Blood Moon IC - Chapter 2

Felyx and Egill dash across the last of the catwalk as the room collapses around them. A rock the size of a human skull falls on Felyx, but with his adrenaline pumping, he doesn't even seem to notice.

They leap across to the servitor waiting for them on the other side of the slagged section of the catwalk before diving into the tunnel. Inside, Malik and Lars are coughing as the dust from the collapse flies inward. Small chunks of rockcrete are flying everywhere, causing the entire party to shield their faces.

It may have taken a considerable amount of sweat and blood, but the task is done. Now just to make it back to the Ourang Medan...

Egill did not stop when he got into the tunnel and started to barge past those that had paused. "Don't stop yer fools, there's going to be..." he paused in his shouting and movement as he thought for a moment. There was a feeling of dread, a wrongness, a gathering of power? "...the warp is gonna respond, a back lash! We gotta get off planet now!" With that Egill resumes his running "I feel it in me bones!" he shouts as he runs off, heading out.

Felyx hurt. Pain registered in his body - especially on his back and lungs. But pain was good. Pain meant life. Had he been a more philosophical being, he might have thought of a greater significance to that. As it were, he merely jumped into Servitor's arms like a child into the warm embrace of its mother.

+++Servitor, move out of here and back to the land vehicle at all possible haste. When we arrive, board the rear and make ready to aid in any preparations or repairs our drop ship will need to get us off planet. Execute+++

The Techna-Lingua sprayed out of his mouth in scant seconds.

"Must to fucking move! Now! Be flying, you fools!"

He stayed in Servitors arms as it sped as fast as it could behind Egill.

"I think Egil has it right, friends. We should be leaving. Now."

He put a hand on Egil's shoulder. "But first, hold still for a moment." He jammed the prepped Stimm into Donna's undamaged arm, ensuring the majority of the drug would make it to her heart rather than being lost to her severed limb. "Ok - NOW we can go."

The party books it through the dark passageway. It is difficult to see as the tunnel was shrouded in darkness before - now it was murky with clouds of dust. Flashlights and other illumination devices only reveal a few feet in front of the party, creating a very eerie sensation.

The howling and moaning of the STC demon echoes behind the group, slowly fading into the background as they climb the ladder and then run through the abandoned subterranean colony.

The body of Artelinus sits motionless on the floor, no more than a torso. His eyes are glazed over, his jaw slack in a grim mockery of a laugh.

Frigid fresh air washes over the group as they get closer to the entry way they came through earlier. It feels almost intolerably cold when they finally exit.

Lights swirl languidly in the sky above, reds and oranges and purples, painting the snowbanks an unearthly color. The air feels tense, crackling with energy...

BANG

A loud, earsplitting crack rings out across the desolate snows while a blinding flash appears before the party.

Steam rises from the epicenter before them where snow has melted from the energetic outburst. A dark form moves in this epicenter, rising from the ground.

"You...you come to my world and you kill my god...you will PAY FOR THIS!!!"

The form staggers to its feet. It is none other Norgrim, his robes mostly burnt off, bare flesh exposed to the cold. His eyes look utterly deranged, and he stares with black rage at the party.

Marius threw out an arm to indicate that the party should stop. While he was concerned for Donna, he was momentarily glad she was unable to complicate an already dangerous situation. He had a plan... Emperor willing.

He took a few cautious steps towards Norgrim. "Did you truly think that your actions would go unnoticed here, Norgrim? It is unlike the Mechanicus to lack attention to detail. Your erratic reports triggered this investigation. WE came to this world because of YOU!"

Felyx stays in Servitor's arms like a baby. He was in pain, but adrenaline was starting to course its way into his system yet again. If he survived, he would need a long rest and recharge. When the air fizzled and popped, he nearly fell out, hopping down and limping beside Marius instead.

The Mancatcher was in his right hand and he took a cautious couple of steps to Marius' right, giving himself room to navigate.

He thought about the time they had. Not much. He smiled, but this time his eyes were genuine.

MmmTasteIt wrote:

"Did you truly think that your actions would go unnoticed here, Norgrim? It is unlike the Mechanicus to lack attention to detail. Your erratic reports triggered this investigation. WE came to this world because of YOU!"

