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Offline Koval, Master Verispex

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #20 on: June 2, 2013, 10:16:15 AM »
Above Hamara
Tempestus Border Zone, Segmentum Pacificus


The Arvus hurtles down towards Hamara's surface, its servitor pilot burbling away in fragmented machine code as it guides the ungainly, boxy vessel down towards the fortress. Even as far distant as this, the crater is still visible, an ugly grey indentation illuminated faintly by the Arvus' spotlights.

You can only speculate as to what formed this particular impact crater, but as the Arvus draws closer you begin to make out the squat form of what came to reside therein. You're too far away to determine the current state of the Inquisition's stronghold, but the fortress itself is still there, sitting in the middle of the crater, looking at this distance like a bloated black insect.

Before you get any further, the entire Arvus shakes violently. Your view spins as the Arvus lurches into a downward spiral, the entire right side blown out by an explosion; debris and unsecured items fly out into the vacuum, sucked out with the Arvus' air supply through the gaping hole where the Arvus used to have a wing. The servitor pilot is squawking madly, its attempts to rally the Arvus' machine-spirit proving wholly futile.

Mercifully, the vid-feed cuts out as the Arvus collides with solid rock. You're fairly confident that the Arvus itself has become little more than a mangled mess of metal, if indeed there is still anything left of it.

"So the defences are still very clearly active," Skarkon observes needlessly. "That'll deny us an aerial insertion, and almost certainly rules out a drop pod assault."



[OOC]
In case the last two lines didn't make it clear: no, I have not just killed you -- that was Skarkon's servitor test flight.
[/OOC]
« Last Edit: June 2, 2013, 12:36:56 PM by Autarch Koval'andril »

Offline Spectral Arbor

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #21 on: June 2, 2013, 01:13:05 PM »
ooc: Glad to not be dead... yet.


Shame about the loss of the ship Casteau thought to himself.

Making a sour face, Casteau suggests, "Well, we could always drop down outside of range, and then either take a rover in, and likely be blasted to pieces, or walk... in the wide open." He never thought he'd get used to the open spaces so many others seemed to appreciate. The only thing he felt when outside a ship, was exposed.

"We don't happen to have any tunnelers aboard, would we, Inquisitor? I was seconded to some Krieg boys, for a little while, and they had these machines that would dig through the earth and let you come up behind enemy lines. Like an underground drop pod. Assuming the defences don't include Dirtorpedoes, we could probably sneak in that way. Hmm... seismic detection may be a problem... and if we come up inside a damaged section of the building, it may just fall down on us when we open the hatch..." He trailed off.

Offline Koval, Master Verispex

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #22 on: June 2, 2013, 02:44:16 PM »
"Termites?" Skarkon answers. "I'd considered the possibility, but you yourself just highlighted the problem of seismic detection -- and indeed, there's a real risk of breaching a part of the lower levels and compromising the structure by accident."

Skarkon sighs. "No, the more I think about it, the more I think that deploying by Termite is going to cause more problems than it would solve. But it's still a possibility if we're careful; we should leave it on the table for the moment."

Offline faitherun (Fay-ith-er-run)

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #23 on: June 2, 2013, 03:04:26 PM »
Kim watched the feed with fascination.

She knew it would die. And she couldn't wait to see it happen.

When the ship finally blew up, she replayed the image in her mind, again and again.

"Hmm," She said

"What happened to the Crackle?"

And then she was silent again and listened.
So, what your saying is it's not your fault you look stupid by using words you don't get?
Flawless logic.

Offline Spectral Arbor

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #24 on: June 2, 2013, 03:42:26 PM »
Casteau cocked his head and raised an eyebrow towards The Girl. When it seemed she was not about to continue, he gave a small shrug, and continued.

"Most any vehicle we might use to approach would be traceable, which would mean our entry would be detected regardless of method. That compromises our only potential advantage, of our enemy not knowing where or when we arrive. That they shot down the shuttle has given away that someone is out here... if they hadn't detected us already." Casteau reflected for a moment.

"So as far as I can see, we can go in by vehicle, and give ourselves away. We can land away, and walk. Hopefully we're not detected en route. I've heard of tellyporyization?" Casteau face gives a rare flush of embarrassment. "I mean, I don't even know if it's real or not," he continues in a rush, " But if it is, and someone here knows how to do it, then maybe they could tellyporize us down there? Would that be within your power, Pr... Adept?"

Offline Heretek

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #25 on: June 3, 2013, 01:41:03 AM »
Aret watched the demise of the Arvus lander dispassionately from behind the visor of his helmet. He was fully armed and armoured once more, his mere presence exuding threat. The Black Shield turned his head slightly to regard the Inquisitor.

