[BC] The Blackest Heart (IC)

[Trokair]

Tarh 

 

Perhaps it a flash of light out the corner of his eye, or the sound of las impacts approaching as the multi-laser unleashed a barrage. Either way instinct drove Tarh to duck, albeit awkwardly, out of the room entirely from where he had been using the door frame as a point to stead himself as he sought a clear shot at the mutant.    

 

Spoiler

Pinning Test

WP: 28 – 20 = 8

D100: 70, Fail

 

Dodge

Ag: 42 +10(Trained) = 52

D100: 92, Fail

Without the cover this is critical damage territory

Use Infamy point for reroll  

D100: 53, Fail, Really dice, that’s what you are doing to me?

Damage: 23 – 4Tb – 3(Armour 5 – Pen 2) = 16

If cover applies then a further - 6 (Cover 8 - Pen2) = 10 Damage taken

Tarh has 15 Wounds, Mazer your (or your dice’s) call, was the ‘might be in cover’ there or am I applying 1 point of critical?

 

[Machine God]

Kraggan:

 

His axe blow put the big Mutant down then Hagga threw a grenade forwards. Then all was death as the Multi-Laser Turret opened up on the group.

 

 

 

Pinning Test. WIL32 -20 = 12. Result: 12 Pass

 

 

 

Bolts of hard focussed light loosed into them, a bolt spanged off his Fallen Magos Power Axe as he turned towards targets in his sinister peripheral vision.

 

"Skulls!"

 

He roared as he charged diagonally upwards to the gap at the left of the cogitator banks near the door. If Xerxes couldn't tie up the Multi-Laser then he'd try to stop the Mining Laser that he had spied as he entered.

 

Speed and Mass will aid you. Vector Quantity.

 

 

He barrelled into the filthy Mutants, a hacking and a stomping in all directions.

 

 

 

(Full action) Charge Vs ML Mutants

WS41 +20 (Charge) +10 (Horde) = 71. Result: 34, Pass 4DoS = 3 Hits

Fallen Magos Power Axe, Damage: 2D10+4 E, Pen 6, Power Field (+1 Hit Vs Hordes), Unbalanced

Hit #1: 4 +1 +4 +3 (SB) = 12

Hit #2: 9 +4 +4 +3 = 20

Hit #3: 7 +4 +4 +3 = 18

Hit #4: 4 +8 +4 +3 = 19

Whirlwind of Death (WSB/2 = 2) +2 MAG

 

 

 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

Seryna:

WP: Fail, Pinned, down to Half Actions, already in cover.

 

ROUND 1 ENDS:

Horde 1 Mag Dam 8

Horde 2 Mag Dam 5

 

As Kraggan's mad charge completes, you all hear the following ring out.

Spoiler

 

 

Edited February 15 by Mazer Rackham

[Lord_Ikka]

The Smiler

 

Crux'as looked around the room. It was small, but not so small as to be confining or claustrophobic. The rockcrete slab the man was chained to was against the back wall of the room, a table near it covered in used "interrogation" tools. 

 

He scanned the ceiling and corners of the room. No picters or vox-links that he could see. Everything about this room stated that it was not normally an interrogation cell, merely a repurposed room with a sturdy door that was hastily made into a brig. 

 

"Well my dear fellow, you are not looking the best." 

 

The smile was one of heartfelt sadness, mixed with concern. The voice was pitched low- loud enough for the prisoner to hear, but the guard outside the door would not be able to distinguish anything particular. "No, do not talk yet. I have a little I want to say first."

 

He began pacing in front of the prisoner, keeping an eye on the man's face. 

 

"Let me see if I can lay out your recent history, or at least piece together what I can of various clues. You aren't a member of good standing of the great Imperium of Man, being part of one of the desperate pirate or smuggling clans that lay claim to this miserable rock. You've some sort of decent authority among them though, so you've done well enough at your chosen trade to be useful. I applaud you for that, surviving among such cut-throats and savages is a laudable achievement."

