As you enter the tunnel, it becomes clear that it is rarely used. Dense webs cover ancient illuminators that barley function to light the ancient pathway. Stale air and foul scents fill your nostrils. The tunnel is not long, you can see the exit in the distance, approximately 40meters down.
Volkrad Hoch stands just under 6' and while not an imposing figure by any stretch of the imagination he moves with a feline quality born of a hired gun. Despite his happy-go-lucky demeanor there is an intensity about him that is difficult to place. He is quick with a witty remark, even at the most inopportune times...and to the most inappropriate people. He seems to thrive on danger and adventure and when those are in short supply will invent his own, much to the chagrin of his compatriots.
Volkrad moves down the tunnel pausing only at the exit to, as he would put it, get a feel of his surroundings.
Succeed
Nunciate Sister Ciaran follows closely behind. Slumming through tunnels and prisons wasn't her forte, by any means. Sisters of the Ordo Famulous were trained to attend to the noble families of the Imperium. However, the current state of Hive Desoleum required a more direct intervention on the part of the Sororitas. Her duties lied with the nobles, for better or worse, and so she offered her aid to the Inquisition in their investigation.
Ciaran stops, waiting for a signal from Volkrad before moving forward.
Feliks is solidly built, moderately muscled and of average height. On the right side of his head, a trio of parallel scars lead from near his cheekbone back into his hair, where there are three white stripes in his hair on that side. He moves easily and his eyes seem to hold secret knowledge.
Moving down the tunnel behind the other two, Feliks hopes that Inquisitor Ophelia was serious about his equipment waiting for him down this tunnel. But she has yet to steer him wrong, so he has faith. When Volkrad stops, Feliks tenses and instinctively reaches out with his mind to feel for any warp activity in the area.
Daniel moves steadily along taking heavy, deliberate steps. Even the dark of this musty passage his habits formed as a longtime Arbritrator shine through - even if that holier-than-thou attitude is one of his less redeeming qualities. As Volkrad stops Daniel's eyes narrow and he instinctivley reaches at his hip forgetting that his trusty instruments do not lie there at the moment. He closes his eyes and gives a small hiss of frustration before opening them and nodding to Volkrad.
When you reach the exit, you can see that there is a considerable drop, aprox 20', before you can reach the pile of refuse below. It appears at one point in time a catwalk was present here, but it has long since fallen into the pile of trash below.
There is an Imperial Flotilla hovering above over the courtyard that produces most of the refuse you see below anchored with cables to the Arbites Precinct. Several scavengers are in the area rummaging through the pile and making deals.
Volkrad sees the Arbritrator nod at him, at least he guesses that he's an Arbritrator. How he walks, moves...all scream cop to him. All the alarms that have been bred into him from a life of crime..ahem, legitimate business activities, go off but he suppresses them to deal with the scene before him.
Fail
Succeed
Fail
Volkrad sees the scavengers but can't quite make out who they are from this distance. He spots the satchels and slightly nods in their general direction to the rest of the group so as to not alert any of the scavengers down below.
He starts looking for a manner to get down to the floor.
= Failure
= Failure
= Success
= Failure
Daniel moves over to take a look out of the exit, he too notices the bags and scavengers. He takes a hard look at who seems to be picking through everything but Daniel hasn't been around Desoleum long enough to remember all of it's politics and gangs well enough by heart.
He turns to the rest of the group and makes a nod of agreement with Volkrad and holding a finger to his lips.
Ciaran immediately ducks back into the tunnel when she spots the scavengers.
"Mercenaries," she hisses in a low tone "Sworn Collectors. We should steer clear of their dealings for now. It is better to pass without incident."
The tunnel is 10'x10'. The exit is worn around the edges and the court yard can be easily seen by anyone in the the group. There is at least a dozen scavengers below, at least 4 of them are of the mercenaries Sister Ciaran identified.
One of the scavengers seems to notice activity in your vicinity and begins to shine a light in your area.
At this point you also notice large rats moving in on your satchels. They seem to have cybernetic enhancements.
Ciaran ducks down farther in an attempt to hide from the light. She spots the amalgamations as she does. In an unconscious layer of her brain a certain nueral conditioning is triggered.
"Smelt Rats: she repeats instinctively "Cybernetic anomalies that pose little threat to humanoids. When found in packs or if one possesses augmentations, they can pose a considerable threat."
