What Hides In Darkness (40K)

[Cynical Cat]

Lord Inquistior Damien Pryce's eyes flickered from image to image drinking in the data. He rotated his chair to face one of his acolytes. "Ask the battle-brothers of the Deathwatch and the Inquisitors to join me here in the briefing room. We need to discuss strategy."

"Yes, my lord," said the young man. He bowed and left. Pryce looked at the long table with its stacked crystal controls and processors and holo pict projectors. An overhead view of the xenos incursion site was displayed prominently. The psychic null shield prevented scans, but the legion of PDF troopers encamped around it were still in clear contact. So far the situation was contained.

So far.

[SirNitram]

The first to arrive was the heretical Marine Mal. He folded his arms as he stepped into the room, and studied the image. "Lord Inquisitor." He said simply, reporting for duty.

[GeneralTacticus]

Moments later, Inquisitor Halima Toran followed him in. Her earlier limp seemed to have gone, although a careful observer would have noted a lingering stiffness in her movements.

[Charon]

Vibius had been finishing his chant as one of the acolytes came to him. With a grunt of assent the marine got to his feet and made his way down the corridors. What did that inquisitor want now? Discussion of strategy was a matter for the Deathwatch to discuss. Inquisitors would be nearly useless in such matters.

Putting his own personal thoughts aside Vibus entered the briefing room and stepped over to stand nearer to the other marine than the Inquisitor or her lord. "Lord Inquisitor." Vibius remained silent after that.

[Cynical Cat]

"Thank you for coming so promptly," said Pryce. The holo picts still danced in the air. "Have you had a chance to review the findings of the Mechanicus?"

[GeneralTacticus]

Halima nodded. “They are most interesting. Also highly disturbing. Given what we saw on the surface, we’re dealing with an alien race possessed of powerful and highly skilled psykers or psychic technology in addition to near-Tau level technology and armies of purpose-grown soldiers. And we still don’t know why they’re here.â€

[SirNitram]

"I'm more thinking on what we saw in the battle." Mal admitted. "The two walkers emerging suggests the subterranian levels are large, so ideally we'll bring some vehicles of our own." The heretic laid out his thoughts. "Also, we know that we've only seen drones. It'll be nastier down there when we get deeper. I recommend large ammos stores and the heaviest weapons we have."

[Cynical Cat]

"The facility is a mining-industrial complex," said Pryce. "It has to support, move, and service massive mining machines as well as exporting processed ore in vast quantities. Parts of the facility can undoubtedly allow the passage of large war machines.

"The psychic field surrounding the facility seems to similar to the null shields that are used by Inquisition spy ships. There is nothing new about their technology, but that an unknown race possesses this level of broad technical accomplishment, it is worrying. As of yet, we do not evenknow how these aliens arrived on world or their biology."

[Charon]

Vibius spoke up. "The records stated that without the organic portion the creatures die. Virus bombing the site and then letting it settle into the deep tunnels would be best before we enter. If there are two thousand of those creatures it would be best to thin their numbers as much as possible before entering." Vibius looked over to Mal. "I also concur with Brother Mal's assessment."

[Cynical Cat]

"The xeno servitor's outer carapace is inorganic and sealed against biological and chemical weapons," replied Pryce. "Sub-exterminatus level virus bombing is unlikely to give us positive results."

[GeneralTacticus]

"It's not just the null field." Halima put in. "When we first landed, I detected a psychic web enveloping the facility, quite separate from the null field. It seemed to be acting as an alarm system for whoever set it up. Very subtle; I almost didn't notice it. Whoever set it up definitely knew what they were doing. Nothing unprecedented, in either power or precision, but they clearly have access to skilled psykers in addition to everything else."

[Cynical Cat]

"Interesting," said Pryce. "Capture of live specimens of the ruling race or caste is, of course, a priority. Right now the incursion is contained and we have an opportunity to learn a great deal about a very capable xenos threat at comparitively low cost. This is an opportunity that must not be squandered."

[SirNitram]

"High level technology and powerful psykkers." Mal mused. "A rare combination. The Eldar, for example, have access to high tech, but all of it runs on psy-power. The Tau have tech but not a drop of psykker blood in their whole race. This leads us to a strange situation."

[Cynical Cat]

"Not really," replied Pryce. "Eldar material technology is quite capable, for all their reliance on warp power. Their laser weapons come to mind. And then there is the depraved followers of the Ruinous Powers and their combination of warpcraft and heretical technology. You are quite correct in the potential magnitude of the threat. We must understand their strengths and weaknesses before the threat they pose to the Imperium increases."

[B4UTRUST]

Gravin listened intently to the conversation. He had slipped in a few moments late, having been dealing with paperwork covering the deaths of his two arcos and two of his guardsmen. He hadn't even reviewed the findings from their attack yet.

