The Sin of Pride IC

[bluntpencil]

The Captain looks displeased,

"Aye, milord, we make haste now."

He quietly grumbles to the arch-militant beside him however, without the flamboyance of his displays on the bridge earlier.

"This would have never happened on my watch. I want everyone that leaves the ship, or returns to it, to go through full quarantine and screening procedures. That includes boarding parties as well as prisoners. This will be to prevent infiltration as well as to control the spread of contagious diseases. Understood?

I also want checkpoints set up on the ship, between decks and sections of the vessel. We need to prevent the spread of this filth, and limit its movements."


After speaking to the head of security, he fixes a serious, determined look upon his face and bows, just a little, to the Inquisitor.

"Lord-Captain Casimir Kuchenko, milord."

[rb780nm]

THe door opens again and an Astartes enters the room. In deference to the baseline humans in the room, he is clad in a robe of black and green, rather than his power armor and his servoarm is folded up as much as possible. In all, the effect is merely imposing.

"Makradon of the Deathwatch, reporting as requested," he intones in a deep rumble that sounds barely higher than the thrumming of the engines through the deck.

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Actually, Makradon murdered executed an inquisitor as well as his prisoner. But as far as he knows, no-one on this ship is aware of that;)

[DrK]

As the Astartes arrives the Inquisiyor narrows his eyes slightly, staring at which of the Brother Marines has entered. Something about the techmarine unsettling the Inquisitor Lord.

"We are pleased to welcome you Brother Astartes. Captain Kuchenko was just expounding on the new security measures to be set in place to contain the spread of the Xenos filth."

The Inquisitor, looks around the room now that the war council is full, his piercing eyes hovering between Praetus and Holt.

[Caimheul]

Master Holt

The Master of Whispers clears his throat as he stands politely at the Captain's interruption. "If you are quite through sir... He says coolly. He turns to the Inquisitor and continues. "Apparently our quarantine protocols did not include a check for infestation by a Tyranid Genestealer, an oversight that must be corrected. It is currently unknown how the cult began on the ship, reports indicate that such infestations could either be the result of a single purestrain Genestealer finding its way onto the ship, or that one of the planets The Sin of Pride visited had a Genestealer cult and either one of her crewmen became infected during shore leave or an infected person was press ganged. Regardless, this particular Genestealer cult has likely been infecting The Sin of Pride for a number of years more than most of our service aboard ship due to the likely existence of a Magus per the reports of your Acolytes. For those unaware, a Genestealer Magus only arises during the fourth generation of breeding, when the Genestealer Hybrids appear to be human. I am currently having all of my agents undergo a genescan for any mutations, as it is likely such an infestation went undetected due to the cult having agents within the crew. Luckily, there is a standard procedure for dealing with such a cult that has proven to be quite effective. I propose that the Deathwatch be tasked with the elimination of the Genestealer Magus and Patriarch while the ship's armsmen and perhaps your own acolytes work to eradicate the cult itself. The death of the Magus and Patriarch send the cult into chaos, as these two figures are vitally important to the organization of the brood. Upon their death, the elimination of remaining Genestealer hybrids should prove to be fairly easy for the armsmen. In order to prevent a future infestation of The Sin of Pride of any nature, I am in the process of creating a group among the ship's assassins whose primary responsibilities include the frequent patrol of the lower decks. Should anything new attempt to find a foothold there, even if this group is unable to eliminate it by itself, we will have more of a warning than we did in this case. Additionally, seeing how important the information your Acolytes have gathered has proven, with your permission I would like to add one of my people to your cell, with the purpose of providing more accurate reports and freeing up their time for other functions besides paperwork."

[bluntpencil]

The Captain rolls his eyes, mouthing "No, I'm not finished" in a childish fashion as the Master of Whispers asks him if he's done, seeing as he was responding to the Inquisitor. He keeps quiet though, as, despite what he'd like everyone to think, he's actually a consummate professional, and wants to know all about these 'Genestealers' or whatever they're bloody called.



Lorenzo Bianco stands at his master's side the whole time, having his paperwork ready, should the Inquisitor require it, as well as stacks of other notes and data-files.

Interestingly enough, knowing that the Master of Whispers would attempt to add him to the cell, he's actually filled out his new team's collateral damage forms too, so as to save the team time later today. And by 'the team', that means 'himself', since he correctly reasons that all the administrative duties will fall to him.

He scribbles notes with an autoquill into a fresh notebook as his employer details the Genestealers, as he personally knows very little about them, and will wish to compare them to his own administrative research later. He frowns after he's detailed the breeding patterns, and retrieves a stamp from inside his robe. He then turns the notebook over, stamping 'Classified' in bold red letters onto the cover. He nods, then returns to taking down details of how these creatures are spreading.

