Sea of Stars - IC

[rax]

"High winds and miserable surface conditions? We're going to need a proper lander then, not one of the lighters or gun cutters. And really warm underwear..." Hannabel giggles. "Permission to prepare an Aquila for orbital insertion, sir?" she asks Macharius.

[PotatoGolem]

[COLOR="#800080"]Well, no sense waiting about, I suppose. Down we go! Williams, bring me my armor and put my gear in the shuttle. I suppose I'll be requiring the fursilk underlay to keep warm. Come now, don't dawdle!

Macharius signals to his guards, and two of the Praetorians begin packing their gear to accompany the team.

[Destro_Yersul]

Hannabel had the Aquila ready to go when Macharius and the others arrived in the launch bay. The praetorians looked quite impressive in the new armour Macharius had bought for them. The shuttle lifted off from the deck and shot towards the planet, carrying its cargo of men and equipment. They hadn't quite been able to triangulate the source of the interference before leaving, but it was almost certainly near the biggest blob of ruins, or buildings, or whatever it was.

The transition to atmosphere was rocky, to say the least. The shuttle shook hard when it hit the air, howling in through the upper atmosphere towards the surface of the planet. The wind buffeted the craft, and Hannabel had to fight to maintain control of the descent.

[Leon]

Ravia is loaded for bear Anomalous Xenos signal
++Whatever it is, it has to compare to a DAT relic and a Hersey Era ship++

[Destro_Yersul]

In the back of the Aquila, it was impossible to see what was going on, but the passengers could feel the turbulence as the lander's powerful engines fought the wind. Up front, in the pilot's chair, was another story. Visibility had dropped near to zero shortly after they passed the cloud layer. The wind was ferocious, and Hannabel needed to push the engines up to compensate. Snow and ice battered the armoured windshield. Hannabel kept a close eye on the altimeter; the ground was still some ways away, but it was coming up quickly and she'd need to cut speed for the landing if she wanted to avoid a career-shortening impact. Suddenly, something loomed, tall and imposing, out of the snow. Hannabel banked hard to avoid it, swinging the lander around. It was a giant pillar of ice, some sort of natural formation, maybe? Up ahead, she could make out dark shapes through the swirling snow. More of the ice pillars.

In the back, the first indication that something was really wrong was the sudden sharp change of course. The crash-webbing kept them all in their seats, but it was still an unpleasant experience. It was followed by others, as Hannabel expertly weaved the ship through the pillars. The Aquila shuddered, as much from the maneuvers it was being forced to perform as from the weather outside. White-knuckled on the control stick, Hannabel saw another of the pillars coming up and knew she wouldn't be able to dodge it in time...

She tried anyways, wrenching the control stick hard. The impact shook the whole lander, the left wing just clipping the pillar. A shower of ice chunks, each the size of a small boulder, broke free and vanished into the storm. Miraculously, the sturdy craft held, but from her seat Hannabel could see smoke and exposed wiring near the wingtip. It could have been worse. It could have been a lot worse. Over the sounds of the wind, she heard creaking and shattering as the pillar broke free, crashing into its neighbor. Then ice was raining down around them, and Hannabel was locked in a fight for all their lives. A piece of ice smashed into one of the wings, rocking the lander. Pushing the engines as far as they would go, Hannabel shot free from the avalanche, keeping ahead of the torrent of ice and snow she'd started. The ground was right there...

With a jarring thump, the Aquila hit an outcropping and bounced, skipping back up above the treacherous landscape. Hannabel cut the engines and dropped landing gear, setting the thrusters on full reverse. Another bounce, a horrible, thunderous scraping, and the Aquila came to a stop with its nose in a snowbank. Then there was only the wind, and the soft pinging of cooling metal.

[Leon]

++ugh++

Ravia unhitches from the webbing and unsteadily makes her way up to the pilots chair to asses what surely is some form of damage to the lander from its readouts

++Where did you learn to fly again?++

[Kaptin Keen]

At the start of the descent, Felidae simply closes her eyes. Through all the turbulence, and later the collissions, she never twitches, but simply sits as if carved from rock. Whether this is due to ironclad faith, unshakable courage, or simply being scared stiff, is anyone's guess.

Once the noise stopped, she snapped herself out of the crash-webbing, checked her weapons, and waited for the order to exit the craft.

[rax]

"Oh, don't be such a sourpuss," Hannabel replies gaily. "You're still sucking air through yer grill, ain't cha? Besides, what's an orbital insertion without a little excitement?"

"Felidae dear, how about you pop outside and secure the perimeter or something? I'm pretty sure the good lady Magos will be needing to go outside and check on the wing, and we don't want her to get eaten by some xenos monster until she's put this old bat back together again..."

[Kaptin Keen]

Unsure about any actual chain of command, Felidae simply acknowledges Hannabel's suggestion with a nod, conveying perhaps 'I agree with this assessment.'

