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Iota, blissfully unaware of what plays out elsewhere, tries to get more out of Spark "Happy to hear all available systems back online, Spark. I would ask of you a list of all functioning systems as well as a list of systems which require repairs. I would also be grateful for schematics to the systems which need to be repaired as repairing ships is after all our trade but yours is quite different from common models."
Iota first turns to his tech adepts
He then turns to Archibald and the Interface.
And thus the technological work starts - Iota will spend most of his time on the Interface, at least initialy with Archibald as translator. If things go exceptionally smoothly then they'll teach the interface gothic - for example by letting it interface with one of the servitors to glean the language from the speech center of its brain. If Iota determines at any point that this process is inefficient - meaning it will take longer to teach it the language than it takes for the work he needs it done right now then he'll switch to the actual work instead. Either way at one point he will switch over to getting all the technical data from the interface he can. Meaning schematics of the ship, status reports, technical documents and so on. The rough intention he starts this work with is to find a way to get this ship not just online but preferrably removed from the Hulk.
While it is not lost on Iota that it would make sense to aim for the legs he has had no training on how to actually do that and still be effective so he keeps up the pain and hopes the others cover the whole slowing it down parts for him.
And it seems his weapon understands his purpose and it too hungers to dish out retribution on the vile defiler of ancient technology running away from them.
Never change a working approach...
Iotas personal boltgun continues to roar, dishing out the rage of the Omnissiah to the unholy beast desecrating the technological marvel of a ship they still find themselves in. And so craters start to appear - the first one dead center on its fat rotten torso, the next halfway towards its shoulder, on the shoulder and lastly smashing into one of its ugly eyeholes. The hit almost towards the shoulder but not quite seems especially devastating, blowing not just a huge chunk out of it but seeming to tear into something wet and squishy... someting... important to it perhaps?
Well then... time to hurt this thing!
Iota switches from the pinning "fire in its general direction" pattern over to the "you know what? This gun can HURT" fire pattern and stitches three "blossoms" of boltshell explosions over his arm and chest
"Oh holy boltgun I ask your forgiveness for firing you not with the intend to cause damage to the best of your ability but to keep the the vile thing in our sights."
Iota lays down a burst of suppresive fire on the thing and even tho they don't quite hit the effect of a rapid fire burst from what is essentially a rocket launcher exploding all around is terrifying.
Iota at first toys with the idea of joining a squad - but the room down there has plenty of space and so he instead opts to be a "one man squad". Either to be ignored, allowing him to fire his holy bolter with impunity, or to be chased alone, letting everyone else blaze away at the thing.
Iota nods, however still adds:
Iota checks his boltgun one last time while addressing Archibald.
"Cleaning... Before we move on I suggest asking if it can 'clean' that filthy thing we fought earlier. Or if it can at least find out where it went and inform us somehow if it comes close to us."
Iota, despite remaining motionless for quite a while, is quite busy in his own way. As soon as his implants are back online he instructs every single one of them to secure and file away any and all data concerning the connected state just now. Including but of course not limited to his flesh-memory recollection of the state. Once this process proceeded far enough that the remaining tasks can run in the background he finally starts looking around - seeing Heinrichs offered hand and accepting the gesture.
Iota is busy sorting through the recent experience and doesn't even acknowledge that he is down on all fours - giving the others plenty of time to take a look at the machine before he gets to it.
"This... will take a while. The concepts are more complex than the previous small generator and they seem to share the same roots they somehow seem to be different in all the small nuances. It feels like it can fit if I could just adjust the right part but the specifics somehow elude me"
Unnat Int +10 (actually -10 on the difficulty but same thing really...)
It is still difficult to understand but the concepts do become more clear after a while of studying this machine
Iota visibily ponders Heinrichs idea "It is a possibility. But I'd rather we avoid using weaponry on this ancient marvel of technomancy. I believe this machine must have its own way of thawing the water to keep its supply up. So if I manage to supply it with enough energy to start this process it will start generating its own surplus energy, keeping the whole process running. Think of it like the plasma drives in our own ship: The magnetic fields keeping the plasma from burning through the ship must be created before the generator can start, so using external electricity. But once the generator is up it will use the generated power to keep the fields alive." And so Iota starts examaning the machine, trying to find out where supplying some of his own internal energy might start the thawing process and in turn the generator.
Iota drops off Heinrich with the father: "I don't think he's in critical condition but he could use some care." But then takes a look around the room and the surrounding troops.
And Iota does just as he says, taking a look at the room which the interface hologram identified as supposed to house the generator.
Iota shakes his head slightly and counters: "I really prefer our enemies in front of us rather than somewhere 'close' waiting for an opportunity to strike again when they see fit. But we needed this breather. I think Heinrich took a bad one there." Iota is already moving towards Heinrich while he says that and takes a good look if there is anything he can do to help without being properly trained in medical sience... he should probably rectify that lack of knowledge as soon as possible.
