4AD Booklet Posh Finish

Too much time on my hands...
No I just enjoy making sure my game material lasts..

Wandering Monsters and Corridors and Rooms

With the wandering monsters in my adaptation of 4AD they can only ever be encountered in Corridors.  To clearly identify this, I have labelled each room entry.  Yes I know it's teaching people to such eggs, but here it is.  Rooms, what happens in rooms will be discussed at a later time...

ENTRANCE

4AD meets Tekumel

My latest ramblings about my playing around with Four Against Darkness and Empire of the Petal Throne.

The Fabricated Tales of Alpha Capharius Part Five

The Fabricated Tales

of Alpha Capharius

DC-12-9/5/9/ZT5F412A0

Part Five

Renegade Astartes - unknown - affiliation Slaanesh
Imperial Records - purged.

+++Personal Encrypted Journal+++

That frivolous entity S.I.M.O.N toyed with the lives of many of those that came to be my associates over the millennia of my existence.  Even at the writing of this entry I am unsure how long I have been alive, and even if alive is the correct word to use.  The cursed ship continues to play havoc on the mental states of all concerned and in this instance it appeared that S.I.M.O.N. coerced me into affecting the fate of Elsie, and while this is in itself an entertaining and oft times appealing notion, I do no harm… okay there was that one time with the Triterian transgender cucumber, a gerbil and two hundred developing daffodils, but honestly he did plaster himself in honey at the time – oh no… wait, I had just shot a giant honey laden bee, which covered him in honey… I think you can follow the train of thought from there.  Trust me, it was never intentional… just unfortunately opportune at the time.  Back to the story – that evil entity had summoned me by some daemonic means to its lair, actually it was rather nice as lairs go and I have seen a fair few in my long life, a penchant for shrubberies and ornamental Ni’s – but I digress.  “You must choose a number between 98 and 98,” it rumbled in a rather squeaky falsetto voice.  Rather surprised at this, for such a scrofulous warp entity, you think it could have had a more imposing voice (it later told me, as we had high tea with the Emperor of Mankind, it was last in line when the voices were being handed out at the god academy and that was it).  I questioned the choice as being no choice at all, in which I got the infamous and deadly raised Vetinarii eyebrow look.  “Too bad, I’m glad you liked the number, did you also like the other number, 24!  It is exactly the reverse of 42, which you will know is the meaning of life the universe and everything…” Before I could do much else in the way of debating with this entity I was back in what passes for the real world.  My many companions often tell me that I never operate in the real world at any point in time, so this may very well be a moot point.  Warplings, who needs them – apparently they bloody well need us?

+++End Encrypted Journal+++

The smoke from the explosion (see previous entry) had begun to clear (finally it had only been 14 days in the dissipating).  Reality, or what passes for it by my standards was returning.  People were strewn about the place, slowly picking themselves up and taking stock of what had happened.  It was then I discovered that Lady B was missing.  “Lady B is missing!” I exclaimed, first in dismay, then in disbelief, then in joy, finally ending in rapture.  For some reason no one else seemed to be as enchanted as I in this plain and simple fact that a mutant had gone and met it’s maker as the Emperor intended (not that I believe in him as a god, but as in his intent to cleanse the gene stock of chaos mutants).  Elsie had fainted at the traumatic news that his beloved mistress and newly found love had been vaporized.  I choose this point in time as an opportune one to send Elsie “Sticky Fingers” back to Wolf of Iron/Francine/Killian (whimpers and gives up – just kidding, new personality provides massive electrical power surge of shock).

+++Readers Note+++

To speed up reading the entry Wolf of Iron/Francine/Killian (whimpers and gives up – just kidding, new personality provides massive electrical power surge of shock) it will now just be note as WOE.  Francine liked this abbreviation in the end for all the written records, and only the records – when communicating it was always to be Francine.  WOE is taken for granted for what Alpharius copped in electrical feedback each time he merged with their personalities in the records.  It is believed that Apharius was immune in the end to these electrical discharges, his companions whispered that it was some form of sexual act between the pair(s) – especially when WOE took up her mobile form.

+++End Readers Note+++

As I deposited Elsie back in WOE (hmm, safe so far) I relieved him of certain items he would not miss, particularly the ones pertaining to my livelihood and welfare.  I’m sure EMMA will tell him in time what is missing, but the waste cycling system on this ship will have destroyed it all by the time he becomes even aware of the situation.  EMMA at the time was more interesting in sucking to the arse of her comatose “master” to take too much notice, though certainly enough time to not allow me to stuff it were the sun shineth not in Elsie sadly.  While placing Elsie in as uncomfortable a position as possible to recover I was startled by the awakening of Fabio.  His blood curdling woman-like scream almost made me drop the circumcision knife I was holding over Elsie, it did stop my actions and direct my attention to Fabio – but not in a sinister way, no never.

Fabio was still raving, as he was coming out of his delirium.  He mentioned pink underwear, lace garments, a third eye, and new masters – a very troubled mind. He did drool a lot I noticed, more than usual, but a quick application of Elsie noggin and he was as good as new, Fabio even enjoyed it, EMMA didn’t.  Fabio once appraised on the chance to obtain booty (he didn’t grasp the fact I meant loot) grabbed his equipment, exposed some hairy chest (why he does this perplexes me) – struck what he thought was an heroic pose but looked more like a limp wristed duck mating handshake and demanded I direct him to the rest of the group.  I smiled, tripped him up as he left the hatchway, apologized and lead him to Reximus.

Reximus upon seeing Fabio gave him such a look that Fabio appeared to have grown an additional bulge in the rear of his trousers either that or he had just vacated his bowels.  I was correct in assuming he vacated his bowels in terror at some mental communication that Reximus directed at him, as Fabio went white (and not from the cold), which is almost impossible for a blue skinned beast, but he somehow managed to do it.  Reximus just passed his doom on Fabio with a drop in temperature in the area and these simple words “I see you for what you are.”  The temperature drop we now associate (though I know of this phenomenon) with psychic powers, though the primitives call it witchcraft and magic.  Fabio’s cocksure nature seems somewhat deflated now.

While the group has now been stabilized the loss of Lady B is yet to be resolved.  Horst examined the ceiling to see if she may have perhaps have been hurled through there – not to my luck, not a big enough smear or impact crater.  There is no evidence of small body parts of her littered around to show that she had been dismembered in the explosion – curses, foiled again.  I am fast coming to the conclusion that if she was not destroyed in total (please let that be the outcome), then she is most likely a daemon and has at last shown her true colours and vanished into the warp or used some warp power to escape her destruction (further proof of her diabolist nature).  Fabio discovered that a room nearby has a working system terminal and I am reluctantly persuaded (lynch mobs are like that) to operate it in the hope that I may be of some use in finding Lady B.  My protestations that she’s a daemon and gone back to the warp don’t seem to be believed – yet!  Yes I, with the intellect of the ancients am set to the mundane task of data retrieval. Sigh… this will take some time and I advise my companions that it will be a while and that they should find themselves something to do to amuse themselves, I suggested drawing amusing genital symbols on comatose Elsie…

+++Personal Encrypted Journal+++

I was later to discover while having the joy of interrogating Lady B on a dissection table many… many years from now, that she could hear everything that was being said by all of us at the time, she just chose not to communicate.  Her reasoning – the daemon told her not to… the damned always say that!

