Corbulus weaved through the covers, though that turned out to be unnecessary as the sentinel focused its fire upon Sobek and their remaining servitor. Closing in on the vehicle, he finally got within striking range and slammed his chainaxe against one of the legs of the walker, allowing the weapon to bite through the hydraulics. With a hiss, the walker came to almost a kneeling position, with the other leg lowering to avoid the entire thing from falling over. Climbing on board, the Alpha Wolf tore into the side of the cockpit in time to see the pilot attempting to pull the pin from his grenade. The chain weapon found him first, and a torrent of blood flew up out of the vehicle, spraying over his damaged armor. Reaching inside after mag locking his chainaxe to his belt, Corbulus gripped the head from the body and twisted, ripping the skull off of the body with his remaining hand and placing it on his trophy hooks at his belt. Dropping down to the ground once more. He looked over to see the heavy servitor turn and address them, pausing in its attack to utter some innate warning to them. What did seem interesting was that this Warden Waltz claimed to have 'devices' of a certain amount of destruction, and the Alpha Wolf considered that for a moment. Making his way to Sobek's side, he replied. "If you would invoke the wrath of that corpse on Terra, then I think we shall be just fine. As for you, you have a choice: open your eyes to the slavery you endure under the lie that the before mentioned corpse actually have any deity and join us in the liberation of this station in the name of the Primordial Truth, or be another sacrifice to the dark gods. Either way, we shall be taking those devices you just mentioned. Much obliged to letting us know of their presence on this station." To the First Archimandrite, Corbulus said, "heretek, I shall need a new hand, possibly arm, when we return to the ship, as well as a ranged weapon. As for this servitor, should you spot an opportunity, convert it to our side. If not, let the others soften it up first, and we'll see to its destruction. For now, remain out of reach of its weapons and reach." He didn't fear the servitor; he feared very little nowadays. Still, they weren't in the best of conditions, and if they could capitalize on the work of others, all the better. The Alpha Wolf kept himself on the balls of his feet, ready to move himself or the mystic out of the way should the heavy servitor charge them. @High_Adept_Zeth OOC: All out defense. One on self, one on Sobek.
"My lords," Xaviera said in an undertone, as she stepped forwards between the Son and the Speaker, emerging between them and looking through the gloom and dust towards the mining crew. "Yes, these critters attacked us, but we are quite all right! Would you care to let us hitch a ride back to safety with your group? It is only the seven of us!" she put on a pleading tone, attempting to play the part of the stranded miner. It was not going to last, but it would hopefully be enough to distract them long enough for the intruders to launch a surprise attack before the miners could alert their superiors.
As the battle slowly died down to its brutal, but predictable ending, Sobek turned around noticing the presence of his Lord. Black Legionnaire jumped around on shrieking wings of fire, its airborne agility outmanuvering the clunky attacks of the heavy combat servitor. "heretek, I shall need a new hand, possibly arm, when we return to the ship, as well as a ranged weapon. As for this servitor, should you spot an opportunity, convert it to our side. If not, let the others soften it up first, and we'll see to its destruction. For now, remain out of reach of its weapons and reach." Sobek gave his answer to the towering Astartes next to him, with a curt inclination of his head sideways. As another`s voice crackled through the servitor`s primitive volcabulator, Archimandrite cocked his head, his nosed bronze mask adding a bit of humor to the motion. He knew he was not long in Materium to judge the actions of its denizens but from what he witnessed on Schindlegeist of the Imperium, told him enough to form a managable hypothesis. "My Lord Corbulus, the very notion that they offer us the opportunity to retreat is unortodox from their perspective. It seems they have given in to fear." his verdigris-stained mask vibrating as Ex-Cyrabor spoke, Sobek wanted to add something else to his gleam of foresight to his liege before stopping, his medicae mechadendrite twitching over his head, sniffing the air out like an animal. @Taec "Hazardous levels of radiation noted and increasing!" Sobek yelled enough for Erelak to hear. With a swift motion he pointed his controller rod toward the heavy servitor, his conciousness leaping into the aether in digital form reminiscent of an ancient mystic magically attempting to control beasts around him. Taking the control over the heavy servitor was relatively easy and for a moment Sobek regretted for not doing so earlier, a fact that will be kept hidden from others lest they think him incapable. However once in control of the bulky, tracked servitor, Sobek realized why the heightened energy readings emanated from its ugly form. Looking at the world with augmented vision of a heavy battle servitor added another, more tactical perspective, sadly the creature albeit very useful in combat, was rigged and Archimandrite doubted his ability to disable the self-destruct protocol. If the programmer was even semi-capable he would make such a desperate scorched-earth protocol irreversiable, making all other subroutines rapidly decay, until only one option remained - destruction. Rerouting rappidly excessive power to its tracks, Sobek sent it into overdrive and toward the shielding that kept the atmospheric integrity of the hangar deck. Hopefully he will be able to manuver it into the void with enough distance into the cold black before the thing exploded. @WanderingJester
