WH40K Roleplay Thread Ending; "Who Knew?"

[John Galt]

Alright, general consensus is that 7-20 is the killer.

Several hours after the meeting on the bridge, Rain and Zen barged into 7-20?s room. A large pistol in the hand of one, a hastily written warrant in the other?s.
?By order of Inquisitor Rain, Odro Hereticus, I hearby place you under arrest for the murder of Sanctioned Astropath Phar and endangerment of the personnel aboard the Nox Invictus. I act with the full authority of the Emperor and order you to stand down.? Zen?s voice rang out.
?What is this? You people have no proof.? 7-20 retorted, his voice still as calm and flat as normal.
?Proof? You want proof? We found the man lying dead in the engine room, a dart sticking straight out of his neck, you being an assassin would have no trouble getting or using such a thing.? Rain?s voice had the slight edge of resentment in it, he had no intention of letting this man live.
Zen edged in closer to him, one hand on his gun, the other slowly extending towards 7-20.
?Easy there boy, no need for anyone else to die now?? 7-20 could clearly see a small sedative needle in Zen?s hand. He knew he?d be turned over to Kalidian if he didn?t act now.


In a blur of motion, 7-20 picked up a knife on his desk and lunged towards Rain. The Inquisitor was caught off guard and tumbled to the floor. A stray las-bolt streaked through 7-20?s shoulder but he continued his assault, moving his blade to find a weak spot in Rain?s guard. Rain reflexively brought his boot up into the assassin?s ribs and felt them shatter beneath the Vindicare jumpsuit.

7-20 lurched to the side but was still not down. He drew his pistol and fired at Zen. The commissar whipped around and fell to the floor, struck at the elbow. The recoil of the gun was able to move 7-20?s arm out of the way long enough for Rain to strike. The Inquisitor grabbed the assassin?s gasmask and held him up to his face. He cocked his pistol and stared directly at him, through the faceplate and saw the eyes of a hunted man. The eyes that would do anything, just to survive. Soon the eyes gave way to a shower of blood as Rain pulled the trigger.

Well, 7-20?s dead, but Zen is also wounded. Did you bag the right one? Only time will tell.

 

[PurpleRain]

"Another Heritic has felt the judgement of the holy Emperor. Let it be known to the crew that no man, be it a guard or a trained assassin can escape his devine might."

Rain leans down and pulls Zen to his feet.

"We'll take you to the medicle bay and get that arm looked at Commissar. We would be best to fire the body out one of the garbage shoots. There should be no funerals for the wicked."

 

[Saskwach]

Shastus remained unconvinced about 7-20's guilt. Soon after leaving the bridge he begins pacing the ship's hallways, scanning the deck beneath his feet and muttering.
"Couldn't have been 7-20, too faithful, too smart to kill the navigator like an assassin. Most likely suspects are one of Zen's men. Which of them has the training? That Gremlin knew how to kill a man with stealth. Keep an eye on him. Next, Emperor forbid, the Techno-scholars of Mars. To kill without marks would be simple to such men and their holy weaponry. Bent to unholy means! Crew unknown quantity, but doubtful that any of them would be able. Still, must ask my masters for the crew's personal information."

 

[The Reverend]

Verendus stalked through the hallways in thought. After 7-20's "execution" things had quietened down somewhat, helped in part by Zen's shouting at everyone who came within 10 feet of him. Serves him right, he thought, this lynch mob justice will get us nowhere. And Verendus didn't think they got the right guy. He'd seen Vindicare assassins in action before, they generally didn't leave bodies around for people to find.
He stopped for a second. That strange transmission from the bridge he caught before the murder. Maybe that had something to do with it. He began to quietly make for the bridge, people talked better when there wasn't an angry mob in their face. The bridge access door was unlocked, and he walked in quietly..

 

[Possum-Man]

Kalidian found Rain in the medicae bay, along with Zen who was clutching his profusely bleeding elbow.

"What the hell happened? he was supposed to be restrained and interrogated but now I find his brains spattered over a bulkhead! Is this how we'll deal with all our suspects, Rain?"

