Slain by Elf

We're a little stuck on how to proceed. We could wait for the plot to catch up with us again, but it would be preferable to be active in our own destinies and we go over our options.

We have a meeting with some mutants that could offer new insight in to the recent activity, or we could look for another base the mutants are working out of. Any bases that Ulbrexis knows of are too far away to visit in the remaining hours of the day and we will have to go looking for them tomorrow. 'What time is the meeting scheduled?', asks Mordecai.

'This evening.'

'Well, let's do that first.' It's this kind of genius linear-time planning that will see us victorious.

The pre-emptive strike to subdue the mutants is going to plan. Well, almost. We successfully incapacitated half of them within a few seconds, giving the others a chance to surrender and give us the information we're after, which may have worked had Mordecai the Canary not set the rest of them (and me) on fire. We now have three burning and quickly dying mutants.

Matthias moves in to try to put out the flames on the hardiest looking of the mutants, knowing that trying to do it yourself to be almost impossible when fighting the panic of being of fire. I move in to help too, but maybe we can use some objects in the room to our advantage.

I grab a rather heavy bundle of rags and equipment and drag it across to the burning mutant, hoping to smother the flames more effectively. But even though the Canary managed to knock himself unconscious from using the firestorm pyschic power I am apparently not allowed to use another acolyte as a fire blanket, and I have to kick dust from the floor to help put out the mutant instead.

It works, and one of the three surviving mutants is now no longer on fire, if a bit crisp. Dariel looks around for any liquids he can douse the flames with. 'They were drinking, I'm going to grab their mugs and throw that on to the flames.' Sadly, they were drinking a potent spirit, which only fuels the fire until. The second mutant is now lying very still indeed for a burning man.

At least Matthias and I can get to the third mutant in time to extinguish the flames on him, giving us two badly burnt mutants to question to help us continue our investigation.

Combat against the small group of mutants is going very much in our favour. My power blade has made one tingle to death, with a single spray of automatic fire Dariel's autogun has splattered two mutants in to Verhoeven patterns on the wall, and Matthias has despatched a fourth before any of them have even managed to pick up a gun. This is how the Inquisition works.

Mordecai the Canary wants to enact some righteous anger himself, and begins to summon the psychic energy to call down a firestorm. 'I shall centre it... here!'

'It's a six metre radius in a ten metre room, you're going to hit me if you do that. Please don't.'

'Okay. Then I shall centre it... uh, here?'

'One, two, three, four, five, six. That still hits me.'

'Okay, here.' A voice rumbles from above, forcing the Canary to make an intelligence check, which he manages to fail. 'No, apparently I think my second guess was good enough. Firestorm!'

Most of the room is engulfed in fire, mutants and me alike caught in the flames. Luckily I am agile enough to prevent being set alight, even if the mutants aren't, which is good because I know how bad the situation gets when on fire. Still, I can't help thinking that a theme is emerging here, as the Canary 'forgets' to apply his inspiring aura before I encounter a fearful sight, and then 'mistakes' me for a mutant to engulf in flames. I hope we don't have a traitor in our midst.

The mutants are caught unawares by our finding their minor base of operations, but they are not about to talk willingly, reaching instead for their autoguns. We are prepared for this and move to attack, gaining an initial advantage for being armed and ready.

This is my first opportunity to use a mighty power sword, having all the finesse of a normal sword with an armour-penetrating power field to make it a formidable weapon indeed. I move in and strike down against the nearest mutant, getting a solid hit against his arm, enough to inflict critical damage even on the first hit.

A damage table is referenced to discover the full extent of my power sword's blow, the energy weapon penetrating deep enough that 'the mutant's arm goes a bit numb, and he has pins and needles for a while'.

I have to admit that I am a little disappointed with the result.

We surprise some mutants in an old Broken Chain base, seemingly being used once more. The breadth of the mutations even amongst the few before us is disturbing, particularly to a loyal servant of the God Emperor. Some of the mutants have scaly or leathery skin, some are hulking brutes with dozens of eyes, and even others have multiple arms.

On hearing this description I look down at my own multiple arms and wonder whether my heritage will get me arrested as a heretic.

To investigate the new Broken Chain cult on Sepheris Secundus, Ulbrexis says he can lead us to one of the old bases that he knew of during his earlier time here. Going down in to the mines presents some risks, including that of poison gas. Thankfully, we have a high-tech version of a canary that can detect the gases before they reach dangerous levels. We also have Mordecai, who didn't think to equip himself with any filtration plugs, so if he stops breathing we'll know there are poisonous gasses around.

The trip down the mine shaft is arduous but uneventful, the long-abandoned vein quiet apart from stone crabs chittering around. We come to a small antechamber before the main room of the old base and strains of music can be heard through the door leading in. Not wanting to rush in to a potentially deadly situation I take point and open the door a crack to see who or what is inside. My mind can't quite take in what it sees.

There is one wall that looks normal, but the others and the ceiling appear to open in to the starry sky, despite being a couple of hundred metres underground. The handful of mutants sitting around listening to an imperial hymn are the least of my worries when faced with this warping of space, and I freeze in place. My fellow acolytes notice this after a few seconds and pull me back in to the ante-chamber, closing the door and slapping me to bring me around.

I explain the weirdness that I think I saw, at which point Mordecai the Canary remembers that he can use his psychic powers to create a calming aura to help our minds cope with such disturbing imagery. His inner glow inspires us all and, opening the door again, he, Matthias, and Dariel all survive the bizarre sight without any ill effects, but only with the benefit of the aura.

I would have coped okay too had the aura been up, but suffering a -10 penalty to all dice rolls isn't that detrimental, particularly not when about to enter combat.

It dawns on me that having Ulbrexis with us on Sepheris Secundis could pose a risk. His rule over one of the mines, the one we're investigating even, and his benevolence towards his subjects may make him recognisable and blow our cover. I bring up this concern, wondering if he may be identified by any of the serfs and if that would cause serious troubles, but am reassured. 'I have a disguise of peasant's garb, including a hood', he says, 'I am unlikely to be recognised outside of my more official clothing'.

'Ah, like the prince and the porpoise.'

'...and the pauper.'

'Right, the prince and the porpoise and the pauper. But don't forget the implications should you be discovered.'

'I understand them only too well, acolyte. Don't threaten me.'

I wouldn't dream of it. I do, however, blurt out 'I'm going to kick you in the kneecaps' when greeted by Proctor Rotlan, the principal arbiter on the planet. I quickly try to cover it up by claiming it was my 'assassin instincts' and apologising, although it may have worked just as well if I had explained I was merely reacting to the lack of legroom under the table shared with my fellow acolytes.

It is after this faux pas that we are reminded that our Inquisitor told us to 'play nice with the locals'.

'Rotlan survived his first encounter with us', Matthais points out, 'we can't get any nicer'. Let's hope we continue to be this well-mannered.

Landing on Sepheris Secundus we are greeted by local law enforcement and taken to a briefing room. A terrorist cell thought dormant has become active once more, leading attacks against several mines in the region. As acolytes of the Inquisition we are here to find the roots of the organisation and bring it down. If we can't, the whole site will be nuked from orbit.

'So far no pattern to the attacks has been discerned yet', says the officer in charge, showing us a map of the mines and a sprinkling of dots where the attacks have taken place.

'We should use the classic TV detective programme method of drawing lines between the points and working out where the base is', says Matthias in his flippant manner, before being asked to make a skill check. He passes the check and realises that 'if we draw some lines connecting the points a spiral pattern becomes obvious'. How about that.

A second request for a skill check and a second success also lets Matthias plot exactly where the next attack is likely to occur. Our investigation has got off to a roaring start, guv!

After a well-deserved break, our Inquisitor has a new mission for us acolytes. We meet up at the briefing where we're given a transcription of some off-world event that we need to know about. Mordecai is volunteered to read it. 'Jesus, it's long.' Is that it? It's not much of a clue, but we can work on it.

