40K Dark Heresy: The Danse Macabre

[Imperial Overlord]

Varnius opened himself to the power of the Warp, seizing a tiny strand with his mind and slamming the barriers back closed. His grasp was perfect. There was no stray energy, not temperature drops or other minor Warp phenomena. He channeled the energy into Lazarus, knitting together the flesh and stimulating healing. "It is done."

[5 Wounds healed baby. Who loves their psyker?]

[Imperial Overlord]

"I found a clue, but it seems to use local reference points," said Varnius. "We should meet up with the others and try to track it down in force, before they get spooked and move shop."

[Raj Ahten]

"Right. Lets get moving. I hate these fucking tunnels."

[I love my Pysker ]

[RIPP_n_WIPE]

Close on the heels of his fellow officer, Octavius breathed low again.

"Seghar, how are we supposed to get back to the Grimlochs encampment? I don't think I remember the way."

He kept pace with his new weapons in tow. Brandishing the autogun and looking around for any signs of attack.

[Hawkwings]

Camillia looked at the guard, then asked carefully, "So we split the haul in the morning, but we can take our personal weapons with us, right? And the rest of the weapons will just stay here, and we'll deal with it in the morning. Sounds alright, but I hope you don't mind if we keep an eye on these and make sure none of them disappear before morning."

[Hotfoot]

Grimloch Base

The guard shrugged, "'s a fair cop. Good to know you lot ain't all got bigger mouths than brains."

[Imperial Overlord]

Varnius headed back up the ladder. "Let's try to get back to within microbead range of the rest of the group, now that we have a clue about where to go. If the gangers haven't turned on the others, we'll even have locals who can point us in the right direction."

[Imperial Overlord]

Varnius headed back towards the Balimek base. Years spent in mine shafts made navigating through underground tunnels a familiar and well practiced skill. He consulted his memory and moved closer, checking his microbead periodically to establish contact.

[Go ahead and roll those dice Hotfoot]

[Raj Ahten]

As Varnius led through the tunnels, Lazarus kept a watch on the rear, hoping they wouldn't get lost. The guardsman also hoped he wouldn't have to talk to any more underhive scum.

[Vehrec]

Close on the heels of his fellow officer, Octavius breathed low again.

"Seghar, how are we supposed to get back to the Grimlochs encampment? I don't think I remember the way."

He kept pace with his new weapons in tow. Brandishing the autogun and looking around for any signs of attack.

"Can't go back the way we came without a fight. We'll have to make a gamble and try to find the others. If we run flat out, we might be able to get around the base without attracting too many worms. Who knows, maybe these things eat worms. Worst comes to worst, we head up and then down again the way we came down the first time. It'll take longer, but we have to Figure ways around these things!"

Imperial Pride and the extermination of Xenos was all very well, but this was not something he wanted to be doing right now, with only one ally at his side.

((OOC: Through the base votes I! GO GO GO!))

[Imperial Overlord]

"It's this way," said Varnius confidently. "Let's maintain a good pace, but not too fast. Don't want to trip over any gangers." He moved quickly back towards the Balimek base.

He checked his microbead again as he got closer. "This is Varnius, over."

[Hotfoot]

Balimek Base

The Millisaurs continued their relentless stampede through the tunnels surrounding the former gang hideout. The hatches leading to the base still worked, but the panels that controlled them were disabled on the other sides. The worms continued to swarm over the base, but there was still a way around them for the time being.


Underhive Tunnels

It took some time to make the way back to the general vicinity of the Balimek Base, and every so often there were sounds of movement echoing through the passages of the Underhive.

[Note: The message from Varnius may or may not come through, depending on what the Balimek Base pair does.]

[Hawkwings]

Camillia accompanied Quintos and Nixios back to the shack, where they promptly prepared for bed. She then woke up the people on third shift, and told them "The guns we looted have been cleaned, and they're sitting outside. One of you should probably keep an eye on them until morning when we split the loot."

[Feil]

When the third shift left for their positions, Cyrine stopped to secure her autogun, then went to her bunk to sleep.

[Imperial Overlord]

Underhive Tunnels


"No response," said Kast. "Maybe the walls are still interfering. Or maybe they're dead. We should expect trouble. Well, more trouble." He had his autopistol out and covering the route ahead as he advanced. "This is Varnius," he said into the microbead. "Please respond."

