Sea of Stars - IC

[Haval]

Spoiler: Destro only

Show

So did the enemy bombardment break the Terminus' warp drive in some way or did the battle end up leaving it's mark in the warp for others to relive? Anika is interested in spite of herself, but she probably didn't have time for that.

She isn't entirely used to communicating like this at such length, and so will try and think carefully at Pytho. 'Leaving aside the possibility of dying to wake us up, how do we get out of here? Assuming everything plays out the same way, do we get off the ship before it enters the warp? Do we try to find somewhere safe to wait it out once everything falls apart? Do we try to change things for the better? I'm not sure how the Comissar here would react if I start showing foreknowledge of a battle that hasn't started yet.'

'If the internal damage wasn't caused by Astartes boarders then the Terminus had the supreme bad luck to go into battle with the Archenemy already aboard. But they had to have started somewhere. Is there a record of the time and the deck where the sabotage first started? Perhaps we can just happen to have seen the boarding craft coming in. Maybe we can give the Terminus crew a fighting chance?'

Spoiler: ooc

Show

I suppose pass this on if it's easier.

Related to above, if I have a display of the battle I'll roll Scrutiny as a Detection test to look for something that might be enemy boarding craft
vs. Per 38 (Ship detection?)
(1d100)[31]

Does Anika have her gear and particularly her microbead?

[Destro_Yersul]

Spoiler: Hannabel and Ravia

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"Captain's orders are to find out what happened to the bridge, and the survivors," Pytho reported after a moment of silence. "He especially wants to know about the one in the lifepod bay."

As the astropath was speaking, he walked over to the lift shaft, putting a hand on one of the doors and staring sightlessly at the inside. "Lift's broken," he said. "Looks like the cables snapped. The car's in a heap at the bottom. There's a ladder, but I can't quite reach it with the doors only half open."

Spoiler: Macharius Only

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The decking shuddered, the huge ship shaking as enemy fire slammed into the hull. The section they were in hadn't been hit, thankfully, but Macharius felt the reverberations as the lances struck home. The teleportarium was behind a set of large reinforced doors, but the provosts were allowed past as part of the ship's security detail. Albertus was a few minutes behind them, and arrived carrying an ornate plasma gun and a satchel of spare fuel canisters.

"Sorry I'm late, boys, had to source the party favours. Wouldn't want to give our guests a poor welcome."

Spoiler: Anika Only

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Anika wasn't wearing a voidsuit, but she had everything else she'd brought with her to the Terminus. Which meant she wasn't wearing a uniform, but then who knew what the other people on the bridge were actually seeing. They were all long dead by now, just ghosts.

This is just a theory, Pytho thought at her. But what you're experiencing is a psychic echo generated by the deaths of the people on board. This is the last part of their lives. When none of them are around anymore, the dream might end naturally. If you change the way the battle went, jogging the echo off the rails might force it to end sooner... Anika heard something that sounded like the mental equivalent of a sigh. This is purely theoretical, you understand. The most reliable way to get you out would be to take your body off the ship. The teleportarium is where it all started to go wrong. Macharius has diverted his squad there.

Checking the auspex readings, Anika picked up a wave of small craft that had just launched from one of the enemy light cruisers. They were closing fast, but they weren't pinging weapon sensors so they were probably lightly armed. Assault boats of some sort. The Regent's weapons opened up moments later, massive shells slamming into the void shields. Once those collapsed, the lances fired, beams of directed energy raking across the Terminus' hull. It was a light hit, but not without injury. The helmsman struggled to keep the massive ship on course as explosions rippled through the rear end. The lances were followed by a wave of torpedoes, both from the Iron Regent and the other light cruiser.

"All batteries, return fire!" The Admiral was standing now, shouting down at the fire control stations. "Show them the might of the Imperial Navy!"

[Leon]

Ravia moves to see about making the door open more if possible

[rax]

Spoiler: Destro and Ravia

Show

"Getting down won't be a problem if we can just open the doors. I brought a clip harness for just such an occasion," Hannabel says. "Think we can wiggle the doors open if we can find something around here to act as a lever? Or do you have something tucked away in those robes of yours that could cut us a hole in the doors?" she asks Ravia.

[Haval]

Spoiler: Destro only

Show

Anika is happy to see that her bolter seemed to have come with her. It had a reassuring amount of stopping power.

