Deathwatch: Murderers in Black (IC Thread)

[Lysimachus]

Your preparations for violence are understandable, given the duplicitous nature of the Aeldari, but nothing within the icy cold storeroom moves.

 

As you look around at the hanging slabs of meat, one of them catches your eye. Off in a corner, there is something wrong, and yet oddly familiar, about the shape of it. Like many of the upside down carcasses, the head has been removed and the limbs trussed together, but it takes only a fraction of a second to realise that it is not the body of an animal, but that of something… humanoid?

 

Edited March 14 by Lysimachus

[Machine God]

Asterius:

 

At the head of the squad he was searching for traps in the accursed Xenos Larder.

 

The place was still ghosting his sense with its wrongness. Momentarily he looked back at his Six, something was up.

 

Ulfurbur was telegraphing her arms about with big points, so he caught better battle cant from Moridyn. A corner that he'd earlier dismissed held something. 

 

He was closer so he cautiously headed over to search. 

 

 

 

PER30 +0 (Awareness) +10 (Occulobe & Lyman's Ear) +5 (Mk V Autosenses) +10 (Ordinary) = 55. Result: 26, Pass 2DoS

 

 

 

 

A headless humanoid hanging down from the ceiling by its feet which were frozen inside the ice. He examined the area and the body. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lysimachus]

Asterius/anyone else who has moved close enough: Again, your first concern is the safety of your team. However, careful examination shows no signs of a booby trap or ambush waiting to be sprung.

 

You can see that the corpse's head has been removed, not by the razor sharp cleaver of a butcher, but instead by crude, explosive violence. The ragged, blackened edges of the skin around the neck are immediately identifiable to an Astartes - the results of the detonation of a bolt round. Decapitation by a single shot from a bolter or bolt pistol - an execution that any Imperial Commissar could take pride in.

 

But this is not the primary reason why the hanging body feels familiar.

 

It is much bigger than an average man, taller and far more bulky. Beneath the thin layer of frost, the pale skin is visibly studded with small, silvery circles - interface ports. Its torso is thickened by a hardened subdermal carapace.

 

Even without the head, it is clear that the physique is Astartesian.

 

[Machine God]

Asterius:

 

Asterius cut the dead Space Marine down from the ceiling, using his chainsword to cut around the ice. 

 

He knelt down and started to clear the ice off the body to look for clues, chapter tattoos and suchlike. 

 

++Maybe his armour is here too?++

 

Well without the Apothecary present to check the geneseed, there is a way.

 

Asterius removed his helm.

 

He flexed his jaw and leant in to bite a chunk of flesh. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Trokair]

Alda

 

This ‘Gift’ was one of the previous Team Lucifer. At least that was the conclusion that presented itself as the obvious.  Even as the thought arose Alda realised that she had erred to some extent.

 

She did not trust the Eldar Prince, and yet if the gift was genuine then regardless of how macabre it was, it was of value to the einherjar, a chance recovering their dead, and the geneseed as well.

 

Thus the words spoken above were more likely to be true, for whatever value of truth the Eldar delta in, and the body could not have been from the Kill Teams immediate processors.

 

Edited March 15 by Trokair

[Machine God]

Asterius: 

 

From looking at the body and the amount of ice, he decided against it. 

 

 

 

PER30 +0 (Awareness) +10 (Occulobe) +5 (Mk V Autosenses) = 45. Result: 24, Pass 2DoS

 

 

 

 

He replaced his helm and carried on searching the body. 

 

 

 

 

[Mike Zulu]

 

Zidemi:

 

Revolting, but not surprising. The xenos abattoir evoked various tales from Nocturne, telling of the elder raids before the time of Vulkan. These raiders no doubt revelled in the killing and consumption of these creatures on display.

 

+++

“Maybe his armour is here too?” suggested Asterius as he inspected the gene-enhanced body. 

 

The comment snapped Zidemi out of his trance; his contempt for the xenos consuming his thoughts. That these wretches kept his armour nearby seemed unlikely and unusually foolish on their part. If it was, the transponder may still be active.

