Blood Moon IC - Chapter 2

As Nogrim appears in the doorway, Alistair barely flinches. He knew he should be a little more alert, but he really just wanted to get to bed.

"Yes Nogrim, the storm was quite intense. I am glad we made it back in one piece! Thank you for your offer, but I think the best thing for us right now is to get these clothes off and get into some warm blankets before we all get hypothermia."

Alistair smiled weakly at the man, and then starting untying the grapnel line from his compatriots.

+++The wounds are superficial at most. The frost has the potential to do the most damage, as you well know. He has the right of it, brother of the Omnissiah. We will return to our quarters for rest and recuperation of the flesh."

He buzzed out in techna-lingua quickly and efficiently. He made the sign of the cog as he finished.

"Very well. As you are aware, unaccompanied guests are not permitted throughout the station during the evening, so I must escort you to your quarters immediately."

Norgrim walks you to your sleeping quarters, unlocks the door, and lets you in. "Emperor be with you."

Instructions:

With only the intention of getting warm in his mind Egill makes his way to the rooms heater and stands in front of it for a while, only satisfied once he starts sweating in his survival suit.

Finally warm he removes his padded coat and he looks between his companions "I'm of a mind that we should have a look about the station. See why they don't want no unaccompanied guests at night. Or at least some of us should, anyways."

Donna sees something odd.

The part of her that doesnt realize what should be stated and what shouldn't (the whole part basically) overrides her, and she simply says.

"Oui! Nogrim, yew got some blood on yer arm rouight there. Whatcha been killin?"

Norgrim stares at Donna blankly for a moment, frozen in place. The tension in the air is so palpable, you could cut it with a knife.

After a moment a light chuckle escapes Norgrim's lips before opening up into a full-throated laugh. The man beams widely.

"It's motor oil, Donna, but I presume you knew that already. And they say the mechanicum doesn't have a sense of humor..."

He pulls the door shut and walks down the hall, his laughter slowly fading into the humming white noise of the station's heating ventilation and power generator...

"Full of the shits perhaps he is to being." Felyx shrugs off his bloody, filthy clothes becoming butt naked in front of the others without any sense of shame whatsoever. He wipes himself and Servitor down, ensuring they are both well clean before he puts any clean clothing back on.

For all intents and purposes, he seems extremely cheerful. You may have even heard him whistle.

"Full of the Las burns he should is to being. I say we have a look at surveillance and see what motor takes red oil. My guess is it's hiding in the mystery dig site."

As Damiel speaks, he too removes his torn clothes, including the wrist-braced laspistol. He exposes his wounds, but he does not leave himself indecent. With a look to Marius, Damiel adds:

"Before we go, however, I think I may be about to pass out from blood loss."

Marius, having hung his overstuffed combat vest, began rooting around for various bits of medical gear. Unphased by Felyx's various metal and fleshy bits, he moved over to Dameil and began inspecting the injuries. He felt a rush of irritation; why hadn't he been informed about the injuries? The fool had jepordized their mission by allowing such injuries to progress and...

Marius paused. Right, an untouchable. He had heard of the effects of such bein...people on the psyche of common men, but he had never been THIS close to Damiel... and the effect was profound. He gave the man a pained grin.

"I was unaware you suffered injuries on the expedition, Damiel, why did you not tell me sooner?"

Felyx's tuneless attempt at whistling, while welcome as a sign of good spirits, was terribly distracting. "You seem to be in quite a good mood, Felyx. I'm surprised anyone could manage such cheer after that trek."

Felyx spared a moment to look over at Marius while putting his under garments on. "Perhaps we are to having different stimuli for considerations of the fun and the historic.
"

He smiled his extremely awkward smile, his eyes not following his facial movements. It might be nice to go see what the hereteks in this base were up to after all.

She acts as if she was in on a big secret, leaning forward ever so slightly.
"Apologies chum. Wes got motah oil on us too." she says with a devious smile and a knowing wink.

It was clear, however, that she didn't care too much if it was blood or oil. Murder was murder, and where she came from it was as common as changing oil on a hauler.

Alistair was beyond the point of caring when Donna asked about Nogrim's stained clothes, and sighed quietly into the echoes of Nogrim's laughter. Alistair swapped his winter clothes with his spares, making sure to hang the wet outer layers to dry.

"Well, let's take the night off before getting back to work. I can take first watch if people want to crash?"

Egill removed his hand from his swords hilt as Norgrim closes the door after Donna's accusation. He didn't like the thought of sleeping after his 'vision' in the icy wastes and the chance of staying awake was a welcome one.