Enough talk. Let the boltgun continue to argue my point of view...
The sound of bolts hitting and exploding punctuates Archibals command lending a very real and physical impact to his words.
Iotas brow wrinkles with concern for his old friend, but he decides to keep up the pain rather than try to attempt figuring out what Archi is thinking. "Don't let the vile thing fool you. Pain might not be part of its concept but it WILL be banished back into the warp from the damage when we pile up enough of it!"
Seeing that faith is the weapon of choice here Iota intones his own "prayper" to the metal incarnation of their god:
And opens up on full auto, spraying the creature with a hail of miniature rockets
Iota freezes up seeing the sheer un-logic of that huge thing still standing - and even firing a recoil heavy monsterous gun. But then the boom of the gun firing wakes him from his momentary stupor and he flings himself out of the way, a moment later than he should have done but it is still just barely enough.
Iota readies his Boltgun and tries to find the approaching "big guy" in red gloom.
Iota sighs "I for my part am sure that we are not actually here. The break of going into the room and then suddenly being back here is too severe. Also suddenly having more people missing does not make sense at all. But while our machine parts seem to be a hinderance at the moment disengaging them does not seem to solve the current problem. Since the father is missing I'd venture that his holy prayer keep this effect at bay somehow. I'd suggest we hold a ritual of our own. I am however not qualified to lead one which prays to the flesh aspect of the Omnissiah. Any volunteers?"
Iota yields some results from his experiment. A feeling of "lightness", like looking into a dimmly lit room after having been in complete darkness for a while.
Iota turns grim.
First - he runs two checks on each of his implants - Cortex, Memorance, Utility Mechadendrite - looking for anything out of place but moreso if they are _too_ similar to eachother as well.
"Clear indications of hostile presence. We need to get this running but hastily starting my work before the whole room is secured would not help - even if I manage to activate it if we are driven out of the room it will be deactivatet or worse. I suggest doing a thorough sweep of the room, barring all entrances we do not require as best as we can, before I try to get it back online."
Iota listens to the information given so far, then nods and poses his own questions, trusting in Archibalds translations:
"Your idea is sound but you forget that the ship and all systems were online when we first boarded. Remember the hangar doors opening and live support systems engaging flawlessly. Only after a malevolent intelligence engaged me in the information net of the ship did it shut down. Both the main enginarium or the bridge should allow me to take back control over this ship and thus reactivating it should be possible from either.
Iota sighs
"Well, not deep enough apparantly. Well then there is one last thing I'd like to try - Father I believe high gothic is closer to this ancient root language than low gothic. Please try ordering the cogitator using high gothic. That is required learning material for the priesthood isn't it?"
"The thought did occur. But I hoped if it understood the older iteration it might understand my commands in gothic and would at least respond. Well the adpetus mechanicus, or in that case the mechanicum also has deep roots. Let's try this: Variable, I need you for a moment." The servo skull returns to Iota for a moment, and linking up starts producing a sets of clicks and beeps.
Lingua Technis:
Set universal translator target language to lingua technis and restart message If nothing happend: Well, not deep enough. Father I believe high gothic is closer to this latin roots you mentioned compared to low gothic. Please give it a try
"Does not sound like anything I've ever heard. Doesn't even sound very... human."
"If this is a strategy room then there should be a hololith of some kind here. And it should at the very least have a map of this ship in case of borders. Let's take a look around"
Iota takes a good look at the maschinery and calls up his tech adepts. Having already found out the purpose of the room makes it so much easier to inspect the visible machinery and divine its purpose. And so they first follow the overtly visible machinery, note done possible purposes of each, then trace hidden paths with their instruments. In the end a sort of "puzzle" is created but this puzzle consists of a schematic with the description of the various parts left empty, with each having a couple of viable options.
After a bit of deliberation and trying out various logical seeming solutions finally a single perfect fit is found - and Iota and his adepts scatter throughout the room once more, pressinng buttons and activating machines - slowly but surely coaxing the machines of this room back to wakefulness.
"I have indeed, Heinrich. Variable, join uns for a moment" The servoskull hovers over, revealing all the antenae and cabeling of a tradional auspex - except for a screen. "My dear friend here is in fact a fully functioning Auspex unit and he is even MIU capable. I can let you operate it but you might find the changed point of view unconformatble while walking around looking through his eyes and Auspex sensors."