When it is requested that he join the Acolyte cell, he expertly slips the notebook into a pocket and the autoquill into some sort of holster. He bows respectfully, although not in an overly subservient, worm-like fashion.

[DrK]

Lord Theocles looks at the Master of Whispers, ignoring the bespectacled scribe beside him. "We shall see Master Holt if the removal of such an insidious infection in the bowels of the ship is as easy as you would have us believe. I trust you have some thoughts as to the nature of the armsmen and assassins that will begin to carry out this purge? I want the source found and made an example of. The holy few must see justice and the Emperor's will being done."

Glancing at the Astartes he considers for a moment. "Astartes, are you able to cleanse this taint from my ship? Before waiting for the answer he'll swivel to face the new Captain. "What is our voyage time until we reach the Aggolmeration and continue with our holy mission.

When he recives the answer from Casimir he'll look up to the giant Homo Astartes "Can you cleanse the ship within that timeframe?"

He'll sink back into the chair after that, frustrated and annoyed at the horror of having a true Xeno infestation on the ship.

[rb780nm]

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No matter what timeframe is given...

"The Deathwatch will see the Xenos destroyed, as is our duty." Helicase turns to the assembled officers. "We will require access to the areas the cult inhabit. I defer to the officers of this vessel for the optimal route - it would be a sin against the spirit of this nobel vessel if we were to cut a route through her bulkheads unnecessarily."

[bluntpencil]

"One hundred and six hours, Lord Inquisitor." states Casimir plainly, after checking his pocket watch, not presuming to make a suggestion that he could slow down, for instance.

He stands, wondering if they could find these infected aliens, and fire them, from escape pods, onto another hostile alien planet, and watch the dirty xenos freaks murder one another from orbit...

[Starbin]

Gabriel Mandalkan

Sitting at the table, Gabriel listened to the discussion the others were having. The Inquisitor was particularly displeased with the turn of events that brought aliens to his ship, but that was to be expected. The Confessor had little doubt that between the Adeptus Astartes, Acolytes, and whatever kill-teams the Master of Whispers dreamed up, the xenos threat would be expunged. However, the deeper question remained - how had they gotten on board? The natural corollary query was who would shoulder the responsibility for this transgression? Lord Theocles was not known for his patience or tolerance for failure, let alone rationality in the face of something as grave as infestation aboard his vessel. Heads would eventually roll, but would they be the right heads, or simply the most convenient?

After the others had spoken, giving promises of cleansing the xenos as well as options for limiting future occurances, Gabriel cleared his throat.

"Pardon my interruption, Lord Inquisitor, but might I add a thought or two to the discussion at hand?" Gabriel waited for permission to speak before continuing.

"Master Holt and I were discussing these matters prior to everyone else's arrival and I think it prudent to share the more pertinent details of that discussion with this council. Based on Commander Korvin's suggestion, I engaged the clerics at my disposal to seek out patterns and anomalies associated with matters of faith. The initial reports indicated that this infestation has been slow and insidious, akin to a viral attack against a biological host. Over the past two months, the clerics identified minor dips in attendance to the Emperor's Devotions amidst the torpedo crews that fell well within standard deviations. Additionally, we lost one of our more pious priests in a strange steam vent accident, which may be indicative of an adversary removing competition or hindrances to their attempted corruption. Lastly, over recent weeks the torpedo and gun crews have complained of a disturbingly high number of dark thoughts and terrifying nightmares."

"As I have told Master Holt, in absentia of any other events, or viewed singly, these various events would be considered within the norms of operating in and around the warp across vast distances for extended periods of time. However, like a mosaic viewed from the proper distance, these data points congeal into a pattern that demands we change our monitoring thresholds, and establish a new paradigm for threat assessments. We can ill afford to inadvertently dismiss similar occurrences in the future, but neither can we prematurely eliminate the sources through draconian procedures prior to proper identification of a threat."

"We must navigate the narrow path between immediately destroying the cancerous tissue before it consumes the body proper further, and allowing for acceptable variances to further investigation into the situation to determine the extent of corruption."

Gabriel's melodic voice was captivating in its fervor and concern. His lavender eyes scanned the crowd, making eye contact with his peers, as well as the Lord Inquisitor and Space Marine. He spoke earnestly and honestly, without fear of reprisal for what the Inquisitor might see as a failing in his defense of the Emperor's flock. If Theocles saw the problem laid squarely at the feet of the Ship's Confessor, then so be it. Gabriel would accept his punishment as necessary. He would not, however, shirk his responsibility to identify his concerns and see them considered in the council's way forward.

