Rogue Trader - Footfall

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Montresor
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Post by Montresor »

From the darkness below, a horrendous, mutated, contortion of a man scrambles upwards. Like the Hullghast before it, it has the waxy-grey skin, the recessed pink eyes, and slavering mouth wide enough to swallow a whole boot. Unlike the other, this mutant has a hideously twisted back - a lumpy and spiralling spine which arches out impossibly. The thing sways uneasily from side to side as it climbs, yet still manages to do so with speed.

Drak-Kung kicks at the mutant as it climbs, his balance on the rungs becoming precarious. The mutant clambers up, slashing with a free hand at its prey.

[Disaster strikes! Your next kick was a critical fail - you rolled a natural 100. Only a good success on an Ag test saved you from falling from the ladder completely. Drak-Kung has to brace himself, hanging from one side of the ladder. The mutant gets two free attacks as you do so - both of which hit!]

Razor sharp talons stab upwards. The first thrust scratches along the Chief's armour ineffectually. The second finds a weakened groove and punctures into the soft flesh underneath. Talons as cold as these Void-washed decks become stained with hot blood.

[Drak-Kung suffers 1 Wound. The mutant is now face to face with him, both sharing one half of the same ladder rung. Drak-Kung has so far managed to retain his boltpistol]

From far below, the sound of something else scrambling up the ladder can be heard.
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"Yes," I said, "for the love of God!" - Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado.

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Post by Drak-Kung »

"Radical tactics and a large helping of luck are my only hopes now" he thinks, thoughts racing on a tidal wave of adrenaline.

--OOC--OK, here we go...Unarmed Combat application...Fate Point if it will help...Swing body around, and grab on to mutant, kick off and drop, using grip and my weight to lever it into a throw down the ladder shaft....
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Swinging himself bodily while holding tightly on to the rungs, Drak-Kung shoves with his feet against the mutant. The thing's malformed spine retards its won agility, and it is not able to shift aside to avoid the attack. Flailing wildly, the creature off-sets the Arch-Militant even as it falls to its own death.

[You succeeded on the manoeuvre very well, however, your Ag test to keep your balance at the end would have been a catastrophic failure. You used a Fate Point for a re-roll]

Both mutant and Arch-Militant plummet down the well. Drak-Kung is able to grab hold of a rung, falling only a half-dozen feet. The mutant plummets down the well, flailing and howling. The sound of an impact below leads to a cacaphony of howls in the wheel...followed by an echoing thud. All is silent.
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"Yes," I said, "for the love of God!" - Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado.

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Post by Montresor »

Scaling the ladder another half-dozen floors, Drak-Kung finally arrives at a level whose walls are painted blue. Unlike the other levels of the Mazeworks, the fixtures here are fully functioning, and the grates and metal panes appear intact and serviceable. Finally, the Arch-Militant is in a corridor which remains fully illuminated.

Emerging from the room containing the ladder well, Drak-Kung sees that he is in a wide access corridor, from which other side-chambers and corridors branch out. Besides the humming of technology, all is quiet.
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"Yes," I said, "for the love of God!" - Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado.

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Post by Drak-Kung »

actually...I'm trying to bring the hullghasts all with me..there's clearly been several....I'd not finish going up, but wait, and if none were coming up, make some noise, go back down a bit, listen, repeat as needed until I get the pack in pursuit again.
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Post by Montresor »

[I assumed you would. A reliable Auger reading in teh well was not possible, nor could Drak-Kung hear any sounds. A re-reading on the blue-painted level also displays a lack of movement or detection of life forms. Though any of this could be from bad rolls. Drak-Kung still appears to be left alone]
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Post by Drak-Kung »

Go back down a level at a time, trying to draw the beasts in...
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Post by Montresor »

As he begins to stalk back down to the levels below, the almost imperceptible sounds of creeping from lower decks tip Drak-Kung off that the chase has turned into a more careful and deliberate hunt. Groans from stress on the metal nearly drown out the sounds of creeping mutants, but the Arch-Militant begins to slowly return to the prepared ambush point. Clambering over the final rung, Drak-Kung hears the sudden rush of creatures from below and, without warning, the chase has resumed.

[The combat was done in an abstract and individual fashion. Abstract for the Armsmen, and individual for Drak-Kung. It did not start off well...in fact it went terribly badly]

Dashing down the halls, Drak-Kung virtually staggered into the waiting ambush, two squads hiding in side rooms, with an autocannon concealed behind netting and drums. On his heels, the dark kin of the Mazeworks thirsted.

Stunned by the arrival of their Chief and his pursuers, the crew of the autocannon hesitate. When they open fire, it is almost too late. The tight corridors of the level are washed in las-fire, and peppered with autogun bursts. Drak-Kung expends the last of his bolt-pistol ammunition, ripping into the shoulder of a Hullghast, before it is upon him.

[Drak-Kung was largely saved by his exceptional ability to dodge in this fight. Numerous times he would have taken very savage blows from his opponent if not for Dodge. He was lucky that he was only engaged by one assailant. Only one Hullghast was felled before crashing into the ambush - the ambush failed on a natural 100 - and four others began to tear through the squads]

Blood splatters and shards of torn armour scatter about the brightly-lit halls. A corporal is dragged into another room by a hunched mutant with an over-sized clutching fist. His squadmates panic and open fire, filling both the creature and its captive with bullets and las-fire. Jagged talons tear with savage fury at the surprised armsmen, who struggle dearly for their lives.

Drak-Kung darts from one side of a hall to another, stumbling into a disused room to avoid the deadly slashes of his opponent. Adrenaline kicks in and the Arch-Militant perceives little but the bloody haze of his own fight. His mono-barong free, he cuts and stabs whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Meanwhile, armsmen fall with torn throats gushing crimson anguish across sterile grates. A private is eviscerated as her squadmates pour blasts from autoguns and shotguns into a loping creature from the Black Holds.

Drak-Kung's adversary gurgles blood and dies, its face torn open by the Arch-Militant's weapon. A half dozen bursts chase the last mutant back down the hall, before it escapes in some dark recess.

[Four Armsmen were killed for Four Hullghasts. Other armsmen have been wounded, amounting to a casualty rate over fifty percent. The blinding speed of the Hullghasts is not to be understimated, nor is the fear that they caused in all who fought them. However, that the ambush failed so drastically seems suspicious]

In the time it takes for a psyker to be sent for, the squads count their losses and administer basic first-aid. It is clear that they are no state to pursue, and it is not known how many more creatures may lurk in the Mazeworks. Other squads can be brought from elsewhere, though Drak-Kung is informed that, while he was missing, they have all been regrouping at the main marshalling point. Some squads have brought various pieces of evidence with them, but no systematic account of squads or trappings has yet been made.

[You can wait for the psyker to arrive, or you can do something else]
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"Yes," I said, "for the love of God!" - Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado.

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Post by Drak-Kung »

Over vox-beads, start accounting for all people/squads, plus inventory of evidence/trappings found. Other than that, wait on psyker.
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Post by Montresor »

Over vox-reports, Drak-Kung begins to get an image of what has been transpiring in the Mazeworks.

- All sergeants have reported back in, excluding Hector, his squad, and the tech-priests sent to aid him at the door. As yet, no squads have been sent to their area to investigate what happened, though Hector is not responding to any messages.

- Numerous articles of clothing, some looking to be generations old, have been found in the darkest placest of the Mazeworks. Almost all clothes discovered this way have been torn and are caked with dried blood. Some appear to have had their name tags removed.

- The half-mad armsman found by Drak-Kung and his squad has been taken to the Medicae facility. He has yet to be questioned in any manner. The skin he was carrying certainly belonged to one of the missing children. Further evidence suggests that the missing children and others have most likely been killed in exceptionally barbaric ways. Some other tatters of skin and fresh meat and bloody clothes have been found.

Navigator Karis arrives, escorted by two armsmen. The armsmen state that they sought Du Preste, but that Karis insisted he go instead. Du Preste was not located, but is probably in Footfall itself.

Karis, his youthful face hidden behind his cowl, examines the corpses of the mutants. He walks some distance ahead of the ambush, procceeding in small bounds towards the ladder shaft. Pausing every now and again, Karis finally turns to face Drak-Kung.

'I know where these creatures may dwell. There are very few left, and to get at them it would be best to use only a small force. Perhaps just four of us could sneak into their lair and finish these abominations'.

[Drak-Kung is unsure why, but Karis's demeanour deeply unsettles him. He does not know whether this is simply because the man is a Navigator and, therefore, his psykic taint is disturbing, or whether it is because Karis is lieing]
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Post by Drak-Kung »

Select my 2 absolute best who are here. "A moment, please let me leave word of what we are doing." Step a bit away, and vox-bead in...use Secret Tongue (Mil.) to inform of my suspicions regarding this psyker, before fully reloading my bolt-pistols and heading off.
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Post by Montresor »

[I made a check for Drak-Kung's Secret Tongue (Military), but I will withold the result. The men say nothing, but nod their assent]

After reloading and selecting two able-bodied armsmen, Drak-Kung takes the lead, following Navigator Karis's directions. The two armsmen march behind Karis, evidently unwary and ill-at-ease with venturing once more into the Mazeworks.

Karis directs the men to descend the ladder into the irradiated decks below. This time the journey is lit by a hand-held lumen torch, though it does little to cast off the oppressive atmosphere.

Twenty or more decks below, Karis indicates for the party to exit onto a dank and rusted sub-level. He unhooks a heavy looking pistol from beneath his robes and points forth. 'They will be lurking in the back rooms on this level. It will be easier if I lead the way'.

[Karis will take the lead, unless you wish to prevent him from doing that]
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Post by Drak-Kung »

Follow along closely...ready to put a couple (or many) rounds into him should be prove false.
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Post by Montresor »

Karis leads the three men through the rusted halls of the sub-level. Not a sound but that of their own movement can be heard. The light in here is non-existant, except for that held by one of the armsmen.

'They are down here . . . I can feel their presence,' Karis whispers. 'Ugghh!' The Navigtor throws a hand to his head and grips his brow, his body visibly shuddering. The light is cast upon him.

'Wh-what's the matter?'

In an instant, Karis has thrown himself about, pulling the cowl from his head. Drak-Kung, on edge and watchful for the whole time, dives to his right, into a narrow side room. The two armsmen are not so lucky.

The sub-level is filled with cries of horror and agony - two minds boiling to the point of insanity and beyond. Their vision filled with the pure Warp of Karis's third eye, the armsmen's mortal minds are sundered and cast into a sea of pure chaos.

[Drak-Kung succeeded in a Dodge roll, with a bonus due to his suspicions, and thus avoided Karis's gaze. He has found himself in a dark side room, the only source of light being the torch in the hall, now rolling across the floor]

A long gasp of exertion comes from the Navigator. The armsmen gibber insanely, uttering sounds and words beyond the scope of their Low Gothic.

'You killed Myrkris!' Karis's voice is strained, and raging. 'Suffer the justice of the Ascended!'
Last edited by Montresor on Fri Jun 25, 2010 2:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Drak-Kung »

Shoot him. A lot. Shoot him until I have a FRM (Fine Red Mist)
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Post by Montresor »

Drak-Kung wrote:Shoot him. A lot. Shoot him until I have a FRM (Fine Red Mist)
[He is currently in the dark (as are you), so will be difficult to hit. Also, if you catch sight of his eye, it could very well kill you. I'll need more specific instructions before he is turned into a fine mist :) ]
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Post by Drak-Kung »

keep my eyes low....upper edge of field of vision being waist level.half-action to use Auger Array to compensate for reduced sight on target, half action to shoot.
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Post by Montresor »

His Auger-Array and vox-bead scrambled by the exposed machinery of this sub-level, Drak-Kung cannot get a definite fix on Karis. He hears the Navigator move and, leaping out in the darkness, there is an eruptiuon of gunfire.

Bolts and bullets blaze away, throwing shadows into explosive relief. As bolts riddle his body, Karis is illuminted in deathly light - ruptures tearing his upper torso apart. Drak-Kung is simultaneously hit by Karis's frenzied fire, and thrown against a wall, his chest and right shoulder aching from the rents left in them by gunfire.

The sub-level is quiet, but for the faint, gibbering moans of an armsman. Karis is dead, and Drak-Kung lies against a wall, blood running over his cracked armour.

[considering the penalties applied to both of you, that was an amazingly quick combat. On the second round, you rolled amazingly well, and hit him with no less than four bolts! He was torn apart. He also hit you - twice, causing 5 Wounds. Both of your boltpistols are half empty]
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Post by Drak-Kung »

Reloading bolt pistols....scout around the area...Musing to myself, "perhaps the reason the psyker attacked is we are too close to discovering whatever Void-spawned abomination he forswore the Emperor's light for..."
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Post by Montresor »

Down to his last clips, Drak-Kung scouts about the Sub-Level. The incongruity of the level soon become apparent. Besides the entrance by the ladder, there appear to be no other possible exits. Even the vents seem sealed, not even stagnant or polluted air blows through them.

One of the armsmen still lives, whispering furiously to himself, his mind having been irreversibly shattered by the vision of the Warp seen through Karis's eye.

No other sounds stir in the darkness, nor can the Arch-Militant get a clear signal on his micro-bead.
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