"Well, if we can't get the automatics working, let's look for that hand crank that was mentioned.
It was hidden at one of the sides of the elevator.
See if you can find it."
"Well I can't figure out where it might be, so good ol' eyes it be then. Can't say i've worked on any these thingamajigs before."
"Well, we can't just stay here.
Simmins, Thud, you stay where you are and keep covering.
Everyone else, find me that damn crank!"
As everyone starts searching, Krish starts prodding the area around the slide he discovered earlier,determined that they ought to to hide something.
As he prods the upper end of the area with his staff (it's a bit too high to reach easily for him), a short hiss of pistons sounds up and the slids turn out to be the outer plating of a long and broad lever that closed evenly with the surrounding construct. Upon being prodded, the lower end of the lever pops out of the casing a few centimeters, enough to allow easy grasping of it.
The blue-overall wearing militiamen nods at Krish.
"Ya found it. Neva can seem ta rememba w'ere ya 've ta prod to get it out."
Knowing it is his turn, Thud'dr steps forth and grasps the lever in his massive hands and pushes it up slowly before pulling it back down with effort. You can see the muscle strands popping and pulsing in the Ogryns body during the one hieve and know immediately that no one of you would be able to move this thing so much as a few centimeters.
Nothing seems to happen whatsoever after the first push-pull.
The lever reminds of a simple car lifter, albeit on a massive scale. You know that working the lever works up pressure within the machinery and it can take a few push-pulls before enough pressure has build up to move anything.
"Nicely done Krish an'good work big'un, keep pumpin' tha' lever, it needs to build up pressure."
Shifting over from the controls, Adge tries to lend his puny strength to assist.
Thud goes to town on the lever! It's brutal work, but he does it without complaint.
Krish smiles a tiny smile in acknowledgement of the compliment.
Leni watches Thudd with worried eyes
"Oy careful big'un!"
And, more grumbling to herself because Thudd wouldn't understand anyway:
"I fixed those muscles with metal staples! If they break from the force I don't know what else I could use to keep the big'un in one piece..."
Krish joins the Ogryn effort and after half a dozen more pumps, the massive gears actually starts to move.
It takes nearly five minutes before the platform starts moving too. The gears grind and arrest into the next hole and the process repeats.
Ascension is slow but - after the first few holes - steady.
Each of you give me three athletic rolls.
Sum DoF/DoS up between each pair.
- 1 DoF
- 4 DoF
- 2 DoF
As Thud pumps away a couple of the staples do give way. One breaks so forcefully that it ricoshets a couple times around the elevator! He doesn't stop pumping though. In spite of the physical pain and strain in his muscles he gives himself over to the work as a means to stem the tide of emotional pain throbbing at the back of his mind.
Trying to get into a rhythm with Thudd's mighty strength is near impossible for Krish. Then one of the Ogryn's stapled wounds comes un-stapled, and Krish nearly loses his grip on the level entirely. With a desperate re-position of his hands and a plea to the God-Emperor, Krish stabilizes the lever and keeps pumping.
After having moved to help, Adge is only too happy to move out of the way and let the bigger and stronger squad members do their thing. Instead Adge watches the mechanism as they work, checking to see that there aren't any brakes resisting them or damaged parts hindering the pump. Where safe to do so, he redistributes grease and removes debris, whilst alternating between the Canticle of Appeasement and the Catechism of the machine.
"Be still, spirits, I do what I must. Forgive the intrusion, and give me your trust....With your strength you protect me, with my care I repair you, with sacred oil I appease you, be quiet good spirits, and accept my benediction." "
The abhuman and the witch struggle to find a common pace, made worse by the height difference and the fact Krish is not able to grasp the lever at its highest.
Then, everythin happens at once.
The grinding gears buckle and crunch as some obstacle along the wall is crushed by the moving gears. This in turn causes the lever to buck hard against the Ogryns grip and a strip of metal sheating ricochets off his body. Krish finds himself lifted off the ground for a few centimeters as Thud'dr growls and tries to keep the lever down. Cormaeg jumps to aid of the two wrestling men and manages to ground Krish again. Meanwhile, Lucky is murmuring hasty prayers to the machine spirit, which at least causes the buckling to stop and the lever to audibly enter a locked state, allowing everyone to get a few deep breaths in and to shake out their hands before continuing their work.
