Campaign Diary: The best laid plans of Xenos and Men (Session 31 + 32 [Update Dec 20]) - Campaign Complete

[Raith 13]

"I love it when a plan comes together."  Wow, this past week was an amazing session, despite the short playtime a bunch of stuff happened, the pinacle of which, my players walked head first, eyes open right into a completely unseen trap.

Act 3: Unseen
Session 23: Calixis Sector, Adrantis Sub, Baraspine (Hive Baraspine), 125.816.M41

The plan was straight forward. Magnus could not let any perception of impropriety with his household and that of House Cortez stand. He would go and force a meeting with house Cortez. The Redmptionist had secured an array of documentation and official pledges before leaving Scintilla indicating him as a scion of House Hax-Amus and the only legitimate personage with the authority to ally the two houses. Whatever Leondis was doing it would end swiftly.

Soon, Magnus, Atellus, Jalith, Ruby and Syrion were in a grav-transport and speeding through Baraspines Aerie towards one of the towering Hive Spires dominated by House Cortez. The vehicle pulled up outside the armoured gates that Syrion had spent time examining a day before. Addressing the machine-spirits of the entrance Magnus demanded to speak to a representative of the House citing his reasons for the conference and verifying his identity to a Guardian-Cherub that fluttered out from a concealed rookery above the monolithic access point.

For minutes the irate Redemptionist stood there waiting while cogitation circuity scanned his papers. With a sudden hiss of pressure and the dull clank of hidden restraining bolts the gates began to swing open and Magnus stepped back into the waiting transport which silently growled through the entrance and along a long boulevard.

The road from the entrance to the inner palace of House Cortez took a further twenty minutes as the car moved between artificial parks and gardens, swept past lesser residences and building used by the noble house for day to day business, the road curved round and spiralled up the outside of the Hive Spire though the view of the rarefied heights has blocked by statutory and cultured plant life. Eventually it pulled up in front of a massive sweep of stairs covered in a crimson rug. Servants hastened forward to open the doors of the transport and then to guide Magnus and his entourage up towards the looming palace

A major-domo of House Cortez bowed deeply as Magnus ascended the stairs and spoke a quick apology that the Lords of House Cortez where engaged in other activities but where aware of his arrival and had offered the hospitality of the palace while they concluded their prior engagement.

The goup was shown into a inner wing of the massive building a dozen rooms where set aside for their use with four times as many servants waiting to see to their needs. The Major-domo left the group along as Magnus dismissed the servants. As the door to the rooms clicked shut Jalith swept into motion hunting for security devicves, pict-recorders and hidden accessways swiftly locating a handful of spy devices in the various rooms.

While the Assassin hunted for mundane technology Syrion sat down and focused his energies inward, his inner eye perceiving that the rooms had recently been used by a lesser member of the Cortez family, one who was a member of the Imperial Navy. The man had apparently enjoyed a very good time during his stay. While Syrion read the room Ruby kept her mind focused on the present reaching out with her senses to feel the life of those nearby. There where many though they where indistinct behind the think walls of the apartments.

A hour slipped by with Magnus building in impatience. The major-domo had promised that someone would see them quickly and the waiting grated at the Noble until a solid knock at the main door broke the nervous tension. Jalith moved to the opening drawing one of his more discrete weapons while his companions readied themselves.

The reply to enter barely escaped JAliths lips when the door swung violently open and the assassin found himself face to face with a large man swathed in full Carapace Armour and levelling the maw of a combat-shotgun in his direction. In that moment a number of hidden doors into the apartments sprang open. Within seconds the rooms where filled with fifty of House Cortez’s household guards, what thoughts of resistance quickly vanished as a distinct figure swept into the room following the muscle. Draped in robes of scarlet and posing as a Tech-priest the Xenos-tech devices presence registered with shocking force on Syrion and Ruby, dropping the latter to the ground in a moment while Syrion managed to battle against the inaudible pressure crawling at his head for a few moments dropping to one knee before falling alongside his companion..

Resistance was futile, Jalith and Magnus quickly surrendered against the massive odds and where quickly relieved of their weaponry, bound, gagged, hooded and drugged and finally carted from the room.

Sometime later the acolytes began to stir, each slowly came back to reality feeling the lifting of a blissful fugue state. Each was secured to an almost vertical metal plinth along one wall of a room, the only source of light seemed to be directly above their position or issuing from a variety of cogitation screens scattered in the darker areas of the room. Figures moved back and forth in the darkness but it was the red-robed Xenos-tech that drew their immediate gaze. The abomination stood quietly three meters in front of the restraining tables holding Ruby and Syrions, unmoving and silent.

A cheerful voice called out on seeing the group stir and for a moment Magnus suspected he was in the captivity of Alfredo Telarquin but the man soon stepped from the shadows and dismissed the supposition saying he was only an associate of Mr. Telaquin. The speaker stood a little over five foot tall, dressed in a well-cut but simple black suit with a bowler hat. Bulky augmetic eyes that gave the impression of glasses dominated the mans face above a overly large and seemingly permanent smile.

After a swift round of pleasantries and some consultation with another unseen presence smiling man turned to Magnus and with a asked as to whether or not the Priest had thought more of the bargain offered by Alfredo months before on Maccabeus Quintis.

While the acolytes within the upper hive walked head first into a trap those within the Singing Depths walked boldly in the company of armed mercenaries into the facility ruled by Don Inotias and his organisation. Corker had managed to set up the meeting with the Inotias while Ketris had been investigating the Thuuvian Logistics.

Corker led the way, dressed in elaborate finery purchased for the occasion while Ketris posed as one of the escorting guards. Arriving on schedule and where lead into a plain unadorned meeting room. A steel desk dominated the room illuminated by a single light, a middle-aged man sat behind the table with a dozen men armed to the teeth flanking the rooms walls, moments following entry the man began questioning the two undercover acolytes as to their presence, proposal and intentions.

After a few minutes of answers the man nodded and dismissed the illusion that he was who the pair had come to speak to and instead he set forth formal terms for the proper meeting, the heavily armed escort lead by an ex-arbitrator would have to wait outside of the meeting location as would his own men and only a single escort would follow. Agreeing to the turns Corker motioned for Ketris to stay close and the pair made their way into the inner sanctums of the facility.

The room stood at odds to the utilitarian nature of the previous areas, a vast attempt had been made to disguise the old Manufactorum. Pillars reached towards the roof of the long room each buried behind silicon moulded and coloured to seem like marble. The center of the room was a steaming swimming pool in which a pair of young women swum back and forth. At the far end of the pool lunging on a recliner lay Don Inotias his skinny form apparently at ease despite the nearby presence of Infiltrator Jacqui who had only days before broken into to the crime lords supposedly safe room.

Don Inotias sat up and beckoned Corker and Ketris closer showing them a seat and offing Corker to eat, drink or partake of Inotias’ excess with a sweep of his hand towards the women in the pool. With a few words of thanks Corker offered the Crimelord a bottle of fine Amasec as an offering then they began the negotiations.

The Deal in question was for Corker to provide financing for Don Inotias in the drug trade, they hoped that if Twilight or some other narcotic of significant value was being brought to the planet that following the money would likely lead to any outside smuggling groups. The negotiation took the better part of an hour before an initial investment amount of 60,000 thrones was reached. In turn Corker offered an additional 20,000 to sweeten the pot and soon the deal was struck. Don was quick to offer a small celebration and to disclose a little of his plans. It seemed that a new drug previously too expensive and thus only marketed to the very wealthiest of clients was beginning to appear at a much cheaper rate and it would be a significant coup de tat for Inotias to become a major distributor within the Singing Depths for the product. A product rumoured to be called Twilight.

- Raith

[Raith 13]

Two weeks worth of update in this post, despite what i thought was a short couple of sessions it certainly turned into a lot of writing.

Act 3: Unseen
Session 24 & 25: Calixis Sector, Adrantis Sub, Baraspine (Hive Baraspine), 125.816.M41 to 127.816.M41

The ever-smiling man with augmetic eyes introduced himself as Ruben and continued to speak exclusively with Magnus. His proposal was simple, Magnus was ideally placed to turn traitor and allow Ruben and Alfredo’s organisation to gain a plant with wide connections in house Hax-Amus and if the rumours were true the Inquisition. When Magnus protested wondering how such an event would be possible given the other Acolytes presence, the small man assured the Redemptionist with a sinister tone that they would not be of any trouble.

With little apparent thought Magnus agreed to the terms pledging his aide to Ruben’s business, the other acolytes struggled with disbelief aside from Ruby who could hear the false tones in his voice. Ruben seemed to smile even more as he issued orders to have a Servitor wheel the restraining slab that held Magnus from the room while indicating to several shadowed figures that they should get to work.

Within moments a number of Tech-adepts and Chymysts walked out of the darkness wheeling a large bubbling vat of softly-glowing green liquid. The vat was connected to a series of monitors, pumps and techno-arcane devices. With a quiet efficiency the vat was hooked into the intravenous drips already feeding into the captives and with a flick of a switch a watered down serum of Twilight flowed into the Acolyte’s veins.

The world dropped away from the struggling assassin and psykers, soon the pain in their wrists and ankles from the solid adamantium restraints was only a distant uninteresting experience, the people walking about them taking reading were irrelevant and their precarious situation was of no immediate concern.

The servitor rolled Magnus on his restraining support into a room a few dozen meters down a hallway from where he had awoken. The Redemptionist had tried to take in as much of his surroundings as possible but there was little of remarkable note on his short journey, his final destination behind a thick hatch seemed to have been a storage room, remnants of forgotten spare parts still cluttered the corners. As his escort left the priest was alone with Ruben.

