Sea of Stars - IC

[Kaptin Keen]

Felidae does what she's best at: Calm, methodical, calculated - she picks out targets, then sprays them with high explosive, armor piercing ordnance.

Spoiler: Rolls

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BS: (1d100)[93] vs 105 (BS 66 +10 range +20 full auto +10 assuming Macharius inspiration)
Damage rolls: (1d10+5)[13] pen 4
Tearing: (1d10+5)[12] pen 4

Damage rolls: (1d10+5)[15] pen 4
Tearing: (1d10+5)[13] pen 4

Damage rolls: (1d10+5)[13] pen 4
Tearing: (1d10+5)[10] pen 4

Damage rolls: (1d10+5)[10] pen 4
Tearing: (1d10+5)[13] pen 4

Confirm in case of RF: (1d100)[10]
Damage: (1d10)[9]
Damage: (1d10)[6]
Damage: (1d10)[2]
Damage: (1d10)[5]

[rax]

Nothing broken, at least, Hannabel winces as she gingerly touches the area where the xenos claws got through her armour. Note to self - no getting into knife fights with anything that has big claws.

The cries of the dying marines brings her back to the present. Seeing the xenos swarming into the back of the Aquila, she drops to one knee, steadies her breathing, and takes careful aim with her laspistol.

Spoiler: Actions

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Full action: Aim for +30 to hit (incl. bonus from Accurate)

[Destro_Yersul]

With the last of the xenos fighting the command group lying dead in the snow, they were finally able to focus wholly on the crashed shuttle and its cargo of marines. Felidae opened up at the xenos in the rear, most of the shots going wide. A few struck home, blowing holes in the xenos lines. The combat was no longer a furious melee - both sides were wearing down. Tired, bloodied marines fought to hold back the last few of the alien horde. Macharius and the Praetorians charged down towards the shuttle, while Anika and Hannabel took carefully aimed shots from the higher ground.

Moments later, at was all over. The surviving xenos fled into the storm, chased by lasbolts and bolter rounds. The surviving marines stumbled out of the ruined shuttle, doing their best to draw up into proper lines and salute Macharius. More than half the squad was wounded or dead, only five of the twelve who had embarked remaining in good fighting shape. The shuttle itself was a write-off, Ravia's expert opinion being that it would never fly again. The rear bay was rent open in a half-dozen places, snow spilling into the interior through the fissures.

The squad sergeant was one of the few survivors, which was probably lucky for the marines. He'd been with the Sting for some time now, and was usually pretty good about holding things together under pressure. Now, though, he looked about as tired as the rest of the men. Still, he saluted, and delivered his report in a rough approximation of good discipline.

"Navigator's in the pilot's compartment, sir. Door fused shut in the crash, we couldn't get it open. She might still be alive. Pilot's dead, or at least not responding." He looked up at the sky, at the snow and wind and endless freezing ice. "Nice weather, today."

[Haval]

Letting the remaining Xenos leave, Anika will reload as quickly as she is able. If the Xenos wanted them dead that much they would likely be back at some point.

She is appalled at how badly the marines had fared against the Xenos. If the command group with their superior wargear hadn't been here the marines would likely all have been lost. She will make a mental note to look into upgrading the standard armaments of the lead squads. She could probably afford it.

Ignoring the Sergeant's salute she will go dig out the shuttle's medikit. To Ravia 'Can you do what you can for the wounded? Sergeant, did your squad medic make it? I expect the Magos could use an assistant.'

Motioning to Hannabel to give her a hand, Anika will look into fixing the door to the pilot's compartment.

Spoiler: ooc

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Tech-Use to see if I can get the door open
vs. Int 53 (+10 if Rax assists)
(1d100)[89]

If that doesn't work, Tech-Use to know of an emergency exit hatch to the pilot's compartment
vs. Int 53
(1d100)[67]

[Kaptin Keen]

Felidae sends a couple of bolt rounds into the snow and storm after the fleeing xenos, before reloading and surveying the terrain.

Even though they seem disorganized, it's propably prudent to assume they'll return in force. I'd recommened a perimeter of mines, razor wire and floodlights, hardened firing positions, a goodly number of frags for all able bodied men, preferably also a mortar emplacement.

Since we have none of those things, I suppose my recommendation will have to be not to be here when they return.

She looks left and right, pondering.

It seems unlikely we just randomly crashed on top of a large contingent armed xenos. Either they're simply everywhere, but how many xenos can this planet sustain - or they're doing something here. Most likely something to do with the energy emissions that brought us here.

[rax]

As they pass the fallen xenos, Hannabel stops briefly to pocket one of their pistols. Know thy enemy, crewman, she silently quotes a half-remembered instruction from her first bosun.

