Apocalypse (Game Thread : Closed, Dead)

[Athol]

Egerion

"The girl does have the right smarts to fix the cursed thing. I just hope she gets along with the others in their group well. Everything we've observed shows they aren't as brainwashed towards the cult as the rest of the worlds are. This gives me hope for them, but also the same level of concern you have. They're either some of the better spies the dark forces have sent against us, or they were isolated by the Inquisition for some various reasons."

"Agreed." Eegrion replied. Suddenly he got an alert; an airborne target had just appeared out of nowhere, right over the outpost. Turning to engage, he checked his fire at the last moment, as he saw it was the other woman, this 'Daughter of Russ'. "Mind you, things like that do not weigh in their favour." He said, motioning to Urd as she landed out of sight. "It's bad enough they that Eldar with them, but that flight gear, and that psyker's staff as well, are most definitely Eldar technology as well." He said, clearly ill at ease. "I know that Inquisitor's must sometimes deal with Xenos, outside of simply dispatching them, but I fear this one may be pushing what will be tolerated."

 

[mcpop9]

"Egerion, Xeno's are much more tolerable than chaos." Momaru pointed out to him. "If either of us were forced to choose a side to overcome the other with, I'm sure we'd both take the route of temporarily aligning ourselves with some xeno force, outside of the 'nids, rather than turning to chaos for aid." He continued, watching the Russ with xeno tech from the eye slits of his helmet. "Regardless, all doubts aside, if they're truly a group with values similar to our own, I shall be takng lady Sana with them while she works towards becomming a rune priest. Her lateral thinking is very similar to Kira's from what I've seen." He continued and then when quiet for a moment.

"What was Kura like? Sana's original?"

[hr]

Sana had to chuckle at the song. "Amazing your reference hell. And to think it survived another 10,000 years into this millennium." She commented, which got her thinking of the nature of the imperial cult. "Hey... Miss Ortona, what do you think of the imperial cult?" She asked, finishing up some welding to keep the roof raised and provide some cover so momaru could. "Sgt Momaru essentially brought me up with the imperial truth." She explained. "And it's really helped my lateral thinking skills."

 

[Athol]

Lith

"Amazing you reference hell, and to think it survived another 10,000 years into this millennium.

"Hmm? Can't comment on the nature of that...it's just an old Cadian tune I learned as a kid." She replied.

Hey... Miss Ortona, what do you think of the Imperial Cult? Sgt Momaru essentially brought me up with the imperial truth, and it's really helped my lateral thinking skills."

What IS she talking about? "I've never heard of this 'Imperial Truth', and as for the Cult...it just is." She said with a shrug. "The God-Emperor is our Lord, and He will rise from Holy Terra during the End Times to deliver the faithful from evil, and cast his wroth upon Heretic and Xenos alike." She nearly started to voice her opinion of the Imperium and the Administradum, but held her tongue. Careful girl, they're more likely to pop you if you say more.

[hr]

Egerion

Egerion contemplated Momaru's words for a moment, still staring at where Urd had dropped out of sight. "Chaos or Xenos, it matters not. They stand in the way of humanities rightful path, and for that I will show them no mercy....that said, I understand what you are saying." Turning his attention back to Momaru, he seemed to sigh. "Still we must be mindful. Some of the Ruinous Powers are subtler than others."

"What was Kura like? Sana's original?"

"Far less 'human' in term of appearance; by the time our paths crossed, she was as any other Techpriest. She was generally one of the 'sober and serious' sorts...not unsurprising coming from the Mechanicus, but unlike most of her brethren she was known to have a sense of humour. Lady Kura's mark is probably on close to eighty percent of my chassis now...at one point, due to me being under her 'care' for the sixth or seventh time after time in a brief period, she threatened to paint a range target on me. I think her words were 'If you enjoy getting shot so much, then at least we could tell what their accuracy is like?'."

