Welcome to Hive Desoleum Primus, or as some call it Primus, one of the largest foundries producing lasguns for the war effort. Oaths and bonds are taken seriously in the upper hive, eforced by the Sanctionary Bondsmen of the Oaths Involute, more often referred to as the Santionaries. But your not in the upper hive, your down in the gutter getting by day by day where gangs fight each other for territory or for scripts paid for by the nobles to take care of rival issues. The air is stale and humid, lights dim and unreliable. Rain comes from fetid waters dripping down through the levels, coating all with oily liquids. This is your home be it by your own decisions or forced by some other hands and you have to make the best of it.
Lil' Lazlo
Blood drips from your chain sword, fresh kill, filthy mutie though he could take it from you, he though wrong. His blood covers your scared face and body with entrails hanging from the blades of your weapon. You breath in deeply taking in your surroundings as the onlookers watch you. No one dares come towards you, you appear to be enjoy the moment with a slight grin on your face.
You just wanted to find a bite to eat, maybe some sump rat stew, but seems like it's going to be one of those days...
Josiah Graves
Drinking at the local pleasure houses has become a common theme for your daily routine. Trying to drown out the dark vision of your past into a blury haze. Oh those dark memories... your not quite the man you once were. You know your not welcome back to the upper hives and if you were ever caught the Santionaries would probably torture and then kill you in public exebition. So here you are people watching with your pissy drink in hand as girls dance on the stage before you...
Sirus Mechanicus
*beep* *beep* *beep*
The barely functioning cogitator flashes before you as you continue whatever insane project you were working on. Many of the Tech-Gangs tried to recruit you when you arrived in the Underhive but you were above such trival maters as such joining a gang. Your work is all you care about.
The Mechanicus didn't approve of your works, thus here you are. They limit themselves by their rules, you on the other hand see there is so much more to the machine and what can be accomplished by utilizing forbidden techniques and items. This was the perfect place to hide and continue your research...
Toxic Avenger (Need a name)
Sitting cross legged with your anchor between your legs at your home, which in reality is just a hole in the wall with a light hanging from the rock surface ceiling that flickers when you walk past it. You live down in one of the lowest areas of the underhive where many muties migrate due to how society treats them. It's not your fault this happened to you, you were just a happen chance of creation, you did nothing wrong, but they still call you freak and taunt you when they see you. You make many pay for their words but most just run away before you can get them.
Someone yells toward you. "Hey freak! Come out and play!" as they throw a rock into your hole...
Sirus concentrates. Hard disk C and F had to be bridged quickly or the program maintaining the system would time out. He takes high capacity duplex cabling and solders it to the cogitator assembly board with his mechadendrite, then bridges the gap. Sweat threatens to drip down his face. Stupid biological components, always overheating.
The board suddenly shorts out, throwing sparks everywhere! Sirus shields his primary sensor housing and waits for the machine to finish its fit.
When it's done he recites the litany to calm the machine spirit and examines the damage. It's not good. He's going to need more cable and three duplex ports.
*sigh*
Time to go make some money.
Sirus Mechanicus
Another failed experiment and wasted equipment cloud the room with smoke. Things were so much easier when working on the Forge world but this is better than being deactivated.
Sirus makes his way out into the hab commerce district of the Underhive. Unlike upper areas of the Hive there are no guards down here. Thieves and ruffians can be seen everywhere looking for a mark. Most stay clear of Sirus due to his larger size and mechanical frame, probably scared the Cult Mechanicus may come crashing down on them if they interfere with his work.
Sirus finally finds his destination, a small shop with gadgets only those inclined to the Omnissiah would find interesting. Inside is a small middle aged balding man with a few augments to his fleshy body. He obviously isn't the owner of the shop but the store keep. The owner is unknown even to you.
Really, it was his only choice. Up hive there were plenty of shops that catered to tech, especially when it came to the voidships that hauled the billions of tons of supplies and products to and from the planet, but down here there were precious few.
Sirus enters as he has many times before and picks up his need equipment while also looking out for anything new. He catches the shopkeep's eye and nods him over. The man makes his way slowly. He knows what's coming.
Have any jobs? Sirus asks without greeting.
Sirus Mechanicus
The small man eyes Sirus. "Depends on how dirty you want to get and how bad you need script" the small man grins a toothless grin.
He moves behind a desk and opens a drawer with his thumb print and pulls out a dataslate.
"Lets see what we have here..."
He thumbs through the slate. "Nope.. Nope.. Nope.. Nope.. Nope.. Ahhh...
