Prelude: Cadian Dawn (IC)

[DM B]

OOC: 8+2 officers is correct.


The enginarium is perhaps the best choice; within its confines there must be no heavy weapons fire, lest the ship become totally unsalvageable. That give the Marines an edge they sorely need; none can best them in vicious hand-to-hand combat.

You meet no resistance on your way in. Indeed, the double layer of heavy blast doors opens to welcome you into the waiting embrace of the enginarium. A trap perhaps? Or something altogether more sinister?

[Lurk Skywalker]

The Marines stop. The rear-guard arranges itself in a defensive position lest something attempts to creep up on them from behind. Two Marines silently take cover on either side of the gaping door and throw, one a suffocating grenade, the other a blinding grenade. In the meantime the Locum Lector mentally probes the area before scanning the door and its surroundings for a mechanical trap.

In absence of any detection, the Lector will move forward the Seeing Tower of Silence at his arm, covered by the two Astartes standing by the door and followed by the last Brother of the rear-guard.

[LordPsycho]

"Indeed, though I am not so worried about the ship itself.  From external appearances at least it does not appear that corruption has soaked too deeply into it."

Maegon and his retinue hear shootings via the vox device of the Stormtroopers. The communication begins to falter once more. Things are getting serious near the ship.

"Good luck, Magos. I will keep climbing the spire as high as I can. I leave Caporal Usher and his men under your protection. They will stay in touch with Interrogator Nemus."

The Inquisitor blesses his men and restarts to climb the traitorous stairs alone.

"Nemus, please inform the Magos about our discoveries concerning the xenos craft and pilot. He will surely find them of great interest. Also, please send teams to explore the neighborhood and establish an observation point on the ship. We should have a clear view of the dorsal part of the ship. Keep our allies informed."

The ascension is hard and long. Maegon is forced to stop several times to rest. The respirator integrated to the helmet of his power armor avoids being affected by the polluted atmosphere. Meanwhile, his com-system allows him to receive news from Nemus and reply briefly.

The Hive Spires are the furthest from the horrors of the lower levels and as such are the most luxuriously outfitted, serving as the homes of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the city, including the planetary Imperial nobility, the wealthiest merchants, industrial barons and any visitors of importance from off-world.

After several hours, Maegon reaches a plateau more extensive than the previous ones, catching his attention. A beautiful garden extended there long ago. All the flowers and animals are dead now. However, a pleasant smell still floats in the air. The scent diffusers are probably still functional.

The Inquisitor goes around the dead garden, surrounded by several luxurious mansions. Some doors are still locked, others are wide open. He extends his arm, from which hang several pendants oscillating in the cold wind. They designate one of the mansions, with a stylized bestiary engraved on the walls.

Maegon pushes the silver doors and enters the mansion.

[Ohlaak (Alan)]

With the enemy attack faltering and the rout begun, Nouri let's the enemy flee into night, satisfied that his task here is done. He draws back the ghostly chain tightly calling the Shadows to heel before quickly grabbing each one and flinging it back to its body.  They fight, but in this realm, they are surely outmatched.  As each is re-tethered to his mortal anchor, the thralls awaken, significantly weakened, but no less for wear.

But Nouri feels the need to continue.  Might courses through him, teasing a glimpse of the truly infinite, a seduction that plays again and again for those that tread his path.  A lesser being might be overcome, but Nouri steels himself to investigate the ship.  A task made easier by the rends in the hull of the ship, a ship made to be a bulwark against the vast void and its many wonders and terrors.  With some many holes, he easily slips in and move toward the command center to observe the Renegade.

[DM B]

@Azrael: You snipers have spotted a trio of Space Marine scouts moving into the open to secure their fallen brother. They are terribly exposed, but thus far the darkness and the general chaos have protected them. You can get a pict feed from their sniper scopes if you like - allowing you to identify them as belonging to a chapter called the 'Relictors'. I doubt Azrael would know anything about them, their excommunication included.

[DM B]

@Nouri: The command deck isn't very large - just a hollow space twenty meters long and somewhat less in width. A massive crysteel viewport dominates the bow end of the chamber - it's a testament to resilience of this material that it has only cracked, but not shattered during the crash.

There are about sixty people packed onto the bridge. Two thirds of them are armed and are preparing for a counterattack out through the command deck's security doors - no doubt they intend to try and expel the boarders. The rest are ship's crew, working feverishly at their control stations.

Sixty people, but only one of them matters: The hulking Space marine in the heraldry of the Emperor's Children. His armour is so ancient and baroquely decorated that it can only be described as a work of art. By comparison the unhelmeted Marine inside is coarse, almost ugly. His features are craggy, his jawline like a ragged cliff, his coarse hair cut so short it looks like stubble. And you believed all of Fulgrim's progeny were as beautiful as he - clearly not this one.

You've not more time to muse; the giant lifts his head as if he senses something...his head snaps around and he fixes you with his gaze...quick as lighting he moves...in an instant he is upon you, a long knife of jagged black rock or glass in his hand. The pain that follows with his slashes are unbearable; the black knife bores into your soul, snuffing out you life one slash at a time.

What to do, what to do...

[DM B]

@Gaius: You've good view of what's going on - both physically and psychically. In particular you can quite keenly feel Nouri's psychic screams of agony as the space marine cuts his soul open. You can also feel something stirring deep inside the ships enginarium, something alien, something dark, something daemonic.

[DM B]

@Lexander: The enginarium of such a small vessel is by necessity compact. A roughly hemispherical chamber, no more than fifty meters across, occupies the deep central part of the ship's stern. Below the deck you'll find the ship's solar generator - the device that generates the power required to fly this lump of metal between the stars. The chamber itself is divided into several layers or levels with walkways and work stations circling the archaic sphere that is the ship's warp engine. You enter at middling height, giving you a direct view of the sphere as it hangs idle in its cradle, ringed with supports and utility feeds. A first glance it appears to be a perfect sphere of black-and-gold, but closer inspection revels it to be made of miniature facets that seem to shift as you look at them. The effect is almost hypnotic.

Your entrance has sent several short an mishapped mutants - or maybe they are abhumans, you're not entirely sure - scurrying for cover. They do not appear armed or dangerous. Your men quickly fan out to secure the chamber while keeping the entrance guarded in case of a counterattack.

A shout of warning: "Lector, blast doors are closing!"

And you man is right; the massive doors that would normally have barred your entrance are now rumbling shut behind you.

"Welcome Lector," a deep voice rumbles, "I have been expecting you."

The warp core is the source of the voice - and an eerie light that shifts between pinks and red and purples.

[DM B]

@Azrael: On your way up you've note the location of several items worthy of recovery, all of them below 8000 meters. With their location known your men can use whatever breath masks remain to them and retrieve the goods. Some food, useful clothes, mixed paraphernalia, some items that could have trade value once you get away from here - and nearly a thousand rounds of standard-calibre autocannon ammo. You found a ruined tripple-A position that still had ammo remaining. If you can get the Hydra to run you will have ammo of it.

You push open the silver door and step into the gloom: And stare up at an Astartes in dead-grey power armour. In an instant you know what he is - for to those with the knowledge of such things there is no mistaking his powerful Aegis armour - a member of the fabled Grey Knights Chapter. He's holding a heavy rapid-fire stormbolter levelled at you. There is also a...presence behind you, it's dull and muted, but it's there.

"Step forward and identify. We have been monitoring your climb for some time now...Inquisitor."

[Lurk Skywalker]

The Lector seems unimpressed when flatly answering the voice when moving forward, alone:

"And let it be known that my Brothers and I are grateful for making us feel so welcome."

The Lector notices at the back of his mind the often-rumored but never openly talked about within the Chapter, small whisper emanating from the Seeing Tower of Silence. In presence of the warp core, he also notices that the claw protruding from the back of the shield and grasping his armored arm seems to strengthen its hold.

His Brothers take position around him weapons aimed at the core and surrounding vital parts of the voidship's enginarium. The Lector Locum raises his psychic barriers and sends a mental tendril to his armor, preparing for the unveiling of the Maleficent Orb.

-----

Outside Roldar leads the rescue mission and after having secured his Brother, he orders two Scouts and five recruits to carry him, whilst the other Scouts and men cover the surrounding area. A prickling at the back of his neck, a faint sensation of unease confirms to him that his party has been spotted. He enters a "hunter's trans" such as he was taught by an old Relictor, who once might have been an Imperial Assassin. Motionlessly crouching, he empties his mind of the fear of the prey and allows his inner eye to examine his memory of the landscape for hiding places. A few heartbeats later, he motions his men to a small cave whose presence was barely noticed two days ago and which remained, present as a tiny and invisible hook, in his memory. 

[LordPsycho]

@Maegon: On your way up you've note the location of several items worthy of recovery, all of them below 8000 meters. With their location known your men can use whatever breath masks remain to them and retrieve the goods. Some food, useful clothes, mixed paraphernalia, some items that could have trade value once you get away from here - and nearly a thousand rounds of standard-calibre autocannon ammo. You found a ruined tripple-A position that still had ammo remaining. If you can get the Hydra to run you will have ammo of it.

The Inquisitor keeps Nemus informed of these discoveries, so the Stormtroopers can be send to collect the precious items.  Only Sergeant Malavida and his men have the required equipment and physical capacity to achieve such aims. With his fingers, Maegon engraves burned =M= letters on the walls to guide them.

You push open the silver door and step into the gloom: And stare up at an Astartes in dead-grey power armour. In an instant you know what he is - for to those with the knowledge of such things there is no mistaking his powerful Aegis armour - a member of the fabled Grey Knights Chapter. He's holding a heavy rapid-fire stormbolter levelled at you. There is also a...presence behind you, it's dull and muted, but it's there.

"Step forward and identify. We have been monitoring your climb for some time now...Inquisitor."

Maegon bows with a knee on ground as a sign of respect, then walks toward the Astartes.
In theory, Inquisitors have the ability to command the Grey Knights. In practice, there is no way to pretend commanding the Elite of the Space Marines if you do not belong to the Ordo Malleus, have sufficient influence and have earned their respect on field.

"Inquisitor Maegon Solemnys, Ordo Hereticus. Born on Hive-world Macharia in 834.M41, Cadian Sector. It is a pleasure to see that your esteemed Chapter still does honor of its presence on Cadia. The Emperor's Tarot guided my steps up to this place, and to you. What is the purpose of our meeting ?"

[DM B]

Painful seconds pass as the Astartes in front of you scans your Inquisitorial rosette. With all that has happened these past years...you do not think they you've been officially declared rogue...but you cannot know for sure.

The Grey Knight in front of you - whose designation is Decimus according to the charcoal filigree on his gorget - beacons for you to fall in beside him. His gun is no longer pointing at your face, but the softly echoing footsteps that follow you indicates the presence of a second adversary at your back.

"That will be for the Justicar decide." And that's all he has to say about that.

He sets a cruel pace for one as old and frail as you, but the march is mercifully short.

Three more Grey Knights await. One of them clearly an officer. Justicar Junius.

As far as you can tell this is a temporary base of sorts; they've gathered about them materials and supplies that Astartes might need to operate for prolonged periods of time.

Junius. "If the Tarot led you to us Inquisitor; to what purpose?" You can feel the collective psychic presence of the Knights - they've come out of their Aegis shells and joined forces, probing and picking at you. Trying to see what kind of man might one day decide to climb all the way up to find their hidden base. You can only hope they find no trace of your...