Norgrim laughed mirthlessly and looked away from the party, shaking his head.

"It was not my errors that drew you here. I worked tirelessly, I followed Mother's instructions in exacting detail. It was that pitiful fool Artelinus. He was driven mad by the taint of this place, too weak he was. Weak like you. All that pathetic man cared about was the glory of finding an STC, the pride of being the one to bring it back to Mars. His terror at the thought of another coming here and stealing the credit petrified him. Controlled his every move. I've never met a man so easy to manipulate..."

He grins, chuckling. Then his face turns sour again.

"....but the madness won out in the end. He got sloppy. He drew the attention he so wished to deflect. And so you came, you foul peons of a rotting tyrant." He starts trembling again, rage clearly about to boil over. "You're just meat. Animals. No souls, no brains. No spirit-everlasting! No, no radiant light! I possess elucidations you will never know!"

He reaches an arm forth and a bolt of warp energy crackles forth, but it is weak and the bolt misses anyway. He stumbles, the effort clearly leaving him tired and off-balance. The cult leader groans and grimaces as he sways on his feet.

The use of psychic energy does not go unpunished by the turbulent warp energies and atmosphere of the cursed moon. Winds whip up around the party out of nowhere, and the lights in the sky start swirling faster and shining in more vibrant hues.

Meanwhile, it almost seems as if...the landscape itself is beginning to shift. Snowbanks in the distance seem to collapse into depressions, while low-points bulge upward. It's just strange and subtle enough to be dismissed as a mirage, but you know better than to dismiss it that easily.

As if this wasn't disconcerting enough, you hear faint whispers, moans, and screams carried in the wind. The sounds of lost souls are clearly bleeding through into this fragile reality.

There was no time for this. Felyx had to act. Using his last ounces of energy, he rushes forward. Servitor was at his side, moving as fast as its tracks would take him. Felyx lunges with the mancatcher as Servitor's hydraulic fist punches out, but by some dark miracle both miss their mark with the heretek.

Damiel ran just Behind Egill, prepared to assist Donna wherever necessary. She's got about the same chances of survival as the rest of them at this point.

The crackling warp energies drew Damiel's attention away. Quickly he moved to Marius's side. He put a hand on the chymist's shoulder and drew his whip. Gently, Damiel took a step forward, letting his null ability calm the storm inside the heretek.

As soon as he began to move, Falyx lunged from the other side. Damiel yelled "Felyx wait!" but there was nothing he could do to stop him. Damiel took a quick few steps to position himself opposite Felyx from Norgrim. He cracks his whip at Norgrim but the unsettled snow and earth threw him off an otherwise easy target.

Egill with Donna across his shoulders was considering blasting the Nogrim with lightning, he wasn't about to give up his charge so killing the fiend with his blade wasn't an option. He paused though, he sensed the instability of the warp and resulting warp phenomena as Nogrim attempted to project whatever power. As much as it hurt his pride he stayed at the back of the group.

"Kill him before he brings us further ruin!" he shouts helpfully.

Marius ignored the shifting landscape and hushed whispers the surrounded them. They were nothing compared to the hell he had once endured. Norgrim's insults, however, were unacceptable. No souls? What could the daemon have left a mark upon if not a soul? No brains? It seemed a counter-argument was in order.

Punishpunishpunishpunish

"Suit yourself," he stated flatly, drawing his chainblade, "catharsis is an important part of one's spiritual health, after all."

Marius took a few quick steps towards the stumbling Nogrim. Musculocutaenous nerve bundle... responsible for mobility of the arm...He stepped past the heretics outstretched arm, slicing the whirring teeth of the chainknife under it, near the shoulder. In a spray of blood, Norgrim's arm went limp. Sacral Plexus... necessary for locomotion... He stepped behind Nogrim, placing a precise thrust into his lower back, and tearing it out laterally. The heretic crumpled into the snow.

Marius stared down at the mewling traitor, a faint smile playing across his lips.

"Well, I certainly feel better." He wiped off the chain knife and continued in the direction the group had been headed. "He's all yours, friends."

Felyx said nothing else. He took Alistair's blade that he had not returned and bent down, plunging it into the base of Norgrim's skull. In a few moments, and with ever more practiced ease, he removes the brain stem and places it into the vial with the others.

