The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Thiopia shook her head at the prospect of splitting the cell.

"No." She held up her hand and extended a finger. "This place is rife with ganger filth, and two are a much easier-looking target than four, especially when the targets are us, with things actually worth taking. Or... two, and a dog, as it may be."

She extended a second. "We've better sources to work. This 'Evard Zed', 'Sikes', Luntz and his gangers, mayhap Warden Locan. We've plenty that might bear fruit, rather than sifting more of the same sorrows as Ms. Arbest's and hoping blindly for someone with knowledge as well as the willingness to part with it."

A third finger. "I don't like these close halls."

A fourth. "We're wasting perfectly good time. Train platform. Move, and be watchful."

The hand flipped, shooing them forward.

 

[lurker]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Zieg was quiet as the rest of the cell discussed and talked, having already been dead-set on what he was doing. Shifting a bit on his feet, he took the moment to take a quick drink from his flask, mentally prepping for the next part of the operation.

"Whatever we do, we can't factor out that whoever took Mr. Arbest may attempt taking Ms. Arbest if we leave her here, and at this case, all this yap is just going to raise the chance we miss the train. Whatever we do, we should figure it out quickly."

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

"So shut up and move," Thiopia repeated, annoyed. "Do you think this is a council? Because it isn't. We are ceasing to gawp about like slack-jawed ogryns now and going to the cursed station! Get!"

With that, she flipped the Arbites towards the door and pushed.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Gallus wordlessly begins to move, muttering in tech cant to his cybermastiff, who gives one last low growl at the ventilation shafts in the ceiling above before moving off with its techpriest master down the narrow hallway to the landing of the stairs. Lili Arbest stays close to the Arbitrator's side, carrying her rucksack over her shoulder.

In front, besides Gallus, is Mordeci, the Metallican Merc in his wide-brimmed hat, his smoking lho-stick chomped between his teeth and hanging loosely out the side of his mouth. Bringing up the rear and still shooing them all like some sort of bizarre, rainbow-haired nanny autorcrat, is Thiopia.

They manage to get to the street when they are greeted by a small crowd of people walking down the street in their direction. Most seem to have the garbs of factory workers with the insignia of the Tantalus Combine. Likely, they are returning from their workshifts to their homes. Some of them recognize Lili, and interestingly enough, they take some brave steps towards the group until Lili waves them off.

"Neighbors," she explains after the concerned workers move off. "There are some good people left here in Corscala. But they don't know what happened to Saul and they're worried about themselves too. I hope that whatever's going on, the people from my hab don't get caught up in it."

As the group reaches the Worker's Union, a group of gangers seems to take interest in the party, particularly one heavily electoo'd, dark-skinned, tough-looking individual with multiple lip and eyelid piercings. He wears the yellow and green ganger colors that seem popular over at the Union.

"Oh, Throne..." Lili says as she makes eye contact with him. "That's Argus. Luntz' enforcer... He was really angry with me asking questions yesterday, but he didn't do anything because Warden Locan was drinking at the Union when I was there..."

Argus, with his eyes now narrowly analyzing the whole group, elbows some of the smaller thugs around him and says something to them. Their eyes as one follow his and fall upon the acolytes. One of the men runs inside the Worker's Union while Argus and three others begin to approach the group.

The acolytes are about halfway between Argus and the Worker's Union and the entrance to the narrow market lane that leads to the main Corscala plaza, where they had had the earlier meeting with the local enforcers. The workshift crowds are thinning out, and the merchants are hastily closing up their stalls in anticipation of the oncoming night cycle.

 

[Caulder]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Mordeci's right hand drops to hang rather close to the las pistol he carries at his side, the fingers flexed slightly as he raises his head to look at the ganger, his lho-stick's smoke wafting slowly upward and around his hat brim as he steps forward to stand between the gangers and the rest of the group, his Lasgun slung over his back in plain view, and his pump shotgun hanging within his coat in plain sight. "Mind telling me what I can do for you gentlemen?" he asks, taking a drag from his lho-stick and then blowing it out the other side of his mouth in a steady stream.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Argus is a big man, unusually so for a hiver, perhaps to the point that he may have originated from off-planet, though if such is the case, it begs a lot of questions as to how he ended up as a gang lieutenant in a low midhive sub district as squalid as the Corscala.

