Jacques pauses in his movement as he receives Octus's response. His hand immediately flicks to his ear.
There must be enemies nearby if he's this worried. I'm not going to let any of us get gunned down or captured on a scouting mission, not like this!
"Octus, I read you. Stay calm. Keep it together. If there are enemies nearby, stay out of sight and keep to the darkness. Don't be rash. Is anybody wounded? Where is your location?"
Jacques continues moving forward, picking up the pace and jogging ahead into the darkness and ghostly mist of the hive backstreats. He places one arm under his coat, resting his hand on the grip of the laspistol holstered in his armpit. He places his other hand back to his ear.
"Jacques to sanctuary. Do you read me? I've made contact with Saladaris. Their status remains unknown but they are currently under threat. Do you have a fix on their location?"
JT looks down at the road below, "well frag that I am not going down there. Lets bounce!" JT prepares to follow the street smart hiver out of the area.
Just as Nebdel slips back from the corner and runs as quietly as his boots allow gripping the opposite corner of the building and almost throwing himself around it the other bangers get to the body. "He's dead! Someone shot him up bad. You take him down and let brother know while you two come with me. Whoever it was can't have gone far." As Octus herd this he stops retreating thr9uh the building nd creeps back to cover. On the street below Nebdel is hiding behind the wall of a building while three things are moving toward him. Two with knives and one with a autogun held ready. Octus draws a bead on them and clicks his own autogun to full auto, waiting and taking careful aim but when he pulls the trigger the hammer misses as the first round in his clip warped and bent rather than chambering properly jamming his gun and locking the slide part way back. Muttering to himself about cheap rounds knowing he can't do anything else to help Nebdel without getting both of them killed. Breathing slowly Nebdel can hear the three thugs getting closer but the broken wall leading to their vantage it too hard a climb and would leave him open and there's almost no cover in the streets to hide behind. Resigned to having to fight his way out Nebdel silently draws his sword and waits but just before they round the corner a yell comes from farther down the street opposite of Nebdel's hiding spot and soon frantic gunfire can be heard. Looking to each other the three thugs run off in that direction missing the sword waiting mere feet from their heads and the killer waiting with it. Not one to spurn gifts from the emperor Nebdel waits as long as he dares before rushing down the street to meet up with J.T. And Octus.
The three of you spend the rest of the night slipping from building to wreckage and back zig-zagging through the streets trying to avoid the large number of armed patrols searching the area. Tired and exhausted you finally meet up with Jacques and return to the safe house.
"ha ha ha! Oh shit! Well looks like we got a gang war started huh? Did you hear all the shooting right as we were bailing? Now as long as they aren't building some undead army down in the sewers we should be good. Three out of thousands down, thousands to go. I liked the part where you guys were all, "Come out we won't shoot you!" and then he's all like, "F+&% you guys you are going to shoot me anyways!" and then you guys shot him in the leg that was classic!"
Octus looks to the guardsman, his face twisted into a look only describable as a mixture of befuddlement and discomfort, "You ehm... you really get off on this shit don't ya' man?" Octus pulls his pistol out of its holister and begins, with some difficulty, attempting to remove the magazine from his weapon. "Glad you're happy though, I'm still not entirely sure we did the right thing there. Sure, killed some bangers but we don't know if they're really the thing behind all this, not for certain at least." Octus gives up trying to remove the jam and replaces his shooter. "I'll let the tech-head look at this when we get back. Anyway, let's just pray to throne that if we did start a gang war back there, it'll turn out better for us and not just plunge this area inta' f@*$in' chaos."
Responding to Jacques broadcast, Hey J, this is S. We're on our way back home. One of the guys twisted an ankle at the dance. But nothing major, you don't need to bring the air car to pick him up. We'll be back as soon as we make sure the other guys get home safely. I'll tell you all about the girls we met at the hall later.
After getting away from the brood area and prior to heading back to the flat. Skrate checks the looted gear over as carefully as he can to see if he can find anything that could be traced or tracked.
Assuming he doesn't find anything he heads back toward the flat and meets up with Jacques on the way.
Jacques, well it didn't go as planned, but we did learn some things. I will go over the details when we get back and everyone can hear at once. I looked this stuff over and didn't find any kind of tracker, but I'm no tech head. You want to head back with gimpy? I can wander around until you get there. If he thinks it is worth while, the techman can come out and meet me to double check for trackers.