 

Zidemi will use his Auspex to scan for nearby armour signatures.

 

Spoiler

Tech-Use: 50(Int) + 23(Bonuses) +0 = 73 required

Roll d100: 11 = Pass, 6DoS

“A negative result is still-” Before Zidemi could finish, he caught sight of the Black Shield flexing his jaw and bringing himself close to the corpse. Surely, he wasn’t considering…

 

“What in Vulkan’s name?”, Zidemi exclaimed, staring intently at Asterius.

Edited March 17 by Mike Zulu
Nocturne, not Prometheus

[Lysimachus]

Zidemi: Your auspex is able to discern the signatures of the armour worn by all of Kill-Team Lucifer, including those of the team members who did not descend into the larders. However, there is no signal from any other Deathwatch transponder within its range. Whoever this Astartes is, he has been separated from his wargear.

 

 

 

Asterius/all: As you carefully bring the body down from its ignominious resting place, and wipe the frost from the icy meat, more details begin to be revealed.

 

There are none of the more obvious signs of vile mutation that you might expect to see in the flesh of those corrupted by the monstrous powers of Chaos. The skin is remarkably pale, but this could simply be the result of the length of time for which it has hung here frozen.

 

Much like the Space Marines of many Chapters, the body of this unknown Astartes carries his honours marked upon his skin. Tattoos in plain black, stark against the pallid flesh, show his history of service. Several of them appear to have been re-inked to prevent the ravages of time from marring their perfect lines. Across his forearm a bolt round and scroll, a marksman’s badge. A winged Terminator crux over his heart. Other honours, various skulls, wreaths, campaign badges, names and dates. However, it is in the place of honour on his deltoids that you find the truly fearful markings.

 

On the right shoulder is a skull and crossed bones atop an Inquisitorial ‘I’, a badge that proclaims this fallen warrior as your oathsworn brother, a keeper of the Long Vigil.

 

Proudly displayed on the left, and clearly one of the oldest tattoos, is the simplified shape of a large hawk's head shown in profile.

 

 

 

 

 

[Trokair]

Alda

 

Spoiler

Scholastic Lore Heraldry test

Int:48

d100: 19, Pass, 2 DoS

 

Taking out the lamp to better examine the body, recording still pics of the tattoos and other features for later use, Alda cast her mind back to the books, trying to identify all the marks. A few where obvious from context or common to most Chapters, but perhaps some would be more indicative than others in revelaing the idenity. 

[Lysimachus]

Alda: The positioning of the hawk's head on the left shoulder suggests that it may be the Marine's Chapter badge. There are many Chapters that use this device in one form or another, but the fact that it is rendered in black, along with the noticeable whiteness of the skin, imply that this warrior most likely belonged to the Raptors Chapter.

 

 

[Machine God]

Asterius:

 

++Arval Skaayn - Watch-Master of the Keep, bears this device on his right pauldron. He is of the Raptors!++

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 16 by Machine God

[Mazer Rackham]

Azadth:

 

And so the trap was sprung - by their own hand.

 

Fate laughed with him.

 

The Mantis Warrior politely cleared his throat. When he spoke, he didn't raise his voice, but looked across at the Salamander quite pointedly.

 

+Brother Zidemi, by your calculus, how long before the Supremacy is in optimal firing range to conveniently kill us all and destroy any evidence?+

 

He subvocalised to Gerhardt.

 

+We are betrayed by kin and not foe. Get in here Knight, and bring Amaras with you. Move, my friend.+

 

Edited March 16 by Mazer Rackham

[Trokair]

Alda

 

Looking round at the others, ending with the Wolf.

 

“Until proven otherwise, we should now assume both our chains of command are compromised.” She swallowed, how would they react to the next suggestion?

