To Plunder The Stars Themselves, Episode III

[Necronaut]

Vesalius remained silent during their transit on the speeder, his incredulity stretched beyond breaking by the treasure trove of arms and armaments they had uncovered. The anti-grav transport they traveled upon alone was far beyond anything they could ordinarily muster in these benighted times. And the rows of Mark VI war-plate…

 

His mind drifted as they sped along, wondering at the purpose of this silent hulk. Could it truly date back to the time of the Heresy? A resupply ship? And the scale of the thing! Only time would tell for sure.

 

+++

 

At last they came to a stop after traversing hallway after hallway, chamber after chamber filled with relics and wonders, all untouched by time save for a thick rime of dust. Not one to usually obsess over the make and manufacture of the equipment used by his kind, it was still a shocking and humbling thing to be presented with such an abundance of 10 millennia-old war-gear. Weapons that went unused during Warmaster Horus's doomed rebellion, materiel waylaid not by the tides of the warp, but by a deliberate act on the part of the ship's master, no doubt. What could have possessed them to abandon such a vessel in this place? Mutiny, perhaps? Better to deny the enemy an advantage than to grant an ally a boon? Maybe it was fear of the outcome of the Heresy, or the crew were driven mad by some freak void phenomenon. He shrugged to himself and dismounted from the speeder; questions to be answered another time.

 

He climbed down from the anti-grav transport and alighted with a dull thud as his boots mag-locked themselves to the Pride's deck plating again. What a curious tableau they had uncovered: a defensive ring of crewmen gently swaying back and forth on the listing vessel in the long-gone echoes of the kinetic energy imparted by the ship's ventilation system. Vesalius panned his bolter across the men, and whispered, "prey sense," into his helm, conjuring up a heat-map overlay of the void-farers.

 

Medicae test: 62

Medicae: 1d100 100

100: (critical!) Fail -- 3 DoF

 

Even if I were to include the +10 from the diagnostor helm (which I left off because he is trying to scan these guys at a safe distance), Vesalius would not pass a +0 (challenging) test.

 

My rolls are just all over the place this session. Which warp entity did I piss off recently…?

Edited May 24, 2022 by Necronaut

[Lysimachus]

Brynjarr's Auspex Tests:

Awareness: 80, Roll: 62, 1DoS

Tech-Use: 40, Roll: 09, 3DoS

There we go, that's good enough to provide some more info!

 

The figures do not respond to your calls. Brynjarr's auspex picks up various metals and other minerals, but zero heat or life signs. You alight to take a closer look. There are approximately a dozen figures. It is difficult to be exact about this number, simply because most of the figures are not physically complete.

 

Several suits are missing their heavy, armaglass-fronted helms, a few lack a glove or sleeve. One 'figure' is just a pair of boots maglocked to the deck connected to padded void-suit trousers that are still held upright by the lack of gravity. The rest of the suit has been severed along a sharp diagonal line that starts at the left hip and rises up across the lower ribs.

 

One of you happens to direct your stablight upwards. There, floating against the ceiling, are the torso, arms and head of the neatly bisected suit. Caught in another corner is a floating sleeve and glove, its fingers still wrapped around the grip of a shotgun. Bobbing gently beside it is a severed helmet.

 

***

[Mazer Rackham]

With the stablights and lumen-globes from the front of the speeders, the darkness was not so absolute.  His darksight augurs could pick up the detail on the walls, the riveted panels, smooth polish streaks which had accrued mould in the days, months - centuries, of harbouring the toxic clades glimmering in the lamplight, akin to disturbed dust.  Sutble sparkles of pores and dirt blended together like that captured inside a settling Nixoglobe.  He remembered the different ones available from the hawkers' market on Viorda.  Supposedly shrines to Sanguinius, the ancient temples of Terra.

 

The wonder as children watched the agitated sparkles dance in the swirling liquid, before coming to rest.

 

His fascination here was with weapon impacts.  Shotguns weren't discriminate.  The pattern of shot, and density of pellet impacts would tell him how far away whatever butchered these poor unfortunates was when they fired.  He left the speeder engine idling, keeping one engine close to heat.  To all intents and purposes he was driving a double-barelled flamethrower.