Apparently that was just Mordecai's reaction to half a page of text, and we are treated instead to a description of security camera footage and parts of a recorded conversation. One chap is killed, another may have been killed, there is some betrayal. It's a little hard to follow, but Inquisitor Varrak continues the briefing with more details, letting us know the backgrounds of the two men involved and what has happened since. Our mission is to travel to the planet and get to the roots of the terrorist organisation thought to be at the heart of some recent attacks.

'I have a question, Inquisitor Varrak', Mordecai says.

'Go ahead, I will do my best to answer it.'

'Why do penguins have a thick layer of feathers?' Right, that's the last time I bring biscuits with jokes on the wrappers to our meetings.

Luckily, we won't be going alone to the mining planet of Sepheris Secundis. We will have a native to help us with local relations and geographic information, although it is something of a surprise to be told that he is also one of the two people recorded in the transcript, as it seemed like he was killed, and indeed is generally thought to be dead. He has actually been held by the Inquisition for the past few years in a subterranean cell. We need to negotiate his help, though, which he may not be too keen to give us considering his incarceration.

'How do we get to the cells? Are there stairs?' asks Dariel, getting to the heart of the issue. 'It is the 41st millennium, after all. Stairs must have been made obsolete by now.'

'No stairs', Matthias replies, 'just a ridge which you step over and a gravity field gently pulls you down'.

'Yep, it's called 'gravity', but I don't know how gentle it is.' We don't end up using the 'gravity field' but make it to the cells anyway, and despite failing to remember an important point made in the briefing still convince the fellow to return with us to his home planet to help in our mission.

The only issue now is how we pass the time on the three-month interplanetary journey. 'We'll need to go in to stasis', says Matthias, which Dariel thinks is a good option. 'Okay then, lie down and I'll get the stasis mallet.' Maybe we'll just play cards instead.

We have the Luminous Reproach! The artefact sword it was our mission to recover is in our possession, plucked from the Inquisitor herself, frozen in time with the demon she was fighting and whose head the Luminous Reproach was thrust in to.

We also have a book, another artefact The Inquisition will be rather interested in, and one they did not expect to find in the space hulk. Returning that should help make up for some transgressions, as long as we manage to return it. It seems the Eldar haven't finished their assault on the hulk, apparently in search of this book.

Our final stand is arranged, we need to delay our departure in the escape pods for long enough to ensure something or other. I am busy building barricades with my fellow acolytes to pay too much attention to the strangely friendly ghost, as Eldar will be swarming in soon and we could use some protection.

An image forms in front of us, a hideous alien who somehow speaks our language. He wants the book, and if we give it to him he will let us leave. I'm glad Dariel isn't carrying the book at this moment. We refuse his offer, not wanting to trust a xenos even if we thought we could, and watch as portals open before us and Eldar stream out.

The Eldar are wielding fully automatic rifle versions of the pistol that we've already seen can be deadly. One alien shoots towards Matthias, scoring multiple hits on his location but the barricade he erected negates them all. 'Um, maybe not all of them. Don't forget that multiple hits can affect different body parts.'

'Good point. The first hit is on the body, which puts subsequent hits on the body, body, and then arm, which isn't protected by your cover. Take some damage.'

'Also don't forget that you can try to dodge the attack', Mordecai points out.

'I dodge!', says Matthias, rather relieved. 'I like Mordecai's reminders better than Victus's.'

I have my own trouble, though. The Eldar are nimble and close the distance between us fast. I am dodging some attacks and having others hit my own barricade, but the aliens have got in to melee range. I call that 'trouble', but I actually am better in melee than using guns. I pull out my chainsword and start chopping away at limbs and torsos.

Two attacks, two hits! My sure strike talent lets me better control where my attacks land, too. Rather than automatically reversing the numbers on the D100 roll to determine body location struck, I can choose to reverse the number or keep it straight. Let's see, I rolled a 33 and a 44. Hmm, decisions, decisions.