Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC

[EleventhHour]

"I would believe a decadent noble to be heretic long before one of the Mechanicus.", Mostly because the techpriests are deadset in a way not entirely understandable, already. She adds silently, bright eyes flicking toward the techpriest that she had accompanied in, "And besides, I would expect a noble family to have thier own record, or to send a scribe rather than coming to hunt down a book themselves."

[senrath]

At Katyra's comment, Ignace nodded. He didn't like the woman, but she spoke sense. "At this point everyone is suspect. No one is above suspicion."

[Destro_Yersul]

"Except us and LIRA and probably the Decatologue here." Hieronymus puts in. "Let's get a look at the noble on screen, and then pick someone to go talk to."

[LCP]

Another screen crackled with white fuzz, and an image appeared – this time, the owl was perched at ground level, the book-lined chasm in which it sat soaring up overhead. Before it, human figures loomed, consulting the spines of the volumes and looking very studious.

Chief among them was a finely-dressed giant of a man, with a full, waxed moustache and jet-black hair that was beginning to go to grey – juvenat implant tubes on one side of his barrel-like neck betrayed that he was much older than he looked, like so many nobles who could afford the swingeing fees to stave off the predations of age. He walked with a cane, and slung over his back was a huge hunting-rifle: Jericus breathed in as he recognised it as a Fydae Pattern. Such a device was a show of incredible wealth – perhaps explaining why he was carrying it in a library. A servo-skull bearing a lumen-globe buzzed over his head, illuminating the bookshelf he was examining.

Close to him, a young woman in similarly rich attire waited on an octagonal grav-platform similar to the one the Secutor and his retinue had been using: she looked more than a little bored, and had a distinct family resemblance to the older man. Around them both were a squad of up-hive bodyguards in deep red uniforms, mostly helping with the search while a couple stood guard: they were well-equipped, guard-pattern lasguns slung across their backs. One who appeared to be their leader was at the moustachio’d man’s side, relaying the nobleman’s instructions to his men.

Finally, there was a slight little man crouched in one corner of the grav-lectern: clad in dull, black robes and wearing a pair of dusty spectacles, he looked old but not decrepit, clutching a heavy craftsman’s bag to his chest. Cranial plugs ran from his nearly-bald skull down under his gown, the scar-tissue where they had been installed leaving only a few wisps of white hair clinging to the sides of his head.

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Looking at the screen, Vale frowned – LIRA’s pale face followed suit almost simultaneously.
“Surveillance unit in inappropriate location,” said the child on the throne. “Reposition.”
The owl’s viewpoint didn’t change – there was a slight jump in the feed, and the video continued to look up from the peoples’ feet.
“Sensors indicate unit 936 damaged,” said LIRA. Watching the feed, Jericus couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong. As it played on, he realised what it was – the people on the screen were replaying the same actions he had seen a few seconds ago. It was on a loop.

Overhead, the cogitators began to hum.
“Scanning other units,” said Lira – there was a sudden change in the note of the machinery, and the girl on the throne convulsed. A keening, static scream echoed through the speakers surrounding the room, the child-servitor raising her knees clutching her tube-trailing fingers to her head – she sobbed as if in pain, the first human sound that had come out of her mouth.

Around the Sanctum, screens began flickering with binary output – dashing over to the nearest one, Vale pulled an access key out of his robes, fitting it frantically into a socket on the terminal. Numbers and codes flashed up in front of him at a dizzying speed – looking over his shoulder at the Acolytes, his face went white.

“Someone’s burning through the security systems on the Vault.”

[Thanatos 51-50]

Seemingly of its own volition, the sollux-pattern lasgun jumped from its holster in the webbing and rotated on its sling, flying into Red's hands.
Trained, solider's eyes scanned the room, followed by the death-spitting business end of the weaponsearching for anything that had changed, anything that was wrong.
If someone had infiltrarted their midst, it was about to suffer very, very intently.
Even has he moved and scanned, Red jumped into Giving Orders mode.
"Jericus, Vale, LIRA, attempt to find the source of whatever's going wrong, Hiernomous and..." Red balked. He had yet to learn the Sister and the Psyker's names. That was a problem he would need to rectify as soon as the current crisis had passed. "Sister, cover the entrance or sweep the room. he finished, after hopefully not stumbling too long over his companion's name. Psyker," he continued, again blanching at his ignorance "I'm not briefed as to your abilities. If the enemy is a Psyker, can you see if there's any changes to the Warp?"