"Sure didn't sound like praise for Nurgle, friend. Would you like to re-think that? I can either put a bolt through this glass and send you to fester in the blessed gardens, or you can turn this here lascannon on your former comrades and teach them the folly of their ways. The choice is yours, but I promise you, join us and the Grandfather can treat you far better than the Emperor or your superiors ever did. Trust me, I know full well what I'm talking about." Orghast looked outwards and used his bolter one handed, other fingers curled around a bracing pole for the cockpit glass. For the time being Death Guard was content to peck at the Servitors and make sure nothing nasty was creeping up on them. OOC: Defending Self and attacking heavy combat servitor
Satharn got a grip on the spiderthing attempting to chew him up at last and tore it in half with a muffled curse. The euphoria of combat was ebbing and he could see the remaining creatures didn't like the odds very much any more. They were fleeing into the darkness. Where have I seen that tactic before, brothers. He noted that Valu made a shot that didn't score across his own armour this time and a good kill with it. He nodded down at the little medic. "Better shot." The Night Lord realised that they were being hailed. He was about to speak, but reminded himself that they had come for prisoners and materiel. Before he could think of something diplomatic to say - and it was by no means a given that he would succeed - luckily Xaviera stepped in. "I think we beat them back for now," he added, with his characteristically soft yet deep tones. Trying not to be an aggressive and violent presence. It did not come naturally. Satharn tried to avoid looming and stayed back in the shadows.
<Asteroid prison - lower part> @Jorimel @Colapse @Skarboy @Kalle @Vlayden @Vulpas Valu quickly moved semi-crouching to the side of his lordship after their mortal who seemed to have power over the Empyrean - if he was right in having heard rumors of these 'psykers' - spoke up to the 'rescue team'. He whispered low, but loud enough for his lordship to hear. "Thank you, and apologies again, milord. I'm more of a medic, less of a rifleman. And I'm more used of combat against men, not mutated pest. I will penal myself to two hours of shooting range training in order to make up for my shortcomings." The 'khornate human' was panting a bit, working the adrenaline of the combat off and having faced near death, who knows what would have happened without Fera being there in time. His serviceship was so devoted even that only now he scanned the area, as good as he could with the clouds of smoke and dust in the way, whether anyone needed medical treatment or not.
As much as Ausarius may wish to speak, he did not - instead simply tidying himself and resting his spear atop his shoulder and watching the others. A glance over towards the other Astartes gave him enough of a sign that he could see they were of the same mindset; it may be best to leave these to the smaller ones. Still, he'd not wait for it. Instead of staying put, the Thousand Son would stroll forth quite casually and confidently, tapping his weapon against the ground as he went in the direction of the voice. Even if the (presumably) devout Imperial were to see him, it was easy to view how he didn't radiate malevolence and a desire to commit carnage; but he simply seemed to wish to be a content man who was off on a stroll. Rat bloodspatters not withstanding, of course.
"Indeed, we are miner," Fera said coming out into the light so she could be seen by the miners, "Quite a vermin problem you have here," Fera said notioning to the dead rats, Voxing satharn @Jorimel She quitely gave him a message on a private channel silencing her outside speakers"Satharn if things get hairy think you are in a postion to quickly get into that vehicle and take control?" She asked before turning back on her speakers to talk to the miners. "Quite a machine you have there miners, got a question how would you all feel on a bit of carrier change and a chance to leave this Asteroid?" Fera asked looking to them her heavy bolter hefted in her hands though not aimed at anyone once again. OOC Diplomacy attempt Defence on Fera.
"I'll give it my best," Satharn whisper-voxed back. "Good luck." Ready to move as fast as possible to secure vehicle. All out move, if that's an option, move and defence on self if not.
