Suffer Not ≡][≡ 40k Inquisition Quest

open_sketch · Nov 19, 2019

≡][≡ Inquisitor Joanyn Praxis ≡][≡
Imperial Inquisitor, Ordo Hereticus

Attributes
Physical Attributes
Strength - 1
Agility - 2
Melee - 1
Endurance: 4

Mental Attributes
Intelligence - 3
Tactics - 2
Nerve - 1
Fortitude: 6

Social Attributes
Charm - 4
Presence - 3
Contacts - 3
Resolve: 10

Faith Attributes
Belief - 2
Scripture - 0
Fire - 1
Conviction: 3

(3) - The Imperium should be an alliance of solidarity for the weak, not an alliance of strength for the strong.
(2) - People are more than problems, weaknesses, corruption vectors to eradicate. Their feelings and dreams matter.
(1) - A Shot Fired is a Shot Wasted

<1> - Victory makes me feel alive.

Strength is raw physical conditioning. Lifting stuff, swimming, running a long time, punching hard. It's added to many melee attack damage as well.

Agility is swiftness, reaction speed, and immediate awareness. It's used for dodging things, jumping, ducking, outrunning folks, and other twitchy reactions.

Melee is the general skill of up close combat with knives, swords, fists (power or otherwise), chainsaws, whatever else.

Intelligence is raw intellectual power, knowledge, and drive to learn and study stuff. It is also used for military logistics.

Tactics is your knowledge of battle tactics, from the strategy of leading armies to simply knowing when it is safe to rush across a hallway in a gunfight.

Nerve is the stat both for shooting firearms and for keeping your cool. Nerve checks are common in combat to prevent from panicking or fight through pain.

Charm is the social stat used for flattery, smoothtalking, lying, seduction, verbal sparring, deflection, and navigating high culture.

Presence is the social stat used for reasoning, explaining, teaching, intimidating, impressing, or public address.

Contacts is rolled to know people you need to know, and to have a good reputation with them.

Belief is your actual faith in... whatever you have faith in. The Emperor, hopefully. It is used to resist temptation and corruption.

Scripture is your knowledge of the intellectual side of your religious faith. If you can quote from the holy books and theologians. It's intelligence for matters of faith.

Fire is your ability to project your faith out and convince others of it. Want to convert somebody or whip a crowd into a fanatical fury? This stat.

Weapon: Laspistol
Weapon: Hellpistol
Trade: Manager
Trade: Spy
Trade: Political Operator
Talent: Verbal Sparring
Talent: Seduction
Talent: Dishonesty
Talent: Intimidation
Talent: Exfiltration
Talent: Logistics
Talent: Propaganda
Talent: Indirect Persuasion
People: Dahlia
People: The Corrupted
People: High Imperial Politicians
Knowledge: Imperial Political Theory

Social Loadout
1 Compact Laspistol, 1 Laspistol Reload, Flash-Safe Glasses, 6 Concealed monoknives, 1 Show Knife, 1 Belt Buckle Gun, 1 Plastex Bodyglove/Flakweave Suit, Displacer Field

Combat Options
+1 Hellpistol, +1 Transonic Machete

Compact Laspistol
Small Handgun
Attack Dice: 1/d10 -or- 2/d10-1
Aim Bonus: +1
Damage Bonus: +2
Armour Reduction: 0
Magazine Size: 4
Special
Laser: Does not cause bleeding.
Blinding: If operated without flash protection, witnessing the impact of a las-weapon will blind for 3 rounds.

Concealed Monoknife
Small Knife
Attack Dice : 1/d10
Damage Bonus : Agility + 1
Armour Penetration : 2
Parry Bonus : -1
Disarm Bonus : +0

Show Knife
Medium Knife
Attack Dice : 1/d10+1
Damage Bonus : Agility + 1
Armour Penetration : 0
Parry Bonus : +0
Disarm Bonus : +0

Buckle Gun
Tiny Handgun
Attack Dice: 2/d10-2
Aim Bonus: +0
Damage Bonus: -2
Armour Reduction: 0
Magazine Size: 1
Special
Hidden: Will always escape searches.

Plastex Bodyglove/Flakweave Suit
Clothing
Armour Value : 3
Coverage : All but Head and Eyes
Resistances : Impact, Blunt

Displacer Field
Energy Screen
When hit with an attack, roll 1d10.
1: Displaced into worse danger.
2: Displacer field fails. Take the hit.
3-6: Displaced hard. Take 1 Sore from bumping into something.
7-9: Displaced. Attack avoided.
10: Nothing personal, kid.