Jacques says a silent prayer to the Emperor when he finally gets the all-clear message back from Nedbel, but only relaxes his grip on his laspistol when he sees the group rounding the corner.
Seeing JT injured, he immediately rushes to his side. Are you alright? JT, can you walk alright? I've brought a medkit, but I'd appreciate it if we could try and treat your wounds back at the safe-house."
If he requires assistance walking, Jacques offers the man his shoulder.
Hearing Nebdels's words, Jacques glumly shakes his head.
"The area's already too hostile. If what happened to JT's any kind of indicator of the situation, then it'd be best not to leave a man behind, for any reason. Enough has already been done tonight; it's no use taking the extra risk."
Agreed, they don't seem like a high tech group that would be likely to put trackers in the chattels gear. However, it still seems like a possibility that needed to be considered. But if you would rather me head straight back with you that is fine.
"Yeah I am walkin. Those a~&*~*@s shot me in my helmet though, that really pisses me off. Come on Octus you can't tell me that wasn't at least a little bit of a rush for you! Making contact with the enemy, getting them dead, then escaping in the face of superior numbers!? That was great. I only wish we had an auto grenade launcher or other crew served weapon. That would have let us really put a hurt on them. Huh? Who's the new guy? Did we get a secretary or something?"
"Oh sure, nearly havin' my head blown off and then having my corpse devoured by damned muckled cultists and/or used in an unholy ritual is just the sort of thing tha' makes me get outta bed each day." Octus shakes his head. "No, I much prefer it when we pick our own fights, not bumble into them and get a third of the party damned close to dead."
"Oh sure, nearly havin' my head blown off and then having my corpse devoured by damned muckled cultists and/or used in an unholy ritual is just the sort of thing tha' makes me get outta bed each day."
"Heh! I guess you never served in the guard, well welcome to the Inquisition where just like the guard that will be your reality each day, but at least we eat a little better in his unit."
As everyone setlles down in the safe house and J.T., Octus and Nebdel get everyone up to spped on what happened, the newcomer Jastilus is just finishing his work detialing the other gang information.
And there you have it gentlemen. From my perspective, only two hold the possibility of usefulness. Caper Kings can be eliminated in that they have no direction, and pose little to no threat to an organized entity like the Brood. They would be worn down and what remains would be absorbed quickly, swelling the ranks of the target.
The Western Warriors show some direction, but show no signs of serious criminal activity, at least not to the caliber of our remaining prospects.
The Blood Knives show promise due to their murderous past time and their commitment to their tradition
Best prospect is Cryptus Legia. They have drive and determination. They are feared and have a disturbing habit of breaking their foes physically *and* psychologically. Plus, they have something to gain. Preeminence among their peers. The desire to dominate is a strong motivator, and I believe it may be the best way to harness the capabilities of these misanthropes.
Your thoughts?
I'll be keeping the summaries you provided on the second dataslate. That information may come in handy later.
As they arrive back at the safe house, Skrate says with a grin.
Any of you know more than me about bandages. Sojer boy here hasn’t learned to duck and cover yet. But they can both hold their own when it gets skraggey.
Once some once starts first aid for Julian, Skrate gives a barebones summary of what happened. After he finishes with,
Interesting evening. Well it wasn’t what we were after, but we did learn some bits. I must have misread the initial background brief. I thought they were just sneaking out of the sewers in otherwise ‘normal’ areas. Turns out they are attempting to control at least some of the region around the entrances. Not sure if I would call it organized patrols, but they definitely have people around. They also respond with reinforcements pretty fast. The mangle was over quick, but we still barely had time to get away.
Here is a sample of the gear carried by the low meagers. Techman, seems unlikely, but I’d appreciate it if you would double check to make sure there isn’t a tracker in it. It’s what I would do if I could, but they didn’t look like tech masters. Leaders could be different though.
Then he listens to what others have accomplished while they were out.
Hey, new guy. Good briefing. Info always helps plan. When we’re done with their gear, may want to dress as Legia and sell some of it to the hidden market. Also may have to enter sewers further from brood and work our way to them underground. We can try to hot up the conflict with the Legia to draw more of their members to guard known entrances. We’ll need to take some packaging next raid so we can grab some bodies to leave in Legia territory.
Looking up from where he was communing with the cogitator, Occux gestures to the table beside him for Nebdel to put the items.
Disengaging from the cogitator, he then inspects each item in turn .