He remains silent at first, looking down at Mordeci as though he were some sort of rodent that had become a thing of curiosity by dint of having approached a larger predator rather than scurry away from it.

Argus wears a hiver jacket torn away at the shoulders to reveal well-developed arm muscles, electoo'd heavily with insignia's of chipped human skulls with needle like teeth dripping with some kind of ichor or blood. Beneath these he had tally marks lining his bicep, marked crudely with some kind of monoblade. He wore a colorful double sash of yellow and green, with shiny trinkets tucked or sewn into it so as to make for a rather bling piece of kit for someone of his station. A nasty looking handcannon is tucked into the front of his trousers, and his hand rests close to it on his hip as he stares off with Mordeci.

Behind him, the three other gangers seem to grin like jackal-mutts, their lower jaws hanging low, showing their lower teeth and tongues. They guffaw and one slaps the other with a grimy hand, chuckling as he does so: "'Ear that Povi? Hat man thinks we're gentle men. Can you scrounge that?"

The thug, Povi, shakes his head incredulously. "Throne on one leg, he is, Frizzo my chum... Fancy uphiver come down to slum it in poor ol' Corscala. Waving his fancy guns like 'es the fucking Combine hisself..."

"They don't look half bad, boys," the third lesser thug says, weighing in with the other hyenas behind Argus. "Always wanted meself a shotty. An they say ammo's cheap for dem las-os. Cheap as a shit-fed fire they is."

"Enough." Says Argus in an accent that differs from the others, holding up his off hand in a fist to quiet the thugs behind him. His eyes then roam past Mordeci to look at Lili.

"I told you yesterday. You ask a lot of questions. Now you ask questions, and you've got new friends with guns. You don't take my warnings to heart, little girl, do you?"

Lili seems to get angry at this, but she makes a half step behind Zieg.

"Well, I'm leaving - you'll be happy to know. My friends from uphive were just showing me to the station. You'd be stupid to mess with them. They're all trained soldiers!" She says, to which Argus makes no visible reaction. The thugs behind him though do stop smiliing and seem to have their hands edging closer to their own guns. Argus grunts and holds up his fist again to stop them.

"It's too late for that now, stupid girl. Your questions got noticed. You could have left, should have left days ago, if you knew what was good for you. But you stayed too long. Now, if you want to live, you have to stay. Chord Luntz knows you have some scrivener talent. He could use a girl like you. I could use a girl like you. You stay with us, we'll take care of you. Maybe we'll even help you find your brother. But you go with them..."

He nods to the acolytes. "You'll die within days. You're being watched."

Lili scowls darkly. "Like I'd want any part of you obscura-pushing parasites or your 'protection!' If Saul's gone, and you know anything about what's going on, then you lot let it happen!"

"Insolent girl!" Argus says, his eyes going wide. "You think the Warden can protect you? You think the law is here to keep you safe? Corscala is gang territory now. We are the protectors. Luntz is the only one who can keep you safe."

"Luntz is a drug-dealing, whore-mongering, cockroach." Lili spits back at Argus, causing the large man's jaw to tighten. The large veins in his neck visibly pulse beneath his skin.

"If you want to know what happened to your brother. I suggest you stay at the Corscala Hostel tonight. Then, if you want to live, you will re-evaluate what you think of us."

Lili looks away, her eyes hard, but still clearly searching for an answer that isn't presenting itself to her. Meanwhile, Argus and his ganger thugs stand before the acolytes for the moment, should the agents of the inquisition wish to do something in response to all this.

