Main Menu

News:

If you are having problems registering, please e-mail theconclaveforum at gmail.com

IGT2016 - the PoV of Inquisitor Mordecai

Started by mcjomar, April 10, 2016, 08:35:43 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

mcjomar

Hey, that's MY coffin!

Mordecai advanced through the forest, flanked by Verena and Violet.

He had discovered that all his work orchestrating the transportation and organisation of Inquisitor Lord Hartmann's casket had become unravelled, possibly by the actions of another power. Many of his organisations and cells had somehow been suborned - enough that his network had become compromised. Compromised enough that someone had managed to steal the Hartmann casket. This was unacceptable - the purging of his cell network to repair it would begin later. First a recovery operation, and perhaps capture of opportune targets for information gathering, God-Emperor willing.

The forest wasn't too thick. Clearly this planet was going through whatever passed for the local version of autumn. Plenty of leaves and fallen branches carpeted the ground. They hadn't reached a point where stealth was necessary yet, but even so, they moved as best they could to avoid the worst of it.

The forest began to thin further, Mordecai hearing the engine before he saw the vehicle.
A Sentinel, looked to be a powerloader model. And it carried his casket.

"Violet, you go right and suppress or remove any likely looking targets. Verena, with me on the left, you'll be doing the same. Leave alone anyone who looks like they're in charge or who noticeably appears to be carrying anything of suitable value. You may subdue or execute any unimportant recidivists or would-be thieves as necessary."

Mordecai intended to capture the leaders himself if possible, or at least prevent the further movement of the casket while either calling in reinforcements to further clear the area, or securing the area himself if possible. Unlikely if hostile targets appeared in large enough numbers, but worth a try.

Sighting a target, Violet dived for cover, and began to aim down the sights of her autogun, breaking a branch as she did so. Thankfully nobody noticed, and Verena and Mordecai advanced from cover, slowly approaching the targets from behind.

Apparently they were in the midst of some form of negotiations, possibly violent ones given the large wall of fire involved.

"Surrender in the name of the Inquisition and prepare for Interrogation!" he boomed out as he got suitably close to the deal.

Verena moved to cover the woman on the left as he did so.

The lady in the leather jacket spun and raised her hands, taking a few steps back.
Mordecai heard Violet rattle off a shot or two at the other thief on his right, causing the man to dive for cover.

Someone in front of him in green received something from one of the opposing group and turned to run.

Mordecai took aim at the engine of the Sentinel, deciding that it was better to remove the vehicle as an option for the casket's transport, rather than risk is striding away.
As he did so, one of the opposing number ran to the sentinel, and dived through the driver's hatch.

Verena shouted at the leather-clad lady to surrender, while on the opposite side of the sentinel, Mordecai heard an explosion that could only be Violet throwing a krak grenade. The servo-arm of the sentinel shook and began to spray fluid over the nearby area, but failed to drop the casket proper.

Mordecai found himself under fire, and was thrown to the ground by the impact on his armour.
Wincing from the pain of his fresh wounds, he dived behind the sentinel, and began to carve into it with his crackling powerfist, smashing anything weak-looking he could find.
A couple of hits to the legs of the vehicle soon tore off the machinery completely, and Mordecai found himself scrambling to avoid being crushed under the weight of the ungainly walker. On his left Verena chased after the lady-thief, firing her guns and driving the woman into cover, before being forced to hit the dirt to avoid counter-fire.

On the opposite side, Violet advanced, but as she reached the next corner of the building, next to the sentinel, the pain of a bolter round to her chest caused her to black out.

Mordecai soon found himself under attack by a person with a flaming sword.
His leg set alight, knowing that at least he had stopped the immediate theft of the casket, he set about trying to defend himself from the coming onslaught, as Verena endeavoured to provide covering fire to remove at least one of the threats targeting him...


(( not knowing how the dice would have gone, with the thieves stealing a rhino in the distance, and the angry would be purchasers of the casket attempting to claim their prize, I'll leave it open for now, but Mordecai would likely at least have attempted to use powerfist-diplomacy to secure his immediate future, while Verena tried to protect him from the attackers. Although I like the idea of a flaming round-house kick to the head!))


Agents and Heretics and Space Marines! Oh my!


Mordecai and his team had been ordered to protect an agent of the Ordos. Apparently she had information vital to the defence of the Carthax sector, or at least this specific world thereof.

