Chapter 1: Into the wild black yonder IC

Torian let his camo-cloak drape down over his shoulder, pistols loose in their holsters, boltgun held ready, goggles in place. It was times like this where he could let his paranoia run rampant, running all the numbers, angles, possibilities of every corner and potential ambush spots they encountered. Nothing was going to get between him and the profits this spire promised.

As the group started moving towards the only open passageway, you felt something was off. The texture on the ground of the corridor did not match up. As you sent a mechadendrite to inspect it, you noticed that most of the floor was just a thin veneer of metal recovered & fitted to the space, and was inssuficiently solid to hold even a single person. Lifting the section, you could se it fell to the floor below, where a series of large spikes had been crudely but solidly placed. Several tangled, aging skeletons where stuck in them. This construction was not part of the original structure-it had been added since the fall.

Despite the pit, the was a thin ledge that could allow the corridor to be crossed.

Map:

"Stop," the magos called out as Brenonya was about to set foot in the corridor beyond. "The floor ahead is incongruent, allow me to examine it."

As the crew parted, Ignatio moved forward, taking out his combi-tool to tap at the metal floor. "This floor is not capable of bearing the load of a human being," he said, then peeled it back.

The stakes underneath were surprisingly primitive. "It seems that someone has intentionally made this floor very unsafe. We will need to proceed carefully along this narrow ledge, which appears to be sufficiently load-bearing."

Pulling the end of his clip harness free from under his robes, the Magos began using his combi-tool to secure it in the wall above the ledge. "I will proceed along first, and then pass my climbing line down with my servo-skull to secure on this end and assist the next person's balance."

The secured line allowed all members of the group to pass. It was slow going, but the whole group managed to get through. You arrived in a zone that seemed to be an education facility; lockers lined the walls, and the doors led to classrooms filled with broken and dispersed desks & chairs. Numerous broken skeletons of what seemed to be children and teens could be seen.

As the group approached the center, another blast of light overtook the space. The same woman from earlier seemed to running down the corridor, until she seemed to be tackled to the floor by something. She unleashed a telekinetic blast, before struggling up and running through the classroom zone and went out a door going east.

A psyker's view:

Map:

Ignatio proceeded ahead of the group now, scanning the floor and walls carefully, testing things with his combi-tool.

"Lord Captain, I believe the occasional sweep with the ancient goggles may be prudent."

Pyritefoolsgold wrote:

Ignatio had joined the circle and allowed the astropath's prayers to wash over him like anointing oil through a gear assembly, soothing his flickering doubts and bolstering the iron core of certainty that the Omnissiah guided his steps.

Now he watched from the back of the column of senior crew, meltagun retrieved from under his robes and strapped to his back, hellgun ready in his hands as he scanned over the room and over the responses of his companions.

"It would have been useful if the manipulators had witnessed this," he mutters after the vision fades. "What the ancients faced here was not merely a mental attack, but an overwhelmingly physical one."

Turning to Lethia, he answered "It is an orbital spire, used to transport loads from the ground into orbit. But as we have seen, it was a vast complex in its day. It contained multitudes. The ancients likely stored many valuable secrets within its vaults."

She looks back at the Tech priest with a sly, shaky smile, "Exaclty, we dont know what happened here."

***

"I was going to wager that the woman was escaping from some sort of psy-training facility. Now with the presence of the children I would bet on it. Look at the blank stare and empty gaze. They are under the influence of someone or something else."

Alexium makes sure to fill in the blanks so that the others know what Lethia is referring to.

She dropped to one knee as Alexium prayed for the party's well being. Again as they moved in, she kept a central position so she would be able to rush to any person's assistance acting as the tip of the spear but ready to react to those with greater abilities to see in this wretched place.

Later, as the ghastly scene came into being, Brenonya swapped from just her chain sword to unslinging her whip from the mantle of the light power armor, careful to bring it to ready without hitting the others, wielding both with surprising dexterity. She looked back over her shoulder as best she could in power armor at Alexium and nodded at their comment. And as they proceeded stopped as soon as Ignatio called out.

"I will bring up the rear and assist any who falter on their crossing."

As Ignatio scanned the classrooms , it was clearly a mess. Desks where shamed and scattered everywhere, several skeletons trapped beneath them. One of them seemed to have some kind of faded plastic action figure.

There where a few plastisheet books that could be found, written people in the same logographic writing as the sign earlier. This writing was so utterly foreign that short of finding an experienced archeologist, it was untranslateable. Some where pure text, dense and filled with strange diagrams; others where filled with bright images, likely children's textbooks.

