Deathwatch: Murderers in Black (IC Thread)

[Trokair]

Alda

 

The breakdown of Lord Kine was a worrying development, deeply. For a moment her hand stayed to the holstered bolt pistol, settling on the grip. No, that would deprive them of information they now desperately needed.

 

Approaching the Inquisitor she knelt next to him as he played with the sand.

 

“There there.” An attempt to comfort, or distract at least, as she relived the lord Inquisitor of his weapons, placing them behind her out of his reach.

 

That done she shuffled back slightly, then pointed at the sergeant of one of the storm trooper squads.

 

“Lord Kine is unwell, escort him back to his quarters aship and get the medicae to see to him.”

 

Order issued she looked to Jarl Skaayn, seeing if he approved.

[Machine God]

Asterius:

 

"Unwell?!" scoffed Asterius. "More likely he has been possessed by Xenos."

 

"If there's no Commissar amongst you, then I will kill him!" 

 

Asterius raised his Bolt Pistol. 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 13 by Machine God
Typo

[Lord_Ikka]

Moridyn

 

"While your zeal is admirable, perhaps we should use some logic here."

 

Moridyn stepped in front of Asterius, looking at the Black Shield.

'The pirate eldar are not known for the psychic games their craftworld kin are, so possession is unlikely. They are torturers and sadists, so breaking someone's spirit is much more likely. Brother Amaras should be able to assist in determining if the Inquisitor is damaged beyond repair. To remove him without extracting any information would be a dangerous move- what were the eldar doing here, what happened at Coralageon, what was released? We need to know these things."

Edited September 13 by Lord_Ikka

[Machine God]

Asterius:

 

Asterius seeing the wisdom in Moridyn's words, holstered his Bolt Pistol. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

Azadth:

 

'Brother Moridyn speaks true upon the Xenos filth,' Azadth added, quietly. 'They plague the Glimmering Shoals, break and reave as they wont, and cruelty is their opiate. It is unfathomable they should leave a...witness-' he broke off momentarily, searching for the right word - 'or...pawn they could otherwise torture at leisure.'

 

He breathed in, out. Considered banishing the bitter hollow in his voice, but instead thickened it.

 

'Sky-Khan grant my prayer, that one day we shall kill them all, and build a monument of defeat from their wretched bones.'

 

Edited September 13 by Mazer Rackham

[A.T.]

Omoc

 

Another weak mind, another reason to burn this cell of the ordo xenos to the ground and begin anew.

 

But the ambush in the cave did not sit well with him, it reeked of deception within deception and the fixed tripod mounts matched no weapon recorded of the xenos.

 

"Sedate him lest his authority and the codes he carries yet carry weight. The ordo will demand proof of his failure that they might properly condemn those who fell with him."

[Mike Zulu]

Zidemi:

 

“Correlageon…” Zidemi muttered. “Again, that name rears its ugly head.”

 

He looked across at Asterius, as he tepidly holstered his pistol. Though he appreciated his restraint, Zidemi too fought back the urge to immolate the compromised human.

 

“I fear we may be paying the price for the Inquisitor’s sins.”

[Mazer Rackham]

Azadth:

 

'My mother always used to say "old sins cast long shadows",' Azadth said, wistfully.

 

He came back to himself, realised where he was and his company, shrugged off the spectre threatening him. Too late. He could smell the smoke, hear the fire of the Longhouse.

 

Run, boy! Go to the next village, get help! I love you!

 

She'd said that too.

 

He looked down at Alda Ulfurbur, currently patting the superior Inquisitor's shoulder. Azadth closed his eyes, banishing the sight of his sister, Anoushka, tightened into a foetal ball of seared flesh. Once more, Azadth drew away, repelling the memory. Perhaps he ran too long, too much. Except there was no Throne-damned help in the next village, was there? The bastards were busy burning down his thanks to a bloody tribal squabble.

