My apologies to the GM and fellow players
During the site outage life got busier, and this campaign fell off my radar
It was wrong to ghost the way I did, hence, my apologies
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Aenarius threw the grenade, a prayer to the emperor on his lips. [ooc]Does 2 degrees of success mean a second hit? If so...]
Wincing Aenarius fell back and pulled out a grenade. ”Say when!”
I knew it! The arbite thought as he blasted the creature with his shotgun. I should have died back then with everyone else, and Throne blast it now I’ve got another chance of it. Frag it! His mind raced. Luckily, his training meant that even as his mind went back to his dark place, his body acted as it was supposed to.
Aenarius shook his head and checked his frequency. An echo of the warp, perhaps? An old recording? A prank from a sailor abducted and forced into the imperial navy? Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to help with the mission at hand. He took point as they moved towards the surgical ward.
Aenarius was going to say ‘stick to the plan’ but the plan really boiled down to being having the tech priest figure this out. So with a sigh he followed along.
With a shake of his head and a growing feeling of disquiet, Anaerius continued onward. He went on the vox, though, and shared this finding with the armsmen.
”No bodies, and nobody opposing us. Best case scenario the enemy took the crew and left the ship floating. Some kind of xenos, maybe. And the fact that is the best case speaks volumes.” As Anaerius said this, he looked at the barricade to see if he could determine what type of weapons were used against it.
”It’s in the SOP. But yes, the freq is...” He didn’t say it, but he approved of Vasyl’s questions. The man had properly inspected his gear with PCI and PCC, and was ensuring that everyone was using the right frequencies. In a different life he might have made a good arbite. The arbiator checked his shotgun. He was glad to have it in a situation like this. If there were enemies here then it would get close and personal fast. He was jealous of the armsmen. They were well and truly equipped for this. The inquisitorial team, as he realized that is what they were, instead was armed with whatever arms each man was most familiar with. An eclectic group, to be sure. But one with a wide range of skills. He hoped that would make up for the lack of flamers and heavy weapons.
”Survivors huddling in prayer are not our concern. And as I see it, sending a squad on a long trek by foot is asking for a squad to die alone in the dark. We need to assume that everything in there is ready to kill us until we know otherwise, and that nothing will work in our favor unless we have intelligence saying otherwise. This is a ship full of heretics, orks, genestealers and demon possessed servitors until we know it not to be.” Aenarius looked around the room at the assembled men before continuing. ”We have three squads right now, and our strength will lie in us supporting each other. I say we hit the fore bay first. Squad Keppania takes the armory. We don’t want the denizens of this ship having even the option of arming themselves. Any survivors might be tainted in the inquisitor’s eyes. Even civilians can be dangerous if you take your boot off their throat. The techpriest and us agents take the bridge. We can control the ship from there and find answers for the Inquisitor. Squad Volga becomes tactical reserve, able to support either of us should the need arise. And once we have both areas secure, Squad Volga will be ready to hit whichever target is our next priority, depending on the status of transportation and whether we meet hostile forces.”
Despite himself, Aenarius smiled. Damn, but Ekran was good. He honestly felt more at ease now than he had since, well...before the mines. He had always felt that there was a burden on his shoulders that he couldn’t explain to anyone else. Having someone else who understood was not something he expected to find. An inquisitor’s man or not, Aenarius was glad to have Ekran here. ”Thank you.” Aenarius said, sincerely. ”You will be in my prayers as well.”