"If finesse won't do it, ladyship, brute force might carry the day. Magos, when you have a minute - would you care to use that big axe and cut open the door to the pilot's compartment? Or, if you're too busy - care to let one of us have a swing?"

Suggestions for dealing with the pilot's compartment done, Hannabel snaps off a question at the sergeant. "What exactly happened here, sergeant? Why did the shuttle crash?"

[PotatoGolem]

Macharius looks at the squad with approval. He shuts off his power sword and returns the salute At ease, men. Fine little scrap, if I say so myself. Well done, all. Damnable Xenos will think twice before attacking the Imperium again, what? Set up watch in case they come back and collect their weapons and a few of the more-intact corpses- the more we know about them, the better we'll be able to exterminate them. What brought your shuttle down, Sergeant? Did you see any AA fire?

[Destro_Yersul]

The door to the compartment was badly dented, effectively fused shut. No amount of tinkering with the electronics was going to get it open. The canopy had shattered, Anika remembered, and it might be possible to get in from the outside, but Hannabel had a more direct strategy. Borrowing Ravia's axe, she flicked the power field on and carved through the door, shredding steel like so much paper. The axe hissed and snapped as it cut, the strudy door shortly reduced to a pile of scrap metal with rapidly cooling edges.

The inside of the cockpit was a mess. The impact had blown the canopy inwards, killing the pilot and making a mess of most of the instrumentation. The navigator was in a jumpseat behind the pilot's chair, the bulk of the heavy seat and the pilot's body having shielded her from the worst of the impact. She was unconscious, blood running down one side of her face from a cut on her forehead, but seemed to be alive. Anika wrestled her out with the help of a marine, laying her on the deck of the cargo hold. By that point Ravia had finished dealing with the marines, her blade tines covered with blood. There were four she hadn't been able to save, and the others were bad enough to be out of the fight for some time. She'd bandaged them, but they would need rest to heal on their own.

Leaving the Navigator to Ravia, Anika took some time to inspect the alien pistols. The marines were busy collecting them, as well as a few of the bodies, on Macharius' orders, and there was a small pile of weaponry to sift through. The guns were all the same design, and looked like a product of a civilization more advanced than the aliens had appeared to belong to. They were crafted from a smooth, stone-like material, lumpy and irregular, and contained a strange chamber filled with sharp crystals, like the interior of a geode, which was connected to the short barrel. Another crystal floating in the center of this chamber, translucent purple shot through with grey-black impurities. One of the aliens had carried a pouch filled with similar crystals. Pressing a stud near the grip fired a single shard, torn from the central crystal. It looked like an electrical firing mechanism, similar to Enoulian weaponry, though without any obvious power source.

"Couldn't see much of anything, sir" the sergeant said, speaking to Macharius. "Pilot kept the door closed on the descent. It was a pretty rough ride, but it didn't feel like AA fire. I think we hit something, once. Then the pilot said something about the engines icing over, and to expect a rocky landing. We hit a moment after that, and opened the bay to get out, and then those things were all over us. Like we'd landed on top of their nest, or something."

[Haval]

Anika will pocket one of the xenos weapons. Given the situation they were in having a gun like that to fall back on might be helpful. The issue of where it came from would have to wait.

Hannabel's drug was helping her focus for the moment. Better get some use out of it while she could. 'A nest. There's an unwelcome term.' How many of those things were out there anyway? 'As Felidae already suggested there must be a settlement of some kind. Might even be the city below the ice, in which case there could be another way to get down there. Finding it in this weather might be a problem. Maybe we could get a few dozen servo skulls with cameras attached to sweep the area, but frankly I'm a little wary of sending for another shuttle at the moment.'

There was the strange network of course, 'Best guess if we decide to go looking. The terraforming network isn't uniform across the planet. There are probably hubs, which would be the obvious place to build a settlement around. I'm honestly interested in whether those things know what it is. If they were advanced enough to build it in the first place, why choose to stay in a place like this?'

Spoiler: ooc

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Anika has under 2 hours before gaining another level of fatigue if she doesn't take more Wideawake


I don't know if this will help, but while I remember

Trade (Archaeologist) on whether the xenos have anything besides the guns that looks like equipment. Do they look primitive basically
vs. Int 53
(1d100)[94]

[Kaptin Keen]

Felidae looks down for a moment, lost in thought. Then she raises her head, a look of determination on her face.

A nest, hm. I'll go look.

She then exits the lander, to go look through the furrow left by the crash, and around the lander itself, searching for any holes or other possible entries. She's also going to try to coax the auspex into assisting her.

Voice input: Activate.