Hellpistol (Voss Pattern)
Medium Handgun/Carbine
Attack Dice: 1/d10 -or- 2/d10-1 (One-Handed)
Aim Bonus: +1
Damage Bonus: +3
Armour Reduction: 2
Magazine Size: 12
Special
Laser: Does not cause bleeding.
Blinding: If operated without flash protection, witnessing the impact of a las-weapon will blind for 3 rounds.
Convertible: When converted to Carbine mode, gain +1 to Attack and Aim Bonus.

Transonic Machete
Medium Knife
Attack Dice : 1/d10+2
Damage Bonus : Strength + 3
Armour Penetration : 1 + Half of enemy Armour (Round Down)
Parry Bonus : +0
Disarm Bonus : +3
Special
Sickening Vibrations: Enemies with 3 meters of an active blade count as being at -1 to all stats.

Sister Charitina
A member of the Order Famulous who found her faith again thanks to the Inquisitor. Praxis' closest confidant, dearest friend, and irritating ex-girlfriend.
Attributes of Note: Nerve 3, Contacts 4, Charm 3, Scripture 2, Fire 2
Skills of Note: Career - Order Famulous, Weapon - Bolt Carbine, People - Inquisitor Praxis
Equipment: Half-Plate Power Armour, Bolt Carbine, Burning Blade
Known Values: (3) The nobility is a blight on the Imperium, (2) I trust the Inquisitor's vision for the future, (1) Galaxy grim and dark, tiddy soft and warm.

Dahlia Hussian
A 17 year old unsanctioned psyker, rescued by Praxis from the witch's pyre she volunteered for at age 12. Loves the Emperor, and hates herself for being unworthy and twisted.
Attributes of Note: Power 1, Control 2, Sight 2, Faith 5, Strength -1, Nerve 0
Skills of Note: Talent - Self Discipline, Talent - Self-Hatred
Equipment: Web Derringer
Known Values: [3] I am here because I was given a chance. I should extend the same chance to others, [2] The Emperor is all things, [1] I can atone for my existence by aiding the Inquisitor

Marvel Ann Alemanga-Zero
A Magos of the biology wing of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Marvel Ann is an exuberant, odd, and enthusiastic cyborg lady who is an expert in medicine and bionics. She's Joanyn's current sweetheart, and she autotunes her voice.
Attributes of Note: Intelligence 4, Charm 3, Strength 4
Skills of Note: Career - Cyberdoc, Talent - Surgery, Talent - Singing
Known Values: [2] Adventure is to be seized with both hands (and as many mechandrites as possible)

Fraser Bookter
A positively ancient scribe who served Praxis' teacher, Bookter has seen all manner of things. Despite that, he keeps good humour.
Attributes of Note: Intelligence 4, Scripture 2, Contacts 2, Strength -2
Skills of Note: Career - Archivist, Knowledge - Imperial History
Known Values: ???

Korey Kilimnik
Once a Lightning fighter pilot for the Navy, until he was caught fucking an admiral's son. Kilimnik professionally doesn't care unless it has jet engines.
Attributes of Note: Nerve 5, Agility 3
Skills of Note: Career - Fighter Pilot, Talent - Piloting, Talent - Causing Trouble
Known Values: [2] By death or rejuvenation, age will never slow my reflexes

Penalties

≡][≡	Sore	Strain	Stress	Stain	≡][≡
◹☠◸	0/4	0/6	0/10	0/3	◹☠◸
◹⛉◸	3 XP	XP3	33 XP	9 XP	◹⛉◸

CURRENT RP
6

RULES SUMMARY
ROLZ ROOM

Eukie · Feb 17, 2020

Twei said:
At least two; we're explicitly on the second Thunderhawk.

Right right. Then we could pile all the serfs into one shuttle, have Marvel-Ann take samples, and dock/push/tow/remote control/program a course into the Machine Spirit of the quarantine-shuttle back to the Siegebreaker. Then we can have the quarantine-shuttle under weapon lock while Marvel-Ann runs the tests to see if there are any clean serfs for us to save. If there are, we can collect them and bring them into the Siegebreaker. (Preferably, they're sedated so they can't infect each other during the transit. If not, we'll just have to re-run the tests on everyone who comes up clean once they're onboard the Siegebreaker.)

The infected we can deal with painlessly by changing the air mixture of the quarantine-shuttle to induce dizziness and unconsciousness until the infected all eventually suffocate. Then the shuttle can be sterilized.

