The Great Price (Game Thread)

[lurker]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

Another brief shudder came to her upon the mention of the name of the beast- though not directly in her memories, the havoc they had caused her homeworld would not soon be forgotten from history. Still, the first time she had seen one of these beasts was today...

Moving nearby the Marine as he worked, she quietly watched him and his strange tech use, one eye keeping a look at the empty streets as well. At his apparent scan's completion, she tilted her head a little. "What's wrong, Brother?"

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

In her training against the powers of the warp, her custodians on board the Black Ships had rightfully shielded Mallia from unnecessary knowledge of the other, more physical terrors of the universe. Now that she had seen the corpse of one such xeno up close, the psyker understood why. The thing seemed designed for death dealing, and only by the will of the Emperor had she lived through this first encounter with it. Tyranids, was it? She codified such terminology into her mind as something she must learn how to exterminate with righteous prejudice, and despite its foul appearance, even in death, she forced herself to look upon it, to study it, until the moment when the Deathwatch marine slammed his fist into the beast. She wondered if the marine regretted his chance to show off his prowess in front of mere mortals like the acolytes, yet she was immensely more pleased that the Emperor, in his wisdom, should favor the weaker of his servants with a worthy kill. The techpriest had achieved far more glorious a kill than untold billions would conceive of in their lifetimes.

She waited for the marine to make clear his musings. She disliked unnecessary pauses for dramatics, and if it had been any being other than a battle brother, she might have made an unworthy judgement about him, despite his undoubted litany of heroics in service to humanity.

 

[ShadowWolfSBI]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

The Marine paused in his study of the device's readout to answer the Arbite and the Sororita. "The problem is that a genetic match with this strain was found. However, it came from a world in the Jericho Reach. It should not be from that strain."

He straightened up. "However, I understand that you might be the agents of the Inquisition that Brothen Hreidar spoke with. What trouble brought you here?"

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

"We are looking for a priest named Uriah," Mallia volunteered in answer to the giant warrior's question. "The Inquisition desires to interrogate him most quickly. The nature of what ails this world was not our immediate concern, though the presence of this creature does alert us to the dire nature of this threat. Should we presume that these xenos are why you are here?"

The psyker leaned against her staff as she forced herself to keep an eye upon the genestealer, studying its impressive body. Yes - impressive, but also repulsive she rebuked herself. Such a vicious and sinister creature was a clear threat to humanity, and she should study it only so that she might better learn to destroy it. In this pursuit, however, she had to confess she was stymied, for even as it lay dead before her, she was not certain that anything besides a miracle had allowed the meager firepower of a las carbine to penetrate what appeared to be nearly 3 inches of solid carapace plate in its torso region - the sort of armor the Ecclesiarchy's Shock Troops could only dream of.

Proof she supposed of the divinity of the Emperor and through Him the acts of Saints.

Her nose rankled momentarily as a waft of the xeno's death odor floated past her, and she moved herself to look instead at the space marine.

 

[Caulder]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

Through this exchange, Drake's respiration unit sputtered and chugged away, and any who looked on his face noticed he wasn't even blinking, having lowered his lascarbine down from his hands and just.......Stood there, examining the creature he had killed. Eventually, he found his voice. "Typical response to the mere notion of xenos filth infesting this planet is panic and fear. Followed by fury and cleansing it in the Emperor's name." his vox speaker blares out, before he drops to a knee and begins reciting a mantra of his order in binary cant, the stock of his lascarbine resting on the ground in front of him and the barrel clutched in both hands.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

"Perhaps that explains the massive unrest on this planet." Markus replied more to himself rather than to the techpriest. "Even if it's merely a rumor of something weird happening that circulates the world, it could be enough to cause havoc... Maybe." He finished, unsure if that would really be enough to spread such chaos. "More importantly, the question is how a specimen from a faraway world made it's way here. And I fear our search may be related to those creatures after all. The first cell to make contact with the priest we're looking for died in gruesome fashion, their flesh reduced to nothing as if by acid. Others tore each other apart like madmen." He frowned. "Their escort was simply shot with what appeared to be bolter fire, though. Could it be possible that someone around here is using those Tyranids somehow?"

 

[ShadowWolfSBI]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

The Marine had been busy repeating his previous actions, albeit a bit more gingerly, with the burned corpses while the others spoke. When Markus explained about the other cell, though, he stopped briefly before shaking his head. "I have recieved an image from the clean-up team that arrived at the site of the other cell's remains. It does not strike me as having been caused by the Tyranids. In addition, about the only way that some unknown element could use those xenos would be as cover for some other matter. My suspicion is that the Priest you seek, from information I recieved during my briefing, knows more about that possibility. The reports from this world struck my own Kill-team as being hallmarks of Genestealer activity. Except for reports from that Priest."

As he spoke, he had continued his work, but he stopped suddenly at the executed body, seeming to study the devotional tattoo. "That tattoo, as well, is an exception to that." His tone changed, as if calling out on a vox. "Brother Zahariel! I need confirmation on an image."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

Mallia craned her neck to glance at the devotional tattoo as she waited for Zahariel's response to the image.

"So we are looking for some other heresy amidst a xenos infestation. Lovely." Mallia winced and rubbed at her temple. The headache had not yet subsided and she doubted it would anytime soon. As was perhaps a normal feeling for a young acolyte, she felt the crushing weight of a universe of enemies arrayed against her, and knew that she was expected to die in an effort to hold such things back. She was resigned to this fate, but she was not yet tempered enough to ignore the fear of it. If only she could master the powers within her mind; if only she could field armor like this mighty marine. She looked up to the skies, longing most for the open expanse of the void, reminiscing about a life long ago that might have awaited her aboard an Imperial War Ship in the Battlefleet Calixis at Port Wrath.