"The boss needs more precious metals from down below. You up for it?"
Sirus needed the script, but he wasn't about to show it; not more than he already had that is.
How much and what composition? What's the pay? Do I retain the rights to any extraneous materials acquired, biological and otherwise?
Lazlo looks around the area his arms outstretched while walking in slow circle and let's out a roar of victory. "So another one falls before Lazlo! This twist wont be getting in my way again. If you know someone who needs a little extra muscle end the first tell them about Lazlo."
Holding the blade aloft in the air and revs the blade droplets of blood splattering upwards before dropping down like bloody rain. "Lazlo will mess up their enemies. You've got the credit, I've got the carnage! Let's make a deal!" He pumped his fist in the air with each word of the final sentence and for the final punctuation he gave the mutie a final parting kick in the head.
He tears off the muttie's rags to clean off some of the blood after a little bit and see if the twist had anything worth taking though he doubted it.
Lil' Lazlo
Some onlookers in the crowds cheer while others don't seem to impressed by your bravado. They slowly disperse after they realize the mutie is dead.
Only one person stays behind watching you as you go through the body looking for valuables. It's a tall slender person with a dark hooded cloak covering it's facial features. He walks toward you once your done cleaning off the blade.
"I could use some muscle if your interested. Pay's not great but if you got nothing else going on will get you by for some time."
Sirus Mechanicus
"Boss needs more Adamantium. Seems the twists down under have been slacking lately with their shipments and always looking for more hands to bring some up. Pay is 2 script per Kg. I'm sure someone like you could easily get enough to last you a while."
"Anything else you find while down there is yours unless some mutie says otherwise than that's between you and them" he grins.
Sirus nods. 2/kg was low. Very low. But if he got lucky the could get most of the adamantium to walk up here for him.
No. To risky. He's have to extract the metal before he came back up. Hopefully he could find a couple less mutated specimens that he could convert into servitors to carry the stuff up for him.
What's the quota? If it's big I could use a couple neutral inducers and a spinal interfaces. Cludging together serviters to carry the loot in a place like that is tricky.
"What kind of work. what are the odds of combat and plunder?" Lazlo was trying to build a rep after all and safe jobs weren't the best for it, but still better for his stomach than no jobs but the mutties credits would get a little water.
"What about for how long?"
Sirus Mechanicus
"Boss needs as much as you can muster. If you need the extra gear to hull the stuff then the cost goes down to 1/kg. I'm sure you being who you are can easily get 100kg up here no problem."
He looks down at the slate again and then back up.
"Look I got things to do you want the job?"
Lil' Lazlo
The person who you can identify as male as he speaks to you, still unable to make out his facial features.
"Just need a bodyguard. I would hope it won't come to combat but if it does anyone you have to handle with your delicate hands you can have their goods. Job will be until it's complete could be a couple days or weeks."
Sirus nods. Deadline?
Naturally he, whoever he was, would charge for basic equipment. Not for the first time, Sirus wishes he had a more robust mechadendrite to work with. Soon. He would expand his capacities as soon.
He takes the details and heads back to his lair to make sure he had everything. He does. It's actually hard not to have everything. He's been here for what feels like ages and the only addition he's made is the decent sword at his hip. He sighs and sets off for the deepest levels of the Hive. Time to go see why the Twists are keeping their metal from the Man.
Lazlo gives the man an appraising look.
"As long as it doesn't bring the Arbitrators down on me. Sanctionaries aren't so bad to tangle with but Arbitrators they're a different story." Well it was better than nothing so he went to take the deal.
Josiah Graves
Drinking at the local pleasure houses has become a common theme for your daily routine. Trying to drown out the dark vision of your past into a blury haze. Oh those dark memories... your not quite the man you once were. You know your not welcome back to the upper hives and if you were ever caught the Santionaries would probably torture and then kill you in public exebition. So here you are people watching with your pissy drink in hand as girls dance on the stage before you...
Once, Josiah Graves would have blazed a trail through here, throwing around a winning smile, creds, and the odd bullet if someone caught his wrath.
Now he sits slumped in a chair, nursing his tepid excuse for alcohol, staring vacantly and trying to blot out the memories.
But he's not quite done yet. The sanctionaries won't bother looking for him here. All he needs is a bit of cred. He already has his irons and a nose for trouble.
He swills the last bitter dregs and slams his mug on the table, standing up. Time to look for work. Maybe the barkeep or the regulars know of some action.