 

He threw the Mk VI helmet down into the dust in utter disgust. He looked around at the assembled Astartes, suddenly feeling very young, despite the bravura he wore along with his Mantisae Panoply. Fifty summers he'd served the Sky-Khan. Today, everything felt like yesterday.

 

'To hell with this accursed place,' he said, spat a gobbet of acidic phlegm in disdain. Collecting his helmet, Azadth shook the dust off, that the world might keep its taint to itself, and shoved the Stormtroopers out of the way on his path to the pick-up craft, gear jostling and bouncing gently around him.

 

Edited September 15 by Mazer Rackham

[Necronaut]

Gerhardt

 

The Black Templar stared down at the Inquisitor Lord, his mind clearly broken by some revelation that he had been responsible for the slaughter of the previous Kill-Team, in much the same way Gerhardt had been used to cut down the compromised Black Guard librarian. He shuddered again at the memory, of having been so easily controlled and manipulated, even if he had ultimately saved the Bulwark from a warp breach. It was a mystery which they had not yet investigated to his liking.

 

Never again. He knew what must be done; the weakness would be excised from him, permanently.

 

At the Red Scorpion's instruction to sedate the Lord Inquisitor, Gerhardt grimly smiled to himself and growled over the vox, +With pleasure, brother.+

 

Gerhardt moved suddenly and decisively, before the stormtroopers Adept Ulfurbur had summoned could react or cry foul. Taking a few swift steps like an enormous predatory creature, he loomed large over the cowering, broken man, and cracked him across one temple with the pommel of his langes messer, rendering the old man unconscious and leaving the faint imprint of an inverted, leering skull on the side of his head. A great weal and terrible bruise started to rise almost immediately from the point of contact, turning a hideous shade of purple.

 

+Bind and gag him, Adept Ulfurbur. He will live.+

 

An eye for an eye, Inquisitor Kine.

 

Gerhardt turned and stared down the Inquisition troops, all but daring them to move against him, then made for the thunderhawk, trailing behind the Mantis Warrior, who, per usual, seemed to have the right of it. Drachenhauer rested upon his right pauldron, and he believed he could sense the fell blade’s approval, that he was once again on the path of the righteous. His penance had been most salutary thus far. The Emperor smiled upon him this day.

 

No pity, no remorse.

 

He nodded to Azadth as he stomped up the ramp and took his place in his crash harness, his work on this wretched world complete for now. He set his thoughts to the new clues they had uncovered, looking forward to the opportunity to lock blades with and slay eldari scum.

 

No fear.

Edited September 17 by Necronaut

[Lysimachus]

Act 3: Hunters

 

 

Scene 16. Taking Stock

 

It is a sombre group that returns to the Imperial vessels in orbit above Dorghra VII.

 

As with your descent to the surface, it is a much simpler matter for your Kill-Team than it is for your allies. Once back aboard the Iron Sabre, it takes less than half an hour for the Stormeagle to return to its hangar on the Supremacy of Man. While you wait for the Inquisitorial forces to be ferried off-planet, Watch-Captain Skaayn orders for you to gather in the Strategium, with Commander Ibyrm and Interrogator Aykawa present too.

 

The Raptor bluntly lays out the facts, including the theory posited by Brother Incario in his final words. However, he does not mention anything that the Blood Drinker said that does not relate directly to your mission.

 

“...and that's about the size of it, brothers. It looks like Dorghra was a set-up. A trap specifically designed to draw in and kill Gaius and his men ...but we don't know whether the target was Lucifer itself, or the Watch as a whole, or the Ordo?”

 

“Makes me wonder about what happened to Jarek and the other half of the squad… too much of a coincidence to lose both at once? Why would the Eldar work with Orks, though? And why would the Orks blow up their own ship to take out Astartes? Not their style! So maybe it is a bloody coincidence…”

 

He frowns to himself and shakes his head slowly.

 

“Either way, who are these Eldar and what are they up to? What has Correllageon got to do with it? If the same Eldar were there too, was the whole scenario just a way to bring Kine to them, so they could brainwash him into sending Lucifer into their trap?”

