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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
Speeding past, Red’s shot punched a glowing hole in the heating duct – superheated water came bursting out in its wake, forming a sideways geyser across the corridor. As the pressure found its escape route, a thick, jagged crack zigzagged its way up the length of the pipe from the las-wound – with a loud snap of parting metal, the pipe gave way, a boiling waterfall crashing down on the pursuing flock.
The great cascade dashed the heart out of the swarm, swatting hundreds of owls to the floor and swallowing them in a billowing cloud of vapour. More tumbled out of the cloud, their augmetics sparking and shorting, while others climbed desperately above the billowing steam. The pressure eased, water was now pouring from the upper end of the broken pipe, scattering against the marble floor far below in a plummeting stream.
Repulsors still whirring, the grav-lectern glided onwards, leaving the scene of destruction behind. Scattered owls were still following high overhead, but the swarm had been shattered.
Up ahead, what must be the exterior of the Uplink Chamber was looming – the avenues circled around it in a cylindrical curtain wall of bookshelves. Like the Servitor Station before, it communicated with the ceiling, a great umbilical column descending from the vaulted heights into the heart of the structure beneath. Directly ahead of them, what was practically a solid wall of walkways and gantries blocked the upper reaches of the avenue, vehicular access restricted to a more humanly-sized archway at ground level.
“Y/y/y/y/y/y/you’ve done it n/n/n/now,” came LIRA’s voice, lilting down from somewhere above them. With an electronic crackle, it hopped to another unseen speaker, changing the direction from which it was emanating. “When they find you, you’ll be fr/r/rozen thr/r/rough. L/l/like l/l/little ice l/l/lol/l/l/lies.”
OOC: Calling two days on Crown.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"Not to worry, LIRA. If we need more heat, we can just start setting things on fire." Hieronymus grinned and indicated the ground level archway, wanting Ignace to get them inside as quickly as possible.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
With a gentle whirr, the lectern descended to the level of the floor once more. The corridor beneath the archway was much closer and more compact than the great, cavernous exterior – almost immediately, it began to branch, other avenues of books leading away in the structure of a spider’s web. As they glided further in, pale figures became visible – deactivated servitors, standing motionless with their sutured faces turned outwards into the corridor.
Up ahead, a grav-quay much like the one they had first departed from loomed – it seemed deserted, its burnished brass rail gleaming in the dim half-light. From here on, they would evidently have to continue on foot: three corridors led away from the quay, leading left, right and straight ahead. Signs signalled their destinations: Library Documentation, Maintenance Manuals and RESTRICTED ACCESS, respectively.
Far behind them, something dark flitted against the light from the entrance archway – the owls were still out there. How long it would take the survivors to regroup in sufficient numbers to attack, Ignace didn’t want to think.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"Don't think we have a lot of time, "Hieronymus muttered. Stepping off the lectern and heading straight for the RESTRICTED ACCESS corridor, the provost jammed one hand solidly in his pocket, the other holding his shotgun loosely at his side. He could snap it up to fire quickly enough, but he wasn't expecting too much resistance in here.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"Well, I would assume that restricted area lead towards our bounty. It is the way of things. Double time it, people." Red ordered as he took off down the restricted access corridor at a brisk pace.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
Jericus ambled down the corridor, shotgun in hand, wondering what exciting and deadly tech-heresy was awaiting them behind closed doors.
"Do you think LIRA has point defences?"
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"She undoubtedly has some form of defenses, other than the owls that is." Ignace said as he followed along, his laspistol drawn.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
Leaving the grav-lectern behind, the Acolytes headed deeper into the maze. The corridor ahead did not go far before it jinked to the right, leaving their transport out of sight: a motionless drone stood at the corner, its eyeless face staring blankly into space like some marble statue, frozen in time.
More ‘RESTRICTED ACCESS’ signs marked their way, the odd branch of another corridor joining them or splitting off. At one corner, the glow of an owl’s cybernetic eyes were visible, the Acolytes hanging back out of sight until it winged away into the gloom. The birds were clearly on the hunt once more: at least that seemed to imply that, for now, LIRA was unaware of their location.
The twisting corridors seemed to go on forever – between the time it had taken them to reach this place, and their seemingly endless windings through the labyrinth of closed-in shelving, it was hard to keep track of time. Ignace could certainly feel the malevolent scars of what had happened in the Servitor Station fading, tentatively re-affirming his grip on his abilities.