She pops the outer hatch, and brings up her stormbolter as she moves out, scanning left and right, looking initially for any decent spot with cover and clear lines of sight.

[PotatoGolem]

Well, that was certainly bracing. Still, well done Hannabel. All in one piece, eh? Nothing like a crash-landing to get the blood pumping. Alright then lads, hop to it and follow Felidae. There's a whole new world out there waiting to be properly brought into the Imperium and House Absalom, and I'd rather look at it than the inside of a crashed lander, what!

The two Praetorians unhook themselves, ready their hellguns, and step outside. Macharius follows close behind, power sword in hand.

[Haval]

Anika has temporarily exchanged her greatcoat for a heavier hooded one that was more suitable to this weather.

'Any landing you can walk away from. Although digging the shuttle out might be a problem.' Anika will follow Felidae outside to stretch her legs and to see the damage for herself.

[Destro_Yersul]

Ravia booted up the diagnostics, running through a list of damage sustained. It was relatively light, despite the rough ride. Minor damage to the wing, and a bunch of connections that weren't reading properly - they had probably been shaken loose. The communications array was offline, and there was good deal of superficial structural damage, but they built these things robust. It could have been a lot worse.

The rest of the group popped the back hatch, and went outside. Felidae and the praetorians took the lead, sweeping for threats. It looked clear, though it was really hard to see very far. They must have come down in the middle of a blizzard. The Aquila didn't look too bad from out here, but it had clearly taken a battering. Its nose was dug into the snowbank, but the landing gear was intact and none of the engines looked damaged. It would be able to fly, though trying to take off with the weather like this was not advisable in the slightest.

The ground beneath their feet sloped gently downhill, towards the ruins they'd seen on the scanners. Back behind them was the forest of ice spires they'd flown through. The Aquila made a good shelter from the wind, but it wasn't possible to do any exploring stuck inside the lander.

[rax]

"We should fix the communications array before we go anywhere. I don't fancy romping around in the snow with no means of contacting the Sting. Unless, of course, someone's hiding an orbital grade vox-caster under their frock? I left mine in my cabin."

[Kaptin Keen]

If the Sting is in any position to assist us, I agree. How many pilots remain on board who could navigate the ice towers without damage to the craft in case we need evac? Another Aquila in need of repairs before we can get out is little help. This question, mostly retorical in nature, is followed quickly by: I want to go have a look at those ice towers before we move to the other site. Who wants to come?

Felidae spends a few moments negotiating with her Ignatus armor to provide a better visual solution for the wind and snow, checks her supply of grenades, and waits for anyone to volunteer to check out the suspicious natural phenomenon.

[Haval]

'We go too long without checking in and they might send someone to look for us anyway. Maybe after the storm dies down a bit.'

To Felidae, 'I'll take a look. Assuming I'm not needed here.'

Spoiler: ooc

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I'll check what's in the survival kit (Into the Storm) once I'm out of work. Just in case there's a vox.

[Leon]

++It will be a matter of how stubborn the spirit is and how damaged the internals are. The surface damage to the wings shouldn't affect flight too much and there is little i can do to them anyway without extra supplies and tools.++ ++Getting the lander out of this snowbank also presents a issue for when we need to leave if/when this storm abates, one hopes that it does but there are storms that are permanent global effects++

++The source of the anomalous signal maybe related to the storms on this planet for all we know, a terraforming plant malfunction or with intent++ ++Now Blessed Machine we ask you to acquiesce to this most holy and important of repair rituals.++ ++Per gratiam Jesu benedicte figi Omnissiah++ ++Interdum in aeternum sanctissimum suscipe perferre gratiam Omnissiah++


++

The soul of the Machine God surrounds thee.
The power of the Machine God invests thee.
The hate of the Machine God drives thee.
The Machine God endows thee with life.
Live!

++

[Destro_Yersul]

The shuttle's vox system had been thoroughly rattled around by the rough landing. The antennae had snapped off, and some delicate-looking circuitry had been crashed by one of the falling ice boulders. Ravia was able to coax it back to life through judicious application of spare parts and solder, but a proper repair would require proper replacement components. For now, though, it would work.

The ice pillars were irregular, and now that they had done all the crashing down that they seemed likely to do for the moment, it was possible with a brief hike to get up to the base of one and have a look. They appeared, to Anika's trained eye, to have been built up over a long period of time by accumulation of snow, turned into rounded pillars by the action of the wind. Some of the ice had probably ended up packed more densely, some been shifted by natural geological action. They were beautiful, and dangerous, but apparently not put there on purpose. Hidden a little back further among them, though, Anika spotted something that might have been put there on purpose.

It was a regular monolith of... stone? Something that looked like stone, anyways. It was porous, jutting out above the ice, coloured a sort of grey-beige. The air around it seemed to hum faintly.