Ekran:
”Arbite Laedram, I apologize if I overstep or misspeak, my training is not so much in ministering to the masses. I notice you seem troubled - I take it by thoughts of loss and duty, having been drawn from your world and the responsibilities to family, friend, and unit you had there. Know that your defense of the planet was noble, and because of your dedication to the Emperor, many of your folk still survive, and the efforts of traitors have been thwarted. But come, I would not have you be lost to the melancholy of the void. And so, if there is anything I can do for me, you need only ask." Aenarius took a moment to consider his words. The man was playing the role of a cleric well. He had a way with words that made people want to trust him. But Aenarius knew that whatever he said would undoubtedly reach the inquisitor’s ears. Best to send the right message. Furthermore, the Inquisitor would certainly look into their records should they survive, so it would be best to be seen as being forthcoming. With that in mind, Aenarius said: ”I was thinking of Luggnum, to be honest. This is my second time working for an Inquisitor.” He looked at Ekran, trying to judge his reaction. ”It was a backwater mining world, and there were reports of mismanagement. We arbites expected little but a disorganized rabble to deal with. We thought fifty men would be enough. Little did we know that we were walking into the lair of one of the inquisition’s most wanted.” He fell silent, unsure of what to say next. What did he want the Inquisitor to know, exactly? It was important to choose his words very carefully. ”The few of us who survived got word to HQ, and then the inquisition came. It was...bad. I lost many friends there. Not just to the possessed servitors, but also...well, we were all thoroughly checked out by the inquisition. Even the slightest hint of corruption meant a quick death. There aren’t many of us left, who went in there. And it has me thinking of what we are doing now. A ship and a mining complex aren’t that different, really. Narrow corridors, plenty of servitors. The real possibility of being stuck, alone in the dark, with a nightmare of flesh and metal that is trying to eat you from the feet up. I’m praying. Praying for the emperor to guard my soul. And I am praying for all of us who are going in, because I am certain that we aren’t all going to be coming out.”
You lose one too? Also no offense meant from my post to anyone’s character. Aenarius is growing into being a cynical pessimist as the campaign goes on. If we don’t die/mutate/get turned into servitors, I’m sure he’ll eventually come around
Aenarius sat, lost in his thoughts. He wasn't a particularly friendly man. His job, afterall, was making the citizens of the Imperium far too afraid to consider rebellion and/or heresy. This was accomplished through the judicial application of shock mauls and shotguns, depending on the situation and how merciful the arbites were feeling. It wasn't a job for a people-person. Looking around, he thought to himself that in all likelihood, they were going to die. Despite himself, he was beginning to get attached to his ragtag band of expendables. But these armsmen and their sergeants? There was no point talking to them. He fully expected most of them to die in the coming boarding action. While Aenarius had only been part of one inquisitorial action, he knew that when the inquisition was involved, something serious was happening. Something which would likely involve a very high body count. So why get emotionally attached to the dead? It just made things harder. Which brought him to the matter of his little band. He listened as Lothar and Vasyl spoke. Lothar seemed like a decent enough person, but there was something about him that sat with Aenarius wrong. He reflected that it was probably the man's grating optimism. He was evidently a noble, who had joined the Imperial Guard for glory and prestige. The very fact that he knew he would return him marked him as someone who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. The Guard usually never returned home, if they were lucky they'd get to colonize some far flung planet that they had liberated. Lothar didn't seem to realize how fortunate he was, or...and this is what irked Aenarius the most...how his luck had run out. He had gone from being a privileged nobleman, coddled by a Guard which wasn't using him as cannon fodder, into being an inquisitor's mine-canary. The fact that he seemed to think that this was still an adventure which would bring honor to his family filled Aenarius with jealousy. Part of him wanted to walk over to the nobleman and shake him until he saw reality. That the inquisitor wasn't risking her own people, and instead was sending in cannon-fodder to see if the ship was irrecoverably tainted. He fully expected to send a message back to the inquisitor, sobbing as his eyes melted, that the ship was a death-trap unfit for humans to step foot aboard. Aenarius shuddered as he remembered the chaos-tainted servitors he had faced before, and what they had done to his comrades. Back when he had been optimistic like Lothar. Emperor's throne how he envied the man. And then there