Up ahead, a large stone archway punctuated the bookshelves on their left. Approaching it carefully, they saw a short side-corridor beyond it: after a few yards, it terminated in a broad set of steel security doors, quite unlike the panelled oak that seemed to be the order of construction for most of the Library. They were stamped with the icon of the Adeptus Administratum, just as the doors of the LIRA’s Sanctum had been in the spire high above.
In the archway immediately beside them, a brass-chased identity scanner was built into the wall, presumably taking some kind of badge or swipe-card from the Adepts of the Library – by the door itself at the other end, a metal keypad glinted in the low light.
Red Only
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As he looked towards the door, something caught Red’s eye. Arrayed along the panels of the bookcases that lined the walls to either side of the door were strange little studs – unobtrusive, black, metallic cones about the width of a thumbnail, facing out perpendicular to the line of the corridor...
OOC: Ignace's psychic ability is now back, in case it wasn't clear.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
Red quickly raised one hand off the trigger of his lasgun and pumped it into the air, extending all of his fingers, and whistling in a single, sharp tone.
After giving his companions a moment to focus on him, he wordlessly pointed to his eyes and then to various places on the bookshelves, where he had spotted tiny black cones facing into the aisle.
Restricted sections meant security, and security, as Jericus had pointed out, meant possible point defenses.
"Any idea what those might be for, gentlemen?" has asked in whispered tones to none of his squad-mates in particular.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"They look like some sort of photo-sensitive system. I would imagine that disturbing then would have consequences. Possibly those of the type involving point defences. Either we've got to disable them, or we could run in there guns blazing."
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"Does that sensor baffling rick of yours work on this sort of thing, Ignace?" Hieronymus seemed to remember that the psyker had been able to use something like that before, to try and mask them from owls.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"I can try, but there's no guarantee that it'll work. The power makes it harder for machines to detect those within its influence, but not impossible." Ignace said, drawing down the warp around him, doing his best to forget what had happened the last time he had tried to use his powers.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"Then let's all pray to the Emperor and hope for the best. Keep that going, if you can, and Jericus, try and bypass this scanner here." Waving Ignace and Jericus over so everyone would be within the power's area of effect, Hieronymus pointed at the identity scanner. "I want the best possible chance of not dying in the next couple of minutes."
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
Red stared apprehnsivly at the ident scanner across the way, desperately trying to think of a way to bypass it.
After briefly considering a lasbolt, he looked around for any sort of entryway maintenace servitors or any one of the multitude of cyber-owls would use. They had the have legitimate access and if they were keyed to the ident-scanner, then perhaps there was a way to get past the door without sounding any klaxons to draw the attention of the Noblemen that could still be prowling around.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
There was no sign of a second entrance anywhere near the first - the corridor was short and simple, two bookcase-lined walls leading straight to the door.
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Jericus skirted round to the edge of the corridor, searching for a power link or coupling that would supply power to the sensors, or indeed any override or otherwise.
OOC: It seems unlikely that there's an easy way to disable these, maybe we could try splitting up and sending two people down a different corridor to maintain ambiguity.
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The sensors' power supply seemed to be internal to the bookcases in which they were set, if it was anywhere. Peering hard at the shelves, Jericus thought he detected something off about their mountings - not real oak, but metal, with a wooden veneer. Most probably steel.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
Jericus sidled up to the first sensor cone and drew his knife, popping the cover of the sensor and risking a glance inside the circuitry.
Common lore:Tech to determine which wire to cut
[roll0]
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
The seam between the sensor cone and its mounting was almost non-existent: nevertheless, under the leverage of the knife-edge, something gave way with a sharp crack, the cone hinging down on its remaining attachment to the wall.
Inside, a relatively minimalist tangle of wires surrounded a naked metal cylinder, hooked onto it like leeches by little brass ports: a central lens gleamed redly through it all. Where the disconnected case was now hanging in front of it, a little red dot of light shone merrily against the matt-painted metal. A broken beam. That was bad.
Somewhere overhead, a klaxon began to sound, ear-piercingly loud. Over the shriek, Jericus heard an overhead speaker switch on with an electronic crackle.
"F/f/f/f/found you..."