It was time to move again.

Egill looked on. A heretic dead was a heretic dead as far as he was concerned although he didn't care to draw it out like Marius did, he was sure some of the scum might actually enjoy the pain and suffering. Better to brain them quickly with a big sword or similar implement of retribution.

The party trudges as quickly as you can through the snow, but it definitely slows you down. After 30 minutes or so - which feels like an eternity given how exhausted and wounded some members of the party are - you come to the research facility and the landing pad.

The Vita Brevis is right where you left it - and it's engines are roaring. It appears to be preparing for takeoff.

+++Servitor, make all haste onto the Omnissiah's Vehicle+++

Felyx and Servitor took off at speed, leading the way and packing the snow for those behind them.

HE was elated when he saw their ride, he'd feared something might have befallen the pilot. Egill followed Felyx to the lander, he needed to get Donna indoors so Marius could tend to her properly.

"Come on!" he shouts into the wind.

The engines of the Brevis start roaring at a louder and higher pitch, blasting powdered snow off the landing pad. The party rapidly scales the stairs to the pad, their cloaks and weather gear furiously whipping backwards against the backdraft of the lander's thrusters.

From inside the frost-covered viewport, you can see Luthor looking on in disbelief. A brief moment later, the hatches to the door release so that you may board.

Over the whining engines, you can barely hear him saying

"I assumed you were DEAD! Thought I'd be joining you in hell if I stayed any longer!" He laughs, smiling and shaking his head in disbelief. "Buckle up!!"

The Vita Brevis roars into atmosphere and eventually low orbit. A palpable sense of relief washes over the group as you leave that Emperor-forsaken moon. The feeling of ease is only reinforced when the Medan slips into view, and in a short period of time you are docked again with the civilian freighter.

Luthor flew hard and fast, given Donna's condition. After a few incredibly frustrating moments of talking to some confused and dirty tech adepts, someone gives Egill directions to the med bay so that he can run and drop her in off in medical care.

The rest of the party is treated as well, and everyone enjoys the little bit of R&R they get aboard the cramped, dirty voidship on their way back to Scintilla.

It feels mildly disorienting to be back in Hive Sibellus. So many people everywhere you turn. It would be so easy to be ambushed or jumped. And it's hot, humid. Acrid fumes fill the air, mingling with the stench of the masses.

Although the temptation of a night at the clubs, a bar, or even a drug den is strong, you know the Inquisitor has kept tabs on the Medan. He knows you're back, and you know very well that he would find you. So the first stop (after a quick meal of Nafar biscuits and thin soup) is Torquemada's headquarters. It takes you a moment to remember the right manufactorum, but once inside, it all comes back and you find your way to the foreman's office who stares at you grimly and lets you past the front and into the inquisitor's headquarters.

You are patted down once again and your weapons are removed and placed elsewhere for safekeeping.

You make your way through the labyrinth, dingy corridors. A high-ranking servant leads you to Torquemada's office. They knock and announce their name, as well as that your party has returned. A moment of silence follows, before Torquemada announces for you to be let in.

The servant opens the door gingerly, then walks away.

Anyone watching closely might have watched as Torquemada put a book back on the shelf that appears to have been bound with some sort of...skin? It's impossible to tell given the slight glimpse you got of it, but it's enough to send shudders down the spine. The imposing, tall man turns briskly toward you and invites you to come inside.

Donna cut the scab down with another swipe of the chainaxe. The promethium chamber had emptied and the throaty chug of the motor was absent, but it didnt stop her, she fought on.

All her fellow gangers were dead at her feet, cut down by those scabs who now threatened to overwhelm her. They were dirty, their weapons were ramshakle, barely functioning and it was only that grace that kept her alive thus far. She fought on.

For once, she was silent. No witty quips from her now. She was on the last of her strength. The dirty scabs part like a sea, and a big one approaches her. It was thier champion? or maybe thier god?
It wasn't human, but its sight filled her with fear, apprehension and...familiarity? Hadn't she seen this thing when she was fighting in the corrupt STC chamber? whatever happened then, she wonders.