was Vasyl. Aenarius shifted his gaze to the man. Gang-scum if he ever saw one. The man knew how to fight, but it wasn't trained like a guardsman or an arbite. Best case scenario the man was a mercenary, but Aenarius doubted it. If he was, he'd have talked profit by now, or boasted like the other mercenary-scum about why they were worth the credits. No, the man fought like a veteran of the gang-wars which Aenarius had all-too-often gotten involved in when the gang feuds got out of control. The fact that he was so silent told Aenarius that the man was likely fleeing from someone, or something. Not surprising for gang-scum. And yet...out of all of his companions, he liked Vasyl the most. Because there was a man who was realistic. He had lived in hardship. There was someone that he could trust to know when to keep his head down, and when not to face-check a building. His gut feeling told him that Vasyl was a survivor, who had the most important survival instinct of all: knowing when to keep his mouth shut. That instantly endeared him to the Arbite. He really hoped that the man's past didn't come to light, so he wouldn't have to shoot him in the back of the head. It was hard shooting people you liked. He knew. And of course, then there were the others. Hieronymous was a tech-priest. You could count on tech-priests to be good at what they did. But at the same time, were they even human anymore? And how much did they really put their faith in the God-Emperor? Anyone who didn't worship the golden throne had a mark against them in his book...but he knew enough to know what he didn't know. And he knew that he didn't know much at all about the cult of the machine. And Praetus? There was a man who worried Aenarius. The warrior seemed to enjoy sword-fighting of all things. As if though he thought he were one of the Adeptus Astartes! The problem with swords is that by the time you got to use one, someone was shooting you in the head with a gun. Praetus had to know that, and yet he still tried to close the gap. This meant that he was part of some sort of death-cult, or he was insane and addicted to adrenaline. He hoped it was the former, because the latter would get them all killed. Finally...there was Ekran. The man was skilled, charming, competent, pious...and above all else, not someone to trust. The man was an inquisitorial agent. And Aenarius had seen what inquisitors could do. Of how many of his friends and comrades were "reassigned" and were never seen or heard from again. He knew it was because they were 'tainted', and while he understood the why, it still hurt deep down. The inquisition, at the end of the day, didn't care about what was best for them. They had a job to do. Aenarius respected that, but he had enough self-preservation to know that this wasn't good news for him. What he knew, was that around Ekran he'd have to watch what he said and did. The man was the eyes and ears of the inquisitor. Never let him see you slip up...because that would mean being reassigned. Aenarius closed his eyes as he leaned back in his seat. He was borrowing problems when he had more than enough on his plate. He had fully expected to grow old and eventually retire from the arbites, after a lifetime of spilling gang-scum blood in the emperor's name. Now? Now his life was going to be measured in days. And if he were truly fortunate, he and his companions would prove themselves to be worthwhile enough not to be sent on suicide missions. But what was the chance of that? Still...some optimism was warranted, he reflected as he tried to get some sleep. Chances were that everyone he knew and cared about on-world was already dead due to the chaos invasion. So who knew? Maybe this suicide mission would mean that he'd be the longest lived arbite of them all. Yay for me he thought as he drifted off into sleep.
My thanks to Ekran for his continued help!
"No, ma'm. We will prepare for this mission, and will not let you down." Besides he thought. If we do let you down, we'll be too dead to regret that promise.
Many, many, many thanks to Ekran for his help with this:
Aenarius is now ready for a boarding action. AP5, TB4, a shotgun with manstopper ammunitiion, and a shock maul incase enemies get close. Shocking weapons can Stun their opponents with a powerful surge of energy. A target that takes at least 1 point of Damage from a Shocking weapon, after Armour and Toughness Bonus, must make a Toughness Test, though they receive a +10 bonus for every Armour point they have on the location hit. If they fail, they are Stunned for a number of Rounds equal to half the Damage they suffered. Against tough but lightly armored foes, this seems like a good way to put an opponent on lockdown. :)
Changing ground transport to pistol training. So I can use the laspistol. Figure that is more useful in a boarding action. For gear will save for a shock maul and later for better armor
I'm still at the point where I google "dark heresy weapons" and see what comes up. I'll look up the Macharian Handbook and see what I find.
Is this allowable? http://dark-heresy-rp.wikia.com/wiki/Vox_legi-pattern_Arbites_Combat_shotgu n It's short range, but it seems like the perfect arbriator weapon.
