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The Fallen Star- my IGT Scenario a.k.a: The one with the gravity

Started by Aurelius 12, March 28, 2011, 02:38:56 AM

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Aurelius 12

Hi all, here is a pretty long, (but hopefully interesting) battle report based on the scenario I GMed at the IGT. It's been slightly modified based on the fact I was daft and didn't bother taking notes, and I've cut out a few of the less-heroic or less interesting bits. Big thanks to all the players that made it happen! I've almost certainly misspelled some of the names so please feel free to correct me if that is the case!

Also (and I really hope you don't mind Gav) I've put links to the pictures that Gav took of the game. Hope they'll add something to the story!


The Fallen Star

Something is rotten in the system of Gomorrah. The system's planets broil with sedition and unrest. From the glittering palaces of Gomorrah II to the foetid underhives of her sister sides are being chosen. Politicians, generals and preachers alike vie for the support of their fellow men, while abhumans flock to their demagogic brothers. The entire system stands on the brink of collapse, and civil war is almost a certainty.

Plying the space lanes between the planets is a host of vessels; traders, bulk carriers, Arbites picket ships, none have escaped the tumult on the surface, and even now there is talk of mutiny and dissent.

One such vessel is the Rising Star, a luxury cruise liner with twelve-thousand souls aboard. Three souls aboard shine perhaps more brightly than any other; for the turbulence in the Gomorrah system has attracted no less than three members of the Emperor's most holy Inquisition. Three deeply Puritan individuals, each unaware of the other, each with their own agenda...


Helena Kayne inspected the letter with unease, it spoke of a most troubling and unforeseen development; she had suspected that the vile forces of Chaos would, at the very least capitalise on the rapidly collapsing situation, but she had assumed that any activity would be confined to the planets. The revelation that cultists were planning to conduct some sort of ritual on board this very ship had surprised her to say the least, but it was her duty to investigate the letter's claims.

Quickly she summoned Jeremiah and Vannon to her cabin and began to don her carapace armour. Whatever happened, she would be ready...



Inquisitor Alexandros inspected the letter with unease, it spoke of a most troubling and unforeseen development. The very notion that a relic as sacred as the heart of Saint Daedalus could be used for such foul and nefarious things filled his blood with rage, and made him seethe. He had shown the letter to Joe and Tinman and they were in agreement; the heretics would burn...



Inquisitor Ro wanted to retch. The stench of betrayal and heresy filled the Rising Star as the stench of blood fills an abattoir. The debauched lifestyles of the Gomorrahn nobility, their petty squabbling and constantly shifting allegiances were, as far as Ro was concerned, enough to condemn them all as traitors. Not that the terror cell he was working with were much better. Ro cared little for their claims of 'a new dawn' and had tried his best not to display his disdain when the cell leader had read a missive from their high-leader. Nevertheless, the cult had provided him with useful information, and the means to bring the scum on board to their end.
His musings were cut short by the sound of shuffling feel and heavy breathing. 'What is it vermin?' he spat.
The creature touched its engorged hand to what passed for its forehead,
'Excusssse me Marster b-b-but the chargesss have been shet asss you requessteded.'
'Good. Now get out of my sight.'
'Yesss Marster, whatever you ssssay sssir.'
Ro span around, smacking the mutant across the face,
'Quiet' he hissed, 'can't you hear that?'
Above their heads there came the unmistakable sound of footsteps on metal plating. Someone was here...


The Set Up
Helena and Alexandros and their respective parties deploy on opposite sides of the board. Both of them are searching for a distinctive looking reliquary, under the belief that the other side means to do something horrific and Chaos-y with it should they get a hold of it. Their mission is simple, find the box, grab it and get out. Meanwhile Ro and his mutant acolyte are hiding in the area, having planted several explosive devices. As the game begins, Helena has just spotted the reliquary.