He had arranged for valkyrie extraction but the vehicle appeared to be late.
Deciding that remaining out in the open seemed like a bad tactical idea, he ordered Verena and Violet to clear the area, and spoke to the agent convincing her to follow him towards the nearest sturdy looking cover.

Peeking around the corner, Violet spotted a rather large bearded man moving through the ruins nearby.

"Boss, there's a big bloke over there!" she shouted back to her boss - it was somewhat windy thanks to a nearby electrical storm.

Not hearing this at all Verena continued moving off towards the ruins to the east, wondering what sort of cover they might provide.

Mordecai, concerned about the welfare of the agent, commenced watching the opposite corner of the building to violet, wondering when the extraction would arrive. He hammered at his communication device, but to no avail. It refused to reveal its secrets.

Violet saw more hostiles appear near the ruins, including a large and fiery looking man in power armour.

"Boss, there's a bloke in power armour over here now!" she shouted again.

In clearing the ruins, Verena noticed a Space Marine taking cover near the building that the Inquisitor was hiding next to.

"Inquisitor, I see a Space Marine!" she shouted.

Thinking quickly, and hoping nobody had yet identified the agent, he shouted to Violent.

"Quick, escape while you can!"

Taking the hint, Violent ran across to join up with Verena.

At that moment, the Valkyrie managed to cut through the interferences, warning the Inquisitor that there would be a delay of roughly 20 seconds.
20 seconds possibly too long!

"Quick, you must escape behind the covering fire my associates will provide, I will try to provide support for your escape!"

The agent took to her heels, running as fast as she could towards where Verena and Violet had taken cover.

Mordecai began to follow, hoping he could try to form some sort of defensive position with the others, but he never got there quickly enough.
A grenade exploded in front of him, disrupting his infrascope monocle, and spilling smoke everywhere.

Something thick pounded through the smoke - possibly the supposed Space Marine that Verena had shouted about.
Mordecai moved to follow.

As the Marine burst through the smoke, he nearly knocked Violet out of the way. Reacting violently, she responded with a krak grenade, staggering the marine, but barely injuring him at all.
The agent sprinted further away around the building, and Verena moved to follow her, but was also nearly bowled over by the Marine.

"Who are you?" she shouted, seeing what was her first Space Marine, she was in awe.

"I am Alpharius" the Marine rumbled, and she noticed the word "Imperator" on his shoulderpad, underneath the symbol of what was probably his chapter.
Assuming that the Marine had somehow been sent to aid them she shouted to him (as the valkyrie crashed down nearby) "Get the agent to safety quickly!"

The Marine charged past her after the agent attempting to pick her up under his arm.
Verena turned to find a large man with power armour and a flaming sword charging her down, apparently after knocking her Inquisitor out of the way. She dodged the attack, but coulnd't yet find a way to deal with the situation.

Having been barged out of the way, Mordecai turned to follow the clearly heretical monstrosity in power armour, unsure of the identity of the Space Marine, but convinced this supposed Inquisitor was a heretic, power armour or no.
Suddenly his powerfist sheathed left arm erupted in flame and he found himself under attack from a chainfist wielding maniac with a red beard.
He spun and attempted to smash the probable heretic in the face with his now-burning powerfist, wondering madly how he could deal with a Space Marine, Inquisitor, and crashed valkyrie.

Violet chased after the hostile Inquisitor, and attempted madly to shove her last remaining krak grenade down the back of the monster's suit. She failed miserably, and seeing a chance to deal with the massive power-armoured foe, Verena moved to take the grenade from her, and attempted the same trick.
Apparently protected by whatever foul magics imbuing his sword, the hostile Inquisitor dodged again, and the grenade exploded, taking both Verena and Violet out of the fight completely, as the pain shredded them and knocked them out.

((The game ended here, but it's safe to say that "Alpharius" likely made off with the agent - if only Verena knew more about heretics and Space Marines, she might have used her haywire grenade to shut down the Marine! Verena and Violet weren't killed outright, so it's a maybe as to how they made it out. Assuming they did, the two would have ended up being eventually healed, possibly with vat-grown limbs. I would have been hopeful for Mordecai and his flaming powerfist attacks - maybe he could at least have covered the extraction of his team if nothing else - hopefully with support from a maybe recovered valkyrie...))


Who, what, where, how, Hedges?!?

