To Plunder The Stars Themselves, Episode III

[Trokair]

Beta 

 

+I’m going to circle the area, there has to be a better place to land, or another way in.+

 

Glancing at the shuttles coms station where Holger was strapped in, a little worse for wear given the turbulences, but much better than any mortal should have been.

 

“Any Vox chatter from that facility?” Brynjarr asked.

 

Keeping the shuttle out of the prison detection arc, or so he hoped, Brynjarr maneuvered the shuttle westwards, sweeping around the outside edge of the crater.

 

Awareness test (Sight)

Per : 60 + 10 (Occulobe) - 20 (Weather) = 50

D100: 28, Pass, 2 DoS

 

Tech Test (to use shuttle sensors)

Int : 40 + 20 (assumed assist from the other two) = 60

D100: 73 Fail, 1 DoF

 

Visibility was as poor as ever in the storm, and the high magnetic scrap content in the wind blinded the shuttles sensors more and more, no matter what Brynjarr tried the screens in front of him were degrading into snow static to match the conditions outside.

 

Observing the eddies within the storm at the edge of the crater he found a spot that was partially wind shielded. While the shuttles sensors could not recover while they crossed this small respite it was enough for Brynjarr to spot another wind shielded spot further round the crater, and close to and above the prison.  

As he headed for it he informed the others.

 

+Found us a spot form with to descend, either of you seen any rope back there, will need a good few meters? If not it will have to be a drop pod assault sans pod.+

Edited November 25, 2021 by Trokair

[Beren]

Svelk had outrun explosions before.

 

They were normally ones he'd set up though. The Sororitas had been sloppy, if they had set them up for instant detonation...

 

Don't take chances that don't yeild advantage.

 

These thoughts were flashing through his head in a jumbled order. For now though, his body was more occupied with hurling itself down the corridor and away from the explosions.

 

 

Target Roll = 59 (Ag 44 +10 (difficulty) + 5 (Traveller's Path)

d100 = 33 (2 DoS)

 

2DoS to donate

 

 

Post in progress pending DoS donation.

[Lysimachus]

Ithan's Roll:

Ag43 + 30 (Burst of Speed) +5 (Traveller's Path) = 78, Roll: 59, Pass with 1DoS.

 

Cutlass' eccentric tech-specialist hurls himself forward, grav-hook pulled in tight, arms pumping and long hair streaming out behind him. The sound of skulls clattering against his armour is drowned by the fury of the explosion. He bursts from the tunnel with seconds to spare.

[Necronaut]

Squad Alpha

 

Vesalius had half anticipated the detonations, such was the immortal law of the long-dead Archmagos Murphy of the proto-Machine Cult of ancient Terra. At the first mention of the proximity devices by the squad's librarian, he had quickened his pace. Now he was sprinting, his gene-forged muscles pumping rhythmically to power him down the passage.

 

Ag63 + 5 (Follow the Traveller's Path) = 68

Agility Test: 1d100 43

43 -- Success (2 DoS)

 

As he powered down the passage, Vesalius saw Draak falter briefly as a chunk of ceiling crashed into the devastator's heavy warplate. Using his momentum to his advantage, the apothecary barreled into the devastator and propelled him along to the exit of the tunnel (lending Draak excess DoS narratively).

Edited November 26, 2021 by Necronaut

[A.T.]

[squad Alpha]

 

The narrow tunnel and clustered astartes was not a situation lending itself to speed, as Odysseus' stride came dangerously close to dashing Toks head against the stone walls. Still the situation held advantages as the element of surprise was surely lost and with it any cause to disguise their approach.

 

Clearing the tunnel a scant few steps ahead of the explosion Odysseus focussed his mind to throw up a kine-shield encompassing those too slow to keep pace.

 

Agility check 85 vs target 87 - just a pass with burst of speed

Psychic test 30 to activate a force dome once clear of the tunnel in anticipation of a rolling wave of promethium and debris

[Machine God]

Squad Alpha

 

As Draak is hit by the ceiling he gains momentum from a hidden source, also Draak trusts to his armour.

 

Eisen is Mark Three - Iron Armour built to withstand assaults in the mining complexes of the Galactic Central Core. Eisen remembers his actions against the abhuman Squats, his plate is tough and resolute. As the rocks crash down they crack and are deflected, Eisen thunders forward out into the open tunnel carrying Draak to safety. The Flesh is Weak, but Iron Endures!

