Mara certainly gets to you. It is the most unnerving, outright murderous and most hostile place I have ever been. I fell assailed every minute I spend here, even asleep. But this is not the way Mara gets you; the weird part is the effect the utter certainty of death and defeat has. As I fight tooth and nail, every minute, I am detached. I watch my own furious determination. I am, in the middle of the most important and most difficult task I have ever undertaken, looking at myself from the outside.
I assume it is a way of coping. I have always known that I eventually would give my life in service to the emperor, but now I know almost exactly when it will happen. We might stop Haarlocks return, but I do believe that we will die fairly shortly, on Mara. Even if we by some utterly implausible event leave here somewhat alive, I think there will be nothing of the old Lazerus that leaves.
Enough metaphysics for a while. What have we been doing lately? Wandering around, endlessly, and fighting, endlessly. I prefer the fighting. The tunnels change, we search for something, milling around like mice, and time just passes. And nothing gets to you like nothing happening in these tunnels. When we fight at least we do something.
We go back to the surface, to sleep. We camp in a large reactor-room. After a few hours we are assaulted by some ugly beings, who look like they have been dead for ages. We kill them fairly easy, they close in quickly and we shred them. When we ride the elevator down again, Kort says he recognizes the surroundings, and thinks that he can find the way to where Beloved and the Pilgrims have camped.
We walk along, for once with some direction. We start finding 'traces' of the Pilgrims: symbols, blood, human remains, altars, chaos symbols, in staggering amounts. Full human skins, tattooed all over, stretched out in frames. They have obviously been warding something off, probably Mara herself.
We find a huge hall, some 200 meters high, platforms suspended out in front of us. Several reactor cores. We see a few pilgrims. Alpha sneaks into the hall and sees a few pilgrims. One salvo from her bolter and they die. The last one falls long before the echo from the rockets stops reverberating around the hall.
There are more pilgrims, and a demon, but with a combination of tactical withdrawals, Potters healing skills and fire support from Alpha no one dies. We proceed inwards, and discover Beloved staring at us from one of the reactor towers. An enormous flying beast appears. It breaks the platform we are standing on, and one of the Janissaries falls to his death. It is capable of attacking us all in one go as well, so we have to retreat unto different gangways. The monster looks like some kind of serpent, it is horrifying, you feel like you want to soil yourself watching it, and it attacks with bite and tail. Dar collapses from fear, and I drag him away. And we shoot and shoot and shoot. Reload. Repeat. And we kill it. We kill this monster too.
Beloved moves onto a nearby platform, and gates in 4 demons. We all shoot at him, but he seems to be very difficult to harm. We also remember what went on at Xinophia, so we assume he has multiple lives with him. Potter flies onto the tower, finds Beloveds lair, chock full of horrible symbols, and the mask of the Widower. He takes the mask and jumps, Beloved runs after, and jumps after him.
Potter just manages to get of a flying spell, while Beloved crashes to the ground. We heal up, and Potter flies down again, just in time to see Beloved about to, probably, gate in another huge flying serpent.
We all leave, and find a place to take a break. We try to read the book, but noone understands it until Holder-Smith puts the mask on. Then he can read the book, and it really gives directions; we now move with purpose. What gives the creeps is seeing Holder-Smith with the mask on. Radical does not even start to describe this... We could have gone to look for another guide, but I guess this is the only way that is feasible right now. Mara, it gets to you, in every way, not the least those you did not think of... The Janissaries look like they are about to flip seeing the mask on Holder-Smith, but they contain themselves. They have very rigid minds, that is one reason they are useful here.
Holder-Smith manages to get some proper information out of the widower, in between the masks mad ranting. He says that we are doing exactly what Haarlock set in motion ages ago: we are looking for the Blind Tesseract, aiming to change either the future or the past. I hope the chance to foil him will arise.
The Widower tells us that the Tesseract contains doors to different times and different places, we will have to deal with all of them in order.
We get to another large hall, with a reactor. Ice on the floor, with a bluish glow. As we go into the hall, beings start to rise from the ice. Many beings. The Janissaries propose to distract them while the rest of us escape. After brief consideration I accept their offer, thank them for their service, and we head out, barring the door behind us. We hear them on vox for a short while, then there is silence. I note that the only qualms I have are of the tactical kind: does this improve or reduce our chances of accomplishing our mission. But we will make it count.
We find a large mining elevator, which we ride down another 200m, into the 'Deep Mines'. The tunnels are rough hewn, and we see demonic faces moving inside the rock. What the living fuck is actually Mara? How did it get to be like this? The worst part is that we might find out.
We get to a room with some weird machinery, with the remnants of a fight. 18 of Korts co-mercs, and Inquisitor Herrod and his retinue. And the chartist captain leading the mercenaries. We scrounge some choice gear. I find myself utterly indifferent to finding Herrod. I don't care that I think they would have attacked us if given the chance, or mourn a fellow member of the inquisition, I just don't care.