"We should watch in pairs. The warp is precarious here and perhaps Norgrim and his friends might be becoming wise to us? "

Egill nods to Alistair.

"I'll take first watch with you."

Damiel shrugged at the medicae, "Apologies, didn't quite find the right time." He had noticed the grin and began to realize the long term effects of his misfortune were beginning to set in.

"Maybe it'd be wise to split up tomorrow, I can move between teams and give people a break from my... condition." He said as Marius looked him over.

"Pairs watch. Pairst search. Logical." Felyx got a fresh set of warm clothing on and started thinking.

"They were having tech here - in garage. I am in need inspecting to it."

"If your set on having a poke around" Egill nods to Felyx "we should all go and be damned with this curfew. This place stinks of the warp and if Norgrim and his master aren't part of whats goin' on 'I'm a bearded ratling."

Egill was eager to get to the crux of the matter, the pussy footing around offended him - surely the masters of this place were party to a degree of what was going on, willing or not. The Emperor he was sure demanded swift justice.

"Oui'm up for a bit'o trouble" Donna muses as she fiddles with a gizmo in the chainsword.

"We gonna steal us some fancy techie stuff?" she asks.

Felyx smiled from ear to ear. Though, he had no idea why Egil thought he would turn into a "bearded ratling." Perhaps the man's planet had odd superstitions.

After standing around for a few moments with no one making any moves, and having been dressed for the same amount of time, Felyx raises an eyebrow.

"Are being to sneakings? If affirmative, then to small groups we are forming. Very smalls. Two person only."

Egill nods in agreement. "I think we should, who knows what they're getting up to while we sleep. It will be easy enough to lie if caught and apologise."

A bit of disappointed showed on his face though as Egill knew he wasn't the sneakiest type, he just wanted to bring the Emperors wrath upon the heretics who no doubt infested this place.

"That probably won't be me though, I ain't the lightest of me feet."

"Perhaps you are being to converted to Omnissiah worship? I am to showing you it?"

He smiled.

Egill liked the idea, he was a devout worshipper of the Emperor and he could probably cover acting all religious.

"Yeah sure, honest worship of the Emperor and the Machine God shouldn't be denied by some stupid curfew, right?"

The sigh from Alistair was audible.

"We just survived a snow storm and you want to go poking around? Sleep sounds like a better idea to me." Alistair rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "But if you guys want to go, I won't stop you. Let me know if you need me. Or make lots of noise if things get really bad."

Donna could hardly contain her excitement. She was as warm as the facility would allow again.

The prospect of breaking rules sent a familiar tingle down her spine. She fought the urge to use some of her slaught.

She only had a few doses and until she could score some more, she would have to use them sparingly.

Felyx holds up his middle finger to Alistair. He had seen it used by normal people to show affirmation before. He hoped it was correct now.

Or was it the thumb that shows affirmation? He couldn't remember, so he just smiled very widely and slowly lowered his middle finger.

Yes. All is well. That seemed to work.

"I am being ready Egils."

The door creaks open as you enter the dark hallway. Running lights along the floor provide faint illumination, but otherwise the facility is immersed in shadows.

A cursory glance up and down the hallway indicates that it is empty. It is also quiet save for the soft hum of the ventilation systems.

Alistair tilted his head as the tech priest makes some unknown gesture. He was going to ask what it was, but honestly, he was too tired to try and understand the mess that is Felyx attempting to communicate.

"Well, for the rest of us, who wants first watch?"

Donna stands silent, tapping her fingers on her chainsword....

Felyx makes his way out. He wasn't sneaking, just walking normally. He did however stop to check if anyone was around before crossing any intersection. He made his way toward the garage. If that piece of tech was still there, he intended to have a look at it.

Egill falls in beside Felyx, he too walked confidently their ruse was finding a suitable place to worship the machine god so sneaking was not appropriate. He kept all of his senses sharp including that which his companions did not have.

The station is quiet as a mausoleum as you move throughout the hallways. The wind howls outside, battering the walls of the station and whistling as it blows past. Between the gale and the contortions of the structure under its blows, it almost sounds like voices or moans every now and then...

It takes you but a few minutes to make it to the garage, but the door is locked electronically. It won't budge without punching in the right code on the key pad.

Felyx non-chalantly moves up to the door and begins praying, very quietly, in techna lingua. He breathes in 8 times and blows out onto the lock 8 times during his prayer recitation. Quickly, he plugs in his combi-tool in an attempt to further ease the spirits of the small machine. Confident that his offering to the spirits within the device was heard, but unsure as to how well it was accepted, he unplugs and straps the tool back to his thigh.