I see the strengths of this plan as:
1) Does not risk any of our personnel to spending lots of time near Genestealer-infected
2) Does not kill the innocent
3) Humanely kills the people we cannot save.

The flaws I've identified are:
1) Can we actually fit the two Thunderhawk-loads of Space Marines into a single one for the transit back?
2) It's a technically demanding plan in getting the quarantine-shuttle back
3) If we can't sedate or separate the serfs there's a chance we're just delaying the problem we already have
4) Adjusting the gas mix of the Thunderhawk is also very technically demanding
5) We're asking our gracious hosts to risk a Thunderhawk for us
6) The suffocation part is very callous despite being a humane way to kill: it requires Praxis to lie to a lot of very desperate people and then kill them en masse in cold blood. It may take a heavy psychological toll to do, compared to, say, leaving all the serfs to die when the Space Marines destroy the ship they're on.

Squishy · Feb 17, 2020

I mean why don't we just have the space marines on the second thunderhawk just jump back to the ship, shove the genestealers into the now-empty thunderhawk, and then deal with it later?

edit: wow kind of aped by Eukie!

The Laurent · Feb 17, 2020

Eukie said:
Gas Van Plan.

Night_stalker · Feb 17, 2020

The Laurent said:
Predicted based on what evidence? Actually, let me clarify: what I mean is, the evidence seems against that.

1-3 gens look like horrible mutants, and as such, wouldn't be trusted as servants. Add in the fact that one of them is infected.....

That said, I didn't see that they may have been overlooked. I do find it highly worrying, because that shit isn't common.

The Laurent said:
This implies earlier generations than fourth... in fact, it implies being infected rather than any generation at all. Their children (well, not the ones they have at the moment, since those are normal looking) would be 1st generation.

Except 4ths are used to spread infections like this, because the previous ones look horrifically mutated, and 5th are obviously Purestrains.

By contrast, 4th ones can go through blockades and not arouse suspicion. They do this shit all the time, appear to be good hard working, dutiful workers who don't bitch about their rations or work shifts, and constantly make over their quotas. There's a big cult whose entire MO is being hard working, and then letting the Munitorium send them around as exemplars of hard working Imperials.

EternalStruggle said:
If they were 4th Gens then that baby would be a Purestrain Genestealer.

Assuming the kid was born after the infection, yes, or isn't just a distraction. After all, who would dare delay a poor woman and her young babe? Could even be a fellow 4th Gen.

Simon_Jester · Feb 17, 2020

Night_stalker said:
Except 4ths are used to spread infections like this, because the previous ones look horrifically mutated, and 5th are obviously Purestrains.

By contrast, 4th ones can go through blockades and not arouse suspicion. They do this shit all the time, appear to be good hard working, dutiful workers who don't bitch about their rations or work shifts, and constantly make over their quotas. There's a big cult whose entire MO is being hard working, and then letting the Munitorium send them around as exemplars of hard working Imperials.

Either the servants we found are 4th-generation genestealers masquerading as (infected) normals... or they are recently infected normals with at most a few 4th-generation genestealers salted among them.

I'm still not clear on why you're confident that the situation is the former and not the latter case.

Night_stalker · Feb 17, 2020

Simon_Jester said:
Either the servants we found are 4th-generation genestealers masquerading as (infected) normals... or they are recently infected normals with at most a few 4th-generation genestealers salted among them.

I'm still not clear on why you're confident that the situation is the former and not the latter case.

Because I doubt they'd have access to firearms onboard the vessel if they'd just been turned?

EternalStruggle · Feb 17, 2020

Night_stalker said:
Assuming the kid was born after the infection, yes, or isn't just a distraction. After all, who would dare delay a poor woman and her young babe? Could even be a fellow 4th Gen.

If we go with your logic there is no after or before the infection, because these people have been Genestealers for something like a century at this point, that's what being a Fourth Generation Hybrid means.

Simon_Jester · Feb 17, 2020

Night_stalker said:
Because I doubt they'd have access to firearms onboard the vessel if they'd just been turned?

Group of servants frantically grabbing stuff from an arms locker they theoretically shouldn't have access to and forting up, as a genestealer cult seizes overall control of the ship, seems fairly plausible to me.

Night_stalker · Feb 17, 2020

Simon_Jester said:
Group of servants frantically grabbing stuff from an arms locker they theoretically shouldn't have access to and forting up, as a genestealer cult seizes overall control of the ship, seems fairly plausible to me.

