They All Uprose (Dark Heresy IC)

[Blarghy]

A thin whistle of air marks Novus's inhalation. His shoulders draw back; beneath his hood, his chin tilts up, dilated pupils locking on this horror. Part of the adept is back aboard The Saint's Humility, stepping hesitantly into a room of flickering lights, a wiggling mass shifting in its chair. Lamp-like eyes swivel around. The lips draw back. The teeth peek through.

"Oh my. What pretty skin you have, puppet. How sweet you smell. Tonight we must give thanks for such a kind visitor, to come of his own accord. Lazarus, bring me the lovely puppet. I haven't had a boy in too long."

Against all odds, Novus doesn't scream, or even whimper. He just lifts his giant pistol with a blank stare, slides one foot back to brace himself against the recoil, and tries to blast Knife-Fingers' head off its shoulder.

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Aiming for +20, and another +10 for short range, according to Destro. 2 Penetration.

BS (63): (1d100)[12]
Damage: (1d10+4)[11]

[Artemis97]

"Not bleeding." Joss remarked. "Simply failed to have cleaned his weapon. Still, it's a trail to follow, though it may end shortly."

* * *

Hearing the sounds of a blade rending flesh, Joss tensed, presuming they had found the one who had killed the man they had discovered earlier, now at work on some new target. What he found as he peered down the corridor was far worse than any human assassin. Though the sight and smell of a bloodied corpse was nothing new to Joss, however he let out a choking, strangled sound of disgust. To the Moritat Assassin, this thing was a horrifying mockery of his order, spilling blood for dark, unholy purposes.

The assassin stepped back as the bloody thing stepped forward. He tried to take a deep breath to steady himself, but it came out in a shudder. Still, he managed to draw his bow and nock an arrow, presently unwilling to close with the monster. Praying his aim would be true, Joss pulled the bowstring back to his ear. The tiny red dot of the laser attachment danced across the surface of his target for a brief moment before he let his arrow fly.

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Ok, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to aim this round or not, since I may have used up my first action drawing the bow. if I can aim, I get an additional +20 to hit.

(1d00)[1] vs 30 +10, laser sight. (and maybe +20 more)

(1d10+2)[4] Rending Damage.

[Destro_Yersul]

The arrow snapped against the thing's body, while Novus' high-caliber round failed to accomplish much more. The metal horror advanced on them, feet clinking against the stone of the floor. Gabe felt something brush past him, and turned to see Solomon bolting into the darkness from whence they had come. The provosts were in disarray, two of them slumped to the ground staring blankly, while sergeant Benson and the other man at the head of the column stared in numb shock at the thing. It reached out, bladed fingers slicing through the air but finding no target.

"Sir? Sir, snap out of it!" The one provost to retain their wits, Tam was shaking sergeant Benson's arm. He looked over at the creature, then back at his squad leader, before apparently coming to a decision. "Sod it. Where'd you put the bloody thing?" He said aloud, rooting through Benson's equipment pouch and coming up with one of the mining charges from the cave up top.

"Might need this. Keep it busy!"

Solomon Only

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Tearing through the gloom of the tunnels, Solomon was dimly aware of the voices of the others receding behind him. Up ahead, a side passage yawned black. He'd have to find his way back later, but for now all that mattered was escape...

OOC:

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Solomon runs, I believe, 18m per round. Just test once per round against your WP, no penalties. You can obviously, if desired, spend fate points on rerolls.

OOC:

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Can I get awareness tests from everyone except Solomon?

[Artemis97]

The archer curses, seeing his arrow fail to damage its target. Another curse falls from his lips when the provosts fall prone at the sight of the horror in front of them. He could hear someone running in fear, but didn't turn to see who it was, too focused on the creature that was quickly closing on them. Joss nocked another arrow, sighted along the laser line, and let fly again, praying it would do more at this close range. If not, he mentally prepared himself for facing this monstrosity in melee.

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Reload, half action, attack, the other half.