The Hab Dome was unlike anywhere else on the Rising Star, or indeed any ship Helena had been on before; beneath her feet she felt soil and asphalt, and above her hung a low blue-grey sky. It was almost as though there was a small patch of Gomorrah V floating in the void. According to the ship's brochure the vista laid out before her was an exact reproduction of Sub-Hive Alpha Seven Septimus, the birthplace of one of Gomorrah's greatest heroes. Even the air in the dome was real; taken from the Sub-Hive itself and restocked every visit to ensure its freshness. Not that the freshness of the air was Helena's primary concern, from her position at the base of the hab-block she could clearly see the reliquary, sitting atop a dais outside the ruins of a one-story dwelling. Without wasting any time she broke from cover, keeping her head low as she made for the box. Close behind her, Vannon checked his pistol, if there was any trouble he would be ready for it. 

Ro, not a subtle man by nature, set off to find the interlopers. They were all dead anyway, but he had no interest in witnesses. He cocked and primed his boltgun, before tracing the holy sigils inscribed on his sacred weapon.

Alexandros and Tinman set off towards the nearest building, the soles of their armoured boots slamming into the asphalt, Joe heading up the stairs to try and find a better vantage point. They knew where the reliquary was supposed to be, but whether the ritual had begun already was impossible to tell. Tinman's auspex had told them only one thing; they weren't alone. 
(Tinman, Joe and Alexandros)

Jeremiah could feel the itching behind his eyeballs again. He shivered and tried to focus. They'd taken his drugs away from him when he got on board, Helena had always accepted his habit, but she'd done nothing to stop the Star's security forces from confiscating his stash. When Helena had shown him and Vannon the letter he'd agreed to go along as always, but he just couldn't concentrate. The sweats and the headaches were getting worse and worse, and eventually he started to lag behind. Now he was standing in the entrance to the Hab Dome, and that alone was enough to freak him out. One second he was standing on the deck of some spacecraft, and the next, he was in the middle of some hive. Things only got worse after he'd thrown up; the first thing he saw when he finished vomiting was a horrific mutant. Without thinking he drew his pistols and loosed off a shot at the foul creature.

The round slammed into the deck beside Ro's acolyte, but the beast paid it little attention; he was always getting shot at, or hit, and it would take much more than a little bullet to stop him. Without a second thought the mutant set off in pursuit of its master.

Helena grabbed the reliquary with both hands, plucking it from the pedestal. As she turned to flee, she noticed a faint beeping noise coming from the hab ruins. Before she could do anything, the bombs went off. The structure collapsed sending out a cloud of dust and shrapnel, Helena was caught in the blast, but remained standing, her injuries superficial. Others were not so lucky. A second blast vaporised the entrance behind Alexandros and his men, the shockwave knocking Joe to the floor. A series of blasts rippled through the whole ship, shaking the dome's foundations.

Helena struggled through the smoke back to Vannon, who had been thrown to the ground by the explosions, with the reliquary firmly in her grasp there was little she could do to help her bodyguard, but she was confident he wasn't in any serious danger. Not wanting to tarry any longer than usual, she staggered past him and started to climb the stairs to her escape.

Ro had been expecting the blasts, although he was grudgingly impressed by his wretched acolyte's performance. He hadn't however expected anyone to survive it, so when he saw a woman staggering out of the smoke, clutching something no-doubt heretical and alien, he was glad he'd brought his boltgun. Ro marched along the gantry, just shy of the top of the staircase, ready to deal out the Emperor's justice.

As Alexandros made his way around the back of the now-flattened dwelling his companion Tinman drew out a demolition charge and affixed it to a quad bike before gunning the throttle and jamming it open, sending the bike straight through the flames, towards the building containing both Helena and Ro's entire group.

Jeremiah had no idea of the impending threat, but that wasn't really surprising given that he had very little idea about anything; the creature he'd shot at had limped off, totally ignoring his attack, then the whole deck had started to shake as though in an groundquake. He'd barely been able to keep his footing, and it hadn't done his stomach any good either. Sweating and shivering he made his way along the walkway, wondering if he really had seen a mutant.

