Slaughterhouse (Islands of The Ragged Helix)

[Continued from Halls of Dionea (Islands of The Ragged Helix).]

The domain of Madeline The Mad was one of the many asteroids that made up the Islands of The Ragged Helix. This was just a single rock that wasn't all that impressive compared to some of the bigger names. However, one could not mistake that her domain was a floating fortress. Ships she had captured and slaughtered the crews of were chained up and presented like the heads of khornite kills. The name Slaughterhouse seemed very fitting for it.

The arvus lightner glided its way into a crack in the asteroid and oriented itself into a waiting hanger.

In the passenger compartment Kya waited with Davkai and Faz (who was fast asleep and Davkai explained this always happens with him). Out of the corner of her eye she caught the huge silhouetted figure from the med bay sitting at the back of the arvus lighter.

"I pity the sister that had her armor unceremoniously stripped away from her burnt corpse. Now worn by someone like you. Hopefully, you can bring some prestige back to it." The voice of the librarian nailed the inside of her head.

Kya had to adjust to the suit of armor after not wearing it for so long. She paced back and forth for much of the flight, getting used to the gyros of the suit aiding her each step as she slowly regained her old abilities.
She left the helmet on, it let her keep her voice contained within as she talked to the spirit that had followed her home from the asteroid.

"Not a very Librarian thing to say, specter. I should think you would despise a heretic defiling a sisters holy armor. But glory will be brought to it, I assure you that. Do you not have another daemon infested asteroid to haunt, instead of me? I am busy."

Kya waited for the ship door to open so she could follow the others out when the time came, but otherwise was focused on the figure in the ship that seemed to want to follow her, for whatever reason.

"Not much to despise as I can't do anything to change the past in my current state and no, I don't have another demon infested asteroid to haunt. You carry a conversation much better than the last demon."

Before Kya could respond the librarian was gone and the rear door of the arvus lightner was lowering.

The inside of Slaughterhouse was what one should of expected from a khornite. Skulls, more skulls, and lots of brass. Nash and his party weren't being escorted, nor had their weapons confiscated, but they were watched by many as they passed through the halls. A heavy door in one of the halls was guarded by two bare chested men. Around their necks were collars. Kya felt a darkness cross over her. It was not a darkness that anyone else could sense unless they were a psyker. Her connection to the warp was significantly dulled as she approached and passed those warriors. It returned slowly the further she was away from them.

The party arrived in a central chamber. It was sparse and only contained four giant burning braziers that hung overhead and were the sole light source. The flickering flames cast all kinds of shadows across the large space and one could get easily distracted by watching them.

Faz looked at the brass plating below him. "Lot of dried blood around here." He lifted up his left boot revealing an old blood stain.

There were hundreds of similar stains pockmarking the whole room.

Elegan had posted up next to Nash. "So do we wait?"

Nash sighed. "Yeah, we wait."

Kya took a moment to glare at the spot the Librarian had been before joining the others off the ramp. Perhaps she had finally lost her mind, she had known it would happen one day with the company she kept. A librarian of all things though... Odd, to say the least.

She followed behind Nash and the others, tapping her staff with each heavy, armored footfall. She felt far safer now than she had on the asteroid, now she knew what each of these people were capable of. And, of course, now she had something other than old flak armor to keep her alive.
Or at least she had until the darkening of her warp connection. That would be a problem.

She leaned to Nash, speaking lowly in his ear - or through a comm piece if he had one. "If it comes to a fight, slay the collared ones first. Their God seeks to dampen my powers, and they are the source."

She stood back up fully and continued to walk until they reached the central chamber. There, she stood at rest with her staff firmly planted on the ground beside her. Kya was not looking forward to this meeting, but the potential for her to use her flames was exciting.
"Nash, you will do the speaking, yes? Or will she expect us to provide our tale of things.

Quote :

"Nash, you will do the speaking, yes? Or will she expect us to provide our tale of things.

"Depends on what Madeline wants."

Almost as if on cue the large doors on the opposite side groaned open. Four cybermastiffs came racing through. They all looked back eagerly awaiting the arrival of someone. That someone being Madeline The Mad. She was tall and lanky but don't let you're eyes deceive you. All her movements were like that of a coiled up snake. Compact, precise, and ready to lash out in a sudden moment of violence. She wore coveralls with a simple bronze breastplate that told the tale of many battles from its marks, scars, and repairs.

Her hands were drenched in blood and it was easy to see why. Gripped by the hair was the head of a decapitated man. The cybermastiffs licked their chops and barely contained their whines.

Madeline gingerly tossed the head to the side and the dogs fought one another for the prize. It was a viscous fight and one Madeline did not care about.

"So how did it go?" She said absentmindedly scratching her forehead and leaving a bloody mark. "And I want to hear the story from the one who hides in the armor."

Kya couldn't quite tell if this was an intentional display trying to intimidate them, of if this was just a normal day. No matter the goal, she tracked Madeline closely as she walked and almost entirely ignored the dogs. Madeline was the threat here, being distracted from anything she did was likely a death sentence.