Kalidian took a moment to calm himself before continuing,

"The Vindicare Temple will not be happy about this, especially if we have killed the wrong suspect."

 

[GenHellspawn]

"Well, hopefully we can atleast get to the damn planet without another murder!" shouted Hellspawn, obviously sleep-deprived."I'm going down to the firing range: if any more of this should happen, my aim should be up to stuff."

OOC: Sorry about my infrequent posting, I don't have alot of time for this.

 

[Singing Gremlin]

As the news filtered through to him, Gremlin nodded with satisfaction. "Never liked him anyway. Creepy bastard." he murmured. "Mind you, there are a lot of very odd people round here. Daemonhost. Psykers, one less of them now though. The inquisitors. But why would any of them kill the navigator?" He shook his head.

Passing through the bowels of the ship he found what he was looking for; a flamer he'd looted back on the planet and had stashed away in the ship. He was always happier with promethium weapons, even if it wasn't standard equipment for a sentinel pilot. Still, they'd understand why he wanted a bigger gun. Hopefully. He swung it over his back and set off to check on his sentinel again.

 

[John Galt]

*Galt storms into the medical bay.*

"You people killed the Vindicare? What the hell were you thinking?"

*Galt slams his fists down on the table, clearly upset one of his tools was eliminated.*

"I thought we agreed to have him interrogated, not shot like a dog. We've lost our most important tools on this mission. We've got no psykers or even a navigator to help pilot this ship. I just hope you people were correct in your decision, failure out here has a heavy price. I hope we can 'activate' Shastus in time to save this damn ship"

 

[Saskwach]

While pacing the emptier corridors of the ship, mumbling as he went, Shastus passed Zen's personal quarters. Shastus stopped dead, stroked the mechanical implants hovering above his neck-spine, cast his view down both sides of the corridor, then stalked into Sen's abode.
"Just need those personnel reports..."

 

[Jakeb Smith]

::On The Bridge::

Ophelia pressed numbly at the buttons surrounding the navigation display. The nearest planet was too far away for comfort. With the navigator gone, she'd have to calculate the ship through countless gravitational fields, not to mention the threat of debris. Plasteel was only so strong.

"Shit," she started, jerking back into the seat. A field of green blips lit the screen before her.

"We're running headlong into an asteroid belt... We'll be on top of it in two standard days."

Ophelia looked blankly around the room. These twice-cursed inquisitors were going to get her killed.

 

[PurpleRain]

"You know as much as I do Johnathan, that a rouge Vindicator is dangerous to our cause. If I didn't stop him he would have endangered our lives. Now that it is over we can find some way of making it back on course without the heritic to worry about. Our mission is still clear. Assassinate the heritic leader and save the God Machine"

 

[blackadvent]

*stares at the bridge*

*talks to self* "If that Titan isn't intact when we get there, I'm going to short a circuit and blow a blood vessel."

"Ophelia.. there isn't any way of avoiding it? Any way at all?"

 

[Jakeb Smith]

OOC: Sorry if I'm derailing the story here, but I thought I'd create another narrative, so everyone isn't running around after the inquisitors. It gives Ophelia something to do as well.

::On The Bridge::

"Hmm... Our options are slim, priest. Without a navigator, entering the warp could put us a thousand systems off target, or worse..." The privateer lets that unhappy thought to linger in the air. "I'd sooner take our chances with the debris than with the horrors of The Eye."

Ophelia looks longingly out the front viewing screen. "There is one chance we have - to not only avoid the asteroids, but arrive at our destination and escape the Emperor's wrath."

When no one speaks, Ophelia takes a deep breath and turns her back on the black outside.

"There are pirates on the outer worlds who use unsanctioned psykers to make short jumps through the warp. I'd once thought them mad, but I better understand now the mind of a desperate man... As much as I may know the minds of men."