It takes her a few seconds to come back into her own. When she does she comments "If those satchels are the gear the Inquisitor spoke of, we need to get to them first."
Feliks nods at Ciaran's words, "I do not much like the idea of climbing down the wall with those people watching. Easy targets. I can engage them from here. Shall I?"
As you are all ducking from the light and contemplating your next move you hear a terrifying howl. The light that was creeping up towards you suddenly jerks away. The howl becomes a voice.
This is ours now Collector scum! TONIGHT I FEAST ON YOUR HEARTS! A gang of scared men with fresh bloody wounds and bladed decorations rush the courtyard below. The two factions seem evenly matched. The Smelt Rats below scatter...for now.
The Sworn Collectors seem ready for the Razor Angels and fire a barrage of weapons at the charging mass. Las and bullets sing through the air echoing in this vast courtyard.
Feliks glances over the edge briefly, nodding to himself. When he withdraws back to the tunnel he speaks quietly, his voice just loud enough to be head close by over the sounds of the combat below, his tone clinical and unemotional, "I see two options. 1) Wait for attrition to make killing the winners easier. 2) Assist one faction to engender gratitude, making the recovery of our equipment easier. Option two has the added bonus of possibly securing the assistance of whomever we side with. I suggest option two. Further I suggest assisting the Collectors as they seem the most mentally stable. We must choose quickly. Thoughts?"
"I hardly see the reason to help either. We are unarmed, unarmoured, and frankly I don't give a Grok about the wellbeing of scummers. Larger things are at stake here so let's just collect our things and move on while they're distracted."
Glaring at Sister Ciaran, "Some of us scummers might save your life...should we give a Grok"
To Feliks, "We can do nothing up here except maybe spit in their general direction. We need to get our weapons and equipment."
Taking off his duster he hands one end to Feliks, and with a dark smile says, "If you would be so kind as to lower me down?"
Felix shrugs and moves up next to Volkrad, "Yes, I will lower you down. Anyone else?"
Ciaran rolls her eyes.
"By all means then, let's get a taste of the local colour."
She'll take Feliks up on his offer as well. When she gets down into the trash she'll head directly for the satchels and attempt to find her gear.
A veritable wall of muscle hustles down the tunnel just a bit behind the group, coming into sight quickly. If there was ever a prime specimen of Feral World breeding, the newcomer is it. Long black hair bound into thick dreadlocks bounces with every step and most of his visible skin is mottled with scar tissue. Dark eyes peer out from beneath a heavy brow, his nose looking to have been broken more times than anyone would care to count. Fortunately, Volc has a strong jaw and a clear gaze as he skids to a stop beside Feliks, peering out the mouth of the tunnel.
"Collectors. At least they're distracted. Go on, you're next," he says to Feliks with a nod as he moves to try to take the duster from the man. "Heard you all from down the tunnel. Sister's right, Brother. Get our things, then throw our lot in with someone. Can't fight as well without my hammer, after all."
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Scurrying down the tunnel behind the group, Odette spits a muffled curse quietly as she leans to the side to see around the others at the mouth of the tunnel. The fair skinned, white haired petite woman was quiet enough that it was easy to overlook her existence. She was more or less around to make sure none of them sawed off their own legs. Her dark eyes glanced about as her mechadendrite slithered out for a better view.
Unfortunately, with the others preparing themselves and shuffling about, her optical attachment gets knocked about before she gives up and retracts it with a slight frown in her brow.
"We're really going to engage with--" before she can finish however, Feliks is already preparing to lower Volkrad down. She watches nervously before stepping forward herself in hopes of getting lowered down. Climbing wasn't her forte, and nor was falling.
Feliks nods to the newcomers, "Our stuff is down there. If we wish to have it, we must recover it before some others claim it."
Daniel watches his compatriots begin to get lowered down as quickly as possible. He looks around at where he was and who he was with, wondering where things had gone to lead him to this point. The noises below shake him from his stupor;
"Let's get our things. Then we can see about helping whoever don't shoot us. If I get a bullet my way I 'sume they aren't out fir help." He says, nodding his agreement to the current plan in general.
He accepts the help in getting down as climbing had never been his forte.