Gravin coughed, clearing his throat.
"How effective, if at all, are our psychic nulls on this shield? They dampen psychic powers, so could they be used to weaken the shield enough for astropathic communication?

"A question concerning the xenos and their armor comes to mind however. We know that our own las weapons are rather underpowered against these things and anything short of a barrage of bolter rounds doesn't seem to do much damage, but are their own las based weapons any more effective against their own armor? Do their weapons operate on a different frequency or spectrum that their carapace is more vulnerable to?

"And, forgive me for the long train of thought Lord Inquisitor, do these things breathe or anything resembling it? If so wouldn't that render them vulnerable to airborn and respitory pathogens? It would give a decisive entrance vector if they were. Of course we could always attempt to specially coat our rounds with bloodborn pathogens but I certainly wouldn't wish to handle such weapons."

[The Necrontyr Messenger]

“The Mechanicus have mentioned that the armour seals on exposure to air. This would suggest that the drones either contain an efficient respirator, or an anaerobic respiratory system: something which is possible, if inefficient – many tyrannic breeds include the feature of being able to survive for a long period without oxygen, as of course, Marines do, thanks to the Emperor’s foresight. There are limits to anaerobic biology in an animal of course, which in both tyrannids and ourselves necessitates long term hibernation, as fuel is consumed inefficiently, resulting in an excessive build up of toxins, during anaerobic toxicity. However, cybernetics can overcome this by providing flushing for lactic acids at a prodigious rate. My company once recovered a tech mage who had spent several days in the vacuum of space without ill effects, for example. So, I would not assume that anything short of a full exterminatus virus bombing would be effective. Unless anyone happens to keep Catachan Barking Toads on board, anyway.

“Something that may be worth considering is, how did these aliens get here? I can see several possibilities. One, they possess ships of their own that are not detectable to the planetary authorities – perhaps not detectable because of heresy,â€

[Cynical Cat]

"Good questions. We do have some answers," said Pryce. "One of the advantages to being confined to healing frame is that one has plenty of time to analyze data."

"On the subject of weaponry, hellguns and high las varients will penetrate the xenos armour. Their extreme toughness does mean that it takes multiple bolter rounds to kill them, or even more las shots. The Mechanicus think that Hellfire rounds will prove promising in this area. Their own weapons actually fire plasma pulses, much weaker than the beams of our own plasma guns, but safer to use and consuming less fuel. The soldier drones are merely tough in the same way Tyranid Warriors or Ork Nobs are. Nothing the Imperium can't deal with.

"As for tracing their means of arrival, that is being worked upon. I am favoring one of four theories. One, the aliens obviously have capabilities similar to Inquisition Null Ships and were able to avoid technology that way. Secondly, malfesence by the authorities allow the xenos to arrive. Thirdly, warp gate technology. Fourthly, they have been here in stasis all along and only now have awoken.

"The null field makes determining the existence of a warp portal problematic while it is in existence. Any further expeditions should include the appropriate psi sensory equipment or personel so a thourough check can be done."

[B4UTRUST]

"Lord Inquisitor, before our first attempt on the mining complex we were told that sufficent maps or blueprints of the complex had yet to be aquired. Has there been any more on that? Perhaps one of the maintenance guilds has a older copy that could give us something?

"And a puzzlement concerning the shield. How effective would an emp be at taking it out or weakening it?"

[Cynical Cat]

"Plans are in the process of being acquired. We have some of the earlier schematics, from when the facility was somewhat smaller. As for EMP, they won't have any effect on the null shield. They may be able to disable the generators, but as we don't know their nature we can't say for sure."

[B4UTRUST]

"Are there any people from a guild or work that wasn't at the site that day that could take us in as a guide? And how exactly is power fed into the facility, do we know yet?"

[Cynical Cat]

"Plans indicate a geothermal tap in the center of the facility. We should be able to acquire a number of people familiar with the facility, either former workers or Adeptus Mechanicus, in the near future."

[SirNitram]

"If the warp portal is in the facility itself, we've little chance of finding it prior to fighting our way down." Mal ruminated. "However, I may be able to root out one if it's on the surface. Request permission to run some recon under the shield."

[Cynical Cat]

"By all means," said Pryce. "Take whatever forces you feel are necessary for the operation."

[SirNitram]

"A squad of Stormtroopers will be more than enough. Stealth is the goal, not firepower." Mal saluted firmly and with precision befitting his Astartes training. "I will proceed immediately following the briefing."

[Cynical Cat]

Pryce tapped a control. A vast holographic display showing the sprawling facility flickered into life. "As you can see," Pryce continued, "several tram lines connect the facility to the rest of the planet. There are freight lifts and large corridors for heavy machinery and ore transports that run the length of the facility. This factory plex eats mountains and has mining machinery capable of operating on that scale."