Rogue Trader: The Hand of Fortune

[fgalkin]

Berenice took off the silk headscarf covering her eye as she put on and sealed her helmet. Some of the marines threw nervous glances at her, but she ignored them entirely. Her warp eye was a weapon as good as any, and it might save her life.

Just as she sealed her helmet, she overheard the missionary's words. The man seemed intelligent and sensible enough. It was a good thing he was along for the trip.

-----------------------------------
Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Hotfoot]

Ravion put his helmet on, sealing the armor and making sure all the connections were properly assembled. He took in a deep breath and nodded, making sure his fellows had their suits properly set before turning back to Sergeant Clayvore. "Let's seize the day Sergeant." He removed his plasma pistol from its holster and made sure once more that it was right and readied. Leading from the front lines, certainly, but the first off the ship? Hardly. He smiled at Volran under his helmet and nodded. "Sound counsel, I will be right behind."

Barring reports of fighting, he followed shortly after the Sergeant's men, off the ship and into the hangar, with whichever members of his retinue that would follow. He looked around the hangar, looking for anything odd or out of place, but mostly watching his men. They often noticed things before he did, and it was not his duty to be the first one to see danger, but the first to rally those who did to be supported by those who can do the most against the danger.

[Cynical Cat]

"First and Second Squad," said Clayvore. "Prepare to disembark." The men followed their sergeant to the end of the lighter's cargo section. A door came down, sealing them off. The air was pumped out of the section and then the other door opened.

They sprinted forward into cover, covering each other and most of the bay. The next squads moved to the airlock as the armsmen spread through bay.

There was no sign of hostile activity.

[fgalkin]

"Gentlemen, do not neglect the hangar gate controls with your attention," Berenice voxed on the common channel as the squads disembarked. She waited until they were away and exited right after Ravion.

She paused for a moment, reaching out with her senses, scanning for any signs of warp taint as just as she scanned for danger with her ordinary eyes.

------------------------
Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Cynical Cat]

"My Lady Navigator," responded a corporal, "there is no power to any controls."

[frigidmagi]

Volran stepped off the lighter with the 1st squad and moved out of the way. He was smart enough to realize he would just be in their way.

"It seems clear." He said quietly staying alert.

[rhoenix]

Getting out with the first group dressed in a sealed voidsuit, though with his cloak over it, Magnus joined the others. His senses painted the interior of the hangar, beginning to paint a picture as he felt around with his mental senses. All while doing so, he was marching at the same speed as the others, joining Ravion and the others in moments.

Stepping off to the side, he let the 1st and 2nd squads go to work as he continued to look. He allowed himself a small smile - this was a beautiful ship so far, though time would tell what surprises it held.

[Someshta]

Goodwinne, garbed in his void suit, stood in the lighter bay waiting for their group to move out. He wasn't about to admit that he was nervous but he didn't especially like sitting in this transport while the enemies hinted at in the augury could be lurking out in the ship. He'd much rather get about their work clearing the ship than waiting. Competent the grunts in first and second squad might be, but he doubted they could do more than slow any attack.

Shifting his weight from one foot to another he waited as patiently as he could for the word to come from Ravion. This was despite its damage a noble vessel, and they could do much good for the Imperium with it.

[Vehrec]

Vir had elected to transport with the rest of the first technical compliment, although he was no slouch in combat himself. The techpriest was simply more confident in the abilities of his comrades in that regard. When he received the signal that the bay was secure and reclamation efforts were to begin, then his shuttle's pilot would land and allow the more precious members of the expedition to debark.

That did nothing to stop him however, from making leaps of logic. Lighters meant maintenance. Maintenance meant a schedule. Schedules meant dates, hours, records. Those four dead lighters might have a few helpful clues in their systems, or in one of the first available rooms. Or they might not. Still, worth investigating.

[Marcao]

He found himself crossing the threshold into his room. The door hissed behind him and slid closed. He hesitated for only a fraction of a second before he moved towards a familiar storage device. The storage device was roughly seven and half feet in height and ornately carved with the seal of House Turunen. His right arm reached out and his fingers glided along the surface of the cool metal tracing the carvings which had been painstakingly etched by the tools of a master crafter. This container and what was stored within it were his birthright. His hand came to rest on a circular console, warmth danced along his fingers before a familiar sensation swam to the surface of his mind and just as quickly receded. His blood sampled, the container unlocked a process that took exactly fourteen seconds.