 

[lurker]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

Seraph's gaze left the Marine as it moved through the dead men around the area, simply bowing her head a little with a powersuit-covered hand strolling through her hair. So many complications, confusing situations, and outright unknowns still- it all felt like they had made even less progress even before knowing the fabled Deathwatch was involved.

"The infestation may simply have been brought to light as a reaction from the riots, in all honesty," she comments, glancing towards the Mechanius venerating his truly lethal weapon while talking the Mallia in particular. "If I remember my studies, this creature matches the description of certain Tyranid vanguard organisms. A full-on Tyranid invasion could be decades to centuries away from this planet, depending on how close the main hivefleet of origins is. Still, their presence will make this even more dangerous. Our friend of the Astartes is right, many of these creatures can strike through even Terminator-grade ceramite."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

"If it was meant to pave the way for an alien Hivefleet, then it must have been very desperate indeed to have come out into the open as it did," Mallia answered. "I would think it prudent however to leave these creatures to the Space Marines. I think were were spared by the Emperor's Guidance in this case, but it would be folly to seek them out equipped as poorly as we are now. Our loadout is sufficient for human quarry, which is presumably what we are dealing with when searching out for the priest."

Internally, Mallia hoped that what they were going to face from this point out was not on the same level as a Tyranid vanguard. Such enemies were almost certain death for even seasoned throne agents. If it was her destiny to die at the talons of such a beast, then so be it, but she prayed it was not so.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

"So it is two enemies we have to worry about here..." Markus muttered to himself, even as he listened to the conversation of his squadmates. "You're right, we're not equipped for dealing with those monstrosities. With luck, we won't run into them again, but it's best to be on guard. More importantly..." He glanced at the beheaded corpse the marine was examining. "We need to find more leads. Our current trail led us here, but the priest is nowhere in sight." It seemed that they could get some information from the marine in a moment, though. And if that failed... Well, there was a chance that HQ would manage to track down that mysterious Arvus.

 

[lurker]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

Seraph only nodded in agreement with the consensus of 'no more genestealers'. "Alas, the only leads we have is a headless corpse and that Godwyn De'az bolter shell we found, neither of which could lead to much information without possibly months of forensics, if they even get the chance," she mutters, still holding the unaccounted for bolter shell with a frown. "I am most displeased with the thought that someone of less purity than the Sisterhood has stolen one of these weapons... Can lead to very painful accusations if it gets out."

 

[Caulder]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

Drake finishes his mantra, standing and holding his lascarbine properly. "Logic would dictate that the same person who stole the bolter was also responsible for the removal of the corpse's head." his monotone voice crackles out from his vox speaker, one of his respiration tubes shaking, a rather disgusting suction noise following as it dies down. "There is a problem with this line of reasoning. We have no clue as to where our quarry or the aforementioned thief has fled to, in addition to the problem of xenos filth being present here. Logic dictates we avoid confrontation with the Xenos, as the Psyker said." he speaks, turning to face Markus. "Is there any chance you might be able to track our quarry adequately, Arbite?"

 

[cross_grave]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

"Hmm..." Markus glanced at the beheaded corpse. "I should be able to." He nodded. "There isn't much a a trail to follow, especially with our limited means, but we still have something we could use. Whoever that man was, he was somehow connected to this. If we investigate everything we find that's related to him, we're bound to come across something that will point us in the right direction."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

"Unless his identification papers are on his person, I doubt you will have much luck identifying a headless corpse. At least not in the time frame that we have available to us," commented Mallia, who at last drew her attention away from the genestealer.

"Are you getting through to your brother-in-arms?" she asked of the space marine.

 

[Caulder]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

"The Cognomen I found on the body was poorly corrupted, but I did manage to pull part of the deceased's name. Trantor, I believe it was." Drake's speaker pipes up, looking around for the aforementioned cognomen he had dropped to ready his lascarbine moments before. "Sadly that was all I could discern sans an identifying tattoo on his body."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

"A name and a tatoo. I've had better trails to follow." Markus grunted, putting his gun away for the moment. It didn't look like he'd need it anytime soon. "Still, that's a start. If we can find out who he was and what he was doing prior to his death, perhaps we can gain some insight into what is happening here. And with a little luck, perhaps HQ will locate that Arvus as well."

 

[lurker]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

"The Arvus especially may be the best clue, but I agree with the thoughts of Drake, the remains of this man may be directly linked either with the person who stole away our Priest or may have attempted to stall his abduction. Either way, we must decide what to focus on first before our trail dims to nothing but black oblivion," Seraph advised.

 

[ShadowWolfSBI]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

The Marine finally spoke. "As I suspected."

Turning to the cell, he added. "The tattoo on this Trantor has been seen by some of my brothers on members of a particular sect of the Imperial Creed. One that has had issues in the past with being used as cover for improper actions. It is likely that the wielder of the bolter that killed him was, in fact, the proper owner."

As he finished, the cell's vox kicked on, the Primaris' voice coming across. "Return to the spaceport at once. We've tracked the Arvus, and the ship it docked on. Something's up, since that vessel took off in a hurry about as soon as it did."

After a moment, Mallia received a telepathic message from the Primaris. "By the way, if there's one of the Deathwatch marines near by, ask them to have a Brother Kenshin meet you at the spaceport. You may need his help getting back to the Implacable Dawn if Inquisitor Solaria gets there first and is in one of her moods."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: The Great Price (Game Thread)

"I am told by my superiors that we may need the support of Brother Kenshin at the spaceport," Mallia said after touching her fingers to her temple. "If you can spare him from your Deathwatch contingent, the Inquisition has need of his presence."

Then, after a brief pause, she adds. "I don't suppose you could tell us the name of this particular creed, Brother? The one that is suspected of being a front for anti-Imperium elements?"