40K Dark Heresy: The Danse Macabre

[Academia Nut]

Still smiling, Quintos replies, "While I too want to know what inhuman mutant trash were doing around here, I merely wanted to see if these fine gentlemen would like to volunteer to help us, isn't that right? Because after all, it would be unfortunate for them to be caught associating with those who have fallen from the grace of the Emperor and be unwilling to cooperate with those who are willing to see to it that they get some sort of redemption, no?"

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Diver turned to Zakary and let loose a deep sigh. "Right, well, that could have gone better, but any fight you can walk away from, right? Tell yer mates the stock up and grab as much as they can carry. Grim could really use the supplies, and the more we keep from the Balimeks, the better. We've got some time before the Balimeks should be back, but I don't want to risk us still being here when they come around. With all the shooting, word's going to spread, and I don't know if they've got a vox or not."

"Quite." Zakary nods and sets about collecting his own personal arsenal, grabbing a number of small arms and plenty of ammunition to augment his previously anemic amount of firepower. The healing, if it can be called that, he'd received from one of the psykers did not sit well with him, so he was a bit on edge even now that the firefight was over.

After securing his new instruments of destruction, he taps his microbead to speak to the team. "This is the scribe. Ahem, yes. Our guide recommends we appropriate what resources and materiel we can before absconding from the premises. A recommendation I heartily endorse. Ahem, erm, out."

[SylasGaunt]

Havelock had ducked up next to the barricades when the assault had begun, quickly spotting the gangers hidden behind the barricade. Readying his autopistol the cleric swung around the corner and opened fire on full automatic, his weapon bucking in his hand as it cut loose with a sound like ripping cloth, sending a half a dozen rounds hurtling downrange. He heard one man cry out and saw him clutch at his now bleeding arm. Before he could loose another though a flurry of shots reduced the gangers to a bloody mess.

Seeing no further source of fire he hurtled the barricade and began running for the cover of a t-shaped building nearby, seeking to reach the other portions of the battle, hearing the rattle of autogun fire and the zip zip zip of lasgun rounds. He heard the cough of a heavy stubber which cut off suddenly as a burning shape fell from the gun tower. By the time he was halfway there the gunfire died away, leaving only the sounds of the hive, the crackling of fires, and the hiss and pop of the microbeads. The cleric paused to reload his weapon and then advanced to the building, looking inside. It looked to be an infirmary and he frowned as he noticed a few gangers cowering under their beds. He frowned, wondering what it was that frightened them so. The cleric stepped back out of the infirmary and began to move out towards the perimeter when the alarm call came. Mutants.

His eyes darted off in the direction of the cry then swung back just in time to see the first of the malformed horrors advancing into view, charging with strange burbling cries that made a shiver run up his spine. He saw one cutting towards the armory building and began to sprint around it, taking the path that would expose him to less fire should the abominations be armed. In the distance gunfire began to crackle, muzzle flashes popping into existence and fading as las rounds whipped through the air. Then the building was between him and the main combat and he couldn’t track it any longer. Panting, the cleric came even with the bridge and saw one creature sprinting across. He thought of firing but realized he had next to no cover while it had both plenty of cover and the high ground on him. He lowered his pistol and looked ahead.. then threw on the brakes and skidded to a halt before he could barge through the armory door. He heard the rapid boom of one of the heavy stubbers.. and threw himself back in time to narrowly avoid having a grotesque body, or at least most of one, fall on him.

“This is Havelock, several of the filth have already made it to the armory building and I saw at least on heading for the gun tower, possibly more. Be advised more may go for the weapon.” He looked back in the shed, trying to find something, anything that could even the odds. An old fashioned firebomb would do, after all the things were standing in a building full of ammunition right? No options presented themselves though, well, not unless he wanted to choke them to death on the stink of the building. His microbead crackled as Gelt announced his presence and slipped up to the door.

“What are you doing in there priest?”

Havelock was just starting to answer when Gelt’s sweeping cause caught something and he shouted a warning just as two mutants burst from the building, one larger than the other and even more horribly distorted in shape. Relying on the combat instincts of his youth, Havelock swept his autopistol up and cut loose, the weapon chattering. Bullet impacts rippled over its torso, tearing leathery skin and spraying blood, including one that seemed rather larger than it should have. He heard the bark of a pistol and felt something graze his flesh, causing him to flinch and lose his aim. Before he could bring the red dot into view the creature was on him, the larger of the two charging him with a roar, swinging a shock maul which he narrowly managed to avoid. None too keen on going hand to hand with the monstrosity he lifted the pistol and cut loose point blank. The gun roared and the force of the multiple impacts threw the creature back in a bleeding heep. It didn’t rise again.

As the pounding of his blood in his ears muted a bit. He could still hear fierce fighting, including the roar of two stubbers. He could also hear closer action and he saw Gelt locked in combat with another creature. Holstering his pistol he drew his hammer and rushed in, swinging in a downward stroke that would have crushed the mutant’s head had it not turned at the last second to parry his swing with its shock maul. He didn’t get a chance to swing again. Before he could his comrades descended on it and smashed the disgusting thing flat. Looking among them, most started moving towards the fight on the other end of the compound, Havelock and Gelt though moved on the armory, the priest reloading and Gelt advanced inward. He hustled his way inside and passed Gelt as he claimed an autogun. He was heading up to the tower to claim the secure the second stubber.