++ Voice input active ++

Um .. adjust signal intensity and wave length to penetrate snow.

++ Insufficient parameters: Indicate composition of frozen liquid or gaseous substances ++

Emprah be ... it's just water ice! Mainly H2O, possible minor traces of other substances.

++ Adjusting .... scan succesful ++

Excited, Felidae checks her heads up display, seeing nothing different.

Uh ... show depth to three meters.

++ Error: Already showing requested parameters ++

.. are you showing the surface on top of what's beneath?

++ Nearest objects shown first ++

Filter out .... gah, voice input off!

++ Voice input deactivated ++

[rax]

"I'll bet it was those Throne-cursed pillars, then," Hannabel guesses when the sergeant recounts how the shuttle hit something during the descent. "Though I suppose the navigator can tell us once she's back on her feet."

"Lord Commander, the boys here took a beating from these xenos and they were supposed to be our reinforcements. If we're going to look for the xenos nest, I'd prefer to do it with fresh men and more guns at our backs - and that's assuming we can find a decent landing zone nearby. In the meantime, we have one functional shuttle, and it needs digging out of a snowdrift if any of us are to get off this ball of ice. I suggest we make that a priority."

[Leon]

++Preserve those with care, i will do an examination of the xenos back on the ships++

Spoiler

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Medicae on the Navi TN 93 (d100)[19]

Ravia sees to the navigators injuries and is careful to make sure her forehead is covered but not injured

++Better for having some padding it seems and not being in a vicious melee++

[Destro_Yersul]

Anika sifted through the bodies, looking for anything that spoke of higher technology. Aside from the guns there were a few short blades, knives and the like, made out of sharp black stone. Most of the aliens had attacked with claws, but they did clearly have tools. Very little made out of metal, most of the trinkets and pouches and things were stone or strange leather, and little apart from the guns appeared to run off electricity. It was very hard to tell if they had the capacity to manufacture advanced technology in their current state.

Felidae's search, uncooperative auspex notwithstanding, did turn up a possible source for the xenos once she thought to look in the direction they had fled. A short distance from the crash site, the flat ice turned into a field of sharp ice crustal formations, driven up from the surface by geological forces. Amidst these was a yawning chasm, a great crevice that split the ice field in two, dropping off into blackness as far as Felidae could see - and with the enhancements provided by her helmet's visor, she could see quite a ways. Along the walls of the chasm were irregular holes, wide enough to be tunnels, honeycombing the planet's frozen surface. Some of these bore signs of recent use, scratches in the walls or along the tunnel floors. A few came up near to the surface.

The navigator was in bad shape, suffering from multiple contusions and blunt force injuries brought on by the crash. Little in terms of open wounds, but she'd been seriously knocked about. Ravia patched the worst of it, applying bandages and padding where needed. Soon, she had the navigator awake again. The woman blinked her two normal eyes - the third temporarily covered - and cursed.

"The frak kind of landing was that supposed to be?" The navigator tried to sit up, focusing on Ravia. "You're the Sting's Magos, right? You know who... nghh..." She rubbed her forehead, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. "You have any Acetamol?"

Spoiler: OOC:

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Acetamol is a mild pain reliever. Think Tylenol or Aspirin. Most medkits contain a few tabs.

[Leon]

++The kind that is fast becoming the standard for the planet, yes i am and stay down for now and i find something like that in this kit++

##Mental Log: Acquisition painkillers for Medicae Mechadendrite at next port of call, addition to standing order of supplied pharmaceuticals##

++You are functional at the most minimal level and will require more treatment on return to the ships and very little activity while down here lest it make things worse++

Not being the best of a people person but knowing enough to provide something of a non Mechcanicus level of comfort Ravia will make use of available materials (from whats left of seating to the cloth from the former pilot) to keep the Navigator in a degree of comfort as so far is possible and consider the possible need for fashioning a stretcher, the surviving troops would need something as well but they were not as important as a Navigator ~ Triage in action... And there was the the recovery of anything useful from the shuttle and to reclaim its spirit if possible for rehousing in another shuttle.

[Haval]

Anika will give up for the moment. She would probably need to see where these things lived for anything more conclusive. Besides, tech could be used without understanding it.

" If we're going to look for the xenos nest, I'd prefer to do it with fresh men and more guns at our backs

'Agreed. I would very much like to see what's down there, but there's no harm in being better prepared.' A brief nap probably wouldn't hurt either.

In spite of all of the unwelcome memories it brought up, Anika still wanted to go down there. Finding out was half of why she had come to the Expanse in the first place. But she ought to do it properly this time. The others deserved to know. 'Besides, if we do decide to go down there I have a theory I ought to let the rest of you in on.'