 

[Caulder]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Mordeci takes a single, long drag, finishing his lho-stick and spitting it off to his side. "Easy, now. That's no way to speak to a lady, especially someone under the protection of Coblast Assay." he says, his right hand twitching in anticipation of the potential fight that might erupt any second. "What say you boys just slink back to the holes you crawled out of, and let the lady be about her business, lest you end up with a new hole in your skull, hm?" he says, his hand actually resting on the handle of his gun, his fingers ready to clutch and draw in the event it does become a shootout.

 

[lurker]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Zieg frowned a bit as the gangers accosted them, and the frown only deepened as this 'Argus' and his ill-mannered thugs got in a minor confrontation. He took a second to glance at his timepiece, giving a deeper frown at the time they were wasting, before stepping towards Mordeci- ensuring all the time the young Miss was kept behind him, and not really bothering to hide the fact that he had a shotgun slung for easy reaction time.

"Look, I don't know what this agenda of yours is, and I'm sure it's gloriously fascinating, but we're cutting short on time here. I'd personally be curious about who exactly you're concerned about watching her but the entire reason we're with her now is to ensure that she gets to a safer place on this godforsaken dustball, where the fuzz ain't in ganger pockets and actually gives a Throne about a proper job. At the very least, we can all agree that she'd be in better protection with a working police force, yes?"

Even though he was trying to talk out of a fight, he did a quick once-over for a good place to dive into cover, should it really come to it. If need be he'd grab Lili and chuck her into it, and hope the flak jacket would be enough to block some of the rounds the Hivers may have. Hopefully none of them had Judgeslayers, though with how Argus was built he'd not be surprised.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Argus sneered at the acolytes.

"No hole in my head. Just another tally on my arm," he growled at Mordeci before eying Zieg. "If you trust the enforcers, then you're a fool. Here, or in any other zone in Sibellus. Corrupt pigs sucking on the teats of their noble house sows - or worse. In the underhive, you always know where you stand."

The big thug shifted his gaze among the acolytes and Lili.

"I've tried to let you make the smart choice on your own. But if you're determined to ignore my advice, then it's your own skin. But mark my words... If you step on that train, you won't escape Corscala. What's here... it has a reach beyond the division. Beyond the city. Beyond worlds. You can't disappear in the system. You have to go beneath it."

Argus took two steps backward, at which the men behind him eased their hands off of their guns.

"Your choice."

With that, Argus stood there, but made no attempt to pull his weapon or call out to Lili anymore. For her part, the young Miss Arbest was quiet, hiding her face away from having to look at the ganger.

"Let's just go," she said to Zieg, tugging at the acolyte's arm.

Gallus' cybermastiff growled mechanically and narrowed its occular implants. The tech priest leaned over to Thiopia and muttered in low gothic: "The mastiff detects trace elements of several high grade narcotics - enough to warrant a severe conviction in Sibellus' local court. We have grounds to bring this one in for questioning if we were to use the local enforcer office."

 

[lurker]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

A sharp twitch of his fingers was starting to itch in his hand now as the conversation swiftly continued to death spiral. Time was cutting short, these men were higher than a Krak missile, and the included notice that they were in no true mental state to argue with certainly wasn't helping.

Still, Zieg continued to stand before Ms. Arbelest, his eyes narrowed as he tried hard to think of a proper plan of attack. On the one hand, these men KNEW something... on the other hand, he wouldn't trust another pack of gangers anymore in his life. Knowing the sleeze they were showing before, he really wasn't going to trust stuff from now.

"Indeed Don't think this is over though, men. I have some very specific things I wish to ask you later, but for now we have our charge to deal with," he hisses. "I trust you won't cause us any more issues right now."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Argus doesn't bat an eye at Zieg's words.

"Corscala hostel. Tonight. Maybe if you're worth a damn, we can talk," he says. "Hope you're there, Lili."

Turning around, the ganger and his accomplices move back the way they came, going to the Worker's Union as the dinner crowds from the alms house make their way hurriedly back to their homes. The lights above on this hive level's ceiling begin to dim further than they normally are.