(1d100)[8] vs 30 +10 for the laser sight, -20 for shooting into melee, +30 for point blank. +20 total, I believe.

(1d10+2)[10] R, 1 pen

(1d100)[51] vs 32 + 10 if sight related.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Gabe shook the edges of fear from coming in and taking their hold on his soul. He stood stronger in the Emepror's light.
He also, however, stood in the middle of the column, on the flank furthest away from the thing of metal and flesh.

If Tam was going to use a mining charge to kill the thing, it was best if the monster was tied up.
"Just warn us before you set that thing off. I want us out of the danger zone." the priest told Tam, squeezing through the column, straight past Benson and juking across the corridor, coming in to slam in the fiend from behind, sword in hand and shield held ready.
"Yea, though we enter the heart of the Enemy, we know no Fear, for we stand Ready, guided by the Light of Him on Earth..."

[Blarghy]

Empty-faced as a corpse, Novus notes his weapon's inefficiency but calmly rolls his weight forward once more and almost squeezes the trigger a second time when Gabe swings into his field of vision. He seriously considers firing anyway; regardless of whether or not the priest's welfare factors into his decision, shooting Gabe by accident can't be worse than what the monster will do to him if left unstopped. But in the process of following Gabe's movement, Novus's line of sight lands on something in the background. He processes this new information, debates its possible significance, and concludes that in light of his enemy's armor and his friend's nigh-suicidal position, another course of action might be in order.

"Sweet boy, you simply do not have the voice for screaming, I must say. Some cries, I can listen to for days, but you lack the pleasing melody. Far too shrill. Castella, be a good girl and bring the puppet something for his nerves. Do we still have some of the green pills left? I'm sure we do. Have Lazarus hold his jaw open for him--once he's over this little mood, we can begin. Only two, Castella, not three. He's such a skinny puppet; we can't have him falling asleep. You know we can't properly celebrate if he's gone to nap. Not to worry, sweet boy; you can dream of me later. We'll show you such wonderful things, won't we, children? Soon you'll feel ever so foolish for this commotion. But I forgive you already. Some of us come to the Grand Truths more easily than others. The important thing is that we come. Isn't that right, Lazarus? Just nod. There's a good boy."

He even moves differently. No more of his cringing shuffling like a beaten dog, but now a smooth run, jumping over the fallen provost, slipping around Joss, and picking up speed as he passes the nightmarish terror--which receives only a sideways glance from beneath his hood. Novus charges down the hall with such silent single-mindedness that others might think he's fleeing, but right when the walls open up, he slides like a baseball player into the gory pile that was the Flayed One's last victim. On one knee, free hand quickly stained with blood, he tears through the remains for an interesting item. Maybe it'll help him more than the pistol in his other fist.

[-Sentinel-]

Monstrous, Solomon was thinking as he ran, the sight of the skin-clad abomination burned in his mind. He had seen many horrific crimes in his time as an arbitrator, but nothing that compared to this.

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WP 31: (d100)[94] - ...i do believe that's a failure

[Destro_Yersul]

Reaching out once again for the stricken provost in front of it, the thing's bladed fingers closed around the man's leg. Claws slicing through flak armour like so much paper, the metal being pulled back hard, neatly severing the provost's leg just above the knee. Blood spurted to the floor, covering the black stone in fresh bright red. Toppling sideways, the provost was kept from falling by the thing's other hand, fastened around his arm. The creature squeezed, watching with its blank metal face and burning eyes as the provost's arm came tearing away, the shotgun held in numb fingers clattering uselessly to the floor. Dropping the corpse, it turned around to face the priest who had come up behind it.

"Emperor on Earth!" Tam shouted, glancing up from fumbling with the charge to see the ruined body of the dead provost. He almost forgot about the charge, staring in amazement for a few seconds before resuming work. "Got it! Could only set it on a short timer."

Behind them, one of the fallen provosts was stirring, blinking rapidly at the fresh red blood covering the corridor floor. "Shouldn't have come," he mumbled, forcing himself to his feet and nervously shifting his grip on the barrel of his shotgun.

