grip.

 

"A Pariah? Odd, but not unwelcome. However, our enemies not being Psykers, she'll be of little use to us unless we somehow meet The Enemy."

 

"Make this quick Sister, we have more pressing matters to attend to." and he shoves the mother to her knees before Inella once he makes his way back.

[Servant of Dante]

Staring grimly into the girl's eyes, the Sister responds to the Templar, "The Forge Father in the armoury mentioned Daemons and Grey Knights. There may be a good deal of psychic power on this planet. A Pariah might be a valuable asset. In any case, she will be useful someday. If I don't take her, someone else will, eventually."

Inellia hands the child over to the Templar, "Please take her off a distance. Away from the structure, of course." As Brother Faramond moves away ((I'll edit this if he decides not to move away)) the Sister says, still using internal communication, "thank you. Her proximity would only complicate things."

Inellia removes her helmet and stares straight faced at the kneeling woman, "I am Sister Inellia of the Order of the Valorous Heart. I will be asking you some questions. If you answer them thoroughly and truthfully, you will be spared unnecessary pain . . . "

((Inellia is going to interrogate the alleged mother without using her Excruciator Kit (for now). She wants to know exactly who the parents of the pariah are, where they are, who the woman she is interrogation is, if they or anyone else in the village has any connections with the Tau, and will include some general questions that are a superficial check for other forms of heresy. I'm not sure how you want to handle this, or what the modifiers are, so I will just give you my WP and Interrogate scores, and a roll. Let me know if you need more ))

Willpower 62 + 20 (Interrogation skill) = 82

Roll:

Hidden Content

45 for 3 degrees of success before modifiers

((If I'm unhappy with the information I get, can I retry using an excruciator kit (+20 to interrogation tests)? I included the roll in this post to keep things moving))

[Cryptix]

The woman begins to spin the tale of the Pariah girl. She is the girl's mother, but the girl's father was one of the sky-people, presumably meaning that it was an off-worlder. The father had taken her aboard her magic-world and offered her an entire universe to explore, all the wealth she could ever imagine, but she still had many younger ones at home. She could not leave her mother alone to fend. So, the mother was taken home. Soon enough however, it was discovered that during her time courting the Rogue Trader, she became pregnant. The girl was born not long after that, and she was already shunned by her mother's family for being a bastard so when it turned out the girl was dumb, no one thought anything of it. It was only when the girl made the Shaman of the village extremely ill was she and her mother cast out, exiled to the outside.

 

She is unable to answer your other two questions.

[Servant of Dante]

Inelia nods as the woman finishes her account. It seems reasonable. She glances momentarily at where the Templar stands with the child then addresses him over the vox, "I'll return momentarily," dragging the woman to her feet and taking her to one side of the building. The Sister stands the woman against the rock of the overhang and removes her helmet, revealing her pale, gaunt face.

 

"Tell me your name. With the Emperor as your witness, your full name."

[Cryptix]

Solemnly, the woman speaks again, very quietly. Her name is Celestine Urguag Wokan.

[Slips]

"So be it." He responds over the comms and then speaks to the girl. "Come, Child." And Faramond walks a short distance away from the camp to look out over the town to make sure nothing amiss is happening.

 

If the child doesn't follow, he'd grab her by the back of her shirt and carry her along before plopping her down at his feet.

[Morovir]

Kharvox speaks over his armour's internal vox systems to the other members of the kill team:

 

"STATEMENT: A PARIAH. THIS IS MOST INTRIGUING. THE INQUISITOR WILL BE PLEASED. WE MUST SECURE HER SAFELY AND ENSURE NO WORD OF HER PRESENCE SPREADS. ADDENDUM: THERE MUST BE NO WITNESSES."

[Servant of Dante]

((Inellia's helmet is removed, but she has a com-bead, so she can hear Kharvox))

 

Inellia's eyes widen as the mother says her name. The same as the Hieromartyr of the Palatine Crusade. Indecision flashes through her eyes. Then the Iron Hand speaks, and the Sisters grimaces at the interruption. Focusing once more upon the woman before her, she speaks,

 

"I will watch your child. May the Emperor have mercy on your soul."

 

Then she shoots the woman in the chest.

 

((BS 53 (no helmet) +30 (point blank range, see DW table 8-4 pg 247) = 83 Roll: 89 (fail), spending 1 Fate Point to re-roll, Re-roll: 98 (fail) note that the first roll would have failed even if Inellia was wearing her helmet))

 

Inellia stares in shock. The shot had missed the woman entirely. She looks at her pistol, and back to the woman. Then she grabs her by the shoulder, saying, "You will speak of this to no one. I do not know why you are still alive, but next time I will not miss.

 

((Note that Inellia is immune to Intimidation and Fear, so her hands where not shaking))

 

She locks her helmet back over her head and addresses the killteam, "I will discuss the child's future with your Inquisitor when we return from our deployment. Until then, she is under my jurisdiction," after a brief pause, she continues, "

 

"Librarian Bessor, how close can you be to the girl without suffering any ill effects? I would prefer to take her with us."

 

Inellia moves back around the building to the front and over to where the Templar stands with the girl, dragging Celestine with her. Nodding to the Astartes, she keeps her hand on Celestine's shoulder, not letting her reach her child.

[Cryptix]

 (To answer your question Servant, I don't think there's any rules for Blanks so lets just say that he has to stay 20 metres away or take a Hard Willpower test for every round/10 minutes in its presence, and if he can't cast psychic.)

[Slips]

 (To answer your question Servant, I don't think there's any rules for Blanks so lets just say that he has to stay 20 metres away or take a Hard Willpower test for every round/10 minutes in its presence, and if he can't cast psychic.)

(Actually, in the Inquisitors Handbook for DH you should be able to find rules for Blanks.)

[SinnerBeta]

"So." Kamael finally speaks up over the vox, no word of explanation on what he made himself busy with in the mean time "Once you secure these targets please we need to refocus on the primary objective. I'm monitoring our sensors and there appears to be no increase in Tau activity... for now."

[Servant of Dante]

Inellia nods, slightly unsettled by the silence of the Apothecary and the Librarian-witch. Beckoning the Storm Troopers over to her, she addresses the Kill Team, "yes; at this point I would like to ge moving as soon as possible. The longer we remain, the more likely we are to be caught in the open. I will leave the particulars to you Astartes."

 

Turning her attention to the prisoners, particularly Celestine, Inellia, "forgetting" that her armour's external vox is active mumbles to herself, "I should kill you and be done with it," the armoured fingers of her right hand drumming casually on the pistol holstered at her waist. After a contemplative pause, the Sister again speaks to the Astartes, "the Troopers, prisoners, and I will follow a distance behind the rest. We can't risk leaving either behind alive."

 

Inellia romoves her helmet, the blood-red fleur beneath her eye showing more expression than the rest of her ghostly visage tenfold, "You will follow me, and silently. If either of you makes a noise, or moves more than five feet from me without my permission, you will BOTH be pleading your story to the Emperor, if you are lucky. I will not allow you to jeopardize the success of this mission. You breathe at my pleasure." As she finishes speaking, the Sister raises her left hand, palm out, revealing a bare metallic disk stamped with a deep relief of an Inquisitorial Rosette surrounded by 41 studs arranged in concentric circles, marking Inellia's years of service to the Holy Ordos under an Inquisitor. The studs appear cramped in the space, as if the icon had not been intended to include so many.

[Slips]

Hearing the comms chatter, Faramond brings the child back to the Sister. "Have we decided on a course of action for our..." and he glances at the two mortals in their presence before continuing "plan of attack? Whether or not our sensorium equipment signals that we've been detected, we should start moving under the assumption that we have been and start putting our plans into motion."

 

I assume that Sinner, your character is a Ravenwing member and thus have a bike at hand?

 

"For the most part, I think it's safe to assume that I and Brother Kamael would be acting as forward units since he has his bike and I a Jump Pack."

 

"Brother Kharvox and Bessor should he return should be able to keep pace with us if necessary. Otherwise, once we actually commence our attack, the less Mortals in our way, the better." Moving to the Jump Pack he had brought along, sliding it over his back borne power unit and latching the packs quick release across his armors breastplate as he finishes his sentence.

 

"As things stand, Brother Techmarine, when do you think would be the optimal time for us to depart considering that the...locals...might have tipped off the Xenos to our presence if they haven't detected it already?"

[Servant of Dante]

((I am thinking that since you looked at the prisoners before speaking that you are implying that they can hear what you are saying))

 

"Well, now I certainly cannot leave either of these here," says Inellia, gesturing at the prisoners, "I would suggest we move in close to the Xeno base quickly and quietly and do a bit of reconnaissance before we attack. It may be possible to retrieve the target without raising any alarms, but not if you and Brother Kamael use your jump pack and bike. I may move into the base with the rest of the Killteam, but the Storm Troopers will likely remain outside with the prisoners.

 

"We may find ourselves quite outmatched in a straight fight with the Xeno, but we will not know until we observe their base."

[Cryptix]

If we get one more vote to start the attack I'll timeskip to outside the base. Someone will come to take care of the pariah and her mother.

[SinnerBeta]

"Night might be the optimal time for infiltration, but we must remember the enemy possess the technology to let them see in the dark, just like ours. I can take my bike and then load the target on it."

 

OOC

@Slips - he's not a member of the Ravenwing, no. The Techmarines aren't trusted with such insight in the Dark Angels. But he rides with them and has skills to match.

 

@Cryptix - any headers and advice "subtly" vowed into the narration would be appreciated :) Did our sensors pick up anything new that would help us plan ? A map of the location perhaps ? 

[Servant of Dante]

((unfortunately, Inellia's Inquisitor is involved in another campaign I'm a part of (it's a bit complicated) so I don't have a name to give))

 

Inellia was not pleased to have Celestine and her untouchable daughter out of her sight. With a frown set on her face she takes up a dataslate and stylus, and transcribes the following:

 

I, Sister Inellia of the Order of the Valorous Heart, Throne Agent of the Holy Ordos, by the power of Inquisitor + REDACTED + and in the name of the Holy Ordo Hereticus, do hereby place this woman, Celestine, and her daughter, a psychic pariah, under my personal care, and the care of the Ordo Hereticus at large. They are to be well treated until my return, and shall not be interrogated or otherwise harmed in any way by any one without my direct consent. In the name of the Emperor, hear and obey.

 

A spiritu dominatus, domine libra nos.

 

The Sister closes the message with her signature and authenticates it with her personal identification codes. Then, she hands the data slate to Celestine, saying "show this to whoever comes to you." It was a gamble, calling on her authority and that of her Inquisitor so strongly; the Inquisitor aboard the Deathwatch Fortress could certainly choose to ignore her authority, and such a demanding tone may not endear herself to the man, but it also might keep those Ordo Xenos thugs away from the pariah until she returned.