[Vehrec]

"Keep moving!" Serghar slammed his hand onto the panel that opened the door, dashed on through as it opened, and lost a clip of pistol ammo as he went through the door. Frankly, he didn't care as he scanned the big area around the base. Worms were overrunning most of the cleared area, which made what came next a little tricky. Still, there was plenty of room to get out of here like a grox running from the slaughterman.

The combead in his ear suddenly popped and squealed, and he winced as he put a hand to it. "Say Again? I can't hear you!" It was unlikely to tell anyone anything except that there was someone alive to hear their garbled transmition. With any luck, it was the other two signaling back to them. Four of them might just be able to clear things out enough to have a clear shot back to Grim's loch.

[Raj Ahten]

Lazarus frowned. It sounded like Gelt was in some shit, from what little of the transmission got through.

These fucking tunnels.

The Guardsman already had his autogun out and was watching the rear. This place was too dangerous not to have weapons out as far as Lazarus was concerned.

Lazarus waited for the pysker to work on the vox. They didn't need a bunch of people getting on the air and confusing shit.

[Imperial Overlord]

"Nothing but garbage," said Varnius. Blunts were going to get him killed. Easy, easy, don't panic. "We'll get closer and see if we can get a signal through."

[Hotfoot]

Octavius followed behind Serghar, but he hesitated trying to shut the door behind him. One of the Millisaurs following the pair lunged for his leg. The lack of armor on the Arbitrator's leg let the poison in the mandibles flow into his body. He howled in pain as he shot the beast, but it was too late. His leg already refused to follow the commands from his brain, and the other parts of his body were slowly succumbing. The other Millisaurs swarmed over him, each of them taking a bite, until he fell to the ground with a strangled gasp.

Some of the beasts dragged his body back into the tunnels while the others continued to swarm out after Serghar. The same detached laughter as before filled the area, and the hatch to the tunnels slammed shut, mercifully stemming the tide of Millisaurs. As Serghar ran through the base, the Millisaurs and the worms did interact violently, with the crazed Millisaurs biting the worms, and the worms attaching themselves to the Millisaurs. The tide stemmed, giving Serghar the freedom he needed to keep going.

Before long, he could hear the transmissions Varnius was sending, and vice versa. There was still distance between the two, but it was rapidly closing.

[Imperial Overlord]

"This is Varnius. Serghar, Octavius, please come in." The psyker edged forward cautiously. He should be in range, unless something had gone wrong.

"What are the odds of something in my life going wrong?" the psyker asked himself rhetorically, his voice a whisper. "Other than being born a psyker on Sepheris Secundus?"

[Vehrec]

Past the base, Gelt slowed his mad run. He took some time to respond, letting the words flow out as quickly as possible. "This is Serghar. The base and the tunnels have been overrun by two different kinds of things. We don't have any of these on Scintillia so I don't know what they are. Some of them came out of that well that caught on fire. The tunnel things ate Octavius, he's gone. Over." His fellow officer's screams would stay with him for the rest of his life. He was now standing near a fork in the tunnels, turning to keep an eye on each of the two passages and the way he had came.

[Raj Ahten]

Lazarus snarled at hearing the news overe the comms. He hadn't liked the man who had died, but he had been a servant of the Emperor and more importantly part of the team. Their were hardly enough people to go around as it was.

"He better haul his ass over here."
The guardsman said under his breath.

At least we got something out of this. That cult map or whatever better have been worth it. Now we're down a man and my leg still feels like shit from that fall.

[Imperial Overlord]

Damn. How close were those things? Maybe they should leave now. Well, there was one way to find out. "Serghar, how close is the pursuit?" Varnius asked.

[Vehrec]

"They're stalled in the base chewing each other out, but they'll be picking it up as soon as one side's finished. Which way did you go, I have no idea where you two are." It was now evident that there were two more passages he had missed. Dammit. Which one were they coming down, and which ones might vomit forth more of those armored things?

"I'll meet you halfway, but I honestly don't see us going back the way we came. Someone or something is laughing and shutting doors over here, and I don't want to stick around to get the joke."

[Imperial Overlord]

Throne! Varnius contemplated leaving Serghar to die. It was the safe move. On the other hand, he could use a blunt who owed him his life, especially considering his current situation.

"We're coming for you." He broke into jog. "Tell me exactly what's around you so we can find you easier."