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The Lost (30k Primarch Quest)

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Given our Psycker powers center around navigation, way finding, and storms our librarians might be able to establish some sort of link to the navigator houses, either learning to help them, learn to navigate from them, or just learn about the warp from them, our geneseed may even be compatible with navigators.
 
w34v3r said:
Given our Psycker powers center around navigation, way finding, and storms our librarians might be able to establish some sort of link to the navigator houses, either learning to help them, learn to navigate from them, or just learn about the warp from them, our geneseed may even be compatible with navigators.
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While it's possible a Navigator could become an 11th Legion Astartes, I doubt Sun-Sin could try. Navigators are an already rare breed and risking them in an Astartes trial - let alone geneseed implantation - would likely be unacceptable.

Having a good relationship with the Houses is much more serviceable.
 
w34v3r said:
Shame, the extended lifespan and resilience would make them a huge asset.
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I like it, it's a neat idea! Just not really workable given what we know of both navigators and the creation of astartes.

Maybe the pseudo-astartes enhancements given to those too old for the process... hard to justify without a battlefield role tho. Worth bringing up in the future perhaps.
 
Navs can already afford those, or similar. The important thing about the astartes process for navigators is the supernatural weight and resilience it grants which should vastly improve both their ability to use their eye, and also their ability to resist the accumulation of mutations and derangements which is what eventually starts mucking up a lot of navs. You're right though, finding it out would require either unimaginable circumstances, or such a glut of good fortune that we'd already be swimming in both.
 
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XXIV. The Thunder Rolls
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    • XXIV. The Thunder Rolls

    "Give it a try." Lotus hands Han one of the pistols and points to a sack of potatoes at the other end of the small field. Han sights down the pistol, taking careful aim and pulls the trigger. The gun's screech is louder and an octave higher, but the sack is ripped in half.

    "Fired too many shots." Han shakes his head. "Got a bit of scatter to it, too."

    Lotus claps his hands together. "But the gun works! It's been a delightful time working through the kinks. I was even able to synthesize a poison. It's probably not to the alien's standards, but we have the materials for it locally, and it should also incapacitate living targets just as well."

    "Outstanding." You nod and clap the monk on his shoulder. Testing the guns has given Han something to do with his hands other than wring them over Maia. There's nothing either of you can do for her at this point, but you hoped that perhaps giving him something to focus on will help him out.

    Han glances back at you. "You said these inflict immense pain on the target, correct?"

    You nod, grinning. "More than the bullets would suggest, in fact."

    He grins. "Something for capture then. But I'll stick to Truth and Recon if it's all the same to you, boss. Crafted them myself."

    You smirk. "Yes Han, I know. I also know that you wanted to call it 'Reconciliation' but that was too long to scrimshaw onto the hilt, and that for a long time you didn't realize that 'Recon' was also technically your role from the crow's nest."

    "Did I ever tell you-"

    "-that you had another gun called 'Reckoning' that could hit a silver piece at 50 yards and that you wish you'd swapped its name with Truth? No, I don't think so."

    Han laughs, a good sound to hear from him. "Alright alright, I get it. I like my guns, you know that."

    "Because you keep telling me, over and over!" You laugh in turn.

    Han glances at Lotus. "How is Maia?"

    Lotus' smile fades a little. "Her injuries were minor, but they were infected. Had her illness progressed much further she would not have been salvageable."

    Han looks at him a moment, then nods. "Recovery?"

    "She's past the worst of it, I'd say. Hopefully before you leave."

    You make a mental note to keep your crew from taking anything too precious they find just yet. The monks have a hostage now, whether they know it or not… and knowing they're saving one of your lives is helping, too.

    Han takes aim again, this time with one hand, presumably to test the weight and drift. "… been acting a right fool lately, I have. Maia's gonna have words about it."

    "I think she'll be touched you tried to stay by her side the entire time she was sick."

    "Or she'll be pissed I wasn't doing my job," Han smirks as he holsters the Eldar weapon and loads his own pistol. "I've been out of the fight for too long, captain."

    "Don't worry about it. You couldn't have done much against a Knight anyway," You clap a hand on his shoulder. "You'll have plenty of opportunity to make up for it going forward. And Maia's a trooper, she'll pull through."