Tech Use
Salutations sir, a pleasure to meet you. Unfortunately, in the field of Chymistry and the Medicinal Arts, I'm just a neophyte, but I will begin a search of healing practices to better assist. Point of order too, for the purpose of disposing of gear it may be safer just to dress as a common scavenger. I should think that Master Octus fits that bill succinctly. It will raise less questions from the targeted asset.
You didn't happen to find any protective gear did you? If the Brood are half as dangerous as displayed, I may need an armored jacket or something...
"Man my guard armor almost wasn't enough. Yeah I think we will need to go back to the gun store and buy some more junk. I must be rusty, my shooting wasn't as good as it used to be, but I think we all saw that unless we get some terminator suits just walking in there and capping the lot of them isn't going to be the best plan."
Yes, dress as scavenger will be less memorable and safer. But that was not my point. It could be helpful if word were to get around that 'Legia' are selling looted Brood gear.
Jacques, let us no if there is any notice by the officials. Especially if we can lean who was involved in the gunfight after us. The Brood are likely to keep it hushed though.
If that is the case perhaps it may be best if I sell the goods instead. Master Octus is a bit too "flashy" (I think that's the correct term) for such things. I have made it a habit of being easily overlooked. I may not have the background in barter to obtain the best price, but I can guarantee you that I will be forgotten after the transaction occurs, leaving only the story we want left behind.
To your point, I should be able to incorporate Legia insignia into my disguise. Something subtle, maybe a mark on an overshirt under the jacket. I would rather it seem as though I were trying to hide the mark than show it around. The best way to make a person believe what you want is to make them believe they discovered something you were trying to hide.
Occux doesn't detect any form of electronic tracking signals amongst the items. Are you sure implicating such a group is a good idea? I doubt you all want to be stuck between two dangerous groups.
After circling the building a couple of times, making sure security is tight, Jacques re-enters into the building. He immediately deposits the rest of his gear on the side and moves over to JT with the basic medkit.
"This isn't going to do jack-shit to bullet wounds, but at the very least it'll make sure you don't immediately bleed out from this. To tell the truth, you'll probably have to see a medicae if you want to get back into fighting shape. Since I have no clear f*+%ing idea what I'm doing and it appears none of us have the required knowledge, we're going to have to figure out the situation. An unregistered pedestrian walking into a clinic with bullet wounds is going to raise some alarms, and the last thing we want is having to break you out of prison."
When he's finished, Jacques stands back up and turns to Nebdel.
It's unlikely three dead blasted gangers is going to show up in the arbites's mailbox, but I'll keep an ear out. Still, if have, and I might stress the luck of our accidental misshap with the bangers, caused some inter-gang strife, it might just begin to show up on their radar, which is always a good thing.
I'll work to see if I can press the issue in my investigation, give the arbites more of a cause to put pressure on the brood. I'll have to feed 'em some of our findings, but it's definitely worth a shot."
"Hey no offense to your idea man, but back on my first deployment their was this guy in my unit who used to go to the bars and tell the girls he was a stormtrooper. You know, because he was trying to get taken back to their habs if the ladies wanted to show their appreciation to one of the emporers finest. Anyways, this guy wakes up one morning in a dumpster, his eyebrows are shaved off, he has two blackeyes and worst off all his ass hurts real bad. He makes it back to barracks and in the showers we all see "NOT A STORMTROOPER" tattooed across his ass cheeks! We already got one bad ass crew to fight I dont think going around and pissing off another giant crimminal organization is the best idea right now. Besides lets see what kind of hardware were scraped up before we go selling it."
*Ahem* Jacques, not to slight the sense of duty of the Adeptus Arbites, but wouldn't a common low-hiver with a gunshot wound be beneath their notice? After all, everyone knows life in the low hives is a dangerous affair, and one common hab-worker being caught in gang crossfire, or just gunned down for a few crowns is a rather common affair, is it not?
Besides, a gunshot wound on one man is more a crime of venality, prosecuted by local magistratum, whereas the Arbites prosecute crimes on a larger scale, i.e. large scale heresy, mis-rule by the governance, and the like...and in reference to local magistratum, I believe even if we draw out their attention, they can be bought out to save on paperwork. I hate to put your sense of duty to the test, but it would be more expedient...and young Master Jaytee would receive the care he needs. I think Master Niil would be able to locate a local Medicus, correct sir?
