Prologue

[Yakumo]

Vic is tightening his recoil gloves when the screeching horrible noise pierces the compartments. "For the love of the God-emperor, what the hell is that noise?" Vic yells moving to the fore compartment.

When he reaches the servator he jams his finger at the console and out the window, "What are you doing, are you trying to get us killed?"

SPOILER: Click to show

I am under the correct impression that we are on somewhat of a collision course right? I was being vague but I figure vic would know.

Willpower save versus 34: [dice=100]

[rand=05917313694953918559055536147207020705241023097187321717526693828404]

[at]

Only the voidborn Vic is able to keep his feet as the floor seems to fall away, inertial compensators struggling to keep up as the ship's engines roar into life.
He can see the secutor working the ship's control's manually, overriding his cybernetic impulse links, "Brace fo.." A thunderous roar from above drowns out even the noise of the comm systems as blinding light floods into the compartment.

Shielding her eyes as she tries to rise from the ground Joslyn can see the inner roof of the compartment glowing red hot. A near miss, and as as the roar dies down she thanks the emperor for small mercies - the comms had fallen silent once more, perhaps blasted from the hull by the attack.

In the forward compartment Vic allowed himself a moment of satisfaction that the normally stoic tech adept had called for bracing when the shot had fallen wide... but he was still ... Vic lashed out an arm and barely managed to grab onto the pilot's chair before the impact, using his gloves to soften the blow.

The ship seemed to come to an almost complete stop as it struck the Bellerophon's shields. Consoles shattered as the forward compartment deformed but held under the impact, but the sound of leaking atmosphere was unmistakable.

In the rear compartment Blake twisted around, bringing his arms up to fend off equipment falling from the walls. A large humanoid figure of adamant and brass descended upon him from the far wall, blade-like claws reaching out, but at the last moment it adjusted it's posture to avoid contact - bringing it's hands down to either side of the arbitrator's face.
A servitor? How could he not have noticed it?
And why did it's face seem so .. familiar?

SPOILER: Click to show

(sorry for the long posts and few actions - the prologue is more of a back story and chance for you to bring up any questions on the setting - that's all the ship's NPCs introduced though so we should be heading towards chapter 1 without too much more delay)

[Jolith]

Losing her footing and being tossed forward was not something Joslyn was prepared for. She never liked being on a ship, and this only reinforced her liking of solid ground under her boots.

The sound of air being pulled out into space sent a wave of panic through her, not enough to make her lose her composure. She had been trained to withstand much more stress than this, "Do we have any suits in here?" The cold vacuum of space was not something she wanted to deal with, so she quickly tried to get to her feet in order to begin searching for some form of space suit.

As she looked back into the rear compartment she noticed something large hovering over Blake. Where did that come from?

SPOILER: Click to show

Question, is the servitor attacking? Or just falling on Blake? Just wanted to check, because I wasn't sure.

[candi]

Blake was momentarily overcome by fear, an emotion he had been trained to quickly suppress and ignore, which is exactly what happened as soon as it began to creep up on him. He pushed out from under the servitor and then, ignoring it, began to search the compartment for anything that would keep him alive when the atmosphere inevitably depleted.

SPOILER: Click to show

What is a servitor? I've assumed it's not trying to kill me and I would not be interested in killing it.. I'll edit my post if that's not correct.

[Jolith]

Servitors are mindless cybernetic drones created from a fusion of human flesh and robotic technology used to carry out simple, manual tasks across the Imperium of Man.

[at]

Jun 18, 2010 8:48:28 GMT -5 Jolith said:

As she looked back into the rear compartment she noticed something large hovering over Blake. Where did that come from?

A deep-seated fear washed over Joslyn, if only for a moment, as she saw the servitor. Hydraulic-fed piston limbs slid silently under it's finely crafted outer shell - a human sized doll, a Janus Simulacra. Such a thing skirted on the edge of the direst techno-heresy

She had little enough time to consider it's intentions as the ship's gravity shifted and she fell back towards the fore compartment.
Gripping the deck plates the Simulacra reached out as Blake slides after her, catching his ankle and holding him fast.

Vic has felt this before, "A grav beam, they're pulling us down!"

SPOILER: Click to show

Consider the ship to be angled nose-down at 45 degrees.
The servitor isn't attacking.

Servitors are mindless slave cyborgs, designed and programmed to perform menial, rudimentary or dangerous tasks. A servitor's biological portion is obtained either by growing genetically-engineered human bodies artificially in culture vats, or by using the lobotomized bodies of condemned criminal - all are subsequently augmented with mechanical limbs, computer uplink jacks and whatever accessories deemed necessary to facilitate their ordained tasks. As they cannot think for themselves since their higher brain functions have all been disabled, they are essentially partially-organic robots which use a human brain as their CPU.

Janus Simulacra are different, they have the barest minimum of living tissue - harvested living cortex and spliced in nerve ganglia. Only the most depraved or foolhardy would attempt the sin of passing one as human though - it would invoke the unbridled wrath of the Adeptus Mechanicus

[at]

(mini-update to poke things along)

The Bellerophon looms large before you, bright blooms of light indicating that it's weapon are still firing at something - but the shuttle is now inside the range of it's primary batteries.

Small comfort - Vic knew that if they were close enough to avoid fire it would not be long until impact, assuming the shuttle survived the shearing forces of the grav beam long enough reach the hull.

