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Into the Maw (Game Thread)


Re: Into the Maw (Game Thread)

Siggy chuckled a little when the ship returned to the Imperium, looking somewhat nervously around as he did so, thankfully, he was relatively alone. He had the utmost confidence in the residents of the Adeptus Mechanicus, on board, certainly, every ounce of faith in their ability to keep this ship solid through the warp. The fact that his fingers had almost reshaped the grip on the chair in his room more then once was a testament to how little confidence he had in the individuals who had to listen to the Adeptus Mechanicus' demands, he had heard this ship was under new navigator, under new crew, under new everything except captain, at least in regards to warp transit, and human error was the number one...no, only cause for any machine to ever falter. These cheery thoughts in mind, he headed for the bridge, putting the auto pistols that he'd been working to save in the Omnissiah's name under his pillow, and, doublechecking that the bolt pistols were there, heading to the bridge.

He arrived with a usual shit-eating grin on his face, cheering wildly to the crew on the walk over. Every single opportunity he had, he wanted to turn this little victory into a bonding exercise, they were a real crew now, they'd managed to go to hell and come back, now it was time to make some money. Looking at the people present in the bridge, he announced with a laugh, preceded by a salute to the Rogue Trader if she was present "Well! Anybody got any ideas where we're going yet?"

He was, honestly, happy to be out here in space, hunting down and killing things for pay. It was more honest then what you had to do planetside. Although he did still find the T'au discomforting, up until he was told to deal with them directly, they were the Rogue Traders' problem, not his....or until they were getting shot at, he wasn't 100% clear on whether his contract included protecting the Grayskins, but he wasn't going to take any chances on having his pay docked.
 
Re: Into the Maw (Game Thread)

Faydra stood up from the commander's chair that she had been lounging in, doing her best theatrical impression of brooding king from ages long past. The first leg of their journey had been completed without incident. The Gellar field had held and Anya had guided them directly to the area of space known among starfarers as the Battlefield.

As her Archmilitant strutted across the bridge in affable fashion to celebrate their good fortune, she decided it would be better to allow the man his joy rather than to inform him that they had only just begun, and that many more perilous and uncharted warp voyages would be in store for them. In fact, it would be their way of life now. And yet, having lived through a warp infestation, Faydra knew well the solitary prayer that her otherwise cynical mind clung to: May the number of warp entries equal the exits.

A dull, half-muted claxon at a short range sensors bench drew Faydra's attention.

"Ensign, report."

"The ship's sensors detect a salvation beacon, my Lady," a young, well-built and olive skinned officer responded.

Jacron was his name. A gorgeous man, from a house-sworn family dating back generations, not that such a thing meant much. There was truth to the claim that he had earned his way onto the command bridge through Faydra's bed chamber, but he had skill enough to keep his spot, and he had been loyal throughout the mutiny. He was nothing more than a beau and could never be more than that, given his lowborn status. But he was not so lowborn that Faydra would deny his presence beneath the sheets.

"The signal is weak, but it identifies itself as the Penitent Traveler, a pilgrim ship," Jacron continued. "It appears to be adrift in a debris field."

"Hail them for a response and send the sensor details to my personal data slate," Faydra commanded, stepping up to the main vid screen and peering down at the technical readout appeared before her. "I want a long range sensor sweep of the area. Voidmaster, put the ship on an approach with the origin of the signal, but let's take it slow. Tell the battery teams to be on standby."

She was aware that the presence of so much debris and space hulks offered the perfect scenario for an ambush. If any would-be corsairs thought that they would get the better of her, she would not be caught unawares.
 
Re: Into the Maw (Game Thread)

Anya gave a small frown as they dropped back into regular space. Her hand idly carressing her terminal as if to lend the Beneficent Murder comfort about leaving the Warp. She thought is was fitting she was to guide a ship that enjoyed the passage and mystery of the Empyrean as much as she did. She turned to watch the rest of the bridge crew now that her attention was no longer on the presense and tides of the warp.

She listened to the ensign's report with a frown. Hearing Faydra's order's she gave a small nod. Her mind thinking back on the ambush in the market, and her previous experience with pirates and debris fields. "If it is alright with you captian, My eye my be able to see things our scanners can not see in the debris." Waiting to see if she would allow her to use her third eye.

If given permission she would move to the front of the bridge and glance out into space. Her normal eyes closing as she opened her third eye, keeping it under her hood to avoid people viewing it. Concentrating upon the vast darkness just beyond the steel seperating her from the void. She sent her mind forth into the void. Her eye seeking the faint trail of ships as she searched the path ahead and around them.