    "Yes. She will." Han sights down the weapon one more time, and this time hits the sack perfectly in the center.

    -

    You raise an eyebrow. "Copper sheathing?"

    "You've got a lot of weeds and some worms in there that are slowing her down." Paradise in Labor nods. "I got the idea while looking over the hull back at the beach. We didn't have the materials for it at the time, obviously, but it seemed a good place to start."

    You had noticed it when you'd been fighting the Shiraken, but it hadn't been a huge priority at the time. "Was it really that bad?"

    "Yeah. Weeds and worms everywhere. They both slow your ship down and ruin its structural integrity. Now, normally, a ship gets an extra layer of wood added to the outside hull for this sort of thing-"

    "Been on ships my whole life." You remind him.

    "Right, right… well, the point is that copper will hold out longer and unlike lead sheathing the plates are less likely to fall off. We just don't do this normally because it's expensive and resource intensive."

    "What about bolt corrosion?"

    "We're replacing relevant iron bolts with copper-alloyed, that should make it work fine for a time."

    You scratch your head as you look over your ship. She's got a shiny underbelly now, with some pretty decent coverage. It's not done yet, not at all, but if this is what they can get done in days…

    "We've also reinforced the hull on the inside, both below and above the waterline," Paradise adds. "On the off chance you get attacked by the Shiraken's inbred mutant cousin or something."

    You smirk. "It seemed undead so that's unlikely."

    "Ah yes because the undead kraken is such a likely occurrence to begin with," Paradise rolls his eyes and turns his palms upward. "I will say it made for an entertaining story. Any other mythical monsters I should be preparing her for?"

    "We, uh…" you hesitate a moment before saying it. "We also had zombies climb up the sides of the hull."

    Paradise stares at you, and after a moment you realize he's trying to figure out if you were joking.

    "Is there anything you can do about that?" you ask, to make it clear.

    "… well," he says hesitantly, "I supposed I could extend the boarding nets down, maybe add some spikes to them… but if you deploy them over the gunports you won't be able to fire."

    You nod. "Yeah but if I need to deploy them we won't need to fire anyway. Besides, the zombies got in through the gunports."

    Paradise in Labor doesn't look convinced but does nod along.

    "I've also given you a good supply of boarding axes. I don't know why but I couldn't find any on your ship."

    You nod. You'd never felt the need for such weapons, most everyone on your ship uses some kind of sword. But it's good to have backups just in case.

    "How about a corvus-"

    "No," You snap.

    "Are you sure? It would be useful for boarding, and on a ship this size it probably won't lea-"

    "-lead to capsizing," you finish, "As the corvus usually does. And even if I could ignore that it would be too short and narrow to work, least of all for the kinds of ships I'll be taking on. It's a crap invention for crap sailors."

    "I like the corvus."

    "Well good for you, you're wrong."

    Paradise hesitates, then nods and looks away, folding his arms. "Fine, it's your ship. Anything else?"

    "There's one other issue," you say, turning away from your ship. It feels so wrong to see her out of the water, even though you know she needs it. "Storms tend to follow me around. Anything you could do to make it harder to capsize or make the sails stronger would be appreciated."

    He frowns at that, rubbing his chin. "I mean, I can make the thing more watertight and maybe brace the masts, but at the end of the day there's not much to do against a storm but drop anchor and pray. Do you have anything that's easier?"

    "I do, actually," you say, rubbing your chin. "Any chance you could help us upgrade our cannons?"

    Paradise grins. "Oh I have an idea or two… tell me, have you ever heard of gunlocks?"

    You blink. "Aren't those rare?"

    "Yes." He affirms. "Do you want some?"

    You turn to look at Fan.

    "Is that good?" She asks.

    Your slowly growing grin is enough of an answer, and she giggles.

    -

    You initially don't have much cause to go to the temple. But it becomes clearer and clearer as you look around the harbor that none of the monks hang out down here, which seems a little odd. You notice bits and pieces of higher technology; an electric lamp here, a loudspeaker there. Things that would require more specialized technology experts than what some random people in a harbor would have.

    And as you speak, you quickly realize that this is a recent change. The monks that were in the harbor have been brought to the Temple to help with something important. No one you ask knows why, and your concern grows as you keep asking and don't get answers.