Mordecai followed the carefully disguised Verena - now recovered from her altercation with two different power armoured assailants.
Also now recovered from the lengthy "debriefing" process, and the education on what a loyalist Space Marine looks like, and what a traitorous one looks like.
Knowing post-facto that it was a member of the Alpha Legion based on her description of the symbol, and the Marine's claim to be Alpharius (unlikely, but still...) was of marginal comfort considering a valuable information source had been lost to the traitors. None at all, really, it just made things worse.

Still, the Graveel Hedgemony had finally responded to the carefully worded entreaties with an invitation.
One which he had to maintain secrecy for, and one which he also had to - against his preferred modus operandi - remain under cover for.
But orders were orders, especially those handed down by an Inquisitor Lord, and by the Emperor he would do what was needed.
Or at least try to gain whatever information he could.

The Graveel Hedgemony was a mysterious force, and an invitation to a meeting with members of their council could be a positive step.
Of course, it could be a trap, or a way to lure out potential threats.
But it had been made clear in no uncertain terms that he had to follow this up and resolve it, and his agents had managed to arrange this.

However, the representative had to arrive unarmed (or at least the appearance of such) and could only bring one bodyguard.
He elected to user Verena as his proxy, having her pretend to be him (or his cover identity in this case) while he played the part of bodyguard.
He couldn't use his Interrogator - she was busy with other matters, including covering his political bases in the region while he dealt with this matter. A suitable way to test her patience and resolve.

The meeting was located in a ruined town out on a borderworld of the sector, and they had managed to arrive on time.

With Verena leading the way, they approached a likely looking candidate for the meeting.
Other approached from the right, and they could barely make out movement on the opposite side of the building - a figure scrambling through a hole in the wall of the building.
Concerning though that was, what was even more worrying was the appearance of those moving in from the right.
Steeling himself as he began to recognize potentially heretical or warp-related styles on the figures who had now entered the building, Mordecai restrained his fury and rage - he had a mission to complete, and if he engaged the heretics now he would not have any information to bring back to his masters in the regional Ordo Hereticus.
He could purge them later - first to identify the others at this meeting, and try to find out more about the Graveel.

Verena moved inside the building, and Mordecai moved to follow.
He was stunned into silence by - and forced to step out of the way of - an ork. An albino ork. An albino ork wearing commissarial garb. Including the hat.
Purge the alien was one of the requirements passed down from the Emperor, but did his mission require more of him than he thought? Clearly this was a test of his resolve to put his duty before his personal honour - he was being weighed in the eyes of the Emperor! He would not die with his duty undone.

So thinking, he drew himself together, and followed the foul beast into the interior of the building.
The monster ended up blocking the door behind him as he moved uncomfortably into the nearest corner.

Another commissar, and the two potential heretics - clearly heretics now he got a look at them - were arguing about the table and the significance of the xenos artefact on it.
He eyes the uncomfortable looking chairs dubiously - Verena had avoided sitting on them.
The female heretic spent a moment examining the xenos construction, and pushed a button.

Here they were, in a room, trapped thanks to an ork in the doorway, and the woman was pushing buttons. Clearly she was insane.
The machine blinked, and a holographic image appeared. Disturbingly clear, and yet hidden, some xenos or other spoke to them, informing them that this meeting was regarding the assassination of the planetary governor!

Heretics, aliens, and commissars who worked with aliens.

The machine shut off, leaving the group stunned. No clear showing of a Graveel, or representative thereof, mention of a seventh member who appeared to be missing as there were only six of them in this room, three of which were purported representatives, including Verena, and an open question in his mind if any of them were even council members.

The machine began to hum, silencing the discussion that erupted around the table.
The apparent commissar reacted first, attempting to remove the item from the table, but it was clearly welded somehow to the furniture.

Mordecai agreed with the sentiment - the xenos artefact was clearly some sort of trap, possibly an explosive, and they were all gathered in here with it, unable to escape out the door past the ork.

The ork, thankfully, had blundered further into the room, and Verena, shouting "It's a trap!", dodged past the oversized xenos and out the door.

Mordecai moved first to deal with the machine, smashing down upon it with his powerfist, as the female heretic turned somehow invisible and her male partner dived acrobatically through the hole in the nearby wall of the building. The casing was merely cracked by the impact, and the hands of the commissar similarly damaged.