[Mazer Rackham]

Beta:

 

Orphiel stomps to the reel of security cable - the deadline used by ship crews when operating in voidsuits in the Endless Dark.  He took the steelweave fibre and clipped one of the links on the line to his belt.  It was no drop-harness, but at least he wouldn't fall into the acid-lake.

 

He pointed to the release mechanism as the shuttle hovered; and although Brynjarr steadied the vessel by skilled reflex, the small ship was a buoy in the waves, a leaf on the wind.

 

Orphiel nodded at S'ynek's jump pack, then the hatch.

 

+After you.+

 

GM, what are my numbers on this window for a 'Who Dares Wins' abseil?

[Commissar Molotov]

The Traveller's Mark VI armour propels him as he barrels forward...

 

AG54(+10)(+5 Traveller's Path)=AG69: 27 (PASS, 4DoS)

[Lysimachus]

Squad Beta:

 

OK so based on the Abseiling rules (crb.pg.206) you will need to make an Ag test. This will be at -10 due to falling ash (Snow). If unsuccessful on this test, you won't fall (as you are properly secured to your line) but you will drop down onto the landing pad instead.

 

If the Ag test is successful, you will then need to make a Challenging (+0) Str test in order to smash through the window. Ideally you want to do this first time, but if you need a second or third try you will get a cumulative +10 for each attempt to break through.

 

@S'ynek: You can instead use your jump pack to assault the window. This will be a Difficult (-10) Pilot test. Because you have the Wrathful Descent ability, you will gain +20 on the Str test to break through the armaglas.

[Mazer Rackham]

Beta:

 

With the ramp open, and the howling wind and churning ash swirling around him, all Orphiel had to go on were the small, semi-cupped navigation lights for the landing pad, winking in red and green, reporting the envelope for pilots who knew where it was to bring their craft down safely.  The acid-lake was an odd, broken shimmer in the clouded swell, an amalgam mirror painted by the meagre sunlight breaking in from above.

 

His armour registered the mild pollutants of the air, even as the gusting throes tugged and whipped his robes, billowing and smocking about him in unpredictable tugs.  He peered at the sudden amber glow-lumen spilling from the armoured glazing below as the shuttle shifted and the smog thinned.  The humans inside wouldn't be able to discern anything not on the landing pad, and he would be virtually invisible until he struck.  His autosenses made all the difference.

 

It brought back memories of dangling beneath a Storm Eagle during his time with the Scout Company.  Orphiel was quick to quash the nostalgia as his gauntleted fingers gripped the thin cable.  It wasn't meant for what he was about to do, but it would serve.  Gauging the distance, he bent his knees and disengaged the magboots with a soft cessation of electrostatic hum, and pushed off.

 

Orphiel swung out in a predictable arc, the wash from the shuttle's engines above forcing down and out.  The strange vertigo of gravity and nought but a gossamer line gave him the sense of flight a cast spider probably enjoyed.  The cable played out through his fingers, his palms detecting the burning friction heat.  The armour took it, contemptuous of the need for release.

 

Half way down, the wash caught him and threw him perilously away from his target.  He angled his body using a free hand, stretched out with flat palm to counter the turbulence, and his line spooled rapidly, until he snatched his arresting hand closed tight, provoking a snap of sparks where ceramite bit into steelweave.  The line, taut, jerked him forwards with significant momentum.  He drew his feet together, a giant battering ram aimed at the strip of glass.  A comet fell from his left, Radago hurtling on his way.  As the window got larger, the distance closing with horrific speed, Orphiel smiled:  the race was on.

 

AG Test: 53 -10 (Conditions) = 43

D100: 049 (Fate Reroll) 024

 

Str Test: 66

D100: 021 Pass, 4 DoS (+2 DoS from Unnat Str) = 6 DoS

 

His feet made contact, the glass almost nothing but a membrane of silk as he crashed through his section of it in a crystalline shower, a shocked human face pasty with shock.  Backlit by the flashing circuit lozenges from the console suddenly detecting the breach, the sentry's chest was under Orphiel's boots, shock dulling pain as a sledgehammer punched him to the back of the room.  The mortal flew, slammed into a filing cabinet.  Blood fell from his nose onto his dark uniform and he flopped down, insensate.

 

Orphiel let the cable slide through his fingers as his own body surrendered to momentum and gravity, bringing him to a landing he absorbed with a flew of knees.  Argo filled his right hand as his left unclipped the cable snap.

 

++Beta 2 entry complete, single X-ray neutralised.++

 

The squad vox clicked into static as he awaited the next steps.  He wondered if he'd beaten the Assault Marine.