 

He looks up and around the gathered servants of the Imperium.

 

“Suggestions, brothers?”

 

 

 

So, this post is really just a reminder of where we had got to and points that people might have wanted to look into? Feel free to share thoughts of what you'd like to do next, where to go, etc, etc. If you wish, we can also discuss ideas in the OOC.

 

[Mazer Rackham]

Azadth:

 

He studied the smooth, tapered helm in his hands, now recovered from the Aeldari corpse. He was careful to touch none of the studs, gems or engrailed cartouches. The ways of the Eldar waxed strange, and each device could be a trap. He had seen it. The work-make was unlike the raiders he battled in the Glimmering Shoals, those hellions of fear and shadow - even if some of the reliefs and motifs of that dread folk were the same. There was something...rustic about it. Azadth cradled it carefully, staring into the thin, perfect lozenges that mirrored those of a Space marine helmet. The differences were stark, something that always reminded him of the differences between them, despite the humanoid appearance.

 

An athletic, wiry strength he could respect - never admire - they were the enemy and haughty, so very haughty. He'd heard exchanges in the language, markedly almost musical, even in its maniacal darkness as they slew and stole flesh with wild laughter. The Mantis Warriors warned the PDF forces stationed within the Cluster to keep one grenade on them when the Dark Raiders came.

 

Azadth was no expert, but he'd noticed differences between the ancient, lithe aliens he fought. Those variables were completely irrelevant, however, he simply treated them the same way:

 

A swinging Khukurai to the back of a willowy neck.

 

Hatred of the raider bastards made Azadth's palm itch, yet curiosity and communal mien battled the urge. The artisan within stirred. He duly sat the conical helm next to his own beaked casque on the bench beside him, admiring the juxtaposition, the ideas of form and function different in priority. The Aeldari made things useful and pretty. The Imperium was more interested in getting things done. Azadth's pitted, scraped Mk VI was shabby-dull and replete in artless splendour, yet it was infinitely more honest, instantly more...human. It lacked the cold austerity of the alien. The thought calmed him, reassured.

 

The Aeldari were unsettling, with a whim written on water.

 

His considerations circled, treading the same path trying to find an answer, a Canid treading the grass flat for a comfortable seat, arrested by one of the questions posited by the Captain.

 

'Why did the Eldar not reclaim their dead?' Azadth closed his thoughts. 'A good ambuscade relies on policing the kill-zone. They too have divination war-spirits. Only when pressed hard do they leave their kin behind. When they laid our brothers low, would they not miss one of their number?'

 

Perhaps he was asking himself.

 

Edited October 11 by Mazer Rackham

[Trokair]

Alda

 

“Perhpas...” Alda started quietly, then paused, reconsidering what she was about to say. No it needed to be said.

 

“Perhaps it was not the Eldar that were the ambushers, perhaps they where merely caught in the same trap.”

 

“We need to know what happened between these Xenos and Lord Kine on Corellageon? That seems to be one root of all the questions. I have tried and so far unearthed little if anything of worth.”

 

Her voice grew small again at that admission, she had tried to investigate and found nothing.

 

The glimmer of hope, that her failure was not her fault, and that the information had been deliberately scrubbed or hidden, spoke of the failing of pride.     

[Urauloth]

Váfri

 

Skrik. Skriik. The Chilipoda claw was tough, and it took pressure for the knife to carve shapes in its surface. It wasn't a grant trophy, but it marked a successful hunt, and he was very likely the only son of the Old Ice who had ever slain one of those particular beasts, so it would have its place in his panoply. He was partway through cutting a runemark into it. Focussing on the task helped keep his fury under control.

 

Back on the surface he'd voiced a few loud and colourful opinions about Kine, the quality of his character, and the likely nature of his parentage, but he'd been quiet since exfiltration. He stood in a corner, radiating anger like a hostile star, methodically working the knife blade while he listened to Skaayn and the others. He wasn't going to shout and throw things like a newly blooded pup. They'd made him Watch-sergeant for the Dorghra mission, he needed to act like someone who could bear the mantle of command.

