The Herald of Oblivion [IC]

[Adamusa]

"If your powers can help, Brother Victor, then do what you must. We must enter that hulk. The lives of the Kill-Team aboard depend on it, if they still breathe," Kayran muttered tersely, still feverishly fiddling with the auspexes in order to find a path. Nothing presents itself, but he continues looking anyway. The Thunderhawk went black for a few seconds, though this didn't bother the Raven Guard. If anything, it made him slightly more comfortable.

[Toxic Mind]

Void - Thunderhawk

Victor sees a vision in the darkness, a strange figure, one whose forehead is emblazoned with the helix of an apothecary. The figure runs down corridors, searching for something, it seems. The vision pans out, and the helix can be seen moving through the space hulk, towards the surface. It pauses from time to time before moving on, and you can see its aura glowing golden bright. In the shadows, claws close around it, seeking to snuff it out. If this helix is your tool, perhaps it can be contacted before it is extinguished.

The pilot ignores Kayran's attempts with the instruments and brings you in close. "Brother - we could fire on the hulk. It might stir up something to give you a point of ingress."

Void - Void Dancer

The fusillade of shells and ordinance flies through the void like a school of Catachan Razorfish, hungry for flesh. It takes only seconds for the barrage to traverse the vast distances between the ships, but to those inside the ship attending to gun batteries and augur arrays, it seems like an eternity. The gun crews begin their frantic reloading and preparing of the cannons, their eternal optimism hoping against hope that they once again perform this action in vain, that the enemy has been defeated, and the death that stalks among the stars passed them by once more.

The vessel seemed to defy augury, though not by any particular shielding. Simply put, its layout made little sense, and even less given that most of it was a hideous, blasphemous fusion of flesh and metal. One augury adept who looked too closely at the readouts had to be put down as he began gibbering about the Father of Disease, and bleeding from the eyes. Despite this rude interruption, the battle has gone surprisingly well.

The streaks of light that were each a massive reactive warhead burn across the void and smash into the fleshy hull of the light cruiser. The shells rip through flesh and armor and detonate deep inside the hull.

On the bridge, a cheer goes up as across the enemy hull, explosions light. That cheer is quickly replaced with a cry of horror as the warp drives of the light cruiser, already scarred by heretical modifications and daemonic corruption, overload and tear a hole into reality. Fortunately, both the Void Dancer and the Malleus are far enough away to avoid being pulled into the rift, and quickly enough reality asserts itself and the hole closes.

The Malleus reports a Warp Jump by the other cruiser, but the officer seems certain the other ship will not trouble them as auspex scans revealed severe damage to crucial systems including weapons and life support.

The Herald of Oblivion - Vivec

With the genestealer dispatched and cataloged, Vivec is once again left in silence. He runs once more down the hallways, until he comes to a junction. In the center is what appears to be a vox relay node, however it is not receiving power. To Vivec's untrained eyes, it at least appears intact, and both cables running from it appear undamaged. Perhaps if it could be powered, it could amplify Vivec's vox abilities, allowing him to contact those outside the Hulk, if they are even still nearby...

Spoiler: Test

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Straight Intelligence (/w Hidden Modifiers)

[Adamusa]

The lithe Raven Guard continued pushing buttons and turning dials, but all he succeeded in doing was causing the auspex to screech in protest. At that point, he gave up. He was no Techmarine and he had little chance of spotting anything useful.

"Aye, we could fire on the hulk, but that would give away our position to every form of monstrosity on that craft. I have a better plan. Take us in close and engage the docking clamps. We shall land on the exterior and deploy the ramp. The breaching augur can make us an entrance and our armour will protect us for long enough to get inside," Kayran said as he glanced at the massive breacher drill attached to his armour.

[Jyssika]

Victor sighs, he takes a moment to regain himself before standing.

+I have located an unknown Apothocary.+
He moves to the Thunderhawks vox.
+How deeply into the hulk can we send vox messages?+

[bluntpencil]

Vivec quickly gets to work, and swiftly has his vox amplified,

"Deathwatch Brother Vivec Rasha, requesting extraction."

He then puts his request on a loop, as he scans the area for potential routes of entry for Genestealers. He would not be caught unaware.

Spoiler

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(1d100)[97] Awareness (Sight)

Then, again, go into Overwatch, preferably in a nearby corner with good fields of fire.

[Toxic Mind]

The Void - Thunderhawk

Static meets your ears on the vox channels. "Without a dedicated vox relay, almost any signal beneath the surface of the Hulk will be unreadable, let alone us transmitting in." The pilot says taciturnly as he brings the ship in close.

Herald of Oblivion - Vivec

Vivec is sure that he can connect the power cabling from his armor to the vox relay, and give it a momentary boost. In fact, he's even sure how to do it. It takes a little while, as the rituals and rites are hard to remember, and buried deep in the past of other missions with other tech-marines and servants of Mars.

The Void - Thunderhawk

"Deathwatch Brother Vivec Rasha, requesting extraction."

[Adamusa]

Kayran's head snapped round as the vox squawked out the message. A Deathwatch brother was alive on the hulk! The name was unfamiliar, but it mattered not. They needed to link up with him as soon as possible.