Novus, meanwhile, had reached the pile of blood covered effects formerly belonging to the metal monstrocity's original victim. The holster he had seen was empty, but amidst the torn white coat and shreds of fabric he found the iron grey of another pistol, a massive .54 caliber cannon of a handgun loaded, from the looks of things, with armour-piercing rounds. There was a spare clip for the weapon poking out of a torn pocket, as well. Behind him, he could hear the heavy thump of a body hitting the ground. There was no time to search for anything else right now.

[Thanatos 51-50]

"Define 'short'." the priest prompted the one Provost to keep his wits.
The man deserved a promotion. the others were too far gone for him to help right now without a spectacular display of martial zeal, and he had closed with his foe before freeing his scimitar.
Well, there was always operation: distract the monstrosity.
"Hey, skull-face. Trim your nails. No boys are gunna invite you to the schola soiree lookin' like that, y'ugly hunk of junk." he taunted -- probably ineffectively, but anything, really, to get the beasts attention turned to him and not the gaggle of shocked provosts that were his charge.
He held the shield out, far away from his body, light on his feet, ready to dodge in any direct, prepared to make those claws sink into the black stone instead of his carapace.

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Full Defense Action, all WS tests against Gabe suffer a -20 penalty!
And, due to the bonus for Defensive, that's an effective WS of 48 to parry.

[Blarghy]

That's all he needs.

Unconcerned by the sounds of murder behind him--if he hears, he doesn't seem to care--the acolyte slides his original pistol back into his cloak while scooping up the other. He leaves the spare clip for now; he needs both hands to use this beast of a gun. Novus, thus armed, spins and takes a few light steps back down the corridor. "Move," he says in a tone as frosted as his gray eyes. Presumably he's making the suggestion to Gabe, who, in light of the mining charge, might be inclined to do just that anyway.

"Hush now, puppet. We're done for tonight. Oh, don't taunt the poor boy, Eli; you were no different when I first found you. He's only been here for...my, has it been two weeks already? Time does fly. Just bring the bandages, Eli. Lovely Novus didn't have much blood to begin with. We simply must put some meat on your bones. Then our sessions can last longer. Won't that be fun? Lazarus, help Eli. He has butter fingers, and Novus is so delicate. When you finish, send Castella to my room with that pretty orphan from the lower decks. I feel peckish. A snack before bed will send me right off. Tomorrow, we can start--

"...Lazarus? Dear Lazarus. Why does the puppet have your gun?"

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The bit about sliding in the last post was mostly flavor text, since I don't think you need to be prone to pick something up. Still, if you prefer to have me stand up as a half action, then I'll use my other to grab the gun and put away the original pistol (the rulebook seems to say that's ok, under the description for the Ready action on page 193). Otherwise, Novus will head back toward the melee so that he's within short range for his next attack.

Concerning that, is it possible for me to drop down the initiative roster so that I act after Gabe on the next round? Not taking the Delaying action (I'd like to still Aim; speaking of which, is this new gun Accurate like my old one?), which would let me use a half action at any point in the round, but just taking both my actions after Gabe. This'd give him a chance to disengage, unless he wants to risk being hit with a melee misfire, not to mention the mining charge.

[Destro_Yersul]

Tam said something, but Gabe didn't hear what it was - his attention was caught by the metal creature in front of him, its full attention focused on the priest now that its previous target lay in pieces on the floor. Its claws drew thin scraping furrows across Gabe's shield, his scimitar flicking out to ward off the determined assault. The thing was hellishly strong, and neither he nor his shield would be able to keep this up for long. Then Tam stepped in, slamming the mining charge hard into the metal thing's back.

"Got you!" He shouted victoriously. "Everyone back, it's going to blow!"

Benson was shaking his head, recovering from the shock of his first sight of the thing, only to be greeted by fresh horror. The sergeant went white at the sight of his dead comrade, another of the provosts coming up behind him and grabbing his shoulder. "Sir! You need to get back!"

