Futuristic Only War: The Shining 1st

[Cartoonkarl]

Aleksandr looks around for a moment as he pokes the lights for a moment. "Yes yes, of course. If we are to travel down the tunnel I must shut off the power, unless one of you likes fried comrade." He says in his emotionless voice, but you can still catch a hint of sarcasm. He would try to move to the command center to see if he could play with the power levels at all.

 

[Hellkite]

Malakai claps Ohjmar on the shoulder as he passes the tribal guardsman on the stairs.


"Superstition huh?" He says, "I suppose I can understand that."


He touches the charm bracelet around his wrist.


"And here I thought that you tribals were totally fearless." The medic shrugs. "I suppose everyone's human."


Malakai keeps his rifle raised and ready, scanning the area and sticking close to Aleksandr as the Cogboy moves across the platform towards the command center. Mord walks a few steps behind Malakai, checking that his knife is in easy reach as he walks.

 

[Crocodile]

"Do not shut that power off," Yorke snapped off instantly with a scowl.


"I am not going to drag these damn bombs through partially electrified tunnels. Not when their could be some idiot greenskin playing with power switches elsewhere. Aleksandr, see about summoning a car we can control. We need it to reach our target point and to escape it," Yorke ordered as he pointed towards the control center. "A couple go for escort."


"That's the plan, folks, we're going for a little train ride through this madhouse to get to our target and escape. And I refuse to carry explosives above ground Ohjmar, when our target is below and likely hardened above. So your going to have to brave it with us. We have a task and the Emperor expects us to fulfill it, no matter what personal concerns we may hold," Yorke said even as he thought about throttling the Munitorum strategist who'd come up with this plan.

 

[Cartoonkarl]

He glares at Yorke for a moment, though he returns to his duty as he heads to the Command Center to call up a car.

 

[Random Word]

Helly pulls her Preysense goggles over her eyes and flicks them on, laughing mirthlessly at Ojhmar's exclamation. "Afraid of the dark, savage?" she calls, mocking. She twists her comm bead to Ojhmar's frequency and whispers, "You should be. You're out of your element in the ferrocrete jungle - you're helpless here and you know it. So much for belonging on the battlefield." She leaves the bottom half of her face exposed and flashes Ojhmar a wicked grin as she passes him, all but invisible.

 

[Bones Johnson]

Ojhmar's eyes narrowed, as he grit his teeth and bearing the yellow sharp canines towards Helly as she walked on past him. Cursing his inability with technology to be able to retort to the woman, as he's forced to silently froth and glare at her with a deepening scowl. But still- he stays his spot and stares at the Sargent for a few long moments. "Ah' do not like dis, Sarge. Even if ya' be right- we still be underground wit' little ta' stop da bullets from 'ittin' us, with enough explosives ta' cave us in if one step goes wrong." He said, still seeming to hold his frightened steps where the light seemed to linger.


Ibrahim in the meantime was quite content- grinning smug to himself to see the big brute put in place for once. He'd even clasp Helly upon the shoulder subtly, if she'd allow it, as he made his way down. "Come on, Ojhmar. The Imperium enlightened your people and brought you light, and now it's about high time you see there's nothing to fear in the dark that good old several hundred las-shots can't fix." He pat his trusty 'Flashlight'.


Ojhmar took a tenative step. One alone. Visibly and physically struggling. But perhaps- in a psychologically efficient fashion, Helly's taunting words were beneficial to the party. As the savage would not have his mettle doubted by a woman and let such an insult be- Ojhmar strode into the darkness with them, instinctively dropping to his tracking position, if only to minimize the sheer amount of space he took in some bestial fright. His gaze constantly returning over his shoulder, to the steadily dispersing light of day.

 

[Kallateral]

@Cartoonkarl


Once Aleksandr reaches the command console, he must make a Difficult -10 Tech-Use Test.

 

[Cartoonkarl]

Aleksander reaches the command console and runs his hands over it slowly inciting something in binary cant.


[dice]4238[/dice]


[dice]4239[/dice]

 

[Kallateral]

@Unlucky Fellow @VisionImp @Bones Johnson @Hellkite @Cartoonkarl @Crocodile @Random Word


Given some time to operate the old system, Aleksandr succeeds in summoning a train to your station. It is a rickety old thing, and it has without a doubt seen better days. It halts with a metallic screech, and the doors open. The foremost door doesn't open; it appears the metal is bent and therefore won't retract.


Boarding the train, you find yourself in dusty, rusty environments. Some of the seats are loose, laying about on the floor in a haphazard fashion - clearly thrown about during the turns of the tracks. You find that the foremost wagon appears to be clearer of debris than the rest of the train and decide that it's probably best to stick to it.


The train lurches into motion with a shriek once Aleksandr activates it from the steerer's compartment. You prepare for a long and bumpy ride, albeit a safe one. Some time passes. The dull, faintly yellow-green light of the train's insides is all you see. Outside, it's pitch black. At some point, a particularly loud and soft bump is heard from outside. You can only assume that you ran over something, but there's no way of knowing what.

