Between the Darkness/Session 16

Clavis_Morden: ((Freeze frame: Three hapless acolytes against six giant mutant rats. Will our heroes survive?))

Atella: grabs her shockmaul and awkwardly tries to hit the nearest rat with it

Atella: .dh 30

Fatespinner: Atella rolled a 84 on a d100 for 5 degrees of failure.

Atella: (why do I even bother)

Atella: (Atella's more of an intimidator/charmer than a fighter)

Tylorva: (( *sniggers* ))

Tylorva: (( *ducks* ))

Atella: (yes okay, she does those things badly too =p)

Atella: (I hate invisiblecastle and it hates me ;)

Mercution_Hastus: was taken aback by the quick lunge of the vermin. So as not to turn his own legs in bloody mush, he lets go of the shotgun, the weapon hanging from the sling, and draws the autopistol. Squeezing the trigger, he sprays the rats with bullets.

Mercution_Hastus: ((Intimidator/charmers are the first people, who should have the ability to draw their weapon quickly.))

Mercution_Hastus: ((Free action to drop the shotgun, quick-drawing the pistol, full-auto.)) Fatespinner: Mercution_Hastus rolled a 58 on a d100 for 0 degrees of success.

Mercution_Hastus: ((For 11 damage. ))

Mercution_Hastus: ((Unless the rat dodges.))

Fatespinner: Tylorva rolled a 78 on a d100 for 2 degrees of failure.

Tylorva: Most of Mercustion's shots go wild, but one of the rats squeals as it is struck straight through it's abdomen. It falls to the floor, screeching in pain.

Clavis_Morden: Clavis scrambles for her laspistol, squeezing the trigger as soon as she has it free of holster and rain coat. She should have taken a second to aim properly first, she realizes too late. Then Mercution's fully automatic fire thunders through the sewer and her eyes go wide. Surely any natural vermind will flee now?

Fatespinner: Clavis_Morden rolled a 33 on a d100 for 0 degrees of failure.

Clavis_Morden: ((draw laspistol, shoot, miss))

Tylorva: The rat is just too nimble.

Tylorva: (( Ok, Two rats on Atella: ))

Fatespinner: Tylorva rolled a 27 on a d100 for 1 degrees of success.

Fatespinner: Tylorva rolled a 41 on a d100 for 0 degrees of success.

Tylorva: (( *nibble nibble* Want to dodge? ))

Atella: (yes please)

Fatespinner: Atella rolled a 96 on a d100 for 5 degrees of failure.

Atella: (...)

Fatespinner: Tylorva rolled [9] for a total of 9

Fatespinner: Tylorva rolled [5] for a total of 5

Tylorva: (( 11 and 7 damage respectively ))

Atella: (11-3=8-5*2=-2)

Atella: (so no damage then)

Tylorva: (( Your armour works. ;) ))

Tylorva: (( Two rats on Clavis ))

Fatespinner: Tylorva rolled a 32 on a d100 for 1 degrees of success.

Fatespinner: Tylorva rolled a 74 on a d100 for 2 degrees of failure.

Tylorva: (( One potentially hits. ))

Clavis_Morden: "Damned things, they must be rabid! Don't let them bite you!"

Tylorva: They do seem to be frothing at the mouth a little.

Fatespinner: Clavis_Morden rolled a 92 on a d100 for 5 degrees of failure.

Fatespinner: Tylorva rolled [6] for a total of 6

Tylorva: (( 8 damage, primitive ))

Clavis_Morden: One of the rat bites at Clavis' ankles but the arts of the Mechanicus in form of the mesh armor protect her.

Tylorva: (( One rat on Mercution ))

Fatespinner: Tylorva rolled a 37 on a d100 for 0 degrees of failure.

Tylorva: (( Bahhh! ))

Mercution_Hastus: "They'll 'ardly be able to bite through..." responds Mercution, nonetheless, sidestepping the bite. "But yes, disease-ridden the are!"

Atella: "Try to bite me, you filthy lit... big rats?!"

Atella: swings her shock maul at the nearest rat skull

Clavis_Morden: "I hate this place!" Clavis exclaims with rare forcefulness.

Fatespinner: Atella rolled a 7 on a d100 for 3 degrees of success.

Fatespinner: Tylorva rolled a 9 on a d100 for 4 degrees of success.

Tylorva: The rat scurries away before the blow can land.

Mercution_Hastus: "You haven't seen the best of it yet." Mercution targets the last of "his" rats and lets off a burst. "Or worse. Or whatever."

Fatespinner: Mercution_Hastus rolled a 1 on a d100 for 6 degrees of success.

Clavis_Morden: "It actually gets *worse*?"

Tylorva: (( Yeah, the one rat on Mercution is now smeared across the floor. Yuck. ))

Clavis_Morden: Clavis grabs her pistol tightly and tracks one of the rats for a moment before trying to hit it again. "Leave me alone already!"

Fatespinner: Clavis_Morden rolled a 35 on a d100 for 1 degrees of success.

Clavis_Morden: ((Righteous Fury, 15E damage ... unless it dodges))

Tylorva: The rat squeals as an energy blast burns straight through it. There is the foul stench of burnt fur and sewage.

tylorva: (( Ok, one rat on Clavis: )

Fatespinner: tylorva rolled a 25 on a d100 for 1 degrees of success.

Fatespinner: Clavis_Morden rolled a 7 on a d100 for 2 degrees of success.

tylorva: (( *cries* ))

Clavis_Morden: Clavis kicks at the rat and manages to avoid being bitten again.

tylorva: The two rats on Atella seem to realise they can't bite through her armour and try to scurry away towards the others.

Atella: (can I still hit them with the maul if I over-extend or take a step or something?)

tylorva: (( Yup. ))

Atella: "Hey, where do you think you're going!"

Atella: takes a step and swings at the slowest rat

Fatespinner: Atella rolled a 99 on a d100 for 6 degrees of failure.

Atella: (sigh)

Clavis_Morden: ((you really have the worst of luck :( ))

Atella: (yes I do)

tylorva: Mercution blasts one of the rats into smithereens.

Mercution_Hastus: "Nowhere." Mercution lifts the autopistol and stops rats on their tracks. "Eh, I think I'm wasting such phrases on the vermin..."

Clavis_Morden: "Mmmrrrrh!" Her face screwed up with both disgust and concentration Clavis sends another laser blast towards the rats still trying to eat her.

tylorva: Slightly singed, the rat runs away down a crack.

Atella: wearily hooks her maul back in its place

Atella: mutters under hear breath

Atella: sighs and turns to Mercution "so... where now?"

Mercution_Hastus: "Stupid.." Mercution was checking his boot and coat for bites and holes. "rat... creatures." He looked up. "Down the tunnel, where else." He slammed new clip in the autopistol and stopped to listen, whether the sound of fighting alerted anyone.

Clavis_Morden: "Did ... did any of you get bitten?" Clavis looks worried. "These things must carry terrible diseases."

Mercution_Hastus: shakes his head.

Clavis_Morden: carefully puts her laspistol away again, muttering a small prayer of thanks. Master Ravion's gift has served her well.

Atella: knocks on her carapace

Atella: "guess they don't like how I taste"

Clavis_Morden: Clavis looks confused for a moment, then laughs. "Yes, the arts of the Mechanicus saved me from their teeth as well."

Mercution_Hastus: "We are all lucky that we had some armour - and that creatures were too few. Cleaners're true to their name on their territories."

Clavis_Morden: "It's good that no one was hurt," Clavis nods. "Let's hope it continues like that."

Clavis_Morden: She follows Mercution down the tunnel ... not that there is any other direction to go in.

Mercution_Hastus: "Not our usual target, of course." He chuckled. "Things could've been worse. Scalies, twists, wyrds, cannibals - though, we saw a couple of those, of the rather meek variety..." He proceeds further, speaking calmly and quietly.

tylorva: from all directions there are monstrous and inhuman sounds (which to Mercution is the normal background noise of the underhive ))

Clavis_Morden: grimaces, recognizing some of the words Mercution used and guessing the others. "Is mutation and corruption really so rampant down here?"

Clavis_Morden: "Why is no one ... oh, I guess you were doing something about it."

Mercution_Hastus: "Heh. Drugs from the lowest levels are telling more outrageous strories." He spares a glance back on the women, his voice low and conspirational. "Rat-people. Giant humanoid rats, walking on hind legs! Fur, rat-heads and everything. Occasionaly, armed with weapons and dressed in armour. Supposedly."

Atella: looks around

Atella: "Can we... get out of here?"

Clavis_Morden: shudders at the though of such abhuman creatures.

Clavis_Morden: "Yes, please ... so let's do this quickly!"

Mercution_Hastus: "Of course," He becomes bored and calm again. "grox-dung. Would you believe that? I mean, scalies and mutants with tentacles... Well, everything happens. But really - rat-people? Ha."

Clavis_Morden: ((How is Sand doing, btw?))

tylorva: (( So tempting... ;) ))

Clavis_Morden: grips her staff harder at the mention of mutants with tentacles.

tylorva: Sand weasels his way out from the heap of trash he had hidden behind.

Clavis_Morden: "Come, don't tarry," Clavis tells Sand not unkindly. Even he doesn't deserve being left alone down here.

tylorva: "I... you should go on ahead. I'mm go back."

Atella: "On your own?"

Atella: raises an eyebrow

Atella: "Remember the cannibals?"

Mercution_Hastus: "You know," Hastus adresses Sand, when he spots him. "For someone, who stole an insignia from Interrogator's corpse, tried to infiltrate the Arbites' Precinct and recruited his own agents under false name, you are suprisingly meek. Not to mentioned, that you escaped the slaver ring, full of heretics and witches. Or is the collar?"

tylorva: "That was before I got caught."

Clavis_Morden: "Not to mention the trigger-happy Stormtroopers. Better come with us," Clavis nods.

Mercution_Hastus: "You got caught - and was later _spared_ by an Inquisitor." Mercution noted.

tylorva: "Okay okay..." he hurries along. "It was more fun being the inquisitor."

Atella: raises an eyebrow

tylorva: Sand grins at Atella and then winks.

Atella: "I really wouldn't mind if you went back on your own. The thought of something eating you while you're still alive..."

Atella: she grins

Atella: (damn)

tylorva: "Aww, come on. We had a good time."

Atella: "All the shit that's happened to me lately is because of you. You're the reason I'm down here."

Clavis_Morden: looks away. It's the same for her, really. Though of course it was her own fault.

Atella: takes a deep breath

tylorva: "Surely working for the Inquisition is a promotion?"

Atella: regrets it immediately as she has a coughing fit

Atella: snarls "oh yes... I *love* working for the inquisition. It takes me to such *interesting* places!"

Clavis_Morden: "And I wouldn't miss people and *things* trying to kill me for the world," Clavis adds.

tylorva: "Well, maybe one day you can be an inquisitor. It's fun."

Mercution_Hastus: looks back at each of the travellers in turn and shrugs. "Can't complain."

Clavis_Morden: "Some of which are the very people giving us orders. Reinhardt's people might well kill us by accident. *He* still might kill us entirely on purpose."

tylorva: "Yeah, what's the deal with this Reinhardt fellow anyway?"

Clavis_Morden: shakes her head, wondering how Sand can be so naive. There's a chasm wide as the space between stars between someone like Inquisitor Vika Shaeye and the likes of them.

Atella: "Let's do what we came to do and get the hell out of here. I want to take a bath... a week long bath..."

Mercution_Hastus: "Won't your skin dissolve?" Idly wonders the hiver.

Clavis_Morden: "He's the one who has the bolt pistol to our heads for the crime of ... well, not seeing your burnt as a heretic the minute you came before our eyes."

Atella: "Anything is better than this filthy"

Atella: kicks at something nondescript

Clavis_Morden: "Water rations are rather big in this place, but are they big enough for that?"

Atella: "rotten place"

Atella: looks at Mercution

Atella: "No offense"

Mercution_Hastus: "None taken. It is. To the core." He marches on.

tylorva: Everyone heads deeper along the tunnel complex, following Mercution's lead. Several strange symbols seem to have been daubed in chalk on the walls fairly recently.

Mercution_Hastus: ((Ciphers (Underworld)?))

Atella: looks at the symbols

tylorva: (( Roll it! You can have a +20 ))

Fatespinner: Mercution_Hastus rolled a 72 on a d100 for 1 degrees of failure.

Atella: "what do those say? "Welcome, food?""

Mercution_Hastus: ((FP))

Fatespinner: Mercution_Hastus rolled a 14 on a d100 for 4 degrees of success.

tylorva: They are gang markings, basically warning of trouble ahead.

tylorva: You are not far from the cave now.

Clavis_Morden: gives the symbols a few curious looks as well

Mercution_Hastus: traces the marking with his finger, moving his lips. He turns to those present. "Trouble ahead. Be alert."

Atella: "right"

Clavis_Morden: nods silently. More trouble? What could be something the people of this hellish realm would call actual trouble?

Mercution_Hastus: moves ahead of the group, keeping silent. He will be the first to spot the supposed trouble and has the most chance of not be spotted in turn.

Atella: readies her shotgun

Mercution_Hastus: ((If necessary, rolling for Awareness or Silent Move/Concealment.))

Mercution_Hastus: ((Awareness.))

