Suffer The Little Children [Dark Heresy] - IC

[Saldre]

"I am running out of ideas really quickly here, mister Phrenz. Its like looking for a needle in a Haystack! We don't even know what type of ship she had!" He says quietly to the man besides him.

Moving a hand to his ear, he activates his com-link.

"Mister Jericus, were at the hangar: were looking at about seventeen hangars, one of them has Merrick's ship. Do you know what were looking for exactly? Did they give you a description of the shuttle?" He asks the man drowning in paperwork somewhere else.

Once the tech-priest replies, he nods to Phrenz.

"I suggest we split up: You handle the right side, I will handle the left. Who-ever finds it first will call the other." He says to the man, before going on his way, attempting to locate which hangar the ship is currently docked in.

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[OOC: Assuming The Tech-priest replies with some information, we'll split up and search for it (at least in the open and accessible private hangars) to increase our chances. If we don't find it in any of the open ones, it would at least have narrowed our search down. Here's a d100 in-case i need it for anything. (1d100)[76]]

[Destro_Yersul]

"Of course. If you see her. That's all I can ask." Though he really wishes he had some way to loosten the fellow's tongue, Hieronymus is dirt poor right now. Maybe one of the others would have some money, though. "Hope to hear from you soon." He adds as he leaves the shed.

Now to see about finding the others...

OOC: I don't have much of an idea of what to do next, so unless something happens, assume Hieronymus wanders around looking for the others until time syncs back up.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Red nods approvingly at Father Lysenko's Rhetoric.
"This all sound very well and good. Tell me, have you filed to be considered an official branch of the Imperial Cult, yet?" Red does everything he can to put a tone of honest desire in his voice. "And if, so, have you spoken to an Inquisitor? That's what happens when you apply, right? You get investigated?
Additionally, I'd be very interested in attending a service or two. When is your next one?"

[LCP]

Red

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"An Inquisitor? I would hope not, unless we had transgressed against the Emperor's will. Our request has been filed, and will hopefully be approved in due course - I believe an ecclesiarch of the Ministorum will be visiting us soon to witness the value of our faith."

He nodded.

"There will be a service the day after tomorrow. I look forward to seeing you again, Mr Red."

[hr]

Heironymus, Olympus & Phrenz

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The search of the hangars was long and difficult - only the public ones and those commercial berths that were still empty stood open, the port-workers confirming the identity of various battered shuttles that were clearly not the craft of a psyker-smuggler. Every private hangar that was occupied was locked against intrusion.

After several hours of fruitless searching, the two feral worlders reconvened, none the wiser for their endeavours. From a distance, they saw Heironymous walking towards them...

[Thanatos 51-50]

Red inquires after the exact time of the service, and then thanks Father Lysenko for his time.
"You've been helpful, sorry for taking up so much of your time. I'll let you get back to whatever you're doing."
With that, Red took his leave of the Temple of the Great Father, and, assuming no hindrances, bids a friendly adieu to Simm and commences wandering the streets of the Sector, listening carefully for any conversations which reference the Great Father or the Star Children.
He finds himself wandering in the general direction of their little base of operations.

[Saldre]

Olympus sighs loudly.

"It seems we can't do anything right. I hope the rest of the team won't be cross with us: we ended up with nothing after all. I wonder what they were able to find, should we return and report?" He asks the other members with him before heading out and returning to the base as well.

[Destro_Yersul]

We might not have nothing. I got a bit of a lead. Not much, but I'd like to follow it if I can. Hieronymus says to Olympus as they go along back to base. Seems there's a fellow here who includes privacy in the cost of admission to his hangers.

[Saldre]

"the problem is, the way things are going, we wont be able to scare anyone into helping us without dropping the entire hammer on them. We had to give out our credentials to this clerk, and i'd rather not have to do that again." Olympus replies.

[senrath]

"Olympus, that was a clerk of the Imperium. We shouldn't have to go to such extremes when dealing with someone from the private sector." Phrenz said, as he followed a bit behind the other two. "And it's not like we have anything better to do."

[Saldre]

"We could give it a shot then, but I will let you do the talking this time!" Olympus says with a smile.

"Where is this man's office?" He asks the provost.

[Destro_Yersul]

"It's way in the back, and talking isn't exactly what I had in mind. He won't give us what we want, we need to find another way to get it. In this case, that'll probably mean breaking in. I don't like it, but sometimes it needs to be done."

[LCP]

OOC: Assuming you're following Heironymous' lead, as it seems uncontroversial - I'm going out for the night, so I have to be postin' this now for time efficiency. If anyone objects, just say so & we'll edit.

EDIT: And now I'm not . This is posted now, though, so I'll leave it up.