Jeremiah really had seen a mutant, but right now the mutant had little interest in Jeremiah, instead he was limping after his lord and master, eager to do his bidding and not receive a hiding. To his right he heard the unmistakable roar of a petrol engine, and turned to see the quad bike barrelling down towards the building. 'Marster!,' he cried, 'Loooook ooooout!'

The abomination wasn't the only one who spotted the bike, Helena saw it too and quickly changed her mind about the stairs, she turned and ran, clutching the box tightly to her chest, she hurled herself around the corner and past another building, praying to the Emperor for protection. Vannon looked up to see the bike's wheels bearing down on him, he scrambled to his feet, grabbing his laspistol as he did, hot on his mistress' heels.

Ro too heard the engine, as well as his servant's warning cry, he turned, raised his boltgun and squeezed the trigger, loosing off a couple of bolts at the speeding bomb.
The first round slammed into the ground, showering the bike with a fine spray of dust and dirt, the second round was far more effective, blowing out the bike's front right wheel, sending it swerving off to the side. For a brief moment it looked as though the bike would miss the building, that Helena's dash for cover had been the sign of an overly-cautious mind.
Then Tinman pulled the trigger.

The explosion atomised the bike, and tore apart the corner of the building. The blast slammed into Inquisitor Ro, shards of hot jagged metal cut into his gut, but he was saved from more severe injuries thanks to his power armour. Unfortunately the gantry he was standing on did not fare so well, it gave an agonising groan before the metal gave way, plunging Ro down into the flames below.

On the far side of the dome, Joe made his way along the balcony, rifle ready to pick off any survivors. His rifle's powerpack hummed gently as he scoured the blasted ruins for a target. Inside his helmet he grinned; Tinman might make the bigger bang, but he could do more with a single bullet than his scarred friend could do with a whole satchel of bombs.
The latest explosion ringing in his ears, Jeremiah staggered around the corner and looked around. On the far side of the staircase was another platform, and with the bulkhead behind him now firmly sealed, this looked like his best way out. His depth perception shot to hell by the blinding lights and constant itching he totally misjudged the jump however, and tumbled head over heels down the staircase, landing right behind the mutant. Jeremiah let out a whimper and drew himself up into a ball, praying that the mutant really was a figment of his rapidly deteriorating mind.

Fortunately the mutant's mind was elsewhere. He watched in horror as his master, and the floor in front of him, disappeared. He let out a cry of surprise and swung down to ground level, using his abnormally large hand to give him leverage on the unsteady gantry. To the creature's relief, Ro had avoided the worst of the flames, and was already getting to his feet.

As the last echoes of the explosion died away, Helena could feel the constant erratic shuddering of the Star beneath her feet. Garbled vox messages reported hull breaches, plasma coil overdrives and massive firestorms raging throughout the ship. The vessel's senior crew had been wiped out in the first few minutes, and there was nothing damage control could do to save the ship. 

All this and she still had no idea who they were fighting. Helena swore she heard a boltgun moments before the last blast, but she hadn't seen the gunman. Somehow she doubted all this was the work of Chaos cultists, especially as she was still carrying the reliquary. Whatever the case, it was clear that she needed a way off the ship and fast.

As if in answer to her silent prayer, a mechanical whirring sound filled the dome, she looked up to see a bright orange mercy-pod descending from the curved gantries high above.
'This is a passenger announcement.' Blared the [Star]'s female announcer, 'Emergency evacuation procedures are now in effect. All Primaris class passengers should make their way to the nearest mercy-pod for evacuation. All Secundas and Tertiary class passengers should remain where they are. That is all.'

Helena didn't bother to check her ticket, she turned back towards the pod, and set off, Vannon in toe as always.

Tinman made his way towards his newly formed crater, admiring his handiwork, from afar. The sheer amounts of smoke and debris made for tough going, and he almost stumbled blindly into a broken pedestal lying on its side.

Joe flexed his gloved hand as he leant into the rifle. Down below, Alexandros was making his way towards the wreckage of the exploded quad bike, but Joe paid him little heed. The power armoured figure was getting back to his feet, shrugging off the assistance of his grotesque assistant. A few more seconds, and the big guy was his.