What she had not expected was to be called out to speak immediately. Kya tightened her grip on her staff and frowned beneath her helmet before speaking. She wouldn't let herself be riled up. Not yet.
"The base was destroyed, as requested." Kya briefly considered leaving things there, and hoping she wouldn't get upset for the vagueness... But she only had the one chance, and so she elaborated.

"It was not a pirate base, not for some time. Loyalist marines and their psykers had locked a demon away in the depths of the place. I sent it screaming back to the warp and nearly joined it myself. Most of our group escaped before it detonated."

She went quiet once more, tilted her head as if to ask if she wanted more or if that was good enough.

Madeline was quiet as Kya gave her quick description about what happened at the base.

"So it wasn't one of Two Coins remaining bases?" The pirate princess asked.

"No and that's what I need to talk to you about." Nash said being as diplomatic as possible.

Madeline snapped one finger and the cybermastiffs stopped fighting. A quick motion from her hand and the hounds left the room the way they came.

"We shall talk alone." The words came out clipped as if Madeline didn't like the idea. Not so much as being alone with Nash but at the fact of keeping something secret. "Or keep one around if you want. If it makes you feel safer." Those words were much more relaxed.

The choice was an obvious one. Nash was going to keep Elegan at his side. Everyone else was dismissed.

So Kya, Davkai, and Faz were on the other side of the massive doors they entered through. The word of a foreign party must of got around as they weren't alone on the other side. Packs of reavers looked at them like those cybermastiffs looked at that head (just with less slobber).

"You sad lot really don't do much for the eyes, do you?" Davkai quipped.

There were a few growls.

"Great, more dumb hounds." Faz said in his usual dead monotone voice.

The reavers held their tongues and didn't move.

"Dumb but well trained." Faz finished.

Kya was resigned to the chance of the two of them not coming out of that room alive, heads being thrown at their feet was optional. Now the focus was on figuring out how to escape if that did come to pass.
She gave a dry chuckle at Davkai and Faz's antics.
"Careful. Poke them too much and they might break their leash just to get at you, punishment from their mistress be damned."

Kya surveyed the room once more, taking in all the entrances and the people around them. She had a few options - none of them were great ones.

She lowered her voice, speaking so just Faz and Davkai could hear.
"Chances of them coming out alive? Not much a fan of our odds if they don't and we aren't ready. Worst case comes, we shoot out one of the side entrances with less people. Thoughts?"

Davkai cracked his neck. "They should be scared of the punishment from us. We do have a demon killer on our side."

This caused a slight shift in the nearby reavers. They took on a more curious stance then a hostile one.

"Nash has dealt with Madeline before and come out alive. They might call her mad but she isn't stupid. Nash didn't get to where he is just by his wit and charm. She also knows this." Faz answered her question. "Also I have enough to deal with this lot if we need to make a break for it."

Faz was of course referring to the Legion frag grenades he had disguised on his person.

One of the reavers stepped forward. His hands were out and away from his weapons. Was as close to a sign of peace a khornite could get.

"To the demon slayer! Mind recounting your kill for us?" He asked.

The shadow of the librarian materialized next to Kya. His arms were crossed and what could count for his face was looking at her. Seems he also wanted to hear this.

Kya glared through her visor at the man that spoke. Did they know she was a psyker already? They must, surely Nash would have mentioned that. She took a moment longer to think over how to respond, giving a brief glance at the shadow beside her. He knew what had happened. He was there. Why would he want to hear her story? A problem for another day, she decided.

"It was one of the Demons of the blood god. A bloodthirster, I believe." Her voice through the helmet was scratchy and distorted slightly, but clear despite that.

"We found a place where the Loyalists had bound it to the station. Our goal was to detonate the core and leave, so fighting the demon was not... Planned. But it forced itself upon us. In the moments before the explosion, the demon showed its shadowy form to us in the airlock and I was able to use a powerful blast of warp magicks to shred its form and send it screaming back to the warp. Far from a pitched battle, but your Queen had given us other goals to focus on."

She did not really care if it was a compelling story, only that it was clear what had happened.

"These others beside me were there as well."

"No psyker could vanquish one of the Lord of Skulls greatest warriors!" Some unseen reaver shouted.

"The witch lies!" Someone else shouted.

The reaver that asked the question has placed his hands on his weapons. A deep frown graced his face.

The librarian just shook his head before disappearing.

Davkai stepped forward. "Quiet down you dogs!" His hands tightened around his slung shotlas. "Unless one of you wants to test the demon slayer? I for one would welcome the show."

There was some talking among the ranks of the reavers and some look back and forth towards Kya. They seemed to be waiting to see what her move was going to be.

Unimpressed, Librarian? She thought with a brief grunt beneath her helmet. She wasn't going to let this turn into a fight just yet as much as she truly wanted to burn the reavers to ash.

"It was not fully formed, merely a shadow of a bloodthirster. It matters not from where the blood flows, hm? So long as it does. One of us had to fall that day, and it was weakened from the wards the loyalists placed."

She crossed her arms, her force staff sitting between them. "There is terribly little air in space. It would be a shame if we got into a fight and I used it all up with you out of your void suits, don't you think? I do not speak lies. You asked for the story, you have it."