Magnus stared at his captor for a moment before presenting his side of the alliance. In exchange for helping Ruben, Magnus wanted his enemy Leondis Hiram-Hax destroyed and his ploy to ally with House Cortez disrupted. Ruben swiftly agreed to the demand citing that house Hax-Amus was a far better ally than Hiram-Hax. With the bargain settling in Magnus asked to be released but with his smile still in place Ruben declined, Magnus would go free but only after one final assurance.

The door to the cell opened and another Servitor strode in, its arms had been replaced with a large silver tray, atop which sat one of the twisted Injectors of Twilight. Ruben took the device and swiftly administered the dose to the cleric before turning and leaving the room securing the door behind him.

Unaware of their companions plight Ketris and Corker concluded their negotiations with Don Inotias and returned back to the safe house, Inotias had indicated that it would take several days for his group to make the appropriate arrangements. With “Jacqui” still on his infiltration assignment the pair had no reliable way to contact their companions within the Aerie so they simply waited. There first established contact time was scheduled for the following day.

When the scheduled check in failed to occur Ketris set out to find out why. Using Corkers newly established identity with Don Inotias the Legate soon acquired a temporary upper-hive travel permit and set off to the Hax-Amus compound where he quickly learnt of the Acolytes failure to reappear the night before.

While Ketris was an accomplished Psyker it was Syrion who was the divination expert, needing to locate his companions in as short a time as possible Ketris did the next best thing and quickly set out to recruit some more specialized talent, grabbing the case in which Jalith kept his favour weapons.

Within a few hours of locating that facility Ketris had successfully bribed and bluffed his way into the secured complex of Hive Baraspines Astropath Enclave. The effort had cost some money but had proceeded smoothly enough for the psyker. Within a cluttered and messy room deep in the psychically neutral residences Ketris spoke to a man called Ibrahim. The conversation was brief but potent and within five minutes he had secured the psykers help.

The Séance was very simple, Ibrahim simply sat down on the floor of his room and bade Ketris to do they same with the gun-case positioned between the pair. Ketris could feel the power being worked by the Astropath and within ten minutes he had his answer, a set of Hive coordinates indicating Jalith was currently located back down in the Singing Depths though the astropath was not able to pinpoint an exact location as something was interfering with the tides of the warp in the area.

Curious as to why the assassin would be down in that territory without notifying Ketris or Corker of his presence the Legate departed the Aerie with Ibrahim in tow. With the looming meeting between Inotias and his supplier Ketris did not want to be caught unawares and a powerful psyker might help to foil any unseen plots, especially if something unfortunate had happened to his companions.

The following morning Corker joined Don Inotias, both had a small armed retinue, in Corkers case mercenaries hired for the task with Ketris hidden among them and Ibrahim quietly standing nearby. Inotias had brought his most trusted men decked out in a wide variety of well-service equipment as well as “Jacqui” who stood near the crime-lords side.

Earlier that morning when the location for the meeting had been concerned Ketris had been surprised to learn that the abandoned Basilica where it would take place was barely a kilometer away from the location divined by Ibrahim.

The abandoned Basilica featured a large interior atrium. The massive room would have held a thousand worshippers comfortably but had not done so in a long time. Massive columns of steel and stone reached for a distant broken ceiling that allowed the light of the sun-panels on the levels roof to filter inside.

At the far end of the area stood another group of figures, eight men armed with shotguns and dressed in uniform flak armour stood carefully watching over a small man in a neatly tailored black suit and bowler hat. Besides the small man was a figure swathed in red robes whose presence caused an shrill ringing in the ears of Ketris and Ibrahim even from so far away.

With a nod of professionalism Don Inotias moved towards the center of the room with a single guard while the little man in black did the same. When the pair finally met they settled into immediate negotiations. Minutes crept by until the bare shook hands, each guard keeping a wary eye on their masters opposite for signs of deceit until the meeting finished and the pair broke off.

Don Inotias signalled to his men to pack up, the negotiations had been successful and with the deposit payed the first shipment of Twilight would be ready in two days time. Corker asked after the delay and was informed that while the suppliers had a laboratory on Baraspine concocting the substance it was only a small operation, incapable of producing large enough quantities at present so the substance was being imported and would arrive shortly in orbit for transport to the Singing Depths.

In keeping with their original agreement Don Inotias assured Corker that he would have access to the shipment to supervise it once it arrived in orbit all the way down to the surface via a small transport company called Thuuvian Logisitcs. With that Don Inotias assembled his men and set out leaving Corker and Ketris to yet again sit and wait.

Hours and days ticked past for the cleric as he suffered through the full dose of the vicious liquid and its tranquilizing effects, deep within his mind he strained against the sensation trying with all his strength to slip free from his restraints. When full awareness returned Magnus found him self free of the restraints. Looking at the elevated slab it was clear someone had come in and set him loose, more surprising was the fact that Magnus felt no lingering effects from the Twilight-state, no tremors, after-drug bliss or even a craving for more.

Growing increasingly concerned about his situation and with hatred rising in his heart the priest rose to his feet, snatched the empty injector from the Servitors tray where his captor had left it and drove the curved tip into the base of the man-machines skull through the spine. Rage satiated Magnus distantly became away of a repeating noise and within a heartbeat was testing the door to his cell which swung open.

Beyond the room the corridor was coloured red with flashing warning lights and echoing with a distress siren. The thump of booted feet pounded on the metal grating that passed for flooring drawing the cleric’s attention past the open door to the left where a squad of six men in flak armour bearing shotguns rapidly approached. One stopped at the door with the cleric while the other five raced past towards another sealed hatch through which Magnus had been wheeled earlier when taken away from his companions. The guard standing in front of Magnus politely requested that the cleric return into his room till the situation was resolved and not willing to take on the armed man without a weapon of his own the cleric acquiesced.

While Magnus struggled with sedation the rest of the captives wandered in and out of counsciousness, the variation of Twilight being pumped into them drew only the beginning effects mostly a sense of passivity but keep an awareness of the outside including that fact that the overwatching Xeno-tech figure had vanished. Struggling against his mental state Syrion drew in the fleeting remnants of his will and summoned his power. With a sparking flicker the rooms lights went dark, cogitators whined into shutdown and the gurgling vat of Twilight ceased to pump.

Almost immediately the effects of the drug vanished and within a second Jalith had one of his hands free to draw a concealed stub automatic. Waving the gun at the dimly seen form of one of the analysts observing the group the assassin was quick to negotiate a release for himself and his companions but not before another worker threw himself at an alarm switch and then out the door.

Jalith gave chase sprinting about the rooms equipment to peer down the corridor. His aim wavered from its target when he saw the quickly approaching security forces. Ducking back into the labority and slamming shut the access hatch the assassin barely avoided a face full of buckshot. A call from Ruby pointed out a second door on the opposite wall and the unarmed group fled as fast as they could.

The chase was panicked, while Jalith could easily outpace his companions Syrion was struggling to move faster than the pursuit, minutes dragged by as they raced along corridors until the report of a shotgun echoed out and Syrion twisted thumping against the wall from a near fatal hit.

Sliding to a stop at a corner Jalith turned and levelled his weapon back the way he came firing past the stricken psyker and drilling one of the pursuers between the eyes, the man-stopper ammunition ripping through the guard’s protection. Atellus and Ruby paused beside Jalith a moment before the assassin ordered them onwards as Syrion caught up. The group ran on, twisting and turning at random hoping to loose their captors.

As the fled the acolytes tried to plan, breathless words and misunderstood intentions saw the group split up and head off down different routes or ducking into rooms hoping that the pursuers would end up walking into an Ambush by Jalith who raced ahead to hind a place to hide.

Runy dashed madly down a corridor hoping it was leading away from her pursuers. The hope faded quickly as she caught sight of four men rapidly closing behind her. Sliding to a halt Ruby focused her power, gathering every erge of strength and throwing it into a burst of emotion triggering a surge of primal fear in her opponents.

Three of the men stopped in their tracks and simply screamed in terror but the forth plowed through the psychic effect and levelled his shotgun. Ruby threw herself to the side and retaliated by slamming her will into the man taking control of his body. Rather than waste time manipulating the host for her will Ruby simply left the man standing stunned and turned to flee.

Still screaming in terror the security forces slowly reacted to her renewed flight, shaky hands operated weapons and a trio of blasts leapt out smashing into the psyker from behind. As Ruby collapsed to the floor and rolled about in pain the men grimly stalked towards her.

Atellus tried to follow Jalith as he sprinted off but quickly lost sight of the lightning quick assassin. No wanting to slow down the Adept continued his quick pace, glancing over his shoulder time and again to check for sounds of pursuits. It didn’t take long for Atellus to realise he was on his own and after a check of his surroundings apparently lost.

Distant noises indicated some sort of confrontation so the Adept continued onwards at a slower pace trying to keep some order to his wanderings. Still concerned with any pursuit from behind Atellus was unable to react when he walked around a corner and straight into the butt-end of a shotgun. Lying on the ground the adept gazed up into the maw of the weapon and the face of its weilder.

Rather than fleeing Syrion ducked into a room marked for storage, already injured and by far the slowest of the group by his reckoning any chance he had for escape would lie with avoiding anymore violence. Ducking behind a set of free standing shelves the psyker waited.