Using the powers Tracks in the Stars and Void Watcher.

Tracks in the Stars allows Anya to detect a ship's trail with a warp drive as if it was leaving tracks.

Void Watcher allows Anya to see and search the space outside of the ship. Though her search is only limited to things she could see. So she could see other ships or objects in space, but not much beyond what she could see with her eyes. The range for this power is either 4 VU's or 4000km .

Both Powers on page 181

Tracks in the Stars Test
18
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Void Watcher Test
63
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Re: Into the Maw (Game Thread)

After the talk with the xenos, Noemi returned to her duties. She still had a bitter taste in her mouth, but nevertheless, the ship and all those on boards safety relied on her able to do her job. And previous failures to keep her informed had no impact on her ability to do her job now.

Soon they were underway, jumping through the void. Most found this unnerving, but it wasn't much concern to Noemi. The field was fine, the Navigator seemed in good health, so all was fine. And sure enough they hopped out of warp safe and sound. Course, safe was relative. The Battleground. She'd heard of it, never been. It fit the name well enough. Plenty of wreckage to get caught on, or to hide a ship or two in.

The guntoter seemed quite pleased with the events. He clearly hadn't been on much space travel to think that was of much note. It was the standard of space travel.

Speaking of hiding a ship or two, there was a reading on a salvation beacon from a pilgrim ship. She noted the responder. One of the Captain's bedbunnies. Still, he knew his job and that was good enough for her.

The Captain clearly was thinking the same thing Noemi was. This was a pirate trap. Had all the usual flags of it. Course, the possibility of it not being a trap prevented them from just shelling the location. Among other reasons. Personally she'd have preferred to ignore it. But this worked too.

Time to get to work.

"Aye Captain! All hands to your stations. Setting approach vector now. Easing her in. Gun Stations, prep batteries 2 to 6 and standby for further orders. Engine crew, keep an eye on the readings, we might need to accelerate suddenly, I want you to be ready if I need to push it."

Until they were certain this wasn't a trap, she was going to assume there was a whole enemy fleet out there. She wanted to be ready to bolt them out of there if the situation demanded it.
 
Re: Into the Maw (Game Thread)

Faydra gave Anya a nod and then cast her own gaze forward to the command bridge's sensor array, looking at the visuals and trying to get a sense of her own, as the ship moved forward, if there was going to be a trap.

"Ishta," she said in a hushed voice as the Beneficent edged its way through space. "Can you sense anyone out there? Possibly make contact with someone from the distressed vessel?"

The rogue trader had a momentous desire to not be drawn into a costly trap at the first hurdle. She wanted to make full use of the talent she'd drawn together - navigator, astropath, pilot, and ship sensors - to ensure that this venture generations in the making would not end with premature disaster.
 
Re: Into the Maw (Game Thread)

"I can try to reach out to the ship if it's within a few kilometers. We aren't there yet, I fear that if it is a trap, it will be sprung by the time we get that close." Ishta explained, her eyes on the viewport herself, scanning the debris field ahead of them.

"Past that, I can head to the choir chamber and try to relay a message, but that will take at least an hour, and probably longer. Even then, there's no guarantee they have an astropath alive and in calm enough condition to receive it, or to send a message back. I will still make the attempt if you wish, of course."
 
Re: Into the Maw (Game Thread)

"That's unfortunate. Never mind then. If we make it to within a few kilometers and no trap is sprung, I'll use your powers to scan the ship before we make a boarding party."

Faydra kept her eyes on the sensor grid, watching for movement as the Beneficent made headway towards the distress signal.
 
Re: Into the Maw (Game Thread)

Siggy looked tired for a moment, looking at the ship. He remembered similar nonsense from dozens of occasions, where people died horrible, tragic deaths as a ship was gutted.

He stared at the hul...no, don't think of it like that, it doesn't have near enough parts...the ship...as he considered the situation. Ships always had thin hallways. Shotguns would be good, and he was sure he could find some people with those. Longrifles would be fairly worthless....

The thought that it might possibly be 100% peaceful and innocent never crossed his mind. The fact was, this was an old pirating trick, and, on the offchance their ship legitimately did not function, they would like as not rather take the Rogue Traders then perform as new crew.