He reached into a holster on his chest and retrieved his multi-key. It had always done the trick in the past, and he hoped it would continue to do so.

He pressed it forward, allowing its arcane sciences to interact and speak with the lock. When it had made contact, he briefly asked that it allow him in. He awaited for the light to either stay red, or turn green...

Egill kept a look out as Felyx went to work on the lock.

While in his 'minds eye' be delved into the warp seeking suspicious activity. The research station was a miasma, a think soup of warp stench but nothing he hadn't sensed here already and certainly nothing to help guide his and the metal mans search. So he pushes his sense further outwards... and there is was some kind of psychic activity out in the direction of the dig site.

He keeps his voice in a quite whisper "ere' Felyx, nothing to worry about right now but there is something going out at or at least towards the dig site. I can sense some psychic activity there."

Nothing happens at first, but after a brief pause a light on the top of the keypad faintly shines green, indicating that it has been unlocked. The door gives way to the shadowy garage.

There's no light at all in the room. As it is, visibility is extremely limited. There are fluorescents embedded in the ceiling that may turned on with a switch right next to the door.

Sent from Topic'it App

A cursory auspex scan of the room reveals a wealth of information regarding the electromagnetic radiation in the room, pinpointing the snow crawler in the room and some other rudimentary machines for maintenance and refueling.

Felyx is at the snow crawler in a few moments, barely making a sound. As Egill moves to follow, however, his arm just barely clips a toolbox on a cart nearby, which tumbles to the ground with a crash. In the dead-quiet of the facility, the everyday clatter of a toolbox on the floor sounds as loud as an earthshaker round exploding in a graveyard...though in the seconds that follow, there's no sound of anyone stirring.

Felyx stands stock still. As seconds pass, he slowly turns to regard Egil. He says nothing, eyes wide as saucers. Finally he manages, "If we are to dying now, it is being of your faults."

It was a fact.

He turned and regarded the crawler, waiting patiently for his eyes to adjust. Once they did, he zeroed in on the archeotech, assuming it was still there.

The archeotech was indeed still there...

In the faint light of the room, perhaps with some additional illumination from the faint glow of your auspex, you can make out the rough shape of the ancient cogitator you witnessed earlier.

description of archeotech:

After a few minutes of tinkering and applying power gradually with potentia coil, Felyx manages to bring some life to the millennia-old machine. The screen flickers and stutters profusely, occasionally going black for several seconds at a time. It is still readable, however, if annoying. Much of the data appears to be corrupted, though there are still a number of readable and accessible files.

Against the faint green light of the screen, you quickly discern the nature of the device...it was something of a personal cogitator for a leader of the Solaris Collective by the name of Hezekiah Briar. A brief scan of the notes reveals a wealth of seemingly unimportant details...Briar was a renaissance man. The files contain an array of notes and calculations on various scientific subjects related to the colony, such as agriculture, local fauna, and climate and weather patterns (as well as educated guesses on how climate control tech would affect these). The log also includes a lot of entries on behavioral patterns of the colonists, theorizing about how they may be best kept happy, content, and productive in the unusual and trying circumstances of establishing a new colony on a strange planet.

Though it appears he was not the figurehead of the organization, he wielded a good deal of influence through considerable knowledge on a broad range subjects. Rarely an expert but nearly always informed, he appeared to be quite valuable as a liason between engineers and technical experts and the general leaders of the organization, as well as to provide counsel on managing the average colonists from a behavioral and social science perspective.

A few key entries from the log stand out in your mind. Again, the data is corrupted in places, so many of the sentences are fragmented...

9.552.438.M23

"Many colonists, myself included, reporting unusual machinery malfunctions....abnormalities, unpredictable errors and lapses....terraforming spire experiencing unaccountable shutdowns....engineers struggling....workflow continues to be interrupted. Must simply hope issues will pass with time...."


9.891.438.M23

"...strange, bizarre lights in sky.....colonists transfixed...."

9.012.439.M23


"...must believe peace will prevail. We sought our freedom from the violence and oppression of Terra, only to spill blood amongst our own...I cannot bear the irony. Cannot explain...outbreaks of violence. Senseless and remorseless...I place my faith in our own humanity, nothing more."

A faint blip emanates from Felyx's auspex. Someone, or something, is stirring downstairs. A blip moves out of room 30 on the map and into the hallway...

Felyx gets all he can out of the archeotech. There was more information here, information that confirmed those ancient human colonists had experienced exactly what the team had on their way back from the Euphrates.