Time ticked past quietly, hearing no sounds of pursuit Syrion slowly drew on his other senses and peered out hoping to sense if any other presences where loitering nearby. Before he could even begin to search the squeak of rusty metal drew his attention back to his immediate situation.

The door to the storage room swung open, flickering light from the passageway illuminating the form of a figure draped in floor length robes of scarlet. Pain stabbed into the psykers mind a shrill noiseless sound. Gritting his teeth and blinking back tears Syrion maintained his hold on his consciousness. With a too smooth motion the figure swept into the room the red cloak sliding away as four long limbs tipped with metal blades unfolded from its back, the weapons sliced the air as the floating torso drifted forward.

Jalith’s path finally found a perfect hiding spot, the corridor widened into an old maufactorum room still littered with broken and rusting machinery. Picking a suitable hiding space the Assassin waited for his prey.

Minutes passed an pursuit failed to appear, more time vanished until finally the assassin caught sight of movement. A squad of six men, armed and armoured swept into the room, they moved with a single purpose checking lines of attack and sight smoothly and with the skill of professionals used to working together. Cursing his luck and knowing that his Stub Auto was not carrying as much ammunition as would be needed Jalith slipped from his perch and hastened from the area choosing a hatch to vanish through.

False daylight startled the assassin as he found himself on a ledge two hundred meters above the ground-floor of one level of the Singing Depths. Above him the sun-panels illuminated the enclosed level of the hive. Apparently free from the facility Jalith quickly located a way down the outside of the building, if he was out there was little point going back in to find the others unarmed, he would simply trust them to survive long enough for reinforcements (namely Jalith with his beloved Nomad rifle) to return.

As his feet touched the “ground” Jalith tensed, someone stood behind him. Turning the assassin cursed again as he was confronted by Ruben, still smiling and a half dozen guards. With a sudden lurch Jalith sprang forward twisting through the air in an attempt to leap past his opponents.

Ruby tried to crawl away from her attackers as they stood over her, one gave a short snort of disgust before a shotgun took her head off.

Syrion fell to his knees the pressure in his head to much to bare and the Xeno-tech stalked closer. Unconsciousness swept around him before he felt the sting of its blades sink into him.

Atellus looked up at the shotgun pointing at his face just in time to see the mans trigger finger tense before his head disappeared in a spray of red.

Jalith’s hectic motion was checked in mid air as shot smashed him apart from point-blank range.

Quickly sorting around his room Magnus located a heavy steel pipe, with a simple test swing the Redemptionist marched back to the door of his room. Shouldering that hatch open he stepped out into the corridor behind the guard standing just outside and bashed the pipe against his head dropping him to the floor. Moving quickly the cleric liberated than mans weapon and armour and hurried back towards the room holding his captive friends.

Spinning the locking flywheel open Magnus stepped into the dark laboratory. Technicians monitoring equipment looked up briefly before returning to their tasks. Over the far side of the room stood five guards, weapons lowered at ease, they stood just outside of the overhead illumination beaming down on the four retraining slabs holding Magnus’s thrashing companions.

Hoping that his quick disguise would be enough Magnus marched on over to the nearest guard and asked for a status report. The man glanced at Magnus briefly before reporting that the prisoners had made a brief escape attempt causing an interruption to the room’s machine-spirits but had otherwise failed to get any further apparently caught up in the hallucinogenic properties of their drugged state.

The summary delivered the guard suddenly stopped and turned to take a longer look at Magnus. Seeing the motion the Redmptionist raised his captured shotgun.

- Raith

[Raith 13]

Act 3: Unseen
Session 26 & 27: Calixis Sector, Adrantis Sub, Baraspine (Hive Baraspine), 127.816.M41 to 130.816.M41

Magnus swept up his pilfered firearm and depressed the trigger unleashing the shotguns ammunition at one of the nearby filtration/dialysis tanks hooked up to his companions. The shot was true but the clustered guards reacted to the motion swiftly beating the cleric to the ground and then unconsciousness.

Adepts panicked as cogitators sparked and the intravenous delivery system hooked up to the rest of the acolytes failed. Alert sirens flickered to red once more before the experimentation room was bathed in bright light as Ruben returned from his negotiations.

The little man quickly restored order, hereteks hurried to replace the damaged machine while the acolytes slowly returned to a form of awareness shucking ff some of the effect of their enforced hallucinations.

Ruben walked over to the recumbent Magnus and studied him for a moment before demanding to know just how he had been able to resist the addictive and narcotic effects of an undiluted injection of Twilight. Scurrying to answer the facilitator’s question one of the tech adepts dropped to his knees beside Magnus and hastily scanned him with a tox-wand. A moment passed and the scan was run again more cautiously before the medicae reported zero trace of Twilight within the Redemptionist’s system. With a word Ruben had Magnus hauled away and minutes later the acolytes fell back into their Twilight fuelled fugue.

Ketris wandered around the Acolytes safe-house within the Singing Depths. The negotiations had been concluded and according to their information in two days they would proceed to pick up the shipment of Twilight from a docking bay within the space station at the other end of “The Torch” the local name for Hive Baraspine’s orbital elevator.

Without any word from his allies and still at a loss as to why Jalith would be down in the Singing Depths but outside of contact Ketris decided to investigate the area divined by Astropath Ibrahim. A quick consultation by Corker with some of the local riffraff answers some questions. The area in particular was set aside as an enclosed agricultural center and was essentially a Hive within a Hive. Most of the area was a vast open space that served as a massive bio-dome growing aero and hydroponic food supplements.

In the center of the territory rose a towering edifice, the massive manufactorum complex stretched up like a pillar of metal to the roof of the bio-dome half a kilometre above. The tower contained all the buildings and services related to processing the food grown as well as a miniature city to cater to the thousands of workers that operated within its limits. The building also included a number of small Mechanicus shrines dedicated to studying and improving the food grown in the artificial bio-sphere, as well as several private concerns also operated a number of smaller factories from the towering building as well.

Ketris told Corker to stay behind as he and Ibrahim went to visit the bio-refineries. After a few hours of general wandering and some discrete questions Ketris had a feel for the area. The vast majority of the manufatorum tower was just like any other part of a Hive however several of the uppermost areas belonged to private organisations and above them where the tower actually stretched through the roof of the surrounding open area was the Mechanicus facilities.

A quick check with Ibrahim confirmed that the auto-séance conducted on Jalith’s weaponry earlier had indicated his general presence was likely within those upper levels. Ketris dismissed the idea that his companions would be dealing with the Mechanicum clandestinely and instead decided to focus on the private holdings. More questions asked to the local population resulted in little new information and Ketris decided that the following day he would return and scout the locations personally.

Scouting the areas chewed up a lot of time, half of a day vanished on the initial location which turned out to be nothing more than a small packaging and refinery operation before Ketris arrived at his second target. Almost immediately the Legate could tell this facility as different. Where the last had been simply been a slightly less cramped section fot he overall structure of the local area this area was visibly sectioned off. Internal walls surrounded the holding with armed guards watching the access points with professional skill.

Ketris lingered watching the area from a discrete distance, his surveillance quickly concluding that the men on guard where well trained, only during the brief changing of the guard every four hours was there a lessening in security and even then only for a few seconds as men moved in and out of the secured compound.

By the time the Hive entered its evening cycle Ketris was sure the compound was not the manufactorum it claimed. Only a half dozen people had left the facility, all of them under escort and there was no surge of workers when the shift alarms blared, a strange presence seemed to blanket the building causing discomfort with Ketris and Ibrahim as they tried to psychically scan the area. With only the astropath as backup Ketris could do little but contemplate possibilities about why his companions would be in such a place and as night rolled closer the investigator returned back to Corker to prepare for the rendezvous the following day.

Six awoke from his dreamless, emotionless, null-sleep as the automated locking systems of his stasis-casque released the cover and disrupted the field. Don Inotias had smuggled the assassin aboard the space station at the far end of The Torch ahead of the day’s operation. The assassin’s orders where to secure the area by removing any of the guards stationed in the massive docking bay where the exchange of Twilight was to occur.

Slipping out of the metal crate Six took a quick survey around the room hunkering into the shadows when he encountered a group of men on patrol. There where eight men in the bay which was partially filled with crates waiting transport to the surface. According to Inotias, Six would have to make sure one of the minor maintenance hatches was clear so the contacts men could safely bring the drugs through to the bay without going past the arbitrators and customs officials outside the main accesses.

The assassin considered his options. Eight men carrying shotguns and wearing flak vests, an appraising glance at a group of four marching around the rooms circumference told him that the guards where moving in a coordinated enough group to make an simple slaughter out f the questions.

In addition to the men on patrol there were four more in a security booth, two at some control and another two relaxing at a table playing a game of cards. Six saw two options: down from elevation to assault the guys on patrol and hope the guards in the booth would come running rather than trigger a general alarm or take out the booth first and slaughter the other guards when they responded.

A quick test showed the roof of the massive cargo bay to far away for any attempt to from the rafters to be anywhere near sane. Glancing at the security station Six reached for the photon grenades at his belt and made his way forward.

Corker arrived as scheduled the following day in the company of his hired guards among which Ketris lurked disguised while Ibrahim simply posed as what he was attached to Corkers service. The group looked around the massive cargo bay, there where apparently alone though there was some sign of a recent struggle within the overwatching security booth. Before the acolytes could investigate an access hatch to the bay ground open and a squad of men armed in a variety of colourful clothing and an assortment of weaponry entered followed by Don Inotias and a massive combat-servitor armed with a repurposed heavy stubber. Six slipped from the shadows when his “employer” arrived and the group waited in silence.

