Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team

[exalted]

Rosette clipped her helmet back on as she went down stairs to Drath.

"Give me your access card and tell me the closet access point to the maintenance tunnels." She demanded, thankful the voice modulator hid any emotion in her voice, "Find some place to heal and repent your sins, I do not wish to see you again."

After she got the card she carefully cracked open the door and slid out. If the other team noticed her she was would nod in recognition but move on unless stopped. Her team had it's own mission and was already a member down, she had to make the rally at the Tower of Faith.

[Phoenixcz]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Sorry for delay, RL does everything it cans to keep me from posting

Ash looks around, searching of any sign of enemy presence. Of course, as non-psyker, she can't sense daemons unless they manifest in materium, but she doesn't knows that. Book's destruction will have to wait for a moment, but they'll need a mean to do it. Her neural shredder won't hurt a book, and Ash doesn't feel like standing too close to it would be a good idea.

She looks amongs the dead bodies for some useful weapon: a flamer or a plasma gun would be ideal, bolt pistol would serve too, and she supposea even a las would work in a pinch. She'll need another ranged weapon anyway, her weapon of choice has got only limited charge in it's power pack and it's too exotic to hope for ammo supply here on the planet.

[Hazard1325]

Alanis: Rolls

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(Notice)
4(Roll) - 3(Darkness) = 1 VS ? = Failure

Ash: Rolls

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(Notice)
8(Roll) - 3(Darkness) = 5 VS ? = Failure
(Luck)
8(Roll)

Rosette: Rolls

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(Stealth)
3(Roll) + 1(Darkness) = 4 VS 4 = Tie

Rosette made her demands to the rebel and his face darkened slightly. He complied with her request offering her an ID card that would give her access to some of the planetary fortresses facilities. "I can manage without you or your god.... go strait past the garden on the other side of that wreck and hug the cities inner wall until you find an access point" He muttered possibly more upset about their parting than she had anticipated but he merely sat down on the stairwell of the guardhouse watching her leave.

Outside she slid past the other kill team as the were still recovering from the intense fight and moved towards the center of town until she found the large wall that marked the end of this tier and the beginning of the next. At the walls base were several access points, some leading inside to restricted military sections while others were maintenance or sewer passageways. She managed to find one of the maintenance tunnels and started towards the heavy door when she stopped just short as another hallway intersected with hers. She heard a steady chanting and glanced down the hall to see several dark figures praying to some strange shadowy alter around the corner. She couldn't directly see either the cultists or their vile work but by the sounds of it there were half a dozen back there. At least it wasn't more military forces and merely the untrained fanatics. As the overhead lights flickered she made her way across the hall to the maintenance door but stopped short as her boot crushed an old ration tin. The chanting abruptly stopped and Rosette felt the cultists moving somewhere behind her, if she stood still she would surely be found but rushing into the unknown might be just as bad as risking retreat into the city past the worshipers.

Ash searches the bodies and gets lucky finding a plasma pistol with a full power cell. There were no spares on the corpse so the single cell would have to do for now. Neither of them could make out much in the darkness though Alanis felt the warp signature was much different than any daemon she had encountered. Either way the two of them were still out in the open in the outpost. It was possible the buildings nearby would offer some form of shelter or a trek into the hive sewers might be an alternative if they were desperate. And still while they had no proper identification fleeing west away from the city and to the front lines of the war might be safer than risking a game of cat and mouse with whatever was out here.

[exalted]

"The Lord works in mysterious ways," Rosette whispered to herself as the echo of the rattling can faded.

She had been wracked by guilt when she bypassed the praying cultist's, deciding to continue her mission instead of purging the filth for their heresy. But now the Emperor had placed that can there to correct her mistake.

Taking the flamer into her hands she started to smash the overhead lights, leaving her section of the tunnel in total darkness. She began to tap the tip of the flamer against an old metal pipe that ran down one wall, luring the cultists in further as she waited in the dark.

She would wait for as many of them as possible to enter the tunnel before she would ignite the flamer and immolate their souls, spitting fire down the hallway as she advanced and cleansed them.

"Welcome to the purging, said the Saint to the Sinner," Her metallic voice would boom as she fanned the flames.