 

“I recommend that we go dark, our orders void. In other circumstances I would advise abandoning the mission and trying to alert greater authority that is beyond reproach, but I fear that we are too isolated, and too short of time. We have, perhaps no choice, but to trust the Eldar above and their alternative means to leave.  ”

  

Alda stepped back from the group and made a showing of removing her combead, giving them a chance to converse in private.  Honour bound as many Astartes Chapter were, some might take the notion of breaking orders badly, or having to trust and work alongside Xenos over their own.

Edited March 16 by Trokair

[Machine God]

Asterius:

 

He nodded to Azadth respectfully. 

 

++Greetings shadow hunter. Perhaps time enough to enlist the aid of the Xenos Seer, his Eldar starship and a quick translation to find this elusive Orochi cur?++

 

 

 

 

[Necronaut]

Gerhardt

 

Ah.

 

Long had the Eternal Crusade kept the Inquisition at an uncomfortable arm’s length, and long had an uneasy understanding existed betwixt the two. Now he understood why, his ignorance of the events transpiring within the xenos larder notwithstanding. Duplicities within duplicities. The Black Templars, however, knew a clean and efficient solution to such problems, or meddlesome Inquisitors more generally: put those in question to the sword; the Emperor would recognize his own.

 

He looked down at the fallen Amaras and unclasped the ceremonial manacle forged by Brother Zidemi which bound Eisenfaust to his left wrist, mag-locking his boltgun to an available armour plate. There was no honour to be had in a senseless death, nor for that of his compatriot. He grasped the fallen Charnel Guard apothecary by his power pack and started dragging him up the stairs.

 

+Compliance, brother. We are en route.+

 

Gerhardt looked down at his charge again, then knelt beside the slumbering Sanguinary Priest and with grunt of effort, hoisted his incapacitated squad-mate up over his head and laid him to rest across his shoulders, atop his jump pack, and continued on, each step leaving small cracks in the paving stones due to their combined weight. His left hand kept hold of one of the apothecary's gauntlets, and Drachenhauer guided their path, as yet chained to his right vambrace.

 

+Stay with me, brother. I am thy keeper now, as thou art mine.+

 

 

 

Strength Test to lift and carry Amaras (unknown difficulty): S49 + 20 (PA) = 69

D100: 15

Edited March 16 by Necronaut

[Mazer Rackham]

Azadth:

 

Oh, I know where the bastard is. In the middle of his web, where a spider ought, testing the lines for the ensnared.

 

+Hold, Adept Ulfurbur. The chance our transponders and signals are being monitored is high. Should we vanish now, suspicions will be raised.+

 

He gazed at her steadily, hand idly stroking the Jagu' Aira fang.

 

+We are dealing with a Kobara, a clever snake. We must turn this trap to our advantage if we are to escape. It will require daring and sacrifice.+

 

Azadth stared at and through her, travelling to a place in the past.

 

Edited March 16 by Mazer Rackham

[Urauloth]

Váfri

It was, he reflected, really very simple when you stripped it back to its basic elements. He was in this situation because he had commited the most fundamental error, a pup-foolish mistake the Old Ice would have culled him from the pack for: he had failed to heed his instincts' warnings. He knew the Inquisition for a viper's den of snake-tongues and oathbreakers, and he had walked into their midst anyway.

 

"They destroyed the brain." Váfri saw Asterius considering the mannaetu rite, and made the observation aloud without thinking. "They wanted to ensure no one could eat of his memories if his body was found by his kin."

 

It wasn't a particularly astute observation, he knew, but it struck him as evincing the depth of betrayal they faced and the degree of forethought behind it.

 

"Is it him? Is it Skaayn?" He directed the question quite generally, since it was largely rhetorical.  "If it is, who or what have we been calling by that name?"

Edited March 16 by Urauloth

[Machine God]

Asterius:

 

He removed his Helm and answered Vafri. 

 

"Obviously we must have been conversing with this Orochi entity, Squad Sergeant Vafri." 

 

 

 

 

[Mike Zulu]

Zidemi:

 

Zidemi will attempt a Logic Test to make a educated inference on the Supremacy's position/movements (I do not beleive he has any way of knowing otherwise)...

 

Spoiler

Logic Test → 50(Int)÷2(Untrained Basic) + 0 = 25 required

Roll d100: 36 = Fail, 1DoF

 

"Frankly, brother," Zidemi began, staring blankly at the Raptor's corpse, "I am surprised that we still live as long as we have. This 'Orochi' has had ample opportunities to dispose of us, if he willed it."

 

+++

 

Through his gene- and cybernetic-enhanced memories, Zidemi recalled the various events leading up to this moment.

 

Spoiler

The Bulwark serfs: “Can you believe he's back? Almost two centuries since he last set foot on Alucar!... when Watch-Sergeant Traxaes first swore the Oath he served under the Shadowhand!”

 

Aarval Skaayn. Watch-Captain of the Deathwatch. Scion of the Raptors Chapter. ‘Shadowhand’. Kill-Marine. Assassin, spy, saboteur.

 

The Ork Warboss: “Looka dat glyph! Dey’re parta da same klan as dat sneaky runt what told us dat dere was good lootin’ in dese stars in da first place! Den dey wrecked me ‘ole fleet!"

 

Magos Eleanor: "I would therefore surmise that whoever applied VT097.65 to your Librarian... would not have been intending to interrogate him. Instead, I can only postulate that their intent was that he would succumb to its effects and cause an empyric breach... A potential disaster for the entire Bulwark.”

 

Skaayn: “I think you all agree that some of Lord Inquisitor Kine's recent decisions have been a little… erratic…? No, damn it, here among my brethren I will speak my mind plainly! Something is wrong with the man! The Inquisitor seems obsessed with Dorghra VII." 

 

Brother Incario: "Dorghra VII has no importance at all... We were the real target. The Deathwatch. Or Lucifer itself?"

 

Inquisitor Kine: "The answers are at Dorghra VII... ... It was a grand victory… crushed… wiped out… Correllageon was freed… it was freed… he will be freed…"

 

Flight-Lieutenant Vora: "The investigation [on Correllageon] turned violent. Most of the Inquisitor's colleagues, Xenos and Hereticus, were killed, ambushed by secessionists. I think only he and Interrogator Aykawa returned to Alucar IV."

 

The Swift Resolution will carry Aarval Skaayn and Leopold Kine on the two week journey back to Alucar IV. Bekkar Haalec joins them, and will be sent on immediately to the closest Watch-Fortress to carry a report and warning in person.

 

Kal'li-nath: “True indeed that we have cut you... but do you seek vengeance against the blade, or the hand that directed it? ... Orochi feared that I might reveal his plans to you, so he sent his pet killer to murder me before I could..."

 

Though bruised and bloodied and now pale in death, the body is immediately identifiable to you. It is… was… Interrogator Aykawa.

 

As you carefully bring the [Astartesan] body down from its ignominious resting place, and wipe the frost from the icy meat, more details begin to be revealed... a skull and crossed bones atop an Inquisitorial ‘I’.... the simplified shape of a large hawk's head shown in profile.

 

+++

 

"We must turn this trap to our advantage if we are to escape," Azadth had rebuffed Ulfurbur. "It will require daring and sacrifice."

 

Zidemi sighed in resignation. "First we will need to make our return, in as unsuspicious and indisputable manner as possible. We cannot be handing ourselves to easy slaughter, by this imposter with the authority of Skaayn."

Edited March 17 by Mike Zulu

[Mazer Rackham]

Azadth:

 

The Salamander drew him back to the present.

 

+Just so. He could have destroyed us, but perhaps just as our previous kin were, we happen to be a useful tool. We have cleaned up his enemies and loose ends, and now he slithers in his chosen pit, plotting.+

 

Edited March 21 by Mazer Rackham

[Machine God]

Asterius:

 

Just another deception.

 

Unconsciously he had turned and walked away from the squad like an automaton. 

 

"OROCHI!" He roared, his hands grasped his activated chainswords as he fought against the red mists. 

 

 

Stabs of pain from Psycho-conditioning repeatedly shook his body. 

 

The harsh worded soundtrack uttered from a speaker grill on his armour.

 

 

"You are alone. You serve the Emperor. Your [Redacted - Chapter] does not exist. The [Redacted - Chapter] never existed. By order of the High Lords of Terra!"

 

 

It was just him, the Deathwatch and The Emperor.

 

Him and Squad Lucifer! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Trokair]

Alda

 

Leaving the einherjar behind for the moment Alda made her way back up to the entrance level, amongst all the Eldar treasures there would be something she can use.

 

Spoiler

Search Test

Per: 48 +10 (Search +10) = 58

d100: 56, Pass

 

Yes that would do.

 

Picking up some small metallic sculpture of a plinth she used it as a projectile to smash the glass cage of the display cabinet in front of here. Ignoring the Xenos weapons and armour Alda pulled out the dark red silken cloth that the display pieces had rested on.

 

It might not be the right colour or material, but as a shroud for the late Jarl Skaayn it would do. She may not have known him personally if an imposter had held court all this time, but she had seen enough of his service record to know that funerary honours should be respected, and at minimum his body should not lie unclothed.

[Mazer Rackham]

Azadth:

 

Seeing Ulfufbur dress the corpse, and attend to the dead, he gently placed a hand on the mortal's shoulder. +Alda. You must recover his geneseed. His burden is ours to bear, and evidence of treachery. We must leave his body here, along with a fragment of harness.+

 

He gestured to the recumbent form of Amaras borne by the Templar.

 

Finally he offered something more to the fallen. He bowed deeply over the dead Captain, and taking a handful of ice, held it in his gauntlet until decomposed into water. He threw it onto the body three times.

 

Khan-Father, Sky-Lord, Master of the Hunt. Accept this Warrior to your hearth. May your fire warm his spirit, and not consume. My his portion feed and not wither. May his blade be sharp and always true.

 

Naga owed them a head.

 

Edited March 20 by Mazer Rackham

[Trokair]

Alda

 

Pausing at the Mantis’s touch and words. That something as precious to einherjar as the fallen’s geneseed would still be intact for recovery had not even occurred to her. Now the task would fall to her.

 

“I’ll need his Narthecium.” Directing her worlds at Váfri while pointing at Gerhardt's burden, seeking permission both for the appropriation of the Apothecaries personal tools, and for the act that would follow.

 

While waiting for a reply Alda tries to recall anything in the tomes she had been given to study that might help.   

 

Spoiler

Int Test – Total Recall / Common Lore: Deathwatch – to see if Alda can recall enough information as to Astarte physiology and specifically geneseed and removal thereof.

Int: 48 + or – as Per GM discretion

D100: 60... that’s probably a fail

 

Edited March 20 by Trokair

[Lord_Ikka]

Moridyn

The Star Phantom was quiet, his usual demeanor when among those of other chapters. Aloof and distant, the Phantoms were. Not for them were the boisterous vocalizations of the Space Wolves, or the brutal piety of the Templars. Nor did they even have the barbarous customs of the Mantis or affable nature of the Salamander. They were quiet destroyers, followers of a dour path of death-worship and destruction. So Moridyn kept silent, though his thoughts were racing.

 

It seemed that all of the kill-team believed that this corpse was the real Skaayn, that the Watch-Captain who sent them on this mission a fraud. Moridyn was not certain- the ways of the Inquisition were twisted and crooked, many factions within it hiding secrets and plans from each other. It could indeed be that the Watch-Captain was a fake, an infiltrator of the Dark Powers or a plant by some Xenos mastermind. It was equally likely that this corpse was not the real Skaayn, simply a coincidental member of the Raptors chapter who had been taken as a prize by the Xenos. Or either Raptor could be something else, mysterious pawns in a game played by the Inquisition in their constant intra-faction squabbles. Until they gained further information, speculation was useless.

 

Paranoia was a given whenever you had interactions with the Inquisition. Trust was not something that you gave to those secretive agents of the Imperium. Kill-team Lucifer should be prepared for anything.