<Asteroid prison – lower corridors> @Jorimel @Vulpas @Uriel1339 @Kalle @Skarboy @Vlayden “Yeah, of course we would help y’all, nobody should die getting ripped to shreds by those monsters. Name’s Dave by the way, what did you say from which cell block are you…oh,” the foreman replied but stopped dead in tracks when he saw the giant figure of Ausarius stepping in front. There were four miners in total, foreman Dave and his three colleagues, and alongside their bulky drilling machine they didn’t look like they posed much of a threat. Satharn, not wanting to take his chances, skulked around the machine and using the darkness as cover, reached the other side of it flanking the mortals and getting in range for his glaive to do the work if needed. Couple of moments nobody was talking, the foreman looking as if he was processing the information in front of him. He also stepped into the light and the team would see that this Dave fellow was a human in his mid-fifties, grey beard and a craggy face betraying him for a man who did most of his life serving others or doing some hard work. There was strength visible on those features, but there was also weariness. “I..I..I mean, we would love to,” he replied to Fera’s question, “but there’s no way for us to get out of here, the Warden is running a tight ship…” and then (once again) it dawned on him what exactly did this girl suggested and a spark of hope flared in his eyes. “You would help us…these tunnels are not the place to talk about this. Come aboard and let me and my boys drive you back to Rock bottom, we can talk there in private.” The rest of the miners hopped back on the machine and cleared enough room on it for everyone to join them. They were still fearful of the big marines in their company, however what worked in team’s favor is that they were “out of favor”, meaning that none of them radiated the familiar malevolence of the servants of the Dark Gods which caused instant dread in their close vicinity, so they were capable of approaching this situation a bit diplomatically if they so desired, but were capable as likely to just slaughter these miners if they so desired because outside mechanized pickaxes and couple of stub revolvers, they had no proper weapon on themselves. Nero returned to the Caestus Assault ram and closed the ramp, his orders were to guard the extraction vessel and the former Ultramarine was too stuck on his old ways to simply disobey the order, especially when it was a sound one. The rest on the other hand were able to climb aboard the machine which basically looked like a giant mole on tracks, with the big drill in front, engine in the back and big passenger area in the middle. Everyone was able to find a room for themselves as Dave pulled the machine around and headed back down another tunnel, this one looking way more lit. He informed them that the trip would take them about half an hour so they had a bit of time to enjoy the scenery (if of course they liked to look at lots of brown and grey stone walls). “You said something about getting us out?” Dave began conversation as he drove the machine, taking a half-burned lho-stick and lighting it again, “How ‘d you plan on doing that exactly? Lot of my friends would love to get outta here but they can’t, so any kind of a way out would do wonders for us, tell y’all the truth most of us here are innocent, just meat in the grinder is’all. Fueling the Imperium’s machinery…not. More likely fueling Governor’s pockets and that fucking nephew of his who owns this place…Tell ya, this is one shitty place to be stuck in which brings me to my point…you are not here for silly old Dave or his miner-rats, are ya? You are here for the ore? Tell you what, if you are here for the ore, you are in bad luck, most of it is used and dig out, only scraps remain nowdays. But maybe we can find you some leftovers if you help us out in return…just tell us what ya need and Dave will provide!” OOC at any point in time you can slaughter Foreman Dave and his three friends if you want and seize the drilling machine. They won’t be able to resist you. I expect to write the next post a bit sooner than usual <Asteroid prison – upper part> @DeranVendar @WanderingJester @Taec @High_Adept_Zeth @Grall_Stonefist Being quick to assess the situation, Sobek interfaced with the heavy combat servitor’s protocols and sent the soon-to-be bomb straight towards the outer hangar doors. Just in time though as the thing indeed attempted to get closer to the group, the firing of the Death Guard and his new servant, which by the way nodded fast in response and grabbed the controls to open fire with the lascannon into the former friend of his, did nothing as the heavy servitor was simply built to withstand such things. Thankfully the former Cyrabor did most of the work and overrode the controls that were in charge of servitor’s movement, sending it to crash at the back of the hangar. Ensuing explosion did engulf the better part of the craft that were located inside but ultimately did no damage to the team, Sobek was indeed to be commended and by no other than the “dashing rogue” that once again showed up when everything was over. “Bravo young heretek! Bravo!” Viator clapped from upstairs, surrounded by a mob of converted serfs, each of them looking beguiled by his beauty, their mouths wide open and their eyes following his every gesture. “I’ll tell Warpsmith how you behaved here, he’s surely to bestow you with some kind of a gift! But we’ll have time for pleasantries later, come my friends, you must see this.” Up inside the control center, Viator showed them couple of screens which were previously to that brought up by one of his new followers, who for a reward received a smack across his head that sent him flying into the nearby console, breaking his neck. The screen showed the layout of this part of the station as well as the current state of the defenders. And there were lots of them – servitors in their dozens, lots of sailing crew, prison guards, all in all quite a welcoming party. “Interesting, so many of them here, a man would question such strategy if he knows that the actual prison is below us,” the Scion of Slaanesh grinned and pointed at two red lines that were supposed to represent the shortest way to reach the command center that was couple of levels above. “What do you say, we go in the brute way or take a scenic route?” Choice for advancing on the control center, pick one: 1. Direct attack “Brute way”; straight through the central corridors, up the main elevator and into the command deck. Shortest way but expect hardest opposition. Mix of vehicles, elite servitors, enforcers. 2. Flanking attack “Scenic route”; go around through the living quarters and a small “civilian” area (used for recreation while the guards are off duty), up the side staircases and come on the command deck from a different direction. Longer way but should be filled with less opposition. Expect various forms of arbites, light vehicles and supporting forces. Keep in mind that due to somewhat of a communications blackout due to the scrapcode coming from “Nightfall”, it won’t be easy for the defenders to bring up reinforcements on demand. Corbulus:7 Orghast:11(LC Sentinel:3) Erelak:9 Sobek:7 (HB servitor:3) Gorzkha:8 Viator:25 Viator’s fan club:20