 

He peered into the darkness of the immediate area.

 

Per test: 69

D100: 76 Fail, no DoF.

 

The dark and the structure of the ship were just too vast to discern anything of use, but small gargoyles above the lift columns leered, almost laughing.

 

He nodded.  The joke was on him for being here.

[Machine God]

Draak too had stayed in his Landspeeder whilst Brynjarr and Vesalius had de-bussed to check up on the figures ahead.

 

Brynjarr had passed his findings back to the squad and Vesalius had given that strange head tilt thing that he did a lot.

 

Dead and eviscerated bodies guarded the lift access and their remains floated against the ceiling.

 

Draak noticed that Orphiel was scanning the walls of the corridor.

 

+If you are trying to gauge where their foes where by looking for weapon impacts Orphiel, might I suggest that you utilise your Siege Auspex. Just remember Swordsman, its a three dimensional battlefield!+ said Draak. 

[Mazer Rackham]

+If you are trying to gauge where their foes where by looking for weapon impacts Orphiel, might I suggest that you utilise your Siege Auspex. Just remember Swordsman, its a three dimensional battlefield!+ said Draak. 

 

Orphiel nodded indulgently at the sage advice, ruing his transparent machinations.  He said nothing else, keeping an eye on the gauges and readouts of the vehicle.

[Necronaut]

Unable to discern anything of remark about the now clearly deceased crewmen at a distance, Vesalius disengaged his mag-boots and lightly pushed off from the deck, drifting across the expanse between the parallel surfaces of the hallway for a few seconds before turning over and stepping down onto the ceiling.

 

Re-engaging his mag-boots, he walked to the floating corpse and grasped one of its rotting arms, pulling the dismembered torso in for a closer inspection. He spared a quick glance up at the rest of the kill-team idly awaiting more information. The magnification and high-frequency scanners built into his diagnostor helm engaged with a near-silent whirr as he scanned over the long-dead flesh searching for the tell-tale signs of trauma.

 

Medicae test: 62 + 10 (diagnostor helm) = 72 (+0 challenging test assumed)

 

Medicae: 1d100 66

66: pass, 0 DoS (fine, whatever…)

Edited May 24, 2022 by Necronaut

[Lysimachus]

Vesalius: Within each fragment of void-gear there are human remains, partially decomposed. Flesh and even bone have been sliced through just as cleanly as the heavy cloth that once protected them. Panning your stablight around further reveals great sprays of blood, now darkened by time, that spatter the bulkheads and deck around the suits. Again, zero gravity has had its effect, with tiny droplets spread much further around the junction than one would normally expect.

 

Taking into account numerous factors such as the type of wounds, the low temperature, the lack of oxygen and low humidity, you can estimate that death occurred between eighteen months and two years ago. This also fits with their magboots still holding power. It is clear that whatever happened here took place only a relatively short time ago.

 

The bodies must be one of the boarding parties from the Trailblazer that Lang's Captain abandoned. They penetrated this far, were forced to make a stand here… and then something neatly cut them apart with a surgically sharp edge.

 

Orphiel: There are indeed places where weapons fire has hit the heavy bulkheads, blackened las-scoring and tiny impacts caused by solid shot. These marks are all around the standing corpses, but wild, not focused in any particular direction, as though the mortals were surrounded by enemies. Or trying to fire on a single target that moved too quickly to be hit.

 

***

[A.T.]

Odysseus dismounted, scanning his eyes across the scene, subtle distortions in the sound of his steps created by the in-equal pressure of the air ships atmosphere and that of Dagger Thrust still held within his kine-shield.

 

Unconsumed remains. Some form of automaton perhaps, but this was a ship of war from the great heresy and not some lost relic of the dark age. "Brother Orphiel, do the wounds match the works of our would be benefactors?" Given the alternatives the further meddling of the Eldar might almost be welcome.