"Pilot, get us attached. Victor, prepare for entry. We must make contact with our brother marine," the Kill-marine ordered, his experience as a Sergeant taking over as his mind readied itself for insertion into hostile territory. He strode to the ramp of the Thunderhawk and took hold of the breaching augur attached to his harness, in readiness for the assault

[Aneurin]

Anastasia Faydra Undynne

Ignoring the plasma-scorched body at the aetherics station, Anastasia turns back to the bridge at large. It's tempting - very tempting - to take to Warp in a bid to destroy the damaged Cruiser before it can get word to any of the Powers it may be allied with, but with other ships in the system it's all but pointless. Better, then, to act decisively now.

"Perform one more scan for hostiles in the area, and then stand down for second shift. Excellent work, you have done the Emperor proud this day," she calls out, her voice ringing through the bridge as the customary cheer for a defeated enemy goes up. "Pass my commendations to the gun crews. Magos Sephora, begin preparations for repairs to the Twilight Dancer and rescues of any survivors in the damaged areas - and fetch me a damage report. Sister Ravia, if infirmary work does not keep you busy I would appreciate you beginning preparations for shore-parties of medics for preliminary genestealer-infection screening, and full ship board quarantine facilities for any returning groups. As of this moment, any vessel or vessel-sized piece of detrituus - small or large - that attempts to dock with us, or come within range of the point defences, without transmitting cipher sequence, oh, let us say, aleph-seven-nine is to be destroyed without mercy,"

Anastasia regards the assembled bridge crew solemnly for a moment, then nods decisively.

"Contact the Malleus and enquire if they require any assistance, given their sloppy performance in allowing that cruiser to escape them I expect they will need some form of help, even if Casmirre is too proud to admit it. Then chart a course to link up with them, and project the probable courses of the other ships in system. I will be in my quarters preparing for a speech if there is an emergency. Dismiss!" she raps out, before turning and striding off the bridge.

Spoiler: OOC

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Assuming there is no emergency in the near future, Ana is going to try a once-per-session Restore Morale action.

Hard (-10) Charm - restores 2 morale per DoS.
(1d100)[72] vs. 80 (65 Base + 5 Loyalty + 20 training - 10 difficulty)

Test possibly comes with an additional +10 from Renowned Warrant, and maybe (but probably not) another +10 from the Rosarius, given it has +10 to interact with followers of the Imperial Creed which I've always interpreted as the thoroughly devout, as opposed to the common citizen who just goes through the forms.

EDIT: Rather hoping those two do apply now.

[Leon]

I shall see it done.

Ravia departs the bridge to oversee the efforts of the Infirmary first hand in covering any casualties from the impacts suffered and begin preparatory work on what the Captain has requested, rounding up all available lay medics and briefing them on what will be needed and how to set up screening areas in the holds and conferring with those she will be leaving in charge of operations when she joins the boarding party.

[Jyssika]

Victor activated his Mag boots, checking their functionality with a quick yank on either foot.
I am ready.

[Toxic Mind]

The Hulk

The Thunderhawk brings you in close - and as the ramp lowers, you step into the void. For a moment, there is weightlessness, a sensation that for a normal human would be disconcerting, but for Astartes, much less Deathwatch, who regularly train for such scenarios, there is no issue. An instant later the gravity of the Hulk takes over and your mag boots do their job, latching you onto the surface. Scans from the Thunderhawk reveal a passage beyond the metal beneath your feet, however, you must bore through what appears to be a plate of starship armor roughly the size of a warhound titan across. There is no way around it.

The breaching augur can surely bore through, but such noise an commotion may draw unwanted attention. Of course, you could always wait for the larger ships... Their ordnance could easily clear the obstruction.

Vivec

The hallway is eerily quiet. You scan for hostiles, but none reveal themselves. It seems that the genestealer was a lone organism, or the others have learned from his mistakes to conduct themselves with greater stealth. The node sputters and overloads, your armor's power pack ill-designed to provide power to such a machine. Two lines lead away from the node, one the way you came, the other into darkness. This node is clearly fried and cannot be used again without ministrations by one of Mars.

The Twilight Dancer

Predictably, the Malleus denies any offers of aid, though the ship does return a course to allow them to link up above the Hulk. It seems that Casmirre had also been tracking the Thunderhawk. It is not long before the two ships meet up, and the Lady-Captain invites the command crew of the Dancer to her ship to discuss the assault.

[Adamusa]

Kayran maneuvered into position, his movements making no noise in the vacuum of space. He found a good spot to breach and nestled the augur's tip against the metal plating.

+++"Victor, prepare a frag. Once I have opened our path, we will perform a standard breach and clear maneuver."+++

[bluntpencil]

Vivec continues onward, hoping to find a vector of escape. Going backward would be pointless, after all. He maintains his vigilance as best as he is able, and grits his teeth. He hates being in the dark, figuratively speaking, of course. He needs to know exactly what the hell is going on.

[Jyssika]

Victor maneuvered himself next to Kayran, his back against the wall of the hull adjacent to where he began drilling.
He slung the storm bolter into his left hand and pulled a frag out with his right.

++The genestealers are a clever foe, they will not fall for a breaching grenade but it should give us enough time to clear the breach before they decend on us.++
He checked the chrono inside his helmet HUD.
++How long do you expect it will take to cut a breach?++

[Adamusa]

Kayran maneuvered the breaching augur into position above a dented spot in the massive plate. +++"I know not, brother. This is a thick plate, but we must get inside. The only way to find out is to begin,"+++ he muttered tersely over the vox. So saying, he flicked a couple of switches up on the augur and then depressed the trigger plate. The breaching augur span to life silently, with the only indication of it's raw power being the vibrations that travelled up his arm. The Raven Guard pushed the drill against the plate and met resistance as the adamantine tip began boring through the starship-class metal.