"I don't know a great deal about Eldar. I've never fought them. Not yet. Kine said the Xenos at Correllageon were mercenaries. Could that be true, or is it another of his lies?"

 

He cast his gaze over to where the Mantis Warrior was examining the alien helmet.

 

"If the Eldar were sellswords, someone paid them to be on Dorghra. If not, it's an odd thing to lie to us about."

[Mazer Rackham]

Azadth:

 

He met Váfri's glance with a shrug, the Mk VI pauldrons clattering to mimic the gesture. 'I have never heard of the Eldar doing anything for blood money, but who knows?'

 

Azadth fired a quick emerald glance at the Interrogator.

[A.T.]

Omoc

 

"Why guard an empty cave". Records of the Eldar held two patterns to be true, seemingly meaningless attacks and sightings on the even of battle where they seemingly had no stake.

 

"We are reacting, a xenos hand seeks to move us like a game piece. Perhaps merely to draw out the inquisitor but I feel there is more. The taint of the witch hangs over these endeavours".

 

[Lysimachus]

Aykawa notices the Mantis Warrior's brief look. Though the Interrogator does not have the mien of a fighting man, working for the Ordos still tends to make a person very observant of their surroundings. And cautious. He steps forward and gives a quick bow. He seems hesitant about speaking, but at the same time has clearly been thinking about what he should say if he is asked.

 

“Watch-Captain. My Lords Astartes. Adept Ulfurbur. I believe I might be able to shed some light on some of your questions…?”

 

He waits until Skaayn nods, then continues.

 

“As you likely know, I have only been part of Inquisitor Kine's retinue since just after the mission on Correllageon. Most of the Inquisitorial forces taking part in that investigation had been killed in the fighting, so he requested additional support to handle the clean-up, from both the Hereticus and the Xenos. My own previous master… had been… lost… shortly before that, so I was reassigned by the local Inquisitorial Conclave to join and assist Lord Kine.”

 

Aykawa shakes his head in sudden disbelief.

 

“Until you uncovered that the Aeldari were responsible for the ambush here at Dorghra, I had no idea that the prior events at Correllageon were connected at all! As you know, the first time I came here, I did not see enough to identify them before Lord Asterius removed me from the danger.”

 

The slight Interrogator nods respectfully and thankfully towards the Blackshield.

 

“But… if these aliens are one and the same, it appears that I do know something of them, things that Lord Kine told me after I joined him. Ever since you returned from the caverns, I have been trying to remember the details in order to share them with you.”

 

“Kine said that Conclave records identified these Aeldari. In a few of those records, they were named as ‘the Silver Serpents’. Obviously that was only a moniker given by human observers, probably common civilians or PDF, but…” he gestures towards the shimmering helm with its curving black icon and shrugs, “...it was accurate enough. We had no other name to give them.”

 

“It is suspected that they are Outcasts, Anhrathe as they call themselves, largely unconnected with any of the Craftworlds or their Dark Kin. The group have been observed in local Sectors on several occasions over the last three millennia, most often acting as auxiliaries to other forces. Sometimes alongside their kin during attacks against Imperial worlds… but sometimes fighting alongside human forces, or even other xenos, against a similar variety of enemies. Ordo Xenos Logisters suggest that such a wide, even opposing, range of alliances would logically only be formed if they were acting as paid mercenaries. Lord Kine said that was likely the reason for their presence at Correllageon…?”

 

He pauses, uncomfortable.

 

 

 

Anyone who wishes can make a Per test regarding what Aykawa says.

 

Edited October 14 by Lysimachus

[Mike Zulu]

Zidemi:
 

Spoiler

Perception: 41 + 0 = 41 to Pass

D100: 62 = Fail, 2DoF

Upon the sudden and unnecessary cessation of information, Zidemi proceeded to ply the Interrogator with questions.

 

“Do we know who had employed the eldar on Correllageon?” he began. “If we follow the logic that payment, or lack thereof, motivated them, then uncovering their employer may better illuminate this mystery.”