OK then, how are they alive? Because Purestrains aren't known for being idiots and missing people. This is a ship heading to Cadia, anyone on board should've been infested or flushed out the airlock.

Simon_Jester · Feb 17, 2020

Night_stalker said:
OK then, how are they alive? Because Purestrains aren't known for being idiots and missing people. This is a ship heading to Cadia, anyone on board should've been infested or flushed out the airlock.

We don't know how long the genestealers have been aboard the ship. We don't know how long they've had to clear it or what challenges they may have encountered, or whether or not this particular access room was easy for them to find (say, they may have been relying on a set of charts or maintenance diagrams, and this room wasn't on them).

We have no specific evidence for genestealers being infallible and not missing people, at least for a while.

Also, a single room with no privacy is not an ideal place to spread genestealer infection because the others can see you do it.

veekie · Feb 17, 2020

open_sketch said:
It should be noted, though, that the bodies that Praxis has seen so far are all later generation hybrids. While not an expert on this by any means, Marvel Ann has explained enough to her that she suspects the ship was outright recrewed by hybrids, and the servants were initially overlooked.

...wow, even the horrible space abominations forgot that servants exist!
Literally beneath notice until they went loud and the servants freaked and the genestealers are like "wait, theres servants" "well yeah, how did you think everything stayed clean?"

Aunty Shi Ping · Feb 17, 2020

veekie said:
how did you think everything stayed clean?"

"Father always told me to lick my plate clean when I was done with my meal."

Realistically, we just don't know. These could be indoctrinated cultists, genetically indoctrinated 4th gens, a mostly uninfected larder the patriarch was keeping around for emergency rations... we just don't know. The saying is that we should prepare for the worst and Tzeench for the best. We might be able to save all of them, invent a cure for infection, and make a millionty million arr pees as we deal a permanent and crippling blow to the xenos threat. We might lose dozens of marines to Space Hulk, lose Marvel Ann to crazed cultists, let the ship escape to attack Cadia, and end the episode stumbling out of the Thunderhawk, over the scattered remains of the people we hoped to save, crippled and infected, to be locked into a cut-rate civilian-model dreadnaught.

Obviously we should aim for the dreadnaught option, because dreadnaughts are awesome. Failing that though, we have to admit that we just don't know, and can't realistically get our answers here in extremely dangerous enemy territory. This isn't a Space Hulk. We won't be getting sucked into the warp and this isn;t some ancient entrenched isolated death-trap, but there are purestrain genestealers about and those things are not safe to share a ship with.

zang269 · Feb 17, 2020

FrangibleCover said:
Rather a bolter. Poison is either not quick, not fun or both.

Well, it's quicker for the first one. If they go with dignity, they have to line up and get shot which sucks for everyone who's not first. Also, since Suffer Not marines are good people with war trauma, I don't want to make him execute dozens of confused, scared, crying civilians.

samdamandias · Feb 18, 2020

10ebbor10 said:
A transsonic machete sounds like a messy weapon, and being forced to use it against parents when there are kids around can't be good for Praxis's mental health.

It's not. Transsonic weapons are surprisingly, disturbingly clean.

Hot knife through butter is apt, but it's more like taking a warm knife to a jello mold. Things just sorta... fall apart.

zang269 said:
Also, since Suffer Not marines are good people with war trauma, I don't want to make him execute dozens of confused, scared, crying civilians.

And yet if we ask him to, with confirmation from a Biologis, he will do so without hesitation.

This is tragedy.

Now, we don't actually have any good options Here. Assume, for the sake of argument, that there is at least one uninfected person in there.
How much time can we spend evacuating everybody from that closet? We're on a literal ticking clock here (although I suppose the clock is more chittering in this case)

We do not have the time, we may not have the resources, and it's likely that we won't be able to salvage anything out of this. And Joanyn and Demirel and Marvel Ann know this. And they hate it, because it should not have to be this way.

Eukie · Feb 18, 2020

The Laurent said:
[image macro]

I'm not entirely happy with the suggestion but if an only if we decide to kill the infected, it has some advantages. It's a consideration for the practical half of the problem we've been presented with, which is if we can save these people safely. It doesn't do much to solve the moral half of the problem, but I don't think that's a problem that has good solutions, only less bad ones.

Though after thinking about it for a bit, I think the most Praxis thing to do would be to wear herself ragged trying to preserve the lives of the infected even if they have to live the rest of their lives in quarantine. Then possibly fail and feel very bad about it afterwards.

