Dark Heresy - Saladaris Cell (Inactive)

Game Master Aiunder

Open for dotting.

I hope my body can take it.

Dot ^^

Might I recommend making a semi automatic burst -5 BS and a full auto -10 BS? Makes much more sense to me anyway.

Dot

Dot

The year is m40.337 in the Calixis Sector.

++++Incoming Communique++++
++++Encryption Level: Black Four++++
++++Origin: Classified++++
++++Target: Sector-Calixis / Region-Golgotha Reach / Planet-Brost++++
++++Recipient: Astropath G7432 forwarded to Private Vox Comm D756R52TJ12GDY6++++
Decoding.......
Attention Cell code named Saladaris
You have been sent to Brost to investigate a number of strange deaths reported in the depths of the under hive. Normally such deaths would be left to the purview of the Adeptus Arbites but one of the autopsy reports depicts a brand that is too similar the the symbol of a cult thought purged from the sector some two hundred years ago.

Jacques Equus - Steps have been made to allow you access to local Arbites by altering a transfer order. You will be taking the role of Stepahn Dean who has been 'delayed' for a time. Dossier on Stepahn Dean is attached.

Octus Cammilus has been sent ahead to secure a suitable safe house and base of operations.

Emperor Protects

When Nicodemus and Occux find their way to the address Octus had provided they can't help but feel they've gotten the location wrong. Before them stands an apartment complex two stories high with the second floor accessible only by two rickety and rusted stairways reminiscent of emergency stairwells sometimes seen on mid-hab levels. The lower level is partially blocked off my a wall of debris, probably a section of the upper level of the hive collapsing and dropping whatever helpless peel and buildings were above down to the lower level. As usual this low in hives, anything of possible value has already been dragged off.

Braving the stairs one at a time as they creak and groan you head towards the indicated apartment finding Octus already inside. Thankfully the inside is a fair bit better than the outside. The walls look solid and there are no holes in the roof. The only thing that seems to be in disrepair is a patch on the far wall roughly eight feet wide reaching almost to the ceiling. Its small, roughly the size of motel room but should serve well enough.

Jacques is delayed due to checking in at the local Arbites precinct.

The other two haven't arrived on planet yet but once they're finalized can show up.

Nicodemus looks about the dilapidated upper floor of the hab. The place feels abandoned. He casts his eyes about the room, searching for his other compatriot. Not seeing him, he looks over at his other new ally. Having never had much prior contact with the red priests, he is unsure what to make of him.

Awareness Test to check the room: (Per=24) 1d100 ⇒ 59
Help, I'm blind!

Guardsman

Octus sits off in a corner, lazily flicking at the hammer of his auto pistol. He lifts his head as the door opens and with a grunt greets his compatriots before turning his attention back to his boredom.

.

Occux's bright blue eyes pierce the world from within the cowl of his red Adeptus Mechanicus robes. Each glance is an accumulation of data, his gaze passes over each of the men in the room , pausing, evaluating then moving on.

He does the same with the room they find themselves in. Striding to a maintenance panel on the wall,Occux opens it and using electro-graft in his wrist, interfaces with the buildings cogitator.

If active, he will try to query recent activity/visitation logs/surveillance footage etc.

Tech use 1d100 ⇒ 31

There is no active cogitator in this entire building. It is a run down slum with barely working lights. There are the remains of a panel though, unfortunately the innards have long been stolen.
I was hoping Octus would take the opportunity to play tour guide to everyone so feel free to read that spoiler

Jacques arrives at the local precinct shared by the Arbites and the city police. The building is built in military fashion of sturdy plastcrete walls and slotted firing holes on either side of the entrance. Let through into the Arbites section Jacques can't help look around in distaste. The precinct is small, disorganised and slovenly. They have only one large room with the sergeants office located behind glass. This looks more like one division inside a normal precinct but it seems down here this is all they get.
The sergeant is waiting for you when you arrive. "Stepahn Dean! In my office now!"
He takes you inside closing the door behind you and proceeds to tell you far too many reasons why the upper levels didn't need to send 'some wannabe hero' down to his ward when his men could take care of a simple gang war. From his ranting you learn that he doesn't trust you, expects you to tow the line, doesn't allow any lone wolves or glory hounds. Of use to you you also find out that the murders that you've been sent to investigate seem to be unrelated to the brand, the brand seems to be a new gangs mark, and probably the work of a nut serial killer since the murders appear to be completely random. They may even be multiple killers. The only thing tying the murders together from his investigation are the method of death, a single blade wound to the brain.

-----

Stepping out of the cavernous hold of the transport lighter Nebdel is shown just how small his view of the universe really is. The spaceport he landed at in on the edge of a city larger than any mountain he had ever seen on his own planet. Stifling the feeling of agoraphobia that briefly haunts him he carefully makes his way downwards into the bowels of the hive city, arriving at the specified apartment complex several days later.

As Jacques steps inside precinct 1423 he can't help but wring his hands at the sight of the place. "Ours was a disused and underfunded force, but Throne the least we had was some damned class, some pride in the job!"

At the sergeant's beckoning, Jacques shuffles into the office. "Stepahn Dean, reporting for duty, sir," he says with barely maintained enthusiasm, all of which quickly evaporates as the man begins to drone on and continue to insult him. He sits quietly through it all, however, maintaining his composure, resisting the urge to slap the man across his rosy, fat dartboard of a face.

"I've no doubt they indeed require my assistance the way this place is kept, much as the man's too damn proud to admit it."

As the conversation takes a turn for actual important events, Jacques leans forward, highly interested, taking mental notes as they come.

Jacques questions the man, asking how many of those killed bore this kind of "gang mark," how many total were the murders and during what time-frame. He also asks the sergeant how far apart did the murders spread, and to what vicinity to one another did they occur. He asks for copies of the autopsy reports and possible access to the morgue area in case he will need to check up on them himself. He also asks if they had a list of witnesses and possible subjects and will ask to see the notes of the first officers on the scene.

Finally, scowling, Jacques thanks the sergeant and exits hastily, trying to get most of the busywork that comes with transferring completed so he can return safely to the safehouse communicated to him earlier.

Hearing the click of a pistol slowly followed by a grunt, Nicodemus jumps with a start and turns to face the sound. He sees Octus waiting for them. He calms himself as the red-robed priest goes to inspect the remains of the room's cogitator panel. Walking over to Octus, he proffers his hand, revealing his intricate tattoos.

"Octus, I take it?"

Octus quickly stuffs his sidearm into a shoulder holster beneath his jacket before getting to his feet and taking the hand before him, "Yeah, that'd be me. A pleasure... Nicodemus I presume?" His eyes briefly glance over the psyker's tattoos, before quickly darting back up to the opposite man's face. With them Octus' lips part, revealing a wide, crooked toothed smile. "Hope you like the place, I don't." He snorts at his own joke, "Got it because that panel back there's got some nifty qualities to it. Whole second room and a route all over the place." His speech is fast paced and hard to follow for those not paying close attention.

Turning from the inoperative panel, Occux watches the two men interact.

"This panel is inoperative. The hidden room...it has access to hive mainline?
He walks over and stiffly extends his hand in greeting.

His hand and the arm that becomes exposed is covered with delicate tattoos, until you realize that they are not tattoos but are in fact circuits embedded in his flesh.

With the same smile Octus turns to the techpriest, "That it does sir, but ya' gotta have the right tools to crack her." Octus' eyes again glance down once again to the hand he's about to take, "Judgin' by yer' circuitry nonsense yer' the perfect man for the job."

Julius Titus "JT" Treadwell stepped into the room and quickly took stock of his companions and their positions. He wasn't completely comfortable with them yet, didn't know them well enough for that. This was his first assignment in a Cell like this and he wasn't about to screw it up.

The former parolee looking hiver Octus had been clicking the hammer of his autopistol again, it made JT nervous, not because he wasn't comfortable around guns or even gunfights. Just something about waiting for that one in a 100,000 th accidental discharge caused JT's heart to pick up the pace a little. The carefree way Octus played with his gun suggested he was overly familiar with it and not likely from service in any guard unit.

The Tech-Priest seemed useful, but hadn't show much personality yet, but maybe he didn't have one. Tech guys across the Imperium were famous for that Tech Priests or not.

The Psyker was a dangerous and powerful companion. JT just prayed tot he God-Emporer that he didn't go sideways and force the group to put him down. That could be ugly, like that time on . . . best not to think about that.

JT sat his voidbag(seabag) down and shed his nondescript greatcoat revealing his matte black Senatorial Guard pattern flak armor worn over his stealth suit. Folding the coat up and setting it next to the bag JT then began taking inventory of his weapons and other gear of war from his voidbag and inspecting them.

"Perimeter is clear, for now. Has anyone checked the other rooms?"

With the same smile Octus turns to the techpriest, "That it does sir, but ya' gotta have the right tools to crack her." Octus' eyes again glance down once again to the hand he's about to take, "Judgin' by yer' circuitry nonsense yer' the perfect man for the job."

" Though Perfection is a laudable goal in its own right, my flesh limited skills will be adequate for the tasks at hand. " Occux pauses as JT enters; his head swivelling slowly almost mechanically toward the soldier. After a moments appraisal that makes JT feel like he's just been scanned by a customs bot, the Occox turns back to Octus "Are you cognizant of the parameters of our present and future association ?"

"Well if I understand things correctly I would say you are the Tech guy and I am the Gun guy. You make stuff work and I get stuff dead. I am planning to make sure we do that for a long time so I would appreciate your help in that relationship for us to not get dead prematurely in the process."

Octus does his best to keep the off put feelings from showing on his face as he watches the techpriest before him gives the newly arrived guardsman the once over. Somehow he expected them to be a bit more... human than that. Quickly he clears his face as Occux's neck slowly rotates back, "Are you cognizant of the parameters of our present and future association?"

For a moment Octus is once again thrown off by the question, his mind having trouble wrapping around the very technically worded question. The brief laps in conversation allows the guardsman to say his piece before Octus can jump in again. When the new man's spiel is said, Octus replies, "Ehm, and I guess I'm the one who'll be takin' care of ya' so long as we're down in the hive."

If Octus is able to notice anything about JT that would point to him being a hiver, he makes a quip that despite his origins, he doesn't really look like a people person decked out with that much gear.

Trying to think how to answer that question. He looks healthy and well fed. His hands work over the guns in a practiced manner. He has a hardened weathered look, he looks vigilant and has a lot of guns. He doesnt speak flowery or clergy like.

Yeah its pretty easy to tell he's a hiver.

Th entrance room is getting pretty small with the five of you here so you decide to move in past the fake wall and settle in while you wait for Jacques to arrive.

-----

The sergeant passes off your questions to your new partner Jo, short for Joseph, who seems quite happy to have you here. Over a cup of caf he tries to fill you in. There have been over ninety murders with this particular M.O. over the last two or three months. The murders, as far as they have heard have been restricted to this level of the hive. The records from the autopsies, well the ones that were fully documented can be accessed through your cogitator display or downloaded to a data slate if you have one. Jo does ask why you're so interested in the gang symbol though because only one victim had it. Unfortunately Administratum efficiency has seen all of the bodies reclaimated and processed. If pressed about the gag symbol further he admits that he doesn't know much about the gang because petty gang warfare isn't dealt with by the Arbites here and left to the local police with the Arbites only getting involved when hive stability is at risk. Deciding that your first day has already been so full of information and seeing your personal gear lying in the corner, Jo suggests you take off and get yourself settled. Inviting you to meet him at his favourite diner for breakfast at 0700.