It stops, and awaits her to attack it. The scabs bow and start to chant in low tones.
She raises the unpowered chainsword-where's the axe?
She breathes in deep before launching her attack. The teeth bite, but do nothing besides scratch notches in the demon flesh.
It counters, ripping her left arm off at the elbow with a sudden, violent jerk. She falls with the action, unable to support herself with the sudden loss of the arm.

The demon steps closer, in for the kill. There was no survival now.

BOOM! An explosions is set off.

The demon is gone, Nothing is left where he was. A loud whisper fills the air:

"Emperor....."

It was Marius, him and his damned faith.
His word, affects the scabs, the chant "Emperor" over and over.

Louder and louder.


And she opens her eyes, she was in a bed. Groggy, obviously drugged, but with the good, medical grade stuff. She couldnt move. She tries to cry out, but the attempt was weak from a parched throat.

Her gaze drifts to her arm, it was burning and cold at the same time.
Also missing.

Her resulting scream was neither weak or dry.

Felyx-080 made his way into Inquisitor Torquemada's office with a straight back and dead smile. Servitor was made to wait in the hallway. He had formed an unlikely bond with the cyborg. So, it stayed close.

There had been little time between Luthor's exfiltration in the Vita Brevis to docking with the Medan and eventually making it back to Scintilla. Felyx had made sure to take a quick germ-killing dry bath, and ate when food was offered. He couldn't help but dwell on the brain stems he had collected and the secrets they might hold. Of course, if those secrets turned out to be corrupt - and he was sure 98% of them would be - he would incinerate them, but he had to do his due diligence.

His body ached. The rockfall had nearly killed him, and he had definitely taken some unnecessary risks. But the thrill of the kill had stayed with him. The abomination was destroyed. He dearly wanted to speak with Marcus about the expert shot he had sent into the foul thing's gullet, but that would have to wait.

So it was that he smiled at Torquemada, eyes lingering on the skin-book. He was ready to debrief.

Torquemada settles into an old wooden chair behind the desk.

"What happened on that moon?"

His eyes settle coldly on the party.

As he waits for an answer, he pulls out a pipe from the desk starts packing it with a black-brown shredded leaf. Aftewards, he lights it with a match, puffing gently to cherry the bowl. The burning leaf gives off a spicey, earthy aroma. All the while, his eyes never leave the group.

Marius cleared his throat. It seemed the events of their mission had left them all a bit tongue-tied. The smell of Torquemada's pipe reminded Marius that it'd been almost an entire day since his last lho; maybe that partially explained his tension. He'd have to remedy that after the debriefing.

"Well, sir, it might be best to confirm the obvious first: you were right to send a team."

He coughed. It was always intimidating to speak with the inquisitor.

"First contact was relatively mundane, our primary liaison was one Nogrim Zuriel - head of security. He bought our story and provided us some advice before we were greeted by Magos Artelinus Tilaris, who provided us with basic regulations and procedures to follow. We noted that the excavation site was explicitly forbidden. While those in charge seemed lucid, many of the underlings were prone to odd behaviors..."

He glanced in Felyx's direction.

"...beyond what is even standard or expected for members of the Mechanicus. We spent the evening doing the subtlest reconnaissance of the base that we could manage without alerting suspicion; we found no obvious indication of heresy, but the level of maintenance was unexpectedly lacking for a Mechanicus facility."

He took a deep breath.

"The following morning, we set off to explore a site that Nogrim and the Magos had failed to mention. Felyx had communed with the Machine Spirit of the base's shrine and discovered its location. We found the crash site of a vessel which we went on to identify as being pre-Imperial in age. We dispatched an ambush - a few mutants - and learned that our hosts had been less than forthcoming about what they had discovered..."

He licked his lips, realizing just how dry they'd become.

"They were in possession of a piece of STC technology - a manufactorium."

He paused. He had only just begun to ponder the severity of the heretics' actions. He had been so glad that they had survived that the nature of their "success" had not sunk in: an irreplaceable, valuable piece of technology had been corrupted through their actions and, rather than provide incalculable value to the imperium, had been reduced to slag.

Failure.

Damiel sat in one of the wooden chairs present, his cloak spilling over the edges, where the heavy chain and rosette could not contain it. He was no stranger to taking a beating, and knowing what was to come, took a step in to Marius's debrief. As he spoke, he kept his hands tucked under his arms, such that his left palm firmly grasped his right arm.