"I already said there was little chance the death of the three gangers would not likely pique the interest of the Arbites. Give me a bit of credit, Voct, I was an investigator and a loyal servant of the Emperor's law for decades. Of course the events that transpired this evening will hardly entertain their notice, but an escalation in gang conflict certainly might.
Upon meeting, I failed to tell you of my undercover work in the Arbites. I am currently working as a transfer to their station under the alias of Stepahn Dean. My work has me collating and examining the series of murders related to our case. It's been blamed on gang activity, but of course we know this to not be the entire case. If I can provide greater evidence to villify the Brood, then they will be pressured from multiple sides, the gang warfare on one, and the Arbites on the other.
I suppose you are right though. There's no sense in risking the man's health."
Of course I am correct. It serves no purpose to let Jaytee bleed out all over the work I've already done. And I appreciate that the cover you have serves our greater purpose. Have we received all the information necessary to maintain your cover and advance your investigation? Or is there yet more to be learned "in the field"?
Jastilus emphasizes his question with air quotes for "in the field".
I guess what I am saying is being mis-interpreted. To summarize, we know the Arbites will not get involved until the murders have exhausted the resources of the local Magistratum (meaning, until we *want* them to get involved)...
Jastilus actually uses "air parenthesis" for this...
[b]...and we've identified one or possibly two gangs to hang the blame on when the Brood start asking questions. The real question is how to get this all started...
Master Niil, if you would be a good sort and locate some medicinal assistance for Jaytee...he looks a little pale...
Occux looks up from where he was inspecting one of the auto pistols, freeing a sticky chambering mechanism. Glancing at Jaytee, then back a Voct, he gathers up his dataslate and queries the general datanet for the nearest Medicae office capable of assisting guardsman
Tech Use (int=39)
"The location of the closest Medicae facility is indicated here" he says handing the dataslate to Voct.
The deaths of a few gang members wont show up with the Arbites unless either someone powerful was involved or it led to a hab riot.
"Hey hey hey, I can ditch the clothes man, and besides I've got more experience with the underworld and hives than anyone else here. And we shouldn't be too worried about leavin' behind too much of a trail so long as we're selling low key stuff... speaking of which, you guys still got the drugs? I gots some idea 'bout where I can make some coin off that."
Skrate checks over the auto guns to make sure they are at least in decent working order. Unfortunately, we don't have full clips for them.
Don't know what gear all you guys have. If you don't have a good fire support weapon, take one of the autoguns. But if no one needs them, I will take one as a backup.
So you guys aren't in love with starting a gang war. Understandable as long as it's not just because you are squeamish. So what are your ideas?
J.T. Will be out of commission for a long time if you don't seek medical help. You've got three choices in that regard: 1) Stay cooped up an let it heal naturally, 2) look for a street doc or a med centre 3) hope that Occux' ties to the machine cult can get him treatment at the Adeptus Biologus facility.
If you are thinking of selling the drugs or other gear make an Inquiry test for each item to see what you can get for them.
We should get him some sort of treatment. I don't think we can afford to just wait for him to recover and hope his wounds don't get infected. If needed, we can probably manage some sort of cover story.
"Hey,Occux, your order is always all about efficiency and all that. Your med facility has to be the best most efficient option, I dont want to die on some street docs table. Try to get me into one of your sickbays and tell them that you need me put back together, exactly, as I was before so that I can continue in the emporers service, you know providing my uh, essential services. I thought they said they were going to send us a doctor or something."
"Your idea has merit, Julian Treadwell. We shall make the journey immediately" Occux says,standing then folding the cogitator into its standby state.
A series of clicks and buzzes comes from his mask. "I have requested a transport from the Biologus facility." he says.
"Sweet! Yeah cause I think am starting to leak something that doesnt look like blood. No! No! I dont want you to collect a specimen or classify the fluid! I am unhappy enough knowing stuff that is supposed to stay in is coming out without knowing what it is!"
"The flesh is weak, upgrading your physical self with the perfection of the mechanicae is the true path to salvation and brings one's soul closer to the perfection of the God Emperor." Occux states as if he were reciting from a tech manual.
"uh, yeah well the Emporer made me like this man, I kind of like to keep my parts OEM if that makes more sense to you. Besides if I ever got captured and had like I don't no cyberkenetic balls or something, it would be a dead giveaway that I was a plant or something. But I dell you what if my arm gets blown off or something I am all about getting some kind of snazzy replacement. I dont want to be left hobbling around with some standard issue pincher hook pro-seethis or however you pronounce it. Deal?"