The towering machine shifted some more, and a dry chuckle could be faintly heard within. "Once, during a bit of 'down time' she thought it would be amusing to hijack some of my more...delicate...neuro-stim augmentics, and remotely play with their intensity levels....THAT played bloody havoc with my accuracy, and was as causing other frustrations...never managed to get her back for that one."

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"I love them." Said Urd rather cheerily as the wings stretched a little before returning to behind her. "If we weren't constantly in danger I can see my self just flying around, just cause, its hard to put into words how it feels to fly like this, but it is truly magnificent and I do wish I could show you what I mean." She then added in a kind of loving tone that Dante really only seem to understand.

"They don't really feel artificial ether, they feel more like a part of me, like any other limb or organ, you know, like they where supposed to be there from the start."

"Well, chalk that up to those neural plugs that the Order Hospitaller had to install in order for those to function. Personally I think you looked beautiful beforehand. I remember the morning after the surgery, you were laying there asleep in the medical bay when I was finally permitted entry. There you were, looking so peaceful, looking so content with what had just happened. Seem to recall there was even a smile on your face." Dante said, giggling a bit as the memories came back.

"I remember pulling up a chair next your bed, and taking a hold of your hand. Can't remember what happened next. Think I must of dozed off due to me anxiously waiting for news regarding the surgery. Believe me, I was worried about you when you went in. Didn't know what was going to happen."

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

[b]Arcor[/b]

Most of the men in the room momentarily forgot about the horror outside they were aiming at and kept their rifles trained on the horror inside between their panicked shaking.

Arcor kept his concern under his mind, as he remembered that his pistol arm was too screwed to pull the trigger.
As the creature gained a modicum of sanity and walked outside, the men relaxed and brought their aim back to the door.

Arcor sighed "Holy shit", as it left.

Arcor waited for Solara to come to him, before he spoke.
"Apparently my Huscarl is in the surgeons station."
He paused realizing that wasn't an imperial term.
"Sorry... Corporal. Bodyguard?"

He began walking through the hallways, occasionally glancing at marks on the walls.

He arrived at the surgeon's station, three beds had borderline eviscerated men on them.
A man in armour similar to Arcor's sat on a bed looking over a man being operated on by servitors.
His helmet sat on the bed next to him, he had a single red augmetic eye and his face was coated in ash obscuring the majority of it.

He noticed the newcomers and saluted before standing and walking over to them.
It was soon noticed that his right arm was a stump with junk mechanisms hanging off of it.

Arcor looked him over as he approached and muttered bastards before taking his own helmet off.
His face mostly covered in scars and his head was shaved aside from the previous few days growth.

Vicarious looked at Arcor and spoke.
"Sir... we lost three more on the way here, the site is mostly secure, communications are being restored, and the keep is sealed, auspex is reporting negative on lifesigns."

[hr]

[b]Helena Karr[/b]

The shuttle sealed itself and there was a delay from the pilot before takeoff began.
The other shuttles sealed themselves and the bay was vacated.
The engines activated, the landing gear was retracted, and the dropship was launched into the void.
The pilot cut the engines as the ship was pulled towards the planet by its gravity.
After a minute, static could be felt throughout the ship as it breached into the atmosphere.
Systems in Helena's suit briefly cut out before restoring themselves.
The engines reactivated and the dropship landed after a minute.
A thump could be heard and the the back opened up, to darkness.
Floodlights on the ship activated illuminating an are of about fourty feet around them.
The area was a clearing, surrounded by forest.
Yellow spores and mist permeated the air, symptoms and propagators of the contamination.

About thirty feet away could bee seen a circle of debris.
In the center was an object akin to an escape pod. It was open.
Infront of it was a trail of blood.
The corpses of three Tyranid warriors lay on the ground around it. Two have had their legs blown off and appeared to have bled to death. The third appears to have been stabbed to death by what you assume to have been a space marine.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Urd smiled as Dante recounted what he'd been doing and concerns about the surgery she gone through to be able to interface with the suit correctly "Sorry I worried you, but it needed to be done, both from a tactical, and personal stand point" Urd said, then kissed him again "But thank for being there when I woke up, I figured you would be, but it was still a relief to see you there, even if you where asleep" she said "And you should know why I was smiling about it. I've told you before" she added, testing his memory on a whim.