Despite her words, Kya was actively staring at the reaver that had spoken. She was ready, if he made a move to attack her, to set his body alight from inside as she had done to the CATs.

Before the reaver she was looking at could respond the giant doors behind her opened. Out stepped Nash and Elegan.

"I see we're making some new friends." Elegan commented.

"They were about this close to being fried husks is what they were going to be." Davkai said nodding at Kya.

Nash sighed. "Speaking of fried. I hope everyone brought an appetite. We've been invited to dinner." Nash didn't seem very enthused.


The dinner hall was a cathedral of bones and bronze. A massive and long table made from a dead ship's hull was full with a dizzying array of food laid out across it. To much food just for Madeline and her guests. It wasn't long until they were joined by a cast of unsavory characters.

Nash quickly reminded everyone not to get to chummy with the arriving guests. Every single one of them could all kill you very easily.

The legendary gunslinger Jack Townes, the twisted and cruel Doctor Mohan, and the three Khorne Berzerkers Zdeno, Jergus, and Gord to name just a few.

No one dared to touch their food until the mad captain did. She was busy staring down Nash.

Jack Townes leaned across the table and got Kya's attention. "Shame to hide a pretty face behind that helmet."

Gord grunted. "Nothing pretty about a psyker unless its their skull mounted on a spike."

Jack waved off the Berzerker. "Don't mind him. He wouldn't know a good time unless it was a lascannon punching a hole clean through his chest."

Kya held the gaze of the reaver up until the door opened, then broke it and turned to face Nash instead. Dinner, wonderful. She was sure that all the food these people would provide was going to be wonderful in all the worst ways.
But, unfortunately, this was what she had to do it seemed. She followed Nash's lead.

-

In the dining hall, Kya took a seat beside Nash and his group of pirates, and had indeed kept her helmet on instead of getting ready to eat immediately. At least that had been her plan until Jack decided to call her out specifically. She wasn't overly familiar with any of the new arrivals, though their names were known all over the vortex. Not a group to scoff at, by any means.

"It's seen better days, but if you want-" She would likely be forced to take it off to eat anyways, so Kya opted to remove the helmet from her armor and set it on the table beside her food, revealing the scars from the fire and her total lack of hair.

"Like what you see, Jack?"

Gord snorted when Kya removed her helmet but Jack wasn't phased at what he saw.

"I'm a sucker for scars." He tilts his head to the left revealing a large track of scar tissue tracing its way from his neck and disappearing below his shirt. "They tell all kinds of stories. Sometimes they tell small inconsequential ones. Sometimes they tell you about great events." He motions to Kya's scars. "Did the demon you vanquish give you those?"

As Jack asked the question Madeline took a small portion of her food and ate it. Everyone was free to eat and many helped themselves to the available food. Nash didn't touch his food. Instead he slowly traced a finger around the edge of a bronze goblet. Nash still had his eyes locked with Madeline before he tore himself away from her and looked over at Jack.

"Do you always play with your food?" Nash asked the gunslinger.

Faz and Davkai stopped eating to see what was happening. Elegan didn't seem to care.

Jack growled and gave Nash a sideways glance.

Kya held back the far more venomous retort than she wanted to give, instead opting to continue the conversation if for no other reason than to pass the time. "Partially. The Demon and the asteroid base exploding."
Her new bionic eye whirred as it focused on his face, a feeling she was far from used to but it did help get the point across. "Took the eye, my face, and my arm. What other scars do you have, Jack? You can't let this be all about me, just because of a demon nobody here truly believes I killed."

Kya briefly looked towards Madeline and Nash, keeping an eye on the two of them and how their dynamic was faring. She wanted to be ready if this was going to turn into a fight.

The dynamic between Nash and Madeline seemed to be cold one for now.

A few of those sitting around Jack sighed and rolled their eyes when Kya asked Jack if he had any other scars.

The gunslinger smiled and lifted his shirt up. That track beginning at his neck traced its way down his chest down to his belly button. It wasn't alone. Two small round scars were near his heart. Another small round scar near his right clavicle. He then shifted to right. On his flank there was a serious of old puncture wounds. Twenty in total. All in neat little column and rows.

"Pick a story."

Cold was better than trying to kill eachother actively, so that bit was fine. Kya gave a half hearted smile towards the gunslinger, if the others nearby were focused on being annoyed by *his* stories then she wouldn't need to be the center of attention anymore, which sounded like an excellent deal to her.

"How about you tell me the story with all those puncture wounds. Seems a bit too purposeful to have happened in combat, meaning there's something a bit more interesting going on there, am I right?"

She continued not to touch her own food, focusing instead on the people around and the danger they all posed. This dinner had to have some purpose for Nash and Madeline, people like them rarely just had dinners because it was the expected courtesy.

"Good pick." He said lowering his shirt and correcting his clothing. "Ever heard of the Pillars of Eternity? Gods forsaken place that is mainly tundra but then there's these magnificent towers that give off this ghostly green glow from their windows. Quite a sight. The locals are not much to speak of unless you like dealing with worshipers of the Great Deceiver."

A few words, not very nice ones, were shouted by some of the more devote khornites at the mention of Tzeentch's name.