 

[Cartoonkarl]

Aleksandr begins humming some song as he twiddles with the train controls, occasionally reducing the speed slightly while adjusting things and then turning it back to full. With the popping of his censer he leaves the room to head to the car with them all and would give a nod to Yorke. "We are running at near peak-efficiency and are on course down the tunnel. If the machine-spirit continues to be cooperative it should only take a bit of time."

 

[VisionImp]

Zacharias never let his weapon drop as they navigated through to the train. Once they were settled in the car and moving, he would go to take a seat on the floor. When Lucian remained standing and chattering on about something, Zach glared at him and as if given a silent order, the man trailed off and went to sit with his back against Zach's, weapon in-hand and ready, and would continue his rambling. The sniper just tuned him out and watched carefully their quickly-changing surroundings.

 

[Bones Johnson]

Being underground was one thing. Being underground with enough explosives to leave nothing but a pair of boots with two stumped feet in them was another. Being underground with a big bag of explosives on him inside a screeching rattling metal box was a completely different story. Ojhmar might have never been this queasy in his life. He sat against the wall, clutching his Eviscerator helplessly- glaring about nervously and glad that the darkness and the lights of their goggles could not reveal just how pale and green he was turning. As they supposedly HIT something, Ojhmar sprang to his feet, spitting out a long string of native cursewords. A thing which Ibrahim tried his best to restrain his own most amused chuckle at the panicking savage, assuring him with the words of his native tongue- atleast resulting positively as Ojhmar, rather than cutting a way out of the cart and jumping, had instead opted to sit back down. "Dis be bad. Dis be real bad."

 

[Unlucky Fellow]

Zharkov continues to look over the dataslate in the dark with his preysense goggles. Something was beginning to tug at the back of his mind, the whole mission felt almost nostalgic in a way. He couldn't place why riding in the traincar reminded him so much of a previous experience though. The one thing that was clear was that relying on the train car as their only way out was an incredibly bad idea. "This tower we have to take down is going to make a heck of a mess. I want all of you to be thinking constantly of backup egress points once we're topside. No sense in completing our mission only to die to some falling scrap."

 

[Crocodile]

"Thank you, Aleksandr. Hopefully the point won't be crawling with enemies but be ready to throw the brakes. Also see is we can still use it to leave," Yorke said while he had sat through the ride. He had been going over things in his mind, knowing this was going to get ugly because much as the Emperor might love them, other things didn't.


"We'll need to locate a few other exit points. The train might turn out to be a a one way trip. The issue being we'll have to flee down the tunnels most likely to an emergency exit. I won't use an access point near the tower itself with Greenskins likely swarming it. If they want this thing down, its because those idiots are using it for something. And for the love of the Emperor, check for ambushes down here. For all we know, this is still that Ork Kaptin's territory."

 

[Kallateral]

The train finally grinds to a halt, metal screeching once more. It is dark, but as you exit the train, you can see that you are now standing in a vast marble hall. It would have looked monumental, inspiring, in its pristine state... but as it is, it looks like a ruin. A tomb. In the same moment the train's doors open, the power fails and the doors remain open.


Columns in all corners hold up the great chamber. You see a cross in the roof high above you, formed from the columns' meeting. These are the columns that you must drill and fill with explosives. They are roughly twenty metres apart, in a square, and separated only by floor.


The interior of the hall is largely open. In the wall opposite of you as you leave the train, you see the old cashier's booths and posts with ropes between them to direct lines. The floor is littered with... litter, of various kinds. Old pots, for long-dead plants, stand along the walls on regular intervals. The area nearest the train is left for seating.


What becomes glaringly apparent, however, is that there are no exits, except for the tunnel. The rest are sealed shut.

 

[Cartoonkarl]

Aleksandr is the first to step out,"I knew the machine spirits would not be cooperative." He says mechanically as he would move to the pillars and touch them, as if looking them over.

 

[Bones Johnson]

Ojhmar for once, did not rush head-first. Though indeed that was his initial instinct, he was soon halted by Ibrahim motioning to him. Perhaps relaying well the message, that in this room, the train-cart might by one of the better points of cover available. So indeed, Ojhmar knelt by one of the edges, peering around with a scowl embedded upon his features. "So we be 'ere now." He whispered over the comms. " 'Ow we be knowin' we be da only ones?"

 

[Crocodile]

"Alright, let's be sure we're alone down here. I want a sweep before we even try to get those bombs in. If its not all quiet, be ready for a standing fight while we get those damn charges in," Yorke said as he looked around the area more.


"Aleksandr, while they're doing that, make sure the train is truly dead. If it is I want those tracks depowered if we can help it, possibly a good guess to the nearest surface exit we passed. We're probably going to need it since this thing doesn't strike me as cooperating with you any further," He noted with a sigh as he gathers up his gun and starts mentally planning for defending the area. Trying to pick out superior holding positions while also scanning for ambush points. This was going to be ugly if fighting started but those charged needed to get set.