While Iota is not decked out with a lumen system - prefering to keep the human form and all - he IS equiped with a potentia coil like any other tech priest. Not having a whole lot of external modifications makes it difficult to grant this power to the door thought and so the first attempt fails with a fizzing cable and sparks lighting the elevator shaft. "That didn't go as planned - still not a problem. Just a moment more. Variable, if you please." The second attempt, aided by the servo skull Variable is more successful. Variable provides his usual recharching cable which is very much compatible with Iotas potentia coil and from there it is much easier to fashion a cable to connect between the servo skull and the door. "There, that should do. Get ready, it will open in a moment." And with that he climbs down again to give the security detail a chance to be the first in the face of potential danger. Probably best to get an electoo to supply power to auxiliar devices, and an electoo to hardwire connector with switchable connection point to make it easy to connect to any given powered device
Iota gets up from his technological meditations and reports to Archibald. "We can probably get this running again in the future but it will take more work than we have time right now. This might also be where the zombies earlier came from - it looks like a battle was fought here and enginneering rooms usually have plenty of menials which will defend them in an emergency. Still nothing to gain here at this point."
Iota takes a closer look at those power cores. They might be dead but they just left a room where the "power core" only required some water to get back online. Who knows what this ship holds?
Iota holds up one palm towards Heinrich in a motion indicating to stop:
and then gets to work on the door, checking to see if it can be opened without causing grevious harm to the ship they want to acquire for themselves
Iota breathes a sigh of relieve as the thing goes down. Then stops himself suddenly when the smell in his nostrils starts to burn so hard that not even the adrenaline of the current situation can keep him from noticing any longer. The track back is a blur - the medical attention is not so much. Where others just need to have their wounds tended Iota needs to repair the damage to his augementations, most notably his cyber-mantle and while it is a pain - figuratively and literally - it just won't do to let anyone else do this while he remains concious. And the pain eventually ends and he feels a lot better afterwards. Receiving Archibalds orders he scratches his chin, then answers: "The sitation is still the same as before old friend. I need access to the bridge or main engineering to get those doors open. Or a month of time to weld it open. Ship hulls are built to resist atomic bombardment. Getting through by force is not a quick job. I suggest we think about our loadout and then go back out there.
Iota swings once more. You'd think that there is no way to miss the fat blob in front of him but the axe does not bite, instead catching on the gunk flowing out left right and center out of the monstrosity and slides off relatively harmlessly
Iota tries to get out of the way of this massive fist but as much as he used to be better at this - the added ~250kg of his tech priest implants have left him less-than-skilled in the art of dodging. As he ducks to the side the fist hits him on his shoulder, driving him to his knees and a loud crack anounces that _something_ has just broken althought nothing visibly changes. But it stops there. Iota does not go down and instead glares at the thing full. Instead he Steps forward, spitting a spray from red flecked spit at the thing. Now inside the range of the things arms and with a clear path towards its vulnearable... everything he swings once more.
Iota pulls back his axe and as much as he'd like to do something smart to change the flow of battle into their favor - this is melee combat. The value of clever tricks are greatly diminished when in hacking distance of a large lump of flesh which doesn't even deign to dodge. And so he takes a heartbeat to find a good spot to strike and then hacks in.
Iota lets his Boltgun drop into its sling and with a single fluid motion practiced for years and years it is replaced by his power axe. He then takes a moment to pick a good spot on the hulking monster in their midst before letting axe spark to live and hack into it.
Damned beast, not sure if the troops still hear anything but we got to do something for morale here
Iota then sitches a pretty nasty salvo of full auto bolter fire across the beast, making him wish the single shot bolters they had found were capable of full auto like his personal gun. Still full auto comes with it's own drawbacks - out of the 6 salvos of full auto fire only 2 more remain in the current magazine.
Iota takes the sonic shockwave to the face but having been present several times when large machinery finally gave up and exploded has made him rather hardy when it comes to such explosive violence
Iota drops into a crouch and leans against the well as much as possible - sure the shambling mass will roll closer but if he doesn't get out of the way of that overly massive gun then he won't even get to worry about that. Having gotten out of the way as much as possible he fires another salvo, most of them fly wide but probably end up somewhere in the zombie crowd anyway - but the first shot he fires is on point, sneaking past the things massive gun and arms, finding the head and exploding in a sattisfying bolt crack. A shot which would've put pretty much anything down that's still alive - but will it help here?
Iota continues to fire his bolter on full auto to thin the incoming mob
And as it turns out the first burst was enough to get back a feeling for how the gun handles and it reaps quite the bloody tally in undead ranks
Iota finally opens up with his bolter. It' been a while and it kicks worse than he remembered which throws off his aim a good bit but still - a pair of shots hit and do some work
Since no ambushes or flanking manouvers are expected Iota switches to his bolter and takes a moment to aim for the center of the mass before he can start blasting away
Actions:
Half Action - Switch weapon from Power Axe to Boltgun Half Action - Aim +10 on the next shot - Full Auto is a full action so he can't do that this round "My friends I suggest considering Frak grenades. They are lightly armored and this is an enclosed space. If we use them we need to do so while they are still far enough out."
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