Aenarius nearly choked when the inquisitor’s gaze fell on him. Instinctively he snapped to attention. ”N-no sir! Ma’am! No ma’am!” He stammered. Fragfragfragfrag she’s going to kill me. Is she a psyker? The last one was. I bet she can read minds too. ”I mean. It’s just...are the geller fields down? I’ll fight anything I can shoot; and stand my ground against that which I can’t. But I’ve heard that when the shields go down you’ll lose your soul, and...” He trailed off, suddenly feeling very foolish.
Aenarius' heart sank. He had an idea what was happening. The inquisitor didn't know what was happening in the ship, so he was sending in expendable fodder to check it out. Well, more likely, the inquisitor had an idea. The inquisition didn't muck around with random ships, the navy could handle that. Something about this ship was wrong, he just knew it. The inquisitor probably didn't expect them to survive. To send some signal back of what he had to deal with, sure...but to actually make it back? What if the gellar fields had failed? Daemon possessed crew, machines...emperor's throne, the machines. He thought back to what he had seen with daemonic servitors. He felt his hands twitch. Looking around he wondered if anyone here would live past the next few days. Nobody else seemed to have realized this. It made him feel both pity for, and jealousy towards, his comrades. Their optimism seemed so misplaced.
Aenarius stared. So...they weren’t going to die? He had a taste of the inquisition before. From the cleansing of the Red Vaults of Luggnum. Even thinking about it made him shudder. It also made him have a healthy fear of the inquisition. You didn’t say no to them. Nobody who refused them walked away. He had friends who were scanned and then “reassigned” after the bloody fighting in the vaults. He had no illusions of what happened to them. In his heart he knew that there was only one answer. ”Arbrator Laedram.” He said as a way of introduction. ”It is an honor. I will serve with my life.”
Thanks for all the advice. I've decided to hold off on heavy weapons for the time being...at least until we can afford all of the gadgets. Replaced Heavy Weapons Training (200) and disarm (100) with... Melee Weapon Training Shock (100)
Why? Well...I've realized that disarm requires an opposed Ag test. It costs 500xp to upgrade my agility. So nevermind. Shock mauls though? If I deal damage, then they need to take a T test or be stunned. Much more Arbrator way to dealing with criminals. Besides that pistol training just sounds useful to have, and driving a vehicle is the kind of skill that is needed until we *really* need it. So I might as well pick it up. -------------- When it comes to big booms and the like, I'll just wait until I can get a bolter. :p
I see...hmm...that could work. Will have to look into that, though I'm assuming it would have to come in much later due to the cost of heavy weapons being around that as well.
Looking over rules again...and it seems like the heavy stubber is *really* heavy. Much heavier than what a squad's light machine gun would be IRL. My character also only has Str30, and +5 advance costs 500xp! I don't know why arbirators are supposed to be weak, but ok. Also from what I've seen, to actually use a heavy weapon without bracing, I'd need "bulging biceps." Which requires Str45. For my character to get that, it'd be 500xp for Str35. Further 750xp for Str40. And another 1000xp for Str45. That's a total of 2250xp for Str45, and that's before the talent. That's....alot. So, question time. Can I get by with Str30 using a heavy stubber and later a bolter? And what does "bracing" mean with the rules? Is it prohibitive enough to go for a different build path?
Aenarius follows, a bit less pleased. This was the inquisition! The bloody inquisition! Most likely the Inquisitor was going to say that they were exposed to the great enemy and that they’d have to be turned into servitors for the sake of their souls. He didn’t want to be a servitor...but what choice did he have? With his heart threatening to jump out of his throat, the arbriator followed.