Collectors 14
Volc 12
Feliks 10+
Razor Angels 10
Volkrad Hock 8
Odette 8-
Ciaran 5
Daniel Abernathy 4
Collectors 14 Firing at Razor Angels
Volc 12
Feliks 10+
Razor Angels 10 Closed in on Collectors with vicious blades
Volkrad Hock 8
Odette 8-
Ciaran 5
Daniel Abernathy 4
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Odette did her best to climb down, either by climbing down or with the aid of Feliks and what appeared to be someone's coat. She waited patiently for her turn to go down, and once it was, she muttered near-silent prayers that she'd either avoid the worst of the fall, or better yet, find that there is no fall to be had.
Well, that went poorly, and she found herself flat on her bottom with more than a bit of a bump on her rear at the bottom. The jolt had been bad enough on its own, let alone the bruising reminder she'd carry with her for a few days. Maybe weeks. Months if she was particularly unlucky.
Odette got up to her feet carefully to avoid losing her footing and to ensure nothing had broken in the fall. Once she was sure that her parts were mostly together, she looked around to get her bearings back now that she was down. At least her optical mechadendrite wasn't broken. That'd have broken her heart!
Volc frowns at everyone else's complete and utter lack of haste in trying to get out the tunnel. That is just fine with him. If he has to be the first into the fight, it is far from the first time and certainly not the last. He crouches down to grab the lip of their ledge, working to climb his way down.
Unfortunately, he slips whether due to a shoddy grip or muck on his choice of hand-hold. Fortunately, he knows better than to call out as he falls lest it alert any of their potential attackers. He keeps his mouth securely shut but for the grunt of pain when he lands.
Which is considerable, seeing as the fall was not even that far. Ouch. Once at the bottom, he hauls himself back to his feet with gritted teeth and scrambles in the direction of their waiting gear. No worse for the wear other than some slight pain in his ankles, he certainly manages to make good headway.
After helping all those who wanted it, Feliks lowers himself down, reaching to find a good handhold to begin his climb down the wall.
Unfortunately, his first handhold seems stable but when his weight bears on it, it breaks loose and he falls.
Clenching his teeth on the sudden fear of falling and the pain of the sudden stop at the bottom, he lies stunned for a few seconds.
Shaking off the discomfort of his new bruises, Feliks regains his feet and quickly rushes over to the satchels, identifying his quickly by the long staff protruding from it.
Round 1
Seeing the others all jump down into the pit (with rather miserable results), the Sororitas instead opts to retain the high ground.
"Toss a weapon up to me!" she calls "I will provide support from here."
Dan takes a look over the lip and decides to try his best to climb down the ledge.
Dan heroically leaps to the ground, rolling as he hits the floor. Not a scratch on him. What a man.
Round 1
He quickly picks himself up and looks around - hoping everyone saw nothing. He collects himself and spies the bags.
Hearing the Sister's call for a weapon, Dan holds up an 'OK' sign. He quickly scrambles to the bags, keeping low to avoid any stray fire from the current altercation behind him.
With the help of Feliks Volkrad tries to make it down as gracefully as he can.
Obviously it wasn't that graceful and he tries to make it "look" better than it was.
Round 1:
Volkrad follows Feliks over to his gear as quickly as possible, grabs his satchel and finds some cover.
Some did not make it to your gear yet, but I want to go ahead and do all the tests at once.
Collectors 14 Firing at Razor Angels
Volc 12 Arrives at his satchel and locked box with weaponry. One piece of your gear is Good quality, the rest is common.
Feliks 10+ Arrives at his satchel All of your gear is common quality
Razor Angels 10 Closed in on Collectors with vicious blades
Volkrad Hock 8 Make a daring attempt at simply jumping down to the gear below. His embarrassing spectacle is hard not to notice. One piece of your gear is good quality. The rest is common.
Odette 8- Odette almost makes it to her gear, when she sees a smelt rat leap at her from the darkness. Unfortunately the smelt rats had gotten to some of your gear. Your servo skull is not poor condition and requires repair. Luckily, you are in the middle of a large Imperial dump.
Ciaran 5 Taking a defensive position above the team. Attached to your Hand Flamer is a note that reads Burn the Heretic Sister, I have added some personal adjustments to this just for you. One other piece of your gear is best quality, the rest is good quality. This obvious favoritism might earn you the chagrin of your fellow acolytes...
Daniel Abernathy 4 Makes it to his gear One piece of your gear is in poor condition, the rest is common.
In addition to everyone's starting gear, you find two local outfits. One for the lower hive, basically rags cut to the fashion of Desoleum, and one a suit that identifies you as a skimmer pilot in the upper hive.