You take this opportunity to rejoin your comrades in arms at this point and to hopefully start tracking down leads.

Nebdel finally gets to the apartment after getting lost a couple of times. He pauses before going inside. Hoping to hide his embarrassment repeatedly at getting lost. Then he mounts the stairs with a confident sneer.

Hate these kraked hive cities. {sigh} Oh well, that's probably why Risedar sent him here. Have to get used to them sooner or later. Not like I need more practice surviving on primitive worlds.

He claps at the door to announce his presence.

Better be careful for now. A new team is bound to have someone jumpy enough to start shooting if the door just opens.

Occux barely acknowledges the arrival of the assassin, engrossed as he is investigating the access granted by the mainline.

Has Risedar provided Occux with Inquisition access codes, or is he relegated yo hacking his way into pertinent databases.

I'm known as Nebdel Melfcane. His grace sent me along as added muscle. I maybe able to speak to some of the lows such that they can understand. Do we have a starting point yet?

Nebdel takes a quick look around the unit while introducing himself.

Back door for a quick, quiet exit is often a good thing. But it matters who else knows the back door is there.

Nebdel will try to find a place where he can take part in (or at least listen to) any significant conversations and keep an eye on the sewer access point. He will then double check the condition of his gear and wait for the rest of the team to arrive.

You'll have to access any information on your own, you don't have Inquisitorial clearances Occux
The sewer entrance is sealed shut, no-one is using it without a melta-weapon, explosives or some industrial grade tools.
To speed things up...

Jacques arrives and wastes no time covering everything he has learned with the entire cell. You still have about four hours left of the hive's light cycle where businesses are open and people are out and about. During dark cycle respectable and proper people will be safe at home leaving the streets to the gangs and such.

aha, ok I misunderstood.

Hmm... Better try to 'aquire' some tools that will allow us to open that plug. A back door we can not use is useless. Or, it won't be quiet, but maybe we should set up some explosives on that and the main building supports on delay. That way if we need to run fast, no one will be able to follow us.

Jacques, as long as you think the locals will be useful, suggest you try to stay out of anything obvious. This sergeant is likely to get difficult about anything he might see as 'showing off.' So if possible, might be better to let Julian or myself take care of any overt violence needed.
Methinks 90 murders in 3 months is a huge number for any single nutjob. Sounds more like some sort of death cult or something. Was there anything ritualistic about the bodies?
Sounds as if we should make contact with the local authorities and see if they have any additional info on the gang with that particular brand. If it really is just 'normal' gang, mayhap Octus and me should try to join. Bears thinking on.
Do you think there were really no other gang symbols or did the techs just get lazy and not record anything? Hmm... any chance of questioning them?
Can you tech types see any pattern in the victis or locations?
Nicodemus, are the fates telling you anything we should know about this?
Anyone else have other ideas?

Occux obtains a copy of the crime data from Jacques' datapad.

He then runs a series of analyses, trying to obtain any correlations that would produce any localizations the team can look into

Tech Use (int) 1d100 ⇒ 29
Logic (int) 1d100 ⇒ 1

Wow a one, that's pretty lucky and deserving of an epiphany.
Taking the information from Jacques the tech-priest begins to dissect the data, separating and collating any figures or symbols that appear more than once. Furthermore he manages to develop an overlay of a map showing the locations of all ninety murders within the hive. Processing so much information so quickly Occux almost misses a key factor during his work. Almost.. After mapping out the information provided about the victims a detonate pattern begins to form, laid out throughout the glowing green map of the hive. The murders locations and times of death all seem to directly correlate to the populated or claimed planets in the Calixis sector and the estimated age of colonization. Based on this you believe that the murderer or murderers are going to kill again sometime in the next eight hours and can even sanitary the location of the next murder to within a half kilometre.

