Hearing the booms coming from the rear cart Monia pipes up "Sir! I think the boys in the back are in some real danger!"
"Yes, but we have to trust them to survive until we stop, if we try to jump in now, we're liable to get in the way and be cut down by friendly fire."
After taking three rounds from Simmins shotgun, two leaving bleeding holes in its torso, Thud'dr walks in and lifts the fully-armored Ork off the ground and throws him out of the open hole - as one would throw out an intruding animal.
With a shriek, it vanishes from your field of view.
Then, powerful blast removes half-a-meter of hull from the back end of the cart, disconnecting cart two and three and blasting an Ork apart who was trying to get through - despite being lit on fire.
The blaring claxxon blares up following the heavy detonation.
With a shrill shriek, the train stops with a heavy jerk and the doors open, allowing everyone to see the station Omnissiahs Crossing for the first time.
Its a complex, interconnected mess of pipes, supporting pillars, mesh-grid walking ways and waiting areas, stairs and plain metal, handrail-less pathways over the bottomless ground, taxation stations and maintenance servitor bays. Several colored arrows are painted on the ground and various signs - but most of the signs and a great percentage of every big surface is sprayed with the red and blue graffiti you are starting to associate with Orks: grinning, toothy faces, large-lettered WAAAAGH! declarations and loads of abusive words and signs.
Everyone gets out of the train quickly - which is a good thing, as the disconnected cart comes crashing into the waiting train moments later, reducing the second cart to a heap of misshapen metal. As the train starts to head off, it moves slowly, sparks are flying and metal grinding so loud that it pains the ears.
There are two other trains docked at the station at the moment.
The ork-train from before, one level below, its paint nearly gone, only traces of some dark hue remaining. A couple of Orks are rushing out of it just now.
And another train two levels up. A steam-spewing, even older looking model with lots of shiny metal plating and decorative elements. The train is painted in a bright red hue that makes you think of the Ecclisiarchy.
Three levels lower, you can see a host of Orks in-fighting and demolishing the structure. They don't seem to have noticed you just yet.
By the Emperor, there is no ground!
And everything between live and an eternity-long drop into the darkness below is a rusty mesh-grid and some supporting pipework and pillars!
You can not unsee this - nor really concentrate on something else...
Take -15 on all non-combat checks and -5 to all combat related checks as you struggle with your fears.
Leni doesn't flinch when the doors open to a wide open space but instead waits for Sarge to lead the way. As ordered.
After the warp-spawned horrors, and the lethal fury of a broodlord, what is height to Krish? Either he will not fall .. or he will; exactly as the Emperor wills it. Krish moves forward at his familiar slow-steady pace, his augmetic leg hissing and thumping with each step.
Leading the way out of the second car, Krish finds a suitable piece of ork trash to serve as temporary cover while the squad disembarks the train.
[ooc] Sick day will try to post tomorrow]
Thud bursts from the car. Thank the Emperor! Finally, solid ground! Sweet, sweet... and he immediately grabs onto the biggest beam he can find. With a whimper he makes his way across a deck that seemed to him to be made of little more than stiff cardboard and punctured through with holes...
Monia, after being on this Emperor-forsaken world for as long as the regiment has been as well as the run-ins with the warp that she has personally had, well, this was a trifle by comparison.
After hanging out of a speeding train over absolute nothingness the solid mesh grid is no big deal.
The old Sergeant had never had to contend with heights of this magnitude before, and as it turns out, he did not do too well with them.
Outwardly the only sign of fear was a slight whitening of his face, he was after all used to being in command in high stress situations.
However, he still wasn't focused enough to see an obvious way out of the current situation.
"We need to put some distance between us and the ork horde, everyone, look around. Also, look for the charts so we know where the right train will be.
We may need to board in a hurry no matter what happens!"
A part of Cormaeg was pleased that his voice remained steady, if perhaps lowered. Though any observer might think that was simply to avoid drawing attention from the orks bellow.
Hearing Sarges order Leni looks around and tries to get better idea of the
surrounding area.
Looking around she notices that - while multi layered in usual over the top mechanicum fashion - it was still a mechanicum designed train station - and actually vaguely followed the rules and conventions of those she knew from back home. Vaguely.
"Pretty sure I got a good idea of the places' layout, Sarge. Which train are we looking for? There should be infos about the trains running on this level scattered around here but bigger info plates with infos about other stations should be on the... elevators? Or stairs between levels, whatever they use here. Crazy Mechanicum Frakkers can never be consistent about that"
Sarge the orks from the other train know we're here. Maybe we should take 'em out from the high ground before finding out what our next train is!
