<Mission#3 Briefing - Armory phase> @Draconion @kanila @bossaroo @Maleth @Skarboy @Kalle @Grall_Stonefist @Vulpas @Vlayden @Wata "Indeed, someone with the experience fighting against the metal worshipers would be preferred however since there is no one like that here and more importantly, this is the task I'm sending you on, I'm going to chose the leader as well," Zar'uil said and tossed the crystal key over to Aesra (@kanila ). "Aesra will be in charge of this expedition," a double-edged sword for the Beastmaster, no doubt, "Remember, I want the box untouched. If any of you tries to tamper with it, I'll see it and then kill every single one of you, no matter your position, so watch over your comrades so they don't end up ruining everything for all of you. No go to the armory and prepare. You leave in an hour." Dismissed from the Archon's court, everyone was escorted into the Armory few floors below where they could get ammo for their guns as well as couple of additional things. But more importantly, Kouron came few minutes later carrying a familiar device and putting it on one of the tables. "This is the Webway portal generator, you'll use it for your extraction," the Dracon began, pointing at the device, "You'll go in on one of the Raiders we modified just for your group, it has an increased passenger capacity, the support will be provided by six recruits in total, two groups of three who were tutored by Ave'ras and Thû respectably, and depending on your leader's choice, they can go with you or stay on the Raider during your expedition for providing backup." "As for the enemy positions, this is the info we got - they have a main facility built on top of the central ruins where they conduct most of their digging. However, they also have another smaller facility, a research outpost 50 miles away from the main facility which is connected to it by an underground tram. The Webway gate you'll use for entrance is located somewhat close to this outpost so I suggest you infiltrating it and then use the tram to get to the main dig site and into the ruins below. Given the fact the temperatures outside are well below freezing, I think this should be the best way for you to pull this off." "The vault you're looking for is somewhere in the main palace building, however where is that exactly, we don't know, so expect to do some walking through the dig site." "Do you have any more questions? If not, the transport is waiting for you in the hangar outside. Finally, be mindful of your actions during this mission - succeed in it, and you'll become proper higher ranking officers within the Kabal, the place from which you can only go up." OOC you can take 3 grenades (haywire, smoke, poison, plasma, blind, incendiary, cryo) and 2 doses of combat drugs: - Serpentin (d6 bonus on your next d3 attacks) - Adrenalight (an extra attack for d3 rounds) - Heartfire (after each suffered wound your blood "explodes", doing AoE damage on all characters in your close vicinity for d3 rounds) - Final Breath (after every successful attack a d6 is rolled, on 5,6 you instakill your opponent, for d3 rounds) Keep in mind that, due to the fact Dark Eldar combat drugs are highly toxic, after the effect wears off I'll roll an additional dice for possible drawback such as losing some hp, getting stunned, etc. Therefore taking combat drugs is optional.
Snatching the crystal key from the air Aesra nodded to the Archon. Without saying a word he turned and marched out of the Hall and straight for the armory. A savage grin across his face hidden behind his mask, more opportunities to show the Archon was right in keeping him as the soul beastmaster in the Kabal lay ahead. Grabbing two haywire grenades and one plasma grenade as well as a dose of Serpentin and Final Breath he made ready to join his next rendezvous with destiny! @Draconion and @bossaroo "The ones you are training are yours to do what you will with. Take them or leave them, it's on you." With that said he headed for the Raider, anything else could be addressed on the journey. He didn't want to delay his glorious rise to power any further. With his Razorwings and Helspider in tow he boarded the Raider.
Looking around in the armoury, the Incubus gave little more than a shrug. "Any ranged weapons I can take with me?" She asked through the helm - as much as she was satisfied with her Punisher, she knew that there would be cases where her weapon would be insufficient, and she'd not be able to reach a target; having something else would do well enough. Her gaze at Aesra was oh too obvious, as though... Judging her - seeing what her response may be, both to her gaze and being assigned as a leader.