Leaning back in his seat, Gabriel waited for the Inquisitor's response, his eyes bright, focused and unblinking.

[DrK]

At Captain Casimir's words the Inquisitor pullls an ornate and ancient clockwork watch and moves a small lever to set an alarm. "We thank you for your dedication Astartes" he murmurs, obviously stilll not sure about the marine, something unsettling the cowled and hooded miserly Inquisitor Lord.

After listening to Gabriel he considers carefully. A pockmarked and wizened hand slowly rubbing the inquisitorial seal that hangs around his throat. "Hmm... he murmurs, "You risk much Confessor. You admit the blame for this infection could lie with you and your priests. The guardians of our souls that allowed them to be corrupted by the touch of the xeno." His eyes dart to the force blade wielding guards by the door as if considering something drastic...

No... You are correct Confessor. The genstealer is a cunning foe, a vile xeno so pernicious it still haunts the Imperium of Man. One cannot be too wise, too unprepared. We have learned a valuable lesson and with the Emperor's blessing we have the Astartes on board that can purge this threat with bolt and fire. You must double, nay, triple your viginliance Confessor. No matter is too small, no trangression is too little. All breaks from the Divine Emperor's words must be investigated and corrected. "

He looks backs over to Holt when he says this... "Your assassins may be busy as the ship is purged. Master of Whispers, your name will run red in the bowels of the ship but sacrifice is necessary for righteousness. You may requsition any men or materials you need for your acolytes to begin this purge.

[bluntpencil]

Lorenzo Bianco adjusts his spectacles as his eyes dart around a little. He leans in to his master's ear, whispering to him, regarding the genestealers.

"Milord Holt, if these xenos spread some form of infection in order to breed, I would humbly suggest the use of combat servitors, as they will be immune, and are expendable."

[Caimheul]

Master Holt

The Master of Whispers replies to his underling in a method worthy of his title "Servitors can be fooled and are poor at thinking on their feet. Most breeding occurs in the... normal fashion for the hybrids. If the men stay in groups, and any lone 'survivors' of a group are scanned for infestation or simply killed, the infection can easily be contained." He then turns to the Inquisitor and raises his voice in order to answer the question asked of him earlier. "Thank you for your trust, m'lord. I propose utilizing the armsmen in a similar fashion as for repelling boarders: riot shield and flamers primarily, with some squads designated for melee should the filthy xenos attempt to engage our men in close quarters. The armsmen will additionally serve as a means of splitting the xenos forces, hopefully aiding the Deathwatch's swift completion of their objectives. During the purging the assassins will likely be best employed keeping an eye open for anyone within the crew attempting to hinder the purge and then dealing with them as xenos mutants deserve. If you will excuse me m'lord, I shall begin preparations at once." Provided he is given permission to leave, the Master of Whispers will leave the table, gathering the (now) two acolytes by eye.

Praetus
Upon hearing the news that Master Holt intends to add a new member to the cell, the former arbitor flinches for a second. Fething great. A pencil pusher would be nice to deal with the paperwork after combat... but civies tend to do more harm than good in any kind of fight...

[DrK]

Lord Theocles looks around, a swirl of pychic power emanating from hism like wave of iron around the room as his words lash at each member of the council. "I will not tolerate xenos on the ship. You have 105 hours gentlemen". With that he leaves, his staff of guards, cherubium and servo skulls leaving with him...

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So at this point its up to you guys for waht to do?
You can RP it all out or abstract it to skill checks?

- Set Deathwatch objective and start moving (marines who were wounded will have healed of all but 1d5 wounds- the medicae and Sisters are good)

- If you're going to use the RT or DH characters decide now as well

Then everything will move into the correct threads
- good hunting

[bluntpencil]

After the Inquisitor leaves, Captain Kuchenko shows that he is not best pleased. He makes sure not to direct his anger and frustration onto his underlings, but he's obviously furious. A quarantine should be given weeks, maybe months, for a full purge to be initiated. Four days was ridiculous.

"One hundred and five hours? Damnit! Right, full Throne-damned quarantine procedures immediately. Above and beyond standard.

Those of rank, including myself, are not exempt from any level of scrutiny... but beware Xenos infiltrating those conducting the scans, understood?

Try not to unnecessarily purge anyone free of taint. If the situation looks like it is not improving within sixty-five hours, we will review this policy and make harsher sacrifices, aye?

Now, I also want everyone ready for all hell unleashing when we reach the Agglomeration. If our good liege lord doesn't think we should stop and take our time with this purge, he obviously thinks our actual mission is absolutely crucial. I don't think we want to disappoint him...

We're on a mission from the God-Emperor, ladies and gentlemen. Don't let these Xenos stand in our way."

[Emperor Ing]

As the captain gives his instructions, another figure seems to come out of nowhere. Wearing gleaming white carapace and carrying a positively massive specimen of a weapon, the newcomer is an impressive sight.
However, he seems to have the sense that everyone has been in better moods. He tentatively speaks.
Is this a bad time or...?

[Tome]

Enginseer Prime Victris Alverse

Victris nods, fully aware of the 'harsher sacrifices' that might be required. There's no way to check the entire crew in time, he calculated, but still, we must try. Emperor-As-Omnissiah, I have no wish to commit that many innocent souls to the purge! 105 hours... to have even a chance of making it in time...

"I shall oversee the screening myself, repairs to the vessel will have to be delegated," Victris declares, "If we wish to complete this task in time, priority will have to be given to any crew-member sufficiently trained in medicae, who will then be assigned to assist with the screening rites, then to the personnel most essential to the operation of the ship until we have screened the entire crew. Emperor willing, we may meet the deadline".

"Captain, with your permission I will begin immediately. After I have had myself screened, if you could have the senior command staff report in as soon as possible".

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We'll just assume Victris has been in the room all along, eh?

[bluntpencil]

"Aye, get to the scanning, if you would. I'd have the servant of the Omnissiah with the Deathwatch double-check yourself, too, right? He seems most able to assist us here.

This isn't an invasive procedure is it? I'd like to keep any probes outwith any of my orifices, eh? Haha...?"

Captain Kuchenko jokes a little, but is obviously still unsettled. Still, he offers himself as first to be tested, as is only right.

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Uses Rogue Trader ability, and will keep using it, to give +10 to scans.

[Tome]

Enginseer Prime Victris Alverse

"Agreed, the Astartes are almost certainly pure. An excellent starting point if they agree to assist us" the Enginseer agrees, casting a look at Holt in hopes of confirmation. "And yes Captin, the procedure is largely non-invasive".

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By the way, what will he be rolling for the scans? Tech-Use or Medicae?

[DrK]

As the meeting breaks up alarms sound distantly on over the choral symphony summoing all crew to actions. In the medicae decks the teams assemble awaiting the enginseer and the senior crew with their probes and scanners.

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Infestation checking is a medicae test

[rb780nm]

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Makradon is no use for a medicae check, sorry!
We don't have an apothecary, IIRC.

"I fear that knowledge of the arts medicae is beyond the scope of my duties. I will be more effective in the cleansing action than assisting in the med decks."

[Tome]

Victris

Victris looks disheartened at the news. "Very well, we'll just have to rely on cross-examination. I detest the lack of certainty in these circumstances, but speed is of the essence".

He rises from his seat, gives a short, stiff bow to the assembled officers, and heads for the halls of the Omnissiah at a pace just shy of outright running. A ripple of vox-chatter spills out as he begins organising the tech-priests under his command. There is much work to be done, if a mass purge is to be avoided.

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Clearly, an Apothecary is required next time we add any DW characters. Maybe one of the Assault Marines will suffer from the inverse ninja rule and have an accident?

But yes, Victris is going to set to work on the screening. If it fails, he'll spend a Fate point on a re-roll.

Medicae [79] + Rogue Trader Bonus from Kuchenko [10] = 89 vs (1d100)[7]

EDIT That's eight degrees of success, I think?

[Caimheul]

Master Holt
"I shall oversee the analysis of the crew, at least to ensure that the ones that fail are dealt with appropriately," the Master of Whispers says as he leaves, knowing his imposing presence will ensure that the executions preceed as necessary, even if he has to pull the trigger himself. You points at Praetus "You! Get your team scanned immediately, I will notify the medicae team at your assigned rendezvous point that your team has top priority. Following that, get him outfitted from my personal stocks using this dataslate. I want your team to act as an emergency response team should there be a problem the armsmen at a certain place cannot handle. Now, RUN!" he barks at the acolytes.

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Well, Naaman seems to be a bullet magnet... If he falls, I think an Iron Hands Apothecary would be interesting rp wise... Reccomended treatment for all wounds: cybernetics!