As the ork moved to investigate the noise, and the female heretic vanished through a wall, Mordecai elected to follow his agent out the door and start running.
Hearing a tearing noise of the table being ripped completely off the floor, and hearing the commissar order the ork to get rid of the table, Mordecai turned to find said table hurtling towards him, with the artefact still upon it.
Unable to dodge quickly enough he found himself distinctly the worse for wear, as the alien device imploded, the shockwave from which further injuring him and Verena.

Verena was first to react of the two of them, getting up and dragging him towards cover.
Managing to stumble to his feet, he began attempting to deal with his injuries.

The ork appeared in the doorway of the building and lumbered after them, as the ghostly form of the heretical woman moved behind him - the ork had strode through her?
Her male associate appeared around the side of the building, and Verena dragged him further into cover as he began to improve his condition somewhat.

Following them closely the ork bellowed interrogatives at them, as Verena attempted to turn the beasts attentions from them, warning it first of the betrayal and trap, and then of the heretics behind it and that it was under attack - just as its pistol was shot from its hand.

Having recovered himself somewhat, Mordecai climbed up onto a nearby ledge to see what was happening - he had learned enough, and now it was time to begin purging the unclean - he could easily claim protection of his agent later as part of his cover.
Leaving her to hopefully outwit the beast, he attempted to get a line of sight, just as an explosion tore through the male heretic's head, leaving him apparently dead - though one could never be entirely sure with a heretic. He would want to scour the corpse using his plasma pistol before he was satisfied.

The woman was below him, however, and Verena had clearly spotted her too, as she shouted at the ork about the witch while opening fire.

The foul witch was apparently protected by her warp powers, as she flickered out of reality, dodging the fire like some sort of warp spawned monster.
Mordecai attempted to blast her with his plasma pistol, but she dodged that too.
He heard Verena being grabbed behind him by the ork as it asked some inane question about "Gravel Hedges", and the warp-spawned woman glared at him - he felt pain through his head and torso, and he stumbled to the ground.

He heard running footsteps - clearly she had given in to her fear, and he crawled along the ledge above Verena, struggling to get control of himself so he could at least aid her against the foul xenos now shouting questions at her.


((The game ended here, with Daniel dead, Daze (Graze?) having killed him, Isabella escaping having thoroughly stunned Mordecai, and Verena repeatedly blundering and failing to escape the Commissork, or convince it to chase the heretics rather than her. Perhaps she was accidentally making a new friend?))
"Heretics are like cockroaches - annoying to find, and even more annoying to kill." - unattrib.

Cortez

Great write-up.

The first game sounded (and looked from the neighbouring table) like fun, especially almost bringing the sentinel down upon your inquisitors head.

The second game (which I games-mastered) was one of the most fun games I've had in Inquisitor, with some general craziness, a total slapstick moment and even a space marine (I loved it when you failed your awareness test as to recognising the marine's chapter).

The third game (I was playing the heretics) was different. I kept on waiting for the other shoe to drop but it never quite did, still it was pretty entertaining anyway when Gav's Kommisork (with his hat) punted the bomb at Mordecai and tried to interrogate Verena about the 'da Gravel Hedges'. I've also never seen so many hits to the head rolled before which blew Daniel von Ravensberg's head clean off, thanks to Daze(?)'s Krak grenade.

mcjomar

Indeed.
I was half expecting a trap the moment Daze (?) climbed into the room and the artefact was revealed.

Explosions, orbital bombardment from a "borrowed" satellite or cloaked warship, etc.
Maybe a horde of goons swarming in to capture all of us as "heretics".

So an exploding artefact was something I was expecting.
But when I heard about the "seventh council member" I assumed we were about to find something else out or be attacked by an alien of some sort.
We seemed to cause enough trouble on our own though.  ;D
"Heretics are like cockroaches - annoying to find, and even more annoying to kill." - unattrib.

Holiad

I considered adding some sort of NPC element, but couldn't really think of a way round a very big problem, namely that the scenario falls apart if the players figure out that there is no Graveel Hegemony, just a lot of inquisitors chasing each other. It only works if they believe, or at least suspect, that there are some genuine council members present.
A character not under player control immediately becomes a focus of all the suspicion they should be directing at each other, and an ambush in particular would instantly unify everyone in fighting them off.
Poor noble Marech
Noone 'till the end could see
Your brave heart of fire