"The more interesting ones are the treasure hunters. Most are looking for one thing. The Necrons. What they are I don't know nor do I really care. I was just hired on for my skills with a gun by one of the many fools that went looking for them." He paused to take a long drink from his cup. "I think we found some, hard to recall really, and it didn't go well. All I really remember was being awoken by a compatriot. The wounds on my side were fresh. Torture, experimentation, or something for shits and giggles. The rest is just as hazy as to how it started. All I know is I couldn't get off that rock fast enough and I got off of it pretty damn fast."

Talk of the Necrons was far from what she had been expecting, but it caught her genuine interest. "You have no memory of where you searched or what you saw at all? Surely you must have more of a story to tell than that, a man like you..." She grinned a scarred, burning smile. She wanted to stroke his ego, she wanted him to talk more about the Necrons.

It was hard to believe he remembered *nothing*, that was too easy.

Jergus butted in to the conversation. "Thankfully you choose the shortest story. He's not leaving anything out."

Jack nodded his head in agreement. "It's not the best story but it's all I remember." He taps his head. "The human brain when it gets knocked around can forget some things."

"Fortunate for us." Gord laughed.

Jack mockingly laughed with the Astartes.

"All this talk about your exploits Jack has me interested in another show of your skills. Why don't you bring your new friend along in support." Madeline spoke for the first time at the dinner.

Nash didn't interject. He just shrugged his shoulders and lazily played with his food.

Jack smiled as he stood and started to roll up his sleeves. "Yes, ma'am." He looked over at Kya. "Come on. Show the big bad khornites what a psyker can do."

Jack made his way over to a lowered part of the dinner hall that was covered in sand. Essentially a fighting circle. The gunslinger checked his golden hand cannons and waited for Kya.

"You get whatever is left in the end, doc." Madeline announced for all to hear.

"Excccellleent." Doctor Mohan grasped his hands together in anticipation for what was to come.

From somewhere else the two guards with the collars that Kya had spotted earlier guarding that particular door stepped into the fighting pit.

One of them pointed his chain axe at Kya. "Come on psyker! Let me add your head to my collection."

[Roll for Initiative if joining in!]

Initiative:

Kya clicked her tongue at the confirmation the story did indeed end there. It was useless to her, beyond confirming that the necrons existed on that planet... Information to file away for later. Perhaps it would be useful. "Unfortunate, that."

What followed wasn't entirely unexpected, but it was frustrating. A set up to fight in a pit against Khornate fighters. Surrounded by more Khornate fighters who would sooner skin a psyker than cheer them for defeating the members of their band. She was being set up to die if she let things go as they wanted, but it was far from her place to try and change things without making Nash's position worse. Or just being shot for disobeying.

So with reluctance, Kya sighed and placed her heavily modified, heretically marked sororitas pattern helmet one once more as she walked over to the pit.

She gripped her staff tightly, glaring through glowing lenses at the two psyker killers.

"I'm sure the bloodletter thought it would do that as well. Do you claim yourself greater than your gods own demons? Perhaps Madeline should tighten her leash on those collars you wear."

-

When the fight was called to begin, Kya immediately conjured a flame in her hands and with a smoldering grin she formed two bolts of flame from that flickering source in her palm and threw them at the collared opponents. She launched one bolt at each of them, in a bit to set them both ablaze and perhaps just end this conflict before it started. Meanwhile she took a few strides backwards towards the edge of the ring, wanting to keep distance from their collars.

Initiative and Rolls:

Fighter Dodges:

The first fighter ducks and rolls his way under Kya's bolt of fire. The second one is caught off guard and is enveloped in an exploding spray of fire.

[Fighter 2 suffers 8 wounds (6 from the attack and 2 from the fire damage) and is on fire.]

Jack doesn't engage the fighters. Instead he takes off to the left setting up an attack on the flank or hoping to draw one of the fighters away.

[Jack uses a Full Action to move 6 meters to the left.]

The plan kinda works. The one not damaged sets off at dead run setting himself up between Jack and Kya.

She then felt that dimming connection to the warp wash over.

[Fighter 1 uses a Full Action to run 12 meters between Jack (9 meters away) and Kya (6 meters away).]

[Kya suffers a -30% to all tests that involve psyker powers unless she moves out of range of the collar's field of effect.]

The fighter set ablaze doesn't panic like one should. Instead he unleashed a warcry in the direction of Kya and charged in! The image of a charging mad man on fire was not one to forget. To lesser steeled individuals it might of sent them running but not Kya.

[Would be causing Fear 1 but Kya's Steel Heated makes it irrelevant.]

[Fighter 2 uses a Full Action to run 12 meters towards Kya and is 6 meters away from her.]

Beneath her helm, Kya wore a wild grin that stretched the scars around her face in an eerie little display that nobody - except perhaps the ghost that followed her - would ever witness. She sidestepped away from the collared fighter nearest her, hissing at her lost connection to the warp and its magics even as she maintained the small flame in her hand.
When she'd reached as far as she could, or out of range of the effect, she spun on her heel and pulled another series of flaming bolts from the fire in her palm and launched them at her two opponents! She wanted them to burn, killing Khorne's close-minded servants was always such an enjoyable thing.