Five minutes passed slowly before a third group of men entered the room, all where dressed in a dark navy blue uniform they wore no signs of distinguishing rank aside from a single emblem an inverted triangle surrounding three circles. Between the men they carried sixteen long metal crates, each a meter long and half a meter wide and deep. The apparent leader of the men approached Don Inotias and Corker and swiftly informed them that his master was about to arrive.

Siren blazed and a muffled and indistinguishable voice echoed through the massive Cargo bay as the giant airlock along one side of the area began to ratchet open. Massive sections of the bay hull slide aside exposing the bay to open space, only the electric static of a mag-field kept the bay pressurized as a huge bulk-lifter decorated in the livery of Thuuvian Logisitic glided inside.

The moment the lifter touched down the main access doors to the bay rolled open and hundreds of men raced inside followed by servitors, cherubs, servo-skulls and small transport vehicles. The lifters massive cargo doors opened and more men spilled out for inside carrying crates or monitoring servitors. Within the chaotic hubbub of stevedores Ibrahim and Ketris suddenly felt a mental pressure rack their aetheric senses. One of the Xenos-tech Reapers was on board the lifter.

Ruben soon appeared his escort forcing their way through the crowd to where Inotias, Corker and their escorts loitered. The smiling man quickly exchanged pleasantries and directed the men in the navy colour uniforms to get the crates onboard following a quick check by the acolytes to verify the crates did contain what they where after.

The hectic activity of the loading dock soon died away as the various goods to be loaded and offloaded concluded leaving the two groups standing in the silent bay. Ruben turned to speak to one of his men who vanished back into the massive surface-to-orbit vehicle before explaining to Inotias that he had a small errand to run before the lifter would depart. At those words five tall cylinders where wheeled from the looming vessels forward cargo hold. Each of the containers stood eight foot tall and was draped in a heavy tarpaulin a pair of men pushed the trolleys the contains rested on. Ruben quickly assuered the Don that his men had complete control of the waiting transport and that its late departure was already being covered up with a report of minor technical difficulties.

Ketris frowned as the little man in black then vanished along with the cylinders being pushed away by the men in the dark uniforms, there was something tickling his thoughts about the sudden change in plans but the psyker could get no sense of what he was missing.

Ruben returned quickly and the following trip to the surface was in great comfort, the little man had set aside a number of staterooms aboard the transport for his new business partners and the transit through the perpetual storms of Baraspine was swift and pleasant. Once locked being the massive hatchways of the Thuuvian loading docks the group watched as Don Inotias’ associated spirited away the crates of Twilight promising that he should have the first returns on Corkers investment within three or four days.

Once free of Ruben and Don, Ketris swiftly spun out a theory. Both Ibrahim and Ketris had detected the presence of an Xeno-tech Reaper the day before at the enclosed manufacturing compound, now they had seen one aboard the bulk-lifter where it had stood watch during transport over the crates of Twilight, prior to that Ruben had wheeled five, basically man sized containers from the transport, five containers, one for each missing acolyte.

Coincidence or not the pair swiftly made their way through the singing depths and into the Aerie via hastily secured identity papers and more forged access passes to the orbital elevators within The Torch. Once again within the orbiting facilities of Baraspine the pair retraced their steps heading back to the cargo bay they had recently vacated. Ibrahim quickly performed a séance summoning up a vision showing which way Ruben had taken the cylindrical containers and the pursuit was on.

The passage took the pair of acolytes their astropath and guards through the passageways of the massive station. They soon learned that a local street vender had witnessed the containers being loaded onto a cargo-hauler. The vehicle had then vanished along one of the main access roads heading to the upper docks. Following the trail led to one of the major import/export decks, the crowds of people clearly prohibiting any large vehicular transport and apparently bringing a dead-end to the pursuit.

The group quickly spread out through the crowd looking for some sort of clue though they had little to go on until Ketris was able to identify the badge worn by the men in the navy uniforms. The inverted triangle and circles was the icon of the Sarcosian Dynasty, a vessel belonging to them was docked with the station and many of its crew where on shore leave at present.

Armed with this knowledge Ketris regrouped with Corker and his escort, the swiftly located a small group of crewmen in a nearby tavern. Several drink later Ketris had managed to ingratiate himself with the shipmen and as the stumbled from the watering hole the trap was sprung as Corkers guards quickly grabbed the men and dragged them into a unused maintenance conduit.

A brief interrogation followed by a quiet execution brought to light a troubling fact. The Sarcosian Dynasty vessel docked at the station was a massive Battlecruiser called “The Abandoned”.

- Raith

[Raith 13]

Act 3: Unseen
Session 28: Calixis Sector, Adrantis Sub, Baraspine (Orbital Spacedock), 130.816.M41

While their hired guards made sure the bodies of the Abandoned Crewmen were truly hidden Ketris, Corker and Franc Possibly (the ex-Abritrator who was leading the pairs hired help) dressed in their captured uniforms. The orbital docking station high above BAraspine Hive was segregated into many strata-levels each with its own security enforcers who made sure that only those with the proper access passes could reach the higher levels. Knowing that their chances to acquire a pass with sufficient clearance to the Sarcosian Dynasties primary trading decks three floors above the group turned to guile, the crewman of the Dynasties vessel would certainly be granted access and perhaps with a bit of luck even be simply overlooked.

The ploy worked like a charm and the trio ghosted past security into the mercantile decks leaving behind the rest of their undisguised guards. The difference between the general trading decks and those reserved by the Sarcosian Dynasty was immense, wealth plated the wall of the arced hallways, vast open spaces thrummed with negotiations and endless thrones pass through hungry hands, the vast majority belonging to the Dynasty and its associated holding, keeping the money made and lost within an enclosed system.

Everywhere the symbol of the Dynasty loomed, the inverted triangle surrounding a trio of red circles seemed to even overshadow the Imperial Aquila in ostentation and prominence. The infiltrators tracks meandered about the trading deck and up another floor in search of more information about “The Abandoned” and the large cylinders Ruben had been moving, the search eventually leading to one of the many umbilicals connecting the space station and the anchored Battlecruiser.

Thrones had changed hands as the group sought information which had led them to Cargo-master Silmin a rotund individual in charge of the third port cargo shift. The cargo-master was busy dictating orders to crewmen and servitors in a never ending litany designed to replenish the cavernous portside holds of the starship before its departure.

In a brief lull of his tirade Corker approached the cargo master and following a short negotiation and the sudden discovery of several hundred thrones that the Cargo-master had “seemingly” dropped the Acolytes had discovered that it was quite possible that several large cylindrical objects could have been placed aboard the vessel. While the Cargo-master had no personal recollection of the objects he was willing to dispatch a Servo-skull to track down any objects matching the description provided by Ketris.

An hour dragged by with Ketris, Corker and their remaining guard silently watching the eb and flow of dockside life until a servo-skull buzzed out of the crowd. The hovering device hovered back and forth between the trio and one of the access hatches leading into the Abandoned’s cavernous holds.

Like an excited puppy the skull raced ahead of the group, pausing at every turn and then racing back towards them before darting away with a sense of excitement until the group caught up and followed it in a new direction. The path was fairly straight forward and soon the group stood before a rack of containers in front of which was strapped five large cylindrical caskets matching the appearance of what they sought.

Corker and Ketris scoped out the containers, each was designed to clearly encompass a human body, a large padded interior was equipped inside the cylinders, a number of secure metal clamps operated as restrains for arms and legs. Each tube also contained a small medicae monitor and intravenous system was also fitted inside, the remnants of a green vicious liquid dripped from a number of needles. Finally where a persons head would be positioned was a mask-like device that would seal off a persons sight and hearing which Corker theorised would be used as a form of sensory deprivation.

With no definitive sign of their companions Ketris turned to his innate abilities, slowly he lowered his mental wards and reached out with his mind hoping to find some resonance within the warp. Almost immediately his mind was filled with a familiar discordant hum. Ketris had felt the sensation before in the docking bay where the exchange for Twilight had taken place but he was unable to pinpoint the source of the strange psychic noise.

While Ketris focused his thoughts Corker examined a hatchway near to where the cylinders had been left. It was clearly an emergency exit from the cavernous hold but one whose door would have prevented the large objects from passing through. Calling to his psychic companion Corker gestured at some writing above the doorway and Ketris quickly translated.

The hatchway lead to Corridor 37-Delta of the lower-berths, a portion of the massive vessel that was given over to the general crew and was a much more violent and dangerous section on the ship than the upper decks where the command staff and Dynasty representatives would be found. Drawing on his own upbringing aboard a naval ship within the Battlefleet Calixis, Ketris theorised that the door was most likely a one-way access with no handle on the other side, unregulated access to the cargo bay would be too tempting.

While Ketris tried to explain how unlikely it was that their friends would have been sent into the lower decks if they had been captured and given what they represented Corker was not so sure and after some debate the pair agreed to at least look behind that hatch. A moment later the access point stood open.

Rather than a small maintenance corridor the pair faced a steep spiralling stairwell that went upwards, a distant light showed another hatchway. Corker looked to Ketris for an explanation but the Investigator shrugged and simply motioned Corker forward.

Corker went first followed by Possibly who only agreed to further infiltration of the Battlecruiser after a significant pay rise and assurances his family would receive the thrones if he didn’t make it out. Finally Ketris brought up the rear.