[hr]

Heironymous, Olympus & Phrenz

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Returning to Hayle’s hangar, Heironymous led the other two around away from the office’s entry, making a circuit of the structure. The rust-streaked walls were tall and sheer, the broad hangar doors themselves sealed with a fist-sized padlock and a length of thick, steel chain. To one side of the hangar, there was a smaller, man-sized entrance – a cheap-looking pict-recorder clung to the wall above it, angled down to see anyone passing in or out of the thin metal door. It too was locked, but with a standard pin-and-tumbler affair – far less secure or durable than the hangar doors’ lock.

[hr]

Red

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Red made his way back to Phobos’ apartment without incident – the others all seemed still to be out, the place as empty and silent as a tomb.

[senrath]

"So, should I smash the door in, or is someone gonna try and pick the lock first?"

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I forgot to mention it before, but Phrenz's armor is the standard, boring dark gray, with some streaks and splotches of dried blood here and there.

[Destro_Yersul]

"First thing's first." Hieronymus skirts the edges of the pict recorder's probable field of view, drawing his sword as he goes. He reaches up through the bundle of cables with the weapon and tugs hard, hopefully dislodging them enough to shut the recorder down. Once that's done, he turns back. "I can't pick the lock, so unless anyone has any better ideas, the door needs to get knocked down. That'll make a lot of noise though, so let's hear some alternatives if you got 'em."

[Thanatos 51-50]

Finding himself all alone in the quarters and with no way to contact the rest of his party in order to render assistance, Red busies himself about the following tasks:

• Locating a convenient power supply which can be used to recharge the power packs for las weapons
• Setting up some appreciable form of home defense and/or fortification
• Looking everywhere for any sort of weapon or item the Interrogator will likely not miss that can be sacrificed for "Find the Interrogator" funds.

In that order.

[LCP]

Heironymous, Phrenz & Olympus

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The cables sparked as the Provost's sword sheared them through, the green light on the pict-recorder's front winking out.

[hr]

Red

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Giving the apartment a slightly more leisurely looking-over than before, Red quickly located a power-port in the study - unplugging the desk-lamp currently occupying it, he saw it had the standard-pattern interface that would allow him to refuel his charge-packs.

There were only two ways in or out of the apartment - the front door, and a fire escape at the back, where the corridor turned through ninety degrees towards the pokey bedroom. The study had a single, small window facing out onto the street (too small for a man to use to enter or escape), while the other rooms were lit only by cheap glow-globes on the ceiling.

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OOC: How 'fortified' are we talking here? Presumably you still want to let the others get in and out easily?

A thorough going through of all the drawers and cabinets revealed no weaponry left behind, excepting a few high-calibre solid ammunition bullets rattling about in one of the desk drawers.

[Saldre]

"I could climb on top of the warehouse and see if there's a way inside from there: an open window or something." Olympus suggests, before pulling out his climbing gear and getting to work.

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[OOC: Should they agree, Olympus will throw the grapnel on top of the warehouse to secure his harness, attach himself and climb up: attempting to find either an open window, or a glass one: all while making sure to duck and lay low as to not be spotted]

Climbing: (1d100)[3] - Most probably a success.
Search: (1d100)[94] Vs 36 and the Visors
Move silently: (1d100)[57]Vs 40

[LCP]

Olympus, Heironymus & Phrenz

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Pulling himself up the dangling cord with an ease born of years of practice, Olympus found himself on a shallowly-sloping corrugated iron roof. Tentatively rising into a crouch, he advanced slowly, making sure not to lose his boots' grip on the smooth metal - any footstep on the roof made it clatter and rumble like a busy scrap-yard. He cursed under his breath: anyone in the actual hangar below him would have to be deaf not to notice something was moving about on the roof.

There were no windows - the hangar had been built as a shuttle-shed alone, and a cheap one at that. The only object that stood out from the sloped, rusting metal of the roof was a ventilation chimney - square and made from flimsy, machined steel, its opening was covered by a solid-looking metal grille, fastened down with four thick screws.

[Thanatos 51-50]

First order of business, Red quickly closes any sort of drapery or blinds which would allow anybody in the street to see inside the the apartment and then tries to use his (mono) bayonet to cut a small, circular hole in the glass, just slightly larger than the muzzle of his lasgun (using the weapon itself to measure)
Assuming that endevaour is successful, he will then use whatever supplies are on hand to make a quickly-improvised sniper sling with which to stabilize the rifle.
Again, assuming that endeavour is successful, he will then re-arrange furniture near the doors so that they can be toppled over and used as a quick barricade in case such things were needed, and re-arranges the remaining furniture so to set up fire lines and maximize cover for defenders, while minimizing potential cover for attackers.

[Destro_Yersul]

"Damn." Hieronymus winces at the very loud banging the roof is making. "Alright, go ahead and knock the door in. I don't think a deaf grox could have missed hearing that."

[Thanatos 51-50]

Red takes a moment to look over the fruits of his labours and feels a small sting of satisfaction that he made the place slightly more defensibly.
Lost for much else to do, the Guardsmen makes himself a mug of recaf and sets up in his little Sniper's nest, watching the street intently.