She could think of ways in which Pytho's theory might be wrong, but it was as good an idea as she had at the moment. 'I don't think I'm in any immediate danger at least. Maybe I can steer the bridge in the right direction. Look after my body Pytho. I hope to be getting back to it shortly.'

The Terminus' shields going down was the first step. On balance she would much rather be aboard the Sting if they had to do something like this. She will work the console to fire on the Regent more out of the need to pretend that she belonged here then of any expectation that she might hit anything. Besides, how often would she get the chance to fire on the Legio Astartes. The assault boats on the auspex were far more important. She will attract the attention of the Commissar or the nearest officer. 'Boarding craft on approach sir.' She will give them the coordinates and approach vector of the ships. If the Terminus' turrets couldn't bring some of them down, perhaps they could concentrate their defences in the right place.

Spoiler: ooc

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Rolling BS to fire back
vs. BS 36
(1d100)[55]

[Leon]

Spoiler: Destro and Hanabel

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Careful application of Powered edge to key sections of the door brought access ++Not what i had expected to be using it for i must admit++ to the shaft beyond

[Destro_Yersul]

Spoiler: Hannabel and Ravia

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Ravia's power axe made short work of the doors, the weapon's crackling edge cutting easily through the thin metal. The doors were in ruins shortly, the gap between them widened enough to fit their bulky voidsuits. Hannabel attached her grapnel line to a solid-looking chunk of pipe, and rigged up the harness. One by one, the group descended.

They ended up on top of the smashed lift car, climbing down into it through a large maintenance hatch on the top. The doors below were already opened, alleviating the need to repeat the application of power weapons. This lower section of the bridge was comprised of meeting rooms, a small number of staterooms for visiting officials, and access to the bridge lifepod bay. The atmosphere down here was highly toxic, Ravia estimating that without the void suits the poisonous air would kill them all within the space of a few minutes.

The lifepod bay was a wide room, set up in a manner which resembled a drop-pod launch bay. Rows of mounting racks, now empty, sat above rows of launch tubes. The floor was diamond-tread steel, gaps in the handrails corresponding to the locations of the launch tubes. At the far end of the bay were a smaller set of executive lifepods, designed to comfortably accomodate a single person instead of packing in many. One of these was still in its rack, its hatch wide open. A handful of small items were strewn across the floor in front of it, including a pistol, a dataslate, a rebreather mask with cracked eye lenses and a collection of O² canisters. Pytho kicked one, and it rattled across the floor. Clearly empty.

Spoiler: Macharius Only

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The teleportarium was a marvel of ancient technology. It consisted of a series of raised platforms, each encrusted with countless wires, conduits and small blinking lights. Above was the teleportation matrix, an impressively complex looking piece of arcane machinery. Macharius had no idea how it worked, but probably nobody else did either. This was old humanity's craftsmanship at its finest, a relic of the ingenuity of Mars from the Imperium's shrouded past. The console that operated the various teleportation platforms looked even more complex than the command console up on the bridge. Currently it was being operated by a tech-adept, and the room was occupied by a number of the ship's armsmen. One of them was approaching to ask Macharius what he and his squad was doing there, when the vox crackled.

"All hands, stand by to repel boarders. Repeat, all hands, stand by to repel boarders." The ship shook from mutliple impacts.

Spoiler: Anika Only

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The first volley of plasma fire, directed by Anika's console, sailed just over the Regent's prow. The crewman at the secondary fire control station was more accurate, and a number of hits splashed over the void shields. Waving at the officers to attract attention caused the commissar to come back over. Anika pointed at the screen, and the commissar nodded.

"Well spotted," she said, straightening up and turning to the command throne. "Assault boats incoming, sir. Multiple vectors. Torpedoes as well, from the looks of it."

The admiral, in response, picked up the vox. "All hands, stand by to repel boarders. Repeat, all hands, stand by to repel boarders." Seconds later, the smaller turrets opened fire, sending many in the first wave of small craft off to meet the Emperor. There were too many to get them all, though, and there was nothing to be done about the torpedoes. The ship's cogitator registered multiple impacts, several of which were followed by explosions as plasma warheads detonated, blowing chunks out of the Terminus' armour. Not all of the torpedoes detonated, though, and Anika was sure that at least two from the Regent had been among those which didn't go off.

[rax]

Spoiler: Destro and Ravia

Show

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe... my razor sharp perception says that our designated survivor ended his days in that pod there," Hannabel quips, pointing at the remaining pod. "Hellooo? Designated survivor? Are you still haunting this place?" she giggles, then strides purposefully over to the pod and takes a look inside.