The sooner the better, Sarge! Thud isn't looking good! Notch reports as the rear car team piles out of their rolling wreck.
In fact, Thud looks not good in more than one way. He is bleeding from two high caliber round wounds in his arm and a nasty looking explosion wound in his right shoulder. He's taken enough damage to turn a man into chunky salsa. But he's still standing. He also looks like he's walking in the thinnest of ice and keeps subconciously glancing at the grated floor.
Thud takes a moment and tries to compose himself, to not be afraid. He was out of the cramped car, and it was light here. With big open spaces. Open. Clear.
He takes a deep breath... and looks better. Mentally. He still looks like ground beef physically.
"If we fire on the orks from the train, the ones from further down will hear and join the "party", we want to avoid that for as long as possible.
If the emperor is smiling, maybe the train orks will join the idiots downstairs instead..."
The Sergeant sighs and mutters half under his breath, "But I highly doubt we'll be that lucky..."
"Orks going to join their friends for a party instead of murdering whats right in front of them? Sorry Sarge but I don't think that's how those creatures work. I'd say we could only try to lure them away from here by running, then turn around to fire when enough walls are between us and the group below so they won't hear the fight. But that means we could run into other orks along the way and everything turns into a clusterfrak. Maybe just shoot down those guys and then build an ambush by the time the orks from below make it up here? I don't think they got a map any more than we do. So should take minute or two."
There are a couple of demolished showcases at the platform. Glass broken, its content (a large syntheplast poster) ripped and sprayed-on.
Maybe you can get a next-to-full picture if you find two more of those (or one rather intact) posters somewhere around here an puzzle it together.
The mostly bloody Orks from the other train are done exiting their train and look around, as if searching for something ... or someone.
One of them roars a challenging warcry and points his cleaver at you, then rushes up the first flight of stair he can find, followed by his remaining four companions.
The stair they took looks like it will skip your level entirely and go straight up to the platform two levels above you.
"Ahh, I forgot how much I hate this place, urgh!"
Ralph does not look good.
He is blank as a sheet and the arm holding the ork gun trembles.
The boy is eying the bleeding Ogre with shocked eyes.
Sybyll has followed with a blank, distracted expression murmuring under her breath.
"A maze of steel and stair,
Plagued by insects of green,
For every repair, three fails,
Each train, another toll from my substance,
Each cycle, another step towards the edge."
Following the Sergeants orders, you check your special senses as Sybyll speaks again, but once over, you cannot feel any active warp powers coming from her.
There is a distant sound that uncomfortably reminds you of a powerful engine - not unlike that of a flyer.
Many echoes and other noises makes it very difficult to determine the origin.
(2+ DoS:)
It is coming from below and behind you - off the edge of the construct.
So somewhere from the empty darkness where only rails-on-pillars and the occasional train should be.
"See? Those Frakkers have even less idea than us about the place, they are going somewhere up there."
She points up, roughly 2 stories higher.
"Anyone else hear that big... something coming?"
"Right, I want stubber and flamer covering that stair, and Thud as well. These xenos are greedy and likely to go for the bigger target, possibly allowing themselves to be moved down by concentrated fire before they can reach us.
Everyone else, look for those posters, but keep an eye on the orks as well, they might try to jump."
Simmins and Cort work together to unpack the stubber and brace it against the railing. (One action for Simmins to help set up and then brace) Then Simmins aims down the barrel and fires at the crowd of onrushing orks, aiming at the full crowd rather than just one. (Half Action Aim and then fire, making up two full actions)
No one else seems to have heard the sound but you are not satisfied and continue to look around and over your shoulder ...
... hey, what is that bright spot doing out there, the way you came from?
It is moving. Not very fast but towards the station and by extension: you.
While the quad scatter to search for other informational posters (or rather scraps of them) Simmins sets up and finally, as he thought to have a clear line of sight, opens up on the Orks.
From the full salvo, only the first bullet makes it through the difficult area of pipes, stairs, mesh-grids and pillars, causing an Ork to stumble and block several others behind it.
The ensuing brawl is short, filled with curses and violently but after a few seconds, Might'Makes'Right solves the issue. The toppled Ork is kicked aside and the horde presses on, now on your level. The leading Ork points a rugged knife the length of Thud's lower arm at your group and snarls - then jumps from the stair!