Helena barrelled up the remains of the staircase, easily avoiding the fallen masonry and sheer metal beams in her way. Slipping the reliquary down under one arm she grabbed a bundle of wires overhead, using her momentum to swing herself around the corner and onto the remains of the gantry. As she stepped onto the metal walkway the box slipped from under her arm, but some quick thinking from the inquisitor prevented it from falling into the flames she had crossed mere moments earlier. 

Down on the ground Ro watched Helena's acrobatics with a mix of disdain and anger, spinning on the spot he barged his acolyte to one side and set off after her, the unmistakeable roar of his boltgun drowning out the sounds of the fires. The first few rounds slammed into the masonry behind her, blowing chunks of wall across the gantry. Despite her athleticism Helena was no match for the power armoured giant and his final shot found its target. The bolt detonated with a deafening roar, and Helena's arm was reduced to a shattered husk. She staggered back in pain, teetering on the lip, the flames licking at her ankles. She struggled in vain to overcome the blinding agony, but the loss of a limb proved too much, and she collapsed into the welcome embrace of unconsciousness.

Tinman watched as Helena's body fell backwards into the ruins. Not wanting a confrontation with the harbinger of her death he decided discretion was the better part of valour and made a break for the mercy-pod.

As Joe's finger began to squeeze on the trigger Ro smacked his companion to the side, right into his sights. Joe swore under his breath and tried to compensate but the target was too fast. Still, Joe was never one to miss an opportunity, and as the mutant swayed into his crosshairs he fired.

The abomination let out a grunt of pain, he felt an icy cold in his chest and looked down. His brow creased into a confused scowl, its bulbous ridges more hideous than usual. A faint smile, the first for many years, crossed his lips as he realised that this might finally be the moment of his death. He slumped to the floor, a wet sucking noise coming from where his lungs had been only seconds earlier. 

There was a garbled announcement over the vox, all Alexandros could make out was something about 'artificial gravity generators' and 'cascading failures'. The dome's lumination units flickered and the inquisitor found himself falling backwards. He gave a cry of alarm and tried to find something to cling on to, but his hands grasped at thin air. In his last moments he may have taken comfort in the fact that the air was harvested from Sub-Hive Alpha Seven Septimus, but that isn't particularly likely. He slammed into the dome's wall, the cracking of his armour against the glass masking the sound of his spine snapping.

Tumbling masonry and beams fell from the crumbling structures, a vast waterfall of plascrete and steel falling sideways as the Star's gravimetric generators tried to compensate for the overwhelming structural damage and re-assigned the gravity tethers in an attempt to hold the burning wreck together.

Helena and the mutant never stood a chance, their unconscious bodies falling through the rubble, their limbs twisted into inhuman geometries as they bounced off of the sub-hive's walls. Vannon too lost his footing, and though he tried desperately to find purchase, his fingers grasping at the asphalt wall, there was none to be found, and his desperate fumblings were rewarded with little more than broken and bloodied fingers. Joe didn't even get that luxury; so desperate to preserve his precious rifle that he never even considered putting his arms out.

Ro fared much better however; as the world began to slip away he activated his power fist, plunging the crackling weapon deep into the deck, firmly holding him in place. He looked up, by some miracle the mercy-pod was still fixed in place, barely twenty yards above him. With an oath to the Emperor on his tongue he began the climb.

Tinman too was able to find purchase on the ruins, he had tried to give Joe a warning but it had come too late. He had no idea where Alexandros was either, although that wasn't his concern; if the inquisitor wasn't able to look after himself then clearly he wasn't the sort of inquisitor one should be allied to. Above him clung the mercy-pod, and, he reminded himself, so long as the pod was still here there was still a way off the ship.

Jeremiah was not having a good day. First somebody had taken his drugs away, then he'd been sick and imagined a mutant wandering around. Then the ship had blown up, and he'd fallen down some stairs. Then his boss had had her arm blown off, and just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, the floor had turned into a wall. He'd also been sick again. Still, he reasoned, at least he was alive, and the mercy-pod hadn't left yet...