The Widower says that what has been here is a Slaught Destroyer. Much worse than the overlord Master Nonsuch we met in the House of Ash and Dust. He also says that Miss Book now has the navigator and so has all she needs, and that the reason the Slaught are here is probably because they have infiltrated the sector so well that they don't want time turned backward.
Holder-Smith investigates the machinery. He suddenly sees a face on a screen; Kalium Samriel. He shouts warnings at us. Then we see a black body-gloved hand over his mouth, and a pair of white eyes staring out at us: Erasmus Haarlock himself.
And then we proceed, further and further into the fire.
fredag 31. januar 2014
onsdag 8. januar 2014
The horrors of Mara
Testing theories
Before proceeding into the compound proper, I propose that we test exactly how dangerous using psychic powers on Mara is. I have a theory that the number of psychneuein summoned and chance thereof is linked to the level of power used as well as a certain randomness factor. It's a risky proposition, given that we do not know the upper limit on beasts we risk facing - but I feel that without mr Potter's considerable resources, we are likely to be dead anyway. We also need to heal the Jannisaries that were injured in the fall. And of course, I have my own reasons as well... *cue ominous foreshadowing*
Mr Potter fires of three psychic powers of various strength. Nothing happens! Huzzah, my theory is proven! Or rather not disproved at least. And we know that we won't automatically be swarmed by the fearsome xenos.
A revelation
I ask the cadre to step away from the soldiers for a rather private conversation. Delving ever deeper into esoteric knowledge over the years, I've gradually felt something unlock in my mind. When Haarlock's ship appeared, that seemed to open that gate fully - I suddenly felt power and the warp rushing into me. It's hard to tell whether or situation or my new link to the warp caused it, but I had a hard enough time staying on my feet. I managed to conceal it at the time, given our chaotic surroundings, but I felt that I had to reveal this to the cadre now, for several reasons.
First, I might need to use my new powers for us to survive, meager as they are. Second, it would possibly be revealed in some way on Mara either way. Third, no one in the cadre seem to be particularly zealous/orthodox...which I figured would reduce the odds of one of them cutting my head off/putting a bolter magazine through me/fling a giant statue at me/insert other gruesome deaths here. And of course, finally, having an unsanctioned psyker in the cadre is a risk in and of itself - they deserve to know. I am both afraid and excited by discovering this untapped well of power. For now, I will focus on the task at hand and deal with the fallout later.
I'm not sure if I would call the cadre my friends. They are both less and more than that. We are comrades. We are fellow soldiers in an unending war against Chaos. We are the last defense against that ancient evil Haarlock tearing our galaxy to pieces. And yet, we would probably go our separate ways if we ever were disbanded as a cadre...but I have come to hold everyone dearly. Even Dar and Alpha, with whom I share about nothing in common. Reading about the comradery developed between soldiers in wartime is one thing, experiencing it first-hand is quite another. The God-Emperor, in his infinite wisdom, surely saw this bond as humanity's greatest strength and hope in standing against the tides of Chaos ever tearing at our throats.
But I digress. A lot. As usual. The cadre, to my great relief, accepts my proposal that I will use my powers if needed and deal with the sanctioning process when (or rather if) we get back alive. We press on.
Exploration
We decide to explore the buildings in order. The first is a storehouse, housing a lot of crates and the now decrepit anti-air missile shield. One of the Jannisaries discover a body frozen in the ice. Closer examination reveal it (and probably the 15 or so others) to be a prisoner from 50 years ago. We move on to what appears to be a control room building of sorts. There are tracks leading into its interior, so we proceed with caution with Dar taking the lead. A circular corridor leads to the control room proper, with nothing interesting but four dead servitors and a lot of useless machinery.
A corridor leads onwards to another building. In the middle we see four bodies...and as Dar approaches, he hears an incessant buzzing in his head, as a swarm of insects are near. We see nothing though...so we press onwards. As Dar approaches the corpses, the buzzing rises to unbearable levels and he cries out. The rest of us are wary - is he being attacked somehow? Controlled? But after a while he gets a hold of himself.
The bodies are a mixed group. One of them is a mercenary similar to the ones we just bested. The other three are representatives of our good old friends the Pilgrims of Hayte. The Pilgrims have been killed in ordinary ways, while the mercenary's head has been bitten off. A psychneuein? Seems likely.
The next building is unoccupied, with a lot of doors which we mostly ignore given that we're under time constraints and no one else has entered them. At the end is an elevator going down to "Utility". It has been jury-rigged to move. We decide to go check out out the fortress before going down to what we assume is the mine area, so we take the battery so that elevator can't be summoned from below.
One of the Janissari sergeants vox us that they've spotted movement in the fortress in one of the windows on the second floor. We spend some time sneaking the long way around to the fortress (as sneaky as the power armors allow us to be that is...). Dar once again (actually) sneaks ahead. The entrance is clear. The first level is huge, we ignore it for the time being. Dar sneaks upstairs. In one of the corridors a barricade has been erected, though a long time ago. A group of arbitrator corpses is locates nearby.
