Once in the corridor you can see that both sides of the hallway end at a pair of large metal doors. The door to your left looks like it has been pried open partially (enough for a normal sized human to squeeze through), the other door looks untouched.
Arkhos takes a quick peek through the doors before entering.
Ulrich keeps watch behind them as Arkhos checks the door.
As you approach the door you hear a soft clicking as some manner of machine spirit activates and performs its task. Moments later a small, robotic voice pipes up from a speaker: +++Genetic scan complete. Adeptus Astartes. Access Authorized.+++ Just after you can hear the sounds of grinding gears and it looks like the door moves a bit before falling silent once again, leaving you still unable to pass through.
Looking through the gap you have a limited view, but you can at least see a few storage containers and the small blood streak that starts just after the door and leads further into the interior.
Ulrich smiles to himself as the machine spirit recognizes the right of the Astartes to be here and to go where they wish. When the door fails to open further, he pats the bulkhead shears he is carrying, "Brother Arkhos, we can cut our way in if need be, but not quietly. Should we go through or check the other direction first?"
"Let us check here now, we are already here and might as well do so" as Arkhos enter the room worried about time, but he won't leave the room checked.
Ulrich nods and approaches the jammed doors, looking for what may be blocking them or a way to make them open further before he cuts a larger hole in the door.
From what you can gather it looks like someone has already forced this door open once, likely with an instrument similar to your own, and ended up damaging them in the process. If you wanted to avoid cutting them open then the next best solution is to use brute force. Your strength is probably more than enough to make up for the doors own damaged motor.
Arkhos pushes the doors open enough so they can pass and continue their search for the Dreadnought and any area big enough to probably house it.
With no further delay you make your way into the main warehouse.
The size of this room is simply stupefying. The ceiling looms far overhead while the ground stretches out endlessly before you. Countless containers surround you, one stacked atop another in a wonderfully efficient looking use of the massive space.
Drawing your attention away from the general size of the room is the bloodstain you had spotted from the doorway earlier. It keeps going around a corner and then ends at the feet of a dead man only a few meters away. Now alerted to any possible danger you take another glance around the room, this time picking up obvious signs of a recent firefight. Shell casings, scorch marks, holes in floor and walls, etc. It seems safe to assume that this gentleman was a participant.
It looks like this man died of Bolter related wounds. He is pretty torn up with gaping wounds grouped tightly around his chest. Whoever killed him was no slouch with a rifle, that much is certain.
Though he is pretty much a bloody pulp at this point there is still enough of him intact for you to spot the markings of Olid's Enlightened on his clothing, that makes him a former member of the rebel host. He probably came down here in the hopes of plundering the containers. Though it does leave the question of who was responsible.
Awareness 70
Arkhos looks through the scene more thoroughly and stops to look upon the misshapen corpse of one of the rebels taking his helmet of and cutting a piece of his flesh in the hopes of any chance of a memory of the firefight and any other clues he might gather.
Brother Arkhos spends the next few minutes in a deep catatonic state as he replays the last moments of the unfortunate mans life.
The man had 5 other companions when he came down to this section and they were indeed intent on pillaging the warehouse. They used a pair of shears to peel open the doors but almost immediately upon setting foot in the main area they were set upon by what looks like a towering cyborg of some kind; it is difficult to tell as the figure is wearing heavy, flowing robes that bear the symbol of the machine cult. It moves with terrifying speed but you see no more as this rebel was killed immediately in the opening volley of fire. You note that someone else probably dragged his body to its current resting place.
Willpower 55
After receiving some headache from the traitors flesh consuming "I hope the guard servitor that did this recognizes us as friendlies, or it will make our stay longer so be ready he is quick"
Ulrich nods and glances about the area trying to find/read the signs of the direction the servitor may have gone.
Thanks to Brother Hammern's skills you now have a better idea of where you're heading. The signs of combat are easy to follow; leading you further into the warehouse. Along the way you progressively find the remains of the rest of the rebels, all having suffered the same fate as the first one.
You get pretty deep into the storage area before the trail carries up into the containers as whatever you have been following climbs up to higher ground. You'd have to climb up there to keep following the trail, or you could take a guess and try and pick it up later.
"I won't rest easy with that servitor loose, but we can't lose time hunting it or tracking it we must find some terminal to find what is in this containers and know if what we are looking for is in this area."
Ulrich's gaze follows the path that the servitor took up the containers, but he nods at Arkhos' words, "We cannot waste the time to track or find the servitor responsible, nor am I overly concerned with the deaths of heretics." He turns away from the containers to try and find some kind of terminal in the massive chamber.
