40K/Inquisitor RPG. The Line of Damnation.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-09 05:19am

Pater channeled his affinity with technology into one blast that destroyed the power cell of the Power Armour. Torquen's essence left the melting armour, and was disintegrated under the unrelenting fire. His last Psychic scream seemed to embody pain, misery... And fear, as his soul was consumed by the denizens of the Warp.

Post by **NecronLord** » 2004-12-09 05:35am

************
(Right folks. End of the posting for a while.)

Post by **NecronLord** » 2004-12-09 06:15am

Prius awoke, at last, to find that he was staring at a softly lit white ceiling. Laid out on a wide, flat bed, with an open and spacious table next to it, made of some kind of wood. The room sported several books, most of them of an ecclisiarchical nature. On the table was a fresh black commissar’s uniform, most notable in that it bore not only the rank epaulettes of a Colonel-Commissar, and on the right lapel of the greatcoat, the I symbol of the Inquisition.

He would of course, find actually putting it on, rather painful. Though there had been a lot of medical work done on everyone, especially… facial reconstruction for Inqisitor Adivan, he had been one of the most injured, and now, the most extensively altered. At the bottom of the bed, an almost angelic looking woman in white was busy adjusting the bedclothes.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-09 04:10pm

Prius opened his mouth and tried to speak, but all that came out was a painful croak. The woman... a member of the Sisters Hospitaler, he realized, glanced up at him and quickly moved to his side.

"Don't try to talk, commissar. You've been unconscious for some time," she said, lifting a glass of water and an empty cup to his mouth. "Careful. Rinse your mouth out and spit, then take light sips."

Her voice was angelic dulcet, but her tone was firm and commanding. Prius rinsed and spit, then took a couple of sips.

One eye was... wrong... the vision somehow different. He reached up to touch it, only to have his hand intercepted by hers, catching his wrist in a firm grip.

"The augmetic will take some getting used to," she assured him.

Augmetic?

"What happened?" he mumbled.

"You very nearly died, colonel-commissar," she informs him. "Were it not for your... unusual constitution... you would have died. As it was, they had to use... several replacements."

He stopped trying to touch his false eye, and she relinqished her grip. He reached down and pushed himself to an upright position, feeling the pain of muscles first abused, then neglected as he levered himself up.

"They have not taken me..." he said curiously.

"Taken you? For what?" she asked.

For the Black Ships, he thought but did not say. There was no denying it, he was a psyker, warp-touched. The unusual constitution she made reference to was the mark of the daemon upon him, a twisting of the fundamental sanctity of his humanity. He would not have survived without it; he would not have been wounded in this fashion without it.

He stared at the uniform for a long moment before the sister spoke again. "You were also given a medal, commissar," she said, holding out a black case with a golden aquila on the top. She held it out expectantly until he took it in his hands, opening the lid. Nestled in the velvet was a simple deaths-head medallion, the stark simplicity of it belied the stature of the award.

But...

He looked at her in puzzlement, looking from her to the medal, before finally, in all sincerity, asking "Why?"

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2004-12-09 06:02pm

The trip to where she had been ordered to go, was taking it toll on the young novice. Mostly it was in the memories of her friends. Charity: Nothing left of her to bury she had been burned to ashes; June: serene despite the cauterized hole where her left breast had been; Maria: she never saw what happened too her, just the memory of the sister who hefted the multi-melta being swarmed and dragged down by the unclean; Kelly, Sarah, Zoe, Christina: cut apart by the dancing knives of the abonimations while foul sorcery held their limbs prisoner. They were so much better then her, why had she survived and they hadn't....

One day she would tear apart those responsible. she felt a moment of weakness pass over her. She remembered the medica's death sentance shortly after the battle. "That was a direct hit from a sonic blaster, bones and organs should be liquified, their's no saving this one." yet, still she had persisted, and infact gotten better....

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-09 06:19pm

Pater, who was nearby after having his facial reconstruction finished and was now sporting a much more realistic-looking faceplate except for the fact that it was matte-black and had a blue eye, stopped carving tiny litanies of the Emperor on it and stared angrily at Prius. "Because you led the Borean Rifles to victory, saved the life of an Inquisitor and seriously injured a warp-entity. I thought that much was obvious."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-09 06:36pm

He stares at the medal, and shakes his head slowly. "I... did my duty, no more or less than I expect of any member of the Guard or Commissariat."

He looks at the sister. "If you could excuse us for a moment, Sister, there is business that I must discuss with Lord Novum."

After she leaves, he shifts, grimacing slightly as he stands, his joints clicking and popping from disuse. "There is a matter... to be discussed. I am not worthy of my uniform..."

He looks at the floor. "I have the touch of the psyk upon me, and must be remanded to the custody of the Black Ships at once."

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-09 06:47pm

"Hmph. You can't fool me, Commissar. You feel that you are unclean and worthy only of death, a blight on the Imperium, am I correct? If I gave you a gun now, would you blow your own warp-touched brains out?"

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2004-12-09 06:47pm

Nathan was oddly disturbed by the young girl, he couldn't feel anything comming from, her but then she was a blank after all. But the child's strength and resillance, that greatly distrubed him. He clearly recalled examples of it from his youth, as they stood proud young men, the blood brothers of legends the original twenty legions. The girl was as strong as any of those...