@Aenarius: Bolter is definitely a good goal, but think you might have gotten mixed up on the advances page. Rank 3 Arbite (Regulator) grants access to Basic Weapon (Flame), Basic Weapon (Launcher), and Heavy Weapon (SP), all at 200xp. Rank 4 (which we don't get until we surpass 2000 xp) grants Basic Weapon (Bolt). So you could get Basic (Launcher) and pick up a solid grenade launcher, or perhaps Heavy (SP) and get a heavy stubber of some sort for sustained firepower. Also, not sure if you had considered picking up Pistol Weapon (SP) for 100 xp? Not a necessity at all, but there may be a time where you want to be able to use a one handed firearm. Ah, thank you once again. I’ll go for Heavy Weapon then. Mainly because a heavy stubber is like a 240b machine gun...it just seems like a good squad weapon to have. Against enemy squad elements? Heavy Stubber them into paste. Close up against single targers? Shotgun them in the face. Either way, make noise in the emperor’s name.
Aenarius wasn't an officer. He wasn't even an NCO. He knew a sh&tstorm when he saw one. Putting on his best 'blank stare' that all troopers learned, he did his utmost best to not draw attention to himself while looking like he wasn't trying to do just that.
Ok, with 600xp in addition to 800xp starting I can get regulator upgrades? So.... Dodge: 100xp
How is that? Any advice? Idea is that as an arbriator what screams “emperor’s justice” more than a shotgun? A bolter! And besides that with highish WS but low Str he can disarm...
Seeing Lothar’s limp, the arbite ran over and throw the man’s arm over his shoulder. ”I got you! Move!” he yelled as he helped bring the man aboard.
The all guardsmen party? We go through several TPKs just to show us how grimdark 40k is. Now that I want it...making this character was hard enough!
It’s a big help! Please, feel free to correct any mistake I make
Coming to a halt, Aenarius raised his shotgun. Vasyl had the right idea. Shoot them in the face at a range close enough to perform dentistry on an ogryn. He really wished that he could have thought of some kind of witty one liner, but all he could think about was how the first person to pull the trigger was going to come out on top in this gun fight. Acting on pure muscle memory, he fired:
Aenarius followed Vasyl in. With his shotgun at the ready, he did was he was trained to do. Unleash the Emperor's judgement on traitorous filth at close range.
The shotgun roared it's fury at the closest traitor. It wasn't a particularly well aimed shot. Running tended to have that effect. But it was nearly impossible to miss at such close range. He braced himself for the inevitable counter attack.
Thank you. :) Also, said guards(man) training...I did learn how to use a 240b light machine gun. And had the opportunity of firing a howitzer. So time well spent.
I have returned...and have so many posts to catch up on. 86 to be precise. Is it too late to return to the game?
I have found that I have to go to some national guard mandatory fun in June. From the 3rd to the 23rd I’ll have limited internet connectivity. While I’ll finally learn how to use an m249 light machine gun...it’ll limit my posting. My apologies in advance.
With his comrades being butchered, Anaerius drew his shotgun. Yes, he risked hitting one of them, but it was better than having everyone be torn apart...
Leveling the shotgun, he fired at point plank range right into the traitor's armored chest.
Attacking with his sword, the arbite missed his target. He desperately wanted to fire his shotgun, but the fact that his allies were already engaged meant that he would likely send more than just the enemy to meet the emperor...
Aenarius went in with Heironymous, his shotgun at the ready. The tech priest had a job to do, and he was there to make sure it was done without interruption.
Seeing the tech priest go, Aurilous followed suit, shotgun in hand. ”Your life is too valuable to throw away, magus. I’ll ensure that nothing disturbs your work.”
”There is no time to lose. Quickly, let’s go! I think that I know the way..”
While the others crowded and worked, Aenarius cautiously kept his shotgun trained behind them, to ensure that the others could do this safely. Being the rear guard wasn't exactly the safest of occupations, especially as they were looking to flee from a thematically appropriate explosion...but someone had to do it. he just hoped that the others would work quickly.
”The first traitor push is being forced back by the sisters’ defesnses. Let’s get these set so we can hold these gains.” For the first time there was hope in his voice.
Shotgun at the ready, Aenarius brought up the rear. It wasn’t the most glorious of positions, but if any traitors came from behind they would be in for a lethal surprise.
Without any long ranged weaponry, Aenarius raised his shotgun, ready to blast any traitors who tried to close in.
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