[Necronaut]

+I believe we have discovered one of the boarding parties from the Trailblazer. Based on the level of tissue decomposition, and the relatively anaerobic nature of the ambient atmosphere, I would estimate they have been in this state for between one-point-five and two standard years.+

 

He paused briefly, frowning at the near-perfect cut through both flesh and bone – even a blow from an Astartes would see some minor angle of deflection once the blade, powered or not, came in contact with materials of varying density and hardness. And there were no tell-tale signs of an electrified blade or las-weapon. Whatever made these cuts possessed a truly ferocious strength and terrifying precision.

 

+No clear cause of death beyond the obvious surface-level trauma. I am unable to detect what could have cut down these humans, but I would postulate that whatever it was must have possessed a mono-molecular edge coupled with a tremendous strength. These incisions are incredible!+

 

While standing inverted on the ceiling of the hallway, Vesalius looked straight up into the ring of corpses in the junction point. There were no bite marks, no blunt-force trauma, no evidence of wounds from small, or large, arms fire, save those which obviously were discharged by the dead boarding party. Who- or whatever had done this had done so with surgical precision.

 

A wicked smile touched his lips.

 

Perhaps even for sport.

[Machine God]

Draak took charge of the Siege Auspex which he uncoupled from Orphiel's vambrace jack, with a further wrench he freed himself from the Gunners Throne and then jumped down to decking where his mag-boots clamped to the decking.

 

Cutlass were already on high alert, the new data about the fate of the Trailblazer crew would be added to their list. Draak strode purposefully to the lift controls, time to get moving once again.

 

Locating the controls Draak popped open a power hatch and connected the auspex to feed power to the controls.

 

Let us find out where the bridge is. thought Draak. Hopefully there is not a carriage between here and there so that we can take the speeders.

 

Draak began his interrogation.

 

INT44 + 10 (Tech Use +10) + 10 (Combi-Tool) = 64. Result: 16, Pass 4DoS

[Lysimachus]

Holger also dismounts, pushing himself off the Speeder and over the dead armsmen in order to assist Draak in examining the lift controls.

 

"I suspect you are wise to keep moving, my lord Sergeant. Still no power to these systems. Locked, but it should be simple enough to force ope…"

 

Far behind you, echoing out of the darkness against the hard surfaces of the bulkheads and deck, comes a sudden sound; quiet but not so quiet as to be missed by your enhanced hearing. It is a low, insectile chittering, inquisitive but definitely not friendly. Then it cuts off and silence reigns once more.

 

As you strain your eyes and ears trying to detect what is out there, another sound intrudes, this time shockingly loud. Your squad vox flares into life on the channels that connect to the other explorator teams moving out into the Pride.

 

+++Team Alpha, auspex shows movement ahead.+++

 

+++Team Gamma, there's something here too! What is that…?+++

 

+++Contact! Contact! Contact!+++

 

You hear the boom of shotguns and the hiss of las fire, sudden yelling and screaming from men in different teams. For perhaps twenty seconds, the vox channel is utter chaos. Then, equally sudden, near silence again. There is the sound of something scrabbling around. Someone speaks in a whisper, pain and terror clearly evident in their voice.

 

+++Big bugs… claws… …oh, God-Emperor, no, leave me alone… please no…+++

 

An agonized sigh and the channel goes quiet.

 

Then you again hear that weirdly insect-like clicking in the darkness behind you… but this time it is answered by another.

 

***

 

Please roll for your Initiatives.

[Machine God]

Draak: 5 + 4 (AGL) = 9.

[A.T.]

Odysseus: 9+5 = 14

[Mazer Rackham]

Orphiel opened his mouth to reply to the query from Odysseus, but stopped short at the noise.

 

I'm not messing about with Stealers: Fate Point for Init.

Initiative: 4+10 = 14

 

+Unless you have other ideas, Svelk, get on that gun!+ He jerked his head at the heavy bolter pintle.

Edited May 25, 2022 by Mazer Rackham

[Necronaut]

Vesalius's moment of mirth froze into a rictus of realization and horror. He remembered his mental prediction during Lang's interrogation at Elysium.

 

I do so detest being right sometimes…

 

His features twisted into a scowl as he set his teeth and drew his chainsword, wielding it akimbo with his boltgun.