Rolls:

Fire Damage to Fighter 2:

Fighter Dodges:

Burn they did. Fire enveloped both fighters who stubbornly tried to hold on but in the end they both dropped to the ground as they were consumed by the fire. As the bodies burnt Kya caught a glimpse of Jack who was staring deep into the lenses of her helmet through the flames.

[Combat is over.]

There was some hooping and hollering from the table. It was Davkai and Faz and only those two. The rest stayed quiet.

Interestingly Nash was looking over at Madeline instead of Kya. The pirate princess tightened her jaw and looked away from the fight at Nash. The captain of the Free Merchant cracked a smirk and winked at her. Madeline snarled at him but didn't make a move.

Kya and Jack cleared the pit and Doctor Mohan went over to the charred husks.

"They'rrre ruined." The doc glared back at Kya.

Jack still hadn't said a word which was rare for the gunslinger.

[Gain 400 XP for sticking to the Fire Dancer goal.]

Kya grinned wide beneath her helmet and savoring what little of the warmth she could feel in her armor. The smell didn't make it through, sadly, but she could enjoy the other aspects of this little victory. She tilted her head slightly to hold eye contact with Jack until he was the one to break it. She had the advantage of a helmet with lenses, a helmet covered in burn marks and blasphemous iconography - he would break first.

Whenever he looked away, she turned to the others on the table and focused mostly on Nash and Madeline. She had fought for their amusement, so she was expecting some sort of comment from one of them. Instead all she got was a whiny doctor, whom she ignored, and a silent audience except for those who had been with her before.

Kya stepped out of the arena, leaving her helmet on for now, and passed her gaze over the rest of the table and people present.
"Are you disappointed Jack did not get to show off?" The speaker in the helmet projected her voice out across the room, speaking to nobody in particular. "He could shoot the bodies, if you like."

She lingered on the edge of the arena, leaning lightly against her staff as she waited for something more... Interesting to happen.

"I think that concludes our deal, Mads?" Nash beamed towards the pirate princess.

A few heads turned. The berzerkers kept their eyes trained on Kya. No twitches of muscle or weight shifts but the Astartes could burst into action at any second. They didn't.

Madeline didn't address Nash but looked over at Kya. "No, Jack's bullets deserve a more worthy target." She rubbed a thumb across her lower lip. "Our deal is concluded, Nash. Stick around for a little bit though."

Nash's enthusiasm slowly left him. Not the exact answer he was looking for.

Jack had passed by Kya and returned to his seat.

The fighters corpses were dragged off the and the rest of the dinner commenced. This time a little more quieter and no insults being thrown Kya's way. However, the eyes of many in the hall were shooting daggers at Kya.

Well, if nothing else she had won silence. Seeing that nothing more would happen for the time being, Kya walked back to her seat at the table and settled in once more.

She removed her helmet and leaned in closer to her allies, specifically trying to get Nash's attention before she whispered,
"What, exactly, was this deal that needed concluding? I do not like being left in the dark, Nash."

Kya's stare was like a fire, intense and smoldering as she waited for a response. She didn't like feeling like a puppet in someone else's game, and that was exactly how she was being treated at that moment.

Nash leaned in closer. "Sorry I couldn't tell you about it earlier but it was part of Madeline's conditions. For the info I wanted... she... well she wanted you. The deal at first was just to give you up so she could butcher you because you're a psyker. I made a compromise that you could fight instead. You win and you'd live."

Dessert was delivered to the table. Dinner was almost done. Kya was presented with a fancy bottle of alcohol to accompany hers.

Jack spoke up for the first time since the fight. "My treat." He said motioning to the bottle.

As the table was being cleared of the previous delights the cybermastiffs from earlier scampered into the room and flanked Madeline like the good hounds they were. Madeline was the only one not eating her dessert. Instead she had her hands folded under her chin and she was watching Kya and Jack.

"I see. It's good that I won then. When was the first deal made, Nash? And did you agree to it originally? Hm?"
She clicked her tongue, this was an unpleasant situation. But if she had made herself valuable enough to Nash that he had undone a deal he'd made before, that was a good sign for her chances going forwards - no matter which path she took their business relationship.

Kya nodded to Jack as the bottle was presented. "So kind, Jack. I'm curious to know what the occasion is, drinks for everyone who outdoes you in a fight? She gave a grating laugh, teasing in her own way.
For now she left the bottle closed, her gaze flitting between Jack and Madeline one after the other. Madeline still concerned her.

Nash was confused. "Nothing was prearranged. I made a compromise on a deal that Madeline was dead set on not changing." Nash smirked. "I know I can be a bastard but I'd never do a crew member of mine dirty. I always try and give them a chance."

Jack laughed along with Kya. "No, I usually just kill them when they're not looking because I'm a petty and vindictive asshole like that." He grabbed the bottle and opened it pouring the contents in his cup and Kya's. "The occasion is that I rarely get to witness something so terrifying and beautiful in the fighting pits."

One of the dinner guests had excused themselves. In their place the smokey visage of the librarian took their place.

"I think he likes you." He said dismissively. "I can't say the same for her." He was referring to Madeline. "If looks could kill."