It take you the better part of two hours (thank the Emperor for the lever moving easier and the platform moving faster after a while) to reach a level at which the blue-overall man finally gives a nod.
"This be it, boys."
An empty, hight-arched and four-men-broad hallway lies before you. Once it must have been an impressive sight. Between carelessly sprayed Ork glyphs, wanton destruction, old (and new) blood stains, impact holes and smeared feces, little of the once ostentatious decoration remains though. The huge Imperial Aquila with the sign of the Administratum in its claws at the end of the hallway - clearly intended to impress the importance of everyone working at this elevated level - desecrated with Ork faves painted over its majestic heads and the Administratum icon blasted and torched. A skeleton wearing the torn remains of a high Administratum clerc hangs from two cruel iron-wrought claws fitted to the orkified Aquila.
Along the length of the hallway, you can see several doors leading left and right, with a particular large double door about thirty meter ahead, on the left of the hallway. From somewhere ahead you can all clearly hear Ork voices, whooping and gruel laughter.
Thud takes a breather after he stumbles off the lift. Even for an Abhuman that workout was intense. He collapses to the ground and groans as his physiology tries to recover and takes a long draw from his oversized water canteen. Ouchies he mumbles.
After a moment, Thud rolls over and brings his Picture Scripture around. He opens it to a page marked with a leather bookmark, treating the thick, cloth-like pages with utmost care. Inside is a picture of the Emperor arriving on Olympus Mons on Red Mars. His hand is outstretched and wreathed in golden light touching the freshly repaired leg of a large combat walker as techpriests look on.
Thud strong. Like Machine. Thud hurt. Like machine. Emprah makes better. Like Leni-medic. Emprah proteks. Like Notch. he chokes up a little, but his voice remains firm, determined as steel in its resolve. We go kill Greenie. For the Dead Ones. For Emprah's Glory. he clutches the broken rosaries at his chest. For pay back.
Leni keeps watch with her Lasgun at the ready in the beginning of the elevator ride but as the short ride drags on longer and longer she sits down and starts fiddling with the leftover metal in the two medkits. Lacking a proper way to strengten the staples she decides to change the shape instead - or rather to make a cross from 2 staples. Lacking a proper welding tool she miss-uses her lasgun for it, cranking the power switch as low as possible without breaking it. After a few staples they finally stick together properly.
She bides her time until they arive, and seeing Thudd that tired she leaves him to his prayers for now, only interrupting when he pulls out the rosarius. She takes one of the small pieces of used bandages and moves over to Thudd, wordlessly wrapping the bloody bandage over the rosarius, before turning away again to take care of that line of snot that formed at some point.
"Shee me later to redo doshe shtaples."
Leni manages to replace the broken staples without too much pain for the big'un
"Steady now soldiers, we're approaching the final battle of this little mission.
This is where we strike a blow against the hated xeno, where we strike down one of their foul leaders.
We will cut the head of the snake, trample it's body and pull out it's fangs.
We will unleash our righteous revenge against those who would kill the citizen of the empire.
We will pluck the eyes from the stinking heads of the filth that dare trample on the holy ground of the emperor.
Dig deep, find all the hatred you have against our enemy!
Harness it, hone it and be ready to ram it straight into the heart of those that dare laugh at us."
Thud looks at the rag that leni wraps around his hand, then looks up to her. He nods, barely understanding.
Then the Seargent starts on his speech. Even less is understood here, but some things need no interpretation. He was to go murder some Orks. That was enough.
Once his (rather repetitive) prayers are fininshed (they actually weren't but he doesn't know) he finds leni and has himself stapled back together. From there he walks around the squads "blessing" them. This consists of him walking up, plopping his twenty pound hand on their head, seriously telling them that the "Emprah Proteks", and then hitting them on the chest with his broken Rosarius. Leni's bloody rag is tied around his Rosarius chain next to the holy symbol.
Simmins nods at what everyone else says. For Notch and the Emperor. he says and makes sure the fresh clip in his Stubber is ready to go.
Adge looks to the sarge and field signals for himself to go forward and investigate.
Wrapping his cloak around him, Adge ghosts forward from cover to cover, listening at closed doors and poking his head into open ones. Trying to find out what we face. Once a good distance has opened up, Adge signals the others and gets them too move up.
2dos
simple fail
Leni wipes off the snot and salutes to Sarges' inspiring words, muttering her own intepretation under her breath.