Bringing up the information on the map you can tell it is the closet thing this area has to an entertainment or red light sector.

There are a few things your not quite certain about though. There are 187 major planetary bodies in the Calixis sector. If you follow your trail of thought then the Arbites are only aware of half of the murders, does the flaw belong to the Arbites or you? If your right, there may be only 7 more victims until they are finished. What will happen when they finish?

Jacques listens thoroughly to the assassin's questions, standing upright with his typical vertical posture, hands held loosely clasped behind his back.

"You know, you're quite inquisitive for a gun-for-hire, though I don't believe I can begrudge you that. I suppose you're right. In order to maintain my cover it's best if I'm not seen operating out of my current station, at least not in public.

The curious thing is the fact that out of all the commonalities of these clearly ritualized murders, only one was seen given such a mark. Perhaps the perpetrators did not want to bring attention to their vile schemes, hoping both the Arbites and the local police, and rightfully so, would mistake the symbol for an odd gang peculiarity."

At Occux's discovery Jacques goes wide-eyed and hurries over to stand over the should of the red-cowled man and stare at the dataslate, hardly comprehending the streams of data that rush past. He finds himself nearly speachless.

"...brilliant, man, truly brilliant. Yes, clearly this has the malignancy of chaos cultism written all over it. Each of the deaths correlate to a planet in the Calixis system? If the next murder will occur within the next eight hours, then we must get out there at once!"

Looking at the map, Jacques snears at the mention of the area. "The so called 'entertainment districts are all to often the true 'hive' of the scum that infests these worlds from my experience. It'll be packed too. I don't know how we'd be able to cover the entire half-kilometer with so many people mulling about, but it may be just the place to start asking questions of the locals."

What time is it now and how long would public transport take to get us there as opposed to just walking?

As the red robed priests slate revealed its secrets even JT could see the pattern forming and it's significance. If they kill all 187. . . "I hate the mutants, even the children, they would swarm over us with their unclean bodies, they ate us, the twisted chaos ridden! . . .

Well looks like we have our first mission. Look for the next killing, see if we can prevent it, and maybe see tome good t%@+ and ass in the process, huh?! And yeah roaming around with an enforcer in the open would probably, put a cramp on it. Octus looks the part, maybe Nebel, me, but not you other three. The three of you together, now that is like the beginning of a bad bar joke. We have to find a way to get you blended in some how if you come along or snugged away in a vehicle nearby or something.

To Jacques:
If I weren't inquisitive, driven, and lucky I would never have gotten out of that armpit I used to call home.

To Occux:
Excellent work techman!
However, in a packed city like this, a half clik is still a large number of people. Anyone have any ideas on how to narrow it down further?

To Julian:
Maybe the others could attempt to portray corrupt versions of themselves. Everyone knows they exist even if not talked about. If they think they can pull it off, that would give the others and excuse to be in that area.

Occux nods his acknowledgement of the others compliments, then turns back to his dataslate.

Having successfully correlated the locations of the murders, Occux now attempts to correlate the particulars of the victims, are they truly random, or crimes of opportunity.

Logic 1d100 ⇒ 30

"Well even if we can't prevent the murder maybe we can at least catch the killer after he has made his kill. Can you scan for life forms that have just gotten killed or anything like that? Plus are these murders done out in the open or hidden away? By a single or multiple a@@+##%s? And most importantly what are the rules of engagement? Are we going loud? And if we do what is the acceptable collateral damages?"

A stray smirk stretches across Octus' face, "Damn good job tech-head, you're a damn bit smarter than me I tells ya!" He leans over and heavily pats the Occux on the back, "If you ask me we should get some people out in there now, split up and comb that district. We might be able to spot something, talk to the right person, I dunno'. Regardless I'd nominate the hivers here, the place'll be less... well we should all be more familiar with the quirks of joy districs. We'd probably each need a vox or microbeed too though, wouldn't wanna' be caught out there with our pants down and no way to call in backup."