Volc does not waste time about snatching up his warhammer, the cool metal and worn leather reassuring under his palm. He goes to snatch up his armor next, before the sound of a smelt rat catches his attention. His head whips around, dreadlocks flying as he spots the beast lunging at Odette, and he reacts without a second thought. The warhammer finds itself snugly, comfortably tucked between both hands as he charges the beast with every intent of turning it to paste.
Swing and a miss. That's what he gets for trying to flatten the beast silently instead of letting out a war cry. Maybe he has its attention now, at least? One can certainly hope. It would be far better for the creature to come after him rather than the defenseless Tech-Priest. "Behind me, Sister. I will handle this beast. Retrieve your things." He does his best to sound calm, certain, reassuring despite the fact that he just missed the rat with his first swing.
Collectors 14 Firing at Razor Angels
Volc 12 Steps in to help Odette. The Smelt Rat seems completely disinterested in Volc, but completely obsessed with the augmented psyker.
Feliks 10+
Razor Angels 10 Closed in on Collectors with vicious blades
Volkrad Hock 8
Odette 8-
Ciaran 5
Daniel Abernathy 4
Smelt Rat 4
Seeing that there is little time left to them, Feliks snatches the chest armor from his satchel and straps it on, then levels his Las pistol at the rat menacing Odette.
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Crap, crap, crap, crap, were her thoughts when she saw her beloved servo-skull in a state of disrepair, and only made worse when the culprit responsible lunges towards her. Despite seeing it well in advance, Odette was neither quick nor skilled enough with a weapon to avoid the attack.
Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk. While the others are swinging and shooting at the rat on her behalf, she gathers up her gear before doing her best to put a few feet of distance between her and it.
Realizing that there is little time to put on armor, he simply throws the satchel over his shoulder and grabs his weapon. He grabs some cover to provide overwatch for the rest of the party as they grab their gear. He doesn't feel particularly keen on firing into a rapidly growing melee.
If he has time to put on his armor while in cover he will do so.
Round 2 Break down so far
Collectors 14 Firing at Razor Angels
Volc 12 Steps in to help Odette. The Smelt Rat seems completely disinterested in Volc, but completely obsessed with the augmented psyker.
Feliks 10+ Fires at the Smelt rat and wounds it slightly
Razor Angels 10 Closed in on Collectors with vicious blades
Volkrad Hock 8 In Overwatch()
Odette 8- Takes from previous Smelt rat charge. Odette grabs her gear and disengages from the rat. The rat still seems intent on attacking the only augmented party member.
Ciaran 5 Delaying action Hoping for someone to help her with a weapon.
Daniel Abernathy 4 not yet acted
Smelt Rat 4 The Smelt Rat continues its relentless assault on Odette and charges at her again using its augmented speed to close the 2meter distance quickly. unless it is successfully dodged or parried it will cause another to Odette
Round 2
Daniel grabs his and Sister Ciaran's satchels and slings them over his shoulder. He hurries back to the mouth of the tunnel.
"Incomin' Sister! He says, unsure if she could even hear him over the din of the fight. Shrugging off the packs he grabs Ciaran's and tosses it up to her.
Round 2:
Volkrad will start looking for a way out of the current area. A soon as he finds one he will let the rest of the team know.
Collectors 14 Firing at Razor Angels
Volc 12 Steps in to help Odette. The Smelt Rat seems completely disinterested in Volc, but completely obsessed with the augmented psyker.
Feliks 10+ Fires at the Smelt rat and wounds it slightly
Razor Angels 10 Closed in on Collectors with vicious blades
Volkrad Hock 8 Volkrad Hock fells the rat with a final blow(it only had 1 wound left so wont bother with damage) When it dies, it sparks a little and lets out a whimper. There seems to be no more rat activity in the area...for now.
Odette 8- Takes 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6 from previous Smelt rat charge. Odette grabs her gear and disengages from the rat. The rat still seems intent on attacking the only augmented party member.
Ciaran 5 Delaying action Hoping for someone to help her with a weapon.
Daniel Abernathy 4 Ciaran retrieves her gear.
Smelt Rat 4 The Smelt Rat continues its relentless assault on Odette and charges at her again using its augmented speed to close the 2meter distance quickly. 1d100 ⇒ 25 unless it is successfully dodged or parried it will cause another 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4 to Odette