+++End Encrypted Journal+++

Horst went about examining the corridors and chambers that had been opened up by the missile barrages from WOE (sigh of pleasure) [Editors note: Hang on I thought we had agreed not to do this anymore?] Found that some of the doors had been security locked - I was unavailable thank goodness.  While Horst had a shiny new meltagun, he was reluctant to use the limited fuel to open up the rooms that in all honesty may contain nothing.  Reximus deployed some plasma grenades to destroy the corpses used in heinous rituals to create several daemons we encountered, whereupon there was a lively one sided debate between Horst and Reximus over whose refusal or wastage of resources was being questioned? 

Fabio had found himself an exciting new corridor to go and explore, one that contained lots of lights, which appeared to be deactivated. The room which Horst found himself in was once a corridor to the area or corridor that Fabio had now entered.  Security sensors activated and alarms sounds, mayhem ensued with gusto.  I am far too happy searching for internet porn while attempting to find if Lady B is still somewhere on the or in the immediate area than to be aware of the calamity occurring amongst the other members of my group.  Fabio had attempted to enter a restricted area, which promptly issued a “unknown entity, admittance denied, termination imminent unless authorized.”  Horst was fighting his own problems with the security devices activated by Fabio’s activity, however Horst was more adroit at dealing with these matters and plugged the holes in the security net with several holes of his own – namely some Dark Matter ones.  The holes he created seemed to nicely fill the holes in the security net.

With the immediate danger averted, I finally locate Lady B at the time she decides to let everyone know she can communicate with everyone concerned.  Reximus is rather peeved with Fabio and gives him a direct order - yes this is the first time I have actually seen Reximus give to anyone in our group anything but suggestions, but this time it was a direct order, along with what I knew was a psychic imperative (there being that drop in temperature – and you guessed it no one picked up on it but me!).  Fabio is directed to not go anywhere unless directed to do so, he was to follow Horst and obey his instructions (of course Fabio never did this, and ultimately this led to his rather untimely execution, but that’s another story for another day).  The fact that Fabio failed to obey these directives time and time again, proved that his warp tainted heritage was all the more reason Reximus had him under his watchful gaze.  Perhaps it was the gaze of that third eyed nipple winking back that was doing the watching…. Horrible damn thing.

Lady B meanwhile (by her own admonition) was developing psychic abilities that were worrisome and certainly not human in nature, if you can call psychic potential a human trait.  She had summoned up the code to open the door allowing her access to the main area that the group was in, and that she had previously been exploring.  Not once did she use this ability to our knowledge or benefit ever afterwards… My suspicions of this being continue to grow, the armour she wears is clearly xenos in nature and while I cannot recall the full data files at present references link it to the race known as the Eldar.  Her corruption is clearly going to be an issue to be monitored, though Reximus is aware of this and has communicated the like to me.  “All is as is expected Alpharius,” he would say to me “the viper will strike me down and I will rise.  You will be the only loyal one to stand with me, as is expected.  I will have to belittle you in front of the others, but fear not, you are favoured.  Remember that, you and Horst have a part to play that will outlive the others.” 

+++Personal Encrypted Journal+++

I would only remember this many years later at the Battle of Raven’s Hair Ridge when Horst and I led forces against the warp touched armies of our one time compatriot Elsie.  Corruption is everywhere, taking mutants from a warp touched planet was a mistake to start with. 

+++End Encrypted Journal+++

Renegade Astartes - unknown - affiliation Nurgle
Imperial Records - purged.

After the band was put back together, all except Elsie, who by my knowledge was being thoroughly probed by EMMA, according to WOE (sigh of pleasure) ) [Editors note: I give up!  I clearly have no control over the content of my own written construct, just who is writing this? – REXIMUS WAS HERE] Horst wanted to know, human curiosity really is what gets it into trouble, what was behind locked doors 1 to 3.  Reximus really didn’t want to look and said so, thinking it best to leave it locked, but Horst did insist.  I was busy in the terminal room, setting up system identifications for the mutants that somehow failed the first time.  Clearly some fool put in the wrong clearance parameters when the personnel files were created, honestly it was a rookie mistake, the idiot should have been taken out and whipped… for… such… a- oh, um, never mind it was all Elsie’s fault, no better still EMMA screwed the system!  Yes that’s why it all went out the window the bloody squirrel distracted me while I was setting everything up, after all even S.I.M.O.N. can be distracted and make mistakes in remembering things… right…. Umm, hint, hint!!  My being in the terminal room proved to be a very good positioning place as it gave me a head start as the party fled the impending doom caused by the simple detonation of some plasma grenades…

The security locked doors were opened by Reximus, at the insistence of Horst – note made in log by authority of Reximus, yes he’s throwing his might around now.  Horst and the looters see that there are lots of dismembered corpses and that they were clearly ones used for the rituals associated with the daemons we have encountered.  The nature of the corruption in evidence has a disturbing effect on all present, it even affects me through the visual link (I really must do something about placing a code lock in my core to shut that feed if such things are seen).  It’s then that things go horribly wrong; Fabio realizes that not having a helmet can be detrimental to breathing and gags.  Grenades are tossed to cleanse the area, which appears to do the trick – at first.  Well it did the trick all right, it brought the warp trap to life and summoned something far worse than we had so far encountered from the warp.  The fact that Reximus uttered the words “Oh CRAP!!!!” and bolted for the relative safety of WOE (sigh of pleasure) and where he could bring his greater arsenal of weaponry to bear.  “A greater daemon is coming, prepare for the worse; the malignancy is more than I have ever faced before.”

The combat is one of the earliest encounters with what I came to know as daemon princes.  This one was most definitely feminine in appearance and demeanor and was most catlike in nature.  The daemon was languid in its need to slay and play with us, it did not seem to have a rush to end the pleasure it saw in and the the pain it would inflict and possibly receive in this engagement.  What worried Reximus, Horst and me more was the fact the primitives knew this creature and it knew them - the Imperium of Man protect us, they now consorted with these powers of a greater nature, how more damning was the proof.  I had retreated to the safety of WOE (ecstasy) and prepared myself with the others to shot the creature back into the warp.   In the opening salvo I managed to inflict a respectable wound on the thing, it was pleasing to note that as the things absorbed damage from the other gun toting bunnies, my damage never healed where theirs did.  Clearly miracles, accurate marksmanship or just dumb luck – either that or it was just S.I.M.O.N. playing with me, I’ll never know.  At the critical moment where I and the other awaited WOE’s (ecstasy – withheld in shame) salvo, it admitted it could not acquire a target lock.  I then had to link to WOE (ecstasy enhanced) to provide targeting solutions and fire parameters, it was then I was informed of the other critical issue… ammunition, or lack thereof.  The launchers had less than ten rounds left…

In another dimension S.I.M.O.N. was chortling away… twice it had interfered in the life of Alpharius in quick succession, it was pleasing to see that the look on his face when first his beloved WOE (sigh of pleasure) blew up, detonating the black hole grenades and destroying the system, several times.  Then there was his belief that it would not happen again, and it did… life was good for an interdimensional manifestation!

Fabio had become entranced to a certain degree by the daemon, so much so he had to unbutton his shirt, exposing to the sharp eyed amongst us his third eyed nipple.  The fact that it winked at me was more disconcerting than off-putting.  Fabio was now showing proof of his corruption, clear and positive proof that the denizens of the planet were warp touched.  However being touched by the warp and the mutation he bore was the very least of the worries now.  Horst started the frenzy of throwing stasis grenades, I had never seen so many of these rare items set off in such a confined area. It was his belief that he could slow the entity down enough that the team would be able to saturate the area with enough ordnance that it would not be able to use it enhanced agility to escape the damage.  I had an inkling that a creature of the warp was not adversely as affected by these devices as mundane are from the real world, so when the daemon started to move inside the stasis field, it did not surprise me or Reximus.  The others however did not believe their eyes and decided that throwing more stasis grenades would slow it down even more.  Reximus, had fallen comatose during the initial combat and while everyone else had thought he was unconscious, he was in truth combating the daemon on another plane of existence.  “Alpharius,” he imparted “our link is still active though I appear inactive.  I must now play the fool to play the viper – as always; be prepared to play you part.”

The daemon fought on, the damage it received would have killed several of it lesser kin but it just smiled.  Its speed was mind numbing, literally unable to be tracked unless exceptionally lucky on the part of the individual.  Shots were scored, but in the end, little was achieved.  It escaped the stasis, dragging Fabio with it, its tongue wrapping several times around his neck before giving him a licking he clearly didn’t object to.  The truly sane were appalled by this, it was then that Elsie woke.  WOE (ecstasy) immediately advised me of this calamity and I was then more worried than ever about how the outcome could change the fate of the battle?  More stasis grenades were thrown, blocking all access to Fabio, allowing the tender loving caress of the daemon to continue to be plied on his nonresistant body and mind.  His screams which the primitives claimed were terror, my recordings when played back clearly showed as audio and visuals of ecstasy, my concern rose as to what was to be in our future.  Slowly the stasis grenades dissipated, Reximus woke and threw more grenades, opening up further potential rooms to explore and allow access to the entity.  It was with this occurrence that the daemon gave a lust filled farewell to all and cut itself a rift through the veil up into the ceiling and to elsewhere in the ship…

Renegade Astartes - unknown - affiliation Tzeentch
Imperial Records - purged.

I played my part.  I questioned Reximus and his lack of clear tactical guidance and thought in this battle.  I received an electrical surge and a look disdain for questioning his actions, the others bought it – for now at least.  Lady B and Fabio surprise us by saying they sense the daemon making its way to the outer hull of the ship.  Why are they damning themselves further with their warp dabbling and taint I cannot quite fathom, perhaps their intent is to throw the groups attention back on the daemon rather than on themselves.    However with the immediate threat removed and Elsie back in the saddle, it was time to 4X, which sadly led to Horst being targeted and shot by the vermin control systems.  Horst did make quick work of disabling the offensive system.  With my extreme dislike of crates I decided that I needed to return to the terminal room and examine the system protocols for any corruption.  Examination of the crates found a heavy bolter, and a weird floating disc which fascinated and taunted the group for quite some time.  As we were distracted the viper struck - unknown to the majority of the group Lady B had detained Reximus at blade point.

Lady B shouted a warning, a directive that was garbled at best but was of such urgency that it made the members rush to the spot where she held Reximus at sword point.  Blood trickled from the blade point that had pierced his throat and was evident to all to see.  I was not pleased with the action and took myself away from the immediate group, preparing to go for my sidearm and shoot Lady B should she do the unthinkable. Lady B then burbled out much nonsense about Reximus not being the person he claimed to be, that he was the same nature as the daemon which they fought.  Proof was demanded, sides were being declared and then things out of control.  “I am disappointed in all of you, except for Lady B, you at least question.”  Lady B then lost it and plunged her blade into Reximus’ throat, just as he grabbed the blade.  I fired my pistol, but it failed to fire, as fate decreed.  Reximus bleed from his wounds, but he did not bleed out, or die from the wound which Lady B dealt.  I was the only one who stood firm in his loyalty to Reximus, as was my part to play, not that it was an act.  However the viper had been drawn out, the doubters had been flushed and tests were still to be conducted as to the suitability of some.  The viper had failed. The adage, keep your friends close but your enemies closer has never been truer.  Reximus explains that what others have seen as inactivity has been his war against the warp and the daemons.  With reason and logic he starts to sway the group to understand the truth of his nature, which appears to stop the rot of doubt and indecision.  “Alpharius, I fear that it will require more sacrifice before I can sort the wheat from the chaff, be patient” was his silent missive to me.

“I shall show you Lady B how to remove the taint which you see.” He then took Elsie’s spear, and with a gesture imobilised Fabio.  “I’m fairly sure this won’t hurt, much…”  and with that he stabbed Fabio with the spear, with each cut a piece of the taint dissipated before the eyes of those who could see such things.  I could not see these things myself but the link with Reximus allowed me to see these matters in detail along with further instructions from him.  “Lady B you will notice that I can adjust my “threat” level to the powers of the warp by appearing more like them, here I will demonstrate.” Reximus then for the benefit of those who could see, changed his “corruption” taint to a higher perception, then to nil. “By doing this I can hide amongst whomever I wish, here on this tainted ship I wish to remain as “invisible” as possible, you are merely registering me as a daemon, but you have no understanding of the warp or its nature.  You are a child who looks into the night sky and asks its parent why it cannot pluck a star from the heavens.”

Reximus continued to work on Fabio while this conversation occured, carving a new “tattoo” into his chest “Alpha my lad,” he mused over our link, “you will notice that I am unable to excise the mutant’s nipple eye.  This is the first sign of damnation in the body and soul of those who are weak, I have carved a sigil of binding that should contain its spread, but the warp works in ways that don’t always operate to any regimented rules, think of them more as a set of guidelines.”  He chuckled to himself as if remembering this as some witty line or reference from the past?  Were the ungrateful members of my group charitable in accepting that Reximus was innocent of their doubts? Nope, not in the least.  They doubted still, Horst was still unable to make his mind up (it was later determined in my interrogation of Lady B that she admitted she had influenced many members of the group – and many others over time, sad but true, she had already fallen under the taint of the warp…) Reximus was unmoved by these matters, he knew that his agenda would proceed as planned and that his servants were true and loyal.

With matters finally resolved to a simmering stew of distrust, and with the assurance from Reximus Remorus Romulus Remus (to be honest I ignored all the fancy additional names he threw out there, he only did it to confuse everyone) agreeing to participate more in assisting the group, they went back to 4X.  Horst finally found a crate containing a Jokaero feline cybercat much to his pleasure, then dissappointment. “That is Feline Espionage infiLtrator Intelligence eXplorator or FELIX for short.  It is another of my cyber agents Alpharius, consider it a gift for the loyalty you have shown by pulling the gun on Lady B.  Besides it’s a cat and it tends to choose it masters, for some reason it likes you a lot.  Must have something to do with the fact EMMA hates you with a passion, hardly surprising, she detests me as well.”  EMMA and FELIX hiss and squeak insults at each other for several minutes before Reximus silences them with a stern command.

Imperial Guard Inquisitorial Cleanse Team

I was hurt with the display of jealousy that flashed over Horsts face when FELIX chose me as its companion – I will have to find some way to make reparations to him without him knowing what has happened.  I’m sure there will be an opportunity coming in the very near future that will provide me an opportunity to do so… (Reximus psychically flashed an image of a flying serpent into my cortical senses…)  The looting continued and more items were added to the expanding inventory; more Dark Matter Rifles and ammunition, targeters and a heavy Dark Matter gun which was fed by a pack back generator.  The cream on the cake was the discovery of a robot, which to my joy EMMA could not activate or interfere with!  There was plenty of ammunition, weapon loads and fuel.  The gem of an idea I had was starting to germinate and I contacted WOE (sigh of pleasure) and received an extremely empathic response of YES!  With that answer I summoned CRAPpER-ONE and had the robot and supplies returned to WOE (ecstacy) [Editors note: right is this now becoming some sort of erotic liaison? Is there going to have to be a 1 millisecond partitioning of records to allow you two to have your titillations of delight behind a partitioned sector of code?]

Sensing a need to complete this area, and with advice from Reximus that there were only two more books to be found in the location we took off at speed to complete the search of the area.  Area XF-97G was the one we choose and it had six corrupted servitors guarding the location, Horsts first reaction was to close the door immediately.  We then started to take up firing positions waiting to see if the servitors would come through and engage us. 

Fabio. Fabio the fool. Fabio the… I will not follow orders - decided to open a new door and got surprised by a robot!  Thankfully the link activated in time and to my greatest of delights found that WOE (ecstasy) had a new robotic humanoid body.  Its first action was to crush me in a joyous hug and emulate a kiss action, which it informed me it had seen and had wanted to emulate with me since bonding.  I was touched and honoured and communicated my pleasure that it was happy with its achievements.  We were going to work on many things together as we developed its skill set; I asked if WOE (ecstasy) was prepared to try out combat.  YES! Was the empathic and unrestrained response and I almost could not restrain it as we advanced down the corridor to open the door and engage the hostiles.  WOE (ecstasy) asked me what rate of fire was suitable - single, burst or sustained area affect: in which she imparted all the specifications of the weapon damages and profiles.  I decided to start of slow and steady and suggested a single shot to test the weapon, will I guess it was a suggestion.  Upon opening the room and before anyone could register more than the room profile, WOE (ecstasy) had discharged its weapon on maximum setting, vaporizing three servitors and two sections of wall.  “Sorry, I could not help but try the highest setting first lover,” was the tantalizing voice I heard.

Combat ensued and gunfire erupted in all directions.  I toke some minor damage but not enough to seriously stop my efficiency.  I had, as had most of the group temporarily forgotten about Fabio.  Fabio had grabbed me from behind, overcoming my strength and dragged me into the room in which he had been looting.  WOE (ecstasy) reacted badly at this and started to position itself to come to my rescue before it became clear that the idiot (Fabio) thought I was badly wounded and was administering first aid with the nanotech healing orbs.  Fabio’s actions are becoming even more erratic than those of which they accuse Reximus of.  It is while I am in this room, where Fabio thinks it is safe that a stray shot from the corrupted heavy weapons servitor blows of the other entry door, finds a critical crate of ammunition and I see my life flash twice before my eyes….

S.I.M.O.N. chortles to itself, twice in one day it had played successfully with Alpharius reborn, twice…. It was having such fun.  The look on the flesh bags face when he had failed twice and twice again, ahhh, it would keep it moist and wet on many an encounter with Slaanesh…

WOE (ecstasy) incensed by my close brush with death carved up the remaining mechanicals in quick succession leaving Lady B in awe at its dexterity and precision, something that Lady B did not fully appreciate when she saw both WOE (ecstasy) and I perform our dance of death at the beginning of the combat.  Yet with the combat finished Lady B did nothing but accuse Reximus of doing nothing throughout the engagement.  Horst again found it difficult to find fault in her argument.  I knew better as I was aware through my link with Reximus that he was in battle with the six malignant warp entities released by Dark Matter explosion and destruction of the servitor shells.  Eventually Reximus painfully explained the obvious, yet doubt remained. “It is to be expected Alpharius, the viper is destined to be as she is, a tool, nothing more, remember that in the end when she is dealt with.”

With the revelation of the shadowy warp shades and their destruction by Lady B and the others, further exploration began of the ruined room.  The dark matter explosion had been fairly thorough in destroying anything of value, yet one of the books was located and neutralized with minimal risk and consequences.  Amongst the ruin I found the damaged and salvageable remains of a Jokaero flying snake (Reximus – see I told you!) or COUATL (Covert Observation Unit - Attack Terrorise bLight), though where I will find the spare parts…. Hmmm EMMA should be sufficient in parts to repair this unit if I can find the schematics and a decent workshop.  Reximus looks sad and tells me he had named it LORNA (fLying Observer Reconnaissance Navigating Aerial)   Another book is found and neutralized, Reximus exclaims that it is “a most foul and one to date”, (“Yes Alpharius it contains a likeness of me as a youth, hideous I tell you hideous.” He smiles at this and laughs as if remembering something shared a long time ago…)  What is found is Reximus’ spare suit of armour which is gifted after a moment hesitation to Horst “this is just one of the many favours you are owed Horst, doubt no longer my intentions.  Would I allow you to wear this if I even for a moment doubted your ultimate intentions towards me?  No, of course not.  While the others are not as trusting as Alpharius, which is good, you are still skeptical enough to see things in the grainy light of grey that this world operates for the most part in.  This suit will last you until you are interred in your final suit from which you will never be able to physically leave – though that is centuries from now.”

