Knowledge Is Power [Dark Heresy] - IC

[senrath]

Hissing slightly, Ignace picked up the pace, opting not to take the time to heal his wounds. He could heal up when he was no longer being shot at. Rushing down the stairs, he hoped he could get far enough away that his defensive measures would protect him.

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Running time now.

[Thanatos 51-50]

The Armsman didn't hesitate as the Blind grenade landed and spewed its load of smoke.
It was a simple matter to shift his grip to take advantage of the mounted bayonet. It was simpler still to swallow his fear and charge straight through the smoke, towards the last known poistion of his prey, letting loose a bloodthirsty battle cry and thrusting the deadly tip of his bayonet towards his foe.

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Charge Action to the last known position of Trooper 2, 1NE 8N.
EffectiveWeapons41 - (1d100)[42]
Pen2Rending - (1d10+3)[4]

"You've lost. Surrender and you'll get to live a while longer."

[EleventhHour]

Katyra, feeling rather well roasted, and having to ignore the wave of blisters that'd formed over her back, is practically growling as she hefts her own flamer, her scorched hair brushing ash off the shoulders of the flak armour. "We need to do something about that thing. Think it likes being on fire as much as it enjoys burning?"

[Destro_Yersul]

"Stand and Fight it is, then. If you can hit them both, do it, though I don't know how effective flame will be." Hieronymus, sword drawn, ducked under the spiral staircase. With any luck, the heavy metal stairs would help mask whatever method of detection they were using.

"Concentrate on the servitor first. That heavy gun will tear us to pieces."

LCP Only:

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Defiling one in particular, but he's already been corrupted somehow. I don't suppose you would know anything about that?

[LCP]

Heironymous, Ignace & Katyra

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Darting down the spiral steps, Ignace hurtled out of the Servitor's field of fire - feet hammering on his way down, he heard the others' voices, descending a level or two before he caught up with them. They seemed to be preparing an ambush.

Somewhere up above, there was a heavy clang - the sound of a ponderous metal foot hitting the stairs. They were being pursued - albeit apparently at a slow walking pace.

Heironymous Only

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Not in the slightest, chuckled the daemon, its macabre glee at the prospect of imminent violence heating the inside of Heironymous' head like a coal fire. Shall we find out for ourselves?

[hr]

Red & Jericus

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The man spat, drawing a vicious-looking combat knife from his boot. Twisting out of the path of Red's bayonet, he lunged at his attacker. Red darted nimbly out of the way, the slashing blade whistling through the air where he had stood.

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Half action to ready combat knife, half action Standard Attack.

(1d100)[6] - hit.
Dodge: (1d100)[15] - dodged.
Damage: (1d10+3)[8]

I'm posting this on my lunch break, so don't have my books: my memory of the damage may be incorrect.

Jericus, meanwhile, held his cover, the barrel of his autogun carefully tracking the melee erupting in front of him. The tech-priest had no desire to get involved in a brawl.

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Delayed action to shoot the trooper should he disengage.

[Thanatos 51-50]

As Red twisted out of the way, he let his trained eye wander over his foe's stance, and attempt to find an opening in his guard to exploit, and drive the bayonet through.

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Aim/Attack
EffectiveWeapons41 - (1d100)[14]
Pen2Rending - (1d10+3)[11]
(Also, knives are listed as 1d5 damage)

[LCP]

Red & Jericus

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The man took the bayonet in his side with a grunt of pain, evidently made of sterner stuff: the knife flashed out at Red again, the guardsman having to leap back to avoid having his throat slit.

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Thanks, but it was the Combat Knife (IH) that I was looking for - which turns out to be 1d5+3.

Dodge roll: (1d100)[91] - failed, Red's blow hits home.

All-Out Attack: (1d100)[36] (+20) - hit.
Dodge: (1d100)[10] - dodged
Damage: (1d5+6)[7]

[Destro_Yersul]

Hieronymus pauses for a second, as though thinking, and then nods. "Alright. Katyra, make sure neither Ignace or I am in the field of fire when you shoot. I've no desire to be toasted. And find some cover. Bit of extra protection from those guns won't hurt.