The three men began their climbs, each struggling towards the mercy-pod. The flames beneath them licked up like snakes-tongues hungry for their next victim, seconds later Tinman obliged, his burned and bandaged fingers unable to keep his grasp on the wall. With a scream of defiance he lost his grip, and fell into the flames beneath him, landing in a burning crumpled heap.

The abomination stirred, his head hurt and his back felt sore, but once again he wasn't dead. With a shake of his head he came to his senses. Far above him he saw his master, clambering up what had been the floor. And where the master went, he was sure to follow. Ignoring the fires lapping at his legs, he began his long and arduous climb.

Ro was almost there, he could smell the promethium fuel and grease fumes spilling off of the mercy-pod. He had heard the screams of the man in white as he'd fallen, but there was still the small matter of getting on board, and getting rid of the competition, who was no doubt a heretic anyway. He swung himself up onto the pod, then drew his boltgun and fired.

This really was the worst day Jeremiah could remember, granted he spent most of his days in a drug addled haze but that really wasn't the point. Now, not only had he been sick several times, fallen over and hallucinated mutants but now someone was shooting at him with a boltgun. Fortunately they had missed, and for the first time in his adult life Jeremiah was experiencing a moment of pure sobriety. A total sense of clarity, he could see the whole of his life in a second; the past actions which had lead to this moment, and the whole of his future lying before him. All he needed to do was take a leap of faith; to jump across to the mercy-pod. Jeremiah knew with absolute certainty that the Emperor would protect him, that he would be lifted up on angelic wings, delivered from all harm by the God-Emperor's divine mercy.

Jeremiah took a deep breath, made the sign of the Aquila, and leapt out into the void...

Ro watched with some amusement as the heretic plunged to his death in the flames below. He was about to fire off the mercy-pod  when he heard a familiar moan from below.
'Don't worry marster, I'm commmiiiinnng.'

Ro spat out a curse. Why wouldn't the foul abomination just die? He leant over the edge.
'Damn you, you warp-touched freak. I'm leaving in thirty seconds and if you're not on board then I'm leaving you to burn.'

He adjusted the setting on his power fist. The abomination would need to be taught a lesson for its tardiness...



As you can see the game ended rather bloodily with only 2 of the 8 starting characters surviving. Matt's epic fail in the final seconds of the game (4 dice, all he has to do is jump, rolls 4 1s!) lead to Jeremiah falling in excess of 40 yards and thus taking at least 328 points of damage. Meaning not only were Gav's force the only ones near the escape pod, they were the only ones left alive. Helena, Alex, Joe and Vannon all fell too far to survive, and Tinman's fall (while short) ended up with him being barbecued and blown up by his own demo charges. 
And the Saint did weep when she saw how lost the people were. Seven tears fell upon Gomorrah. Seven tears to wash away their sin. A deluge of heavenly tears drowned their world in an ocean of forgiveness. The people cleansed in a sea of nuclear fire.

greenstuff_gav

thanks for the write-up, really enjoyed it (along with the scenario! )  ;D

we (the players) were provided with nifty hand-written notes and we tried to listen to the nifty sound effects, but the halls noise didn't make that possible :(

G
i make no apologies, i warned you my ability to roll ones was infectious...

Build Your Imagination

jakob

That was a great read, very entertaining. Very, very bloody though, I got to say. Ro and his mutant were great, give them time and I'm sure a touching bromance will blossom. I would love to hear more from Jeremiah and his blackly comic adventures sometime in the future. Good stuff
Medic! MEDIC! . . We need some super-glue over here!

MarcoSkoll

It certainly sounds like it was a very entertaining scenario.

I remember Kaled coming over while I was killing Kaede Mack(s) to tell us "On that table, up is now sideways" or words to that effect.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

Stormgrad

yeah likewise i remember kaled comming over and saying that and i was suddenly less interested in the scenario i was gming and more curious as to what Up is sideways now ment