The Lost (30k Primarch Quest)

XXIX. A Pirate is Free

At first it almost looks like a stone eye, but as you approach and examine the device, you realize it's an perfect sphere covered with geometric lines, too perfect to be anything but artificial. As you pace around it, something brushes against your mind, just as it has on many occasions before when you've called on the storm.

Something feels different about this touch, though. Like it isn't actually in your head in the same way. If pressed, you would say that laying with Delai or shooting lightning from your hands is like standing on the deck of your ship as it cuts through the surf, whereas this device feels more like looking at a painting of a ship.

There is a questioning presence there. Simple-minded, and not insistent, but very basic. It wants to know… something.

"… well, I'm looking for treasure," You muse aloud. "And I guess you're it."

The device glows.

With a clinking sound like a desert scarab, the orb's surface slides open to reveal a series of rotating and alternating glowing rods. The presence against your mind pulses, and with a sudden start you realize you know exactly where the deepest chamber is. The device pulls on your mind, like it's taken your hand and is dragging you through the chambers. And as you look at the device you realize that, while you can't tell what the glowing runes mean, taken together they are showing you a direction.

"Oh," you whisper with sudden realization as you pluck the device off its dais. "You're a compass."

And if so, those runes you can't read must show distance. Perhaps in multiple dimensions? You can't fathom why you'd use that on the ocean, but perhaps this device was meant for mountain navigation… actually, come to think of it, it was probably meant for underground areas like this vault. If it were typical for the builders to create such places a navigational device would be perfect.

You wonder what the limits are. Hard to test something like that in here.

"There's gotta be more cool stuff down here," you muse aloud as you turn to leave the chamber. "Oh, maybe I'll find another ship for the monks!"

There's a sound like the grinding of stone behind you. The plinth you took the compass from begins to sink into the floor.

"… Ah, depths."

You run for the door as the vault's defenses come online.

Runes across the surface of the chamber's walls begin to glow, and you hear a sizzle as your flesh bakes. Your feet blister and your skin cracks. You slam into the already-shut door you'd first come in with your shoulder. The impact hurts you more than the wall. You try to call on the storm, but down here it's so faint… Maybe turning Delai down was a bad idea.

The walls glow brighter, and you get the impression you should've already been dead twice over.

I need a way out of here.

The presence against your mind pulls you away from the door. At first it's merely present, like a low hum, but as your thoughts continue to frantically race, the pull becomes more insistent.

Out of better options you follow the insistent compass. It drags you to the far wall of the chamber, away from both the door and the plinth. It wasn't immediately obvious when you arrived, but now that you stand right next to it, you see a section of the wall that is slightly offset from the others.

The compass pushes insistently towards the offset section. There's a way through, there.

You punch the wall as hard as you can. The obsidian material buckles from your blow. You hit it another four times (cursing your gods-damned barely functioning limbs) until it eventually comes undone and f. Without much concern for where the hole leads, you throw yourself through, and mercifully the pain stop. The humming behind you continues for a few moments more, before fading away into nothing.

For a moment, you lay on the ground, exhausted and in immense pain. You let it take a few moments to go from horrific pain to a dull ache before pulling yourself up from the ground.

You're alive.

You spit, and it bubbles on the ground.

It seems a little convenient that the compass could be used as a tool to escape the trap that holds the compass… but on second thought, most creatures wouldn't have survived long enough in there to make use of such a passage anyway. And if they did, you doubt they would've had the strength to force their way through like you did. Must've been a failsafe in case someone set off the trap by accident. If there was an easier way to open it that would make-

"CHING YOU FUCKING PIRATE!!"

Uh oh.

Virtuous Whim has come down the tunnel you were previously in. With him are Dalnim and Paradise in Labor.

You hide the compass behind your back. Not that you try that hard; Whim is missing his visor, so he can't see it, but Dalnim and Paradise have both seen it already.

But sometimes you do things because they amuse you.

Dalnim is the first to speak, and you're surprised by the fury in her tone. "What the fuck are you doing down here?!"

"Uh, w-what're YOU doing down here?!"

Paradise steps forward. "Preparing to evacuate and seal the vault! Do you have any idea how many alarms you've set off since you came down here?!"