The provost wishes he had some heavier armour. He'd have to see about buying or requisitioning something next chance he got.

[senrath]

Ignace continued to fly down the stairs, desperate to get away from their pursuers.

[Thanatos 51-50]

"Give it up, Trooper." Red commanded, staying his attack for the moment, but still holding the gleaming point of his bayonet at the ready and not dropping his guard.
"You're outnumbered. You're outgunned. You're Surrounded. You're wounded. And most of all, you're worth a lot more to the Emperor alive than you are dead. You have some training, you might even survive a stint in the Guard. Put your weapons down now and I won't gut you like I did to every Heretic I ever met in those Emperor-forsaken trenches."

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IntimidateBase30 - (1d100)[51]
Unfortunately, Intimidate is a full action.

[LCP]

Red & Jericus

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"All right," said the man, raising the hand with the knife to a non-threatening position: he did not let it fall, however, no trace of his fear in his voice. "You want to talk, tell your friend to put the gun away."

Still holding his aim, Jericus glanced sideways at Red, waiting for the guardsman's confirmation.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Red glowered back at the trooper, not relaxing his guard, either.
"My friend will shift relax his weapon, but he will not stow it, not as long as you have that blade in your hands." he said aloud, partially directed at Jericus and at the trooper, himself.

[LCP]

Red and Jericus

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The man nodded, taking a step back - the knife, however, stayed in his hand.

"You killed Jant," he said, curtly. He didn't seem too cut up about it. "The sarge isn't going to be happy with you. How'd you get in here?"

[Thanatos 51-50]

"Both yourself and Jant were fleeing the scene of a firefight occurring between your squad and an Adeptus Mechanus Secutor after using a classified authorisation code to enter a Forbidden vault. Upon attempting to apprehend you, after giving you both a verbal and ballistic warning, you procceded to open fire. I was well within my rights to kill Jant, and remain in my rights to kill you." Red replied firmly and evenly, attempting to re-affirm his superiority in the situation.

"I want to know who's orders you are under, and what those orders were, as well as how you obtained the authorisation code."

[LCP]

Jericus & Red

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"Yeah, well, I want to hump Anna DuPont*. What are we gonna do?"

He circled slowly to his left, keeping both of the Acolytes in his sights while doing his best not to make any movements that could be interpreted as threatening.

"You want answers? How's about we trade." He shifted his grip on the knife. "Starting with who the drek you are, and what gives you the authority to be 'apprehending' anyone."

*A singer and performer, popular across several worlds in the Golgenna Reach.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Red inched forward and twisted his torso to track the Trooper.
"My name is Red, of the Imperial Guard. My authority is a Sollex Pattern-IX lasgun. Your turn."

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He doesn't get more than two meters away from me at any time. If he bolts, he gets lasfire the moment he bolts. Semi-automatic.

[LCP]

Red & Jericus

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"Bromhead. Gonville Bromhead, and that's Jant Reynolds you just fried." He looked Red in the eye. "You said the cog-head was dead. How'd that happen?"

[senrath]

Letting the the powers that gave him slight precognition fade from his mind, Ignace let the same powers flow into the rest of his body, attempting to heal the wounds he had suffered.

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Let's see if I can heal myself without completely messing things up. Threshold is 7 if I can stand at least 2m away from Katyra, 17 if I can't.

(2d10+1)[5][4](10)
Healing for (1d5)[5] wounds.

[LCP]

Heironymous, Katyra & Ignace

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The slow footsteps grew nearer and nearer - a heavy clang as the augmetic foot slammed down, and a soft scrape as the remnants of the organic leg dragged behind it.

Thud-screech.
Thud-screech.
Thud.

The lights around them still flickering and dimming, the noise of the Secutor's progress came to a halt: coming as close to the edge of his cover as he dared, Heironymous tried to get a visual on their enemy.