"Ah, my mistake. I am less expendable than I thought, then." She nodded to Nash.

Kya watched with dry amusement as Jack filled her glass. She wouldn't drink until he did. "Probably because the people you keep company with would rather vent me into space than allow me into their halls, if the circumstances were any different. Play with fire more often, Jack, you will see beauty in it every time."

She glared briefly towards the Librarian, thinking at it rather than speaking. "You will learn quickly, if you continue following me, that the renegades beyond the imperium rarely get along. These ones and Psykers even less than most."

A brief moment of seeming more absent than normal might have been odd to those around her, but she was a Psyker. Most of the things she did were odd, the chances anyone would even take note of her delusions was low. Hopefully. Maybe she had finally gone mad, after all.

"After you, Jack." She raised the glass, and would drink a few moments after he did. No trust here.

She didn't see it but she felt the librarian frowning. "I'm not ignorant to the fractured nature of renegades nor the hate some of them have towards psykers. Some of them just continue on or reinforced the hate they've always had. It's also a great tool by those that want to manipulate them." He motions around at the table full of backstabbers, psychopaths, and those that just liked killing for fun. "A bunch of sheep that worship a god that will happily see them slaughtered."

Jack gleefully raised the glass and downed it in one go. He's already refilling before Kya was even about taking a drink herself.

"I wasn't aware you long-term loyalist types cared much about what we got up to out here unless it was something happening to you. Attacks, raids, cults. But you pay attention to our politics too, hm? Ever think about leaving your rigid life and being *free*?" She grinned briefly towards the Psyker, then took a swig of her own glass.

She gritted her teeth against the burn and shook her head.
"Fine choice, Jack."

Then, once more, she looked around the table. She wanted a feel for how those around the table were doing, especially their beloved host. She also leaned to Nash again, speaking in a low whisper.
"How long is this feast going to last?"

"Preconceived notions of many about loyalists. The Deathwatch might be in the business of killing xenos but the marines that are seconded might have other skills." The librarian catches himself before he gives away something he shouldn't. "You say rigid but I say order, purpose, and structure. Being free isn't always the right or correct way." The librarian's smokey visage dissipated out.

Kya could see that the table was actually emptying out. Guests seemed to have had their fill and were done. However, it didn't feel like the group from the Free Merchant was free to leave...

"Not this long I can tell you that." Nash responded to Kya.

Madeline must of overheard them. "No one here is against their will. You are free to leave whenever you want." She said with her hands clasped in front of her face.

Nash didn't waste anytime getting everyone out of the dinner hall. He sure didn't want to stay and neither did Davkai, Faz, and Elegan.








[Give me a Psyniscience +10%.]

"Concerning." Kya had stood up, putting her helmet back on as she'd walked away from the table with the others of her group.

As they walked through the hallways Kya did keep a watch around them for anything out of the ordinary, extending her senses out to see if there was anything notable on any Psychic level. This was odd. Clearly things hadn't gone the way the Khornites had expected them to, and that put her little group in a very bad position.

Khorn wasn't known for his hospitality. Neither were his followers.

"Checking now."

Rolls:

The warp was surprisingly still inside Slaughterhouse. It would of gone unnoticed by most but Kya saw an interesting bubbling coming back near the dinner hall. Something from the warp had taken notice of something there or was being attracted...

The crack of gunshots tore Kya's concentration away from it. They weren't coming at the party but back down the way they came from.

Quickly making his way around the corner with his back to them was Jack with hand cannons firing in a rhythmic fashion. A reaver broke around it and Jack casually put a round through his head.

He spotted Kya first. "Damn it. Thought you'd be at the hanger by now." He then noticed Elegan by the unguarded door. "Open it! Got hordes of Mads hounds coming our way."

Elegan looked at Nash who approved. Elegan open the door and the party with Jack slipped through. He was right about the reavers. He failed to mention the three Berzerkers leading them in full power armor. The khorne crests on their helmets came into view just as the door was closed and starting to being barricaded.

No was paying much attention the room at hand expect Kya. It was bone white... not surprising with the whole place being made out of bleached bones. In the center a large casket stood upright and held down a multitude of chains. Kya could tell something was alive inside of it. Something with a sick and twisted soul

The reavers and the Berzerkers had made it to the door and where attempting to beat it down.

"What did you do, Jack?!" Her shout was more of a bark as she pressed through the door and quickly surveyed the room on the other side while the others concerned themselves with barricading the door. They wouldn't be able to hold off power armored Berzerkers for long, she knew that much...

"There's something being held here. Inside this casket." She stepped closer, reaching out a hand but not quite daring to touch the casket itself as she walked in circles around in. She wanted to figure out what was inside, if she could.

Was it a Dreadnaught style casket? Or a normal, human casket?

"Something twisted. Hard to say what they would bother to keep chained up like this, Khorn isn't one to take prisoners."

Rolls:

"I didn't do a damn thing!" Jack shouted back as he threw something heavy in front of the door. "You should be yelling at Medline and her blood sacrifice to summon back the demon you slayed."