With the seals released it was a simple matter to remove the prize that he had come to claim. The suit of light powered armor bore the colors of house Turunen, a deep black with silver trim. In its chest, where the imperial eagle was commonly found on the larger and more impressive armor of the dreaded Space Marines, the crest of house Turunen stood. The shoulders were forged into stylized wolf heads, the same wolf heads adorned the armor that protected the knee joints. The helmet was simple in comparison. The secrets of the helmet laid within it incorporating a prey sense system that allowed him to pierce the veil between light and darkness. It was a system that had proven its worth many times in the past. There were other tools at his disposal, the armor had been crafted in the nearly forgotten past of the Imperium. It had been in his family for generations.

Donning the armor was a time consuming affair. Had he received help the process would have been faster, but he had grown in a world where there were times when the only person one could rely in was oneself. Retainers were fallible. Even family was fallible. Once he was cradled within the light powered armor he moved his back and pressed it to its container. As contact was made, three seperate wires slithered into hidden entry holes. Within his helmet, a graphical representation of the diagnostics which began to take place was projected mere millimeters before his eyes. The process was relatively quick. Once all systems were checked and the suit's charge verified, the storage system made the final adjustments to the armor by contracting its gel like interior and finished the “fittingâ€

[fgalkin]

"That is good news for our immediate future," Berenice nodded. The more distant future looked less cheerful. The hangar was opened, before the ship lost power. Someone left the ship, but not everyone. Who were they? Where did they go? What happened to the rest? A number of possibilities suggested themselves, none of them particularly pleasant.

----------------------
Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[White Haven]

Graylen can't help a low whistle, although he's careful to toggle his vox off first to avoid blasting eardrums among the boarding party. "Well, she's seen better days..." he muses, looking out across the oppressive gloom of the hangar, "But she's in surprisingly good shape. No signs of battle damage or...corruption..." His words trail off into a disquieted frown at a realization.

"Lord Ravion!" he calls sharply over the vox network, pointing towards the four lighters once he has secured the Rogue Trader's attention. "If those lighters are still here, then either the crew didn't evacuate, enough of them were dead to not need them, or..." He gives a grim smile, "their occupants were boarding rather than departing."

He begins to stalk over towards the nearest lighter, the comforting bulk of his priceless inferno pistol filling the grip of his right hand. "Perhaps their contents can tell us which..."

[Vehrec]

Vir stiffened at the thought of the armsmen bursting open doors and destroying evidence. He wasted no time and activated his vox-link in return. "I would suggest that if you are now confident enough in your own safety to begin such an investigation, it might be prudent to allow those more versed in the mysteries of the machine to land and exercise their skills. Or, you could attempt to decipher the mysteries yourself." He let the vox click off and waited for a reply.

[fgalkin]

"So, captain," Berenice walked up to Ravion, her armsmen in tow. "The hangar appears secure. What's our next step? Stay here as crews examine the lighters? Try to find a schematic of the ship so we can find a way to the bridge?"


-----------------------------
Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Hotfoot]

"Check the lighters, but carefully. For all we know the crew sabotaged them to prevent something from escaping. Let Vir inspect them while you watch over him Graylen." He looked around and took in the sight of the bay.

"Sergeant, once your men have swept the hangar try to find a path to the bridge. The next group in will reinforce our progress and start clearing a path to the engine section. Once we've established safe passage we'll bring in the engineers in bulk to start their business."

[White Haven]

"Affirmative," Greylen rasps out, falling easily back into the old speech habits of his time in the Imperial Navy. Of course that was after he nodded in a void suit helmet, then just barely checked himself from attempting to palm his own forehead through the helmet at the unthinking, unnoticeable gesture. After a few moment's hesitation, he holsters the rather indiscriminately destructive melta pistol and instead ignites the gently-curved powersword in its place. As its cool blue glow suffuses the dim deck plating and lighter hull, he murmurs something under his breath.

'An elegant weapon, from a more civilized era...'

[Karrick]

Valther checked his gear one final time before the lighter touched down. He’d borrowed one of Illumination’s void suits for the trip, as hard vacuum had a tendency to induce an untimely death. He’d managed, with only minor difficulty, to get his mesh armor over that. His hellgun and its power pack went on next; the gun itself was slung across his chest, pistol grip within easy reach. He’d attached a lamp pack to the barrel of the weapon. Valther’s inferno pistol found its customary home in a shoulder rig, with spare ammo and grenades on convenient pieces of webbing. Over it all, he secured his cameleoline cloak.