“You have no means of overriding the defences remotely?”

Offline Rasmus

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #26 on: June 3, 2013, 02:04:42 AM »
Eyes half-closed while rocking gently in his seat, the last of the medication slowly wearing off from the transition in the warp, the Adept just sat back and watched.
As much as he would like to contribute he had no input here. Machines talking to, sensing and shooting at other machines. No minds, no thoughts, no secrets. The machine-spirit, as often as he had dared investigate it, was not a mind like other minds, and while some might jump to the conclusion that it was no mind at all, he was not a heretic, and also knew to keep his mouth shut. Mostly. Right now, however, a small drop of drool fell from it onto his lap. He could not care. The medication was all that kept him sane on the inside, even though the outside looked less so.

Lost Roads - finally released!


YouTube-clip of my Squat army.

Offline Killing Time

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #27 on: June 3, 2013, 05:04:14 AM »
Verdon looked up sharply at the mention of teleporters.
He missed who'd said it and quickly scanned the faces of those present for a clue.

He knew about teleporters... the memory still haunted him. If that was the only viable way to get down then he'd do it, but he felt a cold, sick fear clutching at his guts.

He remained silent.

Offline Underhand

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #28 on: June 3, 2013, 07:21:14 AM »
Sapper troy watched the pilot servitor struggling frantically with the controls as the distant ground came rapidly into sharp relief before the pict feed cut to black.

"..................y ep."  He said glancing briefly to Brother Aret "What did I tell you?"

All too aware that smug satisfaction was not exactly hard currency in the present company, he changed gear and continued. "Well I guess that confirms that friendlies aren't in command of the place."

"Inquisitor - was that ship hailing the fortress?  Are the systems totally automated?  Is there a chance that the Fortress is dead and the defence systems are running on automatic?  Have we checked to see if the comms towers are attempting to put a signal out?"

He had more questions, but it was important to get these ones out of the way first.  The last thing he wanted to see was a repeat of the Siege of Derkavium.  Boy . . . even by the standards of the Morghastian First, that had been an embarrassing  low point . . .
« Last Edit: June 3, 2013, 07:29:52 AM by Underhand »

Offline Koval, Master Verispex

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #29 on: June 3, 2013, 03:24:45 PM »
"You have no means of overriding the defences remotely?"

Skarkon shakes her head at Brother Aret. "This ship isn't outfitted for electronic warfare, so overriding the defences isn't an option. The best I can arrange is a small-scale orbital bombardment, but that would risk damage to the fortress itself, and by the time we finish the resulting excavation work, we might as well have just sent in a Termite to begin with."

She leans over to consult another data-slate. "And before anyone asks, I'm not willing to risk a gun-cutter or Thunderbolt to take out the missile launchers given how far away that Arvus was shot down, especially since the Dreygur can barely carry small craft to begin with."

You're reminded of how surprisingly spartan the Dreygur's hangar had been upon your arrival. You'd have been surprised if there were enough small craft to form a squadron; barring a flight of four Thunderbolts and a pair of gun-cutters, much of Skarkon's hangar had been taken over by Arvus lighters.

"Inquisitor," begins Troy, "was that ship hailing the fortress?"

"No," Skarkon sighs. "All it set out to do was observe, and determine whether the defences were active."

"Hnn. Are the systems totally automated? Is there a chance that the Fortress is dead and the defence systems are running on automatic?"

"They're supposed to be remotely operated, although they can function automatically in an emergency," Skarkon answers slowly, partially absorbed in reading some sensor data from the downed Arvus. "I'll admit, even though a hunter-killer missile has its own machine-spirit to guide it, and even though an Arvus is an ungainly thing at the best of times, that can't have been an easy shot."

She pauses for a second, before dismissing whatever stream of data she'd been looking at. "That goes double for a purely automated system. Either the machine-spirit beat the odds, or there's a very patient remote gunner operating it."

Troy seems to consider this for a moment. "And have we checked to see if the comms towers are attempting to put a signal out?"

"We have, but not only are the comms towers themselves completely offline from the look of things, the backup arrays aren't working either."

Skarkon taps a few buttons on her dataslate, staring intently at more incoming information. "I suspect it's got something to do with the electrical disturbance -- which seems to have moved on or dissipated -- but whatever caused it, the fortress is completely silent."

She finally puts down the data-slate and looks over at you. "And it's not just us. Inquisitor Helena Roche's ship is still in orbit, and not only are they reporting a similar situation, they've also got to cope with both Roche and Inquisitor Rudiger Murach being MIA. I've yet to hail Ceolfrid and Nyarko's vessels, but I imagine they're in the same position."



