Ahzek Toth - Administratum Overseer and Sage
Gizmoticus Gearmus - Tech-Priest of Mars and Leader of Mechanicum Forces
Cmdr. Magnus Valerius - Leader of Ground Forces and Former Arbitrator
Lt. Solidius Anguis - Undercover Vindicaire Temple Assassin
On Hold
While they waited to hear back about the audience with the High Maestro, brother Al-Rayyed Ad-Hib voxed the bridge; the music they'd heard when contacting planet Lyrecia could still be heard faintly in the background of the call. The space marine announced that he would take a shuttle to the space station, and from there gain passage to Prospero (eventually). Magnus wished him luck, and told him that he could expect assistance from the 231st while they were still in-system, if he needed it, and heavily implied that they might want assistance from him.
The planetary representative hadn't contacted them after another 30 minutes, and Magnus asked the bridge crew to make sure the Lyrecians weren't aiming anti-ship cannons at them; for now, at least, his Paranoia seemed unfounded, as no such emplacements were visible through the Rogue Sniper's scanners. Hours passed, and reports filtered in of soldiers getting headaches after using the vox network. Magnus announced that vox usage was to be stopped, and, suspecting a "music virus", got Gizmoticus to check the ship's systems for some kind of infection.
The tech-priest's investigation turned up nothing, so, now suspecting a "mind-virus", the party went to Astropath Wong, who informed them that the barrier between their reality and the empyrean was thinner than usual around the planet. Apparently, it was fine, unless there were untrained psykers in their ranks. What about the headaches? It was fine, don't worry about it. What about prolonged exposure? Nah, it was fine. Should they get earplugs or something for their troops? It was fine. Solidius asked how big the hole was, and Wong replied "Okay, let me just look into hell and check how big it is... Pretty big.".
Tuesday, 27 August 2019
Tuesday, 20 August 2019
GURPS Warhammer 30k: The 231st Session 3: Purges
Ahzek Toth - Administratum Overseer and Sage
Gizmoticus Gearmus - Tech-Priest of Mars and Leader of Mechanicum Forces
Cmdr. Magnus Valerius - Leader of Ground Forces and Former Arbitrator
Lt. Solidius Anguis - Undercover Vindicaire Temple Assassin
The Assault
Magnus ordered "Tightlipped" Tommy to start assembling and arming the troops, so that they could mount an assault on the Ursus Maximus cult as quickly as possible, hopefully before they could organize. In an effort to avoid combat, Ahzek took two guards and headed to the bridge, to warn Captain Lundgren about the Mechanicum insurrection, and drop out of the warp. After an hour, around 800 soldiers were armed and ready to go, some with lascannons in case the experimental combat servitor showed up, and the assault began.
Initially, they met little serious resistance; a group of heavy gunners blocked the way at one point, but Solidius snuck around and killed them all before they managed to fire a shot. Before long, though, their voxes started emitting a high-pitched squeal. Gizmoticus took some measurements and confirmed that there were a trio of large jammers spread throughout the ship, blocking their comm network. One was in the Mechanicum quarters, straight ahead, but the other two were in the cargo bay and the reactor.
The "battle" in the Mechanicum quarters was more like a slaughter, as the guardsmen outnumbered the treacherous tech-priests more than ten to one. However, it soon became clear that the majority of the enemy were not in the quarters, and must have moved to other areas of the ship; in addition, the experimental combat servitor was gone. Meanwhile, Ahzek had almost made it to the bridge when he heard the sound of lasgun fire coming from up ahead, and rounded a corner to see a pair of tech-priests shooting into the bridge.
Gizmoticus Gearmus - Tech-Priest of Mars and Leader of Mechanicum Forces
Cmdr. Magnus Valerius - Leader of Ground Forces and Former Arbitrator
Lt. Solidius Anguis - Undercover Vindicaire Temple Assassin
The Assault
Magnus ordered "Tightlipped" Tommy to start assembling and arming the troops, so that they could mount an assault on the Ursus Maximus cult as quickly as possible, hopefully before they could organize. In an effort to avoid combat, Ahzek took two guards and headed to the bridge, to warn Captain Lundgren about the Mechanicum insurrection, and drop out of the warp. After an hour, around 800 soldiers were armed and ready to go, some with lascannons in case the experimental combat servitor showed up, and the assault began.