[Kaptin Keen]

Spoiler: OOC

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I'm assuming Felidae has returned to the others, having found the entry.

Hearing that Anika has 'a theory' is curious, and slightly worrysome - when someone goes 'oh, this reminds me of the time ...' it doesn't generally refer to being jumped by unknown aliens on an unexplored planet.

Well, don't hold us in suspense - do share.

[Haval]

'So I remembered what that box back in the tower reminded me of. Same patterns were on xenos ruins that we found on a similar icy hellhole that I went to just before I joined up with Macharius.' Anika will pull a hip flask out from her coat and take a brief swig before giving some details. 'Largest ruins I've ever seen. No clue what the people who built it must have looked like. A Rogue Trader friend of mine gave me a lift out there, but was a little disappointed at what we found. Nothing really there besides the weird architecture and the odd bit of xenos writing. Nothing tradable. But we found some tunnels underneath the place, so we decided to take a look.'

'We got far enough inside and we realised there was something alive down there with us. Captain Voinovich was no beginner, but things got bad fairly quickly. Most of us who went into the tunnels never came back up. Still not sure exactly what killed them, but I wasn’t really in a position to investigate at the time.'

'Now perhaps it's nothing, but I have reason to think there's more of whoever built those ruins out in the Expanse, and maybe this is one of their planets. Perhaps the things that killed my friends were more of the things that just attacked us, or perhaps it was something worse. What I do know is that those ruins were old, definitlely pre-Yu'vath, and probably old enough that the species who built them has no business in still being around.'

[Kaptin Keen]

Pre-who'vath? Asks Felidae, whose depth of insight in xeno-archaology can be measured in nano-cognitions.

[Leon]

++They were the dominate Xenos in this area and that of Calyx before it was made part of the greater imperium, Warp heavy tech and lots of crystals i suspect those weapons are relics of them but wont know for sure till i study them++

[rax]

"So you don't think that these ruins could be Yu'vath?" Hannabel asks Anika. "The lot we've met here don't inspire me as great builders, at least not if their current housing habits are anything to go by. Do you think we could get one to talk, if we could capture one of them?"

[PotatoGolem]

Macharius looks perturbed. I see. That is certainly worrisome. We should probably procure more reinforcements before attempting to breach the xeno hive, then. Sergeant, vox the Sting and have them scan for safer landing sites so we can land a regiment. We can use this wreck as a locator beacon to find our way back.

Hannabel has a good point. These Xenos are apparently nothing more than ravenous, unthinking savages. Are they a guard species? Damnable ugly dogs, if so. Or are they the degenerate descendants of the original, much smarter, monsters? Or, even worse, are the original builders underneath us somewhere, directing these packs? Anika, did you ever see the things that attacked you? And how did you get away from them?

[Destro_Yersul]

With the Navigator seen to, Ravia set about salvaging the crashed shuttle for anything useful. Most of the tech within the shuttle's hull was too large to take with them, so she left the locator beacon in place. They could come back for it once they had dealt with the weather. The emergency supplies were easy enough to take - a portable vox unit, several days worth of ration packs, a laspistol with two spare charge packs, and a solar charger. The charger might not be much good in bad weather, but everything else looked in decent shape. The instrument panels in the pilot's compartment were all crushed or otherwise damaged, but there was a small toolkit under the Navigator's jumpseat. The cargo hold compartments held twelve bedrolls, empty sandbags, and a pair of 9-70 entrenching tools. One promising-looking metal case with a bright red exterior proved to contain several hundred printed prayers. Most common amongst these were various Litanies of Protection and the Profession of Faith in the Immortal Emperor.

The sergeant, on Macharius' orders, took the vox and set about contacting the Sting. He was on the line for some time, waiting for scan results. From the snippets of conversation they overheard, it sounded as though the results were not promising. When he returned, his expression grim, they found out why.

"They've found a landing site, sir, lots of open ground in all directions, but they said the weather's gotten worse since we came down. Something about windspeeds and freezing temperatures. The storm's planet-wide, no idea what's causing it, and they don't want to send another shuttle until the techpriests can harden the engines against ice formation. That could take a day, maybe more. You know how cogboys get about their machines." This last was said in a lowered voice, with a glance in Ravia's direction to make sure she wouldn't overhear him maligning the Mechanicus.

[Haval]

At least the Mechanicus adepts seemed to think they could get a shuttle down here eventually. Was something doing this through the monoliths? A planetary sized storm seemed a hell of a defensive weapon.