 

"Yet recently something happened. Perhaps a recent influx of slave-stock or a new crew came onto the station. Menials and lower-ranked men began to congregate and get more rowdy. Tools and technology began to disappear, maybe even weapons. The pirate captains and leaders cracked the whip, killed a few upstarts, but the discontent grew. Suddenly, a riot broke out and sides were formed. Not the normal fights between crews, but these purple-clothed rebels against everyone. Even worse, disgusting mutants joined the enemy's ranks and captured friends turned coat and fought against you as well."

 

"I tell you, I have seen many rebellions and uprisings. Helped many a cult or band of freedom fighters along. But I have never seen the unnaturalness that these "Hanged Men" display. They are cursed with some sort of xenos-tainted sickness, something that warps them and makes them less than human."

 

The Smiler moved close to the chained man. 

 

"I am not here to help you. Nor am I here to do what these xenos-lovers want. You want to escape their clutches. They want the Master Control Cipher to take over this rock. I do not have the power to free you, yet. What I hope is that within your head is something that can hinder their efforts. A fail-safe that will lock them out of control without destroying the station. I know that the tech-lords of Mars sometimes have such keys and plans, to stop enemies from infiltrating their machine-spirits until relief comes. If you have such, give it to me and I will present it as the control cipher. If not, we both will be fodder for these beasts."

 

His eyes glimmered as his voice deepened.

 

"What say you?"

Spoiler

Charm Test

Target - 62

Roll - 54

Result = Pass, no DoS

 

[Mazer Rackham]

Crux'As:

 

'Fair enough. I can...work...with that.' The man coughs, spits up phlegm and blood, depositing it on the floor away from you. He looks up with a hooded glance and gentle nod as he scans your neck. Satisfied, he relaxes, or as much as he can in the manacles. 'So, Torrin has thrown another...poor sod in here. Not...first. H-hopefully last...though. Water?' He coughs again.

 

He accepts the ladle of water from a stoup set up to catch the dripping condensate. It smells faintly of mineral salts, but is otherwise untainted. His parched throat sighs with blissful relief, and the choking stammer eases. 'What you...think...is as near to truth as anything else, as anyone would admit. These are men no longer, possessed by alien flesh and spirit.'

 

He matches your pitch and timbre, a mumble to anyone outside earshot. 'Unfortunately, if I tell you anything, good old Torrin will rip the truth right out your head. Then he'll have you for dinner.' The prisoner chuckles to coughing. Once his convulsions are over, he looks up at you with a certain, familiar cunning glint in his eye. 'Might work in our favour though.'

 

'Can you think two things at once, and believe both are true?'

[Lord_Ikka]

The Smiler

 

"My friend, truth and belief is malleable, deliciously so. My...patron, let us say, has opened my mind to the multitude ways of changeability. What you ask can be done, yes."

 

The Smiler blessed his faith in the Lords of the Warp. Truly, the Watcher of Ways has provided me a path to glory.

 

"So Druid's name is really Torrin? Good to know. "

[Mazer Rackham]

Crux'As:

 

The prisoner smiles. 'You know the value of these things. Then we may escape our fates here yet.' He licks his lips before going any further and nods at the stoup again.

 

With his whim obliged, he sighs in gratitude before leaning forward, clearing his throat and beginning to speak. You realise this is a performance, but equally, one that you must believe.

 

'This is the Master Control Cipher...'

 

And a few long moments later...

 

'Now, this is the Self-Destruct code...'

 

Edited February 15 by Mazer Rackham

[Mazer Rackham]

The Command Centre:

 

ROUND 2 BEGINS

 

Init Order:

Spoiler

Horde 1 (Mining Laser) 13

Ukalegon 12

Horde 2 (Rockhammer) 12 (Player Takes Priority)

Tarh Teshub 11

Xerxes 11

Cyrandras 11 (Player Priority due to Autopilot)

Hagga 10

Turret 10

Kraggan 7

 

The Horde contracts to beef up around Kraggan's desperate, hewing charge, the bodies thickening to protect the Hybrid.