[X] Take them all back to the shuttle and sedate them for the trip.
-[X] Scan each of them for genestealer infection, the uninfected, if any exist, are fine.
-[X] Offer the infected the choice between death and indefinite quarantine in prison-like conditions
-[X] Use one of the Thunderhawks as a crewless quarantine ship and push/tow/remote control/program the flight computer it back to the Siegebreaker

(In purely practical terms I kind of worry that if we pick a quarantine option, the sheer number of people we have to convince this isn't insanity and demand the cooperation of will make it practically impossible to execute. I don't think that's going to be an immediate barrier, and I don't think it would influence Praxis' decisionmaking much at this stage, but damn if I'm not worried it's going to fail just because some functionary on the planet we imprison the infected on decides that keeping half a dozen genestealer-infected around isn't worth the trouble. )

FrangibleCover · Feb 18, 2020

My major problem with putting a bunch of Broodmind controlled people onto an uncrewed Thunderhawk is that they might be able to space-hotwire it. It feels more risky than just surrounding them with Marines.

open_sketch · Feb 18, 2020

You took a moment to brace yourself before talking.

"Miss... I'm sorry, you're carrying an infection." you said, your hand slowly reaching to your pistol.

"You've been contaminated by the genestealer virus. Your child as well." Marvel Ann said, her voice totally monotone. You noticed her hypno-mechandrite at her shoulder... she'd probably given herself another shot of emotion-deadening drugs. You should ask her for one. You were going to need it.

She was already talking, babbling, pleading, horrified, Marvel Ann's steel hand holding her in place. She wasn't afraid to die, but not my son, please, not my son. You were trying not to listen. There was no point in listening.

You had to kill her. You had to kill her and her child. You had to leave the rest to die. A lifetime of cautionary tales and horror stories came to mind, a litany of the lessons that lined every document you ever read. Mercy is a sign of weakness. A moment of laxity spawns a lifetime of heresy. We cannot afford mercy. Be Pure. Purge the Unclean. Death is the only answer. Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment. Our mercies destroys us-

"Take me inside. I wish to talk to your group." you said.

"I don't under-" the woman started, but you cut her off.

"Marines are dying, right now, to protect you. We do not have time." you insisted.

She took your hand and lead you into the tiny, cramped servants quarters. Even by the standards of Imperial ships, these were ill-suited for life, a tiny space that even you had to hunch over to fit properly. A score of dirty, terrified faces looked back at you.

"Some of you have been infected by an alien virus, though some of you may be clean. We do not have time to check. You have two options. You can lay down your weapons and come with me, or you can stay here and die with the ship."

---

All but two came. One was an old man who said he would never leave. Another was a young woman who took a shotgun and vanished without a word.

You lead nineteen people back, and told Marvel Ann to take them to the shuttle. Brother Demirel fell into step beside you as you walked back.

"If you'll pardon my saying, Lady Inquisitor, what are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm saving human lives, hopefully." you explained, "Can we take them back?"

"Our entire party could fit on one Thunderhawk if need be, if not comfortably. It pays to have redundancies. Lieutenant Basak would like to have a word with you afterward." he said simply.

"I'll bet."

The sound of bolter fire was intensifying all around as the cordon tightened in a fighting retreat. When you reached the Thunderhawk's boarding probe, there were already two Marines waiting, bolters trained at the corner, and behind you two three more came came down the hall, one of them on his back being dragged by the other two, all of them pointing their guns down the hall.

You quickly beckoned everyone back as the Marines dragged their wounded comrade into the door, then you stepped in, two Marines right behind you. You worried, for a moment, of being crushed between their massive bulk, but then the door sealed, something crashed hard against it, and then there was the sound of grinding metal as the probe detached and the Thunderhawk started away.

You finally got a good look at the wounded marine, and realized what had happened to him. He'd been shot in the head, his helmet had a massive score across the top of it, and then something had taken his hand off the wrist and savaged his knee, going straight through the armour protection. There were further rents in his arm, torso plates, and thighs, and under the bright lights snapping on in the Thunderhawk's interior you could see the dark blood rolling off it. They pulled his helmet off, and suddenly you could hear his voice, chanting some kind of litany to stay calm.

"You're going to be alright, brother. Hold steady." one of the Marines added, placing something on the stump of his wrist, and the Marine just sort of nodded and lay back, breathing hard.

"I'm okay. Did everyone make it out?" he asked.

"They're safe, Serhan, just stay still."