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Free Action - Ready Death Light
Full Action - Awareness IActuallyHaveAwarenessTrained30 - (1d100)[29]

[LCP]

Vale's fingers danced over the keys of his terminal with a staccato rattle, dredging up information from the depths of the system - LIRA seemed practically catatonic, her host body rocking and twitching on its throne. Katyra thought she saw a trickle of blood leaking from where one of the great tubes lanced into the girl's right eye-socket...

"They must be at the door of the vault," Vale said, shaking his head. "Direct interface via the security key there. I, ah - I don't know what kind of technology can do this. They're just murdering the locking systems, one by one."

He looked round. "The vault is six kilometres away. I can get you a grav-lectern - it'll get you there in maybe a quarter of an hour? I'm sorry, there's nothing faster."

Overhead, one of the flashing screens crackled and resolved itself into an image - the Secutor's face, staring sternly down into the Sanctum.

"ADEPT VALE," came the Tech-Priest's voice, a grating, mechanical monotone. "YOUR SYSTEMS INDICATE A DESECRATION OF THE VAULT PRAESCRIPTUS. EXPLAIN."
"I -"
"EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!"
"I - I don't know, sir, your honour. We - we've only just found out."
"THE MACHINE-SPIRITS HAVE BEEN DEFILED. I WILL INVESTIGATE AT ONCE." The man's skull-like head turned as he noticed the Acolytes. "THESE PERSONNEL WERE NOT PRESENT ON MY ARRIVAL."
"No, sir - they, um, they've just arrived."
"SEE TO IT THAT THEY ARE KEPT CLEAR OF THE VAULT. THIS BLASPHEMY HAS BEEN COMMITTED AGAINST THE OMNISSIAH. HIS SERVANTS ALONE WILL METE OUT RETRIBUTION" He looked over his shoulder. "CEASE COMMUNICATION."

The screen fizzled and went black.

[senrath]

"Get us that grav-lectern." Ignace snapped, glaring at the now dark screens. Was it too much to ask for the different branches of the Imperium to actually work together? If he had a throne for every time his work had been interfered with by another branch of the Imperium, he'd be a wealthy man.

[EleventhHour]

"Seems that covering the doors won't be nessecary today." Katyra comments icily, sparing a glance for the enthroned girl. "I assume that as long as the damage continues, we'll have no survellience from here?" She doesn't need to add in regards to the lectern, it would be aquired in anycase, she heads for the door, carefully adjusting the crescent blades strapped down on her lower back.

"Katyra." She informs the Guardsman.

[Thanatos 51-50]

"Sorry about that, Katyra seems introduction never really got off. I blame myself. Call me Red." he spares the time to flash a grin at the Sister before turning to the Dectalogue.
"Looks like you may, indeed, need a new 'volunteer' soon, from the look of your servitor. Let's get the grav-lecturn. It so happens we have a Servant of the Omnimessiah who is perfectly qualified to have his retinue look into this matter as well, don't we, Jer?"

[LCP]

I assume that as long as the damage continues, we'll have no surveillance from here?"

“No , no – no, LIRA should recover quickly,” said Vale, still typing furiously at the terminal. Katyra was not entirely sure from his tone whether he was answering her question or reassuring himself. “One security breach – just a shock to the system – should be fine.”

The girl on the throne was still rocking back and forth, clutching at her altered face. She didn’t seem to reinforce the Adept’s statement too much.

Tearing himself reluctantly away from the screen, Vale looked around at the waiting Acolytes. He was clearly hesitating to consider the Secutor’s instructions – but nobody questioned the Inquisition, even if it was working through the lowliest of pawns.

“The grav-lectern,” he said. “Yes. Right away. It’s, ah, this way.”

[Destro_Yersul]

"Looks like we get to meet the Secutor first. Pleasant fellow." Hieronymus' deadpan made it obvious what he actually thought of the Secutor. "Fifteen minutes... Well, better than nothing, but I want us there ASAP." The Provost strode to Vale's side. Hopefully the commanding note that had entered his tone would be more than enough to get everyone moving.

[Etcetera]

Jericus hastily accessed a map of the library from the terminal, unplugged himself, and quickly walked over to Hieronymus. He looked rather scared.