"The STC itself was corrupted by the warp. Some of the worst I've ever seen, the creature seemed completely integrated with the tech, the structure in which it was housed, and was being watched by a coven of heretics."

He shared a glance with Marius, then gave a nod to Egill.

"Had Egill and I more time to assess the situation, we may have been able to coax the daemon back to its hole, but the mechanicus heretics' were deep in the worship of the STC, surrounded by foul scenes of torture. As soon as they were made aware of our presence, they attacked, and the STC produced a multitude of warp spawn."

The grip on his arm tightened as he continued to remember the events.

"We had no choice but to destroy the device, there's no telling what warp taint would be left behind such a machine, even if we were able to cleanse the daemon. The following explosion wracked both the physical and immaterial planes, shattering the structure and the warp veil. We were able to make it out as the station collapsed in a warp hole."

He shuddered, looking at the door. "I've seen plenty of minor warp incursions, a bit of warp taint here or there, but nothing like that. The veil itself was falling apart." His grip tightened on his arm once again and he sighed heavily, apparently finished with his recounting.

The Inquisitor maintains a blank expression throughout Marius' summary until mention of the STC. Even then, the only change in his expression is a slight raise of the eyebrow. He continues to gaze intently at Marius as he speaks, then Damiel as the null chimed in.

He takes another drag on the pipe stem.

"And the status of the heretics?"

Donna stands, a blank expression on her face. A dirty bandage clung to her left elbow where the rest of her arm used to be. She hadn't killed nearly enough when the time came, and now she felt underwhelmed by her performance.

maybe those blokes were jus a bit tougher than a ti'pical ganger chum she justifies to herself, not caring for the current conversation. She was just dumb muscle here, she knew it, the team knew it, and the inquisitor knew it. She had no useful information for the boss here.

Bad shit she continues to justify, blaming weak slaught for her performance. She needed something with a bigger kick, something that would dull pain receptors and increase her strength. She looks at Marius, wondering if the doc could cook something up that would be just right.

"The arch heretic is dead, most of his cultists destroyed, a few scattered."

Despite his barbaric way Egill was a thinker, certainly not the brightest amongst them but then you didn't make any moron a sanctioned psyker.

Egill pauses for a moment and considers his thoughts before continuing. "My Lord, it is not clear if Nogrim was influenced by the taint on the moon or if he travelled there due to its susceptibility for corruption. I would not go back there though unless under your command for the barrier to the immaterium is thin, dangerously so. I feared to bring my powers to bear because of it."  

A ghost of a smile crosses Torquemada's lips.

"I am pleased that you vanquished the STC....thing and the arch heretic. And you are certain both were destroyed?"

He turns to regard the rest of the party, eyes settling on the mechanicus acolyte.

"Felyx, you have been uncharacteristically quiet. Surely you have your own analysis of the situation?"

"Nogrim was finished with a bullet to his head." then Egill shrugs becoming unsure about the STC "I've limited knowledge about such things from beyound, we certainly destroyed its physical form." he replies to the Inquisitor.

Torquemada nods. He appears satisfied with Egill's answer - after all, uncertainties were par for the course when you were dealing with unfathomable demons from realms beyond.

"Any recommendations for further action?"

Marius frowned - he hadn't thought about what more could be done.

"I'm not certain what further action would consist of, sir. I suppose that depends on whether the inquisition has further interest in the Dark Age vessel we discovered. The fabric of reality in the region has worn thin, presenting a significant threat to the health of any away teams, not to speak of their sanity. If further exploration or research is to be undertaken, it would have to wait until some amount of stability returns. At the very least, therefore, I believe the area should be quarantined."

Torquemada sets down his pipe and jots down a few notes with an auto-quill.

"Very well. Your recommendation seems prudent, Marius. I will order a quarantine on the moon immediately."

He clears his throat and rises from his chair. With a tall, imposing stature, he looms over you, his gaze scanning the party and locking eyes with each of you in turn.

"You have completed a commendable service for the Holy Order of the Emperor's Inquisition. I thank you for that. It is a special honor to vanquish the Emperor's foes..." A gleam appears in his eyes and his voice trails off. "You have done well and will be compensated accordingly. Take a few days for rest and return here at 0600 hours on Marketday for your next mission."