 

+Xenos!+

 

Initiative: 1d10 + AG6

Initiative: 1d10 8

8 + 6 = 14

Edited May 25, 2022 by Necronaut

[Beren]

Svelk had hung back from the corpses at first, turned the other way and staring into the darkness, weapons out. His grip had tightened on his weapons when he first heard the sound. He let the screams echo through his vox in silence, waited for them to finish. The screms subsided, leaving the last whisper of a dying man, and the sounds from the passage ahead.

 

Then, he let a slow, rolling peal of laughter surge forth from his vox, meeting the chittering and drowning it out. His entire body seemed to conv ulse with the loud wracking laugh.

 

+++There you are! There you are!+++

 

The void will claim it's due.

 

He tenses up, readying his weapons. Then his head twists slightly to hear Orphiel's appeal. Not his weapon. A wasteful weapon, but one which his body was already bounding towards. 

 

Trust.

 

That old foundation of the war upon the ring. Trust, in small instants, where your lives depended on it. 

 

In a second he's atop the weapon, wresting it down the hallway. He has a suspicion aiming may be something of a redundancy.

 

The void will know its own.

 

 

d10(5) + 4 = Initiative 9

 

[Black Cohort]

Initiative 1+3 =4

[Lysimachus]

A monstrous, shadowy shape bounds forward. It races towards you with a speed and fluidity that is difficult to believe from something so large, bouncing from deck and bulkheads with predatory grace. For a fraction of a second, you might think you are seeing some sort of xenos horror, some bioform of the Tyranid genus…

…but it is not. It is a machine!

Your enemy is a Battle-Automata, with long digitigrade legs, a hunched back and a head that is mostly made up of two massive, insectile eyes. A Hunter-Killer. Its forearms are replaced by long, hooked, razor-sharp blades and its back is protected by a thick, curving carapace plate. A big bug with claws! Atop its carapace is some sort of heavy rotary cannon, its barrels beginning to spin with a whine that is quickly becoming a roar.

Then a second Automata stalks forward a few metres behind it.

***

+++NARRATIVE TIME ENDS+++

+++STRUCTURED TIME BEGINS+++

Round 1:

Kill-Team Cohesion: 6

Initiative Order:

[ ] Vorax 1 | Ag8(4x2)+8=16 | WOUNDS SUFFERED: 00

[ ] Vesalius | (SQUAD) | Ag6+8=14 | WOUNDS 20/20 | FATE 2/4

[ ] Odysseus | (SQUAD) | Ag5+9=14 | WOUNDS 22/22 | FATE 4/4

[ ] Orphiel | (SQUAD) | AG4+10=14 | WOUNDS 20/20 | FATE 2/3

[ ] Vorax 2 | Ag8(4x2)+4=12 | WOUNDS SUFFERED: 00

[ ] Brynjarr | (SQUAD) | AG4+7=11 | WOUNDS 23/23 | FATE 4/4

[ ] Draak | (SQUAD) | Ag4+5=9 | WOUNDS 23/23 | FATE 2/2

[ ] Svelk | (SQUAD) | Ag4+5=9 | WOUNDS 23/23 | FATE 3/3

[ ] Decimus | (SQUAD) | Ag3+1=4 | WOUNDS 23/23 | FATE 3/3

Modes/Cohesion:

I'm going to restart you in Squad Mode and regenerate your Cohesion Points here based on Draak's stats (Fel Bonus 5 +1 for Command Skill). Please take note that from now on, I will be following what the Errata1.1 says with regard to how long Squad Mode abilities last (eg. Bolter Assault is 3CP and lasts 1 Round)... but I will also be rewarding behaviour that I judge to be positive squad-building (writing and/or Actions) with extra Cohesion Points.

Terrain:

For simplicity and because everything has magboots (or equivalent) I will say that rules-wise the battlefield has normal Gravity, but you can still feel free to include the zero-g in your writing - if you like you can imagine that you and the enemy are bouncing off the deck, walls and ceiling like something out of the Matrix as they approach! :D)

Enemies:

The Vorax are identical, but as there are only 2 I've rolled their Initiatives separately to keep things more interesting!

Vorax Automata:

I ain't tellin'! :P

[Lysimachus]

Round 1 Summary:

 

[x] Vorax 1:

Full: FAB at Speeder 2:

Move 7m forward.