With really nothing to go on you end up simply picking a direction to begin your search. After only a few minutes you find a massive line of cables that snakes across the warehouse floor. Following it a few feet you come to something somewhat strange: a portion of the floor has been cleared of containers to make way for some kind of rudimentary machine shop. At the center is another massive container, though different than the others in that it bears the heraldry of the Iron Hands.
As you stand there considering this revelation you hear a voice call out from behind you, somewhere among the containers. "What business do the Adeptus Astartes have here?" it asks plainly.
Following the voice with your keen sense of hearing you can tell that he's close, just barely out of sight in fact. He's hidden himself behind one of the containers just behind you and is probably watching you right now.
Despite glancing around to find the origin of the sound, Ulrich is unable to locate it and simply puts his back to the massive crate. His voice sounds loud and challenging,
Awareness 30
Arkhos points his finger to where the voice comes from leaving his bolter ready "Well said brother. We are here for reasons of our own and not yours to know as we are the Emperor's finest and we make his work and it would be best for you to stay out of our way or aid us if you serve him."
"You forget your place marines. This facility belongs to the Adeptus Mechanicus, your authority alone means little in light of that. So I will ask again: what business do you have here?"
The supposed position of the voice does not appear to be changing. He may not have noticed that you detected him, or he may simply not care.
"You misunderstand, right now this place is under heretic control and we are here to make sure it comes back into compliance, so our authority is what counts, for all I know you are a heretic and an enemy of mankind, so I shall ask you are you friend or foe?"as Arkhos begins to walk towards him. "It would behoove you to step out of the shadows so we can speak more clearly" as Arkhos anger is becoming evident as he is not willing to lose any more time with this questions.
"Brother be ready, he might just be stalling for time with this"
Awareness 50
The owner of the voice steps forth calmly. Instantly you recognize the robes of mechanicus from your vision earlier, though now you can plainly see that whoever this man is he is nearly your size. The baggy cloth and hood reveal little about his body though you can tell that he does at least have a servo arm mounted on his back.
There's no way this can be a servitor. His size, his insolence? Impossible.
Skitarii. That's the only possibility. The elite vanguard of the Mechanicus forces, they are deployed on all manner of missions and are equipped to the best possible standard (including bionic and genetic enhancements). Some of the more elite troops have even been said to be on pair with the likes of the Astartes.
"If you are looking for heretics then I would be happy to escort you back to the elevator. As you can see, there are none here for you to slay."
Intelligence 20
"Skitarii..." as Arkhos turns to look at his brother "He might be able to assist us in our endeavor" as Arkhos returns his sight towards the skitarii "Glad to know there is no such heretics to be found here, but we would like to ask for your assistance in retrieving what is in that container to their owners" as he points to the container with the Iron Hands symbol on it.
Ulrich, though silent throughout the exchange stands ready to support Arkhos should a battle be in the offing. As Arkhos moves forward, he shifts to maintain a clear field of fire in the direction Arkhos indicated. The name Skitarii means nothing to Ulrich, but the tone in Arkhos' voice when he says it causes Ulrich to tighten his grip on the bolter.
"So that's the case hm...?" he mutters to himself, seemingly ignoring your initial request. He starts to move while maintaining the distance between you two, he is trying to slowly place himself between you and the container.
"Well, as far as I'm concerned this relic is right where it should be and it will remain so until Magus Luol Rho deems otherwise." he says plainly. He has not made any overly aggressive maneuvers yet and you get the sense that he is trying to gauge your reactions.
Ulrich will move in an attempt to prevent him from getting between us and the container. On the private squad channel, "Brother Arkhos, were our orders not that none should be aware of our actions to retrieve the relic?"
"I regret this position we are in, but I guess we have said what we must and ask you to deliver the relic to us or we will have to acquire it by other means"
You hear the sounds of machine spirits waking up and the soft click of a loaded ammo belt from beneath the mans robes. You also see the slight movement of the servo arm indicating that it has activated as well. He is not backing down.
"I'd like to see you try." he says, his voice still unnervingly calm. At this point his eyes are trained solely on Brother Hammern as the two of them are vying for the same position. "Do you realize the true extent of your actions Astartes? You are threatening and agent of the Omnissiah as if you were mere petty thieves. Have the mighty Angels of Death really fallen so far?". He says the last part with a venom that strikes directly against your warriors pride.
Though he is unaware of it, Ulrich begins to growl; the creature's provoking words and his slightly threatening advance have the Space Wolf ready to destroy the challenge to his pack.