The horrors begin
I send out the pict fly into the room where the movement was spotted. The images reveal a horrible-looking beast of some kind - before it then winks out of existence. What in the abyss? Shamefully, I was unable to recognize the thing. We forge ahead...when one of the Jannisaries informs us that one of their comrades is gone. Just gone. No one noticed anything. There are no tracks. Surprisingly, weird incidents abound on Mara...
We enter the room where the pict fly recorded the beast. Nothing jumps us, but there's a sniper rifle leaned against the window and a lit lho stick in the window sill. Signs that someone has camped out here are evident. We see no one and there are no tracks. There is, however, a sign scrawled in soot into the floor. I recognize it as a sign used in the Inquisition to warn of "danger:static". Meaning there's a danger that's specific to this area. Okay...we can't quite make heads and tails out of anything and decide to move along.
Despite the danger, I suggest we explore the fortress for useful knowledge, such as journals, maps and so forth. God-Emperor, why am I a human and not a cat? That is surely the only reason my curiosity hasn't killed me..though some of my comrades have certainly suffered. As we all would now.
The third floor doesn't contain anything particularly interesting. We find the officers' HQ, but nothing of interest is there. On the second floor, however, we find the comm station area - and it's functioning. Obviously, someone's been there before us. A confusing array of images are shown on the screens. The cutter is visible on one. On another, prisoners are working in the mines with arbitrators overseeing them. And on a third, we see a big man in a power armor with the Inquisitiorial badge clearly shown along with five others. Lovely, it seems the Tyrantine Cabal has indeed dispatch a cadre as well.
A near-tragedy
I try to recall who the Inquisitor might be...and decide to reach into the Warp to help me remember. As soon as I start drawing power, I can feel everything going horribly wrong - and three psychneuein appear from out of nowhere. All of the Jannisaries are knocked out simply from being in their horrible presence immediately except the two sergeants. A viscous fight erupts, with Dar going down from two gruesome hits from one of the beasts fairly quickly. And to make matters worse, one of Potter's powers go awry and FOUR more are summoned!
For a while it looks like we are done for, but luckily the Jannisaries recover in the nick of the time. We brought them along for firepower, but we all knew they served a second function - cannon fodder. Lazarus commanded the troops into precarious positions, but it helped turned the tide of the fight. One by one, we dispatched the beasts - Alpha getting a direct hit on one with a full round of her roaring bolter, shells flying around her, Lazarus blasting open the side of another with his shotgun, Potter smashing yet another to a pulp flinging a giant statue at it with the power of his mind.
And in the end we stood victorious, drenched in blood and entrails from both friend and foe. The Jannisaries and their sergeants survived. And miraculously, Dar was not dead. He might appear a simple man from a feral background, but surely the God-Emperor loves him dearly.
Shaken, we heal our wounded, clean ourselves off as we best can and move on. I can barely hold it together, jarred to the core of my being for being the cause of all of this. I resolve to not use my powers again unless strictly necessary.
The cutter
On the way back to the elevator, we stop by the cutter. Dar starts disabling the lock on the door when Alpha spots the bomb attached to it just in time. One second later and Dar's luck would have run out for sure. We disable the bomb and open the lock to the ship. Inside, we see a stripped down cutter designed for speed. Curiously, there's a very peculiar lock on the door to the cockpit - Eldar technology! It proves utterly impossible to open without the key, as one would expect from the Eldar. We exit the ship and set the trap again, but slightly differently (pointing away from the cutter), hoping to kill anyone trying to escape the planet. It is very possible this will be our only hope of escape should we somehow escape the horrors below alive.
Going down
We go back to the elevator, enable it and ride down. A corridor going in each direction greets us. I will skip the uninteresting parts and navigation and skip to the juicy/scary parts. At the end of one corridor, we're faced with yet another barricade, this one with a corpse sitting by it, shotgun in hands, the dried remains of his brains still showing on the wall. Not shying away from cliches, he's written "Make it go away - crawling, crawling in my head" on the wall in his own blood. Lovely, quite lovely. Cliche or not, I am still quite "creeped out" as Alpha would say.
Naturally, we enter the room anyway. There are a bunch of crates and 8 corpses. They've all committed suicide. As we contemplate this, one of the Jannisaries points his Hellgun at one of his comrades and fires a full round into him. Chaos ensues as the more martially inclined charge him, Dar once again getting a solid hit right in his face. Nothing Potter's healing can't handle after we handily take him down and manacle him. He seems completely insane, grinning and laughing hysterically, trying to bite us and so forth. I sedate him enough for him to fall asleep, but I'm not optimistic.
We move on, filled with a growing sense of dread of what might be around the next corner. We move through hospital and insane wards, maintenance rooms, workshops, storage rooms and more. Seemingly random horrors greet us regularly. A corridor with a prisoner who seemingly died 5 minutes ago, scratching at the wall with bloody fingernails. Suddenly, the body starts moving - from the inside. We take no chances and reduce the body to charcoals with the flamers.