Edited November 27, 2021 by Mazer Rackham

[Lysimachus]

Squad Alpha:

 

The blast of smoke and dirt provides excellent cover for your entrance and the team immediately spreads out, moving away from the narrow bottleneck of the tunnel and raising weapons in case any Sororitas defenders are waiting.

 

There is no hail of bolt shells, only silence and the low crackle of dust slowly settling against the kine-shield raised by Odysseus. But there is no chance that the enemy did not either hear or feel the destruction of the tunnel. They will be coming.

 

Toks looks around, his chest heaving. He looks up from where the psyker has dropped him, then back into the black mouth of the tunnel.

 

"Thank you, sir," he offers sincerely. Then he looks around the large, poorly lit chamber. It is a cellar with a high, cross-vaulted ceiling supported by several evenly spaced rows of rockcrete columns. A few ancient, empty packing crates stand in corners or against the pillars themselves.

 

"This is one of the old storerooms. Originally used for ecclesiastical supplies as I understand it, but it's been empty for centuries. It adjoins one of the lesser Chapels, and from there are stairs that lead up into the Nave. Branching off that is the Narthex and front doors to the west, the Armorium, workshops and vehicle bays to the north, the Sanctum and Strategium to the east, and the Refectory and the Dormitories to the south."

 

He pauses thoughtfully and nods towards the far end of the storeroom where a portal presumably leads into the Chapel he mentioned.

 

"Ags would often come down to meet me there."

 

***

 

NB: Based on sharing out the DoS to balance any DoF among the squad, even if no one uses Burst of Speed, everyone makes it out of the tunnel successfully? So if everyone would prefer to remain in Squad Mode, I'm happy to leave it at that? Narratively speaking, this might be a sign of how well the squad is working together, perhaps a measure of trust and even respect is slowly being built?

[Machine God]

Squad Alpha:

 

Draak ponders on his escape from the tunnel, he claps Vesalius on his right pauldron in silent appreciation.

 

Draak checks his pouches and wargear, finding all to be in order and no warnings from Eisen he takes point.

 

(Edit:Typo)

Edited November 27, 2021 by Machine God

[Trokair]

Beta

 

While Radago readied his jump pack and Orphiel prepared the security line into a makeshift rappelling line Brynjarr focused on finding the best hover spot with in the wind shielded cover of the crater wall.

 

Satisfied that this was it he engaged the shuttles cogitators to remain steady hover, a task it was ill suited to, but it held long enough for him to slip out of pilot chair and Holger to dash in and retake the controls.

 

“See you on the landing pad.” He shouted over the noise of the engines and the roar of the storm that invaded the shuttles hold while the door was open.

 

The others departed in front of his eyes as Brynjarr secured himself for the drop. Just seconds behind them he disengaged the maglock on his boots and proceeded to the open door.  

 

Absailing Test

Ag: 48 – 10 (ash storm) = 38

D100: 100! Fail, 6 DoF

I know I could reroll with a point of Fate, but the dice clearly demand something dramatic and spectacular with such a failure, so I will comply. What tests do I need to roll now.

 

Kicking off from the deck Brynjar was half way out the door, fully aloft, when a sudden burst of wind, carrying with it heavier debris, surged over the crater wall, disrupting the local air conditions and hitting the shuttle. Holger would no doubt correct for this momentary disruption, but in the mean time hard physics dictated that the shuttles movements combined with the momentum of Brynjarrs jump and the inevitable snap and jerk of the cable would end disastrously for him. Flinging him front of one of the engines and even a marine would be lucky to survive such an encounter.

 

Intuitive instinct of the Voidborn, and years of training, led Brynjar to react to his predicament before he was fully conscious of the turn of events. His hands moved to take the only option, uncouple form the cable and then his fate would be in the hands of the storm, gravity and trust in Grandfather.

 

Brynjarr is now in freefall, untethered, probably tumbling and off course for the landing pad, let alone the window.  

 

[Lysimachus]

Brynjarr:

 

You spin as wildly as the flurries of ash that surround you. Time seems to slow. As you drop past the smashed control room window where Orphiel has successfully penetrated, you can see the deadly lake below. The landing pad is to your left, far beyond your reach. But slightly closer, below the level of the pad itself, is a walkway that extends out along its length. You might be close enough to catch it and arrest your fall.

 

Please roll a Str test to see if you can grab at the walkway railing as you pass! (This could be worth a FP reroll if necessary, as you really don't want to go in the 'water'!)

[Trokair]

Beta

 

Strength Test

S: 71 

D100: 83, Fail 1 DoF

This is going well, not. 