Any hurt that I had previously seen in Horst’s eye had been removed, yes he was and would always be the skeptic, but this gift of the armour clearly was something beyond anything he would have ever been able to acquire on his hive world.  The wealth it would have reaped him… “See Alpharius,” Reximus linked to me “even when gifted such a piece of technology, the man only see the wealth rather than the tool he has been given.  Humanity has ever been this way, rather than using the tools he has created he has used them as a means to generate power, wealth and position over others.  This allows the warp to find that little crack in which to enter, to fester and to grow.  You can see all too easily how the mutated primitives are proof of the taint; they are nothing more than expendable ammunition in the Great War.  You need to be wary, the viper has teeth and will strike you soon, I may not be able to protect you when that happens.  However you do have allies…”

Captain Horst Gruben

According to my accessed files of this location I determined there was one main generator room and what appeared to be a sealed storage chamber which had been deleted from the main ships records.  The room proved to be, strangely enough, safe of encounters.  There was evidence of claw mark and bent and mangled wall sections – evidence of some powerful entity having been in the area, though of what sort and what time, past or present it could not be determined.  The standard 4X procedure was undertaken and some exceptional items were located, though the majority of the items were mundane pieces of equipment needed for the maintenance and running of the generators.

The final room contained what Reximus proclaimed as his personal storage “locker”, he allowed none to enter, despite the extreme inquisitiveness of all concerned.  Of course my link allowed me to see everything, not that that shed much light on matters.  Reximus was merely checking seals, contents and the casket on a suspensor field.  When the others asked what it was he replied “why my spare body of course.”  To which everyone was amazed at this, and debated the concept of cloning and body doubles.  “They really are a gullible crew Alpharius, a spare body indeed,” is what he shared over our link.  At some point mention of a mistress came up and he did make mention of one… and it may appear we may have to make a detour back to the other ship to collect a certain courtesan.  Lady B was of course totally confused by it all; she could not fathom the subtleties of spies and the art of subterfuge.  The courtesan was not the mistress of Lady B’s ancient ancestor, well yes she was, but she was a plant, an agent of Reximus, well in fact more likely that of Calista Ironfoot to be precise (Reximus – lover actually Alpharius) who was in the employ of Reximus.  A long trail of deviancy that had only one agenda, to root our heresy and corruption – well all she got was rooted and put into stasis – ouch Reximus you didn’t have to neural whip me that much for that observation, it wasn’t a criticism. (Reximus – Speak not ill of those I love Alpharius, as much as I like you and appreciate your company there may be limits. Bahahahahaha, just joking of course there aren’t, I just enjoy shocking you as much as WOE (ecstasy) does… hmm that’s interesting, apparently it even affects my dialogue as well?) Reximus took a few items, including another warding bag, apparently the one he has must be almost full.

The greatest find of all, which Reximus allowed me to keep, was the Jokaero Box.  There was no way I can ever return to Mechanicus now, this device and its contents would be destroyed or locked away so deep that it would be a lost forever.  I would be reduced to my molecular constituent elements to ensure that there was no chance that any record of what was seen was recorded or stored in any manner, and then they would be scattered to the cosmos to ensure oblivion.  I have in my hands the personal gift given to Calista Ironfoot from the Jokaero homeworld for some great service.  My initial scan of the contents contained on the data slate stun me beyond belief, here are the schematics, the learning manuals everything needed to create, teach and possibly expand upon the technology of the past and that of the Jokaero.  Tears are running down my cheeks, I turned to gaze at Reximus my heart filled with determination and sadness.  Reximus looked at me and nodded “Alpharius, you are now the next keeper of secrets, use it wisely, keep it safe, keep it hidden - but more importantly use it for the betterment of humanity,” was his psychic imperative that was burned into my core.  It was permanent, but it had been there from the beginning, it merely reinforced my sense of self determination and destiny.  I would not fail where so many others had.  To this I added the Inferno pistol of the ancient Mars pattern.   Amongst other affects which clearly belonged to Ironfoot was the fuel and formulae for a flamer (hand held) projectile that would affect entities of the warp and those tainted by its touch.  I’m wondering if I made a good tonic and administered it to the primitives if it might do some good on them, will have to see.  Mind you they don’t tend to accept anything I offer them these days for reasons I cannot fathom?

Eldar pirates, pict feed of raiders before reclaiming the
fallen and artifacts from human Inquisitorial hands.

Horst meanwhile had located a Radcleanser, a particularly unsavory weapon and one which my records later identified the Death Guard Legion as being favoured users of.

Our scouring of this section is complete.  The mission to locate Calista Ironfoot was successful if negative in the outcome, i.e. dead for ages.  Some of the books have been located and neutralized, more are to be found.  Where though are the other Inquistorial Insertion Teams that have been sent in?  This is indeed a huge ship, have then been neutralized by the hostile elements onboard?  More to follow.

+++KILLIAN START LOG+++

Welcome Killian…

System start up successful.

Would you like to check systems.

Engines – online.

Wheel…

WHERE ARE MY LEGS?????

+++END LOG+++

A Special 'Battle' Quiz: - You Are A Spy

Have a laugh as I take an old quiz from the past!

Fall of House Falcon, AD&D LARP 1987

Another memory, another time...

Tomb of Viritath a Treasure Hunt Tournament in 1986!

The fun of the 1980's I can almost remember it, thankfully I have many props to help me remember the past, perhaps not perfectly...

Dungeons & Dragons 81 to 86 Archived Thoughts

It is interesting that while "politicking" has not changed, at least the enjoyment of the game remains. Role Play for ever!

The Fabricated Tales of Alpha Capharius Part Four

The Fabricated Tales

of Alpha Capharius

DC-12-9/5/9/ZT5F412A0

Part Four

Mk I Powered Body Suit designed by Alpha Capharius,
from Imperial records, date unknown, location unknown

+++Personal Encrypted Journal+++

The entity stirred at the sound of its name… It always starts this way doesn’t it a name being uttered and called upon in vain.  I should at this time mention the minor warp entity which goes by Imperial records as S.I.M.O.N which for those deemed to be allowed to live will know, stands for Sentient Interdimensional Manifestation of Nothingness… yes indeed – perhaps a lot of the last, little of the first and a hell of a lot of manifestation in the way of intrusions.  My long and continuing existence has been plagued by this minor warpling, certainly beneficial at times, but capricious beyond measure – taking enjoyment more from the spectacle of observance than in the act.  Think of it as a voyeur of such interdimensional perversion that even the forbidden one Slaanesh has its number on speed dial.

Well there you have it I have divulged another one of the mysteries of the unknown universe, yet another nail in my coffin that the Inqusition and Mechanicus are ever so habitually hammering away at. I am still here, growing, knowing, while they atrophy and eternally fight amongst themselves as the final night draws its curtain. 