"My enemy is death and by the Emperor I know I'm no match for it but I have failed more than enough already today"
Krish stands for a moment, breathing heavily. Bolstered by his power or not, that was a considerable effort. After he has his breathing somewhat more under control, he readies his lasgun once more and falls in with the others.
Lucky crouch forward, his camo-cloak struggling to adapt to the multi-colored marble floor. He reaches a half-opened door on the right-hand side of the corridor after a dozen meter or so.
From your auspex, you know that there are contacts within.
Three contacts, to be precise.
Daring a look through the half-open door, you see three Gretchin milling around in what appears to be a change room, with rows of lockers lining the walls.
The small greenskins struggle among themselves over a heap of torn cloths and personal belongings.
Judging from the broken lockers, you can guess what is happening here: more looting.
As silence starts to fall over the squad, waiting for Lucky to report back, the shouting of close-by Orks is getting all the more audible.
There must be lots of them, shouting excited about something.
It sounds ...
The only thing this reminds you of (beside mindless roaring of beasts of course) is the shouting of a horde of spectators during some sport event.
Crouching, Adge signals back to the others (thumb down, then 3 fingers, then pointing to room, then thumb and forefinger suggesting small). Using the rising sounds of the orks, Adge tries to cross the doorway, lasgun pointing at the gretchin. Placing his feet carefully and steadily, Adge creeps forward.
5dos
1dos
Luckily , gestures are much simpler than words. Thud understands and advances to the other side of the door, his Ripper gun at the ready.
- hahahaha!
You can see the Gretchen's looking your way - actually looking through you to be precise - with a worried expression.
On of the weedy creatures hisses to its kin:
"Zog da gibbins fast, I hear a boy commin.
He gonna scrap us if he sees uz lootin' da hummie bizz!"
The three of them hurriedly starts to shove piles of personal belongings into their loose trousers causing them to bulk awkwardly.
The gretchin looking directly at him is almost enough for Adge to start blazing away, but as his finger begins to squeeze the trigger he notices the focus of the eyes and eases off. Freezing stock still, he waits for them to move off and waits for their eye line to move so he can signal Thudd to halt.
At Lucky's signal he stops with a confused look.
"We can't let anyone see us until it's too late for them.
Anyone gets in our way, we take them down fast, and as quietly as possible."
One of the Gretchins is stopping its frantic working and turns his head left and right.
He seems to be sniffing the air.
I can be fast but I ain't quiet Sarge Simmins says under his breath as he prepares to move up to Lucky.
No, but we may have a window when it comes to you Simmins. The orks don't use las weapons, but they do use solid projectile ones.
They might think it's just some unruly "boyz" shooting the place up."
Simmins nods and moves ahead to set up a kill zone in the direction Lucky is pointing with Cort.
Seeing the gretchin stop and sniff the air, Adge decides that the sound of a 'boy' approaching is preferable and waves Thud forward. Help on it's way, Adge starts to aim at the perceptive grot, ready to shoot if he thinks it has rumbled him (or Thud).
Thud stomps forward and takes up a position by the door.
The tiny Xeno whirls about, fright and confusion clearly written on its ugly, snouted face.
"I smell humiez!
D'ya think da bosses play wit' one of da slavzz?"
It's two compratiots cackle and continue stuffing goods into their overflowing trousers.
"Whatev' Snoutzogg, he ain' comin' fer us anytime soon..."
The on sniffing approaches the door,calling over his shoulder.
"Gonna close da door. If da boss is zogging, better he no seein' uz lootin' da hummie stuff."
Thud could have pretended he was an Ork. He could have. He didn't. Notch's death was still far too raw for that. He just walks around the corner right into the little grethin's face and quietly rumbles, I ain't no Hummie. I human! I be Emprah's boi. And you be DEAD! He never gets loud, but the quiet seems even more dangerous. He's clearly well past rage and clear into Vengance territory now. For Thud, it's a clarity of purpose he's rarely felt. A light of understanding burning in his soul where Notch used to be. A light from the Emprah, the death of his foes.
His evicerator practically appears in his hands and he swings at the little filth's head like a dad batting at a toddler's tee ball.
The Ogryn destroys the frail Xeno lifeform beyond recognition.
What remains - a compressed, fractured blob of green meat and bones - flies straight accross the room, hitting one of its comrades on the way and sending it to the ground.