The spiral of stairs ended after almost forty meters of elevation at a blast door. The flywheel turned on well greased mechanisms and swung inwards. Stepping through the hatch Corker found himself in a short corridor, the walls and floor gleaming with polish, the air carrying an antiseptic smell normally found in a Medicae Bay. A voice from the far end of the corridor called out and Corker turned to see a man dressed in the navy blue uniform of the ships crew but also equipped with a Combat shotgun and thick flak armour.

His mind racing Corker walked towards the guard arms outstretched, for a moment the Reclamator tried to negotiate with the guard claiming to have urgent business on the deck and that everything was perfectly fine. The guard began to look unconvinced before Ketris appeared and with a lance of psychic control hijacked the guard’s brain instructing him that all was well and the pair would just move along.

Ketris was soon forced to use the same trick again and he, Corker and Possibly moved down a series of immaculately cleaned corridors. A patrol of guards attempted to stop the group but where quickly befuddled and let the infiltrating acolytes past while they continued their rounds.

The area of the starship Ketris and Corker had discovered seemed to be a strange blend of small scale manufactorum and Medicae center, rooms held either empty examination areas or where filled with servitors manufacturing small devices. They passed clean rooms with individual airlocks and storage facilities holding rack and racks of small square containers that seemed familiar but whose contents could only be guessed at.

Finally down a short stretch of corridor the trio found a sign of their companions. Four rooms flanked the corridor, two to a side, heavy hatches marked the room’s entrance and a small light sat above each door. Each hatch had a sliding panel that allowed a person to see into the rooms beyond.

The first room was dark, nothing could be seen inside. The second was empty, white lights shone of reflective surfaces, a dozen cruciform tables sat around the room or lined along the far wall. The forth room was empty of any interior objects though along each wall were chained a dozen men and women, alive or dead it was hard to see.

It was the third room that held Corkers attention. Through the small viewing slit the Reclamator could see a figure dressed in a stark robe of white. A massive mechanical devise was stuck to the figures back and from it waved a half dozen articulate mechanical arms, each tipped with a variety of surgical tools.

In front of the Tech-priest and partially obscured by his body was another crucifix shaped table, a man lay bound to its surface thrashing against his restraints. As Corker watched the Magos cut into the man, blood spraying from the injuries inflicted though the captive seemed no to scream. Slowly the Magos reached into the incision and plucked out an internal organ all the while recounting his task and evaluating his discoveries.

Corker looked away from the window feeling sickened at the sight and gestured for Ketris to carefully look. The psyker simply turned his gaze into the room and quietly took in the scène, not even flinching as an artery sprayed blood over the little window. Ketris swept his eyes over the victim and paused his gaze fixing on the captives forehead when it lolled towards his view, there upon the man’s head embedded within his flesh was a small insectoid bug, exactly the type the Investigator had read about in the Inquisitors files.

Filing that information away for more thought later Ketris continued to examine the medical room until he caught site of a pair of men chained to raise slabs against the far wall, one of the men was unfamiliar but the other stired mixed feelings in the psyker, Magnus lay chained in place apparently comatose and unresponsive to the massacre taking place before him.

A quick consultation between Ketris and Corker had them moving on from the room, if Magnus was a captive and apparently in the queue for vivisection then they would need to do something. Even so an escape attempt would likely raise an alarm and such would prevent them from moving about quickly perhaps dooming the rest of their companions.

Luckily for the infiltrators their renewed search quickly bore fruit, only a pair of corridors away they located another locked room with a strange blue glow emanating from round the edges of the sealed access. From beyond the door Ketris could feel an alien presence that gnawed at his mental defences. Now within a much closer proximity Ketris could identify the feeling, it was the same intruding sense that he had felt deep within the data-catacombs of Lathe IV, specifically the wave of energy released by the strange crystalline pyramid that the rogue Mechanicus had been utilising.

Despite Ketris’s protests Corker wanted to see what was in the room, Bolters drawn and ready to destroy anything that looked too threatening the Reclamator and Psyker burst into the room followed by their hired guard.

The laboratory was the largest room seen so far, scattered throughout the room where those same cruciform restraining tables they had seen previously. Some dangled from the ceiling where they would have held captives face towards the floor. Others were more like normal tables set waist height for easy access to anyone restrained. It was those around the room’s edges that held the trios attention. Bound to those along the left hand wall were Jalith, Syrion and Atellus. Each was affixed by clamps at the wrists and ankles. The restraints were separate components from the cross shaped platforms, each a hexagonal device connecting to a feeding tube through which ran a glowing green liquid that could only be Twilight.

Finally along the wall opposite the entryway was a single restraining cross, surrounded by cogitators, machine-engines and other techno-arcane devices was Ruby, tubes fed Twilight into her body via devices at her wrists and ankles as well as into his side above her hip and into her chest near her collarbone. A helmet like device wrapped around her eyes and ears and before her hummed a large pyramid shaped crystal set into a brass and gold base.

With a look to each other Ketris and Corker moved around the room releasing the magnetic restrains that held their companions and unplugging the tubes feeding into their bodies.

-Raith

[Raith 13]

Wow I completely forgot to update this thread last week so here is a huge update of sessions 29 & 30.  There are 2 more sessions for this year then a bit of a break before Act 4 will begin.

Act 3: Unseen
Session 29 & 30: Calixis Sector, Adrantis Sub, Baraspine (Orbital Dock: Aboard the Abandoned), 130.816.M41

The captive where in bad shape, Ketris and Corker worked quickly to free their companions, at first Possibly the Ex-arbitrator kept a watch on the door but as the acolytes struggled against the noxious effects of their torture and drugging he moved to help.

With the machines feeding a watered down serum of Twilight into the acolyte’s veins they crashed from their inebriated state, hard. Feeling returned to their bodies as they lay against the cold metal grating that made up the rooms floor, the florescent lumens in the ceiling blasted light into eyes unused to such sensations, noise from artificial pumps roared in drumming ears and even the air seemed weighted down and thick.

The sudden lack of sustenance into the captive veins had them vomiting a white pus-like substance almost immediately. Atellus could not help to stare at what his body was violently ejecting his mind harkening back to an earlier encounter on Palind and the Lathe IV where he had seen men turned into a similar substance which only caused him to redouble his efforts and pass out in horror.

The last freed from the restrains was Ruby, the battered psyker completely comatose, her body weeping blood from the various injection sites. A cry of pain puled Ketris’s attention from the unconscious girl as Jalith attempted to stand.

The assassin stared at his hands blinking slowly, the world around him seemed somehow unreal, he had a moment before tried to stand by pushing himself up on the edge of a nearby bench only to feel the icy surface slash open his palms, yet when he looked their was no sign of any injury to his palms.

Ketris helped the sniper to sit back against thee wall placing Jalith’s gun-case close at hand, the assassin hesitatingly opened the case to see his beloved Nomad contained within. Slowly and with hands too sensitive to properly function the assassin began the ritualised task of assembling and performing maintenance on the weapon.

Syrion was in an equally unbalanced state his first thought was to lash out with his mind at the sudden severity of his existence but the psyker was unable to access his power becoming lost within the sound of an unintelligible whispering. Ketris called out to his companion not wanting him to lower his mental barriers while in the presence of the strange crystal and brass pyramid.

Slowly the captives began to gather themselves together though they continued to swing between states of heightened hyper-stimulation and fugue like non-responsiveness all except Atellus who had fainted and Ruby who remained unconscious.

The sounds of a flywheel turning and the release of a tight pressure seal brought the gaze of the rescuers to the door as a pair of heavily armed security officers entered the room, reacting to their sudden appearance Ketris bluffed hoping that the stolen uniforms they wore would camouflage them. The first guard hurried to Ketris as the psyker described how the prisioners had somehow gotten loose, unfortunately his companion was a little more wary and he spotted Ketris sliding his boltpistol from its holster.

The report of a combat shotgun filled the room followed by the crash of a bolt-round, corker threw himself for cover and dragged Ruby after him while Possibly whipped out his shock baton and tried to tackle the armsman.

The fight was desperate and brutal.  In the aftermath the group recovered a single shotgun the other ruined by a shot from Ketris that had torn apart one of the security guards. Corker grabbed up Ruby while Possibly lifted Atellus from the floor, Ketris took point with Syrion and Jalith stumbling along in their wake as they fled the chamber.

Subterfuge and misdirection seemed to be a moot point as the group fled, alarms had been tripped and men responded to the intrusion of the acolytes.

Trying to retrace their passage through the ship to the examination room where Magnus had been spotted the group ran straight into another armsman, this one in the company of a massive murder servitor.

The machine creature acted first levelling its weapon arm at the group and letting loose a pair of high powered las shots, its other arm ending in a massive chainfist that buzzed aggressively as the cybernetic killing machine advanced.

While the servitors overseer backed away and readied his own shotgun, Jalith tried to raise his rifle, the range was basically point blank for the huge weapon but the effects of Twilight where still to potent and the assassin found himself simply staring down the weapons sights wondering what he was suppose to be doing.

Ketris snapped off a shot from his borrowed shotgun before tossing it to Possibly and drawing his boltpistol. Corker, still burdened by the unconscious Ruby and now the barely aware form of Atellus, transferred from the ex-arbitrator, retreated back down the passageway.

Confronted with the massive death-machine Syrion went into overdrive, calling upon the powers of the warp again and again trying to inflict agony on the hybrid machine creature and its keeper. With each attempt the warp grew more and more turbulent until the seething morass of unreality began to filter into the real world before bursting like a pimple into the minds of those battling about the psyker.