[DomJoe]

Try as she might, Alanis cannot find anything in the darkness. She does note the uniqueness of the signature, however. "I'm not sure what exactly is after us..." Alanis says in a hushed tone, "But I do know its connect to the warp. We definitely need to get out of here... She does notice that Ash has found a plasma pistol, remembering what she had said about the book. "Well, at least we have a means of destroying the book now, but I get the feeling if we try it here, we'll get ambushed... we need to move."

[Phoenixcz]

Little reassured she now have a weapon with better range and easier to find ammunition, Ash nods at Alanis's words. There isn't anything more to do here, and this place lacks any cover. The psyker isn't sure what is she sensing...she should propably be able to recognise a daemon's presence, but daemons aren't the only ones with connection to the Warp. Beside the obvious option, cultist psykers, every Eldar have psychic power to some degree. "Psyker, Daemon, Eldar? Best guess?"

Ash doesn't wait for answer and starts walking toward the hive's base. She considers the sewers a last option, but going away from the city wouldn't be much better: she's got an advantage while fighting in tight areas inside, they lack any real long-range firepower, and they'll be easy to spot out in the open...or would they? Ash realises she doesn't know much about the terrain beyond the hive, after all, their mission wasn't supposed to bring them outside...maybe Alanis knows more? "What's out there outside the city?" She points her free hand in the mentioned direction.

[Gorbaz]

With the cultists dispatched, Faye forced herself to calm down and not give chase as they fled. The techpriest was being attended to, and not that the initial trouble was out of the way, they needed to press on to their objective. She also felt something that she had not felt in a long time - powerful. Her mind skipped back to a time in her own hive when she ran with her gang, using fear to extort what they wanted, and raw power to defend what was theirs. Those were times when she was her own master... before the slave pits... before the cybernetic enhancements... before she was enslaved to the Guilders, and then the Inquisition...

[KnightVanilla]

After giving what aid to her comrades she could she spoke to her allies. "Good thing this isn't home or something else would try to attack us after we had exhausted some energy. Let's see if we can find some survivors I'll patch them up. Well enough to get some answers." Selena said hoping to find someone to interigate.

[Hazard1325]

Rosette: Rolls

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(Flamer)
To Hit: 14(Roll) + 2(Flamer) VS 4 = Hit+
To Wound: 12(Roll) VS 5 = Instant Death

Ash: Rolls

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Grapple Resist 7(Roll) VS 9, Shaken + Prone

Enemy: Rolls

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Cultists Dodge Rolls, 0 Successes
Tyranid 1,12,1,7 VS 4 = Hit, Grapple Check 9,8 Versus 6

Sister Rosette aims down the narrow corridor and unleashes the flames upon the unsuspecting cult, burning them to a crisp within seconds. Thankfully none of them seem to be wielding any ballistic weapons as there are no ammo detonations that might harm Rosette. That was all for now and she could either investigate what the heretics had been worshiping or make her escape into the maintenance tunnels and ignore their foul religion.

Outside the city Alanis and Ash discuses the best course of action when a dozen thin wires shoot past Ash with two actually wrapping around her wrist and ankle dragging her off her feet and onto the ground. The wires begin to real in and drag her towards the nearby buildings. Standing on the roof is a dark figure silhouetted by the moonlight, its a tall creature with a dark purple exoskeleton and two large limbs hanging over its head. The wires begin to pull Ash towards what will certainly be her doom if she doesn't find a way to break free of the Tyranid and judging by the maw of drooling tentacles around its mouth she doubts it has anything pleasant in store for her.

Back in the courtyard Faye begins to calm down from her combat high... meanwhile Selena helps the techpriest back on her feet and she wheezes out a command at the other two. "We need to leave... the survivors will call more." She said simply, the nearest forms of shelter were the hab block, the nearby guardhouse or they could risk pushing further in towards the starport. There was also the strange shadow that seemed to have moved across the garden after the combat was over and towards the inner section of this tier. The figure seemed to have helped during the fighting and despite its bulky frame it seems to have vanished for now.

[exalted]

Rosette gleefully strode back down the tunnel, robes flashing behind her as she moved to cleanse the heretical shrine the cultists had been praying at.

[DomJoe]

Alanis gasps in shock as she realizes far too late what was upon them, wires snatching up Ash and dragging her away quickly. If she didn't interfere now, the Tyranid would likely end her comrade's life right then and there. She would need to free Ash from the wires, but she doubted her bullets could do a good job against the wires, and there was no way for her to catch up and slash at the wires herself, even if she did have a bladed weapon on her. She instead attempts to manifest 2 bolts of shadow and fire them off at the wires, hoping to at least damage them enough so that they will break under the strain of trying to drag Ash's body. If that fails, then she draws her weapon, trying to get a bead on the xeno before firing on it.

[Phoenixcz]

Surprised by the sudden attack, plasma pistol drops from Ash's hand as she falls. For a brief moment, panic seizes her mind before her training kicks on as she recognises the form dragging her towards itself. A Tyranid Lictor...the creature is similar to her, in a twisted way: an infiltrator, an assassin, a death from the shadows. Panicking now would mean Ash's end. She quickly goes through her options for dealing with this unexpected threat: The plasma pistol is out of her reach, fighting it in close combat would be a suicide...

She draws her neural shredder. She'll need to get uncomfortably close to the Lictor, and the beast is large enough to survive one hit, maybe even to the head, but it's drawing her closer anyway, it's size will make it easier to hit, and even stunning it for a while will give Ash enough time to finish it in close combat. She's prepared to wait for the best opportunity, but Alanis's psychic attack is faster. If it's enough to break the Lictor's hold, Ash will try to get up and get behind some cover, if not, she'll continue with her former plan and at least try to keep her aim steady and try to keep herself from being knocked about too much while being dragged.

[Hazard1325]

Alanis: Rolls

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(Shadowbolts)
Cast: 7,6(Rolls) -2(Multiple Actions) = 5,4 VS 4, Hit
To Wound: 12(Roll) VS 10, Shaken
(Pistol)
To Hit: 6(Roll) -2(Multiple Actions) = 4 VS 4, Hit
Damage: 5(Roll) VS 10, -1(AP) = No effect

Ash: Rolls

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(Neural Shredder)
To Wound: 22(Roll) VS 10, -4(AP) = 16, 3 Wounds

Rosette

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(Fear Altar)
5(Roll) -1(Degree of fear) = 4 VS 4, Success
(Forbidden Knowledge)
9(Roll) VS 4, Success+
(Fear, Forbidden Knowledge)
7(Roll) -2(Degree of fear) = 5 VS 4, Success

Enemies: Rolls

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Lictor Soak Roll: 9, -3 = 6, Success
Shaken Roll: 9

Stepping over the fallen bodies with the occasional crunch as her heavy boots smash a burnt heretic, Sister Rosette follows the corridor and turns the corner to find a horrific sight. At least two dozen bodies lay discarded in a pile nearby, most look to be civilians judging by their clothing. Their stomachs are all flayed open with their insides ripped free to adorn the nearby monument. A large scarecrow figure of sorts with a birds head and great bloody wings painted onto the wall hangs over the large steel basin filled with the internal organs of the fallen. Rosette is shocked for a moment as she stares at the gore and realizes something among the entrails are moving. She recognizes this shrine is to Tzeetch and somehow she realizes its horribly purpose is to summon a herald of some kind. The knowledge leaves her sick to her stomach but she triggers the flamer quickly burning the bodies and the horrid shrine before whatever ritual was completed. Still even after its over and she walks away she can still feel the cursed symbols pulsing in her mind as an afterthought.

At the maintenance complex Ash is pulled off the ground for a moment as the Lictor tugs her upwards steadily. As she draws her neural shredder Alanis bombards the creature with warp magic and gunfire which staggers it. Seeing her opportunity Ash aims upward and with a whine the gun fires an unseen wave of energy that impacts with the Lictor blowing out one of the creatures eyes and sending it staggering backwards in a bloody arc. The cords holding her in place discharge and she drops to the ground as the tangle of fleshy wires drop around her. Both Alanis and Ash hear a frustrated roar from the roof as the Lictor squirms out of sight.

[exalted]

Rosette quietly sung a hymn as she bathed the tainted shrine and bodies in cleansing fire, praying for the souls of the faithful. Exhausting the fuel cell she slung the flamer across her back and readied her bolter. She hoped the Tower of Faith would have replacement cannisters for the flamer as she continued back down the dark corridors towards the door.

[DomJoe]

Alanis quickly rushes over to where Ash is dropped, watching the spot where the Lictor had initially appeared from until she arrived at Ash's side. "Are you alright?" She asks, looking her over for any wounds and finding none. "We need to get going, and find Sister Rosette," Alanis says hastily, helping Ash off the floor before looking deeper into the city. "I doubt that's the last Tyranid we'll see today, and I doubt we can take on more than one without some extra help. The sister was interested in the Tower of Faith, right? You think she might have gone there already?"

[KnightVanilla]

"Priestess... Do you detect any movement?" Selena asked her quietly trying to obtain a grasp on if this unknown presence might have been a friendly or not. Either way it would be better to know if what was around them. After that was all said and done she would try to get the group moving to a safer location.

[Phoenixcz]

With Alanis's help, Ash rises to her feet. "Thanks. Only minor scratches and bruises, nothing serious this time." Ash returns for the dropped plasma pistol, still watching the shadows. "Lictors are loners, it's rare to see more then one at once outside full-scale Tyranid invasion. But it is alive, and they are known to be...vindictive, for the lack of a better word. It will most likely be back. Tower of Faith would be a good place for us to go, not only to regroup with the sister, but to get more intel from someone who was here the whole time, and maybe form a plan together with any loyalists left. I haven't seen the map, do you remember anything useful?"

Not expecting hearing the response, Ash tries to contact Rosette again anyway. She should know there's another threat present, Lictors prefer enclosed, dark areas to the open space of upper hive, but Rosette is on her own, only with her captive, and thus, more vulnerable target. "Ash to Rosette, Tyranid infiltrator presence detected, stay alert, we don't their numbers or where are they."

[Hazard1325]

Sister Rosette used her card to open the old doors leading into the maintenance passages under the hive. The lights were automated but only lit up once every ten feet or so and illuminated with a loud clanking noise. After a few minutes the ones behind her started to go out leaving a constant trail behind her. Thankfully this area seemed to be empty and judging by the cramped hallway with pipes and wires dangerously obscuring the path no one came down here unless they couldn't avoid it. After a while her vox burped a little garbled message she couldn't discern. As she focused back on the tunnels she noticed a light up ahead was active and saw a cloaked figure standing at the end of the hall watching her. "Hello Rosette... I see you've made short work of my shrine and several pawns but I'd rather we end this now. Its becoming rather difficult to keep a stable ritual if your team is interfering." The cloaked figure smiled under his hood. "I have reports stating at least a dozen other kill teams have been rooted out in other sectors. And now with the Imperial Navy's admiral dead at my servants hands it will only be a matter of time until your forces crumble. Why don't we call a truce for your sake?"

Alanis and Ash recovered outside the main building of the outpost. Somewhere above them the Lictor was probably slinking away into the shadows but for now the two of them needed to decide how to gain access to the Tower of Faith on the opposite side of the city. The sewer was always an option but it would be deadly without proper protection, scaling the cliffs to renter the city at its lowest tier seemed doable if they had any climbing equipment... alternatively if there was a vehicle operational they could possibly find a mountain path that would wind around the sharp cliffs and eventually lead to the pillar of stone that held the other tower up over the city.

[exalted]

Rosette cocked her head to the side and rolled her eyes as the cultist tried to influence her. She squeezed the trigger of the bolter before he could finish talking, sending metal death down the corridor. The Cultist's words were useless, corrupt, not to be trusted, there was no point listening to him so she fired again and again and until his body was sprayed all across the cramped tunnel.

[Phoenixcz]

Ash leaves the decision which way to take to the Tower of Faith for Alanis. After all, she was the one looking for a map of the hive while Ash was accompanying Odessa to search for informations about heretic activity. She's still vigilant for any dangers, not just Lictor's return. After all, tyranids, heretics, Eldar...at this point, she wouldn't be surprised to find an Ork Waaaagh! or Tau strike team.