    On top of that, if you're going to find any monks to go with you or your ship, you'll need to speak to some of them. So you make your way back up to the temple and its walls.

    You arrive just as the monks are opening up the stupa and they file out, most nodding their heads in your direction. You do the same, and take off your hat. Fan is on your shoulder, looking over the monks with fascination, though she gets less enthusiastic when some of them shrink away from her.

    Wimps. She's causing you actual pain right now and you still can give the kid a grin.

    Virtuous Whim stands by the door, holding his staff. While he is not wearing his visor, you can tell from the way his eyebrows scrunch together that he knows you're there. Lotus is the last to file out, though he comes with the nameless lay-sister you saved. You give her a nod, and she brightens up, smiling and waving at you both.

    "Captain Sun-Sin. Minor Fan," she says, her voice metaphorically mechanical. "Your presence is an unforeseen positive."

    You give her a cocky grin and make a mental note to ask her first.

    "Miner?" Fan blinks in confusion. "I've never even seen a mine."

    Lotus nods to you both as well as he leaves the stupa. "Was there an issue with the guns?"

    "No, no," you say, waving a dismissive hand, "The guns are working fine. We even found some… volunteers, to test the poison… that sounded like a cruel insinuation but it's true they really did volunteer, soon as we told them it was nonlethal."

    Say what you like about Xiulan's cultists, they're loyal.

    "Oh?" Lotus brings his hands together. "You seek further upgrades, then? Or did you perhaps come to pray for enlightenment?"

    "Well, actually," you say, putting on your most friendly affectations as you put an arm around the nameless lay-sister (ignoring her sudden blush), "I was wondering about… enhancing our potential future partnership."

    Lotus raises an eyebrow. "If you wish to take harbor here again, I don't see why not."

    "Not what I mean. I'd like to see if any of your monks would like to come with me."

    Lotus' smile starts to die. "Please tell me I'm wildly misinterpreting and you're asking for a companion on the town…"

    "No, I mean on my ship. To help repairs."

    Lotus frowns. The lay-sister looks up at you, apparent intrigue on her features.

    "It's not an idea without merit," you smoothly. "And I'll only take volunteers. But surely there's one or two monks looking for an adventure on the high seas?"

    Lotus sighs, and when he spokes his tone is warning. "Captain…"

    "And it would help keep our ship in tip-top shape so that repairs here won't take up too much of your ti-"

    "You said your name is Ching," Lotus interrupts. "I didn't recognize it at first. But it sounded familiar, so I double-checked. You share the name of the Reaver Queen."

    Your confident smirk doesn't falter. "And?"

    "And Virtuous Whim tells me you are a pirate, which means you would know of her. So either you stole her name and are going to be strung up for it-"

    You almost laugh, because it would be true. Your mother would have strung you up if you'd stolen her name… if she still liked you, anyway. Sometimes she did worse things to those who made her angry.

    "-or you are related to her in some way. Whether you serve the Reaver or are close to her, my monks would be asked to participate in atrocities in her name."

    Your smile starts to die. "I thought you monks were neutral in all things."

    "We are. We will fix your ship and we will continue to service your needs as you require," Lotus continues, placing his hands behind his back, "but I will not ask any of my monks to travel with a criminal and murderer."

    At that, you let go of the sister and move closer to Lotus, scowling. "Hey I've never murdered anyone!"

    Lotus raises an eyebrow.

    "… that didn't deserve it." You add.

    Lotus' eyebrow climbs higher.

    "… or try to kill me…"

    His eyes narrow.

    "… okay there was that one time, but it wasn't my fau-"

    "The answer is no." Lotus growls, a rumble going through the ground at his words. "I think I have been very lenient and generous with you because you saved several of my charges, but there is a line. None of my monks will be going with you. And if you try to force the issue I will send you and your people away from here, never to return, and inform the other temples you kidnapped whoever you take."

    "So much for neutrality," You scowl. "This can't be about keeping your monks here. I know my mother has some monks in the fleet, not many, but-"

    Lotus blanches, and you hear the lay-sister gasp behind you. "Your mother?!" she yells.

    "-but she still has them." You growl, forcing past that issue. You're not the type to use nepotism to pressure anyone.

    Lotus seems caught off-guard, but quickly rallies. "Whether or not the other temples pursue their lost lambs is their own concern, but I can assure you, I will not simply-"

    Another rumble.