He strides over to the door and opens it swiftly.

"Dismissed."

At the dingy door exiting Torquemada's headquarters and re-entering the factorum, a bald man with sunken eyes stops you and hands each of you a small, black wooden box. Open pulling back the top, you see a considerable stack of Scints - the paper currency used to denote a large amount of thrones.

He bids you farewell with one simple instruction: "Keep it out of sight."

Torquemada wrote:

"Felyx, you have been uncharacteristically quiet. Surely you have your own analysis of the situation?"

Felyx's face stayed locked on Torquemada. "Marius Doctor and Egil Psyker was to doing such well at the explainings. Last datas from Ancient Human Vessel Yoo-Fray-Teez compiled for you to reading." He handed over a small data slate he had prepared on the journey here. It was the complete history and log book of the Euphrates with his own techna-lingua additions to complete the narrative and timeline of events as best he could. He was sure Torquemada could have someone translate it into High Gothic.

"To quarantining is the recommendation of me as well. STC is as being total a loss; the ship is being treasure untold. Outstanding flagship for the Torquemada perhaps."

The thought wasn't as insane as it sounded. If Torquemada were to reclaim and refit such a vessel, that meant that there was a chance for Felyx to board it again. It was a long shot, but it was the best shot he had to be back on such a marvel of the Omnissiah.

When dismissed, he leaves with the others. As the main hands them their money, he quickly asks.

"If I were to being needing to make my softer parts harder; flesh to metals; muscles to synthetics; pale to chrome; where to would be ging to?"

The man tilts his head pensively.

"Can find a chirurgeon with bionics without much trouble at any level of the hive. Finding one with decent bionics...well, that's another matter. You could try Skinner, or own doc, or ask around at the Officio Medicae."

Felyx nodded his thanks and went on his way. As he made his way out, he stopped near Marius.

"If you are not to planning things, how's to coming with me? Or I can coming to you? As long as we are coming together. Yes?"

He smiled and nodded. "I trust your being knowledge in medicae; I am hope to have bionics. You are good backups - knowledge/violence - all good."

Assuming Marius joins him, Felyx continues. "Speakings of bioncs - Donna needs to be upgrading, yes? Perhaps you and I can do."

+++

Felyx (and possibly Marius) made his way first to Skinner at the recommendation of Torquemada. When he found the medicae, he bowed politely.

"Am looking to be upgrading bodies. Your skills with bionics - how? Your bionics quality - what?"

Skinner's office consists of several rooms tucked away in a corner of Torquemada's labyrinth headquarters. The first is a "lobby" of sorts with a couple rough wooden chairs and a desk. Behind the desk sits a secretary of sorts, a rather bored and dull-looking young man who calls Skinner in when the party arrives.

Skinner is a wiry and muscular woman. She scurries into the room with a pair of microscope glasses tilted upwards, eyebrows furrowed with a frown. Blood has specked her coat, and you can hear the faint moans of a "patient" in the distance. Given Torquemada's "hands-on" approach to dealing with heretics, you doubt she is intending to cause anyone pain, suspecting that is more just a byproduct of some procedure.

Skinner picks up a dirty rag off the counter and wipes her hands, scrunching up her face as she listens to Felyx speak.

"Skills - decent. Bionics..." She shakes her hand back and forth in a "so-so" motion. "Normally save the best for officials of a, uh, greater rank." Her scan the duo warily.

"You sures?" Felyx says with a wry, dead grin. It was apparent to anyone else in the room that the answer was going to be yes, she was sure, unless the Emperor was watching particularly closely.

Spoiler:

Iron and Metal wrote:

"You sures?" Felyx says with a wry, dead grin.

Skinner glances quizzically at Marius, as if he may be some sort of "handler" for the strange mechanicus man.

"...yes. Is there anything in particular you're looking for...?"

Her eyes slip to the slovenly chymist again, clearly figuring that he may be able to help facilitate conversation.

Marius entered Skinner's office and immediately regretted his lho break. The look on Skinner's face combined with Felyx's awkward attempt at a sly grin told him everything he needed to know about the situation. He hoped it wasn't too late to do some damage control.

"If she weren't sure, Felyx," Marius said gently, "I would be."