In an attempt to ward off the thing, or perhaps to be seen doing something useful, the other provosts had at last got to their feet, aiming shotguns at the creature but reluctant to shoot with their friends in the way.

[Blarghy]

With clinical detachment, Novus records the renewed provosts and the mining charge, placing more reliance on the latter than the former. He flicks off the safety of his new pistol. Knees bending slightly to absorb the shock, he lines the sights up on the Flayed One's center mass as soon as Gabe leaves his dangerous melee and fires.

"Yes, Eli, I can see that. Sadly, I can do nothing for you. If you cannot die with dignity, at least do so with silence; I would like to hear myself think, if you please. What are we to do about this, Novus? Pretty puppet. Clever puppet. I'm sorry to laugh so rudely, but I find trouble taking you seriously with a gun bigger than yourself. This picture would amuse me more were you not plainly ready to spill my innards as well. Still...our Lord has blessed me with talents beyond Eli's. Maybe if I show you some of them, you'll stop this foolishness. Behold, the rewards of my Service in all their grandeur!

"...That's very discourteous, you know! You aren't supposed to run until afterward! Well don't just stand there, Lazarus. Bring him back! By all the gods, I'm surrounded by incompetence. Not you, of course, Castella. Though you never did bring that orphan."

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Aiming, Short Range, and hopefully no worries about firing into melee; Destro says Gabe will have an action to Disengage before Novus's turn, and I assume he'll take it, given the mining charge and all the people trying to shoot around him. Nice job on standing up to the Flayed One and not getting shredded, by the way.

BS (53): (1d100)[23]
Damage: (1d10+5)[9]

And because I really want to hit the monster for actual damage at least once, if that's a miss, here's spending my last (I think) Fate Point for another shot.

BS: (1d100)[46]
Presumably damage would stay the same as above, unless you particularly want another roll.

[Artemis97]

Joss takes more careful aim this time before loosing one final arrow, before turning and dashing around the corner, regardless of the results of his shot. Hopefully the creature would not follow.

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(1d100)[38] vs 30 +60 for nonsense!

(1d10+2)[12] R damage

(1d10)[6]

(1d10)[4]

[Thanatos 51-50]

Gabe huddled behind his shield and swung it out in a wide arc, moving it to ward off the monster's claw-blows.
The charge was active, be Tam never did define "Short" it was probably best to get out of the way of the resulting explosion.As quickly and safely as possible.

The priest retreated towards Novus.

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Disengage, as stated in OOC

[Destro_Yersul]

Without even a desultory swipe at Gabe's retreating form, the metal killer turned its attention to the man who had just planted an explosive on its back. Joss' arrow caught it in a joint, the shaft sticking in place for a moment before snapping off with a crunching sound as it was brushed away. Then there was nothing between the monster and its prey, bladelike fingers scissoring in towards the unfortunate provost. Tam blocked one with the butt of his shotgun, smashing it aside before the other sliced up his leg, mangling armour and shredding flesh. With a cry, Tam gritted his teeth and dropped a hand to try and staunch the flow of blood, limping backwards with both eyes fixed on the creature.

"To the warp with you," he said, and the next instant the hallway was filled with clouds of dust as the charge detonated, the enormous explosion leaving ringing in all their ears as it subsided. The blast radius wasn't very large, but it had been focused inwards - towards its target. The creature lay on the ground, the sunken black pits of its eyes bereft of their green light. The charge had left a smoking hole through its torso, and it was a testament to the thing's unholy toughness that it hadn't simply been blown to pieces. Most of the Provosts were doing nothing more than staring at it, still slightly dazed.

"Good job, Tam," Sergeant Benson said, moving to see to his wounded man. The Sergeant had recovered from his initial shock, and having something to do seemed to help. "How bad is it?"

Tam was leaning against the wall for support, one hand still clamped over his injury. "I'll live, and I should be able to manage walking. Hurts like frak, though. Sir."