More specifically, there where 7 books in a sufficiently good state to recover information, with the following titles:
(Titles separated by dash)

The Magos searched through the schoolroom, his augmented eyes wandering over everything, separating out things of potential value from those lacking in it. He stacked a number of books gently inside the top of a metal desk, using the steel shell to protect them.

He also retrieved the action figure, and returned with it to Alexium. Holding it in both hands to present it, he said "I believe this may be of interest to you, Astropath Transcendant?"

Turning to the books, he said "These are otherwise what remains. I lack translation protocols for this language. Perhaps we can quickly return them to the entrance before moving on?"

Alexium's eye had immediately caught sight of the toy. The Astropath had already started digging through their backpack to pull out their own charm in a side pocket. An action figure of an Astartes from an unknown chapter. They thanked Ignatio much and started comparing the two.

"This is probably worth so many thrones on the collector's circuit. Holy, sweet, fluffalo tits..." They took a moment really looking over the action figure, seeing if anything stood out, before stuffing it into the main compartment o their backpack and replacing their Astartes figure in its rightful place.

Alexium's excitement at finding the books was perhaps only exceeded by Ignatio's as the Magos was a searcher of ancient knowledge. "Yes, they must be secured if no one has room in their kit."

EDIT: If no one objected, they collected the books and headed back to the entrance on the hoverboard. Once at the Chimera, they greet Commander Quetzal with a big smile. "We're finding so much cool shit in there, commander! Definitely some aeons-old battles fought. So far, nothing too spooky. We are making good progress. Here, place these in the Chimera for safe keeping." They handed off the books and smiled. "I've gotta get back in there! So much cool shit! Stay cool!" With that, they zipped back to the main group.

Lethia focuses her attention on the skeletons trapped in the classrooms.
Did they die in a struggle or did they simply lay down and die in a peaceful manner?

The more she could piece together, the more accurate her defense against the entity would be.

Iron and Metal wrote:

"This is probably worth so many thrones on the collector's circuit. Holy, sweet, fluffalo tits..." They took a moment really looking over the action figure, seeing if anything stood out, before stuffing it into the main compartment o their backpack and replacing their Astartes figure in its rightful place.

EDIT: If no one objected, they collected the books and headed back to the entrance on the hoverboard. Once at the Chimera, they greet Commander Quetzal with a big smile. "We're finding so much cool shit in there, commander! Definitely some aeons-old battles fought. So far, nothing too spooky. We are making good progress. Here, place these in the Chimera for safe keeping." They handed off the books and smiled. "I've gotta get back in there! So much cool shit! Stay cool!" With that, they zipped back to the main group.

The action figure remained in surprisingly good shape. It reminded you of the psykers you saw earlier-same basic uniform (and a bit more), glowing eyes and phosphorescent hands. This seemed to be a psyker equivalent to the classic "IG-Joe".

The commander and her men seemed to be singing, a guttural throat chant, and moved away from the books. They remained somewhat freaked out.

Roderick moved with the group but kept silent as they came into the room and Ignatio began examining the books. He was watchful for any more psychic flashes, but also for anything else that might indicate another one of the fake floors...

As the group continued down the dark corridors, you came across what seemed to be a triggered trap. Rubble was spread across the halway, seeming dumped from a bucket hidden in a larger pile of rubble. You crossed the area easily, reaching a zone that seemed to be composed of military-style dormitories. Only personal effects seemed to remain; weapon-racks and armor stands empty. What little there was seemed scattered, as if those in attendance had left in a hurry.

As you looped around, another vision assailed the group. The woman slowed down for a moment, caught her breath, jumped in apparent shock as her face was sprayed with blood. She then restarted running down the corridor.

As the vision faded, you could see headless corpses in age-rotted heavy armor akin to carapace. They all carried what could just barely be recognized as meltaguns through the decay. The helmets layed empty around them.

A psyker's view:

Map:

Alexium had put away the hoverboard once returned. They crouched low as the ghostly blade decapitated the platoon.

"She was trying to catch her breath because she saw soldiers she thought could help her. Or at least, slow down whatever was after her. No such luck. A blade came from that hallway at neck height and cut off all their heads. She only just survived, though I feel like that was no accident. Something toying with her maybe? After it murdered the soldiers, it laughed. What a total grox-ass."

Alexium shook their head at the revelation. They had to expect some of the traps to still be very real and deadly indeed.