The casket was human sized. There wasn't any wards or markings on the casket so it wasn't a demon or a psyker inside. However, Kya's stomach turned looking at it through her witch eyes. She hadn't seen anything quite like it before.

"Mads has kept around pets for her own amusement before. Maybe to kill later or maybe something she's tried to kill already but..." Nash was saying before heavy thuds started coming from the door.

The Berzerkers had reached it.

"Come out and play WEAKLINGS!" One barked as the barricades started to slip back and the door started to move.

"Jack is there another way out of this room?" Davkai asked.

"Don't know." Jack responded back.

"She brought it back? Already? Or are we the sacrifice?" Kya frowned, biting hard into her lip as she surveyed the room. The casket was the main thing drawing her attention, despite everything else going on.

"Find an exit. Something is alive in that casket, and I want to see what it is. If we can steal it. Payback for sending us off like this."
She moved to stand in sight of the door where she could easily launch flames at the first thing to come through it. She'd leave the finding of an exit to the others, not a chance in all the hells that she would trust any of them to properly hold her back if she went looking herself.

[Are the chains around the casket circling just the casket itself, or are they pounded into the ground too? Wanting to know if its reasonable to lift the whole thing and still keep the chains securely around whatever is inside.]

[It's locked up with chains with a few tie down chains keeping it upright but those are easily removable.]

"No, she just started the ritual and you and your friends were very much going to be its centerpiece." Jack responded as he started looking for an exit.

Nash let out a laugh when she started talking about stealing the casket. "I like the way you think, Kya." He turned to face the rest. "Start looking for an exit. She has us covered."

The obstacles were sliding further back from the weight and strength of the Berzerkers. The crack between them was starting to open and Kya got a glimpse of one of the ruby red lenses of the Astartes.

"GET THE WITCH!" He bellowed.

Five reavers squeezed their way through. Chain swords revved, spit flew from war cries, and murderous intent was written all over their faces.

[Roll for initiative!]

Reavers:

"Find that exit quicker!" Kya immediately pulled herself further back towards the wall, pulling upon the flame she had formed in her palm and launching a series of those flaming bolts towards the closest reaver! A grin was plastered on her face, pure excitement at the prospect of burning an Astartes to ash.

OOC!:

[Round 1]

Reaver Dodges:

Most of the reavers duck or roll their way around Kya's fireballs but she catches two of them. The initial hits didn't seem to do much but then their gear caught fire.

Fire Damage:

Reaver Willpower:

Much like the fighters she faced before these crazed reavers didn't care about being set ablaze. Their minds were on a single track right now. That single track leading to one place. Violence.

Two reavers flank to Kya's right, another to her left, and two on fire come straight for her.

BS Attacks:

The flankers open fire with their stub automatics filling the whole room in the deafening roar of gunfire. The shots come from all sides but the ones from her left mainly miss but one catches her in the pauldron. The round explodes on impact and sends micro-shrapnel scattering about peppering her helm but no damage is caused. No surprise that Khornite pirates were using amputator rounds. Two more rounds were screaming their way at her head and another at her right leg.

Damage:

[End of Round 1]

Dodge + Damage:

Ducking to the side to avoid the most accurate looking Reaver, Kya winced instinctively as the other rounds landed on her armor, she wasn't used to being clad in ceramite that could take such blows without having her turned to pulp underneath. As she realized that she'd hardly even been scratched, her confidence soared.

She turned, facing the Reaver that had moved off alone to her left and rushing into motion as she charged straight towards him. She hefted her staff as she ran, readying a sweeping strike towards the bulk of her power armored opponent.

Attacks:

Her staff swung wide, and in the same motion she released her grip on it with her off-hand and pulled more bolts of flame from the orb of fire that she maintained. The arced off towards the Reavers on the right, making the air shimmer as they travelled.

[Usually you can't attack twice... but I'll double check if the free action lets you get away with it. In the mean time keep using it the way you're using it because hey... it's fun and cool, lol.]

[Also, the Reavers don't have power armor. Only the Berzerkers do and they're not in the room... yet.]

[Round 2]

Fire Damage:

Reaver Willpower:

Reaver Dodges:

Again the reavers deftly dodged out of the way of Kya's fire bolts.

The two aflame reavers that had moved up the middle turned to pivot and pursue the psyker but one stopped. He must of broke out of his bloodlust and realized the horrible pain and predicament he was in. He screamed a blood curdling scream that was then drowned out by the war cry of the other reaver on fire as he bolted forwards.

Then Kya heard the unmistakable roar of a chain sword and then saw it coming right towards her.

Attacks and Damage:

The chainsword bounced off the power armor harmlessly but the reaver immediately followed up by firing his stub automatic right at her gut.

The two reavers who dodged her attack decide to move up instead of risking any shoots into melee.

[End of Round 2]

Dodge and Damage:

Kya gave a grunt of pain, audible easily through the speakers on her helmet as she stumbled backwards. It had pierced the armor, just barely, and left a sizable bloody hole in her chest.
She settled into a defensive stance with her staff raised infront of her to ward off blows. She raised her free hand as the flames formed in a circle around it once more. Three bolts of fire manifested out of the warp and she launched them, one each, at the reavers who had been brave enough to stay and fight! She cackled as she watched her flames go to work, loving every moment of their glorious burning.