The possibility of Yu'vath connection had occurred to Anika. 'The thing about the Yu'vath is almost nothing survived locally once the Angevain Crusade had finished with them. Most of their worlds recieved Exterminatus and it's hard finding decent records of what they looked like. Most of the accounts of meeting them in battle tend to vary wildly or seem a little unbelievable. They seemed to have liked to use slave soldiers however, so maybe not everything was truly the same species. No doubt the Inquisition or the Astartes chapters who were there know more then they're willing to share.'

'Whether one of those things would be willing to talk to us if we caught and interrogated it I have no idea, but I would certainly be interested in trying.'

'I'm not sure I would have survived if I had got close to whatever we met in those tunnels. Whatever it was was quiet. Something managed to pick off Voinovich's scouts without alerting the rest of us. We initially assumed they had had some mishap in the caves or were out of vox range. Then we heard that the armsmen had found the scout's bodies dragged into one of the caves ahead of us. Voinovich went down there in force to investigate, while the academics who were there would be left behind with a few guards.'

Anika looks sick, 'Maybe it was some sort of trap, but an attack followed. We heard alot of gunfire over the vox and we were told to withdraw and eventually to run. I'm not sure what kind of fight Voinovich put up, but I believe I heard him die.'

'The soldiers who there certainly thought so. They decided that we would return to orbit as soon as possible and anyone who didn't want to come with them would be left behind.'

[PotatoGolem]

Very well then. We shall pull out and hunker down in the functional shuttle- at least that way we can stay warm. Sergeant, vox the Sting and let them know that getting those reinforcements down here is the top priority. We'll set up watches and ready ourselves for what may come. It'll be quite the jolly little camping trip, eh?

[Leon]

++Load up everything useful that we can carry++ indicating the bedrolls, sandbags and entrenching tools in addition to the survival kit items. ++If we are to move i will fashion a stretcher from what is on hand for the Navigator++

[rax]

"Ooh! Bedrolls! It's yer lucky day, lads!" Hannabel addresses the marines with a laugh. "You get to snuggle up with the Lord Commander in a crashed shuttle while we wait out the raging storm and the bloodthirsty xenos! We can hold hands and recite the Emperor's prayer to pass the time - better than any shore leave, right?!" she giggles as she begins collecting gear from the shuttle.

[Haval]

Anika has been brooding on the past. Without anything specific to do she can feel her tiredness creeping up on her again. She will help gather up anything useful from the crashed shuttle.

[Destro_Yersul]

Taking everything of use from the crash, and rigging a stretcher to carry the injured navigator, the group set out back across the frozen surface. The direct route to their shuttle avoided passing by the city and its fallen spire, instead crossing an empty waste of ice. It shifted and cracked beneath their feet, creaking and pinging. It seemed fairly stable, but it was slow going. They kept thinking they saw movement, indistinct shapes flitting around in the raging storm. The wind whipped their clothing, only Felidae's environmentally-sealed armour proving fully immune to the biting cold.

[Destro_Yersul]

The terrain they were travelling over was, for the most part, still entirely ice and snow. Up ahead, closer to the Aquila, cliffs of rock rose above the basin. Almagor was on point, sweeping his hellgun back and forth, walking slowly to give the stretcher-bearers plenty of room to keep up. The Navigator kept complaining that this was demeaning, it was cold, and she was perfectly capable of walking herself. Ravia's estimation ran contrary to the woman's stubbornness, though, and so she let the marines carry her along. At the rear, Felidae and a couple of the less injured men from the crash, including the sergeant, guarded against a possible ambush.

Stomping along inside her armour, Felidae felt the ice shift suddenly, dropping a couple inches and causing her to stumble. The creaks and pings of the last half hour were abruptly replaced by a rending crack, the ground splitting beneath her feet. She was able to leap to safety, scrambling along the ice as it broke apart, gauntleted hands finding purchase by digging into hard ice. The marines with her were less fortunate - not as fast, not as well equipped to find handholds on the slippery ice. They slid backwards, into a yawning sinkhole that opened beneath them, an avalanche of ice and snow following them out of sight.

As fast as it had started, it was over. Felidae was still the closest to the hole, the others having been further away when it opened, and able to get to safety more easily. It didn't look deep - what she could see of the walls was smooth, curving towards a bottom several meters below the surface.

[Kaptin Keen]

The moment the attack came, Felidae immediately yelled CONTAAACCTT!! into the comms. Scrabbling to keep safe, she simultaneously reached for one of her frags, readying it to throw. Nothing demands frags like narrow corridors full of xenos. However, as she was able to survey the situation, she realised the marines were down there - they'd be hit by her grenade just as much as the filthy xenos.

Every muscle in her body was visibly poised to leap after the marines. However, she hesitated:

Macharius - orders?