 

[Kallateral]

The hall is large and open. The sweep across is swift and you quickly reach the conclusion that you are alone in the hall, for now. With the three great doors - to the left, right and straight ahead when you stand with your backs to the train - sealed shut with solid stone, you have no clear way out but back onto the tracks.


Fortunately, this hall seems to have been the centre of the lines in its day. A control booth is embedded into the right-hand wall, permitting Aleksandr to turn off the power. Due to the sturdy construction of the hall, it appears the control console has escaped the usual damage. You hear a low, thrumming sound as the power shuts off.


It is safe to drill and fill. It is also safe to leave over the tracks - the likelihood of being electrocuted has been reduced to zilch, at least.

 

[Cartoonkarl]

Aleksandr moves to the train to work on the main control panel, making sure it is truly gone this time, then he would move away to the control booth to turn off all the power. He rather enjoys the task, being able to work without having to speak to those sickening fleshbags which mourn over their lost friends. Perhaps they should just give themselves over to the Mechanicus for re-purposing. Servitors are not known to weep, or even have emotion in the first place.


Caught in a haze of daydreaming he shakes his head and returns to the task at hand.

 

[VisionImp]

Zacharias slowly crept out of the rail car, that ever-present frown upon his lips as his weapon swept across the new area. Before being told a thing, he was already looking around for the safest cover and any points that could be an ambush. The paranoid sniper had to smack his companion upside the head when he had been rambling on about some nonsense and got him to refocus. He didn't need to be told to find cover.. He was already in the process of finding himself something to hide behind.

 

[Unlucky Fellow]

Zharkov empties his pockets of the explosives near the train so he's no longer a detonation waiting to happen and takes his position further towards the surface entrance of the train station, Considering how likely it would be for any rebels to walk along electrified train tracks. He started stacking up bits of rock, old chairs, tables, etc, anything that might stop one or two shots should someone actually find them in this place. "How long do you think it will take you to drill these columns, Aleksandr?"

 

[Cartoonkarl]

"Drilling each column should take approximately ten minutes per column to a total of twenty minutes." He says while fiddling with the control panel a bit more.

 

[Hellkite]

Malakai stuck close to Aleksandr, Lasgun raised and finger on the trigger, scanning the area for threats. Drilling the columns would be noisy work, and with his luck so far he wholly believed that a fight was imminent. He concentrated on what he could hear, and more importantly, if he could detect any footsteps from the tunnel.


[dice]4613[/dice]

 

[Kallateral]

@Hellkite @Random Word @Crocodile @Unlucky Fellow @VisionImp @Bones Johnson @Cartoonkarl


It appears that no epiphany is about to strike Malakai, and you go about your business uninterrupted. The drilling is - accurately predicted - extremely noisy work. The crude machines dig deep into the structures, eating away at them until cavities are formed. You fill them with explosives, then move on to the next set of columns. Everything from pebbles to cobbles is thrown into the air, filling the chamber with a cloud of dust and a hailstorm of stone. Fortunately, it's no match for your protective gear.


Another ten minutes pass, another set of holes are drilled. The deafening noise of the drills sputters and dies, while its echoes slowly fade from the hall. The pebbles click softly against the floor as stone meets stone. Then they fall to rest...

Spoiler

[media]

[/media]
... and you still hear clicking. Even after the last pebble's stopped moving. Even after the echoes have died. You still hear clicking.


The clicking is soon followed by a soft sound of shuffling movement. It comes from the direction you arrived in - in the tunnel behind your train. It draws closer, and you can hear more and more moving unknowns joining them. Whatever they are, there's many of them. The soft movement and silence tells your instincts that you're not about to face orks. The clicking noise grows louder and it grows agitated. Soon it is a maddening cacophony.


... and then you see them in the end of the tunnel. A shifting, blurry mass in your preysense visors with barely distinguishable arms and legs. Their mandibles snap together excitedly, producing the clicking noise. A thousand white, bulbous eyes glare emptily in the direction of your hall. Others are clawed and fanged, with snarling, slavering mouths. Others still possess no arms at all, only large, grotesque blades.


Devils. Monsters. Mutants.


They start running, like a wave crushing through the tunnel. It's more of a stampede than a charge, with the mutated horrors even trampling each other in their primal rage. They black out the tunnel entirely with their amorphous forms. There may be a distance between you now, but they are closing fast.


First, you all must make a Challenging (0) Willpower Test to overcome your fear, or hatred, of the mutants before you can make a move. Failing the test means that you may not take any action this turn and must wait for the next round to begin running.


You have the option of attempting to drill through one of the sealed doors - if the train line is south, the doors are east, north, and west, respectively. You will sacrifice 3 turns doing this.


You also have the option of jumping down into the train line and attempt to flee that way.


If you succeed the Willpower Test, you may roll for an Opposed Agility Test. The Mutant Horde has an Agility of 30. They are 100 metres away.


Horde Magnitude: ???


[dice]4615[/dice]