"We've got to hurry," Lili murmurs. "Or I won't make the train."

If the acolytes don't instigate anything with the gangers, they are able to make their way through the closed market stalls and across the main plaza, arriving at the train station with five minutes to spare. The last train out of Corscala for the night is there, and a small crowd has gathered.

A familiar pair of enforcers stands next to a drooling, malfunctioning servitor, who sways uncomprehendingly from side to side. A queue has formed in front of the enforcers who are checking identity papers for those wishing to board the train.

"What's going on?" Lili asks one of the factory workers in line that she seems to recognize.

"Surprise travel inspections," the worker says. "Though the normal servitor seems to be out of commission, so the enforcers are checking papers one by one. It's taking forever and the train is automated. By the Throne, I want to be on it! Last night the hab across my hall was busted open. Fucking cannibal dregs if you ask me! No way am I waiting around for them to come get me tonight!"

Lili sighs and fishes around in her rucksack for her papers. Drawing them out, she clutches them and taps her feet.

"I guess you've taken me as far as you can. I don't expect you to babysit me here," she says, turning to Zieg. "Evard Zed was my brother's friend. I'm sure he knows something. If you see him, tell him Lili says she forgives him for what he said to me by the statue that one time. He'll know what it means, and I'm sure he'll help you if he knows I'm safe. Thanks for helping me get away from those gangers, Argus would've been trouble without you there for me. I hope you find out what happened to my brother. If you find him, alive or... otherwise. Let me know. I'll be staying here."

She hands Zieg a note with an address on it describing a slightly more uphive district.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Spoiler

Shit, I thought I'd poasted <_>

Thiopia was silent throughout their encounter with the gangers, watching from the rear of the group. The techpriest whispered to her, but - and she felt dirty for it - that filthy hivescum that spoke for the other side did have a point. If that chief Lili had reported to was so terrified when she had made her inquiries and her reports to him about Saul, and if the average grunts of the 'law' walking these corridors the same as those they'd had that run in with earlier, then she really had no interest in reporting them to said 'law'. Warp, they were probably paid off, anyway, if they could afford to tote such drugs around in such a destitute place, and she'd probably just get herself singed sticking her nose in where it had no business. That would not help her mission much at all.

So she said nothing, and let the rest of her group handle it, netting them a questionable new lead, as liable to set them on the right path as get them riddled with lasbolts in this Emperor forsaken warren, in the process.

Upon arrival at the station, they found two goons rifling through the station-goers papers. Despite just being some hivescum, Arguses' words sent a chill up her spine. Lili very well couldn't be protected if she did get on that train and went uphive, far and away from Thiopia and her cell's place here... and while her life honestly wasn't that important to their mission, Thio nevertheless didn't want to see it claimed by whatever freakish heretics had ended Saul, nor the carrionhawk Luntz that preyed on this blackened husk of a ruin, wishing her her free and alive primarily as a show of disdain for the two.

She couldn't tell if Argus was bluffing or not, and had not the experience with these sorts of Hive gangs - or indeed, Hives in general - so she decided to leave it up to Lili and fate. Maybe she'd manage to get past them and onto the train. Maybe there, she'd not be killed by whatever thugs set after her. Maybe the train would come and go, and maybe she'd go to the Hostel, or maybe she'd just return to Saul's ruined apartment.

Whatever happened, Thiopia snuck a glance at the address she handed Zieg, making a mental note to ask this Evard about it, and whether or not Luntz's reach extended so far, or if the crime lord there would, sensibly, keep a rival's fingers out of his pie.

 

[lurker]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Zieg's reply to the gangers was a quiet nod and a grim frown. ">Believe it,<" he muttered, regressing to some of his ganger slang for a sec.

When reaching the station, he gave a hiss under his breath at seeing the two layabout constables. "Great, with those two at the helm, half of these people won't make the rails before it leaves," he grumbles.

