40K/Inquisitor RPG. The Line of Damnation.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-14 08:24pm

Axidus reloaded his storm bolter. The detachment of naval security that had crossed his path lay on the deck like broken dolls. "Magus Krill, there are some weapons for your followers at junction J-7." Details like this were annoying but necessary. Hopefully the inquisitor would provide more sport. He hadn't even needed his bodyguards for these ones.

*****

Pyrel stood back as the ratings headed toward the infirmery. No point in getting shot unnecessarily when victory was so close. The conscripts had been sullen and dispirited, oppressed and resentful of the powers that be. It had been easy to shift their allegiances, even if they did not as yet understand what they served. Service in any capacity was dangerous enough in the Navy, these men were willing to take the risk in order to better their lot. They were committed now, there was no turning back.

Armed with pump shotguns, cutlasses, cutting tools, and boarding pikes the mob approached the infirmery. The nurse on station realized something was badly wrong. She had just enough time to scream before she was run through by a pike.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-14 08:27pm

The Conscripts were ready for wounded soldiers and civillians, but not for Xenos. The first indication that something was wrong was the screech that froze their marrow (Figuratively), followed by the ball of muscle that launched itself into the centre of their formation and struck out with talons, teeth, legs and the blades on the end of it's weapon.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-14 08:31pm

The cultist mob fell back from the ferocious xeno, spilling wounded and dying members from its mass. Blades hacked frantically at their attacks and shotguns loaded with glass filament shot fired recklessly at closequarters, as much a hazard to themselves as the enemy.

*****

As the Rogue Trader entered the station, the distant sound of gun fire reveberated through the walls, accompanied by the screams of dying men.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-14 08:34pm

While the lone Kroot caused mayhem at close quarters another 2 were firing at the Cultists with their rifles.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-14 08:40pm

"SpaceCom's claiming that nothing unusual is going on, just communications difficulty at the station. They have assigned us an orbital band while the problems are sorted out."

Engelier absorbed the news quietly, musing. Finally, he stood up. "Helm, move to our assigned station."

He paced, a thoughtful look on his face. Valk stepped up to the command deck, leaning on the rail as she spoke quietly. "You're thinking about doing something stupid, aren't you?"

He smiled a lopsided grin. "Remind me to have you shot for insubordination. Or spaced. Maybe beheaded."

"Don't change the subject, captain. We've been through too many situations together. Besides, you're fondling your hilt. That's a dead giveaway."

He looked down, realizing that he was indeed fondling the hilt of his power sword. "When did I start doing that?" he asked with the concern of a professional gambler who hates giving away his tells.

"Two years ago. The minute you start doing it, everyone on the crew knows that action is probably coming. So what are you thinking?"

He deliberately withdrew his hand from his sword, then grasped the rail and leaned over toward her. "I'm thinking all is not right on that station."

"Which is none of our business," she pointed out.

"Unless there's a profit to be had in it," he retorted. Leaning closer, he continued. "A heroic rescue would work wonders for further firming up our standing with His Majesty's most heroic navy, right?"

"That's assuming they need a rescue," Uschi straightened up. "And assuming we can do it."

His smile grew broader. "Well, then we should really send somebody over to take a look, right? Page Synnove and tell her to get a contact team prepped and loaded. No proscribed weapons," the shuriken catapults would have to stay in the arms locker, unfortunately "And have them standing by in bay three in... oh... twenty minutes. I'll meet them there. You have the bridge, X.O."

"I have the bridge," she replied tonelessly. She knew that one of these days, he wasn't going to come back from one of these foolhardy expeditions, and then, Emperor help her, this whole enterprise would fall into her lap.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-14 08:46pm

Magus Pyrel would have done better to have advanced with his troops; The last 2 Kroot dropped out of nowhere and attacked.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-14 08:52pm

The cultist hemoraged dead and dying. Some combination of hacking and shooting had slain the kroot in their midst, but their armour (really dual purpose haz mat gear) offered almost no protection from the fearsome long rifles. Only the need to reload after each shot prevented a total slaughter. As it was, they attempted to retreat in disarray, only to find themselves in a kroot vice.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-14 08:56pm

The Kroot fired into the Cultists from 4 sides, taking them down in droves.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-14 09:04pm

The Vindicator had seen better days. Engelier smiled fondly at the battered assault shuttle. Fifteen hundred years of service, probably the only original remaining part was the engraved identifier plate that declared it a product of the Mars forges. (And then only under magnification... the plate itself had been worn smooth enough to be unreadable to a human eye.)