He nodded to Skinner. "Please don't misunderstand, we aren't looking for the best bionics you can provide. We simply want to restore function to our wounded compatriots arm. And by restore function... we'd prefer a level similar to pre-injury functionality. Not one of those grotesque low-hive contraptions."

"If it would help, I'm more than capable of lending a hand in the procedure. After all, time is thrones, and I'd be glad to save you time if you could provide a reasonable prosthetic."

"Heck, it'll be easiest just to show you."

Skinner exits the room swiftly. She returns a moment later lugging a metal box filled with bionic arms, hands, fingers, and other components.

After digging around and muttering to herself for a moment, Skinner lays out three arms on the table. One is slightly rusty, scratched up, dented, and clearly worse for where. Another looks fairly well crafted, and one sits in-between of just average quality.

"Of course, we've got ones reserved for nobles and other high-ranking members of the Inquisition, buuut..."

She leans in close, glancing over her shoulder at her assistant to make sure he isn't listening too closely.

"If you've got the coin...."

She shrugs, looking at Marius expectantly.

"In any case, Torquemada has mandated that every acolyte have ready access to replacement limbs, so the, uh, "well-loved" one here..." - She gestures toward the crappiest looking arm - "Will be free. The others cost a premium."

"I helping too - machine smarts, I have."

Felyx thinks for a moment, running his non-augmented hand through his scruffy head of hair before noticing within the box a calculus logis implant. His eyes widen.

"This one for being into my head, please and thanks you. Coin I is having." He picks it up, inspects it, and begins adjusting some of the components.


+++

Sometime Later...

Felyx asks around any of the group who have any training with las weaponry if they will help him understand the new weapon he lifted off the cursed moon. It was a well made hotshot laspistol. He understood the basic mechanics of it, but firing the thing was so much different than the solid projectile weaponry he was accustomed to.

Who would help him?


+++

Finally...

Felyx takes a day to seek out the nearest Shrine to the Omnissiah and cult Mechanicus. What he had experienced on the moon had left him feeling in need of purification. He approaches the head Tech Priest, making the sign of the cog above his head, Servitor by his side as ever. He immediately begins in Techna-Lingua.

+++This unit is Felyx-080, Cult Mechanicus Magos Dominus, Magos Explorator seeking purification of mind and body - run diagnostics//analyze//cleanse//make ready to best suit the will of the Omnissiah Eternal+++

After being let loose to recover from the ordeal before the next mission, Donna delved deep into the underhive. She was on a tear, angry and needing to take her anger out on anyone who got in her way.

The hive was unfamiliar to her, it wasn't her homeworld but all underhives were practically the same dregs for the scum and filth of humanity, a perfect place for her.

He left arm stump itched like the warp, adding to her withdrawal induced disdain. She weaves in and out of the crowds, looking for a dingy looking apothecarion. After hours of searching, she finds a "hospital" of dubious origin. Judging by the looks of the shady looking creepo's around it was a stomping ground for a local gang, perfect.

She enters to find a waiting room, with a silver-cranial attendant at a waiting desk.
Ignoring his pleas for her to stop, she skips him and enters the emergency treatment area. It was a large room lined with gurneys, and gangers in several of them. She didnt care about them, she only wanted the chief medicae. The staff eye her with concern, it wouldnt be the first time opposing gangs enetered to finish offing the wounded after a fight. She moves straight towards the oldest looking bloke in a dirty white coat.
"Oui gran'pa" she says as she stops towards him. He tries to move but she grabs his collar and forcefully pins him against the metal grating, behind which was sehlves and shelves of medications and other knick-knacks.
The staff immediately take positions of safety, as she knew they would. Some of the more lightly wounded gangers begin to stir, trying to get up or get a better view.
"Oui got in a bit of a scruff an' Oui need a new ahm." Yew got any lyin'round?"
he starts to stutter an answer behind his dirty broken glasses, but she cuts him off.
"best be given an answer oui likes." she warns.
He coughs, and behins to reach into his labcoat.
"Wrong answer chum." she hisses and pulls him forwards before forcing him back into the grating. The back of his head contacts the metal and he begins to look dazed.
She jerks him into the grating again before letting his dumbfounded form fall to the floor. She didnt have much time before some of the aids or mobile gangers attacked her or got help from the ones patrolling the streets.
She bends over and reaches into his coat, looking for the keys to the equipment stocks. Pulling out his shiv he had attempted to fend her off with, she found them underneath. She kicks his unconcious form in the nads for good measure.