Octus pockets a magazine's worth of autopistol ammo and clear's the jam in his sidearm. "If ya ain't got any objections, I'm off to go pawn off some of this shit." Removing his jacket he begins moving towards the door, "I'll try to keep in microbeed range. Hopefully I won't be long, but no promises."
Fel 32
Also I must ask, did we get XPs for capping those dudes?
[/ooc]
Octus pockets a magazine's worth of autopistol ammo and clear's the jam in his sidearm. "If ya ain't got any objections, I'm off to go pawn off some of this shit." Removing his jacket he begins moving towards the door, "I'll try to keep in microbeed range. Hopefully I won't be long, but no promises."
Good luck Master Cammilus, the Emperor provides.
Jastilus makes the sign of the Aquilla as Octus heads to the door
Master Niil, when you come back, I would have words with you regarding the content and ramification on the Mechanicus Creed, specifically, in reference to something that intrigued me. Please denote some time upon your arrival back when we can speak.
to all
While the three are otherwise occupied, perhaps the rest of us can devise an operating scheme to enact when they come back. Since frontal assault is most likely not the best route, and pitting one gang against the other doesn't seem to be a viable plan, maybe subterfuge would be a better venue, your thoughts?
Jacuqes, exhausted, slumps against a wall and burines his face in his hands, and only after J.T. and Occux's exchanges does he move from his stupor.
"No way am I going to say 'I'm getting too old for this.' I'm not going to turn into a walking cliche. Still, this shit never gets any easier."
"While the best course of action given the circumstances would be to conduct a military action against the cult, bring in fire support, the instruction of Arbites riot enforcement and perhaps a guard regiment or two, yes, that isn't an option. But think about it, man, what kind of sabotage could we try and pull off. We know next to nothing of the men behind the organization and, most importantly, we don't know what they're after, what kinds of heresy the mean to perpetrate, and we're working on the clock. We need more surveillance before we can say for certain what it is we want, and how it is we would be able to truncate their plans.
He turns his head t face the sole remaining participant in the night's expedition. "And not get into any more accidental firefights."
Hey cop man, was not me that blew cover and started shooting. All I was there for was to watch and listen. Skrate says while pocketing the other autopistol and clip worth of ammo.
Jastilus puts one hand in his pockets and the other to his chin, softly rubbing the wispy hair threatening to grow into a beard.
Gentlemen, now is the time to turn our ire at the perpetrators of heresy, not each other. Beyond just sitting about waiting for the next murder, perhaps we could cage one of the adherents to this false demagogue, find out what they know that we don't.
Is that feasible?
Are there any other methods of surveillance we haven't tried yet? Is there a way to recoup or retry on our earlier attempt?
What other methods have we to identify the rogue psyker and the beast whispering heresy into its ear?
Maybe we should talk to some of the dregs that dwell in the area. Something as monstrous as what has been described to me could not have happened without someone seeing it.
As Occux takes J.T. For treatment at the Biologus facility and J.T. Keeps praying that he'll return in the same state he leaves in.
The next morning when things settle down and Jacques has a chance to check in with the Arbites he finds out that the whole section is in disarray with reports of gang violence spilling out onto every street near the Brood territory as retaliatory attacks are still being reported. The local police have their hands full trying to keep the violence contained but the Arbites haven't been called in yet.
Occux is able to get J.T. Taken into the facility and his 'special' credentials bypass those already waiting to see a medical technician. "Greetings brother. Please permit me to determine the status of your charge." A flurry of metallic tentacles life out from beneath the tech-priest's robes, all covered in strange tube and needles or scalpels or bearing box like scanning devices that all reach towards J.T. And probe his wounds before turning back to Occux. "Subject has suffered combat damage. Multiple penetrating bullet wounds. Removal of damaged tissue and projectiles achievable. Proceed with surgery?"
"Subject has primitive attachment to organic appendages. Removal of projectiles with minimum of tissue destruction is implicit. Proceed.
"Confirmed, treatment and recovery will require one week to recover and ensure no brain damage has occurred."
With that he escorts J.T. To a different room and dismisses Occux.
-----
While J.T. Is receiving treatment everyone else spends the week confounding to go over the information as well as discreetly observing Brood territory and activity from a distance.