    Something in the back of your neck tingles, and you turn to look in its direction, quarrel with Lotus forgotten.

    Their shapes appear in the mist far in the distance, long before they arrive. But at first, no one understands. It's only as the warhorns blare and the great machines get close to the Temple of the Kuji-Nan that the monks realize what they are seeing.

    And only a moment later, as they come out of the mist, you see their weapons rise and cycle.

    "PROTECT!" Virtuous Whim shouts, and both he and the lay-sister you rescued raise their hands, one with a staff and other with her great orb. Other monks with similar objects do the same. Green light flashes from both, and as the Knights fire, explosions flare in the air as everything shakes around you. Fan screams, and buries her face into your shoulder. You put your hand on her head.

    As the knights continue advancing, however, it becomes clear that that first shot was meant to draw attention. More than a dozen machines, some armigers, some larger knights approaching. There's a Knight Daimyo like the one in repair at the temple, but with house colors you don't recognize.

    The lay sister moves to you, still holding the orb up, and you see strange sigils and glyphs dancing across its surface. "Query: your allies' safety and positioning?"

    "They're in town," you say, pulling your sword and pistol. Neither will do much good against that many of the dread machines, but maybe you'll get lucky and they'll have brought regular troops too.

    "There are passages between the temple and the harbor," The sister says calmly.

    "Oh. So can you all escape?" You ask.

    "We refuse. But you and your sister could. Or you could bring your crew here for help."

    You frown. "I don't know if-"

    "Attention, Kuji-Nan of the Temple of Perpetual Devotion!" A voice booms out from the largest of the machines. "You house a traitor to Empress Shenzhou the Indomitable, Divine Empress and Mandated Ruler of Tabgach by the will of the gods. You will release him to our custody or you will be annihilated."

    Lotus steps forward, and speaks with what seems to be a normal voice, yet you hear it boom from the walls. "I am Lotus Clad in Gold, and I demand to know the purpose behind this unprovoked assault. The Kuji-Nan temples are neutral to all conflicts on Tabgach. Do you intend to force that to end?"

    "Your neutrality will remain," The knight growled the phrase out like the very idea disgusted him, "But we will not abide those who house traitors to our world or our rightful ruler. While they yet draw breath there can be no peace."

    "The identity of those in our care-" Lotus begins.

    "-is known to us." The knight snarls, impatience clearly building. "We see his Knight under repair in your very temple. Give him to us and perhaps it will stand to see a sunrise."

    "You do this and every temple on this planet will cease to aid you." Lotus shouts. "More than that, they will fight you and your Empress! This is madness!"

    "We have monks that are loyal to the Empress." The knight says, with the kind of conviction only a fanatic can have. "They will serve well enough. You, on the other hand, will die if you do not hand the knight's pilot over to us. You have until sundown, or I swear to you, the Lance of the Undying Wrath will bury you in ordinance."

    As if to punctuate his sentence, every gun among the more than a dozen war machines raise and aim directly at the shield. You see Whim's eyes, and you know from his look that he would not be able to keep a shield up long against such an assault.

    "He's given you time," you say, "even though he knows it gives you time to prepare. He's waiting on others to come along, perhaps slower knights or infantry that this group had to rush ahead of."

    "Possible," Lotus nods. "He probably is also thinking it would be better to have us hand the man over and submit than to 'bury us in ordinance' even if he's willing to do the latter." He gestures to one of the monks. "Emergency protocol HZ2-8135, get the message out."

    Calling for help, a good thought. "How long will it take the other Temples to send help and how much good will that do?"

    "A matter of minutes to an hour."

    "… come again?"

    "They'll know in a matter of minutes and send what they can within the hour," Lotus repeated. "I see no supply caravan, so they'll want to conserve ammunition. That means the load against it will be mitigated. The shield can hold with the aid of other monks, at least for a time."

    "How would they get h- you know what, nevermind, it's not important. Who's their target?"

    Lotus says nothing, and something in you snaps. Your patience, your indulgence, you're not sure, but you stomp over to the monk, and as he looks at you, you let your broken patience show on your face. The sudden fear in his eyes is gratifying.