For a brief moment the Abandoned’s Gellar Field flickered on and across the ship warp sensors blared a single warning as an etheric spirit of rage swept across the battle inciting an unrefined frenzy in the participants who threw themselves towards each other. Possibly drew his shock-rod and hammered at the servitor who swept its chainfist at the mercenary clipping his head and sending the man flying away blood spurting from the horrific injury. Ketris leapt forward clubbing the servitor’s keeper to the ground when he charged into combat armed with a long knife.

The insane rage faded in seconds as the warp receded and Syrion fell once more into the delirious effects of Twilight. Now within the reach of the massive murder-servitor Ketris rased his boltpistol and fired, the shots punching into the machine battering its system. A moment later Jalith finally collected himself and fired adding to the damage.

Despite the sudden fury injected into the acolytes they managed to fall back from the flailing Servitor avoiding any further casualties before finally another bolt round from Ketris ended the machines unnatural existence.

A quick assessment of the post-battle situation had the only major injury tallied to Possibly whose was a bloody mess. With some badgering Ketris got Syrions mind back to the present and the psyker carefully used his abilities to undo some of the damage as Ketris assured the ex-arbitrator that they knew what they where doing.

With more weapons acquired the group prepared to move on when Jalith caught the echo of approaching boots. Setting up a small firing line the acolytes waited until a quartet of shipboard men at arms hurried around the corner.

The newcomers vanished in a pall of smoke as Possibly and Ketris fired their acquired Combat Shotguns while Atellus and Syrion added what fire they could from procured Stub weapons. As the smoke cleared from the fuselage the acolytes got a glimpse of their handiwork all four of the armed men had been torn apart

Beginning to feel like they were pushing boulders up hill the acolytes continued on making sure to stay out of the way of any more patrols until they reached the examination room where Magnus awaited.

The room was empty, the previously spotted Magos was no where to be seen and the massive table in the center of the room while stained with blood no longer held the form of a thrashing victim, the only movement in the room came from a single servitor slowly polishing the walls and removing the accumulated stains of arterial spray.

While Jalith covered the door Atellus moved to release Magnus, the Redemptionist was still restrained to a upright metal slab on the far wall of the room beside another unidentified men, all three where comatose a glimpse at the face of each showing a mind that had fled before torturous horror. As the adept made to unclip the last restrain holding Magnus in place a shadow moved overhead.

Silently Magus Algorm descended on waves of magnetic force from the rooms ceiling, the tech priest had been hidden amid a wild tangle of cables and devices. The descent stopped amid the acolytes who all turned to face the new presence each registering the long writhing tendrils that protruded from the Magos’ back, each ending in a surgical tool or a sharpened claw. In utterly neutral synthetic tones the Adept Biologis informed the group to surrender before lashing out with its limbs.

Jalith fired from the door but the shot never reached its target the air glowing suddenly as an energy field intercepted the bullet and converted its momentum into energy, Syrion threw himself backwards towards a corner of the room pulling out his Stub Revolver and firing shot after shot at the Tech-priest. Basically standing at point blank range Ketris called upon his powers forming an image of himself a few feet from his actual position long enough for the psyker to beat a retreat while Atellus also fired his pistol from shot range.

Amid the volume of fire the Heretek struck, its mechadendrite uncoiled from beneath its robes to flail at the acolytes, talon slashed, las-scalpels hummed and bone saws whirred, with a sickening rip atellus dropped to the ground his leg severed in a splatter of blood. Possibly was swept up as a clawed limb punched straight through his chest and out his back. The tentacle like limb thrashed about until the ex-abritrator came apart in two pieces.

Jalith sidestepped the pair of mechadendrites that struck at him and grabbed up Possibly shotgun, wracking the slide he fired, a second later Ketris joined in and a bullet from Syrion finally ended the Magos as it ripped through it’s head.

Things looked dire as Syrion moved to heal Atellus the psykers warp healing threading into the bloody stump of his leg until the bleeding stopped and the open wound was closed. The acolytes where down too four battered but functional men, with Ruby unconscious Atellus missing a leg and Magnus mentally traumatised the rest where becoming increasingly burdened, on top of this Ketris was on the verge of collapse having suffered a grazing strike during the combat.

Slowly the acolytes searched for an exit from the secret laboratories of the Abandoned falling back whenever they heard the approach of guards or the thumbing steps of servitors. For an hour they danced back and forth until they finally spotted an exit the hatch guarded by a pair of men armoured head to toe in thick Carapace their massive hellguns held at the ready.

The guards where on the ball catching sight of the group as they tried to scout the location, their weapons swinging up and firing in a well drilled motion.

The gun battle took pace down a short stretch of passage, the acolytes took turns stepping into the open or firing around the corner while their opponents trusted to their heavy armour as protection. Bullets flew down the hall and las round whickered past in reply, despite the efforts of Ketris to confuse the minds of the guards the battle was ended by a series of well placed shots from Syrion who first kneecapped then executed his target with his guns last shot.

Battered and at their last the acolytes fled the secret area of the Abandoned and arrived once more in the vast cargo hold of the Battle Cruiser. The massive chamber while stocked with endless supplies was strangely empty of men or servitors. Sneaking forward Jalith scouted the area as a voice called out a greeting and a command.

Pausing for a moment fearing detection the assassin resumed his prowling as the voice continued to offer terms of surrender for the Acolytes, within moments the ground stared through a pile of supplies to gaze upon the black clad form of Ruben, the ever smiling man standing before the massive hatchway leading to the umbilical between the Orbital Dock and the ship at his side stood a tall unmoving figure draped in a blood red robe.

It had been over twenty hours since Six had last heard from his allies. Since then the assassin had watched as Don Inotias and his men had begun distributing the purchased Twilight, carefully noting where the drug was being secretly stored and delivered within the Singing Depths of Hive Baraspine. Finally fearing for his companions the assassin slipped away from his duties and made his way back up into orbit.

Making his way through the labyrinthine decks of the orbital dock Six soon tracked down Astropath Ibrahim who waited on one of the low-trade decks along with the remaining men that had been hired by Corker as guards. Despite being surprised to see the assassin they revealed how the group had captured several men from a ship called the Abandoned and taken their uniforms.

The assassin wasted no time quickly slipping past the guards monitoring the entry points to the high-trade levels despite several of the men on duty paying surprising attention to their work. Once on the main trade decks the Moritat found himself almost overwhelmed by the massive crowds of traders shouting their transaction and offering around the place.

Hunting through the crowd Six located a small fabric merchant perfect for answering some questions. With a skilful whisper and the press of cold steel the assassin convinced the merchant to move to a more private venue.

The pair passed behind a curtain into a quiet storeroom where the merchant was quickly forced to call off a waiting security-servitor. Almost in tears the merchant divulged what he knew about the docked Battle Cruiser to the assassin who in turn agreed to let the man live but not before securing his promise not to order the looming servitor to strike with an explosive collar about the mans neck.

It didn’t take Six long to locate the Abandoned though he was surprised at the sheer scale of the vessel, trusting to his instincts and the faith of his companions to get into trouble the assassin moved around until he spotted one of the access points to the vessel which stood surrounded by a guard of men keeping the rabble of traders further at bay than usual. Slipping past the distracted guards on crowd control the assassin peered down the length of a docking umbilical towards a distant airlock.

- Raith

[Raith 13]

Greetings and Salutations faithful of the God-Emperor once again we have come of an ending, in this
case another year of Dark Heresy is over and here are the summaries of the last two sessions. While
the acolytes of Inquisitor Thrakis where only involved in two missions this time both accomplished a
great deal and my campaign is quickly ramping up. For those of my longest players they are now within
sight of Ascension others are not too far behind them and i expect most to have reached that
benchmark next year. Speaking of next year I suppose I should announce the next installments
name...Wrath begins in madness and ends in repentance. This will continue Act 3 for a little while and
then move into act 4. For those keeping track of things it should now be clear that my acolytes have not
been pursuing several different investigations but one giant conspiracy involving a strange Xenos Bug,
Technological creations and people willing to manufacture a dangerous drug to manipulate others.
Where it will all lead? More will be revealled next time...

Act 3: Unseen
Session 31 & 32: Calixis Sector, Adrantis Sub, Baraspine (Orbital Dock: Aboard the Abandoned)
to Scintilla Sub, Scintilla, Hive Sebillus (Tricorn Palace), 130.816.M41 to 162.816.M41

“Six” sprinted down the docking umbilical utilising what little cover the massive docking-arm could offer,
behind him shouts of anger and alarm echoed. A quick glance over his shoulder showed the profile of a
overweight man yelling for the nearby security guards and waving them in pursuit. Picking up the pace
Six swept into the void-lock of The Abandoned, the cavernous system was large enough for a pair of
Cargo-haulers to comfortably fit end to end. At the far end of the void-lock stood a pair of figures, neither
seemed to have noticed the assassin’s rapid approach or his pursuers, thier attention directed into the
ship beyond.

The Moritat slid to a halt beside a air-extraction port and quickly worked to loosen the grating covering
the opening, he then ripped a strip of cloth from his “borrowed” merchants outfit, leaving the piece
slightly visible pinned by the grating before hurrying to the next opening and slipping quietly inside.

Less than a minute behind the Assassin his pursuers arrived, spotting the man in black his robed
companion they stopped swiftly and began sweeping the void-lock for their prey. The sergeant in charge
of the detail approached Rubel who turned to face the men. Despite the open nature of the chamber
there was no sign of the intruder, nor had the facilitator seen anyone move past his position. While the
sergeant returned to leading his troops search Rubel turned to the tall red cloaked figure at his side, at
the little mans quiet instruction shrouded figure shrugged off its robe revealing the sleek metal shape of
a what the Inquisition was now calling a Shade-Reaper.

