IC II: DH The Purity of Sacrifice

[Haval]

Orla is usually aware enough to react quickly but evidently wasn't expecting events to go down as they had. Getting away from the blast radius or the heavy stubber was the obvious choice, but she'll also aim for either a side door or some furniture that she might be able to shelter behind.

Spoiler

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Initiative 6

Full Action to run and find cover

[Wyndeward]

Righteous Fury?

Spoiler: Dice

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(1d100)[90]

(1d10+4)[9] if applicable

[Bennosuke]

"Whas the Purgatory Ring? Whys it no mansh land?"

Despite the slack-jawed look on Arl's face, his mind was racing, frantically trying to figure out how to pull out as much information as possible from Pip.

"The Purgatory Ring?" Pip asks, clearly surprised by Arl's ignorance, "you've never hard o' it?" His face suddenly screws up for a moment, his neck going stiff as it looks like he is fighting the urge to vomit. A few moments go by and he takes a heavy swallow, then a gasp of air. Color returning to Pip's face he says, "Itsh... itsh an area of shpace on the border of the Ixaniad and Calixish shectors. Ixaniad naval law actually forbidsh travel through the Ring! Rumo hash it, that there's still xenosh infected planetsh out there."

[Wyndeward]

"The Purgatory Ring?" Pip asks, clearly surprised by Arl's ignorance, "you've never hard o' it?" His face suddenly screws up for a moment, his neck going stiff as it looks like he is fighting the urge to vomit. A few moments go by and he takes a heavy swallow, then a gasp of air. Color returning to Pip's face he says, "Itsh... itsh an area of shpace on the border of the Ixaniad and Calixish shectors. Ixaniad naval law actually forbidsh travel through the Ring! Rumo hash it, that there's still xenosh infected planetsh out there."

"Naw, Pip... I ain't ever been above mid-Hive, let alone inta space" Arl said, sounding wistful. "Xenos... thass bad business, e'en if assa Rogue Trader, 'e's allowed..."

[Bennosuke]

he flashes his pointer finger at marcella, and then moves it over to drimmle "id advise you surrender, but it seems were past that" with a fwoosh sound, a jet of flame ignites and cascades over shriek and stubber boy

assuming both of drimmles accomplices are in range of the wrist flamer, im gonna need agility tests from both of them or be lit on fire by a cone of holy promethium

All hell breaks out as Father Milo suddenly attacks. Shriek, the little freak, darts aside but is unable to fully avoid the blaze. Her coveralls catch aflame, and she hollers in surprise, or perhaps anger. The massive man with the heavy stubber stumbles backwards, almost falling over on the stairs, but manages to step out of the path of the cone of fire.

(OOC: Trask gets out of the way but Shriek does not. Rolled damage which is soaked between the armor and toughness bonus despite the penetration, but Shriek still catches on fire)

Somewhere far away, Drimmle's voice can be heard over the sudden panic screaming, "No, no, no! You fools! No!"

Arl reached across his body with his right hand and drew his other stub automatic.

He snapped a shot at the hand holding the bomb's detonator, praying to the Emperor that destroying the detonator wouldn't set off the bomb.

Arl snaps off a shot, drawing and firing before Ser Drimmle can press the detonator. The man's arm flies backwards with the impact of the stub round, a gout of blood exploding from his biceps.

(OOC: Arl does 7 damage after TB and armor soak, not enough to cause critical damage and cause him to drop the trigger)

Her eyes wide, mouth agape, Marc thought for half second and let out a pulse of psychic energy that scrambled the local circuitry and jammed mechanical devices, including that detonator/bomb and the lethal machinegun levelled in their direction. The lights would flicker and then go out and a dim dark would coat the welcome chamber, illuminated by the gout of flame from Milo's wrist.

She'd then move, desperate to get out of the drop-zone of the bomb and preferably using Milo as a human shield.

She put her hand on Orlas shoulder, encouraging the other girl to make haste.

"We've got six seconds - move!!"

OOC -
Half Action: Weapon Jinx, see OOC.
Half action: Moving with the group out from under the bomb drop zone.

The lights go out all of a sudden, throwing the hall into complete darkness, thanks to Marcella's powers of the warp. Shriek however remains illuminated, the fire on her coveralls casting a dim light around her. In an instant Marcella is able to connect with the machine spirits in bomb hanging overhead and in the heavy stubber, shutting both weapons down.

(OOC: weapon jinx takes a full action per page 168. Marcella has jammed both weapons as discussed. She remains "in the drop zone")

Ignoring her flaming garments, a crazed look in her eyes, Shriek lets out a terrifying high pitched... shriek, and charges Milo, a pair of curved knives suddenly appearing in her hands. She falls on Milo like a bat out of hell, but The Father stumbles out of the way unharmed.

(OOC: Shriek is up next, and charges, and surprisingly misses)

Realizing what is happening, Hound bolts, running past his companions and deeper into the cavernous entryway, heading for the space between the two stairwells. Orla is right behind him.

(OOC: Both run for cover)

The fat man with the heavy stubber can be heard chuckling for just a moment, till he pulls the trigger of his weapon and finds it jammed. His chuckle resumes a moment later.

A second later he quick draws a hand cannon, its rapport thundering within the hall. Ser Drimmle, still screaming, presses the trigger of his detonator. There is a twanging sound as the string of the bomb is cut and the bomb falls between Arl and Marcella and Milo. It hits the ground, and "miraculously" does not go off. With a shriek Drimmle drops the detonator, raises his pistol and fires.

(OOC: Trask rolls a hit against Arl. I was actually tempted to have him throw one of his frag grades despite Shriek, but am going with the hand cannon. He rolls a hit for 11 damage against Arl not including soak, unless Arl successfully dodges. Drimmle targets Marcella the witch, and also rolls a hit for 8 damage. Both hits would be to the body. Otherwise, we are back to the top of the order, this time starting with Arl)

*****************************************

Pip nods his head, a half dazed expression still on his face. "Sure ish," he replies, "but that'sh none o' my bushinesh." He hiccups and starts to rise, "I think I should go shoon. Unlesh.... you wanna get me another drink!"

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

Chaos devoured the antechamber of the beautiful manse, the walls of sky blue and intricate paintings baring witness to pandemonium and violence.

First, the trigger: that gout of flame. The curtain of heat washed over Marcella's skin as her mind quickly surmised that the fecal matter had indeed hit the fan. Arl, reacting quicker than anyone, withdrew his pistol, took careful aim and put a shot into Drimmles arm, the rich bureaucrat screaming in pain but not injured sufficiently to drop the detonator. This required a split decision from Marc. She should have run for cover, as Hound and Orla smartly did, but she knew that bomb above their heads was too big a threat: it had to be neutralised, and she was the only one who could do it. And so she had reached her mind out to scramble the local machine spirits; strings drawn across the walls, through the floor and threaded about the ceiling, as well as gripped and handled by the assailants before them, and into that web her psyche reached - its tentacles slithering around the heavy stubber gripped by the fat mutant, and the bomb dangling above their heads. The feelers searched for those crisis points, the singular positions where a well-placed snip would disable the device, if only for a little while, and they found it.

But the bomb fell anyway.

As that small warhead detached from the ceiling with a nightmarish Clink! and started to plummet, Marc's face drew into a rictus of horror. Her mouth was wide open and her body seized with a fear the likes of which she rarely felt. The world seemed to slow down as that cap fell...and fell...and fell...only to indent itself in the beautiful marble floor, a spiderweb of cracks splitting out from its point of impact, rendering the warhead the centre of a network of fissures.

It didn't explode.

The Psyker stared for another second, mouth and eyes wide open before the realisation washed over her. She'd done it! She'd disabled the damn thing, it was a dud! A dud! Marc could have done a little dance of happiness, but an abrupt burning agony erupted from her stomach as Drimmle caught her with a shot from his laspistol.

"Argh!" the Psyker hissed, suddenly yanked back into the moment, "arshole!"

Her gloved hand moving to the newly created seared mark on her tummy, Marcella winced from the hot pain shooting through her nervous system, along with the anguish of knowing the scar that would remain meant bye-bye summer bikini body.

Trusting that Arl knew that they needed Drimmle alive, Marc summoned her mental energies again, drawing them together and blasting them out at her targets...


__________________
OOC:

See OOC thread for which one she casts.
If the bomb is a dud, she casts Soul Killer (a full round action) on Fat Man and directs some shards to Shriek.
If the bomb is only a dud for this round, then she moves around the corner and casts Dominate on Drimmle, getting 4 successes in an Opposed Willpower roll.

[Wyndeward]

The fat man with the heavy stubber can be heard chuckling for just a moment, till he pulls the trigger of his weapon and finds it jammed. His chuckle resumes a moment later.

A second later he quick draws a hand cannon, its rapport thundering within the hall. Ser Drimmle, still screaming, presses the trigger of his detonator. There is a twanging sound as the string of the bomb is cut and the bomb falls between Arl and Marcella and Milo. It hits the ground, and "miraculously" does not go off. With a shriek Drimmle drops the detonator, raises his pistol and fires.

(OOC: Trask rolls a hit against Arl. I was actually tempted to have him throw one of his frag grades despite Shriek, but am going with the hand cannon. He rolls a hit for 11 damage against Arl not including soak, unless Arl successfully dodges. Drimmle targets Marcella the witch, and also rolls a hit for 8 damage. Both hits would be to the body. Otherwise, we are back to the top of the order, this time starting with Arl)

Seeing the fat man turn the hand cannon towards him, Arl dives for cover!!

Spoiler: Dice

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(1d100)[47] vs a 51 (Agi, Dodge +10)

[Wyndeward]

Landing in cover, Arl rolls into a crouch, aims and fires at the fat man's head!

Spoiler: Dice

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(1d100)[65] vs a 59 (short range = +10, aim = +10, called shot = -10, BS = 49)

(1d10+4)[9]

[Haval]

What the ****. It would be better to not be in this situation but at least the bomb hadn't exploded. Orla will snap off a shot towards the big man without trying to be flashy.

Spoiler

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Half Action - Aim
Half Action - Target the heavy stubber man with Marcella's borrowed autopistol

vs. BS 42 (+10 Aim) (+10 Short Range)
(1d100)[1]
Headshot?

Any damage
(1d10+2)[10]

Any RF
(1d100)[43]
(1d10)[9]

[Bennosuke]

Marcella is unable to move in time. The las bolt shrieks into her chest, singing her coat and her armor, and leaving a her with a spot over her right breast that feels like it's boiling. Arl on the other hand is able to move before Trask fires, the heavy round of the cannon going wide and whizzing off to pang against the wall behind him. He comes up from a roll and snaps off a shot. Despite his years of training, this shot goes wide around Trask.

As the lights flick back on, Father Milo raises the stolen shock maul, a weapon he had insufficient training with but had clasped to his chest since it was stolen, and swings it ineffectually at Shriek. The tiny crazed woman gives him no inroad for an adequate attack.

(OOC: Pausing here to discuss with Banana. @Wynd: Don't forget the other scene)

[Wyndeward]

Pip nods his head, a half dazed expression still on his face. "Sure ish," he replies, "but that'sh none o' my bushinesh." He hiccups and starts to rise, "I think I should go shoon. Unlesh.... you wanna get me another drink!"

Arl pastes a stupid grin on his face and signals the girl for another round. After the waitress leaves, Arl sloppily drinks his drink and speaks to Pip in a low tone.

"I guess what I don' unnerstan is why 'e'd be bringin' the likes of that 'ere? I mean, mebbe 'e can make deal wit' xenos, being a Rogue Trader 'an all, but who can buy what 'es sellin'?

[rax]

Finding himself temporarily out of the line of fire, Hound draws his stubber and takes aim at Trask.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Half action: Ready stubber.
Half action: Aim for +10 to next attack

[Bennosuke]

Marcella reaches deep with her power into the immaterium, twisting the warp to create three deadly soul killing shards, as her forehead grows slick with the sweat of exertion. The first she sends out at Shriek, too busy to notice what Marcella is doing till the translucent weapon is lodged deep into her spine. The blow drops the tiny bodyguard to her knees, as she utters a terrible high pitched cry.

(OOC: After toughness soak, 13 damage dealt. Since this is a boss fight, I am requiring critical damage, and thus Shriek is not out of the fight yet)

The second two warp shards fly into the massive guard holding the heavy stubber. The two immaterial weapons strike home with a repeated high pitched ripping sound. The blows stumble Trask, almost knocking him over and leaving a dazed expression on his face.

(OOC: After TB soak trask takes 1 critical damage to the head. He can only take a half action next round and takes an additional level of fatigue)

Shriek rises to her feet, a wild look in her eye and grimaces. As her lips pull back, you can see blood filling her mouth, turning her teeth and lips crimson. She lunges at Father Milo with a sudden strike, which he just manages to get out of the way of.

Down the hall, Hound turns and draws a bead on the stumbled Trask. Orla turns and fires on Trask who is unable to get out of the way. The bullet takes the giant just under his left eye, knocking him over.

(OOC: Orla hits, Trask fails his dodge and thanks to True Grit, only takes -3. He is stunned for the next round and takes even more fatigue)

Ser Drimmle, still shrieking and raving, snaps another shot with his las pistol off at Marcella, that should strike her square in the torso

(OOC: 9 damage to body presoak, unless Marcella can dodge. Otherwise, either way, back to the top of the order.)

************************************************** **********

Pip sits back down, a dopey grin on his face, when Arl calls the waitress back. The grin spreads to something a little more intelligent, maybe too intelligent, as Arl raises his question. "Ish gotta be those rich noblesh," Pip says, nodding his head, "Ya hear talksh about all sorts of... evilsh that money can lead ya to."

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

The Psyker gritted her teeth and hissed through a clenched jaw as a second las-bolt sliced into her torso like a hot needle puncturing her abdomen. That opened a second palm-sized patch on her body that screamed into her skull with the immolative touch of a burning scar as the scent of her own cauterising flesh reached up into her nostrils.

<"Son of a ****ing bitch!"> the Psyker grunted in her native ship dialect, reaching back into the immaterium and drawing a web of the Warp about her body - her material figure abruptly shimmering as if she were a mirage hovering above a hot asphault road.

"Sorry Arl I gotta take cover!" is all she could get out to the assassin before her vaporous image scythed through reality and darted underneath the staircase upon which Drimmle's trigger-happy self had been blasting away at her.

This was doubtless the same area within which Orla and Hound had retreated to, with Marcella's spectre-like image taking shape as if emerging out of a mist, two nasty looking lasburn marks across her torso, her hand clenched to one, her face carrying the black soot of oxidised ozone and her chest heaving and panting.

But if she was here in relatively one piece, that likely meant the bomb had been taken care of.

[Haval]

Orla grins in satisafaction as her shot connects. At the very least it ought to be the big man down for a bit. But it wasn't as if she was interested in staying here and waiting for Drimmle to start shooting at her either. Unless the noble was looking in her direction for someone reason she'll attempt to get behind him. Otherwise she'll aim to knock him over with a tackle.

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Stealth if possible
vs. Ag 44 (Stealth +10)
(1d100)[48]

Dodge vs. Ag 44 (Dodge +10)
(1d100)[15]

Holding off on grappling because I'm not sure if I should wait till next round. Let me know.

[Wyndeward]

Still crouched in cover, Arl fires his stub automatic at Shriek.

Spoiler: Rolls

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(1d100)[55] vs 69 (BS of 49 +10 (short range)+10(semi-auto)

[roll1d10+4[/roll]

[Wyndeward]

Still crouched in cover, Arl fires his stub automatic at Shriek.

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

(1d10+4)[11] vs 69 (BS of 49 +10 (short range)+10(semi-auto)

[roll1d10+4[/roll]

Argh!! missed a parenthesis!

Spoiler: This time for sure!

Show

(1d10+4)[11]

[Wyndeward]

Pip sits back down, a dopey grin on his face, when Arl calls the waitress back. The grin spreads to something a little more intelligent, maybe too intelligent, as Arl raises his question. "Ish gotta be those rich noblesh," Pip says, nodding his head, "Ya hear talksh about all sorts of... evilsh that money can lead ya to."

Arl grunted noncommittally, eyeing Pip. "Sure'n I wish I had the chances to try and resist that sort of evil... money may lead to evil, sure as the day follows night, but the damned stuff is so useful...."

[rax]

Hound pulls the trigger on his pistol, hoping to bring down the injured mutant with a short burst.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Full action: Semi-auto burst vs. Trask (1d100)[29] vs. 84 (BS 44, Aim +10, Semi-auto burst +10, Stunned +20) or 94 (Short range +10 if within 15 m)
Damage (up to three hits possible): (1d10+3)[13], (1d10+3)[11], (1d10+3)[8]

[Bennosuke]

Arl's stub automatic roars to life in his hand, kicking familiarly in his hand. The stumbled body guard, is spun around by a series of shots that rip across his chest. A wave of red paints itself across the marble floor as Trask's feet leave the ground and he goes stumbling backwards across the staircase, spinning as he does so such that the heavy stubber makes an ugly metal noise as its nose rakes across the stairs.

(OOC: Two hits. Trask is very dead)

Back at the entryway, Father Milo continues to fumble with the shock maul that he had pilfered, but is unable to so much as back up Shriek, whose whirling blades give the man pause before he can do anything meaningful. Shriek responds with a flurry of attacks, her short blades moving in a series of lightning fast arcs like the dance of some deadly ballerina. But perhaps still shaking off the psychic damage she had suffered, Shriek is unable to make a retorting cut that would hit her target.

Near Arl, Marcella draws again on the warp, disappearing from vision as she moves for an unoccupied region of the landing, searching for safety from Drimmle's gunfire.

(OOC: Pausing here, because I need to ask how Hound wishes to redirect his attack.)

************************************************** **************************

Pip nods his head over and over in eager agreement. "Yep," he mutters, glassy eyes on his empty glass, "would at leasht be able to buy shome better booze with it." His loopy grin fades to something cold and calculating as he contemplates the drink before him. "Say, you sure have a lot of queshtionsh. Perhapsh, you have a real interesht? Look, no judgement. But say you did... maybe you'd be willing to pay a little more money for a favor?" The buffoonish innocence is gone from Pip's countenance, replaced by something dark and hungry.

[Wyndeward]

Arl's stub automatic roars to life in his hand, kicking familiarly in his hand. The stumbled body guard, is spun around by a series of shots that rip across his chest. A wave of red paints itself across the marble floor as Trask's feet leave the ground and he goes stumbling backwards across the staircase, spinning as he does so such that the heavy stubber makes an ugly metal noise as its nose rakes across the stairs.

(OOC: Two hits. Trask is very dead)

Arl will move to a position where he has cover from Ser Drimmle's fire.

************************************************** **************************

Pip nods his head over and over in eager agreement. "Yep," he mutters, glassy eyes on his empty glass, "would at leasht be able to buy shome better booze with it." His loopy grin fades to something cold and calculating as he contemplates the drink before him. "Say, you sure have a lot of queshtionsh. Perhapsh, you have a real interesht? Look, no judgement. But say you did... maybe you'd be willing to pay a little more money for a favor?" The buffoonish innocence is gone from Pip's countenance, replaced by something dark and hungry.

Arl looks at Pip, noting his shift in demeanor.

"How much money are we talking about, Pip? I mean, there is a reason I've never been beyond mid-Hive..."

[rax]

(OOC: Pausing here, because I need to ask how Hound wishes to redirect his attack.)

If I can keep the rolls I already made then Hound will instead fire at Shriek.

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

The Psyker panted gently, her face marred by the soot of the lasburns that had cauterised two sections of her torso. Forcing her mind through the burning pain of the searing wounds, Marcella closed her eyes once more and pushed her mind forward, trusting in her position and cover to protect her while she drew the warp upon her psyche...

________
OOC:
See OOC for actions, depending on whether Hound takes out Shriek or not.

[Bennosuke]

As Trask goes down, Hound turns his attention to Shriek, who is still embroiled in combat with Milo. His pistol bucks in his hand, roar echoing in the cavernous antechamber. Somehow, the knife wielding woman catches that she is being targeted and spins, separating herself from Milo as bullets go whizzing between the two combatants, miraculously hitting neither.

(OOC: Hound gets one hit after recalculating. Shriek successfully dodges.)

Meanwhile, Orla splits from Hound. Moving low and slow, she pulls herself close to the bannister of the stairwell and begins to creep her way towards Drimmle.

(OOC: We can say that at the end of her turn, Orla is just out of melee with Drimmle when she starts again... until...)

Ser Drimmle's voice reaches a pitch high enough to crack glass as he watches Trask fall to the ground dead. When Marcella disappears, he turns his attention to Arl, and fires again with his las pistol, a shot that should hit the man from Kesh straight in the chest. He then starts backing up, taking cautious steps up the stairs, in preparation to flee the combat.

(OOC: This will be a hit to Arl's chest unless he dodges, doing 9 damage presoak... why do I not see armor on his charactersheet? Will pause here before we go back to the top of the order, since it should be Arl up next anyways.

He moves 3m farther away from orla now.)

************************************************** *******8

Arl looks at Pip, noting his shift in demeanor.

"How much money are we talking about, Pip? I mean, there is a reason I've never been beyond mid-Hive..."

The grin returns to Pip's face, but this is a more knowing, more mirthful expression. He replies, "I shuppose it dependsh on what your lookin' for!"

[Haval]

If Drimmle was still standing and otherwise distracted Orla will move closer and shove her gun in the back of his neck. 'Put it down. Nothing personal.'

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Full Action - Move up to 8 metres

Intimidate vs. Str 32 / 2
(1d100)[56]

[Wyndeward]

Ser Drimmle's voice reaches a pitch high enough to crack glass as he watches Trask fall to the ground dead. When Marcella disappears, he turns his attention to Arl, and fires again with his las pistol, a shot that should hit the man from Kesh straight in the chest. He then starts backing up, taking cautious steps up the stairs, in preparation to flee the combat.

(OOC: This will be a hit to Arl's chest unless he dodges, doing 9 damage presoak... why do I not see armor on his charactersheet? Will pause here before we go back to the top of the order, since it should be Arl up next anyways.

He moves 3m farther away from orla now.)

(OOC: Because he's an assassin who tries to look innocuous. That may change.)

Arl ducks back behind his cover when Ser Drimmle fires!

(1d100)[81] vs 51 (Ag 41, Dodge +10)

(OOC: I checked my stat block, which says I have 8 out of 10 wounds, which doesn't appear to take into account the four levels of Sounds Constitution I have purchased. That would put me at 12 of 14, I think...)

************************************************** *******

The grin returns to Pip's face, but this is a more knowing, more mirthful expression. He replies, "I shuppose it dependsh on what your lookin' for!"

Arl smiles in return, his country bumpkin demeanor slipping a touch. The lower you are in the peckin' order, the more you need to know to get by... I guess I'm trying to get past mid-Hive... If'n this fella is making money off'n these doodads, there must a way a poor feller like me can cash in."

[Bennosuke]

The las bolt takes Arl in the chest, scorching his guilder robes and leaving a reddened patch of flesh under all the clothing.

(OOC: After toughness soak this is dropped down to 5 damage. This brings him to 7/14. However... it is now Arl's turn to attack as we are at the top of the initiative order. Sorry I should have been clearer about this)

*****************************************

Pip's eyes go wide for a second, but the knowing, almost rueful grin remains on his face. "You lookin to shteal the Rogue Trader'sh goodsh? That would probably bring you a pretty pocket o' thrones."

[Wyndeward]

The las bolt takes Arl in the chest, scorching his guilder robes and leaving a reddened patch of flesh under all the clothing.

(OOC: After toughness soak this is dropped down to 5 damage. This brings him to 7/14. However... it is now Arl's turn to attack as we are at the top of the initiative order. Sorry I should have been clearer about this)

*****************************************

Pip's eyes go wide for a second, but the knowing, almost rueful grin remains on his face. "You lookin to shteal the Rogue Trader'sh goodsh? That would probably bring you a pretty pocket o' thrones."

Arl snarled as the pain of Drimmle's shot lanced through him, then took careful aim and fired a single shot at Drimmle's laspistol.
(1d100)[64] vs a 59 (49+10 (half round Aim) +10 (short range) -10 (called shot).

*****************************************

Arl's eyebrows shot up in feigned shock at Pip's suggestion. "Pip, a body has to eat and drink and while I don' like the idear of stealing from so august a person, knownin' that many throwns're out there can't help but make a body think about it."

[Bennosuke]

Arl fires back at the Super Nova ranked Credit Guilder, choosing to target the man's offending weapon. But the shot goes wide as Drimmle begins to flee the battleground, climbing up the stairs.

(OOC: Arl misses)

Nearby, Father Milo curses as he struggles with the off balanced weight of the stolen shock maul. He curses, realizing he had not packed his sword or throwing knives, "Damn it all," leaving him with no alternative in this situation. Then he catches a moment when Shriek is still in close enough to strike, swinging the shock maul with all of his might. But the little woman, blood still dribbling out of her mouth, spins nimbly, causing the Father to spin almost off balance with the weight of his blow.

(OOC: cross referenced Bramble's post on what weapons Milo brought. He rolls a 19, but is unskilled with the weapon and takes a -20 penalty, dropping his WS to 10. I will keep Shriek's dodge roll for future use... as appropriate )

Marcella summons the power of The Warp again, calling on her powers to use Soul Killer. As the two psychic shards slam into Shriek. To Father Milo's horror, the short bodyguard simply vaporizes into an exploding red mist. The air is filled with the smell of burned flesh and iron, and Father Milo is left speckled with blood. Stricken by the sudden and unexpected violence, Father Milo simply collapses, feinting into sweet unconsciousness.

(OOC: So 9 damage to the head (12-3 for TB soak, was standing on 0 wounds) causes the target to cease existing in any meaningful way. Given that Milo is in close combat with Shriek at the time, I a rolled fear check given the shocking violence of what happened, which did not go well... see OOC thread.

It is now Hound's turn)

************************************************** ******

Pip nods his head, the sudden intelligence still burning behind his glassy eyes. "Right then," he says, showing his yellow teeth, "For a hundred thronesh, I'll get you on Cashmirre's ship the next time he docksh." Pip watches Arl with hungry expectation, almost salivating as he awaits Arl's answer.

[BananaPhone]

Marcella

The psyker watched from her secure position as Shrieks body jilted, jolted, spasmed for half a second and then expanded rapidly like a swelling balloon and exploded in a halo of gore and wet ribbons. Poor Father Milo was idealy placed to receive a front row viewing of the event as the jetspray of warm, red remains of what was once a mutant woman showered across his front, robbing him of his senses and prompting him to faint over onto his side. Meanwhile, even standing 10 meters away Marcella was not spared the stench of innards, burning flesh and iron pressing into her nostrils as she brought both her gloved hands up to cover her grimacing mouth.

"Ewwww-hew-hew-hew-hew gross!" she mewled into her palms as the chunky salsa splattered about her, before a look of terror struck Marcellas face and she quickly ran her grasping fingers across her head to make sure she didn't catch any airborn steaming guts in her hair. "Ohh no, no no no, I don't want that sh** in my hair!" she mewled before her rapid and panicked search revealed no trace of contamination within her beloved mane, which allowed the Psyker to exhale in relief.

For now, the mental understanding that she'd just killed someone, or something as were mutants really people? had not yet dawned on her.