You took a few minutes to catch your breath, then you figured out your next steps. First was making sure your hosts knew what was happening: your neural implant had a micro-bead built into it, a microphone in your jawbone and a speaker in your ear, so you tapped into it with a thought and tuned yourself to the Marine's channels. You almost immediately regretted as you ran into an incomprehensible tide of battle cant spoken rapid fire between the Marines.

"This is Praxis. Sorry for interrupting, just need to keep you informed." you said, at a whisper. The microphone would pick it up no problem. "An unknown number of the refugees aboard my Thunderhawk have been infected-" Almost immediately, instinctively, every Marine in the transport turned and their hands went to their weapons, "... but I believe they won't post an immediate threat. It might be a good idea to hit the ship as quickly as possible, though."

"On the way, Inquisitor." a voice cut in, and you waited for an explosion. Instead, there was just the slightest shake in the Thunderhawk after about a minute, followed by a perfunctory, "Direct hit, target destroyed." from what you presumed was the fire controller aboard the Seigebreaker.

Almost at the same time, about a half-dozen of the refugees cringed, falling back against their friends, a few screaming. Interesting.

That done, you worked your way around the Marines as best you could to address the group. With Marvel Ann's help, you explained everything you knew about the virus, how it was spread, and what the effects might be. You explained that they would be tested for infection aboard the Seigebreaker, and decisions would be rendered then, but you did your best to assure them that you would be trying your best to keep them safe.

You weren't sure if any of them believed you.

---

The Thunderhawk docked, the hanger sealed up and repressurized, and everyone piled out through the side doors. You immediately had a cordon set up, but the testing was almost moot, as the infected were somewhat obvious, near comatose as they were. Regardless, you told Marvel Ann to start testing, separating the infected and the clean into two groups. Sure enough, only six were infected: the young mother, her child, three males and one female. The others were clean of the genestealer virus, but Marvel Ann was quick to point out that nearly every single one of them was in some way sick from the unsanitary conditions.

They explained to you that they were the servant staff of the command deck, serving the officers. The ship had been remanned by new officers after stopping at some world (you got contradicting reports as to which world, which was likely because they were told nothing directly). They soon realized something was wrong as some of their number started to disappear and others saw things through the servants vents, the system used to monitor and anticipate the needs of those outside. It had already been so impressed on them the virtue of silence and discretion, that they should only emerge in empty rooms, that it seemed they hadn't been tracked back. The survivors eventually used the servants entry in the Head Voidmaster's office to steal weapons and locked themselves in, praying they could survive as long as they could, perhaps attempting a rush to the lifeboats when the ship reached its next destination.

You had the uninfected lead away, the chapter serfs having set aside a storage room and turned it into a makeshift camp-slash-ward. Now you just had to deal with the infected, the half-dozen huddling on the cold steel floor of the hanger. Charitina, who had rushed to the scene as you returned, was taking confession from them.

The whole time, Lieutenant Basak and his marines were watching.

You stood before them, and offered them a choice. You told them they were infected, and that they were dangerous. Anyone they came into contact with might be at risk. Marvel Ann explained that the virus had changed their biology, even explained in some detail how it worked, though the details escaped both you and them. Finally, you offered them their choice.

"We simply cannot release you back into society. It would be too dangerous for yourself and everyone around you. There are two options. The first is to offer you the Emperor's Mercy, if you feel you do not want to live with this taint. The second is to submit yourself to the care of the Magos here, so she may study your condition in the hopes of protecting other Imperial subjects. Take the time you need to decide."

Charitina lead them away to a side room, and finally you just sat by the side of the Thunderhawk and tried to get your bearings. Marvel Ann washed her hands and mechandrites in some kind of disinfectant that made your eyes water from across the hanger, then she sat beside you, staring blankly ahead.

"I must report all the organic matter in my hands has been destroyed." she said flatly, and you looked at her with some horror before you saw her wiggling her metal fingers. You couldn't help but laugh, the absurd and stupid laughter of somebody coming off an adrenaline high.

"You okay, other than that?"

"F i n e. The drugs are wearing off. I now just feel Kind Of Lightheaded and a little stupid. You?"

"I have a newfound respect for the Order Xenos." you replied, "Do you think this will... help, at all?"

"T h e y a l r e a d y h a v e! For One Thing, we learned a great deal about the nature of the Psychic Powers of the genestealers. We knew they could place psychic compulsions in the minds of the infected, but now We Can Say with some confidence that this interaction must be mostly one-way, or else the hiding place of the servants would have been easily discovered. I'll Bet What Happened was one of them was caught outside, infected, and then Was Allowed To Return in hopes of infecting others, wherever they were on the ship. I Would Submit, paradoxically, it might be that the reason that woman came to us while her uninfected peers did not, because part of the psychic influence is to make the infected comfortable around genestealer creatures, so she may have been being weakly compelled to invite the xenos in! But that's conjecture."