Ignatio examined the wall carefully, while ducking under where the soldier's heads would have been. "I do not see any sign of a trap built into the walls, do you mean that it was thrown across the room? Perhaps through some psikic telekenisis?"

Then he saw Torian pick up one of the meltaguns and begin examining it, and his attention was immediately caught. "That would be a truly ancient weapon if it could be revived. It is likely that some of the components have decayed, especially since they have not been stored properly, but the steady subterranean temperature can make a difference."

When they determined the variation from the standard pattern, Ignatio's interest grew. "Lord Captain, with adequate time to examine these, we may be able to derive the STC pattern on which they were based. We should assign a high priority to their recovery."

Once they'd evaluated the meltaguns, he turned back towards the military style bunkrooms they had passed. "I believe a thorough search of the area is warranted before we move on."

Alexium's inner curiosity was building. Damn it all if the Magos wasn't clutch at finding things, and then KNOWING what things Alexium would want. It was something to behold.

The Astropath found themselves nodding in agreement. "Yes, but we must be vigilant for traps."

Roderick moved up to crouch next to the bodies and examine the wounds. It was certainly a grisly way to meet ones end, though it would've been over quickly. When Ignatio mentioned the recovery of the meltas for examination, Roderick scooped one up to cradle in one arm. If the Magos was interested, then Roderick was too, even if he wasn't sure why he should be. I'll bring one back for you as well old son. The more of these things you can look over the better, correct? He stood back up and looked around for more of the traps, keeping his wits about him.

Lethia shook her head, "Its possible the blade that beheaded them was not a mechanical trap, but manipulated by telekinetic abilities. With what I can only assume is a psyker training and reeducation center anything is possible."

She looks at the decayed corpses, and wonders just how well equipped the facility was?
"These men were not just security forces. They had heavy plate armor and melta weapons. This facility was well equipped. SO what ended its operation? and in such a hurry?"

Indeed this was an evil with an aptitude for destruction. She held her chain sword and grox whip at ready maintaining as defensive a posture as possible with respect to the group. Brenonya was the shield to whatever may come and she held fast to her role. The evidence they'd uncovered and the visions they'd seen made her focused and irate. She suspected the manutarch knew much more than she let on, and she wanted some answers and as much intel on it as possible.

If they had to squeeze it out of a few Noralds or some of the other blocs without them knowing so be it. You have to break a few eggs to burn the chaos out of some planets. Her trust in the Omnissiah assured her that this crew had the fortitude to turn this evil.

Roderick moved away from the group after a minute of inspecting the melta weapon. Nothing jumped out to mark it as special so he moved on to look at the barracks and see if there was anything the party could glean from there. He looked around with what felt like diligence, but nothing caught his eye so he went back to the others after only a short while. Nothing else much I could find around here. It might be a good idea to get some more eyes going over things though

As the group continued west, you noticed how most of the corridors you crossed were collapsed. A single path snaked south then west, into an area where the walls where covered in windows. To the east, it appeared to be a large room full of decayed hospital beds with a broken-open doorway. To the west, a large sealed filled with surgical equipment. The space seamed to still be hermetically sealed and under pressure, as unlike all the other rooms it remained clean, with not even dust on any of the visible surfaces.

As the group got just past these rooms, the woman reappeared, seeming to be slowed down and buffeted around by something for a few seconds. Then, she seemed to shake intensely and then ran down what was now a collapsed corridor.

A psyker's view:

Map:

The sealed area caught the Magos' attention, and he stared in at the clean surgical equipment, preserved for millenia in the hermetically sealed environment.

"A sealed medical lab of unknown provenance is not something to be opened lightly. The ancients sealed this lab for a reason, and it should not be unsealed without significant precautions unless we can discover what it was sealed against."

He then looked in the direction to which the ghostly image had fled, considering the rubble that blocked the way. "It seems the path we have been led down is no longer tenable. However, I may be able to render it accessible once again. Allow me to examine the collapse."

"That collapsed path there is where the woman headed. Curious how one of the patients also convulsed.....I wonder if the woman herself caused the convulsions?"

She walks past the totted beds, and notices the lack of dust.

Then a thought came to her, "Does anyone have medical training? Maybe we could analyse this leftover equipment as to its purpose?"

After examining the rubble filling the hallway to the east, Ignatio shook his head. "It would unfortunately take days to stabilize this hallway and remove this debris without unacceptable risk of provoking further hive-collapse."