Strolling through the different racks of weaponry, armor, and equipment, Kholivaz emitted a sigh even as he ran a finger along the barrel of a splinter rifle in passing. Such an abundance of armaments and yet nothing truly caught his eye here. Every manner of blade, toxin, shackle.. Yet nothing could compare to what the returned Commorrite truly yearned for. With time, I shall return.. And this selection is utterly disappointing. He had come to pause at the selection of combat drugs, finding a maddening mix of concoctions that he had never even heard of coming to the fore. Such was the ever evolving market for combat aids for warriors and thrill-seekers alike wishing for every advantage they could scrape up, that even one who had once sworn by a few select boosts himself could not recognize even half of those on display. Has the demand for Grave Lotus ceased? Or is it just these Trueborn Kabalites who can't enjoy an enemy breaking beneath a swing given ten-fold it's own power? Regardless, there had been a reason that Kholivaz Scarnax had never done away with the injector placed into his arm. Despite the piss poor concoctions of Corsairs not even tickling the most base parts of his mind, he knew that eventually he might get his hands on something that could save his wretched life. Arrogant to a fault, beneath the sneering facade slept a survivalist willing to use every nasty and underhanded trick in the fleshbound tome of Dark Eldar Dickery to save his own hide. To that end a pair of vials were quickly pocketed into the equipment belt hidden beneath the sash at his waist, Adrenalight and Final Breath, a nasty combination for an agile and relentless combatant like the former Helliarch. Ever the innovative mind and wondering at just what wonderful bouts of alchemical mayhem he might wreak on the grunting and screeching Mechanicum, Plasma, Incendiary, and Cryo soon followed. Unlike the vials of combat aids, they were stored along the various weapon belts and bandoleers that were strewn about his worn armor. It did not take long for his boots to grace the deck of their craft, eyeing each of it's crew and each of his companions in turn, before those pits of midnight turned to eagerly watch the infamously unfriendly skies. With time, I shall return. I've more of a right to the Middle Darkness than any other wretch beneath the stolen suns.
Thû watches in silence as Zar'uil hands over command to Aesra. The Beastmaster is in a perilous position. No doubt, he has genuinely impressed the Archon to some degree to be favoured for command twice in a row. However, he cannot shake the feeling that the Archon is also watching him, waiting for him to slip up somehow. In any case, his own job is clear - keep watch from the shadows and ensure the job gets done. In this case, that the mysterious box makes it back to the Archon, untampered-with. Though, he has to admit he himself is curious as to its contents. But not too curious - curiosity has killed many an unwary soul before now. In the armoury, Thû helps himself to a trio of plasma grenades, and makes certain to test, re-test and triple-test his thrice-damned haywire pistol before holstering it with a final suspicious glance. Motioning to his new Enforcers - suitably clad in disruptive camouflage in shades of white, grey and blue - he gathers them for a quiet briefing in a private corner. Casting his eye over them, he reflects on how two days have been vastly insufficient for training. This lot is going to have to learn on the job. "Follow my lead, obey my orders and maintain tactical discipline at all times. Your duties for now are to provide fire support at range with your splinter rifles, and to watch for dissent or treason from within the ranks. Other than that, stay stealthy and move fast. Any questions?"
"Oh, Venessia you should stick to what you are good at." Kaesar walked into the armory, brushing by Venessia awfully close and running a hand over her behind and small of her back. "That would be up, close and personal." He walked past her and grabbed two incendiary and one cryo grenade.
With Aesra being made the leader of the group, Heltherith didn't let her frustration out (considering it likely meant that she was either under suspicion or seen as too eager to please) but instead decided to think about how she was going to get what she want. As she headed down into the Armoury, she already had the seed of an idea as to how she'd work around those limitations like not being able to tamper with the box (it may be a buff, but odds are that she had to take that seriously given that everyone else would likely do so.) So when it came to her gear, she grabbed two plasma and a haywire grenade and ignored the drugs once more as her perperations for the mission. However the mention of Ave'ras and Thû as being the trainers of this lot of 'help' was something she considered interesting, and helped to narrow down who she should be asking about to find out the purpose of the 'help' when this mission was done with.
<Arrival on Kelih> @Draconion @kanila @bossaroo @Maleth @Skarboy @Kalle @Grall_Stonefist @Vulpas @Vlayden @Wata OOC to those of you who haven't taken nades or combat drugs, you can do it retroactively with your next post @Vlayden @Wata "Here, take this," Kouron took a splinter pistol from a nearby rack and tossed it over to Venessia. "That should cover it. Also," he took the portal device and handed it over to Kaesar. "If I learned anything for all these years, it is that the Incubi are the most reliable of all soldiers a man could have under his command. This device is your way-out ticket, you can activate it at any time and it will create an entrance into Webway that will lead you to safety, so you better watch over it as if your life depends on it, because it most likely is. Now go and make the Kabal proud." Leaving the armory and the spire itself, the team would find their designated transport waiting on them in front of the main hangar below. A modified version of the classic Raider vehicle, this one exchanged smaller holding area for more room on the main deck as well as getting two additional mounted splinter rifle turrets that could be manned alongside the frontal dark lance turret. Enforcers belonging to Ave'ras were already on it as well as the pilot, but besides them there was no one else here so pretty much what the Archon told them