As she did, there was a loud crack as the warp made its presence known. She was wreathed fully in eldritch electricity that made her hair stand on end, and a wave of static flowed through the room short-circuiting any exposed electronics within 25 meters of her. 

"You all better be close to our escape route! I can't take all of these forever."

Actions!:

Dodges:

The light fixtures attached to the nearby pillars flicker out as fireballs race across the room and trails of eldritch lightning dance around Kya.

Two of them were caught off guard but the third one was keen enough to duck under an incoming fireball.

Damage and Fire Damage:

The bolts engulfed the two that were hit. The flames licked their way at any exposed flesh and started to bubble the flak armor trying to break it down to get to its fleshy contents. The previous reavers set aflame continued to burn their visages haunting in the now low lite room.

[Going to have them make a Willpower -10% (as if she had Fear 1) as well because of the eldritch lightning coming from Kya.]

Willpower:

Then something in the majority of them snapped. Maybe it was the flames, the haunting sight of Kya, or something else but they just ran back to the door they slipped out from.

"COWARDS!" The Berzerker yelled from the door which was starting to open up to a point where a powered armored Astartes could squeeze through.

The reavers were all cut down by bolt pistol fire as they tried to push their burning selves back out of the room.

[4 Reavers are dead.]

The last one, the one currently engaged with Kya, stood his ground but the fires engulfing him...

Willpower:

Were another matter. He started to try and pat the flames off of him. Then he dropped to the ground with a nice sized hole exploding out the side of his head.

[Combat is over.]

The shot had come from Jack.

"We found the way out." He yelled over to Kya.

Faz, Davkai, and Elegan were back and undoing the tie down chains of the coffin and got it up on their shoulders. It was heavy but the men pushed on.

The five of them came up to Nash who was holding their exit down. 3 dead reavers laid at his feet with deep cuts. That power cutlass of his was no joke.

"Quickest way to the hanger, Jack." Nash barked.

Jack nodded his head and lead the team out. The sounds of the barricades giving out was loud and the shouts, hollers, and barks of the Berzerkers and reavers filled the air. Some of those barks didn't come from human or Astartes.

Madeline's cyber-mastiffs came racing up from behind the team. Faz hurriedly brought out one of his hidden cluster of grenades and tossed them to Kya.

[Need a Ballistics +0% from Kya if she wants to use the cluster of grenades.]

OOC:

Beneath her helmet, Kya was grinning ear to ear. The flames had taken all of them, even Khornate followers couldn't manage to stay and fight against her powers. It felt right to do this, to be able to use the warp this way. The imperium would never understand.
"Took you long enough."

She turned to Jack, the eldritch lightning flickering out in a few final arcs into the space around them, and began to follow him down the tunnel.

They were making it out, that was good. Less good was expecting her to be able to do anything with grenades.

"You're better to throw these. Swap with me, I'll help carry the coffin. Quickly!" Kya's voice boomed out of the speakers on her helmet as she went to - if he was willing - trade places beneath the coffin with Faz so that he could use his own grenades.

Rolls:

Faz's stoic nature broke. Kya saw the man smile for the first time as he traded places with her.

He pulled the central rip cord from his jurry-rigged cluster of legion grenades and tossed it over his head with the glee of a schoolchild being let out to recess.

"Pick up the pace! When Faz is this happy it's going to be a big explosion!" Davkai yelled.

"Nah, just a lot of fragmentation this time!" Faz corrected him as he rushed past him.

The team powered forward and good thing as well because Faz was right. it wasn't a huge fireball but the amount of tiny tungsten balls and shell pieces was frightening. Some even came skittering up right on the heels of the party.

There was no more barking that was for sure.

[Kya gains 200 XP.]

The party spilled out into the hanger they arrived in. The Arvus Lighter pilots bodies were splayed out with their heads missing at its ramp.

"Damn it." He said kneeling down next to the dead pilots. "Ah, give me a minute." Nash said as he boarded. "It's been a minute since I've flown."

The casket was loaded up while everyone took up defensive positions. Faz rushed to get all incoming doors closed and secured. Davkai and Elegan set up a perimeter around the Arvus. That left Jack and Kya to sweep the hanger of danger.

The hanger was about 300 feet long and 100 feet wide. Other types of shuttles and containers were littered about (Khornites weren't known for their organizational skills). Lots of places to hide.

[Give me an Awareness -10%.]

Faz and her were alike in that way, at least. It was good to enjoy your work - for Kya that was flames, for him it was explosives. She chuckled to herself as he giddily blew up the pursuing hounds and pushed on forwards with the rest of the group.

--

As she ducked out of the ship once the coffin was loaded up, Kya swept the nearby area in a short circle with her staff at the ready in one hand, and a ball of flame hovering over the other. She used the enhanced sight and hearing that her power armor allowed to survey the space more effectively, though she made a point of staying a good distance away from any obvious hiding spots. Khorne followers preferred melee, so giving quite a bit of space between her and potential ambush spots would hopefully keep her a bit safer.

"Let us know when we can leave. Don't like this place one bit."

Rolls: