(IC) Rogue Trader: A Fresh Start

Chrysis

The Emperors Benediction slides back into real space with a shudder. The passage through the warp thus far had been uneventful, but the crew were still relieved to be out of that realm of madness and chaos. The massive station of Port Wander lies ahead, hanging amongst the ruined asteroids and service vessels like an island. Port Wander represents the last chance to stock up with supplies in a "civilised" area before making the journey through the treacherous passage of warp storms called the Maw. Once past the Maw the Koronus Expanse awaits, barely explored and teeming with possibilities.

The docking procedures begin as the Benediction approaches the station. With them come a flurry of vox messages. Numerous messages from various Imperial Authorities and rival traders all welcoming the relatively unknown Dynasty's arrival and recognising the Warrant. This is standard fare, and for the most part is irrelevant fluff.

One message is different. Encoded in a personal cypher of the Falk family, it comes from one Orbest Dray. The message reports that he has waited a long time for the arrival of someone from the Falk family and that he has a message and gift from Escalus Falk, the Great-Grandfather of Mercutio Falk. He requests a meeting as soon as the Benediction has docked in the Court of the Dead, the vast market area of Port Wander. It is a matter of great importance, promising much glory.

Escalus Falk had been a Rogue Trader of somewhat meagre means. After a short and relatively unsuccessful career in the Koronus Expanse he had vanished without a trace some 120 odd years ago, his Warrant left lost and forgotten in the vaults on holy Terra. With the Navy requesting Mercutio be rewarded the Administratum had done a cursory check of it's records to discover the Falk family already had a Warrant, and that it's previous owner had been declared deceased when 50 years had passed without contact.

There are mighty rumbles and clangs as the Benediction smoothly slides into dock, various pressure seals closing over airlocks and loading bays while magna-grapples tether the vast ship. Resupply and repair work begins, crew and servitors swarming across the decks under the careful watch of their supervisors.

Let's get exploring!

Right, OOC stuff. Use Invisible Castle www.invisiblecastle.com for all dice rolls, using A Fresh Start as the campaign name. I should be able to post once a day, so I'd like it if everyone else could do likewise to keep things moving. Please let everyone know if you plan to be absent for a time.

Also, when rolling things that will have follow-on rolls, do them all unless it's really obvious that one or more have failed. I.E. When shooting someone, roll to hit and unless it's really obvious you missed roll damage as well. There may be modifiers that you've missed or secret ones that you don't know about that have an effect.

Current Profit Factor: 43

GothicLargo's Rogue Trader Mercutio Falk:

Stats:

WS 41 = 16 + 25
BS 36 = 11 + 25
S 34 = 9 + 25
T 35 = 13 + 25 - 3 (Savant)
Agi 36 = 11 + 25
Int 37 = 9 + 25 + 3 (Savant)
Per 34 = 9 + 25
Wil 35 = 7 + 25 + 3 (Imperial)
Fel 40 = 15 + 25

Wounds = 10
Fate = 3

Homeworld - Imperial World
-5 Forbidden Lore Tests

Birthright: Savant

Lure of the Void: Chosen by Destiny - Xenophile
+10 Fellowship when dealing with Aliens
-5 Willpower against Alien Artifacts and Alien Psychic Powers

Trials and Travails: The Hand of War
Won't work with Chaos

Motivation: Prestige

Untrained Basic Skills

---

Common Lore - Imperial Creed, Imperium, War (Int)

Trained Skills

---

Command (Fel)
Commerce (Fel
Charm (Fel) (+10 from Talented)
Common Lore - Imperium (Int)
Evaluate (Int)
Literacy (Int)
Scholastic Lore - Astromancy (Int)
Speak Language - High/Low Gothic (Int)
Dodge (Agi) (Character Advance)
Awareness (Per) (Character Advance)
Pilot - Space Craft (Agi) (Character Advance)

Talents

---

Air of Authority
Pistol Weapons Training - Universal
Melee Weapons Training - Universal
Basic Weapons Training - Universal (Hand of War)
Talented - Charm (Prestige)
Peer - Academic (Savant)
Renowned Warrant (Character Advance)
Hatred (Chaos Worshippers) (Hand of War)

Gear

---

Best.C Storm Trooper Carapace
Best.C Laspistol
Best.C Mono-sword
Common.C Power Maul disguised as a Lord Captain's Baton (starting acquisition)
Micro-bead, void suit, set of fine clothes, xenopelt cloak

XP Spent: 0
XP Remaining: 200

Backstory.

Captain Mercutio Falk, the Hero of Quaddis, had a total of one command in his illustrious career in the Imperial Navy. A career which ended when his squadron of Cobra destroyers was scrambled from Port Wrath to the defense of Quaddis, a pleasure world near the Malfi-Golgenna border. A Chaos raiding party had struck Kalf and Sinophia, with Quaddis being guessed as one of several obvious next targets. Arriving practically on-top of the invaders, the squadron was quickly reduced to one crippled vessel, which the enemy left adrift in their haste.

Ordering his crew to begin a torturous regime of anti-radiation treatments and congregate in the most thickly armored sections of the ship when not making repairs, he pursued the attacking forces by following them in their ion trails for a week. Unbenownst to him, a superior Imperial Navy force had arrived and was close to intercepting the raiding fleet. Minutes before they would have engaged, Falk struck with deadly precision, annihilating the two largest chaos vessels with torpedoes from astern, and indirectly damaging several escorts.

The admiralty was simultaneously flabbergasted and infuriated at Falk's absurd accomplishment. Several quietly asked the Lord High Admiral of the Obscurus Segmentum to "reward" him with a Warrant of Trade... rather then see him be promoted for upstaging them.

Falk practically radiates confidence, but is neither a bragart nor a fool. During his posting at Port Wrath he was assigned to the Seedworld AFG-218 patrol several times, which has left him with considerable respect for the Eldar.

Hermeneglide's Void Master Mikaela

Stats:

WS: 37
BS: 48
S: 42
T: 39
Agi: 48
Int: 33
Per: 41
WP: 38
Fel: 33

Wounds: 7
Fate: 4

Insanity:
Corruption:

Skills:
Common lore (imperial Navy, war) INT
Forbidden lore (xenos) INT
Navigation (Stellar) INT
Pilot (Spacecraft, fliers) AGI
Scholastic lore (astromancy) INT
Speak language (low gothic) INT
Awareness (XP) PER
Scrutiny (XP) PER
Dodge (XP) AGI
Survival (Death world)
Intimidate
Drive (Groundvehicle) (AGI)

Talents:
Jaded (Death World)
Melee Weapon training (primitive)
Quick draw (stubjack)
Enemy (underworld) (criminal)
Weapon training (Heavy bolter) (hand of war)
Hatred (orks) (hand of war)
Pistol weapon training (universal)
Melee weapon training (universal)
Nerves of steel

Equipment:
Bolt pistol
Power sword
Guard flak armor AP4 (all)
Void suit
Micro-bead
Blessed ship token
Re-breather
beggar's cloak
pic-recorder
2 bottles of amasec
vox-caster
PURCHASE : Heavy bolter w/motion predictor and vox-activation

Special Rules:
Mastery of Gunnery
Survivor : +10 vs pinning and shock
Paranoid : -10 interaction in formal surroundings
Face of the enemy (Orks) : -10 fellowship tests with Orks, react violently when provoked

XP Spent: 200
XP Remaining: 0
Advances Bought: Drive (Groundvehicle), Simple Widom advance.

Background:

Mikaela hails from a Death World : lots of orcs no marines and little guardsmen. Joining pirates was her way out of the Orc-infested hellhole. They made her a "carrier of specialized goods". Piloting small ships and fliers through hostile places to deliver high-profit cargoes. Eventually she deserted, stole the ship and the money and joined a Koronus Bound Rogue Trader, earning his trust with her skills.

npc.EXE's Astropath Sarvus

Stats:

Stats:
WS:36
BS:36
S:39
T:42
Agi:43
Int:38
Per:37
WP:51
Fel:29

Wounds:10
Fate:4

Insanity: 19
Corruption: 0

Skills:
Awareness
Common Lore (Adeptus Telepathica)
Forbidden Lore (Psykers)
Forbidden Lore (the warp)
Invocation
Navigation (stellar)
Pilot (spacecraft)
Psynscience
Scholastic Lore (Cryptology)
Speak Language (High/Low Gothic)
Speak Language (ship dialect)
Literacy

Talents:
Hatred (Chaos)
Heightened Senses (sound)
Peer (the insane)
Pistol Weapon Training (universal)
Psy Rating 2
Rite of Sanctioning (Mind Warp)
Unshakable Faith

Psychic Powers:
Telepathy
Delude
Compel

Gear:
Best craftsmanship stub automatic
common craftsmanship shock staff
guard flak armour
charm
void suit
micro-bead
psy-focus
Cranial Armour (acquisition)

XP Spent: 200
XP Remaining: 0
Advances: WP Advance, Literacy

Background:

Born aboard a freighter. Lost family and most of crew when psychic potential revealed. Picked up by black ship and bound with emperor. Process of education turned hair white, burned out eyes, popped skull (thus the plate in head,) left Sarvus muttering/twitching at mention of terra or the sisterhood. Otherwise often quiet or thought emotionless.
Bought by Trader after short stint in the Imperial Navy turned sour during a defense of the Cadian sector resulted in the loss of command personnel but left Sarvus alive.

Colt's Seneshal Tristan Gillium

Stats:

WS: 39
BS: 38
S: 40
T: 38
Ag: 44
Int: 40
Per: 33
WP: 36
Fel: 39

Insanity: 4
Corruption: 2

Home World: Imperial
Birthright: Vaunted (+3 Fel)
Lure of the Void: Chosen by Destiny (Seeker of Truth [Enemy: Academics])
Trials and Travails: Dark Voyage (Resistance [Fear])
Motivation: Pride
Career: Seneshal

Starting Skill, Talents & Gear
Skills
Barter
Commerce
Common Lore (Underworld)
Deceive
Evaluate
Forbidden Lore (Archeotech)
Inquiry
Literacy
Speak Language (Low Gothic, Trader's Cant)
Charm
Dodge
Security

Talents
Basic Weapon Training (Universal)
Pistol Weapon Training (Universal)
Enemy (Academics)
Decadence
Resistance (Fear)
Unremarkable

Gear
common-Craftsmanship inferno pistol
common-Craftsmanship boltgun
Angevin Era Chainsword (Best-Craftsmanship chainsword)
Xeno-mesh armour
Autoquill
Dataslate
Micro-bead
Multikey
Two sets of robes
Synskin
Chrono
Cameleoline cloak

Initial Advances
Charm (Skill)
Dodge (Skill)
Security (Skill)
Unremarkable (Talent)

Background:

To come.

Lodwilk's Explorator Vorgan Petronius

Stats:

WS 32
BS 37
S 37
T 42
Agi 34
Int 54
Per 39
Wil 36
Fel 43

Wounds: 11
Fate: 1

Insanity: 0
Corruption: 4

Homeworld - ForgeWolrd
-10 on tests involving the Imperial Creed
-5 Fel to interact with members of the Eccseliarchy in formal settings


Birthright: Scapegrace

Lure of the Void: Renegade


Trials and Travails: Ship Lorn
Whenever you spend a fate point to recover wounds, you may re-roll the die but must accept second result
-5 Fel when interacting with Void Born, Rogue Traders, and other Void Farers who are not personal friends and have heard of my reputation
Motivation: Prestige

Untrained Basic Skills

---

Awareness (Per)
Barter (Fel)
Carouse (T)
Charm (Fel)
Climb (Str)
Command(Fel)
Concealment (Agi)
Contortionist (Agi)
Deceive (Fel)
Disguise (Fel)
Dodge (Agi)
Evaluate (Int)
Gamble (Int)
Inquiry (Fel)
Intimidate (Str)
Scrutiny (Per)
Search(Per)
Silent Move (Agi)
Swim (Str)


Trained Skills

---

Common Lore - Machine Cult (Int)
Common Lore -Tech (Int)
Forbidden Lore (Archeotech) (Int)
Forbidden Lore (Adeptus Mechanus) (Int)
Forbidden Lore (The Warp) (Int)
Literacy (Int)
Logic (Int)
Sleight of Hand (Agi)
Speak Language(Explorator Binary, Low Gothic, Techna-Linguina (Int)
Survival (Int)
Tech Use (Int)
Trade (Technomat) (Int)
Trade (Armourer) (Ag)


Talents

---

Basic Weapon Training
Dark Soul
Logis Implant
Mechandrite use
Melee Weapon Training
Peer ( Adeptus Mechanus )
Technical Knock

Gear

---

Enforcer Light Carapace
Utility Mechandrite
- +10 to all tech use tests
- Contains a cutting blade, works as a knife with the defensive quality, and mono upgrade
Best Craftmanship Lasgun
Best Craftmanship Shockstaff
Baleful Eye Implant
Calculus Logi Upgrade
- +10 to Literacy, Logic, and SCholastic Lore Tests.


Multikey
Voidsuit
Injector
Sacred Unguents
Microbead
Combitool
Dataslate

ServoSkull Familiar

XP Spent: 200
XP Remaining: 0
Advances Bought: Int Advance, Trade Armourer

Background:

Enginseer Vorgan was born on the Forge World planet of Skorgulian within the Calixis sector. During his youth his studies and his creations where his priority. Vorgan frequently would dissemble a piece of technology only, to reassemble it while adding his own personal improvements to them. Whenever Vorgan needed a part for his creations, he would usually just steal it, believing that the owners of the tech did not deserve their possessions if they could not protect it.
Eventually Vorgan was welcomed within the Adeptus Mechanicus, his acceptance within the machine cult granted him access to their limitless libraries of knowledge. It was during his studies that he came to theorize that it was possible to harness the energies of the warp for reasons other than travel. However staying on a forge world would not aide him in proving this theory, and so Vorgan joined the crew of a Rogue Trader ship known as “The Triumphant Dawn.” In exchange for using his skills in the maintenance of the ship, Vorgan would be allowed to perform experiments to prove his theories.
Two years ago, the Triumphant Dawn disappeared from all known Imperial Space. A year later the ship was found, floating aimlessly within the Reductess Sector. Exploration of the ship found it to be devoid of all inhabitants, except for one, Vorgan. The Enginseer has no idea what happened to cause the ship to disappear, or what happened during the year of it’s absence. Eventually Vorgan found his way onto another Rogue Trader ship, one who will hopefully avoid the same fate as the Triumphant Dawn.

The Emperor's Benediction:

Tempest-class Strike Frigate Emperors Benediction

Machine-spirit Oddity: Wrothful (In Combat: +1 Speed, +7 Manoeuvrability. Out of Combat: -1 Speed, -5 Manoeuvrability, -5 Detection)
Past History: Turbulent Past (-20 Social vs. Heretics, +20 Social vs. Imperial Navy)

Speed: 8
Manoeuvrability: +18
Detection: +12
Armour: 19
Void Shields: 1
Hull Integrity: 36
Space: 45 (Used 43)
Power: 45 (Used 43)
Turret Rating: 1
Weapon Capacity: Dorsal 2

Population: 100/100
Morale: 100/100

Essential Components:

Jovian Pattern Class 2 Plasma Drive, Strelov 1 Warp Engine, Geller Field, Single Void Shield Array, Combat Bridge (+10 Repair when undamaged), Vitae Pattern Life Sustainer, Voidsmen Quarters, Deep Void Augur Array (+10 Detection)

Supplemental Components:

Dorsal Mars Pattern Macrocannons (S: 3, Dam: 1d10+2, Crit: 5, Rng: 6)
Dorsal Sunsear Laser Battery (S: 4, Dam: 1d10+2, Crit: 4, Rng: 9)
Barracks (+20 Command in Boarding or Hit and Runs if occupied)
Munitorium (+1 Strength of Macrocannons)

lodwilk

Deep within the enginarium Vorgan immediately went to work once the Emperors Benediction left the warp. Vorgan moved his hand to the bottom of his neck, unscrewed the jack attached to his spine, pulled it out along with the long thin dataline within his body and plugged himself into the dataport next to him.

Using the elctrograft fused to his spine had become as simple, and mundane as breathing for Vorgan, but the sensation always thrilled him. The sensation of information being downloaded into his brain, being sorted and then purging anything considered useless and keeping anything of interest was euphoric to the Enginseer. The electrical stimuli traveling down his spine and throughout his nervous system was also rather pleasant, it was enough for the exploratory to even straighten out his back, not enough to hide his hunchback though.

Once Vorgan was done and satisfied with his diagnostics, he unplugged himself from the dataport, retracted his spinal jack, and headed towards the exit of the enginarium. OSC, Vorgans servoskull, floated out of an adjoining room and began to follow his master.

”Any changes to the readers?”He asked his floating familiar. OSC responded in a series of screeches known as the Techna-Lingua.

”Very well, nothing from that warp jump. Good for us and the crew I suppose, bad for my research though. Anyways the captain received an interesting message when we arrived, and I’d like to know how he shall be handling it.”

The explorator continued down the corridors of the Emperors Benediction, heading towards where Captain Mercutio would be, curious to see how the rogue trader would react to this Orbest Drays message.

npc.EXE

Seated at his station within the confines of the Astropathic Choir Sarvus felt the transition once more back to the material realm.

Understanding that his very presence was found unsettling to those not of his kind Sarvus remained seated until summoned, the quiet and dark memories his only company.

Colt

Tristan was in his cabin. He sat at a desk holding half his face in one hand and staring at a data-slate in the other. It was a list of people he could contact in Port Wander for jobs and information. Some were public, one or two were his own people. He felt the ship shutter and "breath a sigh" and knew they were out of warp. He tossed the data-slate on his desk and stood up, getting some things before he went to the bridge.

GothicLargo

Personal Log, Lord Captain Mercutio Falk

The Benediction has completed its navigation to Port Wander without incident. Regardless of the circumstances of this new command, I am at least content that the Benediction is as solid a ship as Wrath Hammer Four was.

Since starfall I have taken the opportunity to converse with the Port Wander administratum. They confirm the admiralty's assertion about my ancestory. I can't remember anything so grand, just day after day at the schola...

"Give me shipwide. 'Chief* Petronius and Watchmom* Mikaela please report at the port main hatch in one hour. Sarvus you too, you need to get out more. '"

"Now the paymaster if you please. 'Mister Gillium, we'll be arriving at Port Wander within the hour. You may accompany my party if you wish or otherwise indulge in your calling. .... Mister Gillium?'"

"What?"

Looking over his shoulder Falk spied Tristan entering the bridge.

"We're going ashore, feel free to tag along."

*

Chief Engiseer, Mistress of the Watch

Now... let's see what this 'family' business is all about.

Edit: Adding the trip to the hatch.

Falk wasn't entirely used to walking a ship without an attendant gaggle of ensigns trailing about him, and the experience was not entirely unwelcome. He caught the glance of one passing junior officer eying his holster. The holster itself was nothing special, a standard synthweave munitorium issue one, identical to countless millions spread across the segmentum, save for a prominent "50%" patch sewn on to it.

Ensign Falk: "Fifty Percent? I don't get it."
The Lieutenant: "Hahahahaha you will boy."
The Chief: "See, with a full bomb load a Starhawk is fifty percent ordinance by mass. One hit and... well, you've done all Emperor demands."
The Lieutenant: "It's the calling card of bomber crews across the segmentum; those who wear the fifty, have been the other fifty."

Falk was still lost in the past when he arrived at the docking port.

Hermenegilde

Mikaela smiles wryly at the ship-wide address
"The master's call, better be about it. You two, bring my gun. And if you forget the tri-pod this time, I'm bracing it on your corpse."

As these Space Ports are always teeming with trouble, Mikaela detours via her quarters to don her armor. She finds her two helpers waiting for her when she is done.

"Come on Imps, time to go see what the Captain wants."

npc.EXE

Sarvus snapped to as the chamber became a wash of static followed by the blaring sound of the comm.

' Mikaela please report at the port main hatch in one hour. Sarvus you too, you need to get out more. '"

Pushing himself up with a grunt Sarvus gathered his things, reflexively thumbing the charm at his neck as he did. The trip to the hatch was filled with the usual odd mutter or stares of the below decks crew but eventually Sarvus made his way as ordered.

lodwilk

Vorgan changed his direction to meet Captain Mercutio without the slightest change in pace. Occasionally Vorgan would come across another crewmember, and they would step aside for the red robed enginseer. He did not know if they did so out of respect, probably mixed in with a little fear, or if it was because his bulky frame, from his mechanus implants and utility mechandrite, made it simply awkward for two people to pass by simultaneously. He liked to think it was the first reason.

Eventually Vorgan made it to the main port hatch, and immediately approached the captain. ”Our exiting of the warp went by without problem captain. I also came across the message regarding your ancestor. Do you plan on meeting this, Orbest Dray?”

GothicLargo

Falk squinted at tech priest as the last of the party congregated off to the side of the main hatch, which was already becoming a scene of organized anarchy as the crew began to debark for shore leave.

Making friends with the ship are we, you prying clanker?

"For the benefit of those who DON'T read my mail, someone here claims to know me by family. Since the three of you* have the greatest stake in this ship's enterprise I though this might be of interest to you."

*

Sarvus doesn't count.
Chrysis, I'm ready to go aboard. You can assume that I'm fully armed with the usual 2+1 magazines.

Hermenegilde

"Ha. Of course. Our fortunes rise and fall with yours ! Also, if you get killed while aboard ship, we probably die too ! Let us venture outside and brave the dangers of Port Wander to meet with... um. Know you by family ? What kind of relationship is that ? Knows your brother or something ?"

Mikaela was already walking down the ramp as she spoke, followed by her two helpers toting the "too-big-for-her-even-though-she-trains-daily" Heavy Bolter.

GothicLargo

Falk scrutinized Mikaela before responding.

"Knows me by ancestor. Allegedly. I was raised by a schola, the navy is my family. It's probably nothing..... "

Falk trailed off. Port Wander was by no means the largest or most extraordinary port he had seen in his life but it had the same quality of awe inspiring hugeness and disarray that made even the most resolute voiders pause to thank the Emperor for a change of scenery.

"This way... I think."

Chrysis, it just occurred to me that Mikaela is a very Tanith-y sounding name. Might want to keep that in mind for later use.

npc.EXE

Sarvus laughs. "...doesn't count."

As the Trader leads so too does a loyal Astropath follow. Ten paces behind, head bowed, reverent of higher status.

So spoilers work for ooc communication then?

Chrysis

And with that, the crew make their way to the Court of the Dead. Winding their way through the labyrinthine station, carefully navigating vast open areas, they make their way to the appointed meeting location.

The Court of the Dead is a large cavern deep within the station. Although large, it is none-the-less crowded with market stalls and teeming with people. The cries of those hawking their trinkets fills the air, and the sounds of haggling are all around. This is not a wealthy area of the station however, and a majority of the people are dressed in very basic clothing or even work uniforms. They all give the trader and his crew a wide berth, eyeing them warily.

A man approaches out of the crowd, old and dishevelled. His clothing is tattered and dirty, and his hair long and tangled. He looks like a scrap picker, old broken trinkets hanging from his clothing. Likely he has a stall somewhere in the mass.

"Can it be? After all this time? Has someone finally come? Oh thank the Emperor, it's true. One of his line has finally come."

With this he reaches into his tattered robes and withdraws a small seal. Unlike the other trinkets this one is unbroken, and despite the grime coating everything else this one still shines like it was new. He holds it up for Mercutio to see, and he recalls that it is a likeness of the seal upon the Warrant he has inherited.

"I am Orbest Dray, a ships officer who served with your Great-Grandfathers fleet when they came into the Expanse. Please, come with me."

With that he leads the way through the mass to a corner of the market. Here it is a bit quieter, and there is an unoccupied stall covered in trinkets.

"I served under Vos Karlorn upon the Emperor's Testament, a ship in your Great-Grandfathers fleet. During one expedition our ship was blown off-course by a terrible warp storm and separated from the rest of the fleet. After finally reverting to real-space we found ourselves in a strange new system. Our Astropath began to pick up a faint message, an SoS broadcast into the warp, a cry for salvation from an Imperial vessel."

"We were relieved, thinking it the rest of the fleet. But closer examination revealed it was just an echo, the garbled remains of a message thrown to the warp hundreds if not thousands of years previously."

"Tell me, are you familiar with the legend of the Righteous Path?"

Right, cutting it off here as I need to get ready for work and this is turning into a novel. Common Lore (Koronus Expanse) and Scholastic Lore (Legends) will have you knowing what he's on about.

Spoilers are A-OK for OOC communication in thread, and are a good idea for concealing roles and explicitly stating actions your character will be taking when a fight is going on. Just if there isn't going to be any IC stuff in the post put it in the OOC thread instead or save it until you have something IC to go with it.

I'll assume everyone brought at least one weapon and the 2+1 Magazines. For the Heavy Bolter (Oh God) the mooks probably only brought one reload cause that shit's heavy. If you have a specific loadout you wanted to bring, put it in a spoiler with your next post or PM me. Enjoy.

npc.EXE

Sarvus twitches noticeably at the mention of the warp, his hand going to his charm.

"E-e-echoes?"

He moves to the nearest wall resting his head upon its surface and muttering quietly.

I have all gear listed with me at all times unless otherwise noted due to story progression.

Best craftsmanship stub automatic
common craftsmanship shock staff
guard flak armour
charm
micro-bead
psy-focus
Cranial Armour

GothicLargo

Falk shrugged and looked around at his entourage.

"No sir, I have not." (Gesturing for anyone else's input)

Colt

Tristain rested his hands in the pockets of his storm coat. "You don't pay me to look up to legends and stories. If it is some story of how a shop ran afoul..." his eye twitched at that notion "...then it happens all the time. I don't see a need to pay attention to one shop out of many."

I have my chainsword and stub revolver with me.

On a random note, fuck sleeping during the day. I hate missing a string of posts.

lodwilk

Vorgan shook his head at the question. "Sadly my studies did not focus that much on the histories of this galaxy."

Vorgan is carrying his best craftmanship shock staff and lasgun. He is currently carrying the lasgun, and has the shockstaff attached to his hip since it seems to be a one handed weapon.

GothicLargo

Glancing finally at Mikaela, who merely shrugged, Falk turned back to Dray. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw the telltale scorch marks of a melta on the plating nearby but then it was gone*.

"Nope. Threats and violence are pretty much all we've got in our repertoire, not stories or fable. Please, do go on, it sounds interesting."

GM, I'm attempting charm on Dray, with Fellowship 40 + 10 from Charm. Since this is an opposed test I'll do what you say to on rolls.

* And yes this is a shameless dig at Lucinius's bad, bad aim.

Chrysis

"I can see a certain tendancy towards violence." Drays says, eyeing the Heavy Bolter being carried by the two crewmen.

"It's something you share with your Great-Grandfather though, he also had certain inclinations towards problem solving." He says with a smile. "I'd be happy to recount the legend."

"Over two and a half thousand years ago, during the Angevin Crusade to clear the Calixis sector of the enemies of mankind, there was a warlord and free-captain named Lorcanus Ryn. A greedy, bloodthirsty warrior he was, but none-the-less entirely devoted to Saint Drusus and the God-Emperor. At the helm of his Grand Cruiser the Righteous Path he cut a bloody swathe across the sector at the forefront of the crusade, bringing many planets back under the Emperors light."

"One such world was Krystallian. Said to have been an ancient colony of man that had fallen under the sway of false gods it too was brought back into the fold in a bloody massacre. It was also said to have been a place of immense riches and grandeur. So taken with his captured booty, Lorcanus Ryn is said to have stripped the Righteous Path bare, removing anything unnecessary that he might fit in more of his plunder. Rare and wondrous artefacts, ancient archeotech, the exact nature of the prize is unknown save that it is truly a massive haul. Abandoning crewmen, he filled the Righteous Path with his plunder and then departed into the warp. Or more accurately vanished, as he was never seen again and both he and his ship were lost to the pages of history. Many have searched, but they either vanished as well or were merely unsuccessful."

"As you might have guessed, that fragment of message we received was a beacon from the Righteous Path that had echoed through the warp for thousands of years. Ever loyal to Escalus, Vos Karlon elected not to pursue the signal but to return here to Port Wander and wait for the fleets return. After many months without word, Vos Karlon set out back into the Expanse to search for the fleet. However he didn't want to risk the map to where we discovered the signal, so he entrusted it to me and left me here to wait."

"It has been over 100 years since he left never to return, and I had all but given up hope that I might someday be able to pass on this message. I have barely eked out a living here, selling trinkets and baubles that I could scavenge to survive. But the Emperor has finally answered my prayers, and my vigil can finally end."

With this, he ducks into his stall and begins to scavenge around out of sight near the bottom. After a minutes he pops back out proffering a small black box, featureless but for the same seal he presented earlier embossed on what is assumed to be the top, to Mercutio.

With a burst of static, a light shines from the seal and the box flips open to reveal a smooth black stone.

And then things get interesting. With a shriek a black psyber raven plunges from the rafters and grabs the stone. Taken completely by surprise Dray drops the casket. At the same time a burst of lasgun fire is heard roughly towards the centre of the market and chaos erupts. Panicked civilians begin to push and shove, screaming all the way, towards the exits of the markets. Through the throng you can make out a loose group of armed men, 7 in all, about 30m away. One, wearing a carapace chestplate over his flak armour has an autopistol in his hand at the ready, while 4 have lasgun and 2 have shotguns. The commander yells something that's lost in the din, while one with his lasgun in the air looses another burst into the ceiling. Behind them you can just make out a woman, completely calm and reasonably well dressed. She is watching the scene intently and appears to be waiting for something.

For the opposed tests, roll your half of them when you make the decision to try them. For the purposes of this charm test I'm going to give you an auto pass, as he's already pretty taken with you and is utterly loyal to the Falk lineage.

But now fun stuff

Perception Tests!

Falk 33
Mikaela 63
Sarvus 46
Tristan 59
Vorgan 03 (Wow, Vorgan is on the ball).

A difficult test, so -10. That means that bar Vorgan everyone has failed, although Sarvus was only out by 1. Everyone stands around in shock while Vorgan gets a single half action to use immediately.

The enemies get an initiative of 3 + AB 4 = 7

They have taken their actions for their surprise round, so roll initiative.

Also, whenever you shoot at the armsmen roll a d10 for each hit you score. On a 6+ they gain 8AP of cover because a civilian got in the way.

Vorgan:

The static burst is binary, and it states:
"Compatible gene sequence detected. Powering down stasis field. Unlocking."

Sarvus:

You recognise the stone as an astropathic mnemolith. It's used to record astropathic signals, and a psyker can read it simply by touching it. Also, roll a Psyniscience (Per) test and let me know what you get.

lodwilk

Upon hearing the sound of gunfire, Vorgan cursed as he turned around to see the source. Damn this. I am a scholar not a warrior.

The enginseer quickly raised his lasgun and opened fire on the nearest armed opponent. The shot went wide however, missing his target completely.

Half Action: Shoot the nearest target. Attack roll, and roll for civilian hit. (1d100=83, 1d10=1)

Initiative:1d10+3=9

Chrysis

The Psyber Raven, with a powerful beat of it's wings launches itself into the air as Vorgan prepares to open fire on the armsmen. Struggling to take flight with the stone in it's grasp it eventually drops it into the surging mass of people some 20m towards the enemies. Unburdened it heads up into the gantries and out of sight.

GothicLargo

An odd flash of dejavu struck Falk.
"MIKAELA, SET FOR SUPPRESSING FIRE! Vorgan, bring down that woman!"

Falk drew his laspistol and leveled it at the spectator.

Free Action: +10 boost to Vorgan's next test. I kinda recommend you aim too.

Half Action: Ready Laspistol
Half Action: Aim at crazy lady whom I could not hit last time with my short range toastagun.

Chrysis, I can aim as another half action next round to get the full action aim bonus of +20, right?

Edit:
Initiative: 11

Hermenegilde

"Lackeys ! Set up the gun !"

Intiative : 14
I believe I go first :P

While her henchmen go about bracing the heavy bolter, Mikaela fires her pistol at the closest guardsman from behind the heavy weapon, smiling as her bolt pistol wreaks havoc on his right arm.

Calmly, she holsters her gun and prepares to fire the heavy weaponry

Shoot & hit ! And no civilian !
Damage : 10 (penetration4) to the Right arm

Colt

Tristan jumps back slightly when the cyber raven flies down and takes the stone. He moves his hand to his coat and pull out his gun when the las fire starts behind him. He turns around pulls out his stub revolver (Half Action), keeping an eye on the raven. As it drops the stone he keeps his gun aimed at the men with the guns and makes a move to where it fell (Half Action, movement, 4 meters).

Initiative - 11

npc.EXE

Sarvus's eyes snap open upon the sound and light of the smooth black stone. He makes to move towards the box but is cut off by the fluttering of wings and the sounds of gunfire.

Low to the ground and grumbling Sarvus moves to the cover of the nearest shanty wall and draws his stub automatic.

May I make a test to try and hear the orders of the commander using my Heightened Senses (sound)? Also, I could use my Awareness reaction yes?

As to the perception at -10 that would be 36 yes? So with a perception of 37 I would pass by one right?

Initiative:
1d10+4 → [6,4] = (10)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2487069/

Psyniscience (Per) test
1d100 → [6] = (6)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2487052/
Hoo boy does that pass.

Chrysis

Mikaelas bolt shell flies true, tearing a bloody chunk out of the mans arm through his flak coat. He screams in pain, but is still barely able to fight.

The commander yells again, and the men with lasguns quickly separate, taking cover behind stalls and boxes. The shotgun armed men move carefully forward bringing their shotguns up ready to fire.

Spotting the Heavy Bolter being set up, a look of horror crosses the commanders face and he hurriedly snaps a shot at the men setting it up before diving into cover himself. His shot was on target for the man's right arm, but the action of setting up the bolter causes it to move out of the way at the last minute, the shot missing by mere millimetres.

The woman smiles, and then turns and walks away into the crowd. She's still visible, but it won't be long before she is swept away.

Dray leaps behind his stall, cowering at the bottom and reciting various voidsmens prayers for safety and the protection of the Emperor.

Right, First up. Mook attempts to dodge 97. I don't think so. Mook takes 7 points of damage to his right arm.

Commander Keen takes a single shot. Normal range, +10 for red dot sight. BS 35 means a 45 target.

To Hit: 19, To Hit Civilian: 4, Damage total: 5(pen 3) So using the Hired Gun profile for our redshirts means he'll be taking 2 points of damage to the right arm. Redshirt tries to dodge: 3. He deftly manoeuvres out of the way, avoiding harm.

The shotgun men have made a full advance of 6m forward. That puts the distance between them and Tristan at roughly 20m. The others have all taken shelter behind the flimsy cover available.

As for questions. It's been pointed out that Sarvus didn't fail by 1. That is correct, I was somewhat tired when I wrote that up. The -10 modifier is 10 off your perception for this test, so Sarvus who was a Per of 36 has an effective 26 for the test. My mistake. Also, this test was a Perception test specifically, not an awareness one as it is a somewhat unique situation.

Strictly speaking No, you can't combine two half action aims across multiple turns into a full action equivalent. Aim states that if your next action isn't an attack you lose the bonus, so when you perform the second aim you'd lose the first aims bonus.

Just do your actions when you have time and I'll try to rearrange the effects so that they happen in initiative order. It looks like things are nice and easy for me because everyone has an initiative higher than the foes. Waiting for everyone to post in turn would slow things down far too much.

Sarvus:

You're right, Heightened senses should work. 87, 20. So while you don't make out what he yelled last turn, this turn you can hear him yell for the others to take cover.

As to the Psy test. You feel that the woman who is now walking away is a psyker of some power. The Raven was her psyber familiar, and she has used their connection to read the mnemolith already.

npc.EXE

Sarvus's neck suddenly snaps straight.

He shouts "Lord Falk, a woman dressed in finery! Calm amongst a storm and a mistress of flight! Bind in caution!"

He takes aim around the corner of the stall at the nearest shotgun wielding soldier and fires.

The shot goes way wide, thankfully missing the panicked bystanders.

Uh oh, I think my C'thulu Dark Corners of the earth rolls have returned to haunt me. Are we to wait for in order of initiative for the other players or are you going to just do them in order of them being completed?

To shoot roll:
1d100-10 → [97,-10] = (87)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2487575/

Do I hit a civi?
1d10 → [1] = (1)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2487580/

8 shots remaining in my stub automatic.

GothicLargo

"Just what I wanted to hear Sarvus. GIVE EM HELL MIKAELA!"

His suspicions confirmed, Falk squeezed the trigger on his laspistol, and dived for cover in case the spectator had anything up her sleeves.

Since I guess we're moving into the next round without Vorgan catching up...

This round's freebie bonus goes to Mikaela the heavily armed.

Half Action: Shoot at crazy lady (theirs not ours)
BS 36 + 10 for Aim = 46
69

Spend a fatepoint to reroll.
39

Hit.

Roll For Civilian Armor:

9

Civilian hit, and they have armor value of 8 and my laspistol has no penetration so... *shrug*

Half Action: Move to cover.

lodwilk

Trusting in the captains expertise in combat over his own, Vorgan aims at the woman and fires a single shot at her. The shot just misses, and Vorgan felt confident that his next shot against her would strike true.

Activating the logis implant within him, a series of numbers flash across the HUD of Vorgans cybernetic eye. The distance and neccissary trajectory to hit the woman is quickly calculated and Vorgan aims at the woman and fires another shot. The shot was good, and would have hit the woman if it weren't for a panicked civilian who ran right into the shot, dropping him to the ground with a smoking hole left in his chest.

Using the implant within his brain, used up far more bio energy than Vorgan expected, and his gun felt heavier in his arms.

Since I only had a single half action last round I wasn't able to aim, but this time I will. Also sorry for my delayed post, for some reason I thought we were still in the surprise round and not the first round of combat.
Half action: Aim
Half action: Aimed shot at the woman. (1d100=60, 1d10=6)

Second Round
Going to use my reaction for the round to use my Logis Implant to gain a +10 bonus to BS. I will also have to pass a Toughness test, or gain a level of fatigue.

Full Round action:Aimed shot at the woman. See if I hit anyone in the crowd as well (1d100=36, 1d10=9)
Damage (1d10+3=7)
Toughness test (1d100=98)

So I now have 1 level of fatigue.

Colt

Trying to look for a small stone amongst a panicked crowd and trying to not get your head shot off at the same is a difficult task. Tristan kept looking up at the men shooting and down at the floor for the stone. He kept moving in the direction of where it dropped (Half Action, movement, 4 meters), searching (Half action?, Per check).

The action if your call Chrysis, as is the difficulty of the check, which I imagine is pretty hard for me.

Per Roll

Failed it away.

Hermenegilde

Mikaela watches the approaching shotgun toting would-be soldiers.

"Idiots", she mutters as she fires her heavy weapon at them.

A slight sweep of the bolter ensures that she hits both of them, scything their legs from under them.

"Good job, you two! Now find some cover before you get killed."

Shooting the shotgun dudes : 39! hit - 4 degrees of success

I assume the crowd has at least cleared the area between us and the closest guys by now. Or ducked to the floor.
Damage
Shotgun guy #1 12 damage to left leg, 19 to right leg (penetration 5)
Shotgun guy #2 15 damage to left leg, 16 to right leg (penetration 5)

I'd like to know if there are a bunch of them behind cover at the same place (up to 2 meters apart)

Chrysis

The Heavy Bolter opens up with a deafening roar. The two shotgun wielding men notice at the last second that they are the targets and try to dive for cover, but too late as the explosive shells rip their legs off in an explosion of gore.

Falk's shot also strikes true, impacting against the woman's leg. A small hole is burned in her pants, and through it you can just make out the glint of some sort of armour. She staggers slightly, but otherwise doesn't seem to notice.

The roar encourages the civilians to evacuate more quickly, and the last of the stragglers force their way through the nearest exits taking the woman with them.

With the civilians departure and the death of their comrades the other armsmen panic. They open fire in a storm of lasgun bolts while the commander readies something behind his cover. The man with a massive gouge in his arm misses badly, as does one of the other pair.

One bolt heads straight for Mikaela who manages to duck out of the way, the bolt just missing. Two bolts penetrate the cover that Falk is hiding behind, but are weakened enough that his armour absorbs all of the blows. The stall he is sheltering behind isn't so lucky, and begins to groan ominously as the new holes in it's support weaken it.

The shotgun dudes try to dodge, but both fail.

The lasgun guys open up, they are roughly grouped into two pairs with the commander in between. Each pair is probably a fair target to have hits spread between, while the commander is a little further back separating himself from his men. All are in the same rough cover that you are, AP 6 covering the legs and body.

4 Semi-auto bursts, 2 at Mikaela, 1 at Tristan and 1 at Falk.

And invisible castle breaks. I'll post with the results as soon as I can get it to roll some dice.

EDIT: It's recovered. Results are: 94, 44, 71, 25

So the mook with a bolter wound to his arm misses horribly, and then tries to jam his lasgun. Not really his day. Mook 2 hits Mikaela once, Mook 3 misses and Mook 4 hits Falk twice.

So the mook checks if he really jammed it while Mikaela and Falk try to dodge.

5, 24, 63

Mook doesn't jam, Mikaela dodges and Falk doesn't.

So Falk takes two hits, both to the body which is behind cover.

Damage Rolls: 1d10+3, with 0 pen = 11, 10

These guys are not happy with you for some reason. Shot one shoots through the 6 points of cover, reducing it to 5. The 5 remaining damage gets sucked up by your armour and TB. Second shot goes through the weakened cover, reducing the cover to 4. The 5 remaining damage still gets absorbed by your armour and TB.

So everyone is in the clear. The cover Falk is hiding behind has been reduced to 4AP. Any less and it will probably collapse.

npc.EXE

Sarvus whispers to himself.
"When we meet the E-emperor, H-he shall know your deeds not by your medals b-but by your scars."

Taking a deep breath he runs full pelt towards the groups remaining attackers before stopping behind the nearest available cover.

EDIT: 5m away it is then.

GothicLargo

Falk's voice boomed over the racket of battle...

"WE CAN STOP THIS, GUYS. THIS ISN'T BETWEEN YOU AND US. PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN, AND THIS CAN BE OVER."

Falk is attempting charm. I'll leave the unknown bonuses to Chrysis and stick to what I do know.

Fellowship 40 + 10 for Charm

53

Chrysis, what if Mikaela gives a +10 to that for each person she kills in her next rock and roll session? So either she kills nobody or one and I fail, she kills two and I succeed, or she kills three and it ceases to matter...

Colt

Tristan dodges the shot low. "Fuck the stone." He takes aim at one of the lasgunners (Half action, +10 to BS) and shoots.

Roll to hit - 93

lodwilk

The fool thinks mere words will stop these people from assaulting us?

Vorgan braces his lasgun and aims it at the woman. Sadly the shot went nowhere near the woman, and for a brief moment Vorgan was reminded why he became a scholar.

Aimed shot against the woman. (1d100=79, 1d10=8)

Hermenegilde

Mikaela swerves her bolter towards the two aggressors cowering behind cover.
"Nice going gun. Keep this up."

The heavy bolter's fire penetrates the cover to hit the hired guns. It's hard to see how bad she hit them, but judging from the damage to the cover, she got them pretty good.

If the guy I shot with my pistol is still around, I shoot at the group that does NOT include him.
4 hits
2 on 1 guy and 2 on the other.
Damage
Guy #1 : 17 to body, 13 to arm (penetration 5)
Guy #2 : 15 to body, 14 to arm (penetration 5)
Cover AP goes down by 1 for each hit
Note that they can only dodge 1 of the hits each. Although dodging while behind cover...

Chrysis

The heavy bolter shells rip the stall to pieces in a hail of explosive bolts. Small shards of wood and plasteel fly everywhere, as well as an arm. The ruined stall collapses on itself, and the men who were trying to shelter behind it.

With their comrades being utterly destroyed the two remaining lasgun armed soldiers throw their weapons towards the group and put their hands in the air. At the clatter of the lasguns the commander looks up over his cover and, spotting the two men surrendering, a look of disgust passes over his face.

He drops the object he had been readying at his feet, and with a muffled thud a massive smoke cloud erupts. You can hear the sound of one person running, but the thick smoke prevents you from seeing anyone.

The smoke ripples, and very carefully the two lasgun men come out with their hands still in the air.

The smoke cloud is about 19m across. It's going to last for 11 rounds, or a little over a minute.

Sarvus:

You can see the commander legging it towards the nearest door that will keep him obscured, he's given up all pretense at keeping to cover and is relying on the smoke to protect him.

lodwilk

"Captain, orders?" yelled out Vorgan as he kept his rifle aimed at the two men who surrendering.

npc.EXE

Coughing from the smoke Sarvus slammed both of his hands against the sides of his temple.

The room is suddenly filled with dark whispers that seem to echo out from Sarvus buffeting Tristan. Sarvus grunts in pain but recovers quickly and snaps a shot at the retreating captain. Sadly, the shot goes wide.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Try to compel the captain to sleep.
1d100 → [84] = (84)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2490641/

Failure. What happens?
1d100 → [87] = (87)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2490643/

PERILS OF THE FRICKIN WARP! What kind?
1d100 → [55] = (55)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2490648/

Awesome, Warp Whispers. Everyone within how far takes a willpower test at -20?
4d10 → [9,2,9,4] = (24)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2490652/

If you fail you take 1d10 corruption. Do I fail?
1d100 → [22] = (22)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2490649/

No? Awesome. Take a shot at the captain:
1d100 → [74] = (74)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2490655/

GothicLargo

Catching Vorgan's question, Falk barked back...

"Take care of things here. TRISTAN, WITH ME!"

And then he charged into the smoke.

Full Action: Run

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w2oAWzHUfk