Session 4
Written by Jason (jymmijamz)
Game – Rogue Trader
(Run by) GM – Chris
Altius (Astropath Transcendent) – Jason (jymmijamz)
Victris (Navigator) – Will
Admiral Winter (Lord Captain) – Tanya
Gnothics Sexxophin (Explorator Tech Priest) – NightUlf (Darren)
Chapter 4
Altius slowly starts to come around his previously frost coated eye sockets slowly thaw, and he makes a low groaning sound as his legs finally seem to take his weight. Over their vox-beads the group can make out the binary steeped voice of their Exporator Tech Priest Gnophics, his voice barely discernible over the constant chatter and the sound of whispered promises bleeding into the channel. Around them are the throbbing wires, glowing crystals and illuminated cognitor screens with tech glyph scrolling across them. Filling the air is the sound of a computerized voice.
“Do not enter this area if you are not augmented.”
As he awakes from his warp shocked stupor, during which his mind is filled with images of warp creatures ripping their way onto the ship. Altius looks around trying to associate himself with where he is and how he got there. Looking at his colleagues he all but screams. “We need to move, their coming. Coming fast!”
Meanwhile Gnophics manages to finally gain limited access to some of the ships functions and sets about trying to see what he can do to help his beleaguered comrades. He locates five distinct security zones within Avinor’s domain, and investigates their function and activities.
Admiral Winter looks at the entrance and after some consideration, orders her crew to advance. Upon hearing this Victris’ two servants pull their stub autos and bowing to him ask. “Would you like us to lead the way, so as to protect you?” “No. No, that will not be necessary.” an enigmatic Victris replies, and pulling out his hell pistol pushes his way through the doors. Admiral Winter brings up the rear, berating and shoving all before her.
On entering the hallowed ground of the tech priest, Victris spots a mass of tendrils writhing on the ceiling. A glowing red eye shifts out of the mass and a beam of reddish light sweeps over him. Suddenly the previously blue illuminated walls and cognitor screens turn red, and is air is filled with the sound of a piercing scream. As the crew mates dive for cover, the Lord Captain strides purposefully down the corridor haranguing and cajoling her underlings. “Stop being such cowards and get moving you scurvy land lovers.”
At his distant terminal the teams’ tech priest becomes aware that he may have just activated the defences in the area currently occupied by his colleagues. Franticly stabbing cognitor keys, Gnophics manages to activate the bulkhead doors at the other end of the corridor.
Admiral Winter gives a small jump as a pair of slaved servitors, their corpse flesh meshed with heavy gears and machinery; start to pull on clanking chains. As the squealing bulkhead slides into the ceiling the Lord Captain becomes aware of a pair twin linked heavy bolters, dropping out of the ceiling further up the corridor. As the turret rotates to take aim up the red lit corridor she dives to one side, seeking cover.
As Admiral Winter dives to the side the red coated crew member from the St Drusus, just has time to wonder why she disappeared, before his body bursts into a red mist and pulped meat and bone paints the area.
Wiping blood and gore from her face, Admiral Winter takes a moment to gather herself before leaning out of cover, and let’s loose a volley plasma bolts at the turret. As she sticks her head out, the guns turn and target her. As they cycle up to firing speed, they suddenly explode. Back at his terminal the cognitor screen suddenly registers the guns offline. Curiosity getting the better him Gnophics switches on the pic-grabbers in the entrance passage. The image, being fed directly into his brain, shows a scene of destruction. Red mist, still settling, fills the air. Winter stands at the forefront of the grainy image, apparently having just destroyed a much valued and irreplaceable weapon of the Omnissiah. As he takes in the destruction, Gnophics notices that the cognitor screen is showing a group of murder servitors are on their way to eliminate the intruders.
Punching keys, he manages to order the servitors to turn away from the area.
As the group become aware of a steady, rhythmic vibration coming through the floor and wall plates, leading members of the party can see a hoary frost starting to form around the bulkhead.
Admiral Winter rushes through the open doorway and into a large chamber, encompassing several floors of the ship, both above and below her. At its centre is a large piece of tech, but she has no idea exactly what it is, the room is swarming with tech priests trying to cajole and coax the massive machine to quietness.
This must be the place; the Gellar field generator must be around here somewhere!
As she tries to get her bearings, two gun turrets lower out of the ceiling. As they click into place, they start panning the room looking for targets. Locking onto Winter’s heat signature, the turrets open up with their twin linked bolters, sending her scurrying for cover.
Seeing his colleagues advancing, Altius edges up the corridor to join Victris. As he slips into cover Victris’ two servants give him a disparaging look, Altius shrugs at them and asks. “What do you want me to do, throw my staff at it?”
Ignoring those around him Victris leans out from behind the bulkhead and opens fire on the turrets, trying to emulate his captain, but to little effect.
The gun turrets open fire once and Admiral Winter dives out of the way. With a prayer to the god emperor on her lips, darts for a stack of crates snapping of a series of wild shots. Slipping into cover she realises that she can hear heavy bolter fire coming from the other side of a closed bulkhead door behind her. Looking around she can also see a group of murder servitors heading their way, Things are going to get very interesting, very soon.
Lifting his, Aquila engraved heavy bolter round, pendant to his lips. Altius focuses his mind and sends out a request that the tech priests allow them access into the area. Suddenly a mechanical voice booms over the tannoy system. “A mutant has entered our sacred domain, combat servitors have been tasked to find and eliminate the abomination.” Hearing this, the already nervous Altius turns and runs back down the corridor. As he turns he becomes aware of a group of servitors stomping towards him, their guns sweeping the corridor, looking for targets.
As Altius skids to a halt franticly looking for cover, he is struck from behind. Crashing to the ground he hears Victris’ voice growling in his ear. “We need the data key. This way.” he says dragging Altius in the cover. As the two newly acquainted crew mates huddle in to the shadows the servitors just keep on marching, they stomp straight past them and into the central chamber.
Back in the main chamber, cowering in cover, the Lord Captain spots a tech priest start to scream. Looking more closely she can see its augmetics punching their way out of his body. Turning at the sound of stomping footsteps she can see a group of combat servitors entering the room. Just as she is wandering how things could get any worse there is a shout. “Blood for the blood god, skulls for the skull throne.” With all the nice around her, she’s not sure, but thinks it is coming from behind the close bulkhead door off to the right of the room. With the shout still ringing in her ears the gun turrets retract back into the ceiling, and the Lord Captain breathes a sigh of relief.
Dragging himself to his feet and edging along the corridor away from the central chamber, he turns to this team mate. “I don’t think we can survive this, there are too many of them. We can’t fight those servitors.” says the terrified Altius.
Seeing his colleague in a state of panic, Victris decides to try and knock Altius out and retrieve the data key. The two mutants stand toe to toe, fist flailing, neither able to get the upper hand. Looking at each other the navigator’s servants join the fray, knocking Altius to the ground.
In the central chamber, the turrets suddenly reappear and open fire. There is a clicking sound and one of the turrets retracts back into its housing. As Lord Captain Admiral Winter assesses the situation, there is a loud crash. From the now destroyed bulkhead a group of chaos minions storm into the room, rushing her position, they knock her to the floor. The last thing she sees before darkness envelopes her, is the twin linked bolters of the one remaining turret opening fire, felling cultist all around her.
Whilst the group out in the corridor are swapping blows, they become aware of a loan combat servitor that has broken away from the main group and is bearing down on them. Mere meters away stumbles and drops to its knees, and starts screaming, as it’s machine parts start to warp and push out of its body.
The sight is too much for the distraught astropath, and he redoubles his efforts to escape. The next moment the servitor goes deathly quiet and trains its guns on the franticly flailing group, as maniacal laughter issues from its Vox-caster.
Back at his cognitor unit in the teleportarium, Gnophics switches on the pic-grabbers in the central chamber. In the grainy image he can make out Winter, unmoving on the ground, as the gun turrets steadily kills the chaos warriors. Panning the pic-grabber he can make out tech priest convulsing, as their holy implants warp and twist. Above them hovers an entity, a hideous creature of the warp. Emanating from it, lighting leaps from priest to priest. Each priest it touches, seems to become infected, with their augmetics also warping.
Out in the corridor Altius realises that his attackers are after something, finding it hard to focus, it takes him a few seconds to realise that it is the data key. Dropping it his squirms out from under the press of bodies, and makes a bid for freedom. As Altius hares down the corridor, Victris scoops up the key and turns back to the servitor, just as it opens fire. Shells burst and explode around him. As the gun runs down, and he can hear the things auto loader whirring as it loads in a new feed of ammo, Victris takes a moment to pat himself down and mentally check his body for damage. Finding nothing he takes his chance and darts pat the servitor into the cathedral like chamber.
From his vantage point, viewing the scene through the pic-grabber, Gnophics slams the bulkhead doors shut sealing the Victris in the room.
Tapping his vox-bead into life, Victris asks their crews tech priest to direct him to the Gellar field generator. Several seconds later a small green light starts to flash, on a cognitor unit several floors below him. Running across the chamber, Victris heads through the turmoil of combat. Reaching the stairs to the level below, he takes them two at a time. As Victris nears his destination a stray round hits him full in the chest, knocking him off his feet. Although his body armour took the brunt of the impact agony racks his body. Bruising, probable internal bleeding! Upon seeing his comrade savagely struck down, Gnophics tries to shut down the servitors and turrets. But the ships systems choose that moment to retaliate, and shunts him out.
Fighting through the pain, Victris drag himself to the field generator terminal. Pulling the data key from his pocket, he slams it into place. All around him the corrupted tech priests and servitors slump to the ground, the gun turrets sweep the room looking for targets. Finding only one, they lock onto the prostrate form of Victris. With a whine, the guns start to cycle up to firing speed.
Meanwhile the fleeing Altius finds himself in a part of the ship he does not recognise. Stopping, he leans against the wall trying to catch his breath. As his breathing slows and the thumping of his heart in his ears quietens, Altius realises he is not alone. Looking up he comes face to face with a huge tusked, green visage. “Hummie return, are you trying to stop me tinkering?” it growled. “Boss, boss can we pull its legs off? The Mechz love attaching new limbs, they will be really happy.”
Altius, backpedalling away from the small green hominid scampering around his feet, holds up his hands. “Stop you? No, no I was, ah um. Well um.”
I hear gun fire, is there a scrap?” The hulking green monstrosity asks, cocking its head to one side.
“Ah yes. A fight!” Pointing back the way he thinks he came, Altius stammers on. “Yes. Ah yes, its back the way I came.”
“Are you fleeing?” The thing says, leaning in close, its fetid breath washes over Altius.
“Fleeing! No, no I was, ah. Looking for, um, assistance. Yes that’s it. I was looking for assistance.”
With a grunt the large xenos reaches out and its hand closes over Altius’ head, and lifting him off his feet, the brute starts to stomp back towards the sounds of the fire fight.
Back in the teleportarium Gnophics, becoming aware of his crewmates predicaments rushes over to the main controls. Throwing switches, he locks onto his companions and uttering the rituals of actuation, throws a lever. Turning to the screen, Gnophics sees the twin linked bolters get up to speed and open fire. As the first rounds start to spit across the chamber, Victris is no longer there. Switching feeds to the outer corridor the tech priest can see the large green creature, examining its now empty hands, with a look of confusion on its big ugly face. With a shake of its head, it reaches out and rips a pipe from the wall. Shrugging off bolter fire it stomps over to the murder servitor, and starts to beat it into a mangled, bloody pulp. Turning back to the teleportarium’s main plate, Gnophics Sexxophin is greeted by the sight of his battered and bloodied crewmates.
GAMING TALES 