 

[mcpop9]

"Oh, you've never heard of it?" she asked lith rhetorically. "Well, most devouts of the cult usually praise the cult when i ask them about it. and since i'm adeptus mechanicus, we have our own religion i follow, or atleast to satisfactory. I don't really care who i speak to about it since i have a senior astartes with me as my bodyguard and any investigations the mechanicus has done have come up with that i'm just an engineer and valuable one. I watch what i do, make sure to service the machines in the proper way the machine god demands, so i'm rather normal." she explained, coming out of the back of the rhino and sitting on the ramp.

"But what most people don't realize is that the emperor only still protects us because he feels it's his duty to. But i can guarantee that he is rolling in the warp because this isn't what he wanted for humanity." she continued, knowing she treaded on dangerous ground. "He wanted to scrub the galaxy of religion as momaru said. He's shown me holo's of the Emperor's speeches about the imperial truth. He's as glorious as they described him. But he says he's no god. He was passionate about keeping humanity safe and advancing, since religion had held us back so much in the past." she explained with no fears about it.

"It just makes sense... He's still the ultimate and supreme leader of Humanity, but the idea he didn't want to be worshiped and the wipe religion off of the galaxy is so noble." she explained to Lith. "I have some of the holos stored in memory banks in my body, i can play some if you want when we have some free time, so you could see him in all his glory at the very least." she said, getting up and walking back inside the rhino, gesturing for lith to follow. The Techpriest started the thing then pumped her fist in the air. "YES! knew you'd work for me little fella." she happily exclaimed.

[hr]

"Good." exclaimed the inquisitor as she turned and followed the skitarii. She saw the men and sighed. "I'm sorry again about your "situation" she said to Arcor. "I'd be willing to try and help heal your men as well, with your permission ofcourse. however, i cannot promise what happened to you won't happen to them." she explained to the man.

 

[Athol]

Lith

Lith followed the little Techpriest into the Rhino in silence, still trying to even comprehend the information she'd just heard. The words she'd just heard bouncing around her head, tearing at everything she knew. "[small]It's all a lie then...[/small]" She muttered to herself finally, sinking into one of the APCs jump seats. "Everything they taught me...all that I'd ever believed, for ten thousand years it's all been a FUCKING LIE!" She screamed.

Part of her mind screamed at her that the Techpriest was lying, that she was a heretic, sent to test Lithian's faith...but a larger part of her knew it to be true; she couldn't explain it, but she just knew...and that made the Imperium's betrayal of her and her friends all the worse. Staring blankly at the opposite wall, tears ran down Lith's face. Ten thousand years, billions of planets....TRILLIONS of lives...for a fucking lie...there's no fucking point to it, it's all so fucking USELESS!

Tears still streaming down her face, she began to laugh; not a happy laugh, but one of utter hopelessness. That rapidly devolved to a desolate wail of anguish, as her mind continued to pull apart everything she'd ever known. "I-It's no fucking use..." She sobbed, reaching for the laspistol at her hip; drawing the weapon, she stared at the inscription. "HE DIED FOR A FUCKING LIE!" With that, she slipped a finger onto the trigger, and raised the gun. Before she could bring the weapon to her head, a mechadendrite snaked across the APC and immobilized her arm.

 

[mcpop9]

Sana slowly moved towards lith, another mechandrite taking the gun away from her. "Listen... it's hard... i know..." she began, trying to calm the guardswoman down. "They were lies developed out of a cult that worshipped the emperor. But some of his will still holds true. He wanted humanity to succeed. he wanted us to expand, to become strong and survive as a species. and we've been managing to do that." she said, sitting next to lith and trying to comfort her. "Now, you are a strong woman, stronger than this. You can't deny it because you were willing to walk through tyranid infested lands for her."

Sana set the gun into the holster for and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you going to sit her and cry because those that brought you up lied to you unknowingly? none of them know it's a lie and nobody will ever care because it's all to believable for them. But you have something else to live for. You have someone else to live for. Will solara forgive you if you took your like in some garage?" she asked lith, a look of concern in her eyes.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Sorry I worried you, but it needed to be done, both from a tactical, and personal stand point." Urd said which was followed up by a kiss on the cheek for Dante. "But thank for being there when I woke up, I figured you would be, but it was still a relief to see you there, even if you where asleep." Before Dante could respond however, Urd had a request of sorts. "And you should know why I was smiling about it. I've told you before." It took a few minutes for Dante to remember, as it had been a while since the operation. But had it though? He'd have to ask someone what the year was later.

"Ah yes, I recall now. It seemed to have something to do with your mother if memory serves. She was something that was akin to an Assault Marine in the Adeptus Astartes; and as such, she was often flying into battle with a Jump Pack. Seeing as you were her daughter Urd, you looked up to her in every sense of the word, you wanted to be like her. If I remember, you also said that you felt it was expected of you to follow in her footsteps; to become a Valkyrie." Dante said in a rather dulcet manner, his words sounding rather soothing.

"And that smile you gave Urd, you were smiling because you had achieved your dream, you felt that you made your mother proud Urd."

 

[Athol]

Lith

Sana's words washed over her, calming her, pushing her back from the precipice she nearly went over. It still hurt though, the loss...the shattering, of a belief that had carried her throughout her entire life. It all still seemed so...so pointless.

You have someone else to live for. Will Solara forgive you if you took your life in some garage?"

That made her sit up. You know damned well that she'd bring you back just so she could kick your ass, if you did that. Lith smiled a bit, and chuckled. Taking a few deep breaths, she wiped her eyes and turned to Sana. "Thank you f-...just...thank you."

Standing, she withdrew her laspistol again, running a finger over the inscription, before placing it where she'd been sitting; she then placed both her 'new' lasgun, and her plasma on the seats as well. Drawing her chainsword, she bowed slightly to Sana, and favoured her with a gallows grin. "Now if you'll excuse me...I'm still in a very bad mood, and I'm going to go take out my wrath on something." With that she strode from the Rhino, and out of the garage at a brisk pace.

Exiting the outpost, the first thing she saw was the Astartes and the Dreadnought standing nearby. I am in no mood to be dealing with HIM She thought, moving away from the pair. Stalking though the base, she rounded a corner and spotted Dante and Urd standing on a rise talking to each other. "HEY KIDS!" She called out. "Dante." She said, as she got close. "Any word on..." Movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention. "Hold that though."

With that she dashed over and into what had been part of the outpost's defensive trenches. As soon as she dropped from sight the air was filled with the roar of a chainsword, and the squeal of Grots. A minute or so later a Grot leapt from the trench, with Lith close behind. It got about ten paces from the pair, when a slash from Lith tore it in two. Blood splattered, and smiling, she returned to her friends. "Sorry 'bout that. Anyways, like I was saying, any word on Solara?"

 

[Lunar Templar]

Urd looked at Dante as Lith took to slaughtering a bunch of Grots "You know... we probably shoulda caught that ..." Urd commented as Lith tore through the lot of them

Urd hopped down after the lith cut down the last one "Indeed, She is alive, well and unharmed." Urd started "She's in a base north of here with a Skitarii, least I assume she's in by now, so soon as that girl is finished with the Rhino we're mobile" Then smirked "Also, your swing is a little off, you should work on that."

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Dante followed after Urd as after they bore witness to Lith mowing a pack of Ork Grots. Horrid little things they were; weak and feeble on their own, but in large numbers, could become quite the nuisance. He could see the purple-reddish coloured blood of the Orks had coated Lith's armour in places, and that smile she wore, it was strange; it felt as thought she enjoyed it.

"Indeed, She is alive, well and unharmed." Urd started off with. "She's in a base north of here with a Skitarii, least I assume she's in by now, so soon as that girl is finished with the Rhino we're mobile." Dante then noticed a smirk on Urd's face. "Also, your swing is a little off, you should work on that."

"Well given how Lith was able to eviscerate these Grots before we could react, I'd say her swing is the least of her problems. And yes, Urd is right; we, or rather, I have been able to make contact with Solara, and what she said is true. It appears as though Solara is in good company for the time being." Dante stopped for a moment to remove a bit of viscera that had landed on his coat. A small bit, but it bothered him at the moment.

"I have been able to chart a course using the locations of Solara's psychic presence on both occasions that I have tracked her to. We'll be heading in a northerly direction for a few hours by Rhino transport, so long as the vehicle is in a operable condition." He then looked back at the corpses, then back to Lith.

"Any particular reason for this?"

 

[mcpop9]

The garage door rose open and the roaring of the rhino's engine came to everyone's ears. She put it into gear and the machine crawled out of the garage and into full view of everyone. "Okies! she's running like the day she was shipped off forgeworld. Considering the girl is about a thousand years old by now, she still purrs like new thanks to me." said the little techpriest on the back ramp of the vehicle.

Momaru smirked a bit. "That'a girl." he said and gave the dreadnought a pat on the arm. "If there's one person in the galaxy i can depend on for anything, it's that girl." he said and began his walk over to the machine. "Hey, given we're going to be traveling for a good bit of time, think i should show them one of the emperor's speaches? maybe inspire them a bit?" he said in a private vox channel to egerion. He was feeling a bit good on the fact Sana came through for them. Funny how the small things in life now-adays can really make a difference... she's a good girl.

 

[Athol]

Lith

"Indeed, she is alive, well and unharmed. She's in a base north of here with a Skitarii, least I assume she's in by now, so soon as that girl is finished with the Rhino we're mobile, also, your swing is a little off, you should work on that."

A wave of relief washed over Lith as Urd told her the good news. "Thank the E....thank you for that." She said. You should tell them, you know what Sana said was true. Later...after we get to 'lara. Her features darkened for a moment, but with a shake of her head, she pushed those thoughts aside for the moment. Hanging her sword on her back, she walked up to Urd and gave the larger woman a hug, grabbing her armoured ass at the same time. "As for my swing...perhaps you would care to give me some private lessons later?" She purred, giving Urd a smouldering look before letting go with a laugh.

Letting go of Urd, she almost hugged Dante, but opted for just shaking his hand. "I know you did all the real work my friend...knowing she's okay helps so much. I would give you a hug too, but Ork doesn't clean off cloth as well as it does armour." She joked.

"Any particular reason for this?"

"I was in a bad mood, and they're Orks....what other reason would I need?"

[hr]

Egerion

"Hey, given we're going to be traveling for a good bit of time, think I should show them one of the Emperor's speeches? Maybe inspire them a bit?"

"THAT, Sergeant I'll leave up to your judgment; but remember, you will be the one stuck in that metal box with a bunch of fawning Imperial zealots..." Rumbling with amusement, he lumbered over to the Rhino, and vox?d Sana. "Well done little one, it has been some time since I've walked beside one of these; but now the real question...do we know where we are going?"

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

[b]Arcor[/b]

"I'm sorry again about your "situation"

It could be worse.

"I'd be willing to try and help heal your men as well, with your permission ofcourse. However, I cannot promise what happened to you won't happen to them."

Arcor looked at Vicarious and spoke "What's their status."

Vicarious pointed at the three on the bed, "They were apparently like this before we got here, they're stable but basically brain dead now, best case, they'll be servitors once they're recalled." He then pointed at the one being operated on, "Some kind of bug, shot into Ven, we ripped it out, but there's an unidentified acid based toxin in him. He's been worked on nonstop since we got here, but it's not stopping."

Arcor looked at Solara "Please save the man on the table, I don't want to know what would come back from the others though."

Arcor turned to Vicarious again "Vic, where are the rest?"

Vicarious spoke "Sar is working on resyncing the comms array. Jun and Dusk are recouping in the barracks, they found a ration case meant for the nobles. and Rain is either taking stock in the armoury or looting it."

Arcor spoke "Go rest, I'll let you know when it's clear enough they can help you."

Vicarious walked out the door and went to the barracks.

Arcor walked towards the operating table, swarmed by the various patterns of medicae servitors and canted an order for them to back off so that Solara could help.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Thank the E....thank you for that." Spoke Lithian, relieved and grateful at the news. Though a moment later, something about her felt not quite right, Dante couldn't quite put his finger on it. But it appeared whatever was troubling the former Guardswoman was no longer a problem, as but a moment later, Lithian went up to Urd and gave her a large hug. Out the corner of Dante's eye, he noticed that Lith was grabbing Urd's rear.

"As for my swing...perhaps you would care to give me some private lessons later?" Asked Lithian, her voice sounding rather sultry, almost seductive in a way. To be honest, the whole act made Dante roll his eyes. After that, Lith let ago of Urd and went to hug Dante, but decided on a handshake at the last moment. "I know you did all the real work my friend...knowing she's okay helps so much. I would give you a hug too, but Ork doesn't clean off cloth as well as it does armour."

"Truer words have never been spoken on the subject. I remember one time where I had to remove a medium sized bloodstain from my old coat after spilling the guts of some Ork Nob. I tell you, took me a good day or two to clean most of the blood off, let alone the smell. Orks, such filthy creatures." Dante remarked with disgust in his voice as he remembered.

"I was in a bad mood, and they're Orks....what other reason would I need?"

"Killing your enemies is a good way to relieve stress I suppose. But that does raise the question of why you were in a bad mood in the first place?" He then asked with crossed arms.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Urd quirked an eye at Lith's sudden back pedal, it sounded off.

"As for my swing...perhaps you would care to give me some private lessons later?" Lith said and a suductive tone as she grabbed her ass. Urd wouldn't have minded of she was still single, but she was with Dante now and it was just kinda annoying, not to mention Lith was covered in Ork bits, and while Urd wasn't one to be squeamish about being covered in the blood and gore of her enemy's, this seemed more like a bad prank. especially since Dante just got a hand shake and a bit more consideration for his clothing. "Seriously ..."

"I was in a bad mood, and they're Orks....what other reason would I need?"

"We're not gonna have to have another 'talk' are we? I really hate having to have those ya know." Urd said as she wiped some of the chunks off her armor.

 

[Athol]

Lith

As Urd expressed her disgust at being smeared with Ork, Lith gave her the best 'innocent little girl'? look she could muster, while wiping bits of greenskin off her own armour. Turning serious, she looked at her friends. You don't have to tell them....there IS happiness in ignorance. I can't do that to them...Urd, Dante, Solara...they're my friends they deserve the truth. So you would destroy everything they have ever believed...because you THINK they should know. What gives you the right? And what gives me the right to keep it from them? She thought.

Giving her friends a sad smile, she sighed. "It's something that should wait until we've regrouped with 'lara." Catching the smell coming off her armour, her nose wrinkled. "I think I'm going to go see if there's any water left, before we blow this place up...I'm pretty sure the Enginseer...Sana...would try and kick my ass if I got near her new toy smelling like this."

 

[Lunar Templar]

Urd could tell something was wrong, Lith was being unusually evasive. She let it go for the moment though, she wanted to get the Ork bits off her first. "I'm a go get the Ork goo off, see you at the tin cans" Urd said, referring to the Terminator and Dread, and with that, took off to find something to clean up with.