Awareness
Arkhos answers nothing to the Skitarii that has begun to ready his weapon ad attempts to surprise him in a lightning flash charge throwing himself against him wielding his power axe against it.
Charge
WS 60
WS reroll
Damage E Pen 6
Anticipating the inevitable conflict the Skitarii is not caught off guard, rather he reacts with speed matching your own.
He just barely ducks past Brother Arkhos' attack though his robes are snagged by the passing axe and pulled from his body. You are finally able to catch a full view of the man: His body has undergone extensive cybernetic augmentation to the point where you can see hardly any flesh remaining on his body. On his left arm you can see a mounted Storm Bolter that is hooked up to an ammo feed from his waist. His left hand also has sharp blades in place of fingers along with the barrel for some sort of weapon built into the palm, though you can't tell for specifically what.
The servo-arm on the Skitarii's back lashes out against Brother Arkhos, attempting to knock him away.
Once free from the onslaught of the marine the cyborg is free to open fire on Brother Hammern with the Storm Bolter. He is hit once for damage.
Str 65
Initiative
The speed and reaction of the Skitarii catch Arkhos of guard and is knocked down by the servo-arm.
Arkhos stands as quickly as possible and attempts to hit the creature again with his power axe, but swings a in a wide arc missing it entirely.
WS 50
WS re-roll
Ulrich attempts to duck out of the way of the bolts, but is distracted by the Skitarii's taunting and is struck squarely, suffering a small wound as his armour and Astartes physique shed most of the damage.
Though struck by the bolts, his anger at the utterly undeserved slight from this inferior creature hardens his resolve and he charges the enemy, drawing his power sword in a flash, and unleashing the righteous fury of the Emperor at this thing that would attack a Marine.
Unable to keep up with so many opponents at once the Skitarii suffers a deep wound at the end of Brother Hammerns Power Sword.
He retaliates with his clawed hand, firing a blast of bolts out of the palm along with the claws themselves. However both attacks miss.
Arkhos swings his axe to strike true against his enemy with as much determination as he can muster.
WS 50
Damage E Pen 6
Ulrich follows Arkhos' strike with an attack of his own.
The servo-arm swiftly slaps away Brother Hammerns blade moments before Brother Arkhos's axe catches the Skitarii in the shoulder for another massive blow. He sinks to one knee for a moment in response but staggers back to his feet seconds later. At this point his extensive bionics are likely the only thing keeping him standing.
Another burst of bolt rounds passes harmlessly past Brother Arkhos while Brother Hammern is hit by his clawed hand for damage. The claws crackle and spit with energy as the score a gash along your armor.
The Skitarii falls back to a defensive stance, panting heavily from the obvious exertion.
Though he tries to parry the blow, Ulrich's blade is not fast enough and he bellows in rage, feeling his armour's machine spirit as the Skitarii's claws score a minor wound through the armour. Seeing the Skitarii wounded and nearly knocked down, Ulrich winds up for a mighty blow, throwing caution to the wind, "ENOUGH! We will have what we came for!"
"You should have chosen otherwise Skitarii and know better than to defy and Astartes" as Arkhos swings his axe once more to put an end to this.
More blows rock the Skitarii's mechanical shell and he yet stands! At least that's what it looks like second before his legs give out beneath him and he crumples to the ground, unmoving. Possibly in one last act of defiance he tries to mutter something but the words come too late and he dies otherwise uneventfully.
The fusing of metal and flesh will not save your enemies from your wrath.
Whenever an opponent would receive a Toughness Bonus as a result of a cybernetic implant you may spend a Fate Point to ignore that bonus for one round.
"Regretful but necessary..." is all that Arkhos says as he makes the symbol of the imperial aquila and turns away to face the where the Dreadnought should be resting.
Arkhos approaches the makeshift machine shop before looking at the Iron Hands container and tries to find a way to open it by using what ever console might be the one to open it or analyze it's contents aiding himself with the combitool as necessary.
Tech Use 50
Ulrich watches the skitarii fall with a satisfied look; pleased to see the demise of one who opposed the Emperor's will. He then spends a few moments tending to the spirits of his weapons and armour before joining Arkhos at the Iron Hand's container.
Among the consoles Brother Arkhos finds a switch that opens the container. The lid slides open and cryogenic steam rolls out onto the warehouse floor. Slowly the form of the Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought that you were sent to retrieve comes into view. There is something surreal about seeing such a majestic engine of war sitting so silently, it's armor plating alone bearing the record of countless battles.