"Huh. That's somewhat fascinating, and fairly consistent with the witches I've encountered over the years. Those that control their servants rarely have full control of their senses without expending considerable effort."

"Honestly, it may be that the genestealer's brood mind is not fully aware of everyone it has infected, and can at best give Large-Scale Directives to those corrupted. After all, even the dedicated Tyranid creatures have no direct connection to their hive mind, and need to be compelled to action by larger creatures or else they simply Act On Instinct. Why would those simply infected and slightly modified by a virus be more fully controlled than the creatures purposefully Engineered and Grown?"

"That makes sense. I'll admit, I was a little worried of them rising up to attack us while we put them in the shuttle."

"You would have been fine, with all the Marines in the way. At least, so long as you kept your displacer field off."

Oh. Fuck. Yeah, you should have turned that off before you got in the shuttle, huh. You could have been teleported into space...

"Of course." your responded, subtly flipping the switch, and then the two of you just sat together for a while. You offered her a hand, and she held it.

"A Good Third Date." she murmured with a smile.

There was a tapping of boots against the deck plates, and you looked up to see Lieutenant Basak approaching. He'd removed much of his armour's heavy plates, leaving him with just a strange, bulky black suit with exposed power cabling and servomotors, and he was looking at you with an absolutely inscrutable expression.

You went to stand up, but instead he sat beside the two of you.

"We wouldn't have done that." he said simply, "We would have overlooked the servants quarters just as they had, for one, but even if we hadn't... if I were placed in your position, I would have ordered my men to go back without them, and have the ship destroyed. I would have avoided taking that risk. I... was coming here to accuse you of weakness, but I had invited you along to collect samples, and you certainly did that."

"How are your men?" you asked, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Four wounded, two very badly. That's more than I would have wanted, and it could have been much worse, but we had a lot of advantages. We suspect most of their most dangerous mutants were in the cargo holds and engine spaces, leaving the humanoid hybrids to man the command stations." he explained, "We're lucky."

"My apologies, Lieutenant. I tried to be as swift as I could." you said.

"No need for apologies. This was our duty, we did it proudly. Not quite a last stand at the gates, but... not dissimilar. So... what is the plan?"

"Marvel Ann can study them for the duration of the journey, then we'll turn them over to somebody. Probably the Magos Biologis at Valdor?"

"Absolutely not." Marvel Ann said, instantly and with conviction. You looked over, and you could tell that it sort of shocked her too, "I'm... ~~sorry, no~~. Wouldn't Be Best. My peers will work better with data than people. Hospitaliers?"

"Yeah. That'd probably be good." you said, "That alright?"

"You don't need my approval, Lady Inquisitor." Basak said, standing back up, "We'll see how this works out."

---

The Gate Wardens held a victory feast, which you attended mostly because you thought it would be polite. The food was, as usual, amazing, but about midway through you found yourself craving something to drink instead, and you soon took your leave to head back to your cabin. After all, you had a crate of that spiced rum from Avanyu, and you and Marvel Ann had certainly earned a drink.

===

End of transport intermission, we'll be arriving at Valdor over the course of the next update.

You gain an x2 multiplier if you put considerable resources or hardship on the line for a Value, and x3 if you risk your life or the life of those you care for to stay true to it.

- Convincing the infected to come out: 1 RP (Shots)
- Offering to test the infected: 2 RP (People are More)
- Taking the infected back and caring for them: 6 RP (People are More x Personal Risk)

-2 for Temptation

Total: 7 RP to spend

Write In: Clear Penalties and XP Expenditure.

Always Late · Feb 18, 2020

open_sketch said:
"That makes sense. I'll admit, I was a little worried of them rising up to attack us while we put them in the shuttle."

"You would have been fine, with all the Marines in the way. At least, so long as you kept your displacer field off."

That... was resolved incredibly straightforwardly. "Oh yeah, just bring them all along then blow up the ship." I almost feel incredibly confused why there was a dilemma in the first place. Am I going to get a PM from Ashton Kutcher with a Mollusk profile picture saying I got Punk'd?

FrangibleCover · Feb 18, 2020

Ten pages of discussion over whether doing it way X or way Y would doom us all and in the end we didn't have to roll?