Perhaps it was just as well that it was all over by the time he got there.


In the aftermath of the battle he did a few things. One was claim a backup pistol and replenish his ammunition from the stores of the gang. The next was to claim one of the shock mauls. It was too fine a weapon for them to have so many and it not be unusual.. and worrying.

The third was last rites. He was using a stub pistol procured for the task.. nothing he planned to keep. Over the body of each mutant he said a quick benediction asking for the Emperor to purify and redeem their souls before he symbolically put round through the forehead of each. He made double sure he’d done so with the psykers. He made sure not to take long though, he’d finished within five minutes, listening in over the microbeads to what the others were discussing. He smiled and decided where he would be the most use.

“I agree with Xerxes. Someone take a few of the others and check the buildings we haven’t investigated yet. I’m going to join our friends in the infirmary and see if we can’t get some more information.

He voxed a quick warning, schooled his features, and then burst through the infirmary door. His eyes were wide and he’d been sure to muss his hair further and even smeared a bit of not quite dried blood into it. He’d also put on his best Fire and Brimstone and Emperor’s Fury voice.

“HERETICS! DIRTY FILTHY HERETICS! THEY CONSORT WITH THE MUTANT! WITH THOSE ABOMINATIONS AND TWISTINGS OF THE HOLY FORM OF MAN!”

He frothed slightly at the mouth, hoping he was looking as much the firey redemptionist he was attempting to. The fact he was waving his gun around would help hopefully to distract them from any holes in his performance. He dropped his voice lower, a threatening and far more personal tone.. but one that still managed to carry to the back of the room.

“Trooper Quintos, have you located any of these miscreants who wishes to redeem his soul in the eyes of the God-Emperor? Or shall I have Trooper Xerxes begin making the bonfire?”

[DPDarkPrimus]

"You heard him," said Xerxes to the gangers. "Either you start telling us 'bout those mutants, or it's the pyre for you."

[Raj Ahten]

Hearing all the shouting and oathes coming from the infirmary, Lazarus was glad he wasn't over there. It sounded like something ugly was going to happen to the prisoners. Lazarus concentrated on the task at hand, rather than dwelling on the gangers fate or the battle that had just concluded.

With Verum's (and Gelt's?) help he searched and secured the rest of the complex.

[Hotfoot]

The two gangers looked at each other with a shared sensation of shock as Havelock came bursting in. "Shite...look mate, I don't know where they came from. Balimek wuz always doin' things we didn't know much about, 'e's the boss, an we don't ask questions, not after he started off'n anyone what talked back t'im. We mostly 'ired ratskins 'n mercs 'n th' like 'fore, but the scavvies been comin' in since we got up 'ere."

"It's that blasted dome, I tell ya!" The other interjected.

"Shut it! We don't know that!"

"'E said it had Archeotech, but you ever see 'im pull out so much as a bloody scrap? Go on, tell 'im you feel right walkin' by it!"

Meanwhile...

As the team exploring the rest of the camp came to the door of the dome where the mutant had been struck down by a violent blast of laser energy, a cold, wet breeze wafted over the base, stinking of human waste. The door opened easily enough, but the inside of the domed building was dark for several seconds before the lights kicked on. The inside appeared to be a storage area that had long since been cleaned out, save for choice bits of junk.

[Vehrec]

The fight had knocked a few things loose inside the head of Serghar Gelt. The old weapons drills had kicked in somewhere and when his hands rested on the guns he remembered how to strip out used ammo and replace it with fresh in accordance with the product of both ritual and bowel-emptying experiences. He carried himself carefully, wounded, but not enough to keep him away from the fight. He'd borrowed an extra shotgun from one of the guardsmen, and was ready to introduce any spare mutants to some good Imperial lead. And if they got as close as the one he had spent some time clobbering, he would introduce them to the shock maul he'd picked up. . . even if he wasn't feeling quite as comfortable swinging that around as he remembered once having.

The dome. . . was seemingly empty, but that might be misleading. "We should clear this place out and search it. I'd bet this place was important somehow, so we should be sure to check everything in here, even the trash. What I wouldn't give for a good auspex for this."

[DPDarkPrimus]

The two gangers looked at each other with a shared sensation of shock as Havelock came bursting in. "Shite...look mate, I don't know where they came from. Balimek wuz always doin' things we didn't know much about, 'e's the boss, an we don't ask questions, not after he started off'n anyone what talked back t'im. We mostly 'ired ratskins 'n mercs 'n th' like 'fore, but the scavvies been comin' in since we got up 'ere."

"It's that blasted dome, I tell ya!" The other interjected.

"Shut it! We don't know that!"

"'E said it had Archeotech, but you ever see 'im pull out so much as a bloody scrap? Go on, tell 'im you feel right walkin' by it!"

Xerxes glares at the ganger who tried to pretend he was clueless.

"What about the dome?" he says coldly.