As Lili spoke to him again, he once again moved to one knee to be level with her. "I won't lie, I'm not comfortable just leaving you here, especially if the train leaves before the line is gone," he admits, shifting a little. Still, he took the adress from her, memorizing it before sliding it into a pocket of the overcoat. "I promise, when this is all over, I will give you as much truth as I had found about this matter. You can hold me to my word there," he admits with a smile.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Lili shrugs. "Wait here if it suits you. I don't mind."

The casualness with which she delivers this line to Zieg in particular belies the nervousness evident in her posture. Her rucksack bundle is drawn close to her hiver coat, and drawn about defensively with her arms. She looks like most of the Corscalans around her: vulnerable, and stuck in a surreal, stunned state, forlorn of hope. Lili at least puts on a brave face about it when she senses Zieg looking at her.

"Thanks for your word, too." Lili adds as the line inches forward, but nowhere near the pace it requires as the train pulls into the station.

"Not many people bother giving their word anymore. Life's too uncertain. But I believe you'll try to keep it. That's a kindness."

There's a rumble of anxious people in the line as the train's doors slide open with a metallic grating sound and a hiss. The enforcers checking the papers look up with a small grimace at the line in front of them. The two of them huddle together for a moment, and then the more talkative one from before steps forward.

"All right, folks. It's your lucky day. We'll assume that everyone that needs to be here has the correct travel papers in order. Go on through."

The enforcer waves his hand towards the open train doors, and for some reason, the prick's put on a magnanimous tone that sounds completely foreign to him.

A glance around reveals mostly relieved faces on those in the crowd, and not wanting to let the moment of lax security get away from them, they quickly shuffle towards the train. Lili waves to the group, with another kind look towards Zieg, before joining them.

Thiopia and Morcedi happen to be glancing around at this point when they notice that with the announcement, another small crowd of very poor looking hivers have slipped out of a side ally with alarming alacrity and moved in with the other boarders. Another glance at the enforcers shows that the two guards have obviously seen this new crowd, but after looking at one another, they shrug and start heading towards the enforcer station to the west end of the plaza. It appears that without any sort of intervention, everyone will board the train in time for the final departure.

After this, the Corscalan evening cycle would quickly be coming on, and soon enough the acolytes will find themselves in nearly pitch darkness.

 

[Caulder]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Mordeci tips his hat back, eyeing the crowd that had appeared out of the woodwork. "We about ready to get a move on? We do have a mission needs doin', right?" he says, his Metallican accent slipping through, as he then tips his hat back down and adjusts his coat with a firm pull of both sides of his collar. "Course, I could be mistaken, and we're just here for sightseein'." he says, his attention back on the rest of the group, sarcasm practically dripping from his voice.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Thiopia's eyes narrowed at the sudden leniency towards bureaucracy the enforcers had shown. With the appearance of some desperate-looking folk that those slimy enforcers had clearly seen, and that filthy ganger's warning earlier, the noble was on guard, and shortly afterwards her hand shot out, to catch Lili by the arm.

"Something's fishy," she muttered to her. "Don't get on this train. You know your letters, but do you know numbers? I may be looking for a personal secretary."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Lili flinched at Thiopia's sudden movement, confusion clearly evident as she took in the 'fishy' comment, which to a noble coming from an agricultural world of course made perfect sense, but for a low-income, hive-bound girl whose wildest splurge in natural food came from roast vapour rat marinated in the combined powdered gravies of O and Y rations, it was a bizarre notion whose meaning could only be gleaned from tone and context. Thankfully, Lili chose to follow Thio's eye line and when her gaze too fell upon the obvious dregs boarding the train, she as well seemed to reconsider.

"N.. numbers... yes. Yes I know my numbers," Lili said, her mind still catching up to the situation, until finally she put the situation clearly into the open.

"That crowd doesn't look too friendly - they wouldn't have a chance of normally getting on the train dressed like that. The enforcers usually hunt obvious dregs for sport, practically. This is strange..."