Anyway, cartload of free RP, time to get some Temptation off now?

Simon_Jester · Feb 18, 2020

open_sketch said:
"That makes sense. I'll admit, I was a little worried of them rising up to attack us while we put them in the shuttle."

"You would have been fine, with all the Marines in the way. At least, so long as you kept your displacer field off."

...Fuck.

Yeah, something to be mindful of in the future.

The Gate Wardens held a victory feast, which you attended mostly because you thought it would be polite. The food was, as usual, amazing, but about midway through you found yourself craving something to drink instead, and you soon took your leave to head back to your cabin. After all, you had a crate of that spiced rum from Avanyu, and you and Marvel Ann had certainly earned a drink.

Yey.

Ramble · Feb 18, 2020

Always Late said:
That... was resolved incredibly straightforwardly. "Oh yeah, just bring them all along then blow up the ship." I almost feel incredibly confused why there was a dilemma in the first place. Am I going to get a PM from Ashton Kutcher with a Mollusk profile picture saying I got Punk'd?

Mostly because gambling with Tyranids is generally a BAAAAAD idea. That said, we stuck to our morals and were rewarded for it. It could have easily gone south in horrible horrible ways.

Simon_Jester · Feb 18, 2020

Always Late said:
That... was resolved incredibly straightforwardly. "Oh yeah, just bring them all along then blow up the ship." I almost feel incredibly confused why there was a dilemma in the first place. Am I going to get a PM from Ashton Kutcher with a Mollusk profile picture saying I got Punk'd?

Some people thought there were purestrain genestealers hiding among the crew or something, or that the people we'd rescued were fourth-generation genestealer hybrids (who are active puppets of the hive mind but can pass for fully human). In either of those situations, our actions would have been far riskier.

Instead, the people who thought this was some percentage blend of "freshly infected" and "uninfected" were correct. We'd have been okay if they'd all been freshly infected- but we wouldn't have been okay if they'd all been secret monster members of the multigenerational genestealer cult.

Always Late · Feb 18, 2020

Ramble said:
Mostly because gambling with Tyranids is generally a BAAAAAD idea. That said, we stuck to our morals and were rewarded for it. It could have easily gone south in horrible horrible ways.

Maybe I'm just not getting the full context because I didn't see the dice rolls, but the actual challenge of the morals just came in one moment, and got immediately solved by a straightforward write-in the next.

Simon_Jester said:
Instead, the people who thought this was some percentage blend of "freshly infected" and "uninfected" were correct.

Simon_Jester said:
that the people we'd rescued were fourth-generation genestealer hybrids (who are active puppets of the hive mind but can pass for fully human)

Simon_Jester said:
We'd have been okay if they'd all been freshly infected-

That's because those people either didn't see or forgot to check Sketch's comments:

open_sketch said:
I am, but that's generation 4, and these are recently infected humans. So...

So yeah. The Hybrid stuff was complete shadowrunning.

open_sketch · Feb 18, 2020

Realtalk: Of course they weren't a risk.

The whole ship was crewed with hybrids. There would be no reason for 4th generation hybrids to be hiding in the vents from their fellow hybrids, and setting up this particular trick would require them to know a boarding force was coming with enough lead time to make it look plausible, under the assumption you'd find and care about a recessed servants quarters. Constructing that scenario actively requires some incredibly convoluted logic and a string of implausible assumptions on the part of your enemies after you set their ship on fire. You had a wall of seven foot tall walking tanks with you in case they got rowdy. You were always fine, and only the trappings of the universe had you thinking otherwise.

10ebbor10 · Feb 18, 2020

Always Late said:
That... was resolved incredibly straightforwardly. "Oh yeah, just bring them all along then blow up the ship." I almost feel incredibly confused why there was a dilemma in the first place. Am I going to get a PM from Ashton Kutcher with a Mollusk profile picture saying I got Punk'd?

You kind of have to consider the politics of the story here. Sketch is working from the perspective of the Imperium as an ossified, fascist regime (which it is, but not every warhammer bit acknowledges it that much). Attaching a roll to this situation would mean that the fascist regime would be justified in how it treats it's civilians as disposable infection vectors. Instead, we were given the situation as it was, and the consequences of the situation as they logically were (bogstandard humans aren't dangerous to spacemarines) and were then left to sort the doctrine out for ourselves.

Remember :

open_sketch said:
Joanyn Praxis' most radical thought is 'It doesn't have to be this way."

Radical thoughts aren't obvious choices, or they wouldn't be radical.

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