[OOC]
The Dreygur is a refurbished and refitted Cobra-class destroyer; the other ships are also frigate-sized or smaller (one Sword frigate, one Vagabond merchant trader, and the Claymore corvette that belongs to Inquisitor Roche MIA)
[/OOC]

Offline Underhand

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #30 on: June 3, 2013, 05:03:27 PM »
Troy paused a moment before letting fly with another barrage.  "I couldn't really tell from the pict feed - can we rewind it to  see if there is any obvious damage to the structure?  Would it be possible to send down some probes to conduct a perimeter sweep.  Maybe see if there are any vehicle tracks or foot prints?  Maybe a landing site?  Taking a place like that by force wouldn't be easy.  You would need hundreds of men, and lots of support equipment."

He scanned the faces of the other six people in the room.  One was drooling, and another one was playing with her hair. "Usually."

Offline Heretek

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #31 on: June 3, 2013, 09:25:51 PM »
“What of the other Inquisitor’s ships? With their Inquisitors dead or missing, you have authority to commandeer their vessels. With focussed fire from orbit even frigates will level their defences, and then we assault the breach by lander, including whatever forces the other ships can provide.”

Aret folded his arms across his chest.

“Certainly we risk damage to the fortress, but we lack the time to sit in orbit and wring our hands while we wait for the enemy to respond. Casualties may be heavy, but weighed against the loss of an Inquisitorial fortress the losses would be acceptable.”

Offline faitherun (Fay-ith-er-run)

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #32 on: June 3, 2013, 10:39:41 PM »
"The Sheep wanted to eat the wolves" Kim began softly, "But they found it hard to get close, for the wolves have such long teeth"

She got up and looked around at the host of warriors.

"So they sent in one of their own, to try see - he was eaten alive..." She giggled

"So they sent in the best dancer the sheep had,  a pretty lil one, all white as the Emperor's light. She danced for the wolves, and danced and danced until, drawn by her, they forgot to watch their backs. Then the sheep sneaked in, they stole up behind the wolves, and they feasted."

Kim walked up to the Inquisitor, "Do you think I'm pretty?"

The air temperature immediately dropped.

[ooc] Kim is trying to divine what she can about the nature of the guns, whether they are automated or guided by a real mind, and any chance that her plan may work [/ooc]
So, what your saying is it's not your fault you look stupid by using words you don't get?
Flawless logic.

Offline Spectral Arbor

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #33 on: June 4, 2013, 06:53:25 AM »
"The Girl has a point." Observed Casteau. "No matter what our plan is, we could use some other ships as diversions while we take our shot at entering the stronghold."

Offline Underhand

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #34 on: June 4, 2013, 09:17:15 AM »
"Wow," thought Troy "Just one date, and Sergeant Blood is completely fluent in Crazy.  Impressive."

Offline faitherun (Fay-ith-er-run)

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #35 on: June 4, 2013, 10:20:49 AM »
Kim kept staring off into space, her eyes black.

The others had not reacted much to her latest story, but that was ok.

In a deep whisper she said, "Dancer gonna die, dancer gonna die, dancer gonna die, dancer gonna die..."

She stood and swayed back and forth

"Best not be dancer. Best take walk. Flyn gonna boom go, cause he gots good aim, nice shiny toy, dancer went boom, dancer gonna die, sneaky-sneaky crawls belly onward, like snake!"

Kim stood straight and walked over to Verdon. She walked all around him, looking him up and down. "Do you think I'm pretty?" She asked him.
So, what your saying is it's not your fault you look stupid by using words you don't get?
Flawless logic.

Offline Koval, Master Verispex

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #36 on: June 4, 2013, 02:41:50 PM »
Skarkon snaps her fingers. The noise is surprisingly loud and you find yourselves wondering where the Inquisitor learned that trick, before realising that the sound came from inside your own heads. Nonetheless, you are all distracted by Skarkon's brief display of psychic power.

"That'll do, Kemimi," she informs the seeress, and with a look that's somewhere between dazed, confused, playful and vacant, Kemimi goes quiet.

It's Troy that breaks the silence. "I couldn't really tell from the pict feed -- can we rewind it to see if there is any obvious damage to the structure?"

Skarkon rewinds the feed to ten seconds before the enemy missile hits and replays the Arvus' final moments. Unfortunately, the level of detail isn't sufficient to determine whether the structure's been damaged or in any way compromised; certainly there's nothing obvious that you can see. Once the Arvus starts to lurch into its fatal descent, Skarkon busies herself with another dataslate in an attempt to glean any information that the Arvus' sensors may have picked up. Judging by the look on her face, nothing's leaping out at her.

"In short," she mutters, "we don't know."

"Humm. Would it be possible to send down some probes to conduct a perimeter sweep?" Troy suggests. "Maybe see if there are any vehicle tracks or foot prints? Maybe a landing site?"

"Ordinarily I'd use the Dreygur's own sensorium to conduct a survey, and carry out further observations from a gun-cutter or Arvus," Skarkon admits. "I don't maintain autonomous probes, and if I did I'd have to find some way of deploying them to begin with. That said..."

Skarkon puts two fingers to her ear. "Master Drees, hail the Undying Light for me -- see if Lady Roche had any hunter-skulls or surveillance drones on board."

You're dimly aware of something squawking very faintly in Skarkon's ear before she lowers her hand.

"If Helena did have probes, they'll be harder for the missiles to track than the Arvus was. We can enslave their data-feeds to the Dreygur's sensorium and find a way in."

"Taking a place like that by force wouldn't be easy," Troy reminds her. "You would need hundreds of men, and lots of support equipment. Usually."

Troy's pointed glance towards Twiscian and especially Kemimi isn't lost on Skarkon, but she ignores it.

"What of the other Inquisitor’s ships? With their Inquisitors dead or missing, you have authority to commandeer their vessels," Brother Aret adds. "With focussed fire from orbit even frigates will level their defences, and then we assault the breach by lander, including whatever forces the other ships can provide."

"Then you're suggesting I use Roche's probes -- assuming she has any -- to triangulate attack coordinates for an orbital bombardment," Skarkon notes. It's not a question, but an observation.

Aret nods slowly. "“Certainly we risk damage to the fortress, but we lack the time to sit in orbit and wring our hands while we wait for the enemy to respond. Casualties may be heavy, but weighed against the loss of an Inquisitorial fortress the losses would be acceptable.”

"Again, we risk having to dig our way into the fortress," Skarkon answers. "We can, however, leave the option on the table, as I'd rather not have to worry about the defences at all. Though in the interests of expediency, we should do the same with teleportation, and similarly I doubt the launchers can track incoming drop pods."


[OOC]
If your characters weren't previously aware that Skarkon's a psyker, they are now. I imagine it'll be a not-entirely-unexpected surprise for the Guardsmen.
[/OOC]

Offline faitherun (Fay-ith-er-run)

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #37 on: June 4, 2013, 10:45:30 PM »
Kim sat heavily and began snapping her fingers, trying to figure out how Skarkon made that happen in their minds.

Every time she snapped, one of her eyes changed color, not always the same one, and not always in any order either. It was much like how a vox-man may play with the rabbit ears to try and get a better signal.
So, what your saying is it's not your fault you look stupid by using words you don't get?
Flawless logic.

Offline Spectral Arbor

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #38 on: June 5, 2013, 07:32:57 AM »
Tellyboardation... I'll have to remember that. Makes sense, you use it to board other vessels.


Growing somewhat impatient, the planning phase had never been Casteau's main focus, he says, "While I realize this isn't actually something we can vote on, my suggestion would be to deploy away from the fortress and sneak in on foot. While we're doing that, we should have some other people or ships doing the same thing. I think that maximises our odds of successful insertion, while also maximizing the chance we may get in unnoticed."

"If we have other boarding parties do the same thing, we have backup in case we fail in our task, and we also leave our enemy guessing as to which party to chase after first. That buys us time."

Offline Underhand

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Re: House of Cards -- game thread
« Reply #39 on: June 5, 2013, 09:04:23 AM »
Sapper Troy knew from bitter experience that sieges weren't won and lost at the breaches, but at the planning table.  Soldiers lives were lost or saved based on decisions made weeks before.  Siege warfare was an art as much as a craft, and Troy considered, probably somewhat arrogantly, that he was one of its better exponents.  Whether that was true or not, all this talk about mounting a ground assault, using drop pods, termites or teleportation to breach the walls was ridiculously premature.  He gestured to get Skarkon's attention.

"Okay,"he said "we all need to stop, and take a few steps back." He looked at everyone at the table individually before fixing his gaze back on Sarkon.  "There is no point talking about how we are going to assault something until we know exactly what it is that we are going to assault."

"We don't know what we are up against.  All we know at the moment is that there is a fortress, that may or may not be intact.  We know that it has at least one missile launcher active and that it is probably manned.  Beyond that, we're in the dark and fighting blind." He let that hang for a moment.

"If the fortress has been overrun, then the odds are that there is a significant enemy presence, at least one capable of overcoming a stormtrooper company. Probably.  We just don't know at this stage.  Regardless, we simply need more information.  We need to know who is there and what their defensive capabilities are.  Once we know that, then we can start picking them apart.  We have time on our side, we should use it.  A perimeter sweep with drones, at least up to the rim of that crater, would be a good start."

 


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