Sirus Mechanicus
"One week. No I must get back to work off with you!"
He leaves you and you head off to your duties preparing and heading down to the underbelly of the hive.
You take a few lifts to make your way down and the state of the machinery as you go further becomes worse and worse. You almost want to stop and repair what you can but know you have other duties. It's truly remarkable that the hive is even still standing based on the state of things down here.
You finally make it to your destination and make your way through small habs of mutants and other misbegotten remnants of humanity. They eye you with caution as you pass, not seeing servants of the machine god down here in probably ages.
Lil' Lazlo
He leads you to a lift and it starts to make it's way up the hive.
"I'm hoping we don't bring down any type of law down upon us. If you have what you need we will be heading up to the mid hive now to a meeting. I need you to stand there and be you. If the ones we are meeting with do anything stupid you take them out. Good?"
Josiah Graves
The barkeep eyes Josiah when he approaches making his way past all the patrons. Some give you dirty looks others ignore doing whatever it is they were up to.
You poke questions about potential work and nods.
"I've heard of a new trade outfit looking for hands to help move some merch if your interested. Don't have much information other than that. I have a contact I can put you in touch with but I get a percentage as part of my cut for the contact you hear?"
Psyker (Curt)
The ticks seem to get worse and worse every day. Your body shakes uncontrollably at times and you concentrate your will to ease the tremors. The hab locals fear you, they know what you are but dare never speak of it. Some have seen you use your abilities and would prefer they not be used on them thus they stay clear.
You sense strangeness in the hive lately, unable to really determine what it is but something is changing, probably not for the good of the hive either...
Lazlo took a moment to consider, enough for food water and a bunk with maybe a few credits aside with full dibs on the loot if he kills anyone and those fancy midhivers had some nice stuff. He nods at the man.
He gives the lift a good thump with his fist before it takes off to make sure it's sturdy.
Josiah Graves
The barkeep eyes Josiah when he approaches making his way past all the patrons. Some give you dirty looks others ignore doing whatever it is they were up to.
You poke questions about potential work and nods.
"I've heard of a new trade outfit looking for hands to help move some merch if your interested. Don't have much information other than that. I have a contact I can put you in touch with but I get a percentage as part of my cut for the contact you hear?"
"I hear you. Who's the contact? What's the merch?"
Josiah tries to keep excitement and faint desperation out of his voice. He is also not keen on giving a cut of what little cred he's likely to get. He intends to make sure that cut is as low as he can manage.
Sirus keeps his hood up, his eyes open, and his mechadendrite obvious. 95.6% of the time his perceived association with the Ad-Mech kept him safe. This was not 95.6% of the time, so he didn't trust it now. He had the equivalent of a M36 lasgun strapped to his arm and hidden, but that would be of little use against more than a single assailant.
Lil' Lazlo
The man leads you through many different passages, lifts and other mechanical transportation methods through the hive for about 3 hours. Some places look familiar while others don't. You finally make it lower main hive cantina called The Screaming Wheel. The place is rather busy and you take a seat waiting.
The man doesn't say much to you on the trip here other than asking some general questions about your background and affiliations with the gangs. He seems to have an interest in the gangs of the hive.
Josiah Graves
"Don't have a name just a location where you could find the person for some work. I tell you what, you do good with them and you put in a good word for me. Always good to be on the traders good side ya know? Maybe get discount goods here."
Sirus Mechanicus
You notice as your passing through the people down here seem to be rather sick, more sick than you would expect in a place like this. Your biological knowledge doesn't seem to compute properly as the things your reading don't indicate anything that would cause affliction on this level.
Sirus stores the information away and does his best to avoid the sickly folk. It would not do for his biological components to become incapacitated.
He makes his way to a dealer he's known before, a shady fellow with shadier connections, but he was effective and informed and that was good enough for Sirus.
Lazlo will try to keep track of settlement names in case he has to trek back down unaided, the levels of a hive were large and if when he got to his home level it was in the wrong part he could not recognise it and go too far.
He keeps an eye on those moving about the bar as well as the ways in and out of the cantina, knowing if a firefight breaks out it might be too late to check then.
Shakes wanders the darkness of the streets. Listening to the sweet sounds of of the underhive city. There is nothing like the sounds of street walkers applying their crafts of seduction to the local men/women of the gutter. From time to time the upper class will venture down off their high horse to sample thier goods as well. The sight of muggings in alleys as onlookers walk by the stench of fecal matter invading your nostrils by natives who voided their bowels when facing their deaths.