Alexium listened to Lethia and sighed. Again, the Astropath found themselves having to translate for the Navigator. "Lethia is speaking to the bigger piece of the puzzle we psykers are privvy to. The woman was buffeted around by a group of medical professionals fleeing the scene. She escaped before a powerful quaking reduced the ceilings in places. Lethia is speaking to the fact that there was a single person convulsing on one of the hospital beds."

They thought on this for a moment, tapping their chin. "It could be that this person is the case of all this destruction - a psychic force that the ancients were studying and could not contain? Perhaps this was 'patient zero' of the parasites that latched themselves into people's brains? It is curious that this was the only patient restrained in a bed. Alas, it is all conjecture. Shall we?"

They were eager to keep moving, keep adventuring, and unlock more pieces of this puzzle. Whatever they accomplished here would give them the edge in the upcoming colonization of this system.

His attention pulled back to the lab, Ignatio peered back through the transparent wall. "Are the remains of this person perhaps the focus of this psikic disturpance you have detected, Astropath Transcendant?"

"I think the woman is the focus, being as she is the only recurring character in the psychic imprints. If she is not the source of the disturbances, then she was important enough to someone who was to do this."

She walks the area to the collapsed corridor.


"We need to bypass the collapse. Has any of the area's weve traveresed conformed to any established standard constriction plans?"

The Magos paused for a long moment, all focus turned inward. Then suddenly he spoke up.

"They very likely have. However, I unfortunately neglected to load my cortex with a reference of hive layouts by which to compare. While my intuitive heuristics return that it seems likely another route will bypass this obstruction, only a thorough survey will verify that hypothesis."

"What by the will of Immortal Emperor is causing this? Is this the imprint of some traumatic or emotional moment that psykers leave behind by happenstance? Or was this placed here with purpose, by some ritual to show us something or even to deceive us into moving in a particular direction?" She also wondered if this was all group hallucination or if this was some psyker form of projection, but she pushed the thought out her mind. Better to keep her wits about her than start questioning her reality.

"I cant be too sure. We wont know until we find this lady's end or find what is causing it. Only an alpha level psyker or millions of deaths could leave an imprint like this. Im afraid thats the only answer I have for you......"

Lethia walked around the dilapidated but clean beds. They were simple metal frames on wheels and mattresses designed for easy cleaning. This was clearly a medical ward and not some bunkroom.

The convulsion of the bedridden patient in the vision drew her attention as she had no answers for where to go next.

Torian calmly watched the team work, noting their efficiency together. The group really had gotten closer in the past weeks.

As they appeared to reach an impasse in what to do next, he spoke up: "Unless those of you gifted with the second sight see it otherwise, I say let us move on from this place - but mark it carefully. If we find nothing else of such note, we will know to come back and address this head-on. Doubling back is always an option."

Alexium had nothing to add to Brenonya's question. Lethia had basically said it all. If the psyker was powerful enough at the time to leave such imprints, the only real chance the group had of surviving the encounter with such an entity was if it was long dead and only its psychic resonance remained. If it still lived, the aeons would have weakened it significantly... and hopefully that as significant enough.

Alexium said none of this, of course. It would make no difference. If the time came to retreat, and they felt that in their heart, they would voice it. That time was not now.

"Let's continue on."

Aye, let us be about it and finish with this place. We have other duties to attend and not a lot of time to tend them. Roderick moved with the others in the group, but kept his eyes scanning the area for more ghosts

As the group took the turn left, the followed a path that returned to the original path fairly quickly, looping around other completely ruined hospital rooms. As you continued southwards, you eventually reached a wall, with the corridor turning east. There, another vision assailed the group, in front of a windowless room who's door was laying on the floor several meters away.

The woman was trying to run, her leg clearly injured and limping. As she crossed in front of the doorway, she halted and looked at it, gesticulating wildly, before grinning and hobbling off to the east then north. She seemed exceptionally satisfied.

A psyker's view:

Map (location 5):

Alexium takes a moment to soak it all in. "She was a telepath - and quite powerful. She took the door off with her mind alone and flung it with incredible force to the west..." The child paused and pointed in the direction the door was flung. At that point they took a moment to really study the area to the west. Was anything left there?

Awareness 38:

"It hit its target, but barely even gave it pause. Then it was dragged." The Astropath traced the gash in the ground to emphasize their point.

They were eager to look inside that windowless room, but someone else would have to poke their head in first. They waited for Ignatio to volunteer.

"It gave her pursuer no pause? But her expression seemed to indicate that she was satisfied with the blow she had struck," Ignatio observed.