[PotatoGolem]

Spoiler: Destro Only

Show

Prepare for boarders! Lancers, set up to cover the area. You're packing the heat, so stay in cover and keep your eyes open for armored boarders.

You there! Armsmen! What in the Emperor's name are you doing milling around in the open?! If any of those Throne-damned traitors teleport in you'll be redecorating this area with your innards. All you're doing right now is blocking our fire lanes. Take some frakking cover and keep your eyes open! Looking for boarders or sabotage attempts. What are you doing staring at me like a stunned grox?! MOVE!


Macharius draws and powers up his sword and plasma pistol, moving to a vantage point with enough machinery to allow him to take cover from the inevitable Iron Warrior assault. He knows the Astartes will be here sometime. Waiting for them is a torment.

[Haval]

Spoiler: Destro Only

Show

Anika will pass on to the rest of the bridge the news of the unexploded torpedoes from the Regent. Perhaps they were merely malfunctioning munitions, but she just bet she knew what was on those torpedoes. If the crew couldn't hold them off, the air was likely to be switched off any minute now.

If neccessary, she is ready to leave quickly depending on how fast everything started to fall apart on the bridge. Hoping that everyone else is equally distracted she will try to use her microbead to call Macharius on the usual frequency. Assuming that the memory of the device worked in the same way as the real thing. 'If you can hear me, what's your status?'

[Destro_Yersul]

Spoiler: Hannabel and Ravia

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The lifepod had a brass plate over the hatch. Though tarnished by age, Hannabel could still make out 'Admiral Davis' engraved on the surface. The inside of the pod was devoid of human remains, the floor covered with a thick layer of dust. The evidence of occupation was there, though. The compartments that once held ration bars were open and empty, decaying wrappers stuffed into the small disposal unit. The life sustainer was inoperable, the pod's internal power long drained, and the spare oxygen canisters were likely among those scattered outside.

This close to the pod, Hannabel was also able to get a better look at some of the items on the floor. The pistol was a naval officer's sidearm, the grip inset with the name Terminus Omni Agraphum and an engraving of the ship. On the barrel, the sigil of the Imperial Army could be seen. It had never been replaced by the Navy icon, probably a point of pride for its owner. The rebreather mask, apart from the cracked eye lenses, sported a ragged hole and visible powder burns at the temple. The floor here was stained, a single shell casing lay nearby, and a number of small round objects and other loose pieces of metal could be found as well. Hannabel got a closer look at some of the round things; they were uniform buttons. The unfirom they belonged to, and its owner, must have been here so long that everything organic had turned to dust.

Spoiler: Macharius Only

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A chorus of 'yessir!' followed Macharius' orders, as both the armsmen and the lancers moved to obey. The four provosts set up watching the door, as the enemy's main method of entry. The armsmen mostly had shotguns, a poor choice at best when compared to the stopping power of the hellguns and plsama gun carried by Macharius' squad. They dug in as best they could, making use of consoles and structural reinforcements as cover. They didn't have to wait long.

The first wave was traitor soldiers, ordinary men and women in uniforms debased with blashpemous iconography in place of the old Imperial markings. They fought a pitched battle against the ship's armsmen, slowly forcing their way closer to the Teleportarium chamber. Macharius could hear the thump of the ship's turrets echoing through the hull, so some of the assault boats must be getting shot down. The enemy's numbers would not be infinite. The bigger problem, though, was the heavy thud-thud of bolter fire he could hear from behind the screaming rabble. Then the doors were smashed aside, and a nightmare made real charged into the room.

The Iron Warrior was huge, clad in steel grey warplate with his massive Astartes bolter held in one armoured fist. He towered over the other traitors, one of the Emperor's fallen angels in the flesh. Macharius had been ready, had known the traitor Astartes were coming, but to see one alive was another thing entirely. In the half second of calm just after the doors had flown open, his microbead crackled. Anika's voice.

'If you can hear me, what's your status?'

Spoiler: Anika Only

Show

A few minutes after Anika reported the unexploded torpedoes, her suspicions were confirmed.

"We're getting reports of boarders, sir!" the crewman at the communications console called across the bridge. "Traitor Astartes, and lots of soldiers. The space marines are using boarding torpedoes, it's just men on the assault boats. I've got... three confirmed battles going on right now. One in the Teleportarium, and two on the munitorium deck."

[Leon]

Spoiler: Destro and Hannabel

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++Whoever it was granted themselves the Omnissiah's mercy it looks like when O2 or food ran out and the situation persisted++ Ravia will poke about the rest of the Life pod bay to see if there is anything of use in the place ++I wonder if there is a separate log for down here that tracked Life-pod diagnostics++

[rax]

Spoiler: Destro and Ravia

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"Aye, the poor sod probably did himself in when he realized the Terminus wasn't going to be dropping out of the Empyrean any time soon. I wonder who he was, though..." Hannabel muses out loud.

"Assuming he didn't go about looting the place before coming down here, the pistol says he was an officer. And pillaging the Admiral's personal life pod? I reckon our boy was high up in the food chain - most enlisted men wouldn't have the stones for that, even after the ship was abandoned. Plus, there's the grand old tradition of the captain never abandoning his ship. Or, in this case, perhaps an Admiral doing penance for losing his ship and fleet to traitors... I wonder if he was kind enough to leave a record of his final days?"

Stooping, Hannabel picks up the data-slate and tries to start it. She also takes a closer look at the buttons, to see if she can identify the wearer through them.

OOC: I assume that a Naval officer would have fancier buttons than an enlisted man, possibly even personalized ones or ones with some sort of "rank" markings. If neither the dataslate nor the buttons provide any clues by themselves, Hannabel next intends to inspect the pistol.

[Haval]

Spoiler: Destro only

Show

Hopefully her foreknowledge of how the battle had originally gone would have some use. She will address the Commissar, hoping to give the impression of being an over eager junior officer rather than someone in need of being disciplined. 'The traitors will go for the life sustainers next. It's straight out of the Principia Bellicosa They did the same thing to the Veritas Lux at the end of the war. We need to be prepared if our people can't hold it.' Perhaps the crew could be persuaded to start responding to a problem before it had started. This lie had the benefit of probably being mostly true. The Veritas was a vessel of Battlefleet Koronus that as far as she knew had not even been built yet.

How do you win a battle that has been lost once already. The crew of the Terminus would do what they can to hold the most important parts of the ship, but had obviously been no match for the Iron Warriors. The Astartes were said to not be afraid of anything, but perhaps they could be told something that might slow them down. She will look around for the nearest Tech-Priest.

Spoiler: ooc

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Deceive for lying to a Comissar
vs. Fel 47 (+10 bonus for having Etiquette as a Noble?)
(1d100)[81]

Forbidden Lore (Archaeotech) to see if I have any idea of the vox frequency the Iron Warriors on the Terminus might be using to talk to their ships. In the hope that it might make jamming them easier.
vs. Int 53
(1d100)[86]

And because I think I ought to roll for this rather than assuming that Anika already knows it
Scholastic Lore (Legend) to know about the Iron Warrior / Imperial Fist rivalry
vs. Int 53
(1d100)[66]

Admittedly, there was probably no chance of this working

[PotatoGolem]

Spoiler: Anika and Destro

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Ah, Lady Vanhal! Battling a Traitor Astartes in the Teleportarium. Rather a rude guest, if I say so myself. And yourself?

He leaves the vox link open as he turns to the men. Lancers! Focus fire on the Traitor Astartes! Al, your plasma gun is our best shot, so make it count! Armsmen, hold off that rabble! Remember Holy Sanguinus and Ollanius Pius, who gave their lives unafraid for the glory of the Emperor and the future of Mankind! We shall not falter! We shall not fail! FOR THE EMPEROR!

He aims his pistol at the Iron Warrior and fires with a roar of burning plasma.

Spoiler: OOC

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Half action aim, half action shoot. (1d100)[5], target is 46. Damage (1d10+6)[14] pen 6
Free Action to give Albertus +10% to shooting.

Command test: (1d100)[21] vs 102 (base 92 +10 Peer (military)).

EDIT: Eight degrees of success. Those troops should fight like mini-astartes themselves.

[Destro_Yersul]

Spoiler: Hannabel and Ravia

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The bay was empty except for the few belongings of the last survivor, everything of use having gone with the pods that did escape. The data-slate Hannabel picked up looked standard, but it was very old. Pressing the activation rune resulted in a brief flicker of the power light and nothing else. The batteries had died a long time ago. Stooping to inspect the uniform remnants instead, Hannabel identified a couple of larger discs as tarnished medals, and an admiral's rank bar, amidst the scattering of what was once bright brass.

Spoiler: Macharius Only

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The Lancers had been waiting, and the entry of the traitor Astartes was met with a hail of hellgun fire. The bolts pinged off the marine's power armour or whisked past entirely to strike the soldiers behind him. With so many targets, they couldn't really miss, but the fusillade had left their main opponent untouched. Albertus was more fortunate, swinging up the plasmagun's barrel and pulling the trigger twice. The weapon hissed and spat, sending two glowing blobs of superheated plasma into the space marine's leg. Ceramite bubbled and melted, and the stench of burnt flesh filled the room. Macharius' own shot hit the marine dead center, scorching a much smaller hole in the thick chest plate.

The marine was still standing, though, fighting on through a wound that would have felled lesser men. He roared his defiance, and the Lancers were forced to duck for cover as a torrent of high-explosive bolts sailed over their heads. The ship's armsmen were fighting hard, the banging of shotgun fire drowning out the whining crack of the enemy lasguns. So far, they were holding.

"Take a moment for the gun to recharge, sir." Al shouted over the din of battle. "Got him good though, hey?"

Spoiler: Anika Only

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"I've never heard of the Veritas. Which battlegroup was she in?" An explosion rocked the ship, another round of enemy fire hammering the void shields. "Never mind," the commissar said, clearly much more concerned with the matter at hand. "The life sustainers are an obvious target. You there! Send anyone still unengaged to hold the sustainer chambers. We'll fight them off yet."

Looking at the auspex readings, Anika wasn't so sure of that. The Imperial Navy had good ships, and good men, but the enemy outnumbered them and the advantage was beggining to show. Two of the frigates the Admiral had sent on the flanking strike were drifting, the swarm of destroyers that had sent them to their dooms turning to meet one of the light cruisers. The Indomitus had taken a bad hit from the torpedoes, but was still going. Enemy frigates were closing in, though, and the Regent had started accelerating towards them. Boarding torpedoes would be a small worry, if the ship got close enough to bring its full complement of Astartes to bear. There was a techpriest by the reactor monitoring station. After a few moments of trying, Anika was able to wave him over.

[Leon]

Spoiler: Destro and Hannabel

Show

++We'll have to see whats on that later when i can recharge it if possible, so it was the Admiral after all. Guess we can just take the detritus that is here and show the Lord-Captain++

Ravia waits at the bottom of the shaft for Hannabel to finish

++I am interested to keep exploring this ship to see what of use it actually hold beyond dead memories++

[rax]

Spoiler: Destro and Ravia

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"Hello Admiral," Hannabel whispers respectfully. "If you don't mind, we'll take some of your gear with us as proof we were on board and let the Navy know what happened here. We'll tell them that you never gave up the ship." She picks up the pistol, the medals, and the admiral's rank bar, placing them carefully in her sealed satchel. Then, she turns to Pytho. "You might want to let her ladyship and the Lord Commander know what we found here."

"Why wait?" she then asks Ravia, responding to her statement about the data-slate. "I knew a very nice electro-priest once. He could do all sorts of interesting things with his... tentacles," she says with a grin, wiggling her fingers at the Magos. "I know you've got some nice ones too - can't you just stick one of them in the data-slate and recharge it here? It might contain useful information to help us focus our explorations."

[Haval]

Spoiler: Destro and Macharius

Show

Finally, some good news. In reply to Macharius, 'Splendid. Let me know if I can do anything to help with that.' She is not feeling optimistic but will leave the link open.

The Terminus had warped out after taking one last hit that had damaged the plasma engines. Was it the damage to the ship or the battle that continued after the ship left that was responsible for all this. Could she do anything to affect the ship engagement without attempting to take the bridge hostage. Perhaps even then.

To the Tech-Priest, 'You. I don't expect anyone to be knowledgable on standard Astartes vox frequancies, but I've seen the Mechanicum do some impressive things in the past. Can you jam the comms of our uninvited guests.'

Spoiler: Pray to Nuffle for a successful dice roll

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Scholastic Lore (Legend) to know of any circumstance where Astartes turned away from killing a ship before they had a chance to finish it off. In case my roll gives me a better idea.
vs. Int 53
(1d100)[35]

[Leon]

Spoiler: Destro and Hannabel

Show

++Two reasons, One i am in a void suit currently and Two the functionality is possible but my system is not currently optimized for such capability. Its part of a future update that i expect to enable when i upgrade the settings that my enhanced coil allows for. I've barely touched on what this Coil is capable of thus far. I expect that given the time to extract all pertinent data that this trove of ancient knowledge has to offer i will be able to do a great many more things with it++

[rax]

Spoiler: Destro and Ravia

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"A fair point," Hannabel agrees with a grin and a shrug when Ravia points out that she's suited up. "Well then, I guess I'd better record some evidence of our own before we move on. You know, in case the relevant authorities want more proof of our discovery than a gun and a handful of old medals." So saying, she produces a pict recorder and takes a moment to film the admiral's escape pod, then films some more of the bay as she returns to the lift shaft. "Any reply from the Lord Commander?" she asks Pytho before they begin the climb back up to the bridge.

[PotatoGolem]

Spoiler: anika and destro

Show

Keep firing! Put as many shots on him as you can! Jilian, you almost had him-keep it up! Al, take cover while it charges.

Macharius aims and fires again, keeping only his head and left arm above the cover.

Command (1d100)[64]
Shooting (1d100)[63]

[Destro_Yersul]

Spoiler: Hannabel and Ravia

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"No reply yet. I've reported our findings to him, but I believe he may be engaged." The astropath looked tired, and somewhat concerned.

Ravia, meanwhile, was fiddling with one of the dataslates she'd brought along, extracting its battery to use as a replacement for the admiral's. Omnissiah be praised for standard connectors - the new battery fit. The slate booted up, and Ravia saw that it was a common utility model. It had a suite of organisation functions and data storage, but everything had been wiped except for one text file. She opened it.

Admiral's log: This will be my final entry. The oxygen is running out, and the ship is still in warp. I've done what I can. There's fuel for the backup generators, and Emperor Willing they'll be able to run for long enough. Most of the crew is gone, dead or launched in lifepods. The only ones left are the servitors, myself, and the poor souls in the cold quarters. I couldn't save the ship. We caught the Regent, but we couldn't stand before the Astartes. Filthy traitors. If you're reading this, and you're one of those damned who turned to the dark gods, then know that with my last breath I defy you. I will go to my death proudly, head high, as an Admiral should. I do it on my terms, rather than face the slow death of suffocation.

If, by some miracle, this finds its way into the hands of the Imperium, then go to the Navy. Tell them we fought to the end. Tell them I did everything I could to ensure the survival of the Terminus, and as many of her crew as could be saved. Go to the crew decks, and use Navy Code aegis 7 to release the executive override on the stasis pods. If any still live, tell them Admiral Davis sent you.

For Terra and the Emperor.

Spoiler: Macharius Only

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Hannabel's found the Admiral, Pytho's voice resonated inside Macharius' head. Or his equipment, anyways. He appears to have gone down with the ship. The rest of the lifepods down here got launched, but his stayed behind. Ravia's going through the dataslate he left.

It was hard to focus on what Pytho was saying, though, with the battle going on. The Lancers raised their guns to fire again. Jilian's shot looked good, but the Space Marine threw himself into a roll at the last second, and the shot passed through the space where his head had been a moment ago. He was surprisingly quick, for something so big. Kristof and Barry tried to fire at him as he was coming out of the roll. Instead of being rewarded by the crack of hellgun fire, both their guns buzzed and did nothing. Barry cursed, and started trying to re-adjust the focus lens. Kristof would have done the same, but he never got the chance.

The Astartes came up firing, strafing to the side as his bolter kicked and roared. Albertus' cover exploded under a hail of the mass-reactive shells, and Macharius ducked. He felt something smash him in the chest - it was like getting gut-punched by a prizefighter. Beside him, Kristof took one of the shells in the shoulder. The provost's arm and half his chest blew apart, sending him crashing lifeless to the deck. When the smoke cleared, Macharius saw that Al was down too, his lower body entirely gone. Blood slicked the floor. Ears ringing, Macharius glanced up over his cover to see that the traitor guard in the room had taken heart from this small victory, and were surging forwards. The defence looked a lot more precarius than it had a moment ago...

Spoiler: Anika Only

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The techpriest nodded. "I can do a blanket jamming easily enough. The Iron Warriors typically use one of three battle frequencies. I'll block those first." He set to work, while Anika wracked her brain trying to think of times the Astartes had given up.

The problem was that it depeneded largely on Chapter, or in this case, Legion. The Astartes they were facing were the Iron Warriors, a notoriously tenacious legion specialised in siege warfare. They were ferocious in combat, giving no quarter and asking for none in return. The only times she could think of them retreating, they had been up against overhwelming odds. Those were large-scale battles, though. A single ship, boarded by torpedo... probably their objective was to do as much damage as they could, then retreat via the landing craft.

Hannabel's found the Admiral, Pytho's voice reported in her mind. Or his equipment, anyways. He appears to have gone down with the ship. The rest of the lifepods down here got launched, but his stayed behind. Ravia's going through the dataslate he left.

[Leon]

Spoiler: Destro and Hannabel

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++You were right about there being useful data on here, the ship has a cold quarters deck. That alone is a useful bit of tech if the power holds, this long with this amount of ship wide damage we wont know till we find it++

[Haval]

Spoiler: Destro and Macharius

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After Pytho's comment she will glance at the Admiral appraisingly. 'Why go down with his ship when the lifepods had already evacuated?' The dishonour of defeat probably, but it seemed like a waste. Although there was the commands that the Admiral seemed to have entered before the end. 'Perhaps he was trying to keep the ship as intact as possible for the Imperium.'

To the Tech Priest, 'Do what you can.' Jamming them was an inconvenience but it was a start. It was only common sense that it would be harder for the Iron Warriors to organise themselves when they were cut off from each other. Yet jamming them might also make deceiving them easier. From all she had heard, the only way regular humans could defeat the Traitor Legions was through strength at arms and the manpower of the Imperial Guard. Failing that there was one thing that was likely to worry the Iron Warriors. It was said the remaining Loyal Legions had chased their treacharous cousins all the way from Terra to the Eye. Perhaps it was a matter of fooling the Iron Warriors into believing that they faced a worthier enemy. Even the Archenemy might want to withdraw at the prospect of a fair fight. Anything to give the Terminus' defenders more time.

Besides, judging by what Macharius had said he was doing, she needed to do something. Anika will wait for the Tech Priest to commence jamming and then use her microbead to vox the locations on the Terminus where fighting was reported. She is increasingly angry as she dwells on exactly all that these things were responsible for.

Spoiler: ooc

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Speech maybe depends on rolls in the ooc, especially if I need an Archaeotech roll first. I'll edit as needed.

<'Corpse Grinders. Dullest of legions. You who were ultimately fit only for garrison duty in support of the work of your betters. You all who failed at Terra and who rightly now skulk away in fear of the retribution of your former brothers. Rejoice, for the Ravenlord and his sons have come for you to end your miserable lives. Even now your boarding parties are dying. Your ship will soon follow.’>

[PotatoGolem]

Spoiler: Destro and Anika

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For a moment, Macharius is stunned by the deaths of his squad. His mind races back to the carnage he saw as a boy, running away helplessly as the Praetorians died to hold back House Tremayne's assassins, fleeing as his homeworld burned. He snaps back to the present (or the long-dead past). He is no frightened child. He is High Lord of House Absalom, and he will neither retreat nor surrender. Cover wasn't doing him much good. The Traitor's boltgun made it of little more value than a paper wall. His people would die trying to match its destructive power.

Barry! Pick up than gun and bring the bastard down! Show him how the Lancers fight! Jilian! Precise shots! Men! Life is the currency of the Emperor, and we will spend it well!

As the Lancers fire, Macharius whispers into the vox. Anika, any reinforcements you can send would be greatly appreciated. Things are not going well. But by the Emperor, we'll make them pay.

As the plasma sizzles away he vaults the cover and charges the monstrous Fallen Angel, power sword raised high. For the Emperor and Holy Terra!

Spoiler: OOC

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Choosing out-of-character to fail against the flaw of High Vendetta- Macharius will not suffer his men to die while he runs again. Free Action to improve Barry's shooting. Full Action to charge the Iron Warrior. Yay for Ambidextrous!

Attack: (1d100)[27] vs 56
Command: (1d100)[55] vs 91
If Command is bad I'll use fate to re-roll (1d100)[90]

3 DOS

[rax]

Spoiler: Destro and Ravia

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"Engaged? Did he meet a nice girl in the distant past?" Hannabel giggles. "Oh, don't look so sour, mindbender. If you can't laugh at a time like this, then when?"

"Not just ancient tech, Magos! The cold quarters could contain survivors as well! Now wouldn't that be something - thawing out someone ten thousand years old. The things they could tell us about ancient times! Not to mention the ship!"

"Hey! A thought just occurred to me - you know what doesn't need much power and is built to last? Guns. Armour. Guns AND armour. Maybe the sleepers could tell us how to get to the main armoury? I quite fancy myself an archaeotech pistol or two! Of course, they might all be stark raving mad by now - assuming they even survive the re-animation process. Well come on, what are we waiting for? Let's go!!!" Obviously giddy with excitement, Hannabel begins climbing back up the lift shaft.

[Haval]

Spoiler: Destro and Macharius

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To Macharius, 'I'll pass that on. Don't take any risks.' And don't leave me alone in here.

'Commissar. Report from the teleportarium. The defenders are holding but have taken casulties. They need reinforcements if we can give them any.'

Spoiler: ooc

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Destro - I don't know how this fits in with the other post, but it seemed important if Macharius is in trouble

[Destro_Yersul]

Spoiler: Hannabel and Ravia

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"I believe the crew decks still have power. We saw part of them over the servitor feeds earlier." Pytho studiously ignored Hannabel's joke, following along back to the bridge. With their collection of evidence in tow, there was little left in the lifepod bays for them.

Thanks to the suit grapnels and the harness, climbing back up was relatively simple. At the top, though, they had a decision to make. Macharius and Anika were still asleep, but Macharius had brought servitors. They could bring the sleepers along, though they'd have to go more carefully, or they could leave them here.

Spoiler: Anika Only

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The techpriest was more than helpful, setting her up a voice modulator so she could give her speech over the vox. It wouldn't do to not sound the part. The comms jammed, and the speech delivered, she had to think of other things she could do from up here. The commissar had agreed to try and dispatch more men to the Teleportarium...

Looking back at her console, she saw that the battle was going poorly. Space was filled with drifitng hulks, from amongst the loyalists and traitors alike. Most were smaller ships, but as she watched the Indomitus took another torpedo salvo, the proud ship buckling under a series of explosions. Macrocannon fire from half a dozen escorts chipped away at her armour. She was still fighting, but a couple good hits were likely to end her. One of the chaos light cruisers was down, but the Iron Regent was still up, having taken barely any damage, and closing fast. It looked as though she intended to ram the Terminus.

Spoiler: Macharius Only

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Barry ducked out of his cover and ran, scooping up the plasmagun and firing a shot that went wide, sizzling past the traitor Astartes and blowing apart one of the enemy soldiers instead. Jilian's shots hit, but neither seemed to have penetrated the thick ceramite of the marine's armour. Macharius went over the top, his battlecry echoed by dozens of throats.

"For Terra and the Emperor!" The loyalist forces rallied, pumping fire into the boarders. Macharius heard weapons fire starting up from outside the Teleporatarium, reinforcements coming in to catch the traitors in a crossfire. Then his vision was filled with whirring chain teeth, as the towering Fallen Angel let his bolter fall and powered up his chainblade. Macharius blocked the first strike, his powersword sparking as it met the Astartes Chainsword. Though fallen to chaos, the space marine was a powerful foe. Above, the vox crackled.

'Corpse Grinders. Dullest of legions. You who were ultimately fit only for garrison duty in support of the work of your betters. You all who failed at Terra and who rightly now skulk away in fear of the retribution of your former brothers. Rejoice, for the Ravenlord and his sons have come for you to end your miserable lives. Even now your boarding parties are dying. Your ship will soon follow.’

The voice was modulated, sounding more metallic than human, but Macharius recognised Anika's speech patterns. The marine, however, did not. "Corax?" Briefly forgetting his enemy, the helmeted head turned to look up at the nearest vox-grill. "How? We reduced your legion near to dust! You - agh!" Macharius' power sword bit deep, slicing into the space marine's leg. He had to duck out of the way of a backhand strike as the marine reacted, squaring up against him.

"Your Emperor will not save you. Corax will not save you. If I cannot escape, I will take you all down with me." As he spoke, Macharius saw him ready a frag grenade with his free hand.

[rax]

Spoiler: Destro and Ravia

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"So, do we take the sleeping beauties with us or leave them here till we finish exploring the crew quarters? So far, we've seen no evidence of anything dangerous roaming the halls, so they should be alright if we leave them here, and we're probably not going to get into a fight. On the other hand, if we have to make a quick evac, we probably won't have time to come back for them, and that could be... bad. Should we rig some sort of stretcher and have the servitors carry them?"