[LCP]

Leading the way into another oak-panelled elevator as LIRA’s spasms began to quieten, Vale punched one of the keys – the doors hissed shut, and the lift accelerated upwards, depositing them on another level of the Hub. As it opened up again, they were presented with an impressive view – a little grav-quay extended out into a great, dark space, many times the size of an aircraft hangar. Canyons of bookshelves reached up to the ceiling, the only glimmers of movement in the vast, empty space the occasional glimpse of a maintenance servitor picking its way over the access ladders.

Against the wall where the spire of the Hub adjoined the main library space before them were a row of platforms, much like the ones they had seen the Secutor and the nobleman Rhodes using – octagonal and surprisingly broad, they floated a foot or so off the ground, basic repulsor units keeping them in the air. A waist-high control column protruded from the front, their dark wooden veneer giving them the appearance of solemn antiquity that the architects of the Library seemed to have been aiming for.

“It’s very simple,” babbled Vale, gesturing for the others to gather round the nearest one. “This stick here controls horizontal movement – this knob here,” – he tapped a brass dial on the control panel – “controls your altitude, and this slider, your speed. Altitude gain’s quite slow, and the maximum horizontal speed is about twenty-five kilometres in an hour. There’s a paper map of the Library here,” – he slid a wooden compartment out of the column, like a desk-drawer – “but if you want detailed schematics, there are terminals that can access the main databanks interspersed through every section.”

“The Vault is straight ahead of you – just keep going down this aisle.” He gestured ahead of them with his arm, to one particularly broad lane between the towering bookshelves. “Arterial 00A, it’s called. Here,” he said, fumbling in his robes to produce a robust-looking little device, “is a Library communicator – I’ve got another one somewhere, so if you need to call back to the Hub for anything, you can raise me. That’s if you can’t find what you want from a LIRA terminal.”

He stepped back from the grav-platform, waiting for one of the Acolytes to take the helm.

“This is goodbye for now, I... suppose. I’ll be in the Sanctum, I think. LIRA should recover in no time, but I should, erm, probably run some... diagnostics and things. Just make sure she’s alright.” He laughed, nervously. “Good luck.”

[Etcetera]

Jericus hopped on to the lectern, eager to try out more technology. He waited for everyone else to board the lectern, then began to speed away as fast as the lectern would go. Without offending its machine spirit, of course.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Red shot a callous glare into the Adept's back as he turned to leave, and then began to casually approach the control panel for the lectern.
When he noticed that Jericus was leaping for the controls, as eager as, in retrospect, Red should have assumed to the Mechanus would be. Reacting as quickly as his body would allow, Red scrambled, not for the controls, but for a steady grip on the lectern, and planted his feet wide and flat on the deck, shifting his weight slightly forward.
"Don't accelerate too fast, cogboy. We don't want to fly off this thing."

[Destro_Yersul]

Hieronymus took the communicator from Vale. "We'll keep in contact. Soon as LIRA's running again, re-establish contact with those retrieval servitors fetching the starship logs, would you? I still want them watched at all times." Turning away, the Provost stepped onto the platform.

"At twenty klicks? That's really not very fast, Red. Don't think any of us will be falling off" As the platform began to move, he added "hopefully the Secutor arrived in time to catch someone at it."

[LCP]

Piling onto the grav-lectern, the Acolytes took off - their stately transport glided away with a barely-audible hum, bearing them away into the cavernous spaces of the Library beyond.

Bookshelf after bookshelf blurred past, the headings on the dusty shelves seguing into one another:

...Agriculture...

...Aphorisms of the Saints...

...Archaeoxenology...

The letter 'A' had not been exhausted by the time they reached the end of the aisle, around a quarter of an hour later - Katyra suspected it probably filled this whole hangar-like space, if not more. There was little time for contemplating the filing, however - as they approached the far wall, a heavy set of gates were drawing into view, automatic shutters locked in the 'open' position. Two small figures were visible, growing closer - a tech-adept in the red robes of the Mechanicus, and the hulking, inert figure of a gun-servitor. One of the Secutor's drones.

They had not yet seen the grav-lectern - one of the advantages of its silent progress, despite its sluggish pace. The Acolytes were drawing closer by the second, however: it was only a matter of time.