Four blade-tipped arms flexed as one, two wrapping over the creatures shoulders the other pair flexed
around the floating metal torso beneath the xeno-tech’s smaller more human looking manipulator arms.
It swivelled its long cylindrical head back and forth a moment, its single red lens-eye scanning the cargo
bay before it. Without a sound the Shade-Reaper drifted forward away fro the void-lock and out among
the racks of cargo as it moved light warped around its form until it was cloaked from sight.

Six waited within his hiding place for an opportune moment to leap out and strike but the arms-men who
had chased him were making things difficult as they moved about the chamber carefully checking all
possible hiding places, the assassin expected such a order but was surprised to see how easily the
searched overlooked his carefully crafted false trail until they began physically opening the various
ventilation safety coverings.

With the discovery of the torn cloth the arms-mens sergeant dispatched a pair of his men into the duct in
cautious pursuit while ordering several more to stand at the ready in case it was a trap. With his ever
present smile Rubel agreed pointing directly at Six’s hiding place, the little mans massive augmetic eyes
whirling and clicking as he reported the assassin’s true position.

Across the cargo-bay the rest of the acolytes struggled to extract themselves from the starship. Syrion
and Jalith had again lapsed back into a dream-like state, Atellus was next to useless missing a leg and
Ruby was still unresponsive while Magnus suffered from the trauma he had witnessed. Ketris helped
Atellus and those in less able conditions to hide inside a small niche formed by several stasis-casques,
without any real mobility Atellus was to guard the other acolytes as best he could by shooting anything
that came into the hide that wasn’t clearly identified as a friend.

With his companions secured as best as possible Ketris drew out his Bolt-pistol and Corker readied his
combat-shotgun. The pair formed a simple plan, the way off the starship was blocked by Rubel and one
of the Xeno-tech Reapers, they needed to get past the pair, the safest way being to disable at least one
of them, with the majority of the groups firepower stricken taking on the Reaper seemed like a foolish
endeavour. To that end Corker would do his best to act as a distraction for the Shade-Reaper running
about to draw its attention while Ketris would attempt to flank around the cargo bay and secure the exit
route by removing the little man in the black outfit.

Corker set off at a run flicking off the safety to his weapon and chambering a round, with a scream he
fired yelling out at the top of his lungs as he ran. Ketris moved away as quietly as he could, crossing
between the towering stacks of foodstuffs, miscellaneous items and liquid volatiles carefully secured in
the Abandoned’s hold. The repeated blasts of a shotgun and yelling let the former Legatine know that
his companion was still alive as he moved into position less than fifty meters away from the void-lock
and escape.

Through the sights on his bolt pistol Ketris took careful aim at his intended target, he still did not trust his
psychic abilities having witnessed Syrion’s erratic manifestations during his brief moments of lucidity, the
warp was in turmoil aboard the abandoned, it was as if a of water was consistently falling into a
pond rippling the surface. On top of his earlier sense that something was chittering away at the edge of
hearing the psyker preferred to use more mundane means of execution.

Inside his now exposed hiding space Six cursed Rubel’s cybernetic eyes, barrelling out of the extraction
vent the Moritat hurled a pair of grenades into the void-lock covering his movements with thick clouds of
smoke that spread out to conceal almost half the massive space. In response the gathered guardsmen
fired blindly towards the assassin’s previous location but failed to hit.

At the assassin’s emergence Rubel fell back calmly retreating away from the smoke and letting the
guards to deal with the intruder while the groups sergeant acted as an escort. A black shape dashed
from the concealing cloud towards the men, lumen-light glinted off the long mono-edged blades held by
the assassin. The blare of a shotgun added to the sudden confusion as the sergeant opened fire in
defence but Six ducked without slowing under the attack and was on top of the pair in a second his
swords sweeping out and cutting a shallow wound into Rubel’s arm.

In response the ever-smiling man reached into his over-jacket and drew out a small silver pistol, the
strange weapon was too sleek to be Imperial technology, its glistening sides glowed briefly with a blue
light before the weapon pulsed and a trio of projectiles whipped past the assassin, the low-velocity
munitions emitted an odd burring noise as they zipped past giving the impression that they chewed their
way through the air.

Six recoiled from the shots giving Rubel time to escape from close combat as the sergeant drew a
boarding cutlas and hacked at the Moritat. The pair exchanged blows for a few moments as the little
man in black crossed to a secured hatch leading from the area. Scowling at the back of his retreating
prey Six battered away his opponents attacks and leapt in pursuit as the retort of a bolt round split the
air.

Ketris shifted his aim from Rubel as Six charged into combat. The furious surprise assault by the Moritat
had spoiled the psykers shot for fear of hitting his ally, instead the former Legatine moved to head off the
rest of the arms-men attempting to assist. Striding confidently forward the psyker reached into his
pocket and grasped a small device given to him prior to the mission, with a sweep of his hand Ketris
hauled out a small silver Rosette. The Inquisitorial symbol dangled at the end of a short chain and with a
confident command Ketris identified his allegiance.

The pair of arms-men in front of Ketris froze in their tracks, though they were familiar with the nature of
their employment they had never been confronted so immediately with the consequences of their
employment. For a long moment the pair weighed their options looking nervously at each other before
turning to flee back through the void-lock and down the docking umbilical towards a future as far
removed from any illicit activities as they could think of.

With the first threat resolved Ketris shifted his attention to the duel between Six and the unnamed
sergeant. For a moment the psyker waited observing the match before making his decision, carefully he
focused his mental powers. Almost immediately the scratching within his mind became more
pronounced forming into a droning whisper as Ketris augmented his sight. A second later Six fell back
from combat and Ketris fired.

The bolt round chewed through the sergeant’s arm spinning him about and halting his attack, Six leapt
away and raced off towards the door through which Rubel had vanished the Moritat not willing to give up
his chosen prey especially when the man had such a distinctive trophy to be taken from his corpse.
Behind Six his opponent staggered in pursuit but Ketris fired again finishing him off, before starting after
his companion. Their pursuit faltered as a figure resolved in front of the swordsman.

Light parted around the Shade-reaper like curtains being pushed aside at the entrance of a domicile
revealing the technological construct, it hovered before Six at the access-way into the rest of the
Abandoned, scything its bladed limbs in anticipation. Six increased his speed, the assassins mind
racing, perhaps he could slide beneath the technological-abomination seeing as it lacked any legs and
simply floated in the air.

The Moritat’s eyes looked deep into the single red lens of the Shade-Reapers head and with a mutual
silence the pair collided. Six tumbled forward and the Shade-Reaper swept its blades down. Four blades
sliced up the ground as Six slid to safety through the hatch rolling to his feet and racing away once
more.

As the Shade-reaper turned to give chase Ketris called upon his powers again. Months before while
hunting through the Data-Vaults of Lathe IV the Psyker had been given a clip of special ammunition by
Interrogator Marchosis, each of the rounds contained a specialised Haywire device designed to disrupt
technology. The Bolt rounds cracked out but failed to connect despite his warp-enhanced skills, Ketris’s
eyes widened as the xeno-tech turned and swept towards him.

Corker continued his mad dashing about still screaming and making as much noise as he could hoping
to draw anyones attention, he could feel something hunting him though he couldn’t see his pursuer only
feel its presence as he twisted between stacks of supplies and dashed down long carefully secured
rows. After several more turns the Reclamator spotted an access-way from the cargo hold ahead of him,
as he began to turn down another row he spotted the flywheel on the door spin and the hatch swing
outwards. For a moment Corker was still screaming in aggression and firing his weapon in the air but
then he realised exactly how many men were dashing through the hatch and his angry cry became
panic.

Atellus heard the shots of Corker and the various sounds of violence from his hiding space. Next to him
Jalith was beginning to stir once more as was Syrion. A nearby voice gave the adept a start and he
looked about trying to see where the voice had come from given his limited location, glancing between a
pair of crates Atellus caught sight of a half dozen men dressed in flak armour and carrying lasguns. The
group swept through the cargo bay weapons at the ready, clearly searching their surroundings.

Pressing himself as far back into his hiding place as he could Atellus raised his stub pistol and took aim
down the only way into their hideout, anyone trying to come in would get a bullet to the face. Time
seemed to crawl as the searchers grew closer, when there was a sudden lurch of motion, not from the
new arrivals but from the formally comatose Magnus.

The Redemptionist lurched into a sitting position, eyes wide and unfocused the priest barely recognised
friend from foe. With a feral snarl Magnus snatched up a sword left with Atellus by Ketris and dashed out
from the crates towards the nearest of the searchers. Blood arced through the air as Magnus savagely
hacked at his target, before the man had hit the ground the frenzied priest was moving to his companion
who fired wildly in response.

As the cries for support echoed through the cargo-hold both Jalith and Syrion had managed to regain
their senses shaking off what seemed to be the last of the immediate side effects from Twilight. Jalith
retrieved his Nomad Rifle from Atellus’s care and crawled out of the concealed position before climbing
up one of the massive cargo stacks to gain a better understanding of the surroundings and operate in
support of the rabid Red Redemptionist.

From ten meters up Jalith could see about thirty armed men hurrying towards Magnus. The voidsmen
were armed and armoured but the priest seemed heedless of his own nakedness from his earlier
captivity. Picking a suitably large crate to set up on Jalith prepared himself as best he could lining up on
a target closing on the priests position.