"Withdraw to the aft compartment" the Secutor's instruction was as emotionless as ever "...and seal the bulkhead"

[Jolith]

Moving as quickly as she could, Joslyn makes her way to the aft compartment. She lost her footing more than once on her way back, the rocking of the shipping didn't help. Grabbing onto anyone she passed that wasn't making their way to the back, she forces them ahead of herself.

Once everyone is inside, she slam her hand down on the control panel shutting the doors and sealing everyone inside.

Turning to face the others, "Now we wait." Her hand rests on the hilt of her sword, tightening her grip and releasing it over and over again. Fear did not touch her mind now, for she had long ago been able to relax before combat ensued, and she was positive that she would have to fight something aboard that ship, and soon.32

[candi]

Blake waited patiently and calmly. His expression still cold and features still. His rifle was slung snugly over his shoulder and his hands hovered near the pistol at his hip. His gaze fixed on the closed door, his back pressed up against the wall, he was a cornered animal and ready to obliterate whatever it was that put him in this position.

[at]

The compartment echoed with the sound of locking clamps releasing, followed by the dull thudding explosions of the release bolts. Suddenly the compartment was thrown into silence, gravity returning to normal.

Peering through a small view port on the side of the ship Vic could see that they were spinning slowly. The forward compartment, still caught by the grav beam, slipped into view for a moment and then was gone once more.

Maneuvering jets fired, stuttering, pushing sideways unevenly against the compartment, and then with a thunderous crash the shuttle struck the side of the Bellerophon.

It was hard to tell how much timed passed in the darkness, it felt like only a moment. Gravity was gone, but the pull of the Bellerophon's could be felt - the Emeperor was merciful it seemed that the shuttle had caught against the hull and not rebounded into the void.

Petro fumbled with a glow-globe, looking around nervously at the hissing noise of air seeming through the hull. Too much damage, to patch but long enough to don void suits and formulate some kind of a plan.

[candi]

"We need to get onto that ship." Blake said, his voice cold and expressionless. He began to search the compartment for a void suit, and if he found one began to put it on taking care to ensure the buckles and straps were tightened. "Sitting here waiting won't do us any good."

[Jolith]

Hearing Blake's suggestion of boarding the ship, Joslyn looks around. "You're right. Get the suits on, then we'll have to jump ship. Hopefully we can make it to an outer hatch on the Bellerophon."

Hurrying as fast as she could while floating through the ship, she makes her way to the void suits. Grabbing onto one, she starts sliding into it, making sure that there are no tears and rips in the suit due to the impact.

[at]

The void suits appear undamaged by the impact, and the ship's storage lockers also contain two kits containing hull and suit sealant spray and other emergency supplies.

Checking his rifle Petro noted, "I've heard that the cog heads like to mount servitors and sentry guns against the hull. Without void rounds we won't get many shots at them"

Basic training - weapons overheat quickly in the void - Joslyn fully expected the scum to note as much until she noticed that Vic had not moved much since the crash.

(OOC - Vic's in a stunned stupor until Yakumo reappears.
Unless you have any other preparations you can blow the access hatch and make your way out)

[candi]

A look of disappointment crossed Blake's face, "I've got plenty of ammo but no Void rounds No use crying about it now." he moved to the access hatch and waited for everyone else to confirm that they were ready.

[at]

The Simulacra attents silently to Vic's void suit and then carries him towards the hatch. It's slender form and blade-like extremities reminiscent of a scrivener or autosavant, but to Blake's eyes it's movements resemble more those of a predator.

Once assembled Petro pulls the lever to de-pressurise the compartment and a muted silence falling over the group as the last of the air is released. The hatch opens only partially before striking the hull of the ship below and Lorelei - clad in her heavy boarding armour - kneels down to survey the scene beyond.

The coast is clear it seems - for now.

[candi]

Blake waits for someone else to step out first, following cautiously behind them. "How will we get into the ship? Can we open a hatch from outside?" As much as he disliked asking questions and not just knowing what to do he realized in situations as dire as this it was important to know and understand as much as one could about what was going on.

[at]

Lorelei advanced slowly forward, signalling to indicate that the immediate area was clear.
Beyond the light cast from the airlock there is only darkness, the stars not visible - the shuttle must have embedded itself beneath some structure on the ship's surface.

Petro motioned towards the breeching saw hung from Lorelei's back; not enough to penetrate the outer bulkheads of a ship such as this but perhaps capable of carving an entrance into an outer weapon mounting or other vulnerable spot.

(OOC : peers around for other players - going to need them in a firefight)

[Jolith]

(I'm here, just been busy. I posted in the other game, but haven't had time to do both. I'll make sure to get a post in tonight.)

[at]

Blake's auger glowed a dim red as he ducked in the airlock to peer outside. The hull immediately beyond the entrance was illuminated but beyond that darkness.

A few small pinpricks of light flickered in the distance, far too small to be windows. They flickered out and on again ... seemingly closer but distance was difficult to measure in these conditions.

[candi]

Blake stepped forwards, placing his hand on Lorelei's back to indicate his approach.

SPOILER: Click to show

I'm assuming a dim red glow is bad? Do I need to roll tech use to comprehend it?

(whoops)

SPOILER: Click to show

brighter glow = more bad. Specific bad requires tech use.

Sorry for butchering your original post - I hit edit rather than reply. Again

Also sorry for stretching this out but I was hoping for more players than NPCs for the combat tutorial.