Was it as simple as the thinning veil of the Warp that Egil had mentioned many times now?

He turned and showed his auspex to Egil. He pointed a finger down - the sub level. He then walked his fingers a bit - Movement.

There was still no imminent threat. He went back to the machine and looked for something else. Something more telling. He would wait for Egil's counsel.

From the auspex to the metal mans gestures someone was on the move and they were not that far away. It seemed like they should get out of here as tinkering with this machine was probably not that innocent whereas a stroll even if there was a curfew was so bad.

Felyx seemed not to care and was about to turn back to the cogitator so Egill grabbed his arm.

"Those below are not so distant." he whispered "they could soon be up here. We should be on our way or have a good excuse to be doing whatever you're doing. This isn't an innocent stroll during curfew if they catch you here."

Felyx stared at the sudden human contact on his arm like a wild desert beast seeing snow for the first time. It was unexpected and his eyes took a moment to connect what he was seeing to what he was feeling.

"Then we should to be movings." He muttered a prayer to the Omnissiah in impossible fast Techna-Lingua and began heading out the way they came.

Egill could feel the metal man tense as his arm was grabbed, perhaps he'd caught him by surprise. He was pleased he could easily tear Felyx away as he was expecting him to protest.

"Lock the door again." Egill commands as they exit the garage as he looks left and right for trouble. He wasn't keen on heading back to their room yet as there were heretics here that needed to meet the business end of his sword and the quicker they found damning evidence the better, but even Egill could see the need for stealth "Keep an eye on the that auspex and if whoever is up goes back to bed we can poke about a little further."

Felyx's auspex makes a faint blip noise. The life form downstairs is now ascending the stairs, to room 5.

If they were to walk straight in your direction, you probably have about 30 seconds-1 minute before they spot you or come across you.

Felyx finished re-securing the door and turned to show Egil the auspex. "Contacts in 30 sex."

There were a couple of options. If they moved immediately, they could try keep the restroom between themselves and the contact while they made their way back to their quarters. The safer option was the move immediately into the shrine of the Omnissiah. It was much closer and would provide them an alibi should they be "caught."

Felyx didn't wait for a response and headed toward the shrine room...

Leaning non-nonchalantly against a wall that provided a good view point Egill keeps watch while the door is secured. He resisted the urge to draw his sword. It would ruin their ruse.

With that done Egill follows Felyx towards the shrine and tries to recall everything he knew about the mechanicus in case they were tested. He did not know much...

Moments after Felyx and Egill settle into the shrine, you hear the pneumatic hiss of doors sliding open and closed throughout the station. Shortly afterwards, the door to the shrine opens as well. A tech priest enters - she doesn't appear to be as high-ranking as Artelinus Tilaris, but judging by the extent of her augmentations, she is an administrative figure at the station nonetheless.

Limbs and joints clank under her crimson and black robes as she strides past you to the shrine without looking in your direction before kneeling down and praying.

Felyx makes no move to show that he has even acknowledged her entrance. Instead, he stays standing near the shrine, arms out in supplication.

The entire thing so far was a rouse. He watched and listened carefully to her prayers before figuring out his next move...

Egill mimicked Felyx as this was his arena. He stood just behind his left shoulder, arms out in supplication. He kept one eye on Felyx and the other on the station tech priest. Ready to react to either.

The tech priest stays crouched for a moment longer, her arms forward on the ground in supplication. She sits in silence this way for a few minutes, motionless as a statue.

Abruptly she stands up and turns in your direction. Her face holds a deadpan, almost bored expression. Her features are sharp and angular. Under her robe you can see that her head is shaved, and a few cranial augmentations crop out here and there.

"Your presence here is unauthorized at this time. Explain. Quickly."

+++Authorization and obedience to authoritative norms must be adhered to... unless the Omnissiah calls on his humble servant. The Omnissiah has called out to me and I do not disobey its word. The full-flesh was curious as to our ritual. I have taken it upon myself to show him the Light and the Truth+++

Felyx thought for a moment. He kept his tone respectful, but the obvious question nagged at him.

+++Are you too not breaking protocol for your worship?+++

The woman starts speaking immediately after you have finished, almost talking over you.

"I speak in low gothic for the understanding of all present. Of course I have authorization that guests do not, though I believe that detail should be quite obvious. Are you certain that you do not have any brain implants that are malfunctioning? We have means of testing your cognitive performance...but I digress."

The figure reaches inside their cloak and pulls out an advanced, supercharged las pistol.

"Now you will be coming with me."