 

Horde 1, Actions On:

Spoiler

Half Move (Congregate)

Half Action: Std Attack, Axe Rake

D100: 01, Hit +DoS (only one hit, no Swift Attack etc) Head, Dam: 13 Pen 4

Target is at -10 Parry due to Axe-rake.

Hybrid assumes Defensive Stance (2 x Evasions, can't Attack)

 

[ ] Ukalegon

[Necronaut]

Ukalegon

 

Placeholder (sorry, I will try to get caught up on these later today)

 

Seeing the hybrid adopt a defensive stance, Ukalegon levels his melta pistol at the abomination and with a growl commences to blasting.

 

Half Action: Aim

Half Action: Standard attack vs CCW Hybrid

BS40 + 10 (aim) + 10 (standard attack) = 60

D100: 04; 6 DoS

Hit Location: Body (40)

 

Inferno Pistol Damage: 2d10+10E, Pen 12, Melta

13 (2d10: 4, 9) + 10E = 23E damage, Pen 24 (12*2)

[Mazer Rackham]

Ukalegon's Hybrid:

Reaction: Evade/Dodge

D100: PASS.

GM: Just for the record, this is not the guy who entered Defensive Stance, that was Mining Laser Boy in Horde 1. This guy just stood around as though he wanted to smoke and talk shop.

 

Horde 2:

Actions: Stuff

Despite the grenade provocation, they hunker down and wait, not having a clear shot.

 

[ ] Tarh Teshub

 

[ ] Xerxes

GM: Now you've got a good look, you can see that the Multi-laser is an M36, but the mount is a Justitia XII Arbites class secure auto-traverse.

 

This is equipped with a precognition matrix that allows for more precise targeting, but because it's meant for prisons, it is harder to subvert. Acquiring control noospherically will be all but impossible, but there are alternatives - for example scrambling the matrix temporarily, or tricking the ammo feed into thinking the gun is empty to put it into a cycle of reloading. Both will prevent the weapon from firing but not observing.

 

GM: A Hard (-20) Tech Use Test will accomplish this.

 

[ ] Cyrandras

[ ] Hagga

 

[Trokair]

Tarh

 

Swallowing the yell of pain, it would not do to let any enemies know he was now injured and easy picking, Tarh shifted to take pressure of the scorched leg. As damaging as las fire was the cauterising effect could at times be a blessing. If he had been bleeding he thought he would have been either unconscious, or on the floor for slipping on his own blood, instead he was awkwardly crouching with his good leg, while cutting away remnants of the damaged voidsuite so as to get a good look at the wound.  

 

Spoiler

Half Action, Start First Aid Medicae (I’ll roll when I complete the action)

Unpinning Test

WP: 28 + 30 = 58

D100: 04, Pass Free to act normal next round

 

[Lysimachus]

Hagga:

 

Hagga continued to move forward, lobbing another grenade across the cogitator as he went. Soon. Soon. Another few metres would put him in range to hurl himself into combat.

 

 

Half Action: Move up to 5m forward again staying in cover behind the storage cylinders
Half Action: Standard Attack with Frag Grenade - Throw at Horde 2
BS41 +10(Standard) +10(Horde Size) +10(Short Range) = 71, Roll: 49, Hit
Frag G does 4+1(X) Hits vs Horde
Horde cannot Dodge/gets no Cover
Dam 2d10+2 Pen0 Blast
1. 5+10*+2=17
2. 2+6+2=10
3. 4+4+2=10
4. 9+3+2=14
5. 1+6+2=9

 

*Hordes don't suffer ZH Crit effects, do they?

 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

GM: (Hordes and ZH) Not that I know of. Narratively though, blowing an arm off, or sommat, is perfectly good to rep Mag Dam.

[A.T.]

Xerxes:

 

The nature of the mount meant that halting the weapon for more than moments would be difficult, but interference would be possible for a time. Extending his optical mechadendrite he sought to dazzle the targetting array while searching for a more permanent solution.