BS50 +20(FAB) +10(Hulking) +10(Short Range) = 90, Roll: 41, Hit with 4DoS, total 5 Hits.

Vehicle has not moved far enough (Tactical Speed 30m) to Dodge or take Evasive Action.

2d10+12 I Pen6 (Devastating, Tearing) vs AP18

(Therefore each hit does 2d10 Tearing Dam to Structural Integrity)

Hit 1:

(1,6)(4) 6+4 = 10 SI damage suffered, now on 8 remaining.

Hit 2:

(7,2)(5) 7+5 = 12 SI damage suffered, now on 0 remaining, +4 Critical on Vehicle Critical Damage = Weapon Destroyed (Heavy Bolter)

Hit 3:

(2,3)(3) 3+3 = 6 SI damage suffered, now at +10 on Vehicle Critical Damage = Explodes!

Occupants (none!) take 5d10 X Damage. Anyone within 2d10m (1+5=6m) takes 2d10 X Dam:

Speeder 1: 8+6 = 14

Odysseus: 6+5 = 11

Brynjarr: 1+7 = 8

Decimus: 4+2 = 6

After AP+TB, no Damage suffered.

 

Hits 4 and 5 assigned to another target within 2m, Speeder 1.

Hit 4:

(9,4)(1) 9+1 = 10 SI damage suffered, now on 8 remaining.

Hit 5:

(3,6)(8) 6+8 = 14 SI damage suffered, now on 0 remaining, +6 on Vehicle Critical Damage = Penetrating Hit!

AP18 halved to AP9, 20% chance to also hit occupants. 1-20=Hit, 21-100=Miss. Rolls for: Orphiel: 53, Miss. Svelk: 76, Miss.

 

Blimey, that was much more effective than I was expecting…

 

Even as the Hunter-Killer races forward, its bulbous eyes are scanning, processing, evaluating. Though its kind may not have wasted their ammunition on previous interlopers, some part of this one's tactical threat matrix obviously recognises you as a much more dangerous foe.

 

Its cannon spits out a torrent of high-calibre solid slugs into the back of Holger's Speeder. The hail of bullets rips through the idling turbines and into the mechanisms behind them. With a sudden blast of light and heat, the engine compartment explodes, sending shrapnel scything across the junction and the pitiful remnants of the Speeder crumpling to the deck. Thankfully your armour is sufficient to avoid anyone being seriously injured by the blast.

 

The cannon traverses as it fires, pouring the rest of the fusillade into Orphiel's transport. Slugs tear through the light frontal armour like paper and slam into the fuselage all around the pilot and gunnery chairs, but somehow fail to find their mark in flesh.

 

 

[ ] Vesalius:

[ ] Odysseus:

[ ] Orphiel:

[A.T.]

Odysseus extended his barrier, too late to save the first of the hovercraft and likely too little to save the second but he had little doubt that the others would soon make themselves the greater threat to the machines.

 

While such constructs were beyond his expertise they were doubtless linked and numerous, and now knew exactly where they were.

 

Full action - strengthen and extend barrier (max distance 14m, but keep it pulled in more than 7m from Vorax 1, even if that means exposing the speeder).

AP goes up to 14

 

Activation: 92 (pass vs target 103)

Automatic phenomena: 29 (no effect)

[Necronaut]

As the chittering constructs emerged from the gloom Vesalius cocked his head, watching them stride forward on piston-driven limbs, brandishing enormous rotary cannons and wicked blades.

 

Not xenos…?!

 

His thoughts were cut short when the lead automaton opened fire, unleashing a shocking volume of ordinance which sliced through one of the kill-team's anti-grav transports like a thresher through wheat, causing the speeder to detonate violently.

 

The blastwave caused him to rock backwards slightly in its wake.

 

+I wish to amend my prior assessment: automata!+

 

He thumbed the control on his bolter's ammunition selector to the magazine of armor-penetrating rounds which Orphiel had wisely advised he take from the weapons cache earlier. Looking down his firearm's barrel, he squeezed the trigger and unleashed ten-millennia-old propellant and adamantium-tipped fury.