+++End Encrypted Journal+++

When last I recorded my magnificent illuminations into the workings around my everyday life, my band of expendables were accompanying Reximus to find one of his allies that he believed would still be found on this wondrous ship of science (isn’t science amazing – a picture reference of a boy with a yellow mouse like creature with a tail in the shape of a lightning bolt jumping from his shoulder flashes through my memory decryptions).  Yes science I say, not the degraded quasi-religious claptrap that the Mechanicus doles out to the brainwashed masses.  Wolf of Iron Francine (slightly increased electrical shock) communicated to me its displeasure that Reximus was taking liberties with its person, though it conceded that he did have the authority to do so.  It did not like it though, and asked that I remind Reximus that it was self aware and had certain “rights”.  I find this notion an interesting one, that a self aware intelligence would think it had rights?  We live in a totalitarian environment, to think that there was ever a thought that anyone had rights was as quaint as thinking there were multiple sexes!  I will find an appropriate moment to have a discussion with Reximus at some point on this issue.

The tainted space that this ship has been occupying is continuing to affect those of us not accustomed to such abnormalities.  That being said the daemon-bred and tainted “humans” in my company seem to suffer little from the adverse conditions while Horst and I struggle with the unnatural nature in which we find ourselves.  Reximus and I continue to broaden the bond of understanding as outsiders in a universe gone mad.  I now have access to a secure and private communication channel with him that the other members are unaware of.  Thankfully it is of such a nature that that pilfering Elsie won’t be able to acquire it, at least not without the aid of a very blunt instrument and some heavy duty cutting machines.  Of course by the time they read this material they will be long dead, their short lives unable to match the eternal state I have achieved – omnipotence, but I get ahead of myself in transcribing my tales.  These events are yet to be revealed!

Reximus has communicated to me prior to the others knowing (in time) that we are searching for his agent Calistar Ironfoot, a diminutive human from the Hammer Held Merchant fleet.  The image that he provided me was of a small person some four feet in height (at best) with a bionic foot or leg, hence the quaint identifying surname.  Wolf of Iron Francine (slightly increased electrical shock), Reximus and I commune on the best course of action and the route to be taken to the last known location where Ironfoot would be found.  It is decided not to share this information with the others in the group, as Reximus is still ascertaining whether they are worthy of his trust, though mine is clearly beyond reproach.  Wolf of Iron Francine (slightly increased electrical shock) plotted the course, a short journey on the intra-highway and in less time than it took Lady B to scratch the returning case of “documented indiscretion” we had arrived.  Wolf of Iron Francine (slightly increased electrical shock) parked in the large vehicle bay, ignored all the warning signs of “Do Not Park Here” and deposited us right beside the required docking entry port.

Wolf of Iron Francine eventually had the capacity to transfer its
intelligence between artifices.  Alpha Capharius created a mobile
weapon system that allowed it to accompany him.
Imperial date, location - unknown.

+++Personal Encrypted Journal+++

There comes a point in your journey with others that you need to almost have to spell out your own “care plan” in the case of an emergency. It was at this point in time that I felt it was necessary to make it extremely clear as to how I wished to be “rescued” or given medical treatment by members of my own cadre.  Sad as it is, Reximus and I had grave concerns of the natives from the warp ravaged planet they were born on.  I made it quite clear that Reximus, followed by Horst were to be the primary caretakers should I be injured or harmed in any way.  Lady B if matters were dire, however Elsie was not to trusted…  my synaptic and binaric cores can still hear the ghost chants of “roll, roll, roll”.  Whether the desires I have expressed are even considered are moot at best, but I felt I had to spell them out, even if it was only to niggle Elsie.

+++End Encrypted Journal+++

With the echoes of “roll, roll, roll” I am directed to the docking bay door and asked to gain entry.  My augments pick up no immediate threats (well about from Elsie and that bloody EMMA), and the doors open with little resistance.  I attempt a small amount of defiance when I see that Elsie is distracted, actually being able to grab him, but failing to propel him into the room with the pretext of getting him to scout the environment.  It’s amazing how Elsie conveniently forgets his role in the cadre when his life might actually be threatened!  Wolf of Iron Francine (slightly increased electrical shock) places itself on alert and agrees to provide military support if I required it.  I was made aware that its nature of self awareness also included its capacity to protect and take action exclusive of any orders given, as long as they did not countermand any given prior.

The security sensors were similar to those we had found (well stumbled upon might be a better word) prior and were easily spotted.  Horst suggested he could deactivate them as he had shown such aptitude before (see Dark Matter weapon use in disarming security systems in Appendix XTC, also catastrophic explosions in Appendix FU2), but before he could do so I managed to located the system.  By my understanding it appeared I had sent the correct codes to deactivate the sensors.  Yes I had sent the correct codes, any stupidity on the behalf of Elsie’s actions are those he generated on his own.  Right then, Elsie, now free of any immediate threat of harm (notice his carefree and gay attitude to events in these circumstances) did what he loves doing.  He followed his 4X philosophy, which while normally associated with the beer of that name refers to his methodology of  explore (i.e. look to see if there is anything about to kill him), examine (i.e. carefully look at what he has found, is it worth keeping), secure (yes I know there isn’t and X in it, but Elsie is not known for his literacy… or intelligence – and by secure that means keep it from anyone, even if it’s of no use to him), and retraction (i.e. again I almost feel sorry for Elsie… almost but – no, another fail at literacy, he thought the sound was right: this will only occur when he has to ditch an item or blame someone else for the purloin or wrong-doing on his part).

Elsie true to form found a crate which contained empty Lho packets, never accepting an obvious ploy by the warpling S.I.M.O.N to hide goodies from a truly deserving malcontent, Elsie dug deeper – hence setting off the trap he failed to detect.  A Jokaero artifact vaguely resembling a three headed, two tailed centipede (primed with a virulent toxin) ambushed Elsie and delivered a lethal dose directly into his bloodstream.  Such was the shock to his system he jumped back, tripped in the mess of his discharged bowels and collapsed to the decking. (Yes, that is indeed what happened, don’t believe a word of what Elsie may tell you might have happened…)  At the same time Lady B shouted shoot, where upon a small debate erupted over whether it was an instruction to shoot Elsie (this got my vote) or the centipede device.  Horst, practical as ever, and not wanting to get a dose of whatever the centipede was carrying - placed a well aimed round of Dark Matter through one of its heads causing the creature to explode in a cloud of “harmless” shrapnel.  Lady B and I then attended the dying Elsie, to be honest we both had conflicting agendas.

Pic feed capture of corrupted Mechanicus personnel
Unknown source.

+++Personal Encrypted Journal+++

Elsie at this point was delusional and clearly panicking as he saw both Lady B and I looking over him.  While Lady B may have been looking at his wounded hand, I was looking into his slowly closing eyes and giving him a very broad and reassuring smile.  Reximus later showed me the digital replay from his recording and I must say that I was shocked to see that where I thought I was giving a reassuring smile and comfort to a patient, it came across more as a maniacal grin and silent laughter, he made reference to an old earth cartoon character called The Joker.  Oh well I’m sure he was pleased with the end results…

+++End Encrypted Journal+++

Lady B wanted the toxin to add to her growing collection, me, well my diagnostics had determined that the poison was quickly making its way to his heart and that a quick removal of that organ would save the organ from the deadly toxin, I’m not sure about the patients survival?  Horst, disgusted with the Byzantine level of politicking and intrigue while a companion (his word not mine) lay dying (we wish, he has more lives than a cat that one) applied one of our dwindling and precious supplies of nano-healers to resuscitate Elsie. I admonished Horst over this waste of a precious resource on what was clearly a mutant, but will leave this matter till a later time.

Lady B spent some time holding Elsie’s hand while administering and tending to the wounds of the onetime hunter.  In truth she had straddled him, pinning him in position so she could scrape every ounce of toxin that was being exuded from his skin.  Reximus was bemused and suggested a private room for such intimate spooning of materials; I just commented that saving his heart would have been more economical.  EMMA hurled a grommet of hardened oil with painful accuracy, nasty little beast.  Why it shows such devotion to a being of low… oh wait, it makes sense now, dumb and dumber – a perfect pair.  Getting back to the toxin scrapping of Lady B, this “sensual” process she was continuing to perform worked some form of magic on Elsie.   Elsie lost his senses and allowed Lady B to touch him, and it was the most unfortunate thing he’d ever done.  Even now he could imagine the pressure of her hands on his. He still tingled from this new passion that banished all others.  He loved her.  Yes Reximus and I, hell even Wolf of Iron Francine (gradually increasing electrical shock) was affected by this noisome display.  Where once Elsie disdained his betters, he had finally succumbed to the reality he really was at the bottom of the excrement heap and he may as well accept it.  Sucking up to his betters was the best way to survive, and heck Lady B really wasn’t that bad a trollop to look at – as long as you ignored all the blades, poisons and death threats over erectile dysfunction.

While this horrible C grade soap opera was in action I thought I could do something with the Jokaero device and had started to gather up its parts in the hope of assembling it to better understand and duplicate the process in time.  A silent warning of “that would not be wise” from Reximus made me look down at what I had accumulated and to my great interest I saw that the device had started to self repair.  Not wanting to be poisoned I dropped it a discreet distance from me, whereupon, ever practical Horst executed the threat with another Dark Matter round.  I pity the repair crew in patching this ship of the holes Horst is putting in it, I do hope the Ships Spirit is understanding – and take it out on them and not me in the end! 

With the ministrations of “healing” dealt with at last (and about time), Lady B decided that Elsie probably didn’t do a proper job of checking the crate.  It was just as well she did as she would not have found that the trap mechanism had recharged - and then discharged as she clumsily searched the crate.  Her immediate reaction (and petulant reaction) was to shoot the capacitors (she just saw a glowy thing), despite Reximus and I shouting a warning to the contrary.  It did little to stop the events which followed. 

Lady B saw her life flash before her eyes before S.I.M.O.N the warpling laughed and erased her folly from the reality of real space.  What we were left with was far more unkind a fate than an exploding power core.  Lady B found a blackened box which stuck to her hands once she picked it up. This stickiness wasn’t immediately obvious – well not until she tried to put it down, and drawn her Truesilver blade.  Horst suggested unbuckling her armoured gauntlets, my suggestion of cutting off her hands and replacing them with augmented limbs was ignored (though I constantly repeated the offer to no avail, it would have saved a lot of heartache in the end).  I’m sure that looking back at all that will happen, the loss of flesh and bone for an augmented replacement would have seemed a fair trade? 

While we were working out the puzzle of the sticky box Elsie was undertaking the 4X methodology – on his own (always a dangerous occupation fraught with danger).  He discovered an area with corpses and two blinking security sensors which he maliciously determined was best left for me to appraise and disarm.  His return though allowed the group to test a number of hypotheses which sadly did not involve the removal of limbs for augmented upgrades.  Elsie applied his Truesilver blade to the box, which shriveled and squirmed from the touch.  Impulsive as always Elsie then plunged his Truesilver blade into the box, which let us say led to some disturbing outcomes.

The Truesilver blade upon piercing the box made it undergo some transformation or reconfiguration, resulting in the box becoming a book.  Elsie, still frothing with compulsiveness drove the Truesilver blade into the book resulting in a psychic backlash that threw the blue skinned mutants back a few feet.  The rest of the group didn’t even blink, though we are starting to question the stability of the gene-stock of these creatures.  Reximus chose to re-enter the conversation and before Lady B could say antidisestablishmentarianism had commanded her to close the book and hand it over to him.  The fact he nonchalantly pointed what appeared to be a very deadly pistol at her was just the full stop to his sentence (of death if needed).  Lady B swallowed bitter bile, yet again she had been denied forbidden knowledge, Reximus and I shared a knowing look – this one will be a problem if not properly controlled and educated.  Lady B sullenly handed over the book, whereupon Reximus removed from one of his many seemingly spacious armoured suit pockets the paraphernalia required to bind and neutralize a warp object.  I recorded the rituals in the hope that they may be of use, however Reximus said that my current level of ability was insufficient to master the ritual and that I was to be patient.  Once the ritual had cleansed the article, he produced a metal sack with written words or symbols etched into it. I’m not sure which as even with my ability to recall and replay the incident show that they are constantly squirming and moving, thus not allowing me to see clearly what was there.  This sack is another baffling artifact which I’m sure I will master in due time.  Reximus did give me specific instructions that Lady B was not under any circumstances to be allowed access to the bags contents in the event of his disappearance or death.  I swore that a black hole would swallow the system before that would ever happen, he nodded in agreement, a sly grin just creasing the edge of his lips. (It was as if he knew the hidden meaning!)