    "I think," you say coldly, "that we're past the point where keeping secrets from me makes any degree of sense. You know why they're here, you know I'm going to ask them if you don't tell, and as soon as that Knight realizes I'm not one of you he'll tell me. You've done a lot for me, now please, tell me what's going on so I can help you properly."

    There's a rumble in the cloudy sky, and the first bits of rain begin to ping off of the shield around the Temple. The monks are very quiet, and briefly you run through how you would kill each of these men and women if they decide to turn their weapons on you. You're half way to deciding you should do it and damn the consequences before Lotus speaks again.

    "… they have come for the Knight's pilot because he is the lord of House Chan," He says quietly.

    … Oh.

    "That… would explain the dozen Knights."

    Fan blinks. "Wait, how does that explain things?"

    You pat her head. "Lord Chan is the leader of the rebellion that's been going on for years now. If he's caught then the war is basically over; he knows all of his house's current plans and can be publicly executed as a traitor."

    "And if we fight them," the monk continues, "All of our temples will likely come under assault. Even if we win, the cost will be astronomical."

    You're quiet for a time, but it doesn't take long for you to come to a decision.

    -

    Voting

    A lance of a dozen knights has arrived, a small army worth of forces there to challenge you and try to take the pilot of the Knight Daimyo, Lord Chan. The Temple can hold out in a siege for a brief period, and can call for reinforcements. Your crew is outside of the Temple, in the nearby harbor, and while you can't speak with them now you could get to them if need be.

    So. What's the plan?

    [] – Fight the Knights yourself

    It'll be a challenge, but you know how an armiger fights now. You can beat them, or at least prove so unstoppable that they'll run from you. What could go wrong?

    [] – Bunker down for a siege

    You're not 100% sure you can take on the knights alone, so you and the monks will fortify and send word out for reinforcements from the other monks, House Chan, maybe even the pirate fleets. Surely you'll get help.

    [] – Give up Lord Chan

    The monks might be forced to be neutral, but you aren't. Fuck this guy you don't know or care about and fuck this war, you got shit to do. Find the rebel, catch him and hand him over. Under the circumstances, who could blame you?

    [] – Write-in

    Suggested by @SpacePaladin
    [] – Write-in
    -[] Bring down the storm.
    You have power over weather. Use it.

    Suggested by @Planetary Tennis
    [] – Write-in
    -[] Reach out to Delai for aid.
     
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    • [X] – Fight the Knights yourself

    Time to carve our Legend unto this world, beat legions of giant robots WITH OUR FIST!
     
    [X] – Fight the Knights yourself
    This is proving the MC's badass status to the entire world. It'll build one hell of a reputation and be a stepping stone for his Legend.
     
    Planetary Tennis said:
    We should send our crew and ship out to tell the Queen and get them out of danger before we do stupid things like soloing a dozen knights.
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    Yeah... ship's still in drydock tho, sadly.

    The Lone badger said:
    Can we pull a Kamina and punch our way into one Knight then use it to fight the others?
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    He could try, but Sun-Sin's too big for the cockpit and he's never sat on the Throne Mechanicum anyway.

    rocketroland999 said:
    Say. What's the biggest thing we could lift and feasibly use as a projectile? I'd think it would probably be big enough to threaten an armiger
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    A Knight.

    >=3
     
    How about "stealing" a not-normally-considered-man-portable weapon from the Monks? A lascannon or a knight-scale chainaxe or something.
     
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    [X] – Bunker down for a siege

    Too many knights, and I doubt they'll be as honorable as our pervious opponent.

    Alternately, we swim out alone in the night and board their ship?
     
    Parzival95 said:
    [X] – Bunker down for a siege

    Too many knights, and I doubt they'll be as honorable as our pervious opponent.

    Alternately, we swim out alone in the night and board their ship?
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    You don't know where their ship is, if that's how they got here.

    ... did I mention where this harbor and temple actually are? Because I don't think I mentioned it's supposed to be on the shore of the mainland
     
    I advise caution, we beat an armiger on a non-important port town. Now we face a dozen knights of varying size with the intent and the firepower to level this place if they had the proper forces. fighting them right out of the gate might not kill us, but its hardly a good idea to keep us in the siege.

    I say wait, hold out for the rest of the kuji-nan and look for a better opportunity to deal some proper damage to the lance.
    [X] – Bunker down for a siege
     
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