"None!" You say, defensive. "I went around all your alarms!"

"You melted a door off of its hinges and threw it onto the ground in an area we regularly traverse even if we hadn't heard it."

"… okay that's fair. Stealth is for losers anyway."

Whim hits you with his staff.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"We're going back to the surface before you get all of us killed!"

You fold your arms, scowling. "I don't take orders from you, monk."

"You're putting not only the entire temple AND YOUR CREW BY THE WAY but this entire planet at risk! Do you understand that?!"

"You've told me nothing that would suggest that." You simply place your hands on your hips. "See what ignorance does when you refuse to explain yourself?"

"So, what, you came down here out of spite?" Dalnim raises an eyebrow. "Lotus didn't tell you every secret we hold so you decided to come down here just to make him mad?"

"Don't be silly. I don't risk my live dungeon diving because someone else tells me not to. Hell, half of me wanted to follow your ship up into the stars and I prefer the open sea anyway."

"Then why?!"

"Because I am a pirate," you growl, "and a pirate is free. I wanted to explore your tomb and so I did. That's all there is to it."

For a few moments, no one says anything.

Then Dalnim shuffles her feet, looking between Paradise and Whim. "Well, I mean, the damage has already been done, hasn't it? So what do we do now?"

"We leave." Whim says. "And when we get to the surface we where the hell do you think you're going?!"

"Well, I'm gonna explore deeper," you say, waving a dismissive hand back towards him. "You want anything I find you're gonna have to come with me."

Whim blanches. "I- are you crazy?!"

"Come on, it'll be fun! I'll give you a good split. 20 percent."

"These things are not to be trifled with! You're going to get us all killed!!"

"Fine, 60-40. And I'll do all the fighting."

"This isn't about the treasure!"

"Look, I'm not going below 50/50. And that's generous. I know your temple is on top of this place, but you've already cleared most of it out and I'm putting myself at-"

"Listen to me!" Whim grabs your arm. "This place is cursed and dangerous. Our earliest records of this place have monks disappearing forever down here. The further down you go the less time we've had to find and disable its defenses. If you go any further, sooner or later you will trip another trap!"

"I might," you concede as you calmly (but forcefully) pull his arm off of yours, "but I might also find more cool tech. Come on, you guys like machines, right?"

"Not at the expense of our flesh!"

"Okay. Final offer." You put a finger right in front of his eyes… only to realize he can't see it and poke his nose to make your point clearer. "Two options, your choice. Option 1. We go down together. I will put my flesh at risk to find and disable the traps, and you will make sure none of the tech I might trip will harm more than me."

"And what, pray tell," Whim scowls, "is the option that isn't 'help you steal what rightfully belongs to the Temple in a manner that endangers all of our lives'?"

"One, you don't have first rights claims to anything past the point where you stopped looking. Two, the other options is that you go back up alone and I keep whatever I find." You growl. "Because I'm not walking out of here when there's more treasure to find."

The monks don't follow you immediately. But after glancing between one another for a few moments, they seem to decide that they want the treasure you're going to find for them.

That, or it's better to follow you and try to keep you out of trouble than let you run around and do as you please. Either way.

-

You're deep in the tomb now. Whim has been explaining what he knows of the place. You doubt he's telling you everything, but the broad strokes are probably true. The monks discovered this tomb complex centuries (perhaps even millennia) ago, and built the temple around it to conceal it from strangers.

"Far as we can tell, the security protocols in this place failed so completely that basically everyone counts as authorized personnel now, so long as they don't destroy anything." Whim whispers, glancing about... or rather, turning his head to listen better. "At least for the simpler machines. Some of the more complex creatures still attack if they find you, though it seems to be instinctive. Like an animal, perhaps. And there were also a few skeletal machine-men at the entrance, once; they were where the large door is now."

You look at the compass, musing to yourself. In retrospect, it wouldn't make much sense for a compass to be placed into a trap if the compass could then be used to find one's way out of it. The failed security protocols angle seems plausible.

"What are they, then?" You ask. "I've never heard of anything like this in Tabgach's history."

"Very surprising," Dalnim nods, smirking. "Pirates are well known for being historians, after all."

You playfully smack her shoulder. "You know what I mean.

Dalnim giggles.