One missile pod was still missing, having been shot away eighteen months ago by some unfriendly natives who hadn't appreciated his deliverance of the Emperor's light upon their forgotten world.

To be truthful, they were more upset over the fact that deliverance of the Emperor's light had involved looting what they regarded as their sacred temples. Bloody damned pagan ingrates.

The troops were lined up, a rough and ready lot. They certainly weren't spic and span images of military shine, but he paid them for their competence, not their good looks. He had a small honor guard paid specifically for their good looks. (And competence in close-range engagements, should an assassin attempt to ruin his day.)

He walked down the line, smiling broadly as he looked over their gear, checking the seals on their armor and looking over their weapons loadouts. It was that personal attention to detail that made him popular with his employees. He tried very hard to make sure that none of his people went into a potentially hostile environment without getting at least a cursory inspection of their gear from his own eyeballs.

"Looking good, boys and girls. Let's go see what the Emperor's finest need help with," he announced as he finished. "Sergeant, a word please..."

Synnove stepped out of line, heading for the far corner of the bay, away from prying eyes. Engelier followed along, regretting that the armor concealed those fabulous curves. She popped her helmet, looking at him expectantly. He leaned forward, giving her a deep, passionate kiss.

"Any idea what we're getting into?" she asked.

"No frakking clue," he answered. "Watch yourself in there."

"I always do."

He traced the scar on her cheek with his finger, the one that ran from the corner of her mouth to just under her ear. "Alright, let's go to it."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-14 09:05pm

Pyrel crawled away, bleeding from a slash in his neck. An inch deeper and the bayonet blade would have left him bleeding out on the floor. His men were dying. Leaderless, confused, they were no match for the viscious Kroot. The cunning xenos cut down the ones with ranged weapons, leaving the milling mass unable to respond effectively to their fire. Time to leave and get reinforcements.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-14 09:06pm

He heard a growl, looked up, and saw that he was being tracked by Kroothound.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-14 09:14pm

Pyrel raised his naval pistol and fired the heavy pistol at his pursuer. Khorne, it was big! He stumbled away as he fired, his other hand on the hilt of his cutlass.

*****

Axidus stormed accross the docking bay, he and his bodyguard forming the spearhead of the chaos troopers. The Naval Security troopers assigned to customs operations died in droves. The small horde of cultists seized weapons from the dying and slaughtered the flight crew and deck workers as they cowered or attempted to flee. The Chaos Lord left them to their work. He had inquisitors to kill.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-14 09:15pm

He had the rest of his security detachment on standby, ready to hop into the other assault shuttle if backup was needed. Final orders to Uschi hardly needed to be repeated, but he did anyway. Worse comes to worse, pull the damn ship out of the line of fire, and if need be get the hell out of the danger zone altogether.

She never liked the notion, which is why she made an excellent first officer and official inheritor of his charter, should worse come to worse. True loyalty couldn't be bought, and by and large he had a truly loyal crew. So much better than the damned navy and their slave-gang crews.

He caught himself fondling the hilt of his power sword and forced himself to stop. How in the name of the Saints had he never noticed that tendency of his?

Small-arms fire spattered against the shuttle as it entered the docking bay. "Okay, boys and girls, that's our official welcoming committee... get on the vox and send for our reinforcements. Phanix," he called to the pilot. "Light up their lives, would you?"

The lascannons and heavy stubbers on the assault shuttle came to life, blasting away at the heretics storming the bay.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-14 09:15pm

The Cultists were getting massacred; the kroot were surrounding them now, intestines and blood spilled everywhere, giant, powerful beaks severing spinal cords and ripping out hearts.

The Kroothound played with the injured Magus, nipping at his heels as he crawled away.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-14 09:32pm

No point now in playing dead. Pyrel rose up and drew his cutlass, feinting at the hound in front of him. Bloody red light began to coallesce around his other hand.