The hulking figure of the Secutor stood silhouetted against the staircase - those mechandendrites that were not engaged in propping up its crumpled form quested through the air like hungry worms, the sights of their ballistic attachments scanning back and forth. The plasma gun twitched right and left with irregular, impatient movements, the smell of hot metal drifting through the air from its glowing coil.

Behind the corpse-thing, the Servitor was descending the staircase, its progress almost as clumsy as the dead man's. All around them, the flickering of the lights was becoming more erratic...

[Destro_Yersul]

Hieronymus signaled to Katyra with a curt hand motion, then checked behind him to make sure that Ignace was ready as well. As soon as both of their targets were in range, he wanted them flamed and hit with the grenade. Then it would be time to cut them down.

[EleventhHour]

Carefully edging out only enough to see around the shelves of books, Katyra holds the flamer out from herself, waiting until the Secutor was cleanly on the floor, and in her sights, then with a hissing FWOOSH, letting loose a torrent of flame in the zombie-techpriest's direction. "BURN, IN THE LIGHT OF THE EMPEROR!"

Well, it's not really a surprise when you're starting with a massive burst of fire, anyway, right? And it's more of a distraction this way!

[Thanatos 51-50]

"The other half of my squad is the one who reported he's dead, I haven't laid eyes on the corpse, myself. Are we going to start answering my questions, now, or are we about to burst take lasbolts to the face?"

[LCP]

Red & Jericus

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"Questions sound good."

[senrath]

Stepping out from behind cover just after Katyra, Ignace lit the fuse on, then threw, the grenade that he'd been given.

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PleaseHit - (1d100)[46] vs 25.
Damage - (1d10+3)[13] E, Pen 6. Blast 3.

[Thanatos 51-50]

"Do you want me to repeat them? What are your orders, who gave them to you, and how did you come across the code to get in here?" Red replied, letting an impatient tone seep into his voice.

[LCP]

Red & Jericus

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"Lord Rhodes brought us here," said Bromhead, simply. "Bodyguard detail. We get our orders from Sergeant Summerson, he gets his from Rhodes. Jant, Aldric and me, we were supposed to be guarding the index tower, until the cog-head showed up. He had what you might call superior firepower, so after Aldric got toasted, we made a tactical retreat."

"As for the code... you'd have to ask Lord Rhodes." He shrugged. "He's got an adept with him, some kind of little tech-weasel or other. Bypassed the security systems."

[Thanatos 51-50]

"You wouldn't happen to have caught the name of the Adept? Or have your mercenary license on you?

[LCP]

Red & Jericus

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"Mercenary license?" The man scoffed. "You want to talk permits and papers, you need to talk to the boss. We're House Rhodes troops." He thumped his chest. "Biggest family on Cantus, more or less - and just as legit as you are, far as I can see."

"As for the little man, he calls himself Vendrian Jessel. I don't know who he is or where they found him, but he knows his stuff."

[Thanatos 51-50]

"House Rhodes train all its troops like you?" Red asked off-handily, attempting to flatter the man, and make him drop his guard a little bit.
"I'll offer you a deal. We're going to take you into custody, and I will offer you my personal promise that you will not come to harm by my hands or the hands of my squad, and I will speak for you should the Adeptus Mechanus attempt to charge you with the murder of their Secutor. I have authority that they will listen to you need not know. In return, you're going to sit tight and relay everything you know about House Rhodes and its defenses, as well as why the Lord of the house and his retinue are here. You may even eventually find your way off this planet and on some Hive with a mercenary license and the freedom to live your life as you choose, provided you do not breach the Emperor's Law."

[LCP]

Red and Jericus

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"So what, I tell you what you want and you take me along with your friends?" The man seemed sceptical. "We didn't murder your Secutor, and that's a fact, though he was doing his best to murder us."

He grinned.

"There's worse things in this Vault than you and your little flashlight, mister. Sergeant Summerson, for one. I don't know what your 'authority' is, but I can tell you now, it's not worth your time nor your lives to tangle with His Nibs."