The tech priest, on being informed that the door had not blown off the frame on its own power, eagerly complied to investigate the door-bereft room. Though he proceeded with a good deal of caution, circling the outside of the open portal to get a view in at every angle, and prodding the frame and threshold with his combi-tool, before proceeding inside.

"This room was previously sealed, but the seal has been broken. Whatever was held in here has long been exposed." he mused aloud.

Pyritefoolsgold wrote:

"This room was previously sealed, but the seal has been broken. Whatever was held in here has long been exposed." he mused aloud.

The dark room was made of metal, with large metal drawers in the back. Likely a morgue.

Iron and Metal wrote:

Awareness 38:

The door was largely unmarred-time had left it largely untouched. At closer look though, there where some tracings, where a corroside fluid had been in contact with the door, something definitly more acidic than human blood. It seems the door had nearly bisected a humanoid figure, smearing a large part of the door. It likely stayed in place for a short time, more deeply marking the metal in a half-ellipse. Some tracings of liquid flow could be seen in a darker tone as well.

Blood Smear:

ignatio proceeded to the back, using his combi-tool to check whether any of the drawers were pressurized, and then carefully opening them one by one, examining anything that remained.

"Please allow some time while I search these containers."

You quickly gathered, looking in the morgue, that it was seeing a lot of activity. There where body bags stacked on the side, filled with little more than bone dust, the decayed and dried remains of 15 000 years previous. The same could be said of the drawers-each filled with dusty decay. THere was almost nothing left in one piece, save maybe old metal buttons. This place had seen tremendous activity near its end.

The Magos collected a handful of minor objects as historical curiosities, but then turned back otherwise empty handed. "This Morgue saw increased activity before the collapse of most of this facility. This implies that this attack came with previous waves, after which the survivors attempted to tend to their dead."

He proceeded on to the east, following the ghostly image as he checked for any further traps or dangers.

"Wait, magos, I'm not one to trust ghosts implicitly. Let's check the other way first, make sure it's not leading us to a trap or away from something important. Please keep an eye out for anything and I will shield for any attempted ambush." Again she acted as head of the spear, she kept her sword out in front if in case she would have to parry any incoming attacks and her whip behind so she could follow up with something you can't parry. She had not dropped her guard to loot or inspect, this team did enough of that and she was not one for spotting treasure but for flaying threats.

The Magos immediately turned and proceeded west instead at her order. "Yes, My lady," he acknowledged her order, as he began probing the way west.

She nods at Alexium's comment, though she wondered if he meant to say telepath or telekinetic?

Either way, she was powerful and she was clearly laying waste to her pursuers, and satisfied at thier deaths.

"It seems we are on the woman's trail again."

She began to have the feeling that they were being corralled to the woman's position, as Lethia was coming to the conclusion that the woman was the entity at the base of the facility.

To the west, the corridor was collapsed. Only the way east, then north, was unimpeded

Brenonya did a backflip off of the rubble and headed east assuming everyone would follow.

As you continued down the corridor, the free passage snaked back as the way directly ahead was collapsed.  You went down a corridor line by cells.

Alexium:

Following this, you went north up a metallic corridor, and finally east into another corridor of cells. As you made your way down, the sense of dread seemed to rise, until you reached the midway point and the visions restarted. The woman was running down the corridor, her eyes focused to a distant point forwards. Suddenly, she was buffeted forwards, slaming into the ground and outright breaking her leg. As she turned her head to see why she had fallen, the terror returned to her face in an instant, and she tried to crawl to the center to the center of the large, octagonal chamber. Her hand strained towards the center of the room, until something invisible smashed her down, and a triangular cave-in appeared in the back of her skull and the vision ended. In the faint light of the fading vision, you could see the center of the room, wildly out of phase with the style of the whole facility until now: An immense pile of skulls, in a vaguely pyramidal shape.

Psyker's view:

Pyrite felt a small tingle; somewhere within a hundred meters a battery was buzzing. As the group entered the room to see the end of the vision, it was clear the pyramid of skulls was the source of much of the dread. As the vision faded to nothingness, a voice seemed to resonate from a previously invisible upper tier of the chamber:

Tragic isnt it?

With those words, spotlights shone down onto the group, and 4 humanoid forms, hoods hiding their faces, could be seen up top. The one who had spoken seemed to be an older woman, sitting on the edge of the upper tier. The other three where harder to make out, as they stood behind her & the spotlights.

Lethia:

Map: