Acknowledging Brother Hammern's orders with a nod, Pyros adopts a position in front of the unopened door, shield up and hammer in the ready position. There he waits for everyone to be ready and for Brother Varryl to open the door.
Having spend not a single bolt in the previous fight, Deleos must not reload.
Instead he walks to the door, stands beside Pyros and opens a private channel to the towering Salamander.
You are not the only one who was direly affected by the presence of the demon, but nonetheless you fought on like a true son of Vulkan, even while you thought of despair and loss. Aye, I confess to you Brother, that I was affected too. The demon's presence woke a rage inside me, I'm trying to suppress at the best of my ability. But ... look at the magnificence of the Emperors Will: Even while failing him in such a dire situation, he gave us the power to destroy his enemies! Even turning the weapons of the enemies against him, using the shame and fear the demon inspires, to distill our wrath so that we shall reap through our enemies.
So do not let this shame get the better of you, fight on and see the light of the Emperors Will.
If we come back alive, I nonetheless condemn us both to 12 hours of cleansing, followed by 12 hours of ritual fighting and 12 hours of fasting for our lack of willpower in such a precious situation.
Now, let us deliver our wrath to everything which lies behind this door!
Ah the passion of the young, I remember that
Once they have all had the opportunity to reload their weapons and Varryl indicates he is ready to proceed, Ulrich nods to Varryl and speaks over the vox. His voice, though soft, is also like iron in his resolve, "My brothers, we go forward now in the name of the Allfather. May He judge us by the strength of our loyalty to Him. Let us bring honor to the Allfather, to the Deathwatch, to our Chapters, and to our own names, be it never known to any other Astartes. It is my great honor to serve by your sides and to call you all Brother. Forward for the Emperor." There is a slight pause, "Brother Varryl, whenever you are ready."
Pyros waits patiently, his mind calculating possible threats that could be waiting behind the door.
There is no greater honor than to serve in his name! Even if nobody ever gets to know about our deeds, be assured that he will know and he will prize your strength and loyalty the day you finally stand before him.
Haunted by visions and the potential resurgence of the Men of Iron as allies of chaos, Brother Varryl moves to the door.
v 60+
Lucian takes up position with his Brothers, the machine spirit of his heavy bolter waiting patiently for more heretics and Traitors to destroy.
Hold, hold, hold, he mutters quietly over the squad vox, as much to steady himself as anything.
Haunted by visions and the potential resurgence of the Men of Iron as allies of chaos, Brother Varryl moves to the door.
[Dice=Tactics Assault Doctrine]1d100 v 60+
The door opens up and reveals a large chamber with grated floors and another armored portal on the opposite side, with a small control panel that is active.
There appears to be some charred victims on the ground and melted carcasses and armor strung about in small smoldering pieces.
The chamber is roughly 20m x 20m in a square shape. It was sealed, as you noticed when the doors opened.
You notice the doors are sealed and warm, as if they contained a great heat on the inside. Once opened, you observe what looks like an Incineration chamber and it was recently activated by the looks of the remains and residual heat emanating from below.
Lucian looks into the chamber beyond and is glad for the air filtering effect of his helmet. He peers at the bodies and their equipment, trying to get a sense of who these unfortunates might have been.
5dos
"I can easily weather any flames, however this looks to have the heat of a multi melts. Brother Varryl, do you see a way to deactivate this trap? For I do not know this machine. I think if not, I will cross to the other side and see if I can work the keypad, but wait, is that a power cable? Would that be enough to render it ineffective?."
Xing doesn't enter but remains alert, allowing his body and armor to sustain him until medical care could be provided. After hearing his brother's suggestion, he sdds:
We should try to keep this door open so no one gets trapped.
"If you think speed is of essence, I might be able to make a quick jump across the room and open the next door with the aid of my jump pack. Otherwise I will gladly take the lead, anything a hidden foe might throw at us is nothing compared to the protection the Emperor gives us!"
The chaplain seems to be eager to advance, wielding both his power weapons at the ready.
"Caution. This incineration unit was active only a short time ago. Given our past experience with this facility we should assume this chamber is remotely controlled as well."
Barry briefly records the remains using his pictrecorder.
Barry will sprint across the chamber with his forcefield active and begin to interface with the control panel.
v 60
v 100 if able to MIU or 90 if not.
Ulrich looks around for anything that could be used to brace the door open. If there is nothing to be found, he will give his approval for Varryl and Pyros to go through the incinerator, and will position himself to keep the door from closing if it looks to start doing so.
"Go, Brothers. Be cautious, and be ready to retreat if the machine comes to life."
Soon after some of the squad moves forward everyone hears a voice emanating from within the chamber.
Identify yourselves. The others weren't able to access this facility and neither shall you.
The doors you entered and stand beside begin to close, trapping your brothers inside. With nothing to keep them open, it will require unnatural strength to slow their progress. Each side requires a Hellish -60 St test to keep them open for one round.
Those inside can hear the doors closing and will only make it out with speed. Your quick examination of the console shows there have been some attempts to bypass it, but the bodies surrounding the other door suggest failure. If you remain, you can attempt it, but time and guaranteed success are in short supply.
"Brace the doors! Keep them open!" Ulrich, unable to hold them alone, nevertheless tries to keep the doors open.
Standing calmly in full view of the pict link, Pyros speaks in a steady calm voice showing no signs of the immediate danger he finds himself in.
"I am Pyros V'estian of the Deathwatch 1st company, authorisation code DJJFRCBJK659837. Stand down and let us complete our mission. We seek Inquisitor Ahmazzi's legacy"
2dof
simple success
"If you seek further authorisation, I can remove my helm to show you that I bear the black skin and red eyes of a Son of Vulkan, a Salamander and a son of the Emperor."
As his brothers try to keep the door ajar the voice responds:
I do not recognize your authority and inquisition codes, this is a secret facility known only to the Mechanicus. Ahzammi's legacy is not here, only more questions that sadly he will never find answers to.
Thinking quickly, Deleos responds near immediately: "We have a high ranking Techmarine with us - Brother Varryl of the Imperial Fists. If you are true to the Mechanicus and the Emperor you recognize him!"
The last sentence obviously more thread than anything else.
Lucian leaps forward as the doors begin to close, returning his heavy bolter to its backpack clips, and tries to keep the doors from closing on his brothers.
"Brothers, assist me!" Lucian grunts as the doors start to punch him backwards.
v 60
v 80(+10 if interface port)
Varryl continues to interface with the controls both confirming the identification and enticing the Machine Spirit.
Vartas is able to hold one of the doors at bay momentarily, leaving just enough time for one of the Marines inside to escape.
Brother Varyl begins communion with the machine spirits and his recollection of hidden and forgotten facilities is impressive. You know that some Priests and Magos live on the fringes to protect the nature of their work. Sometimes it's legitimate, sometimes not.
While unfamiliar with this particular station, the spirits recognize your authentication as a Brother of the Mechanicus, trained on Mars. Your Deathwatch protocals begin to override the system.
The machine spirits succumb to your will and you have access to open the doors and prevent the rear doors from closing and disable the protective measures of the chamber.
As you are nearly complete, the voice replies in binary, so that only you understand.
Welcome my brother, please forgive the cold welcome, we were under assault and I knew not your origin or intentions. You and your brothers are welcome. Please enter, we have much to discuss.
Afterwards the door opens and you are clear to proceed.
"We are clear to advance. Do not take leave of your senses, those beyond this point speak as children of the Omnissah though our enemies have already proven themselves crafty."
Varryl will be the last to enter as he will remain to reset the chamber's security measures.
With a small, silent sigh of relief that he had not just consigned his brothers to die, Ulrich steps into the chamber and crosses to Brother Varryl. He pauses there for a moment, placing one hand on the Techmarine's armored shoulder before nodding and passing through the inner door.
His genhanced muscles and armour servos strain to hold the door open as Lucian sees Varryl interface with the chamber's systems. Suddenly the doors retract. Lucian listens to Varryl's statement that the room is safe, and follows Hammern inside.
Once inside the chamber, Lucian tries to work out the identity of the poor unfortunates who are now charred corpses on the floor.
Deleos lowers his weapons - for about three inch. He steps into the chamber last, watching their backs.
About to reply to the voice 's response, Pyros is stalled by hearing Brother Darryl's techna lingua, although not a tech marine, as a Salamander he recognises that this is being dealt with. Trusting his brother to succeed he waits to enter. When the doors open he nods to Brother Varryl and speaks, before advancing into the next room.
"Well done and well said brother."
Brother Xing enters, ready for whatever lies beyond, weary and skeptically.
Excellent work is all he can muster at this point, hoping medical attention can be sought soon.
Everyone enters the doors opposite to find a lift. The ancient device has ample room to fit the brothers. Once everyone is on, the voice returns:
I am engaging the magnetic flooring to secure you for the drop to the facility.
There is no sound, merely a light that brightens light blue beneath you and you feel yourself slightly weighed down. There are makeshift teathers that have been attached from the ceiling, not part of the original design, but sturdy enough to allow you to grip it and hold yourself upright. Then without warning the lift drops and you feel you are accelerating quickly. You fall for a few minutes before you feel your speed slowing. After nearly a minute you arrive to a complete stop and the lights blow you turn off, disengaging the magnetic force keeping you planted. After a few moments some doors opened, followed by a larger and thicker set.
Once the doors are opened you are greeted by a woman, and an escort of Battle Servitors that look extensively modified and heavily armored. There are a flurry of other personnel, all tech-priests and menials from what you can see so far.
The young and relatively small woman that greets you looks to be in her early twenties. She has a white scarf wrapped around her face, covering her eyes. She is garbed in simple green robes with no shoes and carries a bronze staffed capped with the symbol of an eye.
Welcome Astartes, I have been asked to escort you to the central strategium to meet Magos Klute. My name is Xhenek.
The servitors do no point their weapons towards you, merely escort you as you head towards the center of the facility. From what you can tell, the halls seem to all curve inwards, as if every hall were making a circle. After a few minutes of walking you approach a large circular chamber that has its walls covered in pic slates of every shape and size. All of them showing differet things, some images, others raw data. Many have gone black though. Within the room there is a large looking Magos in the center, surrounded by stations with mono-taks servitors, menials, and another dozen Tech-priest manning certain stations and performing rights and rituals with the machine spirits.
Lucian takes in as much detail as he can as they pass deeper and deeper into the facility.
Opening the encrypted squad vox channel, Lucian reports an unusual discovery. "The large outer doors appear to be coated in some kind of reddish orange membrane. I do not know what it is, but I suspect it is not standard for this kind of entryway."
He then follows the young woman through the passageways along with the rest of the Kill-team.
Deleos walks beside his Brothers, Helmet removed to show his angelic face, weapons secured, relishing the moments of peace after the previous slaughter.
Upon meeting the woman, he has some pointed questions for her. "Do you have medical facilities down here? We had a hard fight above and some of us are wounded. And do you have a powerful vox? We should contact our cruiser less they send in reinforcements expecting heavy resistance."
Xing moves forward through the barriers.
Awareness 75-40 vs
Xing too takes note of the strange membrane but continues forward, and he had seen many strange things in his time.
She genuinely tries to be polite and helpful while escorting you to the center chamber, though she looked a bit suprised when she heard the Cruiser mentioned. Xhenek replies to Deleos:
We have excellent facilities here and shall attend to any wounds you may have after meeting the Magos. However, if it is life threatening, we could go there now and see to your wounds....As for long range communications, you will have to seek authorization from the Magos. There are a number of facilities here, though most of them are restricted access, I am sure the Magos will grant reasonable requests.
Once arriving in the Chamber you can see above is dome shaped and of a curious burnt looking orange. There doesn't seem to be a standard wall, it looks solid, but natural. Whatever it was, it was old and possibly xenos. Though not unusual when dealing with the Mechanicus and secret facilities.
Varryl examines the status of the squad and the severity of their injuries.
v60
"Most of the damage is superficial however Brother Xing would fare poorly should our enemies strike soon. I advise allowing them to prep him for treatment. I shall excuse myself once he is ready."
Ulrich reaches up to remove his helmet, speaking to Xhenek once he has finished, "We will meet with the Magos first."
I will be fine to meet the Magos, I do not know if I have the time to fully heal, let us get a better understanding our situation before splitting up. he replies over comes.
simple fail
Mag locking his hammer to his back, Pyros takes the opportunity to check over his weapons and check ammo loads.
Magos Klute turns to the squad after a moment and addresses you. Welcome Astartes, your arrival was most timely and efficient. Though I'm curious, how did you arrive and Why? Currently most of my exterior sensors have been disabled, though I am measuring intense gravitational waves unlike anything I have observed before. Perhaps you could provide an explanation? I am afraid we are blind to the systems state so far beneath the surface, but that is a necessary price to remain hidden and protected from enemies. returning his gaze upon you at the end, as if to emphasize his interest in your response.[/b]
We have no external satellites or means of Vox communication beyond this facility. Xhenek is our telepath and can assist you, though I insist you do not reveal this facility or jeopardize our security further.
I can see that your ammunition is replenished and any medical wounds attended to, our facilities are quite advanced and will require little recovery for even the gravest of wounds.
We have a cruiser in orbit that we need to contact. We were alerted to this location by an Astro telepathic message from Inquisitor Amhazzi. Did you have contact with him or any of the others he was with?
Pausing a moment, he wonders if the Magos has any knowledge of the black sun in the system. That might explain his gravitational waves
Are you aware of the black sun that has appeared in the system?
"Do you have a numerous worker base in this facility? Be advised that the black sun my Brother mentioned is believed to spurt riots and cults wherever it arrives. On the topic of your hidden facility: It most likely will not stay hidden. We fought back an attack by the arch enemy just above your installation and they had a powerful psiker in their ranks, so it is likely that this facility and its location is already jeopardized."
"We should begin transmitting any data you've recorded since the Tyrant Star appeared immediately. Perhaps we can extrapolate the means of prediction lost with the Inquisitor's death."