was true - they were more or less, alone on this task. Once everyone was on board, the pilot activated the grav engines and the craft lurched forward, towards the Webway gate and the interdimension beyond. Local gate was thankfully now completely under Crimson Moon's control so reaching it wasn't as problematic as it was before, so the trip was quite uneventful. Entering the Webway itself and traversing the paths took them a bit longer than usual, for the world of Kelih was somewhat isolated and only couple of older routes led to it, thus requiring more concentration while navigating but in the end, they reached the place without any intrusions from the neverborn. First thing that welcomed once the Raider "stepped foot" on the world was cold. Dark Eldar or Eldar in general are much more resilient to bad weather, therefore actually feeling cold (from the elements) was something that was quite surprising, although in the supply boxes aboard their transport they could find proper clothing to cover themselves if need arises. Their current location was a giant underground cave, ice covering pretty much everything and the actual gate that led them here was in a bad shape, for it didn't look like it was used in quite some time. But all of that was irrelevant for the scions as the pilot set course upward, the Raider's sharp prow clearing any and every obstacle nature set before them and soon after, they gazed upon the surface of the ice world. Blizzard was raging all around them, the sun hidden behind grey clouds and the visibility field brought to minimum to those without means to see through the hazards. But if anything, they had a tracking device aboard their transport that was showing the location of the Mechanicus' outpost, which was to the east, the confirmation soon coming from their pilot as well. "Data shows the target is dead ahead, couple of miles to the east. However I'm picking up two more signs, one from the north from where we are at the moment, seems like some sort of a relay beacon with few life signs around it, 3 miles in that direction, and the other from the south. Bigger concentration of life signs there as well as some readings concerning machinery or sorts. Your orders?" he asked, looking at Aesra for guidance. If they would look towards the north, even through the blizzard they could see great forest looming all around in that direction that slowly went up as the far away mountains rose to meet the sky. On the other side, if their gaze went southwards they could see similar sight with the forest however beyond the greenery they could spot a wide flat area dominating the landscape. And finally, if they looked eastward they could spot snowy dunes as far as their eyes could see, the location of the outpost hidden from their sight in the middle of all that white. Archon never said this task should be done quickly, so perhaps they had some time for sightseeing? After all, this was a world holding ancient Eldar ruins, so visiting such place is bound to have a "pleasing" effect on one's spirit!
Briefing & Armory Kadara slipped into her regular no-nonsense, all-business attitude while she listened to the Archon's briefing, quietly checking her Kabalite armor's joints, plates, and pouches. It wouldn't do to have any maladjustment restrict her movement when it counts. Her splinter rifle was slung over her back, her pistol holstered on her left hip, her monomolecular knife on the right. Her visor's red glare betrayed no emotion and neither did her face beneath it. She was concentrated on processing the Archon's orders. Crack defenses. She could do that. Collect package, unopened. She could do that, too. Exit. She could definitely do that. Simple enough, she thought to herself. Easy was a different matter, though. The Mechanicus were unusually hardy mon-keigh, by all accounts. Like the Tau, however, they relied on technology and not physical prowess. Three haywire grenades would do the job, and though she was loath to admit it, her own martial power might not be quite enough to take on these mon-keigh and their damnable machines, so she resolved to collect three doses of Serpentin. The Raid @kanila Emerging from the Webway, Kadara felt the cold hit her like a splash of refreshing ice water. She felt her body tense and ease as it acquainted itself with the new environ, acclimatizing. Neglecting to make use of the warm winter clothing offered, she stepped forwards instead to the front of the Raider, where she put a hand on Aesra's shoulder. "Straying from the course and striking at the outlying positions could strip them of reinforcements," she advised him. "The main force is guarding something. They're likely under orders to cling to their prize, whatever happens. But if word gets to them that their allies are under attack, we'll lose the element of surprise. I say we go straight for our objective, hit them hard and fast, and collect our package before they can regroup. Your move, Beastmaster," she concluded, stepping back from their leader.
Armoury The Incubus looked over the splinter pistol with a nod of satisfaction, holding it firmly in her hand; it has been many months since she held one of these. The last time she recalled being some ridiculous shoot-out where she stole it off some poor Kabalite; ahh~, the good days of infighting... She didn't waste any time and took two Plasma grenades, and One Haywire grenade; quite content with them as she slotted them onto her belt. Though looking to Kaesar ( @Wata ) she'd 'bash' him with her rear in a joking manner, at least managing to somewhat knock him to the side before going on her way. ------ The cold was a pleasant surprise, with what little she felt through her Incubus armour; if she could, she'd probably ditch it and keep to simpler clothes. She wouldn't admit it to anyone here, not in a lifetime, but she always enjoyed such simple things. Weather, relaxation - anything that a Commorite would never get in the Dark City, but would find off on normal worlds. This was a blizzard, sure, but she found it so refreshing. Admittedly, she did glance over towards Heltherith ( @Maleth ) every so often, mild humorous notions coming to mind, before finding a portion of the railing to lean against. If she could, she'd want to see about manning the turrets (And that blasted dark lance that she always dreamed of), but alas... She must wait.
