To Plunder The Stars Themselves, Episode III

[Commissar Molotov]

The Traveller turns to Ithan; surely the Techmarine should be able to weigh in on this situation.

 

++Techmarine, can you access this door?++

[Machine God]

Squad Alpha

 

++Techmarine, can you access this door?++ asked The Traveller.

 

+Certainly, it should be no problem for our collective talents+ answered Ithan.

 

Ithan plodded over to the door and with a theatrical wave of his robe Ithan interfaced with the door controls. Time for another story.

 

Ithan told it a tale of how it had been forgotten, neglected, left shut and locked. Unwanted, gathering dust, rusting in the dark. Abandoned. Purposeless. A door locked for ten years, not allowed to unlock and be opened again. How it was just a wall really.

 

He tried to let that feeling sink in, however the door was old and obstinate.

 

Whilst he worked Ithan began 'listening' to his skull companions.

 

+Do you need a hand, if you will excuse the pun?+ asked Draak helpfully

 

+I'm only a lowly adept of Mars, not one of your station. I'm no Prophet!+

 

Ithan‘s shear-hook twitches.
There is a moment of tension, a feeling of suppressed violence, before he turns slowly towards Draak.

+I am trying be precise, Brother.+

He lets out a long breath. The door is recalcitrant and obstinate.

+ Your assistance would be helpful Draak, another pair of hands + laughed Ithan passing the pun back.

A shrug. Another whirr of servos. Ithan allowed Draak to assist him.

INT 49 +10 (Electro Graft Use[+10 to Tech Use]) +10 (Exceptional Bionic Arm) +10 (Tech Use Assist from Draak) = 79. Result: 38, Pass 4DoS

 

(Edit: Typo)

Edited November 16, 2021 by Machine God

[Lysimachus]

Squad Alpha:

For a few moments, the Techmarine hums tunelessly to himself as he works. Then he pauses, nods appreciatively at Draak, and addresses the rest of the team.

"I have broken into the terminal's sub-systems. The good Magos suggested creating and running a decryption algorithm, and with Brother Draak's help, we are doing exactly that. Essentially we will feed in a multitude of random combinations and attempt to extrapolate the correct code." He grins. "This might take a few minutes."

Khor stands statue-like, his eyes looking inward but his lips still humming cheerfully. The boxes on the screen are suddenly filled by a spinning blur of icons and numbers. Suddenly one stops and turns green, locked in place. Then another. Then another. Perhaps this will be simpler than any of you thought.

Then he frowns.

"Hold. Security sub-routine has detected our algorithm. Input has been locked to single entry."

He looks up and utters a curse under his breath.

"That means we have one more chance to enter the correct code before it shuts down completely. If it's wrong it will probably set off an alarm somewhere inside too..."

Svelk shrugs and steps forward with his favoured weapon and tool, but Ithan holds his hand up.

"A moment more. We may still be able to find it."

He points to the screen.

"Our last shot. And our last five attempted combinations. Greens are locked in, hopefully correct. Blues are guesses."

Then he holds up his arm to show a smaller display built into his vambrace.

"This is what our algorithm has extrapolated about those five sets of guesses."

***

Ok, anyone who wants to can have a go at cracking the rest of the code! If you get it, let's all hold off on posting answers straight away, that way everyone gets a go? Then maybe 24 hours we can see if everyone came up with the same answer! :D

[Necronaut]

Squad Alpha

 

Vesalius crowded in close to Ithan to peer at the Tech-Marine's gauntlet display. +One moment please. I believe I may have...+ He trailed off and was silent for a minute, entering something of a trance whilst his gene-forged mind explored the various possible permutations of the code.

 

+I have it!+ the Apothecary suddenly exclaimed, triumphantly. +Ithan, I will defer to your superior knowledge of the machine, but I believe the sequence of missing digits required is: 7, 3, 5, 9.+

[Commissar Molotov]

Placeholder- The Traveller is impressed with the Apothecary's mental acuity.

[Lysimachus]

Squad Alpha:

 

Ithan Khor grins.

 

"Makes sense to me. Nicely done."

 

He looks down suddenly, as though interrupted, then runs a soothing hand across the parietal bone of one of his skulls.

 

"Yes, yes," he sighs, "well done to you too."

 

The Techmarine enters the missing numbers you have extrapolated. 7, 3, 5, 9. He presses the key to submit the code...

 

There is a hiss as pressure seals around the portal disengage and a heavy 'thunk' as deadbolts within the frame are retracted. Slowly the door swings outward on inches-thick hinges.

 

Within is a dark chamber a few metres square. It is poorly lit by emergency lumens. Presumably it is a guardroom of some sort, where a squad might protect the hidden access to the Convent House. But such is a remnant of the Order's long passed glory days. The air feels more than a little stale, suggesting that it has been a long time since anyone passed through here. On the far side of the guardroom a long, rounded tunnel gradually descends into deeper darkness.

 

Toks nods at the sloping passage.

 

"That takes us down into the undercroft. Then we work our way through the maintenance and storage areas and back up into the main part of the House."

 

***

[Black Cohort]

"Melee fighters to the front, while Draak and I cover the rear of the team?  It seems that speed and violence rather than stealth will be our allies going forward and my heavy bolter needs a clear line of fire in these tunnels."

Edited November 19, 2021 by Black Cohort

[Mazer Rackham]

Beta:

 

Tucked into the hold, Orphiel eyed the crates harnessed and trussed in stowage bins along the walls.  Corpse Starch Rations and hydration bowers filled for long operations away from the mothership, when the shuttle was unable to dock or suckle from a parasite umbilical provided by the upper hives to small craft.  There were only three of them now.  Dismissing the mortals was the better idea - if there happened to be trouble, there were no concerns for the weaker members of the hardy battle-group.

 

The electrical static snap of his magboots activating was drowned by the aural relays in his helm, as the solid metallic clunk of his cleats cleaving to the adamantine deck announced he was transfixed.  It would require a catastrophic loss of power or collision which compromised the hull to dislodge him.  His stomach, Lyman's Ear and robe would be the best judges of pitch and toss now, since the hold carried no apertures to view the passing of scenery beyond the walls.

 

He stifled a grunt.  There was nothing much of note out there anyway.  The grey walls of scorched and ash-blasted plasteel forming the hive epidermis, the grey skies, clogged with choking particulates.  He could make out the howling wind, imagined the flurries and squalls of thick flakes, dark sand battering, scouring everything daring enough to be swallowed by it.  Deep dunes of the stuff hiding Throne only knew what, the bones of unwary travellers no doubt flensed white and polished almost to nothing beneath them.

 

And beyond lay the objective, a fortress of laws and a bastion of power on the world.  It was reassuring in a way, that the Master of Mankind could project his will in the armpits of even this forgotten sluice.  The murder of the lawmen they would no doubt face was a means to an end.  Pragmatism was paramount.  Orphiel had performed his ablutions and his mind was clear.  The Pride of Kings, needed to be found - either marked for the Chapter or put beyond the harm of the Iron Gods.  He hadn't decided yet.

 

He shrugged beneath his Mk IV, Maximus Pattern harness, enjoying the robust protection, the augmented power available to his will.  The motion wouldn't be detectible to the other occupant of the hold, Radago S'ynek, but Orphiel suspected the warrior was absorbed with his own thoughts, perhaps indulging the fantasy of slaughter he would wreak into reality.

 

A shove in the back, a slip of ground beneath the hull under his feet announced their departure.

 

+We are airborne,+ Brynjarr reported, his tone calm and professional.

 

It was this alone that understated the situation, for as soon as they cleared the port, a great slam of hard air pelted the shuttlecraft with pellets of ash, as though the vessel was caught in a shotgun blast from below.  It was a static wall of scattered noise without and jangle of cargo-strap clasps within as the vessel bucked and weaved through the stormy air.

[Beren]

Svelk steps past Draak, axe-rake and knife in hand as he does so.

 

+++No qualms here.+++

[Commissar Molotov]

The Traveller ignites his hissing alien sword, the sound of white noise filling the passageway. It is an unspoken answer to Decimus's question.

[Machine God]

Squad Alpha:

As Svelk attempted to pass Draak his progress was momentarily blocked by Draak who involuntarily stepped forward. A beast blocking a hunter.

~ Decimus does not seek to anger you Eisen, it's just that he doesn't know your provenance and history! ~ Draak admonished his armour and gradually the feedback diminished to a tolerable level once again.

Draak stepped aside to let Svelk take point.

"Yes you make a good point Decimus, we Devastators will guard the rear and watch you" answered Draak.

~ We will watch for opportunity Eisen ~

 

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Machine God
Tidy up

[Beren]

Svelk remains stock still a moment, surverying the Devestator with bemusement.

 

+++Were we all supposed to bring friends with us?+++

 

He steps past the Devestator without further comment.

[Lysimachus]

Squad Alpha:

 

The dark tunnel, lit only by your armour's stab-lights, is broad and tall enough for two of you to walk abreast, but it still feels cramped. It continues to descend, dropping ten metres for every hundred across, though not always evenly. Sometimes the passage is completely level, at other times it becomes a near vertical shaft, with plasteel staircases bolted into the rock. These ring as your ceramite boots clang against them, but no defenders appear at the noise.

 

Finally, at the bottom of a third set of stairs and after more than a kilometre of tense, cautious movement, Toks speaks.

 

"We're about half way now. The rest of the tunnel is level, no more steps."

 

The next part of this final passageway is broken by alcoves every ten metres or so. Revealed by your lumens, each contains a seemingly random selection of items; small reliquaries, skulls and statues, a tiny brazier with a small promethium receptacle beneath it. This last is empty, the flame above long since burned out. All of the relics appear to have lain undisturbed for decades, if not centuries.

 

But Toks frowns as he passes the third recess.

 

"Funny how the mind plays tricks," he mutters. "I dont remember any of these things. I was sure Ags had cleared out these niches, they were always empty when I came through before."

 

***

[Machine God]

Squad Alpha

 

"Funny how the mind plays tricks. I don't remember any of these things. I was sure Ags had cleared out these riches, they were always empty when I came through before" said Toks.

 

Draak remembered the use of the ten year old code. Draak stopped and checked the floor for any traces of tracks. If this tunnel hadn't been used in ten years it would have been dusty, maybe it was still used.

 

PER 43 +5 (Heightened Senses) +10 (Occulobe) = 58. Result: 18, Pass 3DoS

[Lysimachus]

@Draak: The floor of the tunnel is much as one would expect, natural rock planed smooth. There is little dust, but in a sealed environment that may not be surprising. Oddly though, there do seem to be small deposits of rock dust and debris on the floor in the area in front of each of the niches.

[A.T.]

[squad Alpha]

 

"Proximity incendiary devices?" inquires Odysseus, noting the prometheum.

 

More likely wards, whether ineffectual or not he didn't care to discover personally but it would be unwise to pass without ascertaining their nature.

 

Psyniscience 9 vs target 38 (43 if squad mode active) = pass with 2/3 extra DoS

Odysseus attempts to determine if the devices shape or sense the warp in any way

[Machine God]

Squad Alpha

 

"Well looking at the dust and debris at the bases of these third set of niches, this has been placed here recently. The new Sororitas have been restocking, be alert!" stated Draak.

[Lysimachus]

Squad Alpha:

 

@Odysseus: The countless talismans of the Ecclesiarchy almost inevitably pick up some hint of the otherworldly nature of the Warp, or at least a feeling of reverence or worship. These items are strange, for they look the part, but carry none of the feeling.

 

Peering more closely at the reliquary in the nearest recess, you can see that the box is far less well made, and far newer, than it first appears. This is no relic! Then you see set within its framework a small device. A sensor of some sort? A thin wire, almost invisible against the dark rock, runs from the back of the box and up the back of the niche into the tunnel ceiling. Something has been buried above your heads, explaining the debris on the floor.

 

@All: Suddenly there is a tiny flash of crimson from the darkness behind you. Lights are blinking on either side of the tunnel from the first set of alcoves you passed. Then, after a moment, they are joined by blips from the second nooks. Then the sensor set in the reliquary in front of you also begins to blink red. You look back down the tunnel again. The flashes emitted from the first niche are definitely getting closer together.