 

“As an aside: What remains of Correllageon? Is it under Imperial control?”

[A.T.]

Omoc

 

Many words, but to what purpose.

 

Perception 54, roll 40 - pass +1 extra DoS (assuming none of the other usual bonuses apply)

[Lysimachus]

Aykawa grimaces in worry and frustration, but answers Zidemi.

 

“The Serpents fought on the side of the Secessionists… at least, that is what Lord Kine indicated. But that makes sense? I cannot see that the loyalist Planetary Governor would have hired xenos mercenaries!”

 

“As I said, the fighting was brutal, especially the final assault on the Secessionist HQ. Both the renegades, and the Inquisitorial assets that carried out the attack, were reported as being quite thoroughly wiped out. In the aftermath, after I and my colleagues arrived, any suspected of being Secessionist sympathisers were also… disposed of. Correllageon is firmly back under Imperial control.”

 

He smiles for a moment at this, but it quickly fades.

 

“...but the fact remains, there may not be anyone left on that world that was an eyewitness to exactly what arrangements were made with the Anhrathe?”

 

 

 

Omoc:

 

The enhanced senses of an Astartes, able to pick up on the tiniest of autonomic responses, make you naturally very good at spotting a liar. But as far as you can tell, Aykawa is being completely truthful - or, at very least, that he fully believes what he is saying.

However, it is also evident that he is worried about something - not about Correllageon. Something more about the Eldar? - and is keeping it back. Clearly he is uncertain whether he should say anything more.

 

 

 

 

(Anyone else who rolls a successful Per test can also read the above spoilered bit, and reveal it/act on it as they wish)

 

 

Edited October 14 by Lysimachus

[Trokair]

Alda

 

Spoiler

Per:48

D100: 26, Pass, 2 DoS

 

Closer, and yet not, for while they gains a step in clarity, so much of what they might need to know now appears lost entirely. If Huskarl Aykawa was to be believed.

 

“Did Lord Kine tell you the tale of how he survived when many did not? I saw a xeno’s rifle in his quarters the one time I was there, a trophy or keepsake from those events?

[Machine God]

Asterius:

 

 

“I did not see enough to identify them before Lord Asterius removed me from the danger.”

 

The slight Interrogator nodded respectfully and thankfully towards him.

 

 

Lord?

 

 

"You are too kind, Inquisitor Aykawa."

 

Asterius returned the nod with his own and clasped his clenched right fist to his chest in respect.

 

 

 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

Azadth:

 

Per: 55 (Helmet off)

D100: 89 lol, no. EdLar hulMeT sH1nY!

 

He let Ulfurbur finish, and allowed the Interrogator to reply.

 

'We do have one witness, do we not? Kine himself? Perhaps there is a soul that whispers secrets still?'

 

Something had gone over his head. Omoc's slight stance and Asterius' candour were replies. Whatever subtleties of double-speak he'd missed, he knew it happened - but ambushes were seldom detected by the obvious, but often by absence.

 

He hit Aykawa with his tried and tested penitent shrug and inoffensive, insufferably inscrutable smile.

 

Edited October 15 by Mazer Rackham

[Lysimachus]

The Interrogator nods at Alda's words.

 

“A splinter weapon? I remember it. Hanging there on his wall the first time I entered his staterooms. It is quite possible he brought it back when we returned from Correllageon, but if so I did not see it and so I cannot be sure. He never told me how he survived. He rarely spoke about the subject… and I was hardly in a position to press him over it.”

 

He turns as Azadth speaks.

 

“I sincerely hope so, sir. If Lord Kine recovers his faculties, perhaps with the appropriate treatment, he might be able to explain the whole situation?”

 

“However… if he does not…”

 

Aykawa pauses again, makes the sign of the Aquila across his chest, as though seeking the Emperor's blessing on what he is about to admit.

 

“...I think I still might have an idea of where to find these Aeldari corsairs?”

 

 

[A.T.]