[Starbin]

Gabriel sat silently after Lord Theocles departed, listening to the senior crew continue to discuss options for purging the crews. For his own piece, he knew a change was required in monitoring the spiritual health and welfare of the men aboard the Sin of Pride. If the Inquisitor had his way, the ship's personnel would soon learn a greater love for the Emperor, or be slaughtered as potential hosts for this Xenos infestation. Unfortunately, such drastic measures under estimated a plague that was not carried by personal choice or individual fallibility - this 'virus' was biological in nature, and circumvented any fixes by way of increased faith. If Gabriel were to indiscriminently crack down on those not attending services, he might miss the forest for the trees. Such lapses could range from innocent mistakes, to initial indications of another infestation, to a conscious decision based on corruption ... without careful consideration, the true malaise could be missed.

Once the meeting disbanded, Gabriel rose and headed towards the medicae center, submitting himself to inspection as required. Once complete, he headed back to the chapel, in order to work on a plan of attack to monitor and analyze reports on faith-related infractions.

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Will set up a system to monitor changes / variations in service attendance; increases in reported nightmares or dark dreams; and reports of actions inconsistent with a life spent in service to the Emperor.

[DrK]

The senior crew, treated with deference by the lowly medicae teams all rapidly pass their medical checks and are judged free of infection or corruption.

The scanning on the rest of the ship begins to go smoothly. Focusing around the prow of the ship and the torpedo crews the magos adapt some weapon integrity scanners to be able to scan crew in batches of 20. Soon 28 different crewmen are identified as contaminated and their crew IDs marked, the information passed onto the Master of Whispers...

Even with Victris's ingenious arrangement of scanning teams and conversions of weapon scanners to human scanners -the risk of permanent damage damage from the high energy radiation is acceptable, to a magos- the checking of tens of thousands of crew will still take several days. Though Victris calculates with continous monitoring he should complete it in 104 hours.

The Chapel

Gabriel checking through his records and the collated data on sermons and attendance notices a horrifying pattern that two of his preachers "Atticus Brandt" and "Kurt Voss" have the highest incidence of defections, corruptions and abscences... Both preach in the bow and both were supposedly under the authority of Confessor Lent before his accidental death with a steam tank rupture...

[Caimheul]

Master Holt

Already? the Master of Whispers thinks as the first crew ids are forwarded to his dataslate. The names were simultaneously submitted to the armsmen and assassins waiting at the exit to the scanning chambers. If they weren't already captured and dead, he wanted to know why.

[DrK]

Master Holt

Already? the Master of Whispers thinks as the first crew ids are forwarded to his dataslate. The names were simultaneously submitted to the armsmen and assassins waiting at the exit to the scanning chambers. If they weren't already captured and dead, he wanted to know why.

As the names are transmitted to the waiting death squads he begins to get kill confirmations until after ~5 minutes a report comes in, the crackle of gunfire in the background... "Lord Holt, 3 men down. 8 refused scanning....heading down causeway 122b-6alpha. Request instructions".

Pausing to think Holt realises that in that area are several key subsystems such as munitions control and eventually the tertiary life support cogitator for the fore quarter of the ship...

[Caimheul]

Master Holt
Feth he curses silently. "Any that refuse scanning are to be shot immediately, I thought I made that clear. As for the escapees, send the assassins after them. I will be sending reinforcements, make sure the assassins are aware of that." the Master of Whispers' pale hands quickly establish a private connection with Lt. Solarii. "Send in the elite squad, tell them to run."

[bluntpencil]

The Captain has something of a containment plan.

"If they attempt to flee, I want the area sealed remotely, gents! I want blast doors locking down to contain them. If possible, vent the corridor they are in, removing the very air from their lungs. Keep this infestation localised and contained, aye?!"

[Starbin]

As Gabriel read through the reports, he frowned. Apparently two of his preachers were setting new lows within the bow section. Turning to one of his acolytes, he held up the report. "Bring me all the information you have on Atticus Brandt and Kurt Voss, from birth until today. Provide an encrypted copy to Master Holt with the following report. Add a personal message from me:

'Master Holt, I humbly request your support in determining the exact nature of these two priests' failure; if coincedental or inadvertant, then I shall deal with them most harshly. If this is purposeful, then feel free to deal with them in your own manner. Please keep me informed either way.'

Send it as a priority message. Thank you."

Returning to his reports, he waited for the requested information as he searched on his own for additional data concerning these two erstwhile priests.

[Caimheul]

Master Holt

In the midst of dealing with the sundry issues that the massive undertaking of scanning the entire crew causes, one of the many microbead receivers on his desk crackles to life: "Master Holt, we seem to have been joined by a tech priest, do you know anything about this?" Frowning for a moment, he quickly responds. "Await confirmation."
He activates the microbead tuned to the command frequencies reserved and encrypted for the senior personnel. "Enginseer Prime Victris, did you detail one of your adepts to join the acolytes?"