 

***

[Machine God]

Squad Alpha

 

"Run!" shouts Draak, who sprints forward as fast as he can past the altered ceiling and flashing lights.

 

(Edit: typo)

Edited November 23, 2021 by Machine God

[Beren]

With a snarl, Svelk sprints further up the corridor.

[A.T.]

Odysseus grabbed Toks roughly by the scruff of his neck as the call to move was given. It was perhaps premature without knowing the nature of the detonators but Draaks actions made that point academic.

 

It would be a race to reach the tunnel exit before reinforcements arrived to investigate even if the explosives did not bury them, and the world around the psyker seemed to bend slightly as he caught and passed Draak in the corridor - a minor trick of the warp, no time for any more elaborate effort, and no time to get caught amongst the pack in a narrow corridor.

 

Burst of speed. Run speed 36 for a few turns

[Lysimachus]

Squad Beta:

 

After nearly an hour struggling through the eddying winds, the lights of what must be your target suddenly appear far below and you descend towards them.

 

Just as Dex thought, the stockade has been built in a location high enough to avoid the shifting seas of dust. The shape of the terrain suggests a long dormant or extinct volcano; a vast, gently sloping cone rising out of the ash waste with a wide crater, almost a kilometre in diameter, at its top. This bowl appears to contain liquid. It looks like a deep, still blue lake, but it is likely not one a wise person would choose to bathe in, for this reservoir has undoubtedly been heavily contaminated with acidic rain and other toxins.

 

On the eastern edge, built into the rim of the crater, you can see signs of human construction. A small landing pad, with guide-lights all around its edge, extends out over the poisonous sludge, providing access to a wide blast door. Above it to the right are a bay of armaglas windows, perhaps a control room of some sort?

 

Given the hideous atmospheric conditions, it is highly unlikely that any occupants will have yet detected you either with augurs or their own eyes. That will almost certainly change if you land... but there is no other visible access point into the facility other than the pad and the blast doors.

 

***

[Lysimachus]

Squad Alpha:

 

The Kill Team surge forward with a level of acceleration and speed that renders you as little more than blurs to an unaugmented eye. Behind you, the flashes of red in the first alcove blink faster and faster until finally the lights remain on, followed by those in the second niche,  then the third...

 

The tiny lights are suddenly swallowed up in a blaze of yellows and oranges from the tunnel ceiling, a chain of explosions that fill the tunnel behind you with fire, smoke and noise. The ground beneath you shudders with the force unleashed and unsurprisingly the ceiling gives way, huge chunks of rock falling to block the passageway.

 

Mortal intruders would undoubtedly have been killed, too slow to escape being incinerated or crushed into oblivion. Fortunately, you are not mortals. You hurtle out of the end of the tunnel into the open in a roar of displaced air and a cloud of hot grit and dust.

 

***

 

To add a bit of structure to this challenge, please can each team member roll an Ordinary (+10) Ag Test to see if you can successfully get out of the tunnel ahead of the explosion/collapse. If you use up your Burst of Speed for this game session (whatever that means in PBP! :D) your roll becomes Easy (+30).

 

You just need a Success, but if you do have extra DoS you can - along with an appropriate post of you assisting - donate them to any teammates who fail their roll!

[Machine God]

Squad Alpha

The clanking behemoth that is Draak powers down the corridor, his exceptional bionic heart pumping oxygenated blood to his limbs aiding his sprint. Yet he is overtaken by the other members of Squad Alpha who are clad in lighter armour marks.

As the squad get away from the collapsing tunnel behind them Draak is caught by the last of the falling ceiling. Rocks fall down onto Draak's warplate and he is obcured by dust.

AG44 +10 +5 (Traveller's Path) = 59, Result: 85, Failure 2 DoF

 

(Edit: Draak stays in Squad Mode and narrative changed)

Edited November 26, 2021 by Machine God

[Black Cohort]

Decimus powers his body forward in a way that only a post-human such as the astartes can do.  Perhaps it is also his Primarch's knowledge of siegecraft coursing through his veins that alerted him a fraction of a second before his teammates.

 

AG40 - 10 armour +30 burst of speed = 60.  Roll = 26 therefore 3 DoS.