Initially, they met little serious resistance; a group of heavy gunners blocked the way at one point, but Solidius snuck around and killed them all before they managed to fire a shot. Before long, though, their voxes started emitting a high-pitched squeal. Gizmoticus took some measurements and confirmed that there were a trio of large jammers spread throughout the ship, blocking their comm network. One was in the Mechanicum quarters, straight ahead, but the other two were in the cargo bay and the reactor.
The "battle" in the Mechanicum quarters was more like a slaughter, as the guardsmen outnumbered the treacherous tech-priests more than ten to one. However, it soon became clear that the majority of the enemy were not in the quarters, and must have moved to other areas of the ship; in addition, the experimental combat servitor was gone. Meanwhile, Ahzek had almost made it to the bridge when he heard the sound of lasgun fire coming from up ahead, and rounded a corner to see a pair of tech-priests shooting into the bridge.
Saturday, 3 August 2019
GURPS Warhammer 30k: The 231st Session 2: Traitors
Ahzek Toth - Administratum Overseer and Sage
Gizmoticus Gearmus - Tech-Priest of Mars and Leader of Mechanicum Forces
Cmdr. Magnus Valerius - Leader of Ground Forces and Former Arbitrator
Lt. Solidius Anguis - Undercover Vindicaire Temple Assassin
Under Way
The last day of resupply went smoothly, and the 231st loaded up onto their small fleet, with the party on their flagship, the Rogue Sniper. The fleet jumped into the warp without problems, and the party assembled with the other higher-ups for the traditional post-translation dinner. Two seats, reserved for the Navigator and brother Al-Rayyed Ad-Hib, were empty, as the former was still busy setting the course, and the latter apparently preferred to keep to himself.
Chef Bronck was clearly still upset over Daniel's disappearance, and it showed in the overdone, bland fare he prepared. Over the dull droning of his augmetic chain-teeth, Fleet Captain Lundgren made polite conversation with Ahzek, who shortly made a fool of himself by trying to discuss astropathy (which was prescribed knowledge) with the Sniper's Astropath Dave Ismane. Solidius inquired as to the whereabouts of the space marine, and Lundgren replied that he'd not seen him since they'd came aboard on the shuttle.
Magnus tried to converse with Lundgren, but the captain was too busy shovelling food into his roaring maw. Eventually, the Navigator showed up, but ate only a tiny portion before retiring to her chambers, clearly exhausted from the warp translation. Ahzke tried to talk to her, but she ignored him; Magnus yelled at him afterwards for needlessly antagonizing one of the most important and notoriously ill-tempered people on the ship.
Gizmoticus Gearmus - Tech-Priest of Mars and Leader of Mechanicum Forces
Cmdr. Magnus Valerius - Leader of Ground Forces and Former Arbitrator
Lt. Solidius Anguis - Undercover Vindicaire Temple Assassin
Under Way
The last day of resupply went smoothly, and the 231st loaded up onto their small fleet, with the party on their flagship, the Rogue Sniper. The fleet jumped into the warp without problems, and the party assembled with the other higher-ups for the traditional post-translation dinner. Two seats, reserved for the Navigator and brother Al-Rayyed Ad-Hib, were empty, as the former was still busy setting the course, and the latter apparently preferred to keep to himself.
Chef Bronck was clearly still upset over Daniel's disappearance, and it showed in the overdone, bland fare he prepared. Over the dull droning of his augmetic chain-teeth, Fleet Captain Lundgren made polite conversation with Ahzek, who shortly made a fool of himself by trying to discuss astropathy (which was prescribed knowledge) with the Sniper's Astropath Dave Ismane. Solidius inquired as to the whereabouts of the space marine, and Lundgren replied that he'd not seen him since they'd came aboard on the shuttle.