With all these thoughts coating his mind, he looked at the Rogue Trader and stated bluntly, albeit as quietly as he could, avoiding letting any of the crew hear him "M'lady, it's either a trap intentionally or unintentionally, I doubt they'll be too happy to ride into the Koronus expanse if they did set an honest distress signal, which means they'll probably try for a strike for the head. If they didn't, the parts will thankfully take a while to power up, so they have confidence in their guns and arms. I suggest sending in a boarding party through the Omnissiah thrice-blessed teleportarium if they can't respond to hales from the comm system. Much as I would hate to waste or risk damaging the machine, even if the boarding party is relatively helpless at escaping, it provides far more information in regards to what the ship has on it. And if it's xenos as boarded the ship and, through some blessed means the armsmen are holding them off for the beacon to remain, and it's a working ship and everything is holy if we get there fast enough, the entrance of a quick strike force will provide enough distraction and damage to both potentially end the issue then and there, and to provide us with more time for an organized response to slaughter the scum."

Having said this, he felt rather proud with himself. It sounded like sound tactics from what he remembered of the command arguing amongst each other.
 
Re: Into the Maw (Game Thread)

"At this point, Commander Siegismund, we have no indication that the distress signal is even coming from an intact ship. If indeed it's a trap, and I share your suspicion that it is, I would expect the enemy to NOT be the decoy, but to be hidden somewhere within the debris field, intending to strike at us while we are unawares - hence why I am monitoring the sensors and relying upon my Navigator at the moment."

Her lapis lazuli gaze tilted at her cyborg officer, wondering if he thought himself particularly insightful.

"If the webwork of Malfian politics has taught me anything, commander, it is the value of patience and fore-knowledge. Fools rush in, but more fools will ignore an opportunity. This is what we have here, whether it is a trap or true distress. I simply want to know what I am up against. The Beneficent is armed and well-prepared for battle, and as you note, we have the advantage of archeotech on our side. That is something that an enemy could not possibly anticipate. I intend to give any potential brigand just enough rope to hang themselves with.

"Since you are so eager to display your tactical prowess, assemble a selection of armsmen and have them standing by for boarding action at the teleportarium. You will be a part of the strikeforce that wins me my first prize, Emperor willing."

She smiled winningly at the man, even though she knew perfectly well that he had just suggested that such a strike team could end up being helpless. She found such a consideration to be unbecoming in an archmilitant. To her mind, she employed this man to look forward to fighting battles on her behalf. She hoped that if this situation turned out to be a trap, he would prove himself worthy.
 
Re: Into the Maw (Game Thread)

Siegismund saluted at the order, almost immediately, with a grin with far too few teeth, and stated immediately "Aye, captain. I'll get some of my boys gathered together, and, presuming your permission, grab an enginseer. If, as you suggest, this is a trap using the ship as bait, there's always the potential they were too stupid to truly cripple it."

With that, he saluted, and, immediately after the response was done, went to connect to the MIU systems of the ship, convincing the voxsystems throughout to announce his intention to conquer the derelict. He had work to do, and people to keep alive. He left a note for a specific enginseer, one Jerrichus, presupposing the Rogue Trader hadn't objected, that there was an opportunity that, Omnissiah Willing, he'd get the opportunity to be the first Enginseer aboard to access and enable new systems. Of the remainder of the command crew, he took none. He considerred contacting the grays, but realized they'd be virtually worthless at the short distances anyway.

The announcement sung out, in a variety of different names, across the ship, as thus "-Insert name here-, come to the teleportarium in battle ready gear. Shotguns, armor and sidearms. This is not a drill."

In total, he had demanded twelve people, most of them from his old gang, or that he knew from naval days. Nobody impressive, and most of them with enough trust in his stability, although perhaps not his judgement, that they'd follow him into the monstrosities ahead.
 
Re: Into the Maw (Game Thread)

"I am not seeing anything yet." Anya kept her eyes closed. Letting her third eye take her vision out beyond the steel and iron shell of the ship. Her eye searching for the glowing trails of other ships as she zoomed in and out of the wreckage surrounding them. Her eye searching for intact ships their sensor were likely to miss. Hoping that such trails would allow her to find any ships that had been active recently and allow her to give a warning should a trap be sprung.

Using the powers Tracks in the Stars and Void Watcher.

Tracks in the Stars allows Anya to detect a ship's trail with a warp drive as if it was leaving tracks.

Void Watcher allows Anya to see and search the space outside of the ship. Though her search is only limited to things she could see, as if she were floating through space like a ghost. So she could see other ships or objects in space, but not much beyond what she could see with her eyes. The range for this power is either 4 VU's or 4000km .

Both Powers on page 181

Tracks in the Stars Test
18
You must be registered to see the links


Void Watcher Test
63
You must be registered to see the links
 
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