Omoc

 

The Scorpions eyes narrow at the admission, "if they are know why have they not been persecuted? A whole world would turn from the Emperor and those that stood against Him allowed to slip away, and you know where they lurk?"

 

Such an omission would be a death sentence for almost anyone else, save for the ranks of the inquisition, and in Omocs judgement Kine and those beneath him had run short of excuses for their failures here.

[Lysimachus]

Scene 17. Haven

 

Aykawa looks at the Red Scorpion with something approaching fear.

 

“Please, Lord, I will try to explain. There is a place…

 

He stops, frowns.

 

“...no, I suppose I must go further back. My former master… before Lord Kine, that is… was Inquisitor Le Haime. He served the Ordo Xenos for almost eight hundred years, but in his latter days, he came to hold a more… radical… view of Mankind’s relationship with the xeno-species that infest our galaxy. Tolerance, mutual education, even co-operation in some cases.”

 

Aykawa's frown becomes a disgusted scowl.

 

“Heresy, I know. Eventually he was censured by others within the Conclave, declared Excommunicate, and executed. Most of his followers were also executed. However, some of us, who chose to aid the Conclave against him, were allowed to live… though we were not yet fully trusted. That is why I was assigned to Lord Kine, whose reputation as a staunch xeno-hunter was well known, both so that I could assist him at Correllageon and so that he could… assess… my loyalty. Two birds with one stone.”

 

The Interrogator then waves all this away as an aside.

 

“In any case, my point is that it now appears that the things I learned while serving under Inquisitor Le Haime may actually be of use! There is a place he knew of where we might find the Aeldari. Or, failing that, at very least gain more information about them? It is known as…”

 

He takes a deep breath.

 

“...as ‘the Bazaar’. A habitable moon orbiting a gas giant, hidden in an empty system on the outer edge of Imperial space, looking out into the Halo Stars. It is a nest for all kinds of xeno-filth, a neutral haven for the outcasts of dozens of races. A marketplace for trading contraband or stolen goods, a meeting ground where agreements can be made, a staging point where ships and raiding parties can be gathered… or hired.”

 

“There are those among Le Haime's former peers - senior members of the local Conclave - who say that such a place is useful, that it can be used by Mankind against the xenos, and that for now it must be allowed to continue to exist. Those few of the Conclave that are aware of its location would never reveal it - especially not to the Deathwatch, knowing how the ‘militant Astartes’ would almost certainly respond.”

 

Aykawa looks nervously around the Strategium at the gathered Space Marines.

 

“However, if these Aeldari are indeed mercenaries, and have been operating in local Sectors for as long as Ordo records suggest, it is exactly the sort of place they might be found. Therefore, I believe I must reveal its location to you, for I think it is the only way we will unravel this mystery and bring these ‘Serpents’ to justice.”

 

 

 

 

OOC: So, feel free to respond to Aykawa's information as you wish. Then, there will be decisions to make about where you want to go next.

 

As mentioned previously, Skaayn will take one of your 3 ships and return to Alucar - likely taking Kine with him in order to seek advanced medical assistance for the Inquisitor? So anyone else who wanted to return to Alucar could also do so.

 

Side point: Unless I hear from Sobek, I'm also thinking that he will take Bekkar Haalec with him, and will send him onwards to the nearest Watch-Fortress to carry a warning (in case there might be a greater threat to the Deathwatch as a whole). This obviously takes him out of our story and means I don't have to keep explaining his absence.

 

Another option, you could go on to Correllageon? Although Aykawa doesn't think there is much info to be gained there, maybe you would have more luck?

 

Alternatively, you could try the ‘Bazaar’ that he spoke of and try to find the Eldar there?

 

Or something else?

 

There are still 2 ships in orbit even after Skaayn takes one back to Alucar, so splitting up is not impossible, too? In which case, I'll leave it up to you to decide who takes what vessel where as well!

 

Feel free to discuss options in the OOC if you want!

 

 

Edited October 18 by Lysimachus