Magnus tried to converse with Lundgren, but the captain was too busy shovelling food into his roaring maw. Eventually, the Navigator showed up, but ate only a tiny portion before retiring to her chambers, clearly exhausted from the warp translation. Ahzke tried to talk to her, but she ignored him; Magnus yelled at him afterwards for needlessly antagonizing one of the most important and notoriously ill-tempered people on the ship.
Tuesday, 23 July 2019
GURPS Warhammer 30k: The 231st Session 1: Dissension in the Ranks
Ahzek Toth - Administratum Overseer and Sage
Gizmoticus Gearmus - Tech-Priest of Mars and Leader of Mechanicum Forces
Cmdr. Magnus Valerius - Leader of Ground Forces and Former Arbitrator
Lt. Solidius Anguis - Undercover Vindicaire Temple Assassin
The Story This Far
It is the 31st Millenium. Everything's pretty cool, and not grim or dark. The Emperor is a swell guy, and he is leading the Empire of Man across the galaxy to unite humanity in his Great Crusade. But alas, his glorious son Horus has rebelled, and the traitor is joined by three Astartes Legions: the Sons of Horus, Emperor's Children and World Eaters. The Emperor has sent seven other legions lead by his sons, the Primarchs, off to Horus' stronghold-world of Istvaan V to end the rebellion. But this is not their story.
This is the story of the 231st Expeditionary Fleet, also known as the "Two-Thirty-Worst". To date, they have failed every mission they have been assigned. On their last mission, most of the Fleet was destroyed, including the entire compliment of Mechanicum except for Gizmoticus. And yet, they have survived, and limped back to the Imperial homeworld of Terra with their four surviving ships. The leaders of the 231st, Fleet Captain Lundgren, Magnus, Gizmoticus, and Solidius, have gathered in a briefing room to receive their next assignment from a member of the Imperial Fists legion.
Briefing
Instead of a space marine, a twelve year old boy, in what Magnus recognized as initiate's robes, walked into the room, and introduced himself as Cyrus; clearly a slight against the 231st, who apparently weren't worth the time of a proper Astartes. In a high-pitched, nasally voice, Cyrus gave them their orders: after four days of repair and resupply on Terra, they were to re-establish contact with Planet 2813, an outpost that had gone dark for six months. Solidius raised his hand to ask a question, but Cyrus angrily announced that there would be no questions. A new compliment of Mechanicum, under one Adept Brakkus, would be joining them.
Gizmoticus Gearmus - Tech-Priest of Mars and Leader of Mechanicum Forces
Cmdr. Magnus Valerius - Leader of Ground Forces and Former Arbitrator
Lt. Solidius Anguis - Undercover Vindicaire Temple Assassin
The Story This Far
It is the 31st Millenium. Everything's pretty cool, and not grim or dark. The Emperor is a swell guy, and he is leading the Empire of Man across the galaxy to unite humanity in his Great Crusade. But alas, his glorious son Horus has rebelled, and the traitor is joined by three Astartes Legions: the Sons of Horus, Emperor's Children and World Eaters. The Emperor has sent seven other legions lead by his sons, the Primarchs, off to Horus' stronghold-world of Istvaan V to end the rebellion. But this is not their story.
This is the story of the 231st Expeditionary Fleet, also known as the "Two-Thirty-Worst". To date, they have failed every mission they have been assigned. On their last mission, most of the Fleet was destroyed, including the entire compliment of Mechanicum except for Gizmoticus. And yet, they have survived, and limped back to the Imperial homeworld of Terra with their four surviving ships. The leaders of the 231st, Fleet Captain Lundgren, Magnus, Gizmoticus, and Solidius, have gathered in a briefing room to receive their next assignment from a member of the Imperial Fists legion.
Briefing
Instead of a space marine, a twelve year old boy, in what Magnus recognized as initiate's robes, walked into the room, and introduced himself as Cyrus; clearly a slight against the 231st, who apparently weren't worth the time of a proper Astartes. In a high-pitched, nasally voice, Cyrus gave them their orders: after four days of repair and resupply on Terra, they were to re-establish contact with Planet 2813, an outpost that had gone dark for six months. Solidius raised his hand to ask a question, but Cyrus angrily announced that there would be no questions. A new compliment of Mechanicum, under one Adept Brakkus, would be joining them.