The yellow light above the doors lit up, giving a five second warning for the doors about to close. The train was full up, save for Lili, the acolytes, and the enforcers, who now appeared to be talking among themselves. However, a casual glance was given now and again to the group from the officials, and this fact was not lost on Lili.

"What do we do?" She said, turning to Zieg, but now also looking to Thio, who had stepped in as well to prevent her from going on the train.

A warning claxon sounded, and a garbled vox recording of a mechanized male voice sounded out a warning to stand back from the train line as the doors were closing.

Seeing that Lili had not boarded the train and apparently was staying behind, the two guards had stopped their conversation and were now both eyeing the group with an appraising stare.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

Thiopia ignored Lili's question momentarily. She turned to the two enforcers and gave them a guarded smile, dipping into a curtsy, and simply turning her back and leaving the platform, still gripping Lili's arm and expecting the rest of the group to follow along.

Once they were some distance away, she answered the Arbest sister's question.

"Don't know," she said plainly. "But that train was very likely to have ended poorly. It may be that playing along for a little while until a better opportunity comes up is probably a good idea."


Thiopia sighed. This was really only going to complicate things for her, but she didn't like just letting such a poor girl as Lili blunder into such an obvious trap... it rankled her sensibilities. The corruption permeating this place offended her - perhaps it was different for Hive nobility, but the self-serving 'officials' they allowed to govern this place in their name and the name of the Emperor, and the criminals they sanctioned were disgraceful, and she didn't want to give them the satisfaction of a plan gone right.

"So. Corscala Hostel?"

 

[lurker]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

"Tophia, what are you-" Zieg starts to argue, before getting a good look at the train himself. A frown crosses his face as he shifts a bit in annoyance.

"Yeah... in hindsight, this may not have been my best idea," he admits with a sigh, looking a tad embarrassed. "Great, I guess we got no other choice. Still, I suggest caution. Who knows what ideas they'll have after the booze wears off..."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)

The enforcers' eyes followed the group as they left the train station platform, heading north, back to the plaza. Lili drew her hiver coat around her slim frame and kept her rucksack close.

Gallus murmurs a quiet consent to Thiopia's suggestion that they head towards the hostel. And just as he says this, a mechanical vox announcement blares from a public address system built into the steel sky above.

"Night Cycle in effect. Arterial doors closing. For your own safety, civilians must stay clear of closing gates."

With a massive whir of ancient machinery, the arterial road leading out of the Corscala district is lit up in spotlights of dull yellow, and a claxon whines as two massive walls of plasteel begin to close together about a mile or so to the party's left. Once the doors close, the district will be cut off from other districts with the exception of the train lines until the day cycle begins.

"We have about five minutes until the lights go off," Lili says. "Then it will be pitch black in any place that doesn't have a street light, and most of those glow globes are broken. If you want to get to the Corscala Hostel, it's just to the north of the plaza, at that hab block next to the Templum."

Gallus' mastiff growls and looks backwards, seeing the enforcer duo strolling behind the group. The armored grunts tail away immediately toward the enforcer station, though they still occassionally glance at the group as it marches away.

"Look, it's Warden Locan," Lili says, pointing towards the market laneway where an older figure with a slight limp in his step is moving away to the east, about to disappear among the stalls. "He looks like he's headed for the worker's union," she says, slightly disapprovingly. "Guess even the man in charge of the local enforcers needs some amasec... or other vices. It's troublesome to see just how comfortable he is in a place run by a crimeboss like Luntz."

Lili shivers, then looks over at Zieg and Thiopia. "I'm also nervous about this meeting with Argus at the hostel. I don't trust those underhivers to have my interests in mind - at best, Argus just has an eye for me and wants me to end up a junkie floozy like most girls who hang around the union. At worst - I don't even want to think about it. I know it's not the greatest of options, but we could go back to my place. We wouldn't make it there before dark but we might avoid Argus."