Fate reroll

D100: 80, Fail 0 DoS

So, erm, what now?

 

Placeholder for fluff

[Lysimachus]

Brynjarr:

 

Your hand catches momentarily on the walkway railing, but your inertia and weight are too great to be held by the thin metal bar. It snaps and you continue to drop. But at least it has given you a chance to better control your fall. You plunge into the lake, barely making a splash. These are the shallows, relatively speaking, but you still immediately sink to bottom, with the surface several metres above your head. The rocky side of the crater rises before you. Normally such an immersion would be of little concern, for your armour is as proof against liquid as it is against the void. But this liquid is far more dangerous and your protection will not last. You need to get out as quickly as possible.

 

You will need to make 3 Successful Climb tests (Str) to pull yourself out of the acid lake and back onto the walkway. You can keep testing until you get the 3 successes you need. However, for each test you need to make (whether success or failure) you will lose 1AP from all locations on your armour. This damage can only be properly repaired by Ithan when the squads reunite. If your AP on any location drops to 0, you will suffer a Hit with the Toxic quality.

[Trokair]

Beta

 

Climb Test

S: 71

D100: 58 Pass, 1 DoS

D100: 02 Pass, 6 DoS (where was this when I needed it earlier?)

D100: 65 Pass

 

Plunged into the near darkness of the lake Brynjarr took a moment to orientate himself. The vaguest bits of light, dimed by the raging storm, revealed the surface some meters above him. With the help of the suits sensors systems he could just about make out the edge of the lake, drudging through the mud and sediment was slow going but he reached the edge of solid rock.

 

His suit systems where reporting minor damage from the immersion in the corrosive water, for now it would hold, but it would not last. Feeling out handholds Brynjarr scaled the submerged crater edge, it was slow going at first but he quickly got into pattern and made progress.

 

+Slight detour, will be with you in a moment.+ he voxed to the others as he broke through the surface of the lake. He could see the prison complex lights above him. It would be a climb to get back up there, but freed from the encumbrance of the water it would not take long.

[Mazer Rackham]

Beta:

 

+Slight detour, will be with you in a moment.+ 

 

The Breacher was pragmatic about whatever befell him, but his small exertion was telling, by mortal standards there would have been blowing and puffing, but the superhuman physiology of the Astartes was tried only with a trifle to the Emperor's gene-science.

 

++You picked a marvellous spot for sightseeing,++ Orphiel matched Brynjarr's droll delivery as he searched for the airlock controls.  ++You are whole, brother?++

 

The least he could do was get the door for the Errant Marine.

 

EDIT: font, typo.

Edited November 28, 2021 by Mazer Rackham

[Trokair]

Beta
 

+Void seals intact and sound.+

 

Moving upslope and gaining speed with every step Brynjarr was scanning the terrain ahead of him for a path onto the landing pad. The closer he got the less the storm could veil, until he spotted the torn railing that earlier had proven inadequate.

 

With a jump he cleared the mangled remains and landed on the walkway. It shook from the impact, strained but ultimately held.

 

+Not my choice for a stroll, why do people like planets again?+

[Mazer Rackham]

Beta:

 

+Not my choice for a stroll, why do people like planets again?+

 

A pilot and spacefarer.  There were tales of underground dwellers from the 'Old Nook' as his forebears liked to call it, that when they emerged into the open air would scurry inside for fear of falling upwards into the skies.  Voidborn were no different - perpetual sailors, to them the land was akin to a strange beast, it moved wrongly.  He knew more of the warrior with a shield now, and all was valuable.

 

He finally answered Brynjarr's almost rhetorical question. ++I do not think people like this planet much.++

 

Orphiel's index finger drummed a short tattoo as he pondered the console, the atmosphere gusting ash inside, but the position of the switches and relays was already in his mind's eye.

 

"Ah."

 

Intelligence Test: 53

D100: 048

 

<< Airlock Cycling. Stand Clear.>>

 

Amber slashes greeted the darkness outside, spilling a less than welcoming strobe to the weary traveller beyond, and a crisp illumination of the grim and imposing stencils and sigils on the slate grey walls - the harsh, white winged skulls of the Arbites, the purveyors of Imperial Law.

 

Perhaps the last thing many of the 'guests' would likely ever see.  Just like his own face.

 

Orphiel brought himself to full height, rolling his shoulders.  Somewhere in this place was a secret, and he would have to make the decision to seize it, or silence it forever.