Saturday, 20 July 2019
Delta Green: The El Paso Case Session 3: A Small Favour
Dr. Agent David Trentmen - FBI Agent and former Medical Doctor
Juan Estevez - DEA Agent and former Undercover Cop
Victor Blue - FBI Intelligence Analyst and Hacker
16/08/19 Spectres and Sensitives
Victor called Monique to check in (she was fine), and let her know they were coming by her apartment to run some tests. Once there, Victor ran the two-hour psychic test, but failed the roll by one, and it came up negative. He wanted to run it again, to be sure, but Monique was hesitant, though she caved when David asked her to (Very Handsome saves the day!). The test came up negative again, so the party decided to move on to their next plan: the masking ritual that would hide a psychic from Tintiasay, in case the test had just been wrong.
Victor checked the photos he'd taken from the Monterrero's library, but found that the text in the pictures was now in some weird incomprehensible language! Luckily, his Eidetic Memory let him recall the ritual; most of the ingredients for the totem were common enough, but they'd need palo santo incense, which might be tricky to find. Despite the party's best efforts, they couldn't track down any local suppliers, so Victor ordered some online, but it would take 5 days to get delivered. David decided to double-check Monique's vital signs, which she was more than okay with, and she was perfectly healthy, meaning "Tintin" probably wasn't eating her life force.
The agents decided not to just wait for 5 days, and instead headed to the Providence Children's Hospital morgue to look for a dead child who matched their ghost. Juan talked their way past the only employee on duty with a flash of his badge, but Victor was unable to find a match in the database. He edited the photo to look less like a ghost, and then showed the morgue employee, asking if he remembered seeing her. He remembered that he had seen her around the hospital, but not specifically where.
Juan Estevez - DEA Agent and former Undercover Cop
Victor Blue - FBI Intelligence Analyst and Hacker
16/08/19 Spectres and Sensitives
Victor called Monique to check in (she was fine), and let her know they were coming by her apartment to run some tests. Once there, Victor ran the two-hour psychic test, but failed the roll by one, and it came up negative. He wanted to run it again, to be sure, but Monique was hesitant, though she caved when David asked her to (Very Handsome saves the day!). The test came up negative again, so the party decided to move on to their next plan: the masking ritual that would hide a psychic from Tintiasay, in case the test had just been wrong.
Victor checked the photos he'd taken from the Monterrero's library, but found that the text in the pictures was now in some weird incomprehensible language! Luckily, his Eidetic Memory let him recall the ritual; most of the ingredients for the totem were common enough, but they'd need palo santo incense, which might be tricky to find. Despite the party's best efforts, they couldn't track down any local suppliers, so Victor ordered some online, but it would take 5 days to get delivered. David decided to double-check Monique's vital signs, which she was more than okay with, and she was perfectly healthy, meaning "Tintin" probably wasn't eating her life force.
The agents decided not to just wait for 5 days, and instead headed to the Providence Children's Hospital morgue to look for a dead child who matched their ghost. Juan talked their way past the only employee on duty with a flash of his badge, but Victor was unable to find a match in the database. He edited the photo to look less like a ghost, and then showed the morgue employee, asking if he remembered seeing her. He remembered that he had seen her around the hospital, but not specifically where.
Friday, 5 July 2019
Delta Green: The El Paso Case Session 2: The Monterrero Organization
Dr. Agent David Trentmen - FBI Agent and former Medical Doctor
Juan Estevez - DEA Agent and former Undercover Cop
Victor Blue - FBI Intelligence Analyst and Hacker
15/08/19 Desert Rose Hotel, El Paso Texas
After a 20 minute real-time argument between David and Victor over what kind of fast food to get (they ended up getting Subway, but Juan stuck to MREs and jerky after their last mission), the agents headed back to their hotel and discussed what to do with the South American Fear Totem. Juan wanted to burn it, while Victor wanted to use it as bait for the demon (Juan: "We already have bait, and her name is Monique").
They decided to spend the rest of the day doing more research into the totem, Tintiasay (aka Tintin aka Tzitzi-Ya Ku), and the Monterro Organization. Juan looked into the Monterros with Criminology and found that their south american smuggling operation was a new and strange thing for the organization, and put two and two together to realize that Angel was going to go state's witness and get them locked up.