 

Not sure how high/low the weapon pod is in terms of reaching it but the mechadendrite can extend 3m and has a high intensity light - seemed like better odds to try and reduce the weapons accuracy rather than a 50/50 each round on pausing it.

 

Xerxes will spend an extra round looking for access ports or other ways to more permanently subvert the gun, or else a good spot to blast it or otherwise knock out the automated targeting if needed.

[Machine God]

Kraggan:

 

The filthy Mutant rabble fought back in the glorious fray with their axe-rakes.

 

One well aimed blade got close to taking his head, but a duck, a jink and a headbutt to deflect the blade away saved him. It broke his nose, but he was away.

 

 

 

 

AGL44 +0 (Dodge) = 44. Result: 43, Pass

 

 

 

He hawked a red booger of blood and mucus all over his assailant.

 

 

It matters not from whence the Blood flows, Only that it flows.

 

 

 

Edited February 15 by Machine God
typo

[Lysimachus]

Hagga:

 

As the second grenade exploded, throwing body parts into the air behind the bank of cogitators, Hagga grimaced. Though effective, the blasts must be drawing more and more attention, especially alongside the blaring klaxon. They would be coming. He noticed the mortal woman cowering by the doorframe.

 

“Seryna! Caleb needs you to pull it together! Focus! Any sign of reinforcements? Close it up at the first sign of movement, we don't want them coming at us from both sides!”

 

 

 

OOC: Hagga has Iron Discipline, which allows Followers a reroll of failed Fear/Pinning tests?

Edited February 15 by Lysimachus

[Mazer Rackham]

Xerxes:

 

The ocular precognition matrix twitches and tries to focus with the beam irritating it.

 

GM: I will now apply the Inaccurate Quality to the Turret as well as Range Bonus removal to represent its inability to properly gauge distance. The unit can obviously be damaged by gunfire. The unit is 4m from the ground, so you can just about reach it with your mechadendrites.

 

GM: Seryna will have to await the end of her turn for Snap Out, but is in cover from the gun, so WP +30. She can obviously sing out about threats, regardless.

[Mazer Rackham]

Cyrandras:

 

GM: As per Player instruction...

 

Cyrandras Actions On:

Spoiler

Half Action: Half Move (to take cover from Turret)

Half Action: Doombolt dude in CC with Ukal

Power Level PUSH (woopwoopwoopwoopwoop!)

Focus Power Test D100: 001

Hybrid already Dodged, can't Evade

Perils Test: 037 Daemonic Mask

 

Reality becomes greasy, the ebb and flow of time changes and something pushes through the veil, tearing with invisible claws, and settling on Cyrandras Rakash's shoulders in a mantle of unfathomable hue. His helmed countenance shrieks, with possibly what is the corruption in his own darkened hearts, the toothed, shrieking face almost a holographic mash, but this is no parlour trick or conjurer's fancy.

 

The Ultimate Reality made manifest - the nightmare behind the dreams of mankind.

 

The demonstration of power is sufficient to put the fear of hell, if not the dark gods whom dwell within, into the hearts of those with whim to understand it.

 

Hybrid in CC with Ukalegon explodes.

 

GM: All Players are required to take a Routine (+10) Fear Test. Cyrandras acquires +1 Corruption Point.

 

Turret:

Befuddled, the Turret opens fire on the only Target it can actually discern. Ukalegon.

 

Actions On:

Spoiler

FAB At Ukey (must prioritise Marines)

D100 (Cannot Aim, no Range bonus): PASS, 1 Hit:

Hit 1, Arm, Dam: 23 Pen 4

 

[ ] Kraggan

 

[ ] Seryna

WP Test (Fear)

D100: 97, FAIL. Shock Table = 108

Faints, unconscious.

 

Half Action: Shuffle into full cover (breathing hard from the experience of nearly having her sanity blitzed).

WP to Unpin:

D100: Pass, good DoS.