Fatespinner: Mercution_Hastus rolled a 52 on a d100 for 0 degrees of failure.

Mercution_Hastus: ((FP))

Mercution_Hastus: .dh 49

Fatespinner: Mercution_Hastus rolled a 9 on a d100 for 4 degrees of success.

Mercution_Hastus: reaches inside his flak coat and feels the familiar shape of the crude yet working device, bought for a biting price from a 'rek. He flips the switch of a stummer. Ganger certainly hopes it would work.

Mercution_Hastus: ((SIlent Move))

Fatespinner: Mercution_Hastus rolled a 52 on a d100 for 2 degrees of success.

Fatespinner: tylorva rolled a 44 on a d100 for 1 degrees of success.

tylorva: You creep up silently towards the cave and spot someone on guard, one of the Cleaners, a girl going by the name of Purple. She doesn't seem to spot you. ((Give me a Scrutiny + 20 roll ))

Fatespinner: Mercution_Hastus rolled a 93 on a d100 for 3 degrees of failure.

Mercution_Hastus: ((FP))

Fatespinner: Mercution_Hastus rolled a 42 on a d100 for 1 degrees of success.

Mercution_Hastus: ((That was the last one.))

tylorva: Something feels wrong. Just the one guard? And she's not even looking the right way?

Atella: covers the rear

Mercution_Hastus: Was this the old "dead sentry" trick? Mercution certainly hoped that it wasn't, considering that this would imply that the girl is dead. He watches carefully, at least for a sign of movement.

tylorva: She's moving. She's just doing an uncharacteristically poor job of being a sentry.

Mercution_Hastus: tries to remember, what kind of tricks Cleaners could be using in a sentry duty. Another, much less obvious sentry, just waiting untill the intruder passes the first? Unless, of course, Purple, or whoever else remains in command, actually wants for an intruder to pass...

Mercution_Hastus: ((Can I actually approach/pass her stealthly?))

tylorva: This doesn't seem like a trick. Something is definitely off.

tylorva: (( You can sneak up towards her. But slipping past her will need another move silent roll. ))

Mercution_Hastus: moves closer, one hand on the autopistol, the other holding the Intios' punch dagger. He didn't actually try to fire the weapon under the stummer's effect, so he also didn't know, whether the shot dould be silenced to any degree.

Mercution_Hastus: ((First, just moving closer and trying to look past her.))

tylorva: Behind her is a small shack that masks the entrance to the hidden cave.

Mercution_Hastus: ((Mercution will try to sneak upon her, hold her mouth, place the dagger to the throat and drag into darkness, somewhere farther from the entrance. Not too rough.))

tylorva: (( Give me a move silent roll. ))

Fatespinner: Mercution_Hastus rolled a 78 on a d100 for 0 degrees of failure.

Mercution_Hastus: ((Crud. Hope, she fails worse.))

Fatespinner: tylorva rolled a 77 on a d100 for 1 degrees of failure.

Clavis_Morden: ((yay))

Atella: (heh)

tylorva: Mercution creeps up to her, at the last moment crunching on some gravel. Purple spins round to face him, but she is too late as he grabs her and puts his knife to her throat. "Aiii!" she yelps.

tylorva: (( What are the other two doing at this point? ))

Atella: is still covering the rear

Atella: (badly)

Mercution_Hastus: ((I assume, the attempt to silence her fails? Did the stummer mute the sound a little?))

Clavis_Morden: ((Depends on what Mercution told us. If he said nothing and simply moved ahead then I guess we'll have followed, slowly, at a distance))

Mercution_Hastus: keep her holds her initially, just as he hold the blade at her flesh, then nods his head to the side, urging her to move further in the darkness of the tunnel, to where the rest of the acolytes are supposed to be. His expression is stern, though not murderous.

Mercution_Hastus: ((Okay, sorry, I am nearly asleep and thus generously sprinkling my posts with typos. ))

tylorva: The stummer seems to dull the sound of her screech a little. Impossible to tell if it was enough though. "No!" The other two see Mercution approaching them with the prisoner.

Clavis_Morden: frowns slightly at seeing Mercution bring a woman along at knife point. Aren't they looking to meet his friends?

Clavis_Morden: "Umm. I really don't know much about this ... is this the usual way of saying hello, down here?"

Mercution_Hastus: "Something's wrong here." Mercution answers quickly, then adresses the girl. "Keep quiet. No one is going to hurt you, if you explain what's going on." He takes away the knife, but still holds her close.

tylorva: (( Okies, I really need sleep, so let's stop there and we can pick it up next week. ))