"Most of the monks think they're the Men of Iron." Whim says.

You raise an eyebrow. "… is that supposed to mean anything to me?"

"Lotus told you that in ancient myth, technology rebelled against and tried to destroy us, yes? The men of iron were sentient machines that turned on us." Paradise in Labor explains. "Could be completely wrong, of course, but a group of humanoid robots hiding beneath a human world with technology as advanced as this? It's possible."

"What're the symbols all over the place then?"

Whim shrugs. "We don't know. Probably the language of whatever built this place."

"You said 'most of the monks'." You note. "There's disagreement?"

"Some, like Whim, feel the answer is unsatisfactory."

Whim shrugs. "It's not a terrible explanation, but… I don't know. None of the technology we've found in this place was within the STC, and we've seen nothing like it elsewhere. And the men we found had proportions and shapes entirely off from the human baseline."

"Perhaps they sought to differentiate themselves from us?" Paradise suggested.

"Possible." Whim nods, though he doesn't look entirely sure. "That still doesn't explain why none of their technology can be found in the STC."

"Perhaps we lost all the technology they have by pure happenstance?" Paradise smirks.

Whim snorts. "It seems more likely to me that this place is a tomb to an ancient civilization."

"Tomb robbin', eh?" You grin.

Whim turns his scowl to you. "I will not be disparaged for 'robbin' from the dead and gone by a gods-damned pirate."

"It wasn't meant to disparage you, mate…" You trail off frown at the area around you, as you realize something about the configuration and setup of the 'tomb'.

You've been following a singular path this entire time. Branching pathways exist off of the main corridor, but they've only ever lead to singular rooms. That seems odd for a few reasons.

For one thing, if this was a tomb that was meant to keep graverobbers out, then surely there would be several branching paths, meant to keep anyone from going too deep. For another, the first thing any miner with the ability to breathe would do after getting so deep below ground would be to build a secondary shaft out for air in case of cave-ins.

Unless, of course, you wanted to leave whatever was inside with little means to escape.

"I thought it was a tomb as well," you mutter, "but then where are the bodies?"

Whim shrugs. "We've never found anything organic. Just machines. Arachnids, mostly, with the occasional serpentine creature or mechanical avian."

"Avian? Like a robot bird?" You grin. "I want one."

"The serpentine machines can also phase through walls."

"One of each!"

"Tell you what," Whim says dryly, rolling his eyes. "You tame it, you keep it."

Unfortunately you do not run into android snake monsters, robot spiders, or even a single mechanical parrot.

This tomb deserves to get robbed.

-

You reach the deepest chamber, and with strength this place definitely wasn't designed to handle, you slowly force the doors open. As you and the monks look over the chamber's configuration, the suspicion you've had for a long time finally clicks together in your head.

"Seems I was consummately wrong twice." You mutter. "That's a new feeling."

Dalnim glances at you. "What about?" She asks, though you ignore her.

This isn't a tomb, though it does indeed look like one. This is a prison. But not just a prison; there are a number of well-armored and elegantly designed metal warriors with ornate weaponry lining the walls, deactivated and held in a shimmering blue field of energy, but arranged in a procession.

This place is a prison, but it's a prison for someone important. Someone that the builders of this place couldn't simply lock in a dark hole somewhere.

Whim was right. The proportions for the creatures are completely off. The skull especially is too long and narrow

"If this is the honor guard," you mutter, as you turn to look at the main sarcophagus, "what does that make you?"

The metallic creature is at the top of a long set of steps, in a small alcove set into the wall. Its proportions are utterly inhuman, just as the creatures in the walls are, but the ribcage and thin, spindly fingers give the unmistakable impression of a skeleton. And though you are not a forger of automata yourself, even you cannot help but admire the craftsmanship. The metal is smooth, almost but not quite organic in appearance, and it is decorated with gold detailing.

And atop its head rests an intricately ornate hat, embossed in gold and silvers. Though it is shaped like a classic tricorne, the overall impression is closer to that of a crown.

You grin wide. "I'm taking that."

"No!" Whim yells, the loudest he's been since you came down this far, as he runs up to the base of the stairs, possible man of iron forgotten. "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Absolutely will." You grin, reaching a hand out.