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"Right, time just got a lot shorter. Frak the beams, in we go. Jericus, get the keypad, that's more important right now" Heading towards the door at the end of the hallway, Hieronymus turned to face the corridor leading away from it, not caring for the broken electronic beams any longer. "Good luck hacking through there."
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
Jericus darted straight down the corridor towards the panel examining the system to see if it was a model he recognised, and if so, what backdoors or otherwise were available. Failing that, any weak point in the door.
Tech Use [roll0]
Security [roll1]
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
Rushing up to the keypad, Jericus searched for an override, a serial number, anything – the door was evidently supposed to be secure, however. It looked to be a familiar Administratum pattern – to get past it without the proper code, he’d have to take it apart with a screwdriver and a soldering iron. If he could get past it at all.
At the end of the exterior corridor, there was a flutter of feathers – a solitary owl had perched on one of the shelves, its pale face turning through more than ninety degrees to stare directly at them through the dark.
“P/p/p/poor l/l/l/little fly. W/h/h/y does it c/c/cry? C/c/c/caught in a w/w/web....” recited LIRA, dreamily. “Material r/r/r/estricted, unfit for public consumption,” she added, as an afterthought. “References to sorcery, possible xenos affiliation.”
An idea seemed to strike her. “I can l/l/l/l/let you t/t/t/through, if you w/w/want. B/b/b/before they all come. D/d/d/do you want to c/c/come insi/i/i/ide?”
She paused.
“I’l/l/l/l ask you a r/r/riddle. Wh/h/h/hat do you s/s/say?”
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"A riddle. And if we get it right you open the door. What happens if we get it wrong?" Hieronymus took aim at the owl, but held his fire for now. It was only one owl.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"D/d/do you kn/now the wor/r/ds that r/r/rhyme with 'owls'?" replied LIRA, as if she had hardly heard him at all. "T/t/towels, jowls. Prowls. Disembowels."
A second owl alighted beside the first.
"Th/the/they/they're c/c/c/coming," added LIRA. "Either way is going/g/g to b/b/be in/t/terestin/g/g/g." Her voice still had an infuriating, sing-song quality to it. "It's up to you/u/u/u."
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"Fine, then. Ask your riddle. We'll answer." Hieronymus motioned to Jericus to continue trying to find a way to get through the door.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
“It’s an old/d/d riddle,” said LIRA. “++ACCESSING++”
There was an electrical crackle down the line – when LIRA’s voice returned, it seemed temporarily free of its mad, stuttering lilt.
“Out in the black,
Where the stars grow old and frail,
There is a place.
In that place will be a gathering.
Among them will be the deluded, the damned, and the dead.
They shall take their place beneath the light of a sun that shines not and whose power they will know not.
The herald shall return from that great and echoing place,
He will return and there will be great power with him,
But his power shall be that of the lost.”
Down the long corridor to the left, the shadows of wings flitted against the light.
“Can you tell me, where that place can be found?”
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"That's a tricky one, LIRA." Glancing over at Jericus, and then back at the owls, Hieronymus bit his lip. "Where is that from?"
LCP Only
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I don't suppose you know anything about that, do you? Riddles don't seem like they'd be your thing... Underneath the questioning thought was a tiny piece of hope. If the daemon knew something, they wouldn't be flying quite as blind...
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"The V/V/Vault," said LIRA, dreamily. "I w/w/wasn't allow/w/wed to r/r/read. In a l/l/l/library. C/c/c/can you imagine?"
Heironymous Only
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Rhakarn seemed to wake with a yawn, the daemon's presence rising up into the forefront of Heironymous' thoughts.
People don't ask riddles of their enemies, Heironymous, came the daemon's voice, echoing through the spaces of his skull. She's wasting your time.
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"That, it seems, goes against the very definition of a library." Red ventured, hoping to keep LIRA distracted. There weren't many libraries in the underhive or the barracks, and he didn't really have much of an idea of what happened in libraries beyond, apparently, shooting.
"Is there a 'riddles' section in here? I always appreciate a good brain-teaser."
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Re: Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC
"The Vault is r/r/r/restrict/t/t/ted," said LIRA. "You don't/t/t/t/t have authorisation. You don't/t have anything."
Suddenly, there was a harsh, electronic blare over the speaker through which she was communicating. Down the hallway behind them, the rustle of wings was growing louder.
"Time's up in t/t/ten."
"Nine."
"N/n/nin/n/n/e."
"Eight."
"S/seven..."