 

Edited Sunday at 06:02 PM by Mazer Rackham
Re-rool Seryna

[Necronaut]

Ukalegon

 

Placeholder

 

Fear Test: WP45 + 10 = 55

D100: 96; 4 DoF

Shock Table Roll (+40)

D100: 55 + 40 = 95

Ukalegon must move away from source of fear on his turn or take -20 to all tests. Can snap out of it once away from source of fear.

 

Reaction (if permissible) vs Turret

Dodge Test: Ag51 - 20 (Shock) = 31

D100: 03; 3 DoS

[Mazer Rackham]

GM: @Necronaut Yes, there are no restrictions imposed on your Evasion AFAICT. Further, on map inspection, I'm pretty certain Tarh and Hagga don't have LoS, so their tests are waived.

 

Edited Sunday at 03:45 PM by Mazer Rackham

[Trokair]

Tarh

 

Spoiler

Fear Test

WP: 28 +10 = 38

d100: 80, Fail, 5 DoF

Shock. D100: 13 +50(DoF) = 63 The character is frozen in terror. He may take no Actions until he snaps out of it. After snapping out of it, the character makes all tests with a –10 penalty for the rest of the Encounter. 

 

That sense of inherent wrongness of the Immaterium crept up his spine and into his mind. Shaking his head to dispel the unease, to no effect.

 

What had the Priest done now? 

 

There was a reason why he normally tried to stay away from the clergy, the gods and their kin where best honoured from a distance, with an unspoken prayer to not draw undue attention.

Edited Sunday at 04:18 PM by Trokair
Edit, Just saw Mazers post above, few, no fear here...

[A.T.]

Xerxes:

 

Sheltered behind his barricade and focussed on the weapon overhead Xerxes heard the shrieks and exclamations of fear behind. Another of the four armed creatures perhaps but it seemed unwise to turn and expose himself while the battle still raged on..

 

He mused that the krak grenade he carried might allow him to sever the control cogitator from the weapon without rendering the turret unserviceable by manual override.

 

Fear test 03 - pass.  Xerxes was clearly looking the wrong way when all this was happening.

[Mazer Rackham]

GM: @A.T. Yes, this is possible. Discerning where the casing and junction box for the weapon/cogitator are, a shaped charge like a Krak Grenade is perfectly suited. A Challenging (+0) Tech Use (Demolitions - specialist know how is not required, it's a wedge it in, and pull!) Test will seat, prime and detonate exactly where you want. 4+ DoF destroys the weapon outright.

[Machine God]

Kraggan:

 

Nearby the Witch drew forth its power and brought to bear a the most horrific and terrifying visage to scare the filthy Mutants.

 

 

 

Fear Test. WIL32 +10 (Routine) = 42. Result: 01 Pass 5DoS

 

 

 

Kraggan steeled himself and he was iron. He fought against the visage initially and then he laughed out joyously. For he saw past the horned visage to the true titan beyond, everywhere was blood, all was flame, the floor was a carpet of every skull imaginable. This titan, this Lord, he ruled the universe from his throne of skulls.

 

 

 

(Full Action) All Out Attack Vs ML Horde

WS41 +30 (All Out Attack) +10 (Horde) = 81. Result: 22, Pass 6DoS = 4 Hits

Fallen Magos Power Axe: 2D10+4 E, Pen 6, Power Field (+1 Hit Vs Hordes), Unbalanced

Hit #1: 2 +4 +4 +3(SB) = 13

Hit #2: 2 +6 +4 +3 = 15

Hit #3: 10 +7 +4 +3 = 24

Hit #4: 8 +3 +4 +3 = 18

Hit #5: 3 +2 +4 +3 = 12

Whirlwind of Death +2 Mag

 

 

 

Invigorated by the vision, Kraggan carried on a slashing, a chomping and a stomping further into the his foes.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

ROUND 2 ENDS:

Horde 1 Mag Dam 15

Horde 2 Mag Dam 10

 

Xenos/Mutants: Auto pass all morale tests

Edited Sunday at 08:51 PM by Mazer Rackham