Obviously, the Ork misjudged the distance and hurls himself way far and crashes against a complex-looking interconnection of pipework. Several pipes are disconnected and rupture, causing hot steam to billow up all around the Ork. He vanishes from sight but you can hear shouts of pain from the steam cloud...
Meanwhile ... ... the squad is making good progress collecting fragmented data!
Cormeag is now faced with a probably 50% complete poster of station 'Omnissiah's Crossing'.
If this is not enough to solve your problem, you would have to press further into the station to find additional clues, as you are quite certain that you found most clues within 20-ish meter of the platform.
It is enough to piece together that the train you have to take runs from the highest gate of the station. Five levels up from your current position!
Thud makes his ripper ready and stands with Notch at the rear of the group.
We're should leave soon, sir! Notch warns.
Krish looks at the poster with a bewildered look on his face, "Sir, I believe that we must gather more of the poster. This is impossible to decipher."
Leni is still intend on finding out more about the map.
"Then we have to push further in! Everyone, form up and move out!
The imperial guard does not run, but neither do they die in vain!
Right now, we have a job to do, and it's not to be bogged down by mindless xenos having "fun"!"
"Why cant the Mechanicum ever make anything simple for the uninitiated to follow!
Impact Damage, Pen 2
With some of the input of Monia and your slowly growing understanding of this nightmare-construction, you can conclude that each line has its own platform.
There are seven platforms in total, each on a different level, with a couple of maintenance and waiting levels in between totalling to over a dozen interlinked levels.
The current information is enough to match five platforms to trains that are not running in the desired direction.
The remaining three platforms are:
- the one two levels up, where the steaming train is currently waiting for something
- the train the Orks that attacked you earlier were riding, one level below
- and the highest platform, a whooping six levels up, not visible at all over the distance
The squad leader is quickly faced with a decision:
- left, into a mess of hunched alcoves of uncertain function and with very narrow passageways
- right, which leads to a free-standing staircase going up to the next level
- full-ahead, leading to a broad ramp that slowly descends to what appears to be a waiting area for passengers. You can make out lots of (dismounted and mostly destroyed) banks and seats and run-down tech of sorts. This way will bring you closest to the stairs the orks are climbing and will directly pass the still steaming area
Not left, Thud would be at an equal big disadvantage as they are due to his size...
Not straight ahead, we are trying to AVOID the enemy as long as possible...
That only leaves...
"To the right!"
Underscoring his point, Cormaeg gestures with his chainsword.
"Thud, take point, I'll bring up the rear."
Thud turns on his heel and hustles up front with Notch close behind. He charges up the stairs until he either reaches the top or is told to stop. Or runs into something worth shooting. His finger is beside the trigger and the saftey is off.
Simmins stays just ahead of Thud as he hurries upwards.
Leni sighs, having her concentration broken by gunfire and ork shouts, then the command from Sarge.
Still she kinda likes living so she gets her lasgun ready and rushes after their mountain-and-grizzled-old-man-speartip almost as soon as the command comes in
"Sir! Three possible trains going our way! That damn Ork train down there, one two stories up and one all the frakking way to the frakking top!"
Even while Leni starts running her mind starts working on the problem at hand instead - whether this way will even take them to the upper floors - she has not forgotten about the ork train below going their way but for now she does NOT want to consider that being the train they need.
This stair brings you up exactly one level.
From the sight of it, it is some intermediate level, maybe the (former) reign of maintenance servitors and adepts of the machine god.
As such, there ought to be other ways further up an down.
The stair winds around itself in a fairly wide arc and brings you up to the next higher level after conquering a mere hundred bare metal stairs.
It is dark here, no glow globes shed any light. You have the immediate feeling, that this area is not meant for passengers. Cables are sneaking around, pipes criss-cross, cogs are turning and whirring and there is an occasional electric discharge as dangling, damaged cables meet something metallic.
Praise again for your prey-sense goggles or this would be so much more difficult...
Panting, you take a few seconds before you notice that one of the blocky shapes in your sight is actually not just another machine or structural component, but a heavy duty servitor.
Its eyes are dark though, but it seems in a astoundingly pristine condition compared to the rest of the station.
"Well, at least we are going the most likely way then! The emperor has a twisted sense of humor so it COULD be the one below.
But he also shows mercy when he has the time to worry about us grunts!"
Krish hurries along with the rest of the squad, occasionally cursing at his leg for making them all slower.
Monia continues on with the group occasionally casting a wary eye behind them for pursuing orks; ready to telekenetically lob some debris at them to slow them down.