We reach a cargo room. A nicely-clad corpse of what seems to be an adept from one of the more radical universites on Scintilla is on the floor, clutching data slates and some notes. A man in power armor is fused with some metal junk of sorts. I conclude it is likely the result of a teleportation gone wrong. They must have been quite desperate to try to teleport to Mara...I would never assume the necessary calculations to not be thrown off by the Warp here. It's almost like a living thing, breathing down your neck, only waiting for you to take one step away from your friends so it can devour you in secret.
As we're standing there, a demon of Hayte charges us - or rather, it charges me. Fairly tall, with a gigantic claw on one arm, I dodge, run and desperately try to stay alive. The rest of our party fire with full force, and God-Emperor be praised! I survive without a scratch. At least to my physical body.
The mines
Finally, we find a corridor that starts going down. After a while, natural caves replace the corridors, and we reach a mine cart at the top of rails going down. I examine the poor Jannisar and inject a dose to wake him up again. Unfortunately, he's still a raving lunatic. The sergeant decides he's a liability and I give him a lethal injection. We say our prayers and move on.
After walking for two kilometers, a vox radio crackles to life with pleads of help. Lazarus resolutely puts a bolter shell through it. A while later, we hear screams of help from a side corridor. What better way to lure in the righteous? Despite Dar's pleas, we head in. For once, we're not greeted by hordes of daemons, but rather a mercenary trapped under some beams, two prisoner corpses with bullet holes next to him.
We free him, weapons trained. He introduces himself as Kort Luther, a mercenary hired by a chartist captain named Aedric. Some "traders" headed up their party, consisting of roughly 50 mercenaries in addition to the four traders. Their leader called herself miss Book - and she carries the key to the cutter cockpit. She also carried a grey tome around...The mercenaries were told they were going to a planet called Mara, which of course meant nothing to them. They started dying rapidly, by the hands of Pilgrims, psychneueins and demons. At one point, one of the mercenaries went crazy and fired a round right into the face of one of the traders. He reacted by punching into his belly, extracting his spine whole and his face instantly healing up. That was enough for Kort and one of his buddies and they ran away. Shortly thereafter his buddy disappeared and Kort was trapped here, attacked by the corpses of the prisoners.
He informs us the Pilgrims' lair is further into the mines. There are about 10 pilgrims, 2 giant constructs of some sort and of course - the Beloved, carrying the grisly face of the Widower around. He's fairly sure he can lead us to the heretics, though "there's something weird with the corridors"...
Miss Book told the mercenaries to keep their eyes open for "the heart of a clock" and "strange machinery that seemed out of place". So, she certainly doesn't have the key. How convenient that we brought it, and that the Beloved brought the Guide.
They also briefly encountered the Inquisitorial party, though they weren't spotted. They had a what clearly was a prisoner in tow, a bald man with an extra eye in his forehead. I assume it's a Navigator. Their leader carried the amulet of a black sun around his neck. Personally, I doubt a Navigator is a good enough guide, unless he somehow is of Haarlock descent. Which is, of course, a distinct possibility.
After a brief discussion, we decide to bring Kort along. Lazarus swears him to the service of the Inquisition and instills the fear of God-Emperor into him with tales of what happens to those who betray us. He is not kidding, the Inquisition takes revenge very, very seriously...
Before proceeding into the compound proper, I propose that we test exactly how dangerous using psychic powers on Mara is. I have a theory that the number of psychneuein summoned and chance thereof is linked to the level of power used as well as a certain randomness factor. It's a risky proposition, given that we do not know the upper limit on beasts we risk facing - but I feel that without mr Potter's considerable resources, we are likely to be dead anyway. We also need to heal the Jannisaries that were injured in the fall. And of course, I have my own reasons as well... *cue ominous foreshadowing*
Mr Potter fires of three psychic powers of various strength. Nothing happens! Huzzah, my theory is proven! Or rather not disproved at least. And we know that we won't automatically be swarmed by the fearsome xenos.
A revelation
I ask the cadre to step away from the soldiers for a rather private conversation. Delving ever deeper into esoteric knowledge over the years, I've gradually felt something unlock in my mind. When Haarlock's ship appeared, that seemed to open that gate fully - I suddenly felt power and the warp rushing into me. It's hard to tell whether or situation or my new link to the warp caused it, but I had a hard enough time staying on my feet. I managed to conceal it at the time, given our chaotic surroundings, but I felt that I had to reveal this to the cadre now, for several reasons.
First, I might need to use my new powers for us to survive, meager as they are. Second, it would possibly be revealed in some way on Mara either way. Third, no one in the cadre seem to be particularly zealous/orthodox...which I figured would reduce the odds of one of them cutting my head off/putting a bolter magazine through me/fling a giant statue at me/insert other gruesome deaths here. And of course, finally, having an unsanctioned psyker in the cadre is a risk in and of itself - they deserve to know. I am both afraid and excited by discovering this untapped well of power. For now, I will focus on the task at hand and deal with the fallout later.