[-Sentinel-]

Solomon

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By the time Solomon stopped running, his lungs wre burning with exhaustion. He realized with mounting shame that he was apparently the only one to have run. Back on his homeworld, he might have been shot for this.

The sound of gunfire was over; he could no longer use the confusion of battle to slip back unnoticed into the group. Still, it may not be too late to preserve some dignity. He pointed his autogun down the passageway at an angle that would prevent the bullets from ricocheting on him, unscrewed the silencer to be sure to make some noise, and released a small burst of gunfire at nothing in particular; this way, when they saw him emerge from the darkness with his gun smoking, he could pretend he had been guarding their backs from some more scarabs.

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Semi-auto fire. Just a roll to make sure the gun doesn't jam: (d100)[87]

[Thanatos 51-50]

Coughing half-imagined dust from the explosion out of his lungs, Gabe, sword and shield held ready, advanced on the inert machine.
"This is absolutely fascinating when it's not trying to kill us," he muttered aloud, mostly to himself.
Setting his shield on the thing's midsection-analogue and pressing his weight against it, the Cleric pressed down on the metal beast and peered inside the chest cavity, looking for anything that would indicate a vital circuit -- something he could rip out and bring back to the Inquisition.

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A Tech-Use Roll, perhaps?
TechUseBase46 - (1d100)[79]

[Artemis97]

"It is an abomination." Joss growls, stepping out from around the corner and cautiously approaching. He didn't really want to get near to the thing, even if it was dead, but he wanted to retrieve whatever arrows he might be able to salvage. While doing so, he looks around, taking a head count, and coming up short.

"Where is Solomon?" He asks, concerned.

[Blarghy]

Several slow heartbeats of stillness pass for the adept. His foggy eyes settle on the remains of their enemy, studiously, and slowly begin to clear. They jump to Tam's leg with some trembling. More quickly, they dart to the shredded provost, widening at the horrible gore. Novus touches his cheek; blood from grabbing his new gun earlier rubs off on his skin.

He drops the hand cannon and sinks to the ground. Shivering so violently that he might be convulsing, a low sob bubbles up, and he tumbles against the wall, hiding in his cloak from the terrible world in which he lives.

[Destro_Yersul]

The whereabouts of Solomon were, in a way, answered. The staccato rattle of an autogun on burst-fire settings echoed down the tunnels towards them from the direction the bounty hunter had run in. Two of the provosts stepped around the corner, shining their lights down the corridor to see if they could see where he was. Another of the men started walking towards Novus, looking more than a little at a loss for what to do with the terrified adept.

Sergeant Benson was trying to help Tam, inexpertly tearing a few strips of cloth off the provost's already shredded uniform to use for bandages. While he did that, Gabe was left free to inspect their fallen enemy. Its interior, from what he could see of it, didn't look like any Imperial machine he'd been able to get a look inside before. It was all metal, all the way through, without any organic components at all. Torn wires and shattered crystalline circuits filled its chest compartment, many of them horribly blackened by the detonation of the mining charge. Unfortunately, for all his rooting around, the priest was unable to find anything he could easily tear out.

[Artemis97]

Hearing the gunfire, Joss' head snaps around. "Damnit." He curses. He fits a retrieved arrow into his bow and runs off in the direction of the sound. Hopefully he would find his comrade intact.

[-Sentinel-]

Solomon did not take long to appear, his jaw clenched. "All clear," he reported laconically. He paused, staring at the destroyed machine. "Huh. Never seen anything like it."

[Blarghy]

Like a spring-loaded toy, Novus's head pops back up at the gunfire. His eyes look wide and wild. "More?" he laments. "Already?" He fumbles for the new pistol and shuffles disjointedly in the Flayed One's direction without seeing the man who thought to help him. When Solomon appears shortly after, he stares in dazed confusion for a long moment. Still, he doesn't collapse again, though he puts one shoulder to the wall and hugs himself. Both the ghastly remains of the dead provost and his less human but equally unsettling murderer draw Novus's gaze in equal measures, centerpieces too big to ignore, however much he'd prefer to. Maybe such sights will at least jog his memory for something important.