Victor got 9 degrees on Occultism while researching "Tintin" and found a wealth of intel:
Juan Estevez - DEA Agent and former Undercover Cop
Victor Blue - FBI Intelligence Analyst and Hacker
15/08/19 Desert Rose Hotel, El Paso Texas
After a 20 minute real-time argument between David and Victor over what kind of fast food to get (they ended up getting Subway, but Juan stuck to MREs and jerky after their last mission), the agents headed back to their hotel and discussed what to do with the South American Fear Totem. Juan wanted to burn it, while Victor wanted to use it as bait for the demon (Juan: "We already have bait, and her name is Monique").
They decided to spend the rest of the day doing more research into the totem, Tintiasay (aka Tintin aka Tzitzi-Ya Ku), and the Monterro Organization. Juan looked into the Monterros with Criminology and found that their south american smuggling operation was a new and strange thing for the organization, and put two and two together to realize that Angel was going to go state's witness and get them locked up.
Victor got 9 degrees on Occultism while researching "Tintin" and found a wealth of intel:
- It has been around since recorded history started, but disappears for long periods of time
- It appears as formless black smoke (so not a ghostly girl)
- It has never been permanently "killed"
- It came to its victims at night and took their life force, killing them in days
- Somebody always curses the victim
- There were no mentions of any totems (???)
- Once cursed, nobody has ever escaped it (though one British man made it back to England and may have survived)
- There is a ritual that may be able to get rid of it, but it has never worked.
Tuesday, 2 July 2019
Delta Green: The El Paso Case Session 1: A Late Night Chat
Dr. Agent David Trentmen - FBI Agent and former Medical Doctor
Juan Estevez - DEA Agent and former Undercover Cop
Victor Blue - FBI Intelligence Analyst and Hacker
14/08/19 Late Night Chat
In the early hours of the morning, Victor's phone rang somewhere in his mom's basement. Fortunately, he was awake. Unfortunately, he was mid-raid in World of Warcraft. Upon seeing the caller ID light up as Monique Hawkins, a doctor from El Paso he'd met on another Delta Green op, and known friendly of the "program", he muted his in-game mic and answered the phone. For a moment there was only heavy breathing, then a woman's frantic voice starting ranting about a girl dressed in flowing white, followed by sobbing.
Victor was stunned, and Monique continued; the girl was around whenever she closed her eyes and haunted her dreams. Victor tried to reassure her, but Monique cut him off, hissing "I think she's listening!", followed by a crack, a thud, and then the line went dead. Victor apologized to his guild and logged off, then took a look at Monique's social media to see if she'd been going crazy for a long time. It all looked normal, but she hadn't posted anything in the last several days.
He picked his phone up again and informed the rest of the team that they had a job to do, and bought a ticket for a flight to El Paso, first thing tomorrow. Err, today.
Juan Estevez - DEA Agent and former Undercover Cop
Victor Blue - FBI Intelligence Analyst and Hacker
14/08/19 Late Night Chat
In the early hours of the morning, Victor's phone rang somewhere in his mom's basement. Fortunately, he was awake. Unfortunately, he was mid-raid in World of Warcraft. Upon seeing the caller ID light up as Monique Hawkins, a doctor from El Paso he'd met on another Delta Green op, and known friendly of the "program", he muted his in-game mic and answered the phone. For a moment there was only heavy breathing, then a woman's frantic voice starting ranting about a girl dressed in flowing white, followed by sobbing.
Victor was stunned, and Monique continued; the girl was around whenever she closed her eyes and haunted her dreams. Victor tried to reassure her, but Monique cut him off, hissing "I think she's listening!", followed by a crack, a thud, and then the line went dead. Victor apologized to his guild and logged off, then took a look at Monique's social media to see if she'd been going crazy for a long time. It all looked normal, but she hadn't posted anything in the last several days.
He picked his phone up again and informed the rest of the team that they had a job to do, and bought a ticket for a flight to El Paso, first thing tomorrow. Err, today.
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