OOC: Your journey takes about 14 minutes: if you want to discuss anything among yourselves in that time, you should feel free to make a time-split post.

[senrath]

"I seriously doubt he did." Ignace said as shifted into a more steady stance. Unless the people they were chasing were much stupider than evidence suggested, they wouldn't have risked revealing themselves unless they were sure they could get away with it.

[EleventhHour]

"Don't discount anything. Heresy takes every form, and is as boastful as a proper servant is dilligent, and he very well could be trusting us to trust him. An unquestioning mind is a weak one." Katyra comments, but is defenitly not the first to approach the drone. Machines are hardly as reliable as people, and she wasn't about to confront a potentially hostile one.

[Destro_Yersul]

"Jericus, I think it might be best if you did most of the talking. The Secutor is more likely to listen to another Mechanicus. Make it very clear that all the technical things will be left to him, but we'll need to speak with the unsub responsible for the break-in. And to do that, we need them alive." Hieronymus cast a glance at the large combat servitor as he said this. The other one was clearly nowhere in sight, which worried him a little.

[Thanatos 51-50]

"Like the provost said, you're the frontman right now. I'm your dim-witted bodyguard." Red said with a casual wink to the Tech-priest as he shifted his rifle into a combat-ready sling across his chest, finger off the trigger, but ready to snap up at any moment, like a good bodyguard should hold his rifle before walking into a potential hotzone.

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Looking slightly sheepish as he relaxed, Red glanced around as soon as the lectern was gliding along at a smooth speed.
"So, in the interest of no more little inter-party... incidents. I'm Red. As far as I - or anybody else even cares - that IS my real name. Imperial Guard DM, plenty of time driving a Chimera and a little bit in the cockpit. From an underhive. Was a ganger before a Guardsmen. Any other thrilling life stories to share?"

[Destro_Yersul]

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"Hieronymus, for those of you who don't know." The provost glanced over at Red. "I grew up on a warship, and joined the Provosts when I was old enough. I left the ship some time later. Now I'm here, because I've got nowhere else."

[Etcetera]

Jericus brought the lectern smoothly to a halt in front of the adept and dismounted.

He walked to the doorway, and began addressing the adept:
"[Adept's Rank], we seek to work with the secutor in uncovering who, or what has perpetrated this foul act against the machine-god's holy creation"

Peer: AdMech Fellowship 31
(d100)[73]

[LCP]

As the grav-lectern drew near, the servitor jerked upright, its torso rotating rather unnaturally on its pelvis to bring its main weapon to bear on the group. Red felt the red flash of a laser sight cross his right eye, finding himself staring down the wrong end of a powerful-looking heavy stubber. As one of them moved to follow Jericus off the platform, the gun-servitor's aim shifted, implying it would rather they stayed where they were.

The adept looked up at Jericus - from the nature and number of his implants, probably no more senior than Flange himself.

"This section is closed," he said, his voice emerging flat and almost bored-sounding through a voicebox in his throat. His eyes flicked sideways to the others. "Mechanicus business. Classified."

He glanced back at Jericus. "Identify."

[Etcetera]

Jericus gave the tech-adept a long, appraising look.
"Electro-priest Jericus Flange, identifier 2204355#J7R serving as a technical attaché to this group. You would be?"

[LCP]

"Mech-Wright Albus Verrin. Identifier 5704962#C1C. Serving as adjutant to Secutor Ferox of the Panopticon."

He gave Jericus an appraising look.

"You do not have Mechanicus clearance to access this zone of operations."

[Thanatos 51-50]

Red snapped a respectful salute to the Mech-Wright. "Sir, it is my understanding that the Machine Spirits have been defiled in this area. As Mechanus, should not Electro-Priest Flange be allowed to locate the source and burn the Heretic that did the defiling?"

[LCP]

"That is the sacred duty of Secutor Ferox," said the Mech-Wright, turning to Red. "Electro-Priest Flange is neither qualified nor specialised to fill that function."

[Destro_Yersul]

"The burning's the problem, actually. We need to speak with the heretic before that happens. They may know something vital to an ongoing investigation. Punishment would of course be your decision, as the defilement of holy machinery is your province. We just want to talk to them first." Hieronymus would rather not mention who he works for just yet.

[LCP]

The Mech-Wright's eyes turned to Heironymous.

"You have no recognised authority. State the nature of your 'investigation'."