What Hides In Darkness (40K)

Charon · Post by **Charon** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:54 pm

Vibius spoke up. "Was there a singular presense or were there many presenses? Or is that another unknown at the moment?" Vibius did not like going into a fight with this many unknowns. It had been part of the reason he had not wanted to join the Deathwatch. But the orders from his General had been to go, and so he went.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:13 pm

"There were many Psykker-wielding races when the Eldar were rising to power, millions of years ago." Mal spoke up, imparting his unique knowledge of the closest thing the Imperium had to an 'ally' against Chaos. "Their language, as complex and interlinked as it is with their legends, is difficut to unravel around these beings, but I fathom that some outstripped even the Eldar of the time, and assisted in their ancient battles with the Necrontyr."

GeneralTacticus · Post by **GeneralTacticus** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 11:24 pm

Halima made a mental note to arrange for more contact with this Marine. She suspected that he and Prokhor Federov would get along famously, regardless of the Duskguard's attitude to the Adeptus Mechanicus in general, and he could no doubt make a great contribution to the group's researches.

"It could be any of a great many species," she said, "And although any knowledge you wish to impart on such civilisations would, of course, be most welcome, the Lord Inquisitor is right. Until we can gather more hard evidence on the nature of this problem, we're just speculating."

She stepped closer to the pict-screen's diagram of the facility. "While I would not, of course, wish to tell the Deathwatch how to do your jobs, it seems to me the best course of action would be to deploy a cordon of PDF troopers around the refinery, with some Inquisitorial armsmen to stiffen them in case this thing tries to break out, and then undertake further scans of the area. We may be able to glean additional information from psychic probing, and surveyor drones should give us some idea of what conditions inside the refinery are like before we take further action."

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:49 am

"The contact was with what was apparently a singular entity, but it was both brief and traumaticm," said Pryce. "The Hive Mind of the Tyranids sometimes seems to be a single organism so we should not quickly jump to conclusions. The site has already been isolated by the PDF and Arbites."

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 9:41 am

A quick glance is fired at the lone Marine not of the Deathwatch, the huge, black-robed figure's eyebrow lifting upwards in mute question. After a moment, he gunts softly, then looks away, back towards the suspensor chair dominating the center of the room. Any further questions can wait until the actual strike force is planning their assault.

Post by **Dark Silver** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 4:13 pm

"Suggested weapons loudout for this mission Lord Inquisitor," Demian asked in a almost bored tone.

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:24 pm

"I wouldn't presume to suggest a weapon load out for a Deathwatch kill team. Against an unknown enemy, versatily is generally a good choice, but other than that I have no suggestions."

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 9:01 pm

"I would recommend packing light and with as many autosenses as you can carry." Mal spoke up a second time. "We recon the position, nice and quiet like, and return for appropriate combat loads. Bringing anti-armour loadouts when we run into a million personnel is inefficient."

Charon · Post by **Charon** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 1:48 pm

Vibius glanced over to Mal. "As good an idea as any. Sending down more Arbites would just be a waste. We will want to have a heavy loadout positioned just outside the enterance though. If whatever it is down there spots us it's a safe bet it won't be far behind us when we come back for the right weapons."

The Necrontyr Messenger · Thu Jun 08, 2006 2:48 pm

Captain Crassiros sat in silence. His chapter were renowned for it. Heâ€™d originally been a blonde haired, blue eyed child, but since joining the chapter, both is hair and his irises had darkened to black, as black as the deathwatch robes he wore as he sat at the table, and as black as the carapace beneath.

He was a Raven Guard, and it made him nervous. The idea of going into a situation without adequate scouting was anathema to the chapterâ€™s tactical doctrine, and they used far more scouts than many other chapters for reconnaissance. Putting a Raven in tunnels, blind at that, was not something that was bound to earn his adoration.

Nevertheless, he was also a space marine, an an experienced one at that, as could be told from merely looking at the four campaign studs on his forehead, each one indicating experience that would be the entire lifetime of any mortal. He would take the Emperorâ€™s Holy Wrath to any dark place where His Servants were threatened. It was his raison d'Ãªtre.

Crassiros studied the hololithic projection, leaning forwards on his massively muscled elbows, and placing his chin on his fists. He spoke softly, with an uncharacteristically quiet voice â€“ for an astartes at least, â€œAre the mine-works deep enough to impair direct vox communications, and if so, can provision be made for the shipâ€™s Mechanicus Adepts to supply us with relay units of some form?â€

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 3:47 pm

"The shafts aren't deep enough to block Astartes vox gear," said Pryce. "The Mechanicus can provide additional equipment, of course. The complete absence of communications from the facility suggest that some other phenomena is interefering with communications."

The Necrontyr Messenger · Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:18 pm

"Do we have numbers of persons, workers, servitors, arbites personnel who have disappeared in the area? If we are dealing with a xeno-threat that uses the human body, in the manner of genestealers or Krell, it would be useful to know of the numbers of hostiles we may engage."