Ophelia blushes, casting her eyes to the ship's desk. "These pirates," she continues. "They claim that a single-system jump, even with an untrained, unprotected navigator is brief enough to be - at least - unlikely to attract too much unwanted attention, from the creatures of Chaos."

"I'm not sure of the details, but we have trained psykers here, more powerful than the frightened children used for the same purpose in the out-worlds. We are less than a system from our destination..."

Someone voices an obvious question. "What happens if the jump does attract unwanted attention?"

"Then we severe the link between the demon realm and ours," Ophelia says calmly. "And we lose another navigator..."

 

[The Reverend]

Verendus stood listening for a while to the chatter on the bridge, largely unseen and ignored. He matched the voice earlier to the ships captain, though you didn't need to be an inquisitor to work that out. He approached Ophelia.
"As long as your crazy plan doesn't get us all killed, do it. But I've lost enough men already on this trip, and I'll kneel before Khorne before I put the rest in danger," He said, waving his finger at her. She raised an eyebrow at what some would call an heretical statement, but Verendus continued, at almost a whisper, before she could say anything.
"Also, there is a small issue of what you, I assume, inadvertently.. digressed over the intercom earlier. What exactly is it that you have here, and who is Vicky? An alias?" He questioned with an icy look in his eye.
"I dont care if you're smuggling crap, I do care if you're the one putting my men in danger, so I suggest you tell me what you know, I daresay the Inquisitors will be as lenient as I!"
Making sure they weren't overheard, he folded his arms and waited for a reply.

 

[GenHellspawn]

Hellspawn, having emerged from the firing range, joins the conversation.
" Whatever way we get there, I just want to get there fast. I lust for the battlefield, the opportunity to serve The Emperor, the soldiers that look to me and call me 'Sarge'. I guess I don't serve much purpose here as I have little, if any, experiance with ships or pyskers magic, but I was put here to protect you all and damn it, I want to do my job!"

 

[John Galt]

*Galt leaves the medical bay in disgust, clearly, losing his assassin was quite a blow.*

"Verendus, if you wish to continue to breathe then I'd suggest you do not threaten the crew, the recent deaths have set everyone on edge enough as it is. I don't want to lose anymore of our...tools. But still, I'm willing to risk a jump like this. If we're lost to the warp then it's still a kinder fate than whatever my colleagues can cook up. I think we might be able to use the acolyte for this ad hoc jump. He seems to be ready enough. Our only worry will be the demonhost, he must be kept secure in his cell, we wouldn't want any of his friends coming along now would we?"

 

[Easykill]

"Anything that gets this over with quickly is ok with me. Kill whoever you want, so long as it doesn't affect me."
**
"Watch your back, Zen will be back from the med bay soon, and I'm not certain the assassin did it. But hey, I don't really beleive anything without proof anymore, so maybe you're safe. I'm keeping my gun ready though."

OOC- Sorry for infrequent posting, it's hard to get into this because I still don't know too much about the universe.

 

[irishdelinquent]

*Irish awakens on the bridge, overhearing the plan of Ophelia*

"Lords, if a brief jump is to be attempted, now would be the time to do so. The currents of the Immaterium are calm, or at least as calm as they tend to be. A Psyker should be able to maintain focus on the light of the Astronomicon fairly simply.

If all else fails, I could serve as the Navigator. I would need a day's rest to prepare myself, but I could do it....

I shall return to my chamber now, if you are done with me."

*The man kneels, and awaits the response of his superiors.*

 

[The Reverend]

Verendus scowled at Gait. He didn't much like inquisitors. They'd have their brothers declared heretics with small enough provocation.
"There are two men I take orders from, and you aren't one of them. Don't look to threaten me either, Inquisitor, I've shoveled shit on countless worlds for the emperor and I'll be damned if..." Verendus took a deep breath. Getting angry over something so foolish gain nothing.
He pointed a finger at Ophelia.
"We need to talk. Later. For now, I shall inform Zen of this plan," he said to Gait, throwing a salute. He didn't like the man, but, respect where respect was due. He almost stormed off the bridge. He could see this situation getting worse before it got better.