I'm not sure if I would call the cadre my friends. They are both less and more than that. We are comrades. We are fellow soldiers in an unending war against Chaos. We are the last defense against that ancient evil Haarlock tearing our galaxy to pieces. And yet, we would probably go our separate ways if we ever were disbanded as a cadre...but I have come to hold everyone dearly. Even Dar and Alpha, with whom I share about nothing in common. Reading about the comradery developed between soldiers in wartime is one thing, experiencing it first-hand is quite another. The God-Emperor, in his infinite wisdom, surely saw this bond as humanity's greatest strength and hope in standing against the tides of Chaos ever tearing at our throats.
But I digress. A lot. As usual. The cadre, to my great relief, accepts my proposal that I will use my powers if needed and deal with the sanctioning process when (or rather if) we get back alive. We press on.
Exploration
We decide to explore the buildings in order. The first is a storehouse, housing a lot of crates and the now decrepit anti-air missile shield. One of the Jannisaries discover a body frozen in the ice. Closer examination reveal it (and probably the 15 or so others) to be a prisoner from 50 years ago. We move on to what appears to be a control room building of sorts. There are tracks leading into its interior, so we proceed with caution with Dar taking the lead. A circular corridor leads to the control room proper, with nothing interesting but four dead servitors and a lot of useless machinery.
A corridor leads onwards to another building. In the middle we see four bodies...and as Dar approaches, he hears an incessant buzzing in his head, as a swarm of insects are near. We see nothing though...so we press onwards. As Dar approaches the corpses, the buzzing rises to unbearable levels and he cries out. The rest of us are wary - is he being attacked somehow? Controlled? But after a while he gets a hold of himself.
The bodies are a mixed group. One of them is a mercenary similar to the ones we just bested. The other three are representatives of our good old friends the Pilgrims of Hayte. The Pilgrims have been killed in ordinary ways, while the mercenary's head has been bitten off. A psychneuein? Seems likely.
The next building is unoccupied, with a lot of doors which we mostly ignore given that we're under time constraints and no one else has entered them. At the end is an elevator going down to "Utility". It has been jury-rigged to move. We decide to go check out out the fortress before going down to what we assume is the mine area, so we take the battery so that elevator can't be summoned from below.
One of the Janissari sergeants vox us that they've spotted movement in the fortress in one of the windows on the second floor. We spend some time sneaking the long way around to the fortress (as sneaky as the power armors allow us to be that is...). Dar once again (actually) sneaks ahead. The entrance is clear. The first level is huge, we ignore it for the time being. Dar sneaks upstairs. In one of the corridors a barricade has been erected, though a long time ago. A group of arbitrator corpses is locates nearby.
The horrors begin
I send out the pict fly into the room where the movement was spotted. The images reveal a horrible-looking beast of some kind - before it then winks out of existence. What in the abyss? Shamefully, I was unable to recognize the thing. We forge ahead...when one of the Jannisaries informs us that one of their comrades is gone. Just gone. No one noticed anything. There are no tracks. Surprisingly, weird incidents abound on Mara...
We enter the room where the pict fly recorded the beast. Nothing jumps us, but there's a sniper rifle leaned against the window and a lit lho stick in the window sill. Signs that someone has camped out here are evident. We see no one and there are no tracks. There is, however, a sign scrawled in soot into the floor. I recognize it as a sign used in the Inquisition to warn of "danger:static". Meaning there's a danger that's specific to this area. Okay...we can't quite make heads and tails out of anything and decide to move along.
Despite the danger, I suggest we explore the fortress for useful knowledge, such as journals, maps and so forth. God-Emperor, why am I a human and not a cat? That is surely the only reason my curiosity hasn't killed me..though some of my comrades have certainly suffered. As we all would now.
The third floor doesn't contain anything particularly interesting. We find the officers' HQ, but nothing of interest is there. On the second floor, however, we find the comm station area - and it's functioning. Obviously, someone's been there before us. A confusing array of images are shown on the screens. The cutter is visible on one. On another, prisoners are working in the mines with arbitrators overseeing them. And on a third, we see a big man in a power armor with the Inquisitiorial badge clearly shown along with five others. Lovely, it seems the Tyrantine Cabal has indeed dispatch a cadre as well.
A near-tragedy
I try to recall who the Inquisitor might be...and decide to reach into the Warp to help me remember. As soon as I start drawing power, I can feel everything going horribly wrong - and three psychneuein appear from out of nowhere. All of the Jannisaries are knocked out simply from being in their horrible presence immediately except the two sergeants. A viscous fight erupts, with Dar going down from two gruesome hits from one of the beasts fairly quickly. And to make matters worse, one of Potter's powers go awry and FOUR more are summoned!