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Let's see if he knows anything about the Necrons from either old stories or reports of past Imperium wars against them.

Scholastic Lore (Legend) (62): (1d100)[34]
Common Lore (Imperium) (62): (1d100)[70]

[Artemis97]

Joss stops short when Solomon reappears. "What were you shooting at?" The feudal warrior demands, turning back and stalking after Solomon.

[-Sentinel-]

"Another bug. Bastard dropped from the ceiling." There was irritation in Solomon's voice. "None of what we've met here looks like any Mechanicus device or architecture I've ever seen."

[Destro_Yersul]

To Gabe, Solomon's statement seemed a little odd, but the priest didn't have much time to ponder it. Near his boots the destroyed machine was shifting, twisted metal slowly flowing inwards to seal the gaping hole they had blown in the thing. It wasn't just the metal, either. Wires and circuitry were knitting themselves back together, seemingly of their own accord, the unholy monster's extremely rugged construction obviously augmented by some form of regeneration. It seemed to be limited, for now - the seal on the hole was imperfect, the creature's body holding the shape of the wound even as it healed, but the hole was starting to fill up, and the machine was once again active, baleful green lights flickering in its eye sockets. Bladed fingers scraped across the floor as it struggled to stand, rising slowly to its feet amidst the grinding of tortured metal.

OOC:

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Keep the same initiative order as before. It is currently Solomon's turn - the flayed one is standing in the square its corpse previously occupied. No additional fear test is required, but everyone needs to roll WP checks. On failure, gain 1 insanity point.

[Artemis97]

Joss lets out a surprised shout when the creature rises again. Having already nocked an arrow, the assassin simply aims and fires.

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(1d100)[66] vs 30 +60, I think unless you count me as not being in point blank range.

(1d10+2)[4]

(1d100)[88] vs 32wp

[-Sentinel-]

"Throne damn it," snarled Solomon, reflexively grabbing his autogun and firing three bullets in quick succession at the mechanical abomination.

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Quick Draw. Not enough bullets left in the clip for full-auto fire, so I'll go with semi-auto.

Effective BS 49 (unless there's some sort of short-range bonus): (d100)[14]
Damage: (d10+3)[9] - (d10+3)[9] - (d10+3)[7]

WP 31: (d100)[63]

[Blarghy]

Novus's high shriek almost matches the deafening roar of his hand cannon in the relatively narrow hallway; just as quickly as he fires, he flees backward without looking. Anyone in his way might take an elbow to the teeth as he frantically tries to escape--how far he plans to go is hard to say. The nearby moon station might be enough.

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Short range, not point-blank. Novus being Novus, he wouldn't get within arm's reach of the Flayed One even if it was behind an armored glass display case. Following his attack, he moves down the hall as far as he can.

BS (43): (1d100)[84]
Damage (2 Pen): (1d10+5)[7]
WP (42): (1d100)[16]

No word on my successful Lore check? Or is that waiting until after the battle?

[Destro_Yersul]

The storm of fire from the acolytes mixed with a blast from the provost's stingray sent a flurry of sparks off of the creature, Gabe ducking back out of its path to avoid its claws. The green eyes fixed on the injured Tam and the creature stepped forwards, shrugging off the hail of bullets like so many stinging flies. Its claws flashed, Tam trying desperately to block with nothing more than the stock of his shotgun. Seizing his injured leg, the monster flexed its arm and the limb came loose in a spray of blood, the stricken provost pitching to the ground, mouth open in a voiceless scream of agony.

Sergeant Benson stepped back, drawing his sword and holding it up in a parrying stance, but from the expression on his face it was clear what he thought of their odds. "Get out of here!" the sergeant shouted at the rest of his men. "This thing isn't stopping!"