Lillith also felt strange, and disturbed, though a mutant, part of her heresy she kept to herself, was that she could never really bring herself to hate anyone. Sure she had tried melodramatic attempts at killing herself, and flaggelated herself constantly since her survival. But that was mostly out of a sense that it was something "Expected" of her. Sure she had fought and killed the minions of ruin, but that was to protect her sisters, and other people. She didn't hate them, she just wanted to protect others.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-09 06:52pm

He shuddered. It was true, but...

"I had hoped, my lord, to perform one final service for the Emperor, and perhaps become part of the Celestial Choir. But if this is what you deem to be the only appropriate remedy, then yes. In my weakness, I allowed a daemon to possess me, and have proven unworthy of the benevolence of the Emperor."

He starts to make the sign of the aquila, and then stops. Even that is denied to a worthless mutant such as himself...

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-09 06:56pm

"You miss the point completely." He sighed. "Sit down, Commissar. Would it surprise you if I told you that at least half of the members of the Inquisition are Psykers, to one extent or another?"

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-09 07:03pm

He shakes his head. "It is my understanding that by careful selection the Inquisition harvests the strong and pure of soul for its ranks, as do other organizations. The Officio Commissariat has a select few, for example. But late developing talents are a menace, a sign of corruption that all true servants of the Emperor must be on the watch for. It is part of my training."

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-09 07:09pm

Pater sighed again. This was going to be hard. "I come from a belief system known within the Inquisition as the Amalathians. We believe that everything is all part of the Emperor's plan, and that it is our duty to preserve the Imperium until His task is complete. He wished for you to have Psychic powers, that much is obvious. If it wasn't for those powers manifesting in the way that they did, Inquisitor Gix, I and most likely everyone else on this planet would be dead. You have a purpose in His plans and taking the easy, short way out is rank Heresy of the worst kind. The Emperor granted you your existance and you would be betraying Him if you gave it up."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-09 07:28pm

Pater's words are a metaphysical gut punch to the devout commissar. He ponders these words carefully, his organic eye blinking rapidly.

"What, then, is to become of me?"

He certainly doesn't believe that he was the savior of the planet... if he had fallen, another would have stepped up. That is the strength of the Imperium, the inexhaustible faith and fury of mankind, as guided by the Emperor.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-09 07:31pm

"What is to become of you? I suppose Jolan and Nathan will still be after your services. In fact, every Inquisitor on this planet probably wants you in their employ."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-09 07:36pm

He shakes his head, baffled by the notion. "Then I had best be in uniform."

He shuffles slowly over to the uniform, studying the new insignia. Even in his boyhood fantasies, he'd never conceived of such a rise. It was unprecedented, unheard of.

He shucks his hospital gown, tossing it aside casually and giving Pater a rather unappealing view of raw Ristani, then pauses to study the scars across his stomach. Mechanical lines and tubes are visible where augmetic organs replaced his organic ones, his system having been verging on complete failure when they pulled him in. As he starts to don the uniform, he turns once more to Pater. "How do I prevent... another possession?"

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-09 07:42pm

"In the long run? Intensive training and constant viglilance. In the short run? Take this. Its former owner has no need of it." He gave Prius what appeared to be a normal Aquila on a chain, suitable for wearing around his neck. "It's a Hexagrammic Ward."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-09 07:51pm

He reaches out, accepting the ward. It tingles in his hand, the powers flowing through it evident to him, even if he knows not the flavor of it or the mechanism behind it.

"How does it work?" he asks as he puts it around his neck, wondering if this is a former possession of the great Kruger, who died well, with his face to the foe.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-09 07:56pm

"Nobody knows, although Inquisitor Talstrem might have an idea. It makes it twice as difficult for someone to use psychic powers on you."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-09 08:00pm

"I see."

Curiosity. Perhaps another legacy of Kruger, who told him to do as he willed, rather than simply accept the orders of those above him. Curiosity is a dangerous thing, and a properly trained mind must reject such notions in favor of secure dogma.

"How long was I... under?" he asked, gesturing toward the bed before he resumed donning his uniform.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-09 08:25pm

"It's been about a week since the battle. I have been undergoing facial reconstruction too. I decided to keep the blue eye, even though they said I could have a more realistic one."

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-09 08:29pm

He shrugs, then with a grunt of effort pulls on his overcoat. "Appearance is secondary to effectiveness," he says. "No one ever promised us we would live out our service in pleasant form and function, yes?"

For Prius, it's downright chatty, almost... small-talkish.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-09 08:40pm

"Indeed."

Pater didn't usually talk that much either; However, his 2 main sources of conversation were gone, Kruger dead and Gyllia occupied with the Archeotech.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-10 02:52am

Finally, he straps on the plasma pistol that someone was kind enough to recover for him, and stares at the energy blade. He thumbs the switch, activating it, studying the coruscating field of energy intently. It's beautiful, in its way, a magnificently crafted weapon. Everything he wants to be.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-10 03:20am

He flicks the switch, deactivating the sword and sliding it into its sheath before turning back to Pater. "May I ask more of these Amalathians?"