[Hotfoot]

The ganger shook his head looked up at Xerxes with a pathetic look. "I don't know nuffin' more'n what I said. What the boss does, we don't know an' we don't wanna know!"

"All anyone's ever seen is the boss an' 'is mates from uphive go in, then come out, but sumfin' just feels wrong about it."

[DPDarkPrimus]

Xerxes shoots the ganger who had been uncooperative from the start in the head.

"Remember anything else?" he calmly asks the remaining ganger.

[Hotfoot]

The second ganger recoiled as the autopistol splattered his comrade's head on the wall of the infirmary. "SHITE! Look mate, all I know is that sumfin's not right, I swear! Balimek, 'e always told us t'mind our own shite, let 'im lead and we'd all get paid right. Maybe even get sum' uphive whores t'wet in, right? Bein' dumb paid better'n bein curious. Harker, 'e up'n disappeared one night 'cause he got too nosy. Balimek said 'e was Magistarium, 'n that was that!"

[DPDarkPrimus]

Xerxes shoots the other ganger in the head.

"A knife in the back is the reward for mercy," he says to Quintos.

[Imperial Overlord]

Varnius paused near the entrance of the dome, extending his psychic senses and keenly searching for any trace of activity.

[Academia Nut]

Shrugging, Quintos replies, "Who said anything about mercy? I just wanted another set of legs to haul this shit. They weren't dead yet, we still could have run them into the ground first. I was planning on shooting them after they were no longer a useful set of legs. Oh well."

[SylasGaunt]

"A shame we couldn't get more out of them.. I don't suppose you could have started with limbs instead of going straight to headshots?"

Havelock looked at the corpses distastefully and said last rites over them.. the quick and abbreviated version as it's what they deserved.

"Still we did hear of the dome at least."

[Academia Nut]

"Shall we go investigate that dome as a group before someone unleashes some monstrosity upon us?" Quintos asks half jokingly, half seriously. One of the gangers had mentioned archaeotech, which was never good.

Activating the comm bead, Quintos broadcasts, "Nixios, where are you at the moment?"

[DPDarkPrimus]

"You go ahead to the dome," said Xerxes. "I'm going to the armory to get another clip for this autopistol and to make sure it's rigged properly to blow."

[Imperial Overlord]

"I'm not detecting anything in the way of psychic activity," said Varnius. The psyker had an autopistol in his hand as he stood at the entrance of the dome. "Of course, that doesn't rule out particularly stealthy entities or giant mutant venom rats."

[RIPP_n_WIPE]

"Dis is some right oice bits of hardware." Octavius notes as he begins to collect ammunition. "Pretty fine rifles they got. I wanna chance to use them. Hopefully some of the scurvy bastards will come back eh?" nodding toward Zakary.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

"Dis is some right oice bits of hardware." Octavius notes as he begins to collect ammunition. "Pretty fine rifles they got. I wanna chance to use them. Hopefully some of the scurvy bastards will come back eh?" nodding toward Zakary.

"I, for one, hope we are long gone by the time any more of these ruffians return. I think we have made our point, and should probably quit while we're ahead."

[Imperial Overlord]

"I swear by the Throne, if he continues to speak gang argot when there are no mother raping hivers around, I will shoot him myself," muttered Varnius as he cautiously entered the dome.

[Raj Ahten]

"I swear by the Throne, if he continues to speak gang argot when there are no mother raping hivers around, I will shoot him myself," muttered Varnius as he cautiously entered the dome.

I here you on that.

Lazarus continued to assist in the search and secure operation at the Dome, his Lasgun stayinng in his hands at all times.

Lazaarus was also glad that the bussiness with the ganger prisoners was concluded. Some people liked to stretch those things out.

[Hotfoot]

As the group inside the dome searched around, looking for anything useful or dangerous, a click echoed in the nominally empty dome. The door leading in slammed shut with a resounding clanging of metal on metal. The floor began to move, and the domed ceiling started to look further and further away as the floor descended into the darkness below.

The dim lights from above slowly spilled into the new space inadvertently discovered by the curious acolytes, revealing what the darkness had hidden. As the platform that made up the floor of the dome was lowered, the sight of numerous bodies surrounded the acolytes. Hung along the wall by ropes made from what appeared to be entrails, the bodies were in various states of mutilation and disfigurement. Dried blood coated the walls and floor, and the bodies had profane symbols carved into their flesh. As the acolytes themselves came into view, some of the bodies began to writhe in pained, twitching motions, sounds of agony coming from what could only generously be described as mouths.

The horrific sight would be enough to overwhelm those with even the strongest stomachs, and a wave of fear rushed through the collected acolytes.

[Imperial Overlord]

Varnius turned sharply away from the gruesome scene as the contents of his stomach attempted to travel back up his throat. The psyker bent over, but managed to keep from vomiting. "Holy Throne," he said hoarsely. "Emperor above." He took deep, ragged breaths.

[RIPP_n_WIPE]

"Well I s'pose your right. Zakky." Heading outside with his new rifles, Octavius headed to the nearest tower with his ammo in tow. Upon reaching the top he began looking through the scope of the hunting rifle and scanning the area within and around the base.