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 5:44 am

"Roughly two thousand individuals, give or take," replied Pryce.

Post by **Dark Silver** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:30 am

"I shall requisition the heavy armaments nessacry for a possible stand outside the caverns," Demian intoned, "I am ranked for Heavy Weapons usage."

Demian went over in his mind the useful armaments for the mission, only paying half attention to the briefing. Of course the standard Heavy Bolter, his prefered chain halbred, a bolter pistol, hellfire and kraken rounds for the bolter to be safe....

GeneralTacticus · Post by **GeneralTacticus** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:52 am

Lovely, Halima thought to herself. Hundred to one odds, at minimum. At least we won't have to worry aout running out of targets.

She stayed silent, though. This sort of planning was a matter for the Deathwatch Battle-Brothers with their centuries of experience, and she was still kicking herself for her earlier slip. Of course the locals would have cordoned off the area; just because they weren't Inquisition didn't mean they were stupid, but she'd somehow forgotten that. Sloppy. That sort of mistake could easily prove fatal.

As she listened to the discussion around her, she was already mentally planning a briefing for her staff. When this meeting concluded, they'd have only hours before reaching the planet, so they'd have to use their time as effectively as possible. A few more key-presses on her dataslate transferred the facility layout to it to it as well.

Charon · Post by **Charon** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 9:43 pm

Cynical Cat wrote:"Roughly two thousand individuals, give or take," replied Pryce.

Vibius nodded. "It's tunnels so if every one of them is now a liability as long as we make sure they can't get behind us we should be fine."

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 2:28 am

The Burden of Judgement crossed into the inner system, coasting foreward on a course that would take put it into high orbit above Tantalus. Void shield generators had activated at one third power in case of ambush and the capacitors on the lance batteries were fully charged in case the ship needed to perform precision fire. Planetary defence vessels under the authority of the Imperial Commander yielded to the Inquisition Black Ship as it moved into position.

GeneralTacticus · Post by **GeneralTacticus** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:34 am

Everyone was in their usual places when Halima returned. Mia sitting at a codifier, absorbed in whatever she was looking up; Theda at the card table, accusing Federov of cheating; Sebastian and some of the Vessorines sitting back and watching with every sign of enjoyment; Mertokâ€¦ apparently somewhere else. Halima cleared her throat and clapped her hands sharply, like a scholam teacher calling a class to order. All heads immediately turned to her.

â€œRight,â€

Post by **B4UTRUST** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 12:53 pm

Gravin, seeing the meeting was over departed following Halima.

He reached his quarters shortly thereafter, entering to find his people lounging about. A smirk came to his face. The former guardsmen were playing cards and his mercenary was asleep on the couch taking a nap. Typical. He coughed clearing his throat.
"Ahem. Well everyone, since we have so much free time and are so obviously bored, entertainment has been arranged for us courtesy of the Lord Inquisitor."

The guardsmen set down their cards, Sgt. Corcer grumbling as was the usual. Damien woke up with a start, looking around like he didn't know where he was.
"Good. Now that everyone's paying attention, we've got a couple of hours to prepare. We're currently approaching a planet by the name of Tantalus II. Not much to speak of save that it's been a xeno hotspot at certain times in the past. It was a teraforming project by some race a long time ago. Then the orks had it. And now we do.

"Not to long ago worker in a refinery on the world failed to return from their work. A group of Arbites was sent in to investigate. They likewise did not return. A psyker attempted a scan of the mine and reported a disturbing prescense. Anything beyond that is unknown at this point. A call was put out for assistance and we're responding to it.

"Our first look at the place is suppose to be a recon to see what we're up against. It's been suggested that we should pack light and prepare an amount of heavy weapons for backup if we have to fall back. You should know that there is a potentital of a hundred to one ratio here of possible hostiles. I personally don't feel that a light load will be beneficial here. So my recomendation is to bring lots of ammo.

"You all have a few hours to prepare. I suggest you get your gear together, make sure everything is good to go and warm up. Once we hit the refinery we won't know what to expect. I'm going to go wake up our friends in the other room."

The four ex-guardsmen looked at each other then towards the door that remained locked throughout the journey. They knew what was behind that door. Arco-flagellants. The fate of the worst of the heretics. There was something very decidedly unnerving about those things. They had once held the souls of men, the living minds of a human. Now they were cold dead unfeeling things, kept moving by some frightening power that only the Eccleasiarcy and the Adeptus Mechanicus could truely understand. The foursome had been with the Inquisitor for perhaps the longest out of any of the penal legion troops that had been drafted by him. They often wondered if the Arcos were kept around as a not-so-subtle reminder of their fate should they not redeem themselves in the sight of the Emperor.

The door unlocked as Gravin's Inquisitorial seal was placed against the mechanism. It opened, revealing a small room that contained the two Arco-flagellants, Ezekial and Angelus. They were currently restrained, nutrition tubes ran through IVs into their bodies to keep them 'alive' and functioning when they were not required. Gravin went about removing the feeding tubes. He whispered words of awakening into their ears, bringing them out of their topor. He released the restraints, saying words of command. They remained silent throughout, waiting for their orders. He left them there till it was time to leave.