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This would place Red in a sitting position near the window, likely as able as possible to look through the window without drawing back the blinds/curtains/drapes. The lasgun, while not in his hands, will be secured in the sling and at the ready. This would be to reduce arm fatigue. His laspistol and bayonet would both be removed from his belt and within easy reach - likely right next to the mug of recaf.
during this time, Red will be focusing the lion's share attention to observing the streets and noting the patterns of coming and going pedestrians. He will also be keeping an eye out for intruders.
If anything he sees doesn't mesh with how he KNOWS a Hive would run, it would immediately get his full attention and he would get himself ready to shoot it. Anybody approaching the residence gets the same treatment.

[senrath]

Drawing out his hammer, Phrenz took a deep breath, then swung with all his might at the door.

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(1d100)[13] vs 59 to bust down the door. And I'll roll that a couple of times, just in case the first one fails.
(1d100)[23]
(1d100)[96]
(1d100)[44]
Turns out, I only needed to roll it once.

[LCP]

Heironymous & Phrenz

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With a pealing crash, the door was smashed off its hinges, its buckled remains slamming backwards to rattle against the floor of the hangar.

Pushing it out of the way, Phrenz stepped cautiously over the threshold – the inside of the hangar was gloomy, lit only by faint strip-lighting suspended on naked metal beams that criss-crossed the roof space, tangled with the hanging, rectangular tubing of the ventilation.

For the most part, the hangar was bare, a few fuel-barrels and the odd tool scattered in one corner – its floor was hard, pitted rockcrete, painted with yellow safety lines around the hulking form of the craft that squatted in its centre.

Painted rust-red, the vessel was clearly void-capable, its squared-off nose sooty and blackened from its last re-entry. To Heironymous’ practised eye, it was clear that this was no standard model – the engines were significantly bulkier than most normal civilian craft, matching the distended belly of its cabin. A battered gang-plank led up to a sealed pressure-door on one side of the shuttle’s main body, while a large armoured hatch occupied the lowest section of the craft’s underside. Another, smaller hatch occupied a rather unusual position, just beneath the slant of the vessel’s prow.

Across the hangar from them was a door to the office, its bottom just visible between the shuttle’s hydraulic landing-gear – someone had clearly been alerted by the sound of the back door being smashed in, footsteps quickly approaching...

[hr]

Olympus

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From his position up on the roof, Olympus heard a metallic crash from below. Phrenz had clearly gone in through the door.

[hr]

Red

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Watching the street, Red saw nothing out of the ordinary – the people of Sector 963 passed back and forth, unaware of the guardsman’s gaze. He couldn’t help the predominance of shaved heads, as Simm’s had been – most of the people who passed his window were hairless, even the women. They seemed an industrious, quiet lot.

Settling down with his mug of recaf, the guardsman settled into his watch...

[Saldre]

Olympus climbs back down: now that the front-doors were open, there was no point to the subterfuge.

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(1d100)[40]

He catches up to the duo, and...

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I don't think he'd make it down there in time before the footsteps come around... so that will be that!

[Destro_Yersul]

"Everyone back out the door. We'll jump him when he comes out to check on the noise." Born and raised in the cramped passages of a starship, Hieronymus is well used to the advantage surprise brings with it. He flattens himself against the wall just outside the door, sliding his sword back into his belt and pulling the shotgun from its harness. A quick check verified that both barrels were loaded.

"Just in case..." He mutters, half to himself, and snaps the breach closed again, holding the gun level at the doorway.

[senrath]

Nodding, Phrenz backed out of the door, hammer still in hand.

[Saldre]

Olympus follows Hieronymus's lead, unraveling the top of his scyth as he reading himself for battle.

[LCP]

Olympus, Heironymus & Phrenz

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Ducking back out of doorway, the three Acolytes heard the door from the office open.

"Hello?" called a voice - Heironymus recognised it as Mr Hayle's. "Someone here?"

He began to walk around the shuttle - the footsteps stopped as he saw the buckled remains of the back door lying on the hangar floor.

"I know you're in here," he called, a little more nervously than before. "Come out, before I call the enforcers."

Very slowly, he began to approach the door.

[Destro_Yersul]

Hieronymus holds up one hand, palm and fingers held flat, to motion to the others to wait until Mr. Hayle is close enough to surprise. He didn't want to talk where he could be heard. He'd also really prefer to avoid killing the guy if possible. Which is why, when he shows his face near the door, he'll be knocking Hieronymus will be knocking the guy over the head with his shotgun's butt instead of shooting him.

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OOC: Assuming that means a WS test. and might count as a called shot. Well, here goes... (1d100)[30] WS is 38, possibly counts as 43 doe to my one trait. He should be unaware, so +30, and -20 if it's a called shot.

[Saldre]

Olympus, having waited for the Provost before making his move, refrains from attacking, as ordered.