*****

Chaos cultists stormed throught the station, killing the Naval Security detachments before they could realize that there was a full fledged mutiney and resist and counter attack. Axidus and his bodyguard conducted an irresistable push towards Nathan and Lena, leaving countless broken corpses in their path. The biggest obstacle was the size of the station, not the resistance of mortal men.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-14 09:34pm

A Kroothound darted between his legs and bit his nadger.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-14 09:39pm

Pyrel screamed, long and loud. The minute it took for the kroot hound to tear him apart and end his life was a fore taste of the hell that awaited him as his soul fell into the warp.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-14 09:41pm

Engelier glanced over at Chaplain Wystan. The lad was nervously making the sign of the aquila. The chaplain made no pretense of hiding his fear, but inevitably volunteered for boarding parties, landing expeditions and the like, and carried himself well as he did. He'd earned the respect of the troops, of Engelier, and most importantly, Synnove. But it was always the same, just prior to engaging, he would be struck with uncontrollable shudders. At least he wasn't vomiting this time.

The rogue trader reached over, gauntlet clapping the boy's shoulder in a clank of metal on metal. "It'll be fine, m'boy. The Emperor protects."

"Door coming down in ten... nine..." the co-pilot sang out. Engelier rose to his feet, drawing his bolt pistol, a rictus grin on his face as adrenaline and combat drugs from his suit sang in his system. He could feel the zone coming on.

"For the Emperor," he called out cheerfully over the vox as the countdown indicator over the door reached zero. As a body, the troops poured out of the shuttle, sheltered from return fire by the bulk of the vessel... for the moment.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-14 09:46pm

The hallway leading to the med-centre was caked in blood and guts from the Cultists. Shaper Mallok closed the eyes of his dead compatriot. He died well. The Kroothounds came trotting around the corners, bloody chunks from the Magus held proudly in their jaws.
"Good work, my children. We shall harvest well tonight."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-14 09:46pm

The shuttle was noticed, of course. The mutineers were systematically slaughtering anyone, making full use of their surprise. But a six man team with shotcannons and low velocity, high calibre autoguns loaded with soft nosed slugs was not quite sufficient for the task.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-14 09:52pm

At a trader's get-together, he'd once been asked how he handled ground engagements.

"I stand around looking noble while sergeant Margarte kills the frakkers," he informed his audience in all seriousness.

Synnove had been offered money, promotions, and once even a share of a charter, but she'd stayed with him through all these years, and once again he was deeply glad of it. The troops fanned out, leapfrogging from cover to cover as they engaged the cultists with a steady barrage of fire.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-14 10:05pm

Vekton fell, blown apart by the Rogue Trader's hellguns. Shirek fired wildly, not coming closer than a meter to the hardened troopers before his torso was blown open. Two troopers took minor injuries from glass filaments as they were clipped by a shotcannon round. The cultists were dead in moments as the Rogue Trader's troops stormed out.

The sudden reversal took a moment to register on the mutineers, moments which the troops took to spread out of the bottle neck, kill exposed enemies, and seize cover. A dozen fell before they began to fight back. Most of the cultists were armed with shotguns and autoguns, less than ideal weapons against heavily armoured troops. The few hellguns, flamers, grenade launchers, and combat shotguns with anti-armour rounds were turned against the hardened veterans.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-14 10:10pm

Engelier knelt by the wounded naval rating, popping his helmet. His hair was already sweat-soaked and disheveled, and his eyes were wild and bloodshot from the drugs pumping through his system.

"Hello there. Mind explaining to a friendly passerby what in the warp is going on here in this nice little station of yours?"

Behind him, gunfire rattled out and a grenade exploded.

The second shuttle drifted into the bay, bringing the fresh troops for the boarding party.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2004-12-14 10:18pm

The wounded man gasped. "Mutiny. They stormed in . . . . there were hundreds of them. They were lead by Space Marines in-" he broke off, gasping in pain and clenching his side. "Ahh. Their armour it was black, it . . . . I don't have the words. It was the most awful thing I have ever seen."

*****

"Pyrel report" commanded Axidus. Nothing but static. Had he somehow failed to kill people in a hospital. Was he so incompetent that killing doctors and nurses beyond him? Axidus's barbed member stirred at the remember of rapes committed in ages gone by.

"Vizilgar," he said to one of his bodyguards, a veteran of the Black Legion who was even more ancient than he was, one who had also served under the Divine Horus. "Round up some of the cultists and make sure the infirmary is cleared. No sport until those inquisitors are dead."

"Your will, dread lord," said the ancient legionaire.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-14 10:20pm

Mutiny... lead most likely by Traitor Marines. The notion cut through the surge of combat drugs, turning his blood to icewater.

He nodded to the team medicae, jerking his head toward the rating. The medicae knelt down and began tending to his wounds as he snapped his helmet closed.

"Synnove," he privately voxed her. "We've got to talk. This is big."