"Gods dammit we already agreed I will get you a hat!"

"Will it look as gaudy as this one?"

"Do you want it to look gaudy?!"

"Yeah."

"Then yes!!"

"With a big feather!"

"YES WHATEVER GET DOWN FROM THERE BEFORE YOU GET US ALL KILLED!"

You keep your hand held out for just long enough to see Whim sweat, then chuckle and pull your hands back. "Got you to yell~"

Whim's fear is slowly melting into shock. Paradise looks ready to bash your skull in.

And Dalnim scowls. "You deceived us into believing absconding with the headgear was your intention, didn't you?"

You snort as you turn to head back down the steps. "Oh come off it, I was messing with you. If anything was going to be trapped, it'd be the treasures on the main subject of this tomb. Let's go find-"

THOOOM

You and the monks freeze as the entire chamber pulses around you. With a second loud pulse, lines of green energy flow through sigils and grooves on the walls, all concentrating on the central plinth you were pretending you were gonna rob. And with a shudder that echoes with finality, the field around the skeletal form dies. The chamber it's in begins to glow, and green light begins to pulse within its chest.

Paradise grabs Dalnim, and the two dash for the door. Whim is close behind them.

"…… oh well, in for a copper." You say as you quickly rush up to the no-longer in stasis machine. You snatch the hat off of the creature's head and flip it back onto yours with a flourish.

Its eyes suddenly flare bright green, and after a brief moment it turns its head to face you. It looks at you with an expressionless face that somehow still communicates disdain and disgust. Time slows to a crawl as neither of you act for a few brief moments.

"… I'm not giving it ba-"

It slams you back with its staff and you crash to the ground below, pain shooting through every bone, muscle and tendon.

It gestures to its guard, and the creatures rise as one before turning to face you. They advance, and their weapons crackle with energy.

"What pests are these?!" The creature's mechanized voice is filled with a level of disgust you can barely fathom. "That I should suffer the indignity of imprisonment is not punishment enough, but I must contend with apes traipsing about my resting place as well?!"

"Sun-Sin!" Dalnim shouts from the door, and you realize that she and Paradise have been sealed outside by a new energy field. Whim is on the inside with you. The blind monk holds his staff at the ready as he's approached by several of the mechanical honor guard.

You pull yourself to your feet.

You might have fucked up.

-

Voting

You're at the bottom of a tomb. You're badly injured, you can't call on the storm properly, and there is now a skeleton robot that is referring to you as vermin. All you've got are a compass, three nerd monks, a normal sword, and the robot's cool hat. Meanwhile he has several machine warriors you know nothing about, its own capabilities you also can't fathom, and a much greater familiarity with the technology of this place.

What do you do?

ETA: Midway through the vote it occurred to me that a plan format might work better than what I was doing. I'll leave the old vote suggestions here for posterity but please do a plan format. For those who have already voted: I'll look at all the votes, plan or not.


Suggested by @gale
[] – Try to talk the robot down
-[] – Greetings Honored Noble of a Forgotten Race, we explorers searching for a way to save ourselves from the god machines that currently lie above your resting place. Forgive us for the entrance we thought all who once lived here lay dead.

Suggested by @SpacePaladin
[] – Write in (Something crazy!)
-[] distract it with inane chatter.
--[] "How are you speaking our language? Aren't you a bunch of alien robots from, like, a million years ago?"

Suggested by @*name*
[] Plan: ONE PIECE
-[] – Try to talk the robot down
--[] – What do you say?: "wait, your not a dead body?"
--[] – What do you say?: " never mind, JOIN MY CREW! No blue energy field means you can leave right? always wanted a talking Skeleton, think of the skull jokes."
-[] – Write in (Something crazy!): if there's a fight. "borrow" a glowing weapon form one of the Guards.
--[] also what does the Hat do? it seemed important so lets mess around with it.
-[] – Fight it
--[] This is a good plan!: we don't know how far the leader can travel but it said it was Imprisoned , so goal is to "Borrow" a weapon from the guards, they seem fancy and dangerous, and fight our way out, hopefully they can't follow.

Suggested by @w34v3r
[x] – Ask the compass
-[x] – Ask it what?
--[x] Where do I kick them to make them curl up in pain?