For a while it looks like we are done for, but luckily the Jannisaries recover in the nick of the time. We brought them along for firepower, but we all knew they served a second function - cannon fodder. Lazarus commanded the troops into precarious positions, but it helped turned the tide of the fight. One by one, we dispatched the beasts - Alpha getting a direct hit on one with a full round of her roaring bolter, shells flying around her, Lazarus blasting open the side of another with his shotgun, Potter smashing yet another to a pulp flinging a giant statue at it with the power of his mind.
And in the end we stood victorious, drenched in blood and entrails from both friend and foe. The Jannisaries and their sergeants survived. And miraculously, Dar was not dead. He might appear a simple man from a feral background, but surely the God-Emperor loves him dearly.
Shaken, we heal our wounded, clean ourselves off as we best can and move on. I can barely hold it together, jarred to the core of my being for being the cause of all of this. I resolve to not use my powers again unless strictly necessary.
The cutter
On the way back to the elevator, we stop by the cutter. Dar starts disabling the lock on the door when Alpha spots the bomb attached to it just in time. One second later and Dar's luck would have run out for sure. We disable the bomb and open the lock to the ship. Inside, we see a stripped down cutter designed for speed. Curiously, there's a very peculiar lock on the door to the cockpit - Eldar technology! It proves utterly impossible to open without the key, as one would expect from the Eldar. We exit the ship and set the trap again, but slightly differently (pointing away from the cutter), hoping to kill anyone trying to escape the planet. It is very possible this will be our only hope of escape should we somehow escape the horrors below alive.
Going down
We go back to the elevator, enable it and ride down. A corridor going in each direction greets us. I will skip the uninteresting parts and navigation and skip to the juicy/scary parts. At the end of one corridor, we're faced with yet another barricade, this one with a corpse sitting by it, shotgun in hands, the dried remains of his brains still showing on the wall. Not shying away from cliches, he's written "Make it go away - crawling, crawling in my head" on the wall in his own blood. Lovely, quite lovely. Cliche or not, I am still quite "creeped out" as Alpha would say.
Naturally, we enter the room anyway. There are a bunch of crates and 8 corpses. They've all committed suicide. As we contemplate this, one of the Jannisaries points his Hellgun at one of his comrades and fires a full round into him. Chaos ensues as the more martially inclined charge him, Dar once again getting a solid hit right in his face. Nothing Potter's healing can't handle after we handily take him down and manacle him. He seems completely insane, grinning and laughing hysterically, trying to bite us and so forth. I sedate him enough for him to fall asleep, but I'm not optimistic.
We move on, filled with a growing sense of dread of what might be around the next corner. We move through hospital and insane wards, maintenance rooms, workshops, storage rooms and more. Seemingly random horrors greet us regularly. A corridor with a prisoner who seemingly died 5 minutes ago, scratching at the wall with bloody fingernails. Suddenly, the body starts moving - from the inside. We take no chances and reduce the body to charcoals with the flamers.
We reach a cargo room. A nicely-clad corpse of what seems to be an adept from one of the more radical universites on Scintilla is on the floor, clutching data slates and some notes. A man in power armor is fused with some metal junk of sorts. I conclude it is likely the result of a teleportation gone wrong. They must have been quite desperate to try to teleport to Mara...I would never assume the necessary calculations to not be thrown off by the Warp here. It's almost like a living thing, breathing down your neck, only waiting for you to take one step away from your friends so it can devour you in secret.
As we're standing there, a demon of Hayte charges us - or rather, it charges me. Fairly tall, with a gigantic claw on one arm, I dodge, run and desperately try to stay alive. The rest of our party fire with full force, and God-Emperor be praised! I survive without a scratch. At least to my physical body.
The mines
Finally, we find a corridor that starts going down. After a while, natural caves replace the corridors, and we reach a mine cart at the top of rails going down. I examine the poor Jannisar and inject a dose to wake him up again. Unfortunately, he's still a raving lunatic. The sergeant decides he's a liability and I give him a lethal injection. We say our prayers and move on.
After walking for two kilometers, a vox radio crackles to life with pleads of help. Lazarus resolutely puts a bolter shell through it. A while later, we hear screams of help from a side corridor. What better way to lure in the righteous? Despite Dar's pleas, we head in. For once, we're not greeted by hordes of daemons, but rather a mercenary trapped under some beams, two prisoner corpses with bullet holes next to him.
We free him, weapons trained. He introduces himself as Kort Luther, a mercenary hired by a chartist captain named Aedric. Some "traders" headed up their party, consisting of roughly 50 mercenaries in addition to the four traders. Their leader called herself miss Book - and she carries the key to the cutter cockpit. She also carried a grey tome around...The mercenaries were told they were going to a planet called Mara, which of course meant nothing to them. They started dying rapidly, by the hands of Pilgrims, psychneueins and demons. At one point, one of the mercenaries went crazy and fired a round right into the face of one of the traders. He reacted by punching into his belly, extracting his spine whole and his face instantly healing up. That was enough for Kort and one of his buddies and they ran away. Shortly thereafter his buddy disappeared and Kort was trapped here, attacked by the corpses of the prisoners.