[rax]

"All hail the Omnissiah!" Hannabel applauds Ravia's success with a laugh and a mock bow. "Now let's lock this bird up and see what the others have found."

With that, Hannabel makes sure all the seals on her cold weather suit are firmly shut and marches off to join the other among the ice pillars. "Doesn't look like any Imperial tech I've ever seen," she opines when she sees the monolith. "Shall we take a closer look?"

[PotatoGolem]

Macharius follows his crew's explanations, nodding along.Interesting, indeed. Can you see how it functions, Magos? Your expertise in technology is indubitably valuable here. Is there any way to open it or control it? Alternatively, if we just want a sample... He flicks on his power sword.

Spoiler: OOC

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+10 to and of Ravia's attempts to use the damn thing.

[Haval]

Anika has been wearing her preysense googles to better move through the storm, but will push them up to take a few pictures of the monolith to record it's existence for posterity. Xenos artifacts in the Calixis sector had typically long since been disturbed by humanity in one way or another. 'If it's partially organic was it grown here for a reason?' Whatever it was for, the monolith was unlikely to be the only artifact on the planet. 'I'd quite like to work out what it's doing. Did anyone bring an auspex? If it's a kind of machine there's a chance it was linked to a larger settlement at some point' She will take a closer look at the monolith to see if she'd missed any details. Digging it out of the snow would be somewhat difficult.

Spoiler: ooc

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Mental note, get an auspex

Scrutiny to check for detail I might have missed
vs. Per 43
(1d100)[14]

Trade (Archaeologist) if it helps
vs. Int 53
(1d100)[25]

[Kaptin Keen]

My helmet has an auspex built in. Not that I know how to use it, mind, but it's there.

.. doesn't yours?!

[Leon]

Ravia will give it a good sweep with the sensor nodes on her Machadendrite

Spoiler

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Tech Use test for Auspex TN 78 (d100)[9]
Awareness (+Auspex Bonus) TN 56 (d100)[3]

[Destro_Yersul]

To Anika's eye, digging it out might not be feasible at all. Brushing aside some of the snow and peering down through the ice revealed that the monolith extended beneath the surface, and how far was not exactly clear. Ravia's auspex scan proved both informative and mysterious. The monolith seemed to be expending energy, somehow, releasing it into the atmosphere for some reason. It also appeared to be part of a larger network, the auspex latching on to its energy signature and pinpointing similar signals emanating from other parts of the surface, though how far apart they were spaced wasn't clear from the small unit attached to the Magos' mechadendrite. It was clearly some sort of machine, or part of one at least, but its purpose was hard to divine from the one sample alone.

Spoiler: Hannabel Only

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While the others examined the monolith, Hannabel scanned their surroundings. The wind whipped around them, flurries of snow obscuring most vision beyond the immediate surroundings. Once, Hannabel thought she saw something, lights out amidst the swirling snow. Something moving, maybe? She blinked, and it was gone.

[rax]

"Well, isn't that lovely! Now we know how to find these monoliths, we can send word up to the Sting to look for similar energy signatures and find out how big this network is! Then we could... Wait, did anyone else see that over there? Looked like lights in the snow and... movement?"

[Haval]

My helmet has an auspex built in. Not that I know how to use it, mind, but it's there.

.. doesn't yours?!

'The last one I had stopped working. Never did get round to replacing it.' Anika will replace her preysense goggles and peer in the direction Hannabel had indicated.

Spoiler: ooc

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Awareness
vs. Per 43 (+20 if the googles help here in picking up heat signitures)
(1d100)[93]

[Destro_Yersul]

The goggles returned nothing. The whole landscape was deep blue in the preysense - frigid and empty. If there had been anything, it was gone now.

[Haval]

Anika has edged closer to the heavily armed Felidae and will draw her bolter. 'So...just because I can't see anything at the moment doesn't mean there's nothing out there to see. How paranoid do we want to be about this?'

[Kaptin Keen]

Anika has edged closer to the heavily armed Felidae and will draw her bolter. 'So...just because I can't see anything at the moment doesn't mean there's nothing out there to see. How paranoid do we want to be about this?'

I enlisted to travel the galaxy, meet ancient and exotic cultures - and blast them into nothingness with aimed bolter fire. I'd say we should react with Extreme Prejudice, but since that's how I mostly react, I'm not sure it applies here. What comes after Extreme Prejudice?

I do not trust this place.

[Leon]

++Extreme Prejudice is the domain of the Inquisition most often and what come after is a ball of rock that is devoid of life or meaning++

[Kaptin Keen]

Be that as it may, I'm pretty sure no one is paying for my skills at negotiation. Anything that wants a friendly greeting would be wise to approach openly with empty hands. Anything stalking armed through the snow I learn the wrath of the Emperor.