[Dragon Lord]

@Azrael: You snipers have spotted a trio of Space Marine scouts moving into the open to secure their fallen brother. They are terribly exposed, but thus far the darkness and the general chaos have protected them. You can get a pict feed from their sniper scopes if you like - allowing you to identify them as belonging to a chapter called the 'Relictors'. I doubt Azrael would know anything about them, their excommunication included.

Azrael's comm bead buzzes as Lukas contacts him, "Looks like we have three Marine scouts moving in to retrieve the Marine whose jump pack failed earlier."

"Patch me in to the feed from your scope Lukas."

Lukas does so, allowing Azrael to see the scouts moving towards the ship.  From the markings they are from a chapter called the Relictors, but Azrael doesn't recognise it, not one of the more well known chapters.  Although no one has spotted them yet there is no cover between them and the fallen Marine and they are terribly exposed.  Although it is impossible to know their intentions for certain it is a reasonable guess that the Marines, like Azrael, see the ship as a potential way off-world and have used the chaos of the attack from the ruins to stage their own assault on the ship.  The cramped confines of a ships corridors are the ideal environment for a Space Marine, their small numbers are not a weakness in such close quarters allowing them to make the most of their armoured might.  As such they stand a good chance of clearing out a good fraction of the defending crew.  They will never be able to hold it however, certainly not for long enough to repair it, and from the state of their equipment they don't have the technical skills to do so anyway.  As such they would need allies after this battle...

"Keep a close eye on them Lukas, and keep any hostiles off their backs.  I am going to try and establish a communications channel to them, but if that fails I want to know which way they go."

"Affirmative"

[DM B]

Lukas quietly passes the order to his snipers; despite the excellent honey-pot setup there will be no killing of the scouts. Quite the contrary, the order from above is to keep them alive.

[Ohlaak (Alan)]

@Nouri: The command deck isn't very large - just a hollow space twenty meters long and somewhat less in width. A massive crysteel viewport dominates the bow end of the chamber - it's a testament to resilience of this material that it has only cracked, but not shattered during the crash.

There are about sixty people packed onto the bridge. Two thirds of them are armed and are preparing for a counterattack out through the command deck's security doors - no doubt they intend to try and expel the boarders. The rest are ship's crew, working feverishly at their control stations.

Sixty people, but only one of them matters: The hulking Space marine in the heraldry of the Emperor's Children. His armour is so ancient and baroquely decorated that it can only be described as a work of art. By comparison the unhelmeted Marine inside is coarse, almost ugly. His features are craggy, his jawline like a ragged cliff, his coarse hair cut so short it looks like stubble. And you believed all of Fulgrim's progeny were as beautiful as he - clearly not this one.

You've not more time to muse; the giant lifts his head as if he senses something...his head snaps around and he fixes you with his gaze...quick as lighting he moves...in an instant he is upon you, a long knife of jagged black rock or glass in his hand. The pain that follows with his slashes are unbearable; the black knife bores into your soul, snuffing out you life one slash at a time.

What to do, what to do...

Nouri cannot help but retreat inward to flee the onslaught. In his retreat, he knows fear as for but a second, he all but succumbs to mortal frailties.  In his desperation,  he reaches out to the closest presences and strongest within the Immaterium, latching onto Gaius, Hannah, Luliana, the Lector and a darker presence deeper yet within the ship and his psyche grabs upon them tightly.  He feels impending death and thus abject failure. And yet in failure, he also know humility and in his humility, he finds faith. sublime whispers of the Immaterium.  Nouri hears the Word and whispers them back in response. 

With those words, Nouri's third eye opens wide and his mark once subtly hidden blazes brightly within the Immaterium.  As the Immaterium responds to his summons, power manifest around him pulling him towards the darkness below and engulfing the Renegade ripping at his armor and body.  Nouri's soul is flung into the Enginarium pulling with it his body, and tugging upon Gaius begging to bring him along body and soul as well.