He informs us the Pilgrims' lair is further into the mines. There are about 10 pilgrims, 2 giant constructs of some sort and of course - the Beloved, carrying the grisly face of the Widower around. He's fairly sure he can lead us to the heretics, though "there's something weird with the corridors"...
Miss Book told the mercenaries to keep their eyes open for "the heart of a clock" and "strange machinery that seemed out of place". So, she certainly doesn't have the key. How convenient that we brought it, and that the Beloved brought the Guide.
They also briefly encountered the Inquisitorial party, though they weren't spotted. They had a what clearly was a prisoner in tow, a bald man with an extra eye in his forehead. I assume it's a Navigator. Their leader carried the amulet of a black sun around his neck. Personally, I doubt a Navigator is a good enough guide, unless he somehow is of Haarlock descent. Which is, of course, a distinct possibility.
After a brief discussion, we decide to bring Kort along. Lazarus swears him to the service of the Inquisition and instills the fear of God-Emperor into him with tales of what happens to those who betray us. He is not kidding, the Inquisition takes revenge very, very seriously...
fredag 3. januar 2014
The Mara landing-Ground Hog's day crossover
We continue with our preparations for Mara, gathering equipment and supplies suitable for the mission and preparing ourselves.
I have decided to get one of the tatoos; it will work as a ward against warp influence. It will cover my entire body, face and all. In essence it is not at all as momentous as becoming part of the inquisition, however it feels much more real; every time I see myself on pict or in the mirror I am most forcefully reminded that I am no longer first and foremost a detective. Questioning witnesses with my face covered in warp-warding tatooes will certainly be different from what I am used to. I am now an agent of the inquisition, first and foremost, and I can no longer fool myself to think otherwise. On the other hand, I get to participate in the solving of the Haarlock riddle. And there is hardly a bigger game in the sector at the moment.
Other than that I have got a custom crafted power sword, a most powerful implement. In addition I have expanded my arsenal with a combat shotgun with chain sword attachment, two hand flamers of the destroyer type, and a recoil glove. On Mara there is no way, or reason, to pretend that we are anything resembling 'civilians'.
We will get passage on the Sigilites Word, a renowned top of the line frigate, and we will have support from 2 psychers and a small complement of Maccabian Janissaries on Mara. The Janissaries are led by Childres and Makrade. The two psykers are Kessa Silinius the astropath, and old lady without eyes, and Kalium Samiel the battle psyker, a handsome, dark haired man. Kalium is part of our support team because he has experience figthing psychneuein, a very dangerous warp-xeno that is attracted to casting of spells. They are numerous on Mara, or in the warp on Mara, if that is close in any ordinary sense of the word. More importantly, they are melee experts, and lay eggs inside humans. Wonderful.
Finally we board, the Sigillites Word is in very good shape. We get the biggest rooms I have ever seen on a vessel, certainly much better than what we had on the passage to Xicarp. We even have our oun servitor butler, Jeeves. As soon as we board the Word sets off.
On the trip I decide to start penning a diary. It somehow feels right; there is something very final about going to Mara, and we are leading a team as throne agents. All in all, this seems like something that needs to be recorded. On the first day aboard we meet the captain, Captain Exail. He is very young, but seems very on top of his game. He explains that the Word will be in geostationary orbit, above the penal station on Mara, and that we will deorbit on a lander. He serves us a most extraordinary dinner.
The trip in itself is uneventful, except for a few incidents. We talk to the sergeants to prepare them for our kind of operation; we assume that we require a bit more initiative and thinking on your feet than ordinary military operations. We also gather all the Janissaries, and I try to scare them sufficiently for them to stay on their toes for the mission. Time will tell if it worked.
We also have a meeting with the psykers, Kessa dislikes being subject to our leadership. It should not be a problem, however we are dependent on the astropath.
We take stock before entering the Mara system: on a general level we have no inkling about what to expect; we have the pattern, the Grey Psalter, and a key, the Steel Hart, but we have no guide. Going in more or less blind, as usual.
As the Word enters the Mara system we are called to the bridge; it is enormous with the ambience of a temple of war. As soon as we drop out of warp, the ship rings like a gong from hits. Twice. A spacebattle is unfolding, with several sides. The Mara monitors are fighting other human ships, and we see a very strange looking one in the distance. The Word is both firing and being fired upon.
Suddenly we see a strange light outside the Word, and all the servitors fall silent. Then they speak in unison: 'the traveller shall return, and the stars shall die, his servants come, the key turns'. We see a ship made from bone and bright granite, it is Haarlocks vessel, the Spear of Destiny. It fires something that looks like light, but destroys one vessel per shot.
We run to the hangar, and are received by the Jannisaries, who have made a perimeter around our lander. As we leave the last thing we see is Samiel, his eyes rolled into his skull, consumed in flames he screams 'the traveller shall return, and the stars shall die, his servants come, the key turns'. As the lander leaves the Word, she bucks and is blown apart. No point in looking back now. May the Emperor watch over us, so that we may suceed in stopping Haarlock.