While Jalith sniped away and Magnus dashed about madly inflicting blows on any within reach Syrion
took his time setting himself to rights. In between bouts of delirium the Psyker had shown remarkable
luck using a stub-automatic and so he once again called upon his abilities, hoping to take out one of the
newly arrived guards who stood just outside the entry to the hide-out.

Power swelled in the air before Syrion and Atellus sucked in a breath as he witnessed space distorting
about the psyker for a moment then with a impossibly quiet pop reality seemed to reassert itself. Syrion
squirmed as his abilities backfired before passing out and slumping against a crate.

Blades sang through the air and Ketris twisted left and right madly, managing through sheer luck to
avoid the sweeping strikes of his assailant all the while returning fire with his bolt pistol but without his
warp-blessed perceptions the psyker continued to miss, dying a little inside with the cost of each round
expended. For almost two minutes Ketris managed to hold out even hitting the machine with a bolt,
though it was a standard round rather than one of the specialist shells which Ketris had alternated in the
weapons clip. Dodging another swipe for his head the psykers grin became a frown as a second blade
from the Shade-Reaper plunged into his abdomen.

Blood sprayed everywhere and the guardsmen fell back from their frenzied assailant. Despite their
superior numbers the guards were taking massive damage. Several of their number had fallen from
sniper rounds and others had suffered from shotgun blasts as Corker flanked about. Amid all the
confusion was Magnus, drenched in gore and still possessed of a berserker fury the priest was quickly
shattering the spirit of the new arrivals. It only took a few more suicidal charges for the guardsmen to
break, their morale failing as hasty orders for retreat where called out.

While Magnus pursued the fleeing men, Syrion stirred once more, the psyker studied his surrounding
hoping to spot a target. While none were in range he caught a glimpse of a strange distortion of air
moving past his location. It took a moment for the Diviner to process what his eyes hadn’t quite seen
before he called out a warning to Jalith.

Jalith looked up from his scope at the shrieked warning to see the metallic form of the Shade-Reaper
rise through the air beside his elevated position. The Xeno-tech wasted no time in attacking as the
assassin rolled aside and threw himself to the next crate a few meters away.

Hell broke loose among the battered acolytes as the Shade-Reaper launched its surprise attack. Syrion
stumbled out of the hide and brought his psychic powers to bear blanketing the area with electronic
interference.

The Reaper fell as its gravitic-systems overloaded and cut out, the machine plummeted to the ground
clipping several crates on the way down before slamming into the deck. Atellus moved next, despite the
surge of etheric energies disabling all machinery in the nearby area the Adept quickly had his weapon
working once again and fired off a shot, though the round barely penetrated the xeno-tech’s thick
armour.

Again and again Syrion shut the machine down risking greater and greater incursions of the warp while
Atellus kept his gun functioning to snap off another round. A scream of frustration announced the arrival
of Magnus, the Redemptionist had chased off the guardsmen with his berserker fury and now leapt atop
the disabled Shade-Reaper.

Reversing his grip on his sword the ecclesiarch smashed the blade down again and again, scratching
the machines armour before discarding the useless weapon and simply trying to rip one of its own limbs
off to turn on it in kind. Several times the Xenos machine managed to avoid the effects of Syrion’s
powers but it was pinned in place by Magnus who knelt on its chest and battered away its slicing limbs.
Finally having retrieved his sword the priest found a weak point in the armour and with a grinding crumb
drove the weapon deep into the monstrosities chest.

With the death of the Xeno-tech Magnus seemed to recover his wits, while the acolytes took a few
moments to relax they took stock of their situation. Ruby was still out, Atellus was in need of assistance
with his missing leg, Jalith had been struck unconscious by a glancing strike from the Shade-Reaper
and after a minute Six jogged over to the group holding in his hands the bloodied cybernetic eyes of
Rubel and bearing an unconscious Ketris over a shoulder.

Escape was once again the acolytes collective goal, they retreated through the docking umbilical that
held the Abandoned in place and disappeared into the depths of the space station in orbit above Hive
Baraspine. Behind them amid the towering rows of crates and cargo the remains of the Shade-reaper
twitched, blade limbs and manipulator arms slowly flexed and with a flicker the scarlet glow of life
returned to the machines lens-eye.

For six days the group lurked through the stations bowels avoiding patrols of Sarcosian Dynasty Armsmen
and House Cortez hunters. They stole what clothing and supplies they could but kept a low profile,
with so many injured or unconscious they where in no further shape to do battle.

Despite their precautions the group was contacted by Astropath Ibrahim who relayed a number of
messages to the group. Over the following days they smuggled themselves backdown to the Singing
Depths and the safe-house provided by Inquisitor Thrakis. The news-vids reported a sudden and tragic
assault by hive-gangers in the Aerie that had destroyed several villa’s including the facility belonging to
House Hax-Amus though the gangers had in turn been eliminated by a detachment of Adeptus Arbite
Enforcers.

Luckily Magnus was contacted by Abel who reported his safety along with much of the household.
Abel’s cousin had been well prepared and they had escaped the attack.

Five days later the Cruiser, Lamentation of Women, arrived in system under the command of Thorr
following a hasty astropathic summons ordered by Ketris. Once close enough for real time hololithic
communication Thorr received a brief report on the acolytes activities. Despite the Acolytes botched
mission they had secured some evidence implicating the Sarcosian Dynasty, including a captured
Xenos-bug sample.

In response Thorr deployed a small detachment of Storm Troopers supplemented with Navy personnel
from the Lamentation to sweep up as much of the drug Twilight that they could, relying upon information
gathered by Six on storage locations and distribution point within Don Inotias’s criminal network. The
armed forces also began striking at House Cortez laying siege to their facilities until better equipped
forces could be brought to bear.

*****

...It had been over a month since the acolytes had escaped from the Abandoned, following the early
days of the cleanup operating under the attention of Thorr the group had been shipped back to Scintilla
for a full debrief and extended medical care.

While still not fully recovered from his ordeal Magnus stood in a small but well-appointed room deep
within the Tricorn Palace. The room was a study attached to the suites controlled by Inquisitor Thrakis
for use with his Acolytes and Agents, this room in particular was considered the demesne of Aimee.

The lady in question sat a few feet away from the Redemptionist staring at him with a somewhat bored
expression. Her hair and eyes where a bright silver that seemed almost unnatural, he features and body
could be called instantly attractive though no one who had ever met the woman in person would think
that way, the personality was abrupt and direct, Aimee had little time for anything not related to her
duties. In her lap lay a data-tome the screen scrolling with a torrent of information route from dozens of
spies both mortal and technological across Scintilla. Many where tasked to keep an eye on potential
trouble while still more watched the activities of the other Inquisitors on the world.

“You wished to speak with Lord Thrakis. He is not here, but I am speak your piece.” the woman’s words
were as cold as her silver-eyed gaze.

Magnus straightened himself a little and in as emotionless a voice as he could he addressed his
superior.

“Ma’am, I must regret to inform you that I feel that I am no longer capable of serving Inquisitor Thrakis
as an Acolyte.” Magnus then went on to explain how he had been compromised with an injection of pure
Twilight into his system and the seeming familiarity expressed by those who had captured him in their
efforts to turn him to their side.

Aimee closed her data-tome with a thump and carefully considered the person in front of her. “I see.” the
tone was cold.

No worse than normal thought Magnus who then recalled exactly how this woman might not be as
scholarly as it seemed, after all the Redemptionist had met two other women bearing identical features
working fro Thrakis, they still were unsure if they were different people or simply the same one in
different roles.

A silver chime sounded as Aimee rang a tiny bell sitting on the table next to her. Immediately a door
opened and a pair of hulking servitors lurched into the study, seizing Magnus in their vice like grip
picking him up by his upper arms. Behind the Servitors stood an Adept-Biologis of the Mechanicus.
“You request is denied.” again that cold disinterest. “The Inquisitor has plans involving you that have
finally born fruit.”

The servitors lugged the confused ecclesiarch from the room and away to the research facilities
maintained by the tech-cult beneath the palace.

There they strapped Magnus down securely and connected his veins at the wrists abdomen and ankles
to intravenous tubes. Flashbacks threatened to seize the priest as a tech-adept loomed before him and
began explaining that after Magnus’s first contact with the drug Twilight the Inquisition had taken the
precaution of removing his blood, replacing it with a mechanicus infused vitae capable of detecting any
new presence of Twilight and filtering it from his system before it had a chance to become entwined with
his biology. While the Inquisition had access to samples of un-injected Twilight it seemed that most were
carefully diluted, Thrakis had reasoned that given the interest in Magnus it would only be a matter of
patient waiting before they tried to co-opt him with as pure a serum as they could manufacture.

Fluids pumped into the Redemptionist taking away his ability to speak and thrash about, as
consciousness slowly fled Magnus saw the Adept-Biologis cut into his flesh with a laser-scalple before
reaching into the would and extracting a small black spheres less than an inch in diameter from his
body.

The tech-priests voice drifted to Magnus’s ears “Excellent the blessed nano-machines have done their
work. Proceed with next extraction...”

- Raith

[Raith 13]

  "For all those who came in late..." - Lee Falk

Hi all, on March 3 my family was struck with a tragedy, my Mum passed away in an accident.

Since then I have moved home to help take care of things, unfortunately my home is quite a hike from my regular haunt and as a result it will be some time before I will be back to running any games for the next portion of this campaign "Wrath begins in madness and ends in retribution." or my others.

Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with these Diaries, I hope to get back to them someday.

- Raith