[Trokair]

Beta

 

The storm carried away the last vestiges of the mud, grime and other lake residue, leaving Brynjarr’s armour clean and dry once more, if a little worse for wear. Standing now upon the landing pad he could see the blown out window of the control room. Amber warning lights flickered to life, albeit in protest, the Airlock was opening. Time to focus back on the mission, they still had to storm this place.

 

++I do not think people like this planet much.++

 

++Really… I could not have guessed.++ He replied.

 

Banter, now there was something he had not engaged in a long time. The Iron Gods promise of comradeship amongst equals might actually have some truth to it.

 

 

Shield at the read, armed he advanced inwards.

 

++I’m going in down here, how’s it looking up there?++

Edited November 28, 2021 by Trokair

[Necronaut]

Squad Alpha

 

Behind his faceplate, Vesalius sneered at Draak's silent thanks, having been forced to put himself at risk to rescue the lumbering devastator. You're worth more to me alive than dead, fool, and keep your hands to yourself!

 

The apothecary turned his helm towards the heavy weapons specialist and inclined it towards him in acknowledgement. +I am a poor excavator and would not relish having to extract you from such a trap,+ he attempted to say half-joking, but his words ended up soaked with bile all the same.

 

Fel35 ÷ 2 (untrained) = 17

Bluff Test: 1d100 65

65 -- fail, 4 DoS

 

He turned away to inspect his bolter and ensure Trypanon was safely stowed under his power-pack; such a weapon would be of less use in the cramped corridors of a monastery. With his augmented sensory inputs he scanned the cavernous chamber for threats.

 

Per48 + 0: 48

Perception test: 1d100 17

17 -- success, 3 DoS

 

+They are sure to have been alerted to our ingress,+ he remarked bitterly to his motley brothers-in-arms, as his pointed helm panned over the empty hall. +We should not tarry here long, Traveller, lest we give them undue opportunities to lay traps and withdraw to their redoubts. I believe we would do well to either pierce their armored core and claim the Armorium, or make for the Sanctum and attempt a decapitation strike. I would volunteer to scout ahead and perhaps whittle some of their numbers down, but we must act quickly.+

 

Vesalius looked over at the Traveller uneasily, wanting to range out ahead and become one with the shadows once again.

[Machine God]

+Suit yourself Vesalius, I didn't really need the assistance+ said Draak with annoyance in his voice +I didn't have far to go and could have gotten out under my own power+

[Necronaut]

Squad Alpha

 

Vesalius shrugged irritably at Draak's rejoinder and resumed silently monitoring the squad's vital signs in his helm's diagnostic feed. All systems normal: those who had been wounded during their recent encounter with the Sisters of this priory had long since been returned to full fighting strength, a few new scars here and there notwithstanding. While this was primarily due to the tremendous recuperative powers with which each of them had been blessed, he was also quite certain it was in no small part thanks to his superlative medical prowess. Vesalius was nothing if not proud, and he was quite sure of the position he would carve out for himself within the Iron Gods' hierarchy in the cycles to come. He often meditated upon how his ancient forebears were first forcibly set apart from standard Homo Sapiens with genetic alchemy and arcane science lost long since to the ravages of time and endless war. What remained now was little more than the shadow of a memory of the grand scientific endeavour, but with the patronage of Talek Varn, he was certain he would be able to claim some measure of that forgotten lore for his own… and for the benefit of his fell master, of course.

Edited November 30, 2021 by Necronaut

[Ancient_Sobek]

Squad Beta

Radago checked his kit and verified everything was in place and secured. He walked to the end of the ramp, giving Orphiel a nod and stepped out of the shuttle.

 

As the raging winds buffeted him he blink clicked the activation protocol for his jump pack. The twin engines kicked in and arrested his descent. He fought the controls as the turbulent storm tried to dash him against the rocks below. Adjusting his trim he slowed and swung out further as Orphiel swung past him on the cable. It was best to avoid a collision with his squad mate. 
 

Circling around Radago watched as the other marine crashed through the window below. Kicking the engines up a notch he adjusted his approach vector aiming for the window on the other end of the control room. At the last minute he tucked into a ball and smashed through the window. He rolled as he landed, drawing his power blade as he came to his feet. He quickly took in the room searching for any targets. Seeing no one but the mangled guard sprawled against the back wall he relaxed his stance and turned to Orphiel. 
 

+ The next one is mine+

 

 

Piloting roll: 54 - 10 = 44, roll: 45. (0 DoF)

 

FP reroll: 18 (2 DoS)

 

break through window: 72 + 20 = 92. Roll: 55 (4 DoS)

Edited December 1, 2021 by Ancient_Sobek