On the way down we take a hit. Alpha tries to save the ship, but we go in hard. Two Janissaries are killed, and so our work on Mara proper starts. At least the astropath is alive. Holder-Smith patches up the survivors.We move out, toward the penal station. Dar sneaks ahead, to check on the gate. He discovers that it is guarded, by tripping a trap. We storm it.Potter uses a few spells, and a psychneuein appears. It is though, but we kill it. We take stock, and it turns out we have no casualties.
Around the gate I see tracks from about 15 persons. We proceed inwards.
I have decided to get one of the tatoos; it will work as a ward against warp influence. It will cover my entire body, face and all. In essence it is not at all as momentous as becoming part of the inquisition, however it feels much more real; every time I see myself on pict or in the mirror I am most forcefully reminded that I am no longer first and foremost a detective. Questioning witnesses with my face covered in warp-warding tatooes will certainly be different from what I am used to. I am now an agent of the inquisition, first and foremost, and I can no longer fool myself to think otherwise. On the other hand, I get to participate in the solving of the Haarlock riddle. And there is hardly a bigger game in the sector at the moment.
Other than that I have got a custom crafted power sword, a most powerful implement. In addition I have expanded my arsenal with a combat shotgun with chain sword attachment, two hand flamers of the destroyer type, and a recoil glove. On Mara there is no way, or reason, to pretend that we are anything resembling 'civilians'.
We will get passage on the Sigilites Word, a renowned top of the line frigate, and we will have support from 2 psychers and a small complement of Maccabian Janissaries on Mara. The Janissaries are led by Childres and Makrade. The two psykers are Kessa Silinius the astropath, and old lady without eyes, and Kalium Samiel the battle psyker, a handsome, dark haired man. Kalium is part of our support team because he has experience figthing psychneuein, a very dangerous warp-xeno that is attracted to casting of spells. They are numerous on Mara, or in the warp on Mara, if that is close in any ordinary sense of the word. More importantly, they are melee experts, and lay eggs inside humans. Wonderful.
Finally we board, the Sigillites Word is in very good shape. We get the biggest rooms I have ever seen on a vessel, certainly much better than what we had on the passage to Xicarp. We even have our oun servitor butler, Jeeves. As soon as we board the Word sets off.
On the trip I decide to start penning a diary. It somehow feels right; there is something very final about going to Mara, and we are leading a team as throne agents. All in all, this seems like something that needs to be recorded. On the first day aboard we meet the captain, Captain Exail. He is very young, but seems very on top of his game. He explains that the Word will be in geostationary orbit, above the penal station on Mara, and that we will deorbit on a lander. He serves us a most extraordinary dinner.
The trip in itself is uneventful, except for a few incidents. We talk to the sergeants to prepare them for our kind of operation; we assume that we require a bit more initiative and thinking on your feet than ordinary military operations. We also gather all the Janissaries, and I try to scare them sufficiently for them to stay on their toes for the mission. Time will tell if it worked.
We also have a meeting with the psykers, Kessa dislikes being subject to our leadership. It should not be a problem, however we are dependent on the astropath.
We take stock before entering the Mara system: on a general level we have no inkling about what to expect; we have the pattern, the Grey Psalter, and a key, the Steel Hart, but we have no guide. Going in more or less blind, as usual.
As the Word enters the Mara system we are called to the bridge; it is enormous with the ambience of a temple of war. As soon as we drop out of warp, the ship rings like a gong from hits. Twice. A spacebattle is unfolding, with several sides. The Mara monitors are fighting other human ships, and we see a very strange looking one in the distance. The Word is both firing and being fired upon.
Suddenly we see a strange light outside the Word, and all the servitors fall silent. Then they speak in unison: 'the traveller shall return, and the stars shall die, his servants come, the key turns'. We see a ship made from bone and bright granite, it is Haarlocks vessel, the Spear of Destiny. It fires something that looks like light, but destroys one vessel per shot.
We run to the hangar, and are received by the Jannisaries, who have made a perimeter around our lander. As we leave the last thing we see is Samiel, his eyes rolled into his skull, consumed in flames he screams 'the traveller shall return, and the stars shall die, his servants come, the key turns'. As the lander leaves the Word, she bucks and is blown apart. No point in looking back now. May the Emperor watch over us, so that we may suceed in stopping Haarlock.
On the way down we take a hit. Alpha tries to save the ship, but we go in hard. Two Janissaries are killed, and so our work on Mara proper starts. At least the astropath is alive. Holder-Smith patches up the survivors.We move out, toward the penal station. Dar sneaks ahead, to check on the gate. He discovers that it is guarded, by tripping a trap. We storm it.Potter uses a few spells, and a psychneuein appears. It is though, but we kill it. We take stock, and it turns out we have no casualties.
Around the gate I see tracks from about 15 persons. We proceed inwards.
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