The others began to gather their gear, saying prayers and litanies of maintenance over their equipment, attempting to appease the machine spirits residing within. Only the Mechanicus could truely communicate with the spirits that gave life and function to their gear, but the few rotes they had been taught seemed to placate the undecipherable entities within.

Gravin moved into his own private quarters to prepare himself, for a short time in medidation and prayer, asking the Emperor to harden his heart and mind, to steel his soul from the corruption and taint he was about to face in His service. Behind him on his bed lay the pieces of his armor and his weapons, ready for wear.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 4:52 pm

Rause Siaides cursed silently, then immediately chastised himself for taking the Emperor's name in vain, mentally replacing his daily 15 minutes of free time with appropriate penance. It didn't matter that he had reason to be annoyed; A small but dangerous power router had exploded, leaving a half dozen crewmen somewhere between well done and medium rare. His duty as an Apothecary had been clear, but he doubted the Lord Inquisitor would see it that way.

Well, there was nothing to be done for it now except make what reperations he could. As he stalked back to the Space Marine's portion of the ship he requested the minutes of the meeting transferred to his dataslate. By the time he reached his quarters, he knew the meeting better than most of it's members.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 6:04 pm

Mal drifted away from both Inquisitorial teams and Battle-Brothers as time until arrival ticked by. He felt no kinship, anymore, with the Marines; their tightly-regulated regimes felt odd and uncomfortable. Nor did the Inquisitors strike him as a wise move; there was enough in his past he didn't want dug up, and he knew not all stories about Inquisitors being able to smell Heresy were false.

This left him in the uncomfortable position of having nowhere to go. He wandered to the engineering section, ignoring the Techpriests as he listened to the thrum and power of the machinery.

GeneralTacticus · Post by **GeneralTacticus** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:05 am

Meanwhile, around the shipâ€¦

- - -

We do your work, mighty Emperor. Grant us thy blessings, that we may go forth and destroy your enemies in your cause.

It was a simple prayer that Mertok offered, eyes closed and head bowed before a shrine of the Imperial Cult. To his right, he could hear murmurs and a rustle of cloth as a priest of the Ecclesiarchy moved down the line of kneeling Janissaries, anointing them with holy water and offering blessings and benedictions.

The Vessorines had never been a particularly religious people â€“ such intangible concepts as holiness or an afterlife had never much interested them â€“ but if serving the Inquisition had taught Mertok anything, it was that the Imperium of Man was mighty beyond comprehension, and its Emperor, mightier still. If he was to serve the Emperorâ€™s cause, it only made sense to entreat his protection, and it seemed to work. Against witchery such as the Inquisitor expected them to face, Clan Elder Val Mertok intended to have all the help he could get.

- - -

â€œYou understand the plan?â€

Charon · Post by **Charon** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:04 am

Vibius left the room as the meeting adjourned, the marine quickly made his way back to his quarters and shut the door behind him. Going over the debriefing in his head he pursed his lips as he realized just how little that mission had meant. They were going in blind, he hated going in blind. Vibius openned his door and grabbed the attention of a servant.

"I require images of some of the xeno architexture on that planet."

The servant nodded and hastily beat a retreat down the hall. Vibius meanwhile closed his door and pulled out his power sword and tools of maintanance. It was best to know as much about the enemy as one could. With that Vibius began to look after his armament, it would need to be in prime condition.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 12:10 pm

As soon as he entered his room Rause began performing the rituals of diagnosis on his Power Armour. While he waited for the machine spirit to finish it's oblations, he stripped his Bolter, doused the components in Sanctified oil from the Forge World of Hessia Nine, and considered his ammunition loadout.

Normally, half of his ammunition would be Stalker rounds, designed to allow his modified Bolter to function as a silent sniper weapon, with the remaining half equally divided between Metal Storm, Inferno and Kraken bolts. From what little intelligence was available for this mission, however, it appeared that there was a reasonable probability of them facing large numbers of poorly armoured hostiles. He grunted. A 'reasonable probability' was worth less than a Hrud's droppings, but he took an extra clip of Metal Storm-pattern ammunition nonetheless.

The suit finished its' on board diagnostic with a little chime, all the safety runes coming up green. Satisfied, Rause started intoning the Catechism of Proper Functioning as he donned the gigantic suit of armour, going through the ritual movements of manual sensor calibration as he did so...

Post by **Dark Silver** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 4:51 pm

With the meeting over, Demian returned to his quarters, inspected his power armor, and began stripped down his bolter. Each movement was practiced, ritualistic. Things he had done thousands of times before.

The calm before the storm, the motions were meditative. As he focused upon his work, his mind cleared, and prepared himself for the mission.

LibriumArcana.Games

What Hides In Darkness (40K)

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