Shakes takes out a flask half filled with lightly polluted water draining it container of its content. He spills some over his chin which drips to his chest which doesnt seem to bother him any more. The constant shakes leaves him drenched and messy at times. tossing it aside he presses on.
"what adventures await the night"
Josiah Graves
"Don't have a name just a location where you could find the person for some work. I tell you what, you do good with them and you put in a good word for me. Always good to be on the traders good side ya know? Maybe get discount goods here."
Josiah thinks quickly. Words are cheap, those he is willing to pay.
"A good word it is then. Where do I need to go?"
He has everything he owns on him. Being kicked out of the last flophouse focuses the mind that way.
Shakes
You move about the slums, one of the lower parts of the hive where disease is high and death is normal. You fit in well here with these dreg being with your affliction and abilities. Staying away from any of of authority is in your best interest least they kill you on sight or worse, take you to the black ships.
Josiah Graves
"Go to The Screaming Wheel. There you will find the person your looking for."
He gives you a description of the man which you should be able to utilize and easily identify the person.
From where you are The Screaming Wheel is not to far away. Probably 45 minute hike. You gather your belongings and head out. Credits don't wait for anyone!
The Cantina is very busy when you enter. You scan the room when you enter nonchalantly.
Lil' Lazlo
Probably 20 minutes pass and you see 3 large men enter the Cantina with quite a bit of weaponry strapped to them heading toward your table with your employer.
Sirus Mechanicus
You make your way to the dealers hovel and find him fairly easily. He has no customers and appears to be tinkering with some machinery that barely looks operational. Perhaps he was a tech dabbler, or maybe worse, your not really sure, but he is usually reliable.
He looks up at you and grins a grin with a mouth full of metal teeth and a red augmented eye. He always tells stories of when he was part of the guard an orc stabbed him in the eye and was lucky it didn't go any further but none could ever tell if he was telling the truth or how he ended up down here.
Sirus is momentarily jealous of the augmented eye. Sucn an upgrade would be his eventually, but nice things required credits. He sighs inwardly and approaches the vile little man. A quick glance at the thing he was working on was enough to dismiss it as scrap so he ignored the man's clumsy attempts to repair it.
Sirus, true to form, dispenses with introductions. "I need information. The adamantium suppliers down here are behind their quotas. I'm here to collect."
"Go to The Screaming Wheel. There you will find the person your looking for."
He gives you a description of the man which you should be able to utilize and easily identify the person.
"Thank you kindly."
Josiah tips his flak top hat, gets up, and walks out. A place like that, there is no tab. All drinks were paid upfront, with what had been his last few creds.
From where you are The Screaming Wheel is not to far away. Probably 45 minute hike. You gather your belongings and head out. Credits don't wait for anyone!The Cantina is very busy when you enter. You scan the room when you enter nonchalantly.
Atleast the close confines gave him cover if things went badly in the form of furniture and involuntary meatshields til he knew he could close with any enemy of flee if his employer bottled.
Shakes
vs 76
Sirus Mechanicus
"Good question friend. Lot of people been vanishing lately down here. Not that people don't vanish normally but the rate seems to have increased."
Stubs looks around before continuing.
"I did hear a rumor of some strange items popping up from traders recently perhaps that has something to do with it."
Lil' Lazlo
Your employer stands when he spots the 3 Gangers. He motions for you to stay where you are and moves to meet them half way.
Josiah Graves
You mossy your way around for a bit unable to see your mark right away and finally you spot him talking to 3 large brutes.
Increased disappearances was worrying. That almost always led to instability in the local markets, which meant reduced tech availability. He didn't have enough data to extrapolate what may be coming, but anything from an Imperial Tithe to a gang war was possible. Normally he would like to move to a more stable region, but he didn't have the resources this time.
Point me in the right direction and I'll fix one item of your choice free of charge up to 15 cred.
With all the chatter Lazlo couldn't make out the conversation but it didn't matter, he kept his eye on the Babyfaces. At least if a fight broke out he might get some valuable gear to keep or sell out of the exchange.
Josiah Graves
You mossy your way around for a bit unable to see your mark right away and finally you spot him talking to 3 large brutes.
Josiah moves to approach the mark, despite the itching sensation that he has missed something.
Shake looks in all directions to see if there is any more unusual sightings going on and will sneak closer to the shop for a better view and see if he cant get a better listen to whsts going on.
"I wonder what the adeptus mechanicus is doing down in these parts of the slum might be work checking out"