 

 

Full Action: Semi-auto burst vs Vorax #1

 

BS45 + 10 (SAB) + 10 (short range) + 20 (size) = 85

Semi-auto Burst: 1d100 34

34: success – 5 DoS

Hit location: body(?)

1 hit + 2 extra hits

 

Kraken clip: 21/24 rounds remaining

 

Boltgun damage (Kraken rounds): 1d10+9, Pen 8, Tearing

Rolls (in order): Bolter Damage: 3#2#1d10 1 4 3 8 10 6

Hit 3 Righteous Fury: Righteous fury: 1d10 2

Hit 1: 1 4 (1d10) + 9 = 13 damage, Pen 8

Hit 2: 3 8 (1d10) + 9 = 17 damage, Pen 8

Hit 3: 6 10 (1d10) + 2 (RF) + 9 = 21 damage, Pen 8

 

Edit: added targeting information to spoiler (sorry!). And corrected shooting calculations.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Necronaut

[Lysimachus]

Round 1 Summary Cont:

 

[x] Vesalius: SAB at Vorax 1:

Hit 1: 13 - TB12 - AP3(AP6+Machine5-Pen8) = 0 Wounds suffered.

Hit 2: 17 - TB12 - AP3(11-Pen8) = 2 Wounds suffered.

Hit 3: 21 - TB12 - AP3(11-Pen8) = 6 Wounds suffered.

8 Wounds suffered in total.

 

NB. Just so everyone knows, the Vorax are Enormous (+20 to Hit). (But SAB is a Full Action, so you can't combine with an Aim in the same Round, so 3 hits was correct for Vesalius)

 

[x] Odysseus: Push Force Dome. All units within (up to 14)m gain AP14 against Ranged Attacks from outside.

 

[ ] Orphiel:

[Machine God]

Available telemetry flooded in via HUD and Auspex.

 

Zero-G is a gift!

 

Draak planted his boots and the walked up the wall.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Machine God

[Mazer Rackham]

The fusillade from the enemy automata was as staggering as it was punishing.  Critical alarms began to bleat in his HUD and ears, sparkles of colour across his dashboard, brilliant crimson lights.  The sticks became sluggish, the ailerons friction-locked.  He was piloting a dying grand piano, but it wasn't dead yet.

 

Even if half the instruments were smashed and the upholstery was ruined.

 

He said nothing to Svelk.  The Assaulter turned Gunner would just have to do his best, hammering away at whichever beast he thought was the secondary link in the chain.  The lack of gravity was a boon.  No flight surfaces meant the anti-grav floorplate would suffice.  He yawed hard to port, slewing the craft 10 metres above the others, and the wobbling corpses, over the burning wreck of the other speeder, before sawing hard on the yoke, and slipping right, shedding parts and paint from the ruined fuselage as he did so.

 

Actions:

Evasive Manoeuvres - Half Action because of Skilled Rider.

Distance moved 10 left (up the map) + 20 right (down into cover at the bottom of the map, leaving the nose sticking out enough for Svelk to shoot) = 30m (Tactical Speed)

Drive Test: AG 53 + 20 (Speeder) = 73

D100: 088 DERP

FATE: 022 PASS, Plus 5 DoS

 

Penalty Imposed to Hit: -60

Unfortunately, this means Svelk is now rolls on normal BS to hit with the HB, +20 FAB, +30 Size, +10 Range = 60 - 60 for dodging about like a frog in a sock).

Half-Action: Fly (any distance to qualify for Tactical Speed or get us into cover).

[Lysimachus]

As the damaged Speeder darts back and forth like a madly buzzing dipteroid, the second Vorax advances, searching for an alternative target. Its augurs measure the curvature of the glowing, translucent dome of energy and extrapolate its centre. It chitters in Machine Cant. Target acquired.

 

[x] Vorax 2:

Full: FAB at Odysseus:

Move 7m forward.

BS50 +20(FAB) +10(Short Range) = 80, Roll: 12, Hit with 6DoS, 7 hits.

I'll hold there for Odysseus' Dodge roll to see how many of those hits go through, will probably assign some out to other targets if there are enough?