No one looks to stop her, instead only going to react when help arrived or if she used deadly force.
She moves throughout the room, trying the adjoining doors until she found the locked door. She uses the keys to open them and walks in. It was about the size of a nice prison cell, she reckoned, lined with servitor assisted surgery machines and what not. She didnt care for that. She digs through some dented metal crates, looking for a certain thing in particular. After a few quick searches, she finds the box of used augmetics. They were chunked in there like trash, with no organization of any kind, some even had rancid bits of flesh or old bloodstains on them. After digging around, she finds a single left arm, it ended above the elbow but she thought maybe Felyx might help her with that. She grabs it as the murmurs from the other room increase in volume. Moving past the retreating staff to the dazed doctor, she slides the grate behind him open. She only had seconds know, she was sure. She grabs vials of meds and drugs, hoping one would give her a good rush, or maybe dull the itch of her arm.
Confident she had what she needed, the runs towards the entrance. The desk attendant was no longer there, he had ran to get help.

She exits the ganger-run hospital and looks both ways in the crowds. There was a group headed her way from the right.
So dumb she thinks as she blends into the crowd headed the other direction. Being a ganger, she knew how they think, how they thought. They would assume this is a raid by the rival gang. They would be on the lookout for whatever kinds of garb the other gang wore. Not being local, it wasnt what she looked like. Once she had more distance she would be able to walk the alleyways towards the inquisitor's nondescript HQ without any problems.

"I can help you metal man." Egill replies to Felyx "I don't use it much if at all, but I can show the ropes" the big man pats his holstered las-pistol.

"Come, there is no time like the present, eh. There is a small range in this facility, a training pit to if yer'd like me to show yer how to use a real weapon."

When Felyx is ready Egill will lead the way...

Felyx regarded Egil curiously. They had not said much to one another in their foray to the moon, but perhaps that was because they had not much in common. Or it was because Egill was a savage in need of a shower and Felyx was above such debasement. Truly, it was hard to tell.

"'Meh-Tuhl MaHN. Metal. Man. I metal man?" To be fair, Felyx was mostly flesh and bone. Sure, his skin was covered in electoos and he had the basic augmentations of the Adeptus Mechanicus in his Cranial Circuitry, Cyber-Mantle, Electro-Graft, Electoo Inductors, Potentia Coil, and further augmented left hand with its scribe tines and the interface port on the base of his skull. He was about to express his uncertainty that Egill had used the correct phrase when he realized the name was pretty good considering.

"I am being metal man," he conceded. He sighed and shrugged. The tiny blink of actual feeling leaving as swiftly as it came. He pulled out his hot shot las and pointed it in Egill's general face direction.

"Teaching to me, please!"

Donna reaches the inquisitors headquarters after hours of trekking through the various, crowded levels of the hive. Entering, she heads straight towards the cog-muns preferred area.

[With Donna]

Felyx watched as Donna entered, stopping... whatever it was that he was doing... quickly putting a towel over what he had been working on.

"Donna Matrix - Ol One Arm - Lefty - Screamy McGee - Filth Encrusted Drug Slut; how may I to be helping to you, friend?" His left eye twitched slightly and he smiled.

+++

The Magos responded only in a welcome affirmative, seeming to understand why Felyx-080 had arrived. Assuredly, the acolyte makes his way over to one of the holy shrines and links up. Servitor stood watch, like a gargoyle, over his master while Felyx was inundated with machine cant, sacred cleansing codes. His power core - the potentia coil - and all other mechanicus implants were recalibrated to optimize performance. His skin literally glowed blue as his electoos took the power from the shrine and spread it throughout his body. In moments, he was done.

He walked away feeling cleansed of the vile abominations he had been subjected to on the Blood Moon...

She slaps the pilfered augmetic down on the table with a thud.
"Drug slut? Oui think I be likin that 'erm chum."
She smiles as she continues, "Oui took this from sum skaggs 'ew dont be needin' it no more. Can we be jackin me into it or wot?"