All kitted up as he was, Valther thought he could pass for a professional soldier. He knew he was capable, and it wasn’t the first time he’d dressed to kill. That said, this was his first boarding action and the prospect of combat in tight corridors with no atmosphere was disconcerting. Valther knew he wasn’t really a soldier and would be hard pressed to match the others in martial skill. He sniffed once, inside his helmet. He would make do. Or he would die.

When the ramp dropped and the party fanned out, Valther was right there in his place in the formation, gun tracking along his line of sight. Once the bay was secure he began to examine it and its contents, mentally cataloging everything for later. There was no telling what might later prove to be important. His attentions brought him to the inert lighters. Valther anticipated a wealth of information within the silent ships. Seeing Greylen readying himself near one of them, Valther moved that way. He nodded to the ex-Navy man, “I’ve got your back.â€

[rhoenix]

Walking with Ravion and the others, Magnus let his senses feel outward for anything...unusual about this area. A ship like this being abandoned in such a way seemed to be a good mystery, and all the evidence they could find would be necessary to solve it.

Or at least enough to fly around in it making an excellent living in the meantime. This thought made him smile slightly as he applied his senses.

[Vehrec]

Vir glanced at the lighters before picking one at random. Signaling to Greylen, he approached the silent vehicle with both caution and respect, before preforming a walk-around of it, inspecting it for loose fittings, unsecured hatches and fueling ports or any other oddities about it. At the same time, he compared it with his memories of that class of vehicle, trying to determine it's pattern and perhaps where it had been manufactured.

[Cynical Cat]

The lighters were Scintilla-Omnius pattern lifters, commonly used in Calixus and the expanse. They were sealed shut and dormant, but unlike the rest of the bay their systems retain power.

The armsmen finish securing the bay, posting fire teams at each exit. There was still no sign of life. There was a control room overlooking the bay with intact equipment and cogitator banks, but again no power. Sprawled on the floor are two human corpses, mummified by vacuum. They wear ancient space overalls and they appear to have been killed by high caliber slug weapons.

Magnus's scan for warp disturbances found nothing anomalous.

[fgalkin]

Berenice listened to the report. She wondered if the techpriests would be able to revive the cogitator banks' machine spirits with portable power sources. In any case, there was nothing she could do there. She headed towards the stationary lifters, looking as if she was taking a casual stroll through the hangar bay and just so happened to stop there.

"Gentlemen, it appears we are four crafts richer than we were this morning. A productive trip," she says to Graylen and Vir. "Shall we open them up and see what's inside?"

------------------------
Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Hotfoot]

"Take a quick look inside to make sure there aren't any unpleasant surprises inside of them. If they can be made to aid in the transfer of personnel then we'll use them as the time comes. Once we're done making sure they're clean we'll check the control room and then make our way to the bridge."

[Vehrec]

"They are still powered, so using them may not present any great issue, my lord." Vir reached out to the primary airlock hatch with his mechadendrite while at the same time keeping it away from his body and one hand on his boltgun. "I was just about to begin checking the interior in any case. It may take some time, as they seem to have been secured against casual intrusion." Vir turned his full attention to the electronic controls as he began to remove the outer casing to bypass them.

[Cynical Cat]

It took Vir one-hundred-thirty-seven seconds to override the lighter controls and open the craft. There was a a gust of wind and then a steady breeze as the lighter vented its atmosphere into the bay.

Inside the ship appeared to be in fully functional. All systems were off, but the simple flick of switches and the proper activation rites brought them back on line.

In the cockpit there were six human corpses. Five had been shot in the back of the head with a laspistol, the sixth apparently having shot himself under the chin. Instrumentation indicated the ship was fully fueled and the power cells still held 53.4% charge, but that the air scrubbers had failed.

[Vehrec]

Vir paused immediately upon entering the lighter before opening a private com to Raivon. "Lord, I think you should be made aware of this. Six dead men are in this Lighter, all killed by head shots, the last one apparently a suicide. The Lighter itself seems to be working well enough except for it's scrubbers. I do not recommend attempting to add it to our transport capacity at this time."