To Julian,
I would recommend against going in loud. In fact, if we can't prevent the kill, it might be better to just identify and follow. We can not count on the whole cult, including all leaders, going to every kill.

To Octus
Excellent idea. If we are going to split up, we should have some way of remaining in contact. Does anyone know what communication devices can be quickly 'aquired' for this?

Its just after 3pm and taking the Hive tram lines you would be there in thirty to fourty five minutes depending on delays.
If anyone wants to try an procure something (legally or otherwise) there is still time while the shops are open. If your not sure how quickly you can get something or even if you can just ask.

What is the plan? Is everyone going together or in pairs?

Yes, that's another pressing issue. Without direct means of communication we'll be cut off from each other in the case of emergency, but the ground is too much to cover without splitting. I'd suggest, like, Octus you said your name was, that the hivers who know the kind of area best split between the few of our groups.

If anyone has the cash, I could try and locate us some microbeads or hand-voxes on the quick, but I don't believe we have the time.

Octus and JT are hivers and would have a better lay of the land while me, Occux and Nicodemus are from Imperial worlds and Nebdel's from a feral world. If we're gonna split up, I'd suggest two groups of three, or failing at that three groups of two. Octus and JT are essentail but the composition should also remain solid in case we run accidentally into a firefight. JT's got the fighting covered but Octus could use some backup. My suggestion would either be:

2 Groups of 3: Octus, Nicodemus and Nebdel ... JT, Occux and Jacques

3 Groups of 2: Octus and Nebdel, JT and Nicodemus, Occux and Jacques

Of course, I haven't any money, so I'm not looking for anything, but anyone looking to do some shopping could do it on the road. I'll even make an Inquiry check since that seems my forte.

I'll leave checking in with the local police and some of the other gangs for tomorrow. This seems to take precedence.

What did you spend your starting money on Jacques?

I would see if you can get us a car, like check out an undercover vehicle. The tech priest is really going to stand out, but if you can get the surveillance van that would be great. Work those connections, maybe check out a few comm beads from the equipment room so we can monitor police band, etc.

A laspistol and two clips :)

I will throw 13 thrones in the pool for gear. Not much, but it is what I have.

Maybe I shouldn’t have bought the extra ammo and gear.

If we can get the vehicle and 3 communicators (or 2 if the vehicle has one), I’d recommend 2 groups searching. With backup and coordination in the vehicle.

DM-ARC, based upon what little I’ve seen of the city so far, would walking around openly armed (say sword or hip pistol holster) stand out and attract attention?

DM-ARC, any result from my last logic check

Occux looks up now and then as the other men discuss tactics then equipment requisitions. Rummaging in one of his many pockets, he takes out a small bag, then tosses it to the man nearest.

That contains 50 imperial thrones. Use towards communal equipments requirements."

A pistol or knife wouldn't stand out much but carrying anything larger openly would during the day but night is dominated by the gangs so you'd probably be assume to be a banger.
Based on the information you have victims seem entirely random Occux, there are victims of all genders and age groups as well as ethnicity and social status (well those living in this area at least)

Since the general consensus seems to be a need for communication gear i'll allow people to make inquiry rolls for the microbeads. If the time-roll exceeds three then you won't be able to acquire them before the stores close tonight and will have to do without.

Either way to use the tram system it will cost a total of 6 thrones (one each) Without using the tram it will take you three hours to walk there, which is doable but you'll either have or give up your acquisition roll or arrive at nine pm.

Jacques, do you think you can requisition a vehicle from the locals on such short notice? It would be helpful, but not necessary.

It would take at minimum hours to requisition a vehicle provided one was available and his request was approved. It could take up to several weeks depending on how forgiving and expedient the adeptus ministorium is. Unfortunately you guys are running against the clock trying to acquire equipment and stop a murder, but nothing is impossible... Well almost nothing.

Tram it is. Unless someone wants to 'borrow' a vehicle.