With this little distraction dealt with Elsie advised us of the room with three corpses and the two security devices (he was having an evil chuckle over this revelation).  Two of the bodies are clearly security forces that we had encountered in other human run sections of the ship; the other is that of a servitor.  My array of sensors were deployed to determine if I could shut them down, and yes it would appear so, the only catch is the requirement of a security code.  Elsie’s chant of “roll, roll, roll” was really starting to irritate me no end.  Pragmatic Horst affects his tried and true method of security system shut down.  His highly accurate first shot, destroys the first sensor – however… the second device activated and fired a deadly return shot.  It was then that the capricious S.I.M.O.N laughed at us from the warp, triggering the power core of the security device to explode.  The result was the vaporization of one of the corpses (yes S.I.M.O.N you may have overlooked this when the nature of the symbol on one of the human security guards was revealed – had all been vaporized as first noted, then who but the warp would have known… death seems to be taking an active interest in my activities as I write this section I foresee and unhappy occurence…), and the hurling of the crate directly at me, YES ME the most important person in this mission besides Reximus at this point in the storytelling.  Horst, nimble as ever, skips out of the way, me I’m just a little too slow.  (My reconstituting body frame still has a way to go before my agility exceeds that of Lady B, okay maybe it will be a long journey, a very very long journey but it has started.)  I start calculating the impact force and begin to dislike the outcome when the impact hits me like an asteroid.  The force field dissipates the primary kinetic damage, yet the crushing weight of the object is another matter and I find that my armour while helpful doesn’t mitigate the fact I’m stuck under a heavy crate.  Horst again is the only one who comes to my aid, while the mutants dash off to search the devastated area in the vain hope of loot.

The crate that nearly ended the brilliant and long life of Capharius was mangled from the blast and bent out of shape from the impact damage with my reinforced musculature.  Left alone I was to be the sole investigator of the contents which proved to contain another of these boxes which have been of interest to Reximus.  As soon as I appraised Reximus of the situation the harpies of opportunity arrive looking to see what they may gain as a benefit.  I tried to seal the crate, but it is so badly mangled that it would not allow itself to do so, almost as if some malign entity had an interest in the outcome.  Reximus looked at the crate and the box and muttered that we were too late and that the summoning had started.  The mutants though snap into primal action thrusting their Truesilver blades into the swirling mass of warp biomatter which had started to appear where the book rested.  In this current state of flux the newly forming entity flinches and avoids the touch of the Truesilver blades, though it does not appear to harm it in any obvious manner.  At this point a brilliant plan comes to mind and I direct Elsie to surround the warp creatures summoned location in Truesilver, he suggests his arrows, I concur.  Reximus is pleased at this application of knowledge and thinking on the fly suggests that we remove ourselves to a distance, whereupon we hear Horst shout “shoot the excrement out of the fornicating thing” from his vantage point at the other end of the sectioned area.  Horst had been disturbed by the entities sudden manifestation and creation and had “fled” though later admitted it was a tactical decision to allow his enhanced marksmanship to assist in driving the creature back to where it had come from (I liked that better than fled).  During the combat, what concerned me and Reximus was the spoken acknowledgment of association between Elsie and this daemon of skulls.  Yes indeed it is recorded as fact that Elsie did proclaim he had sent this particular warp spawn back to the warp, but who was telling the truth about the facts of their association.  Time will tell, and careful monitoring of Elsie will continue, any association with the warp, no matter how little can create a gateway into this realm.  Reximus made this quite clear to all after the battle; however it was killer Horst who dispatched the daemon.  I think the appellation “Killer of Daemons” or just “Killer” will suffice to announce this man’s skills, pity there are no scars to back up his reputation.  Hate to see him end up with “Nancy Boy” or “Pretty Killer” as his name, though maybe “Killer Pretty”…

The battle has been won, but the cost to Horst and I from having to deal with an entity from the warp is taxing.  The mutants prove to me (and Reximus) again of their unnatural nature and yet they show no overt signs of madness or corruption, though you can never be too sure. 

Corrupted Mechanicus pesonnel
Date unknown

+++Personal Encrypted Journal+++

Perhaps an invasive examination might prove what makes them tick?  I suggest inserting the Jakaero Sphere into Elsie to allow it to perform a thorough internal diagnostic, however he seemed reluctant to take a six inch round sphere through any orifice – even with the application of goose fat!

+++End Encrypted Journal+++

With the regular taunting and frivolity concluded (along with threats of physical violence) the pair of mutants could not help themselves but LOOT!  They found that the crate contained skulls each one marked with an eight pointed star, not good Reximus advised us – a lot of people were sacrificed to some dark and malign entity to allow this level of ritual and summoning to be activated as a trap.  Also located was the obligatory stash of high end blank data slates, a fortune if sold, but in reality a death sentence by Mechanicus dogma.  Horst discovered that one of the bodies not vaporized by the previous explosion (yes the warpling is capricious in its forgetfulness, or is it setting the stage for something more sinister?)

When Horst made his strategic retreat he found another room with crates, my linked HUD and my recall had processed this and alerted the relevant looters to the position, to which they promptly made all haste.  It was also at this time the penny dropped and Elsie finally put two and two together and discovered the number 22!  No?  No – really he did that as well, but he finally worked out what the HUD was able to do, and once he did, he would not stop playing with it – or shut up about it.  Sigh…

Elsie and Horst made their way to the room which Horst had identified and which contained four crates and a rather obvious TRAP!  You would have thought they would have learnt by now, but no some lessons have to be learnt the hard way (continually). The process of 4X begins and in the end Elsie prods one of the crates he had opened with his Truesilver spear.  The HUD feed link goes blank, at which time there is a very unmanly high pitched squeal from Elsie.  Later investigation provided the knowledge that both were blown off their feet and hurled away from the source.  Horst had a vision of his impending death wrapped around a pylon, but FATE steps in and he avoids an unwarranted and untimely death.  Elsie had driven his Truesilver blade against a daemonic blade of ritual sacrifice and released the trapped souls within.  Reximus, Lady B and I arrive to see what appear to be souls, vanishing, the whispers or echoes, a sigh of release as they escape the eternity of damnation they would have already been or would have continued to have endured.  The psychic release has placed a strain on all and Reximus is paler than usual, he gingerly takes the blade with special care and places it, wrapped within a marked cloth, inside the metal sack.  I find out later that the blade wept blood of the victims it had sacrificed and that it was evil, ancient and old even by the standard of time when Reximus was “alive” before stasis.  Further examination of the crates finds the diminutive corpse which I fear is that of the person Reximus seeks.  I let him know this through our link and he arrived to assess the situation.  The sorrow and deep sigh of regret he expresses is very human for a man some nine feet in height and perhaps no longer a true man by the definition of it at any time in history.  “Yes,” he explains. “This is Calistar Ironfoot, my agent, the one who was tasked to awaken me if all had gone awry.  Clearly she has found some of the articles of which I had tasked her and she has sealed them against those who would use them.”  There is little that can be done for the corpse.  Lady B asks if there is any burial custom to be performed, and Reximus asks that she undertake the removal of a cranial implant from the base of the skull.  Lady B senses that Reximus is in no mood for mucking about and diligently performs the task, removing a spider like implant which I have seen before.  Reximus nods his head in agreement as he reads my questioning thoughts.  The task complete Lady B hands the implant to Reximus who then attaches it to a fiber link, his only instruction to me is to protect him while he links with the device, I swear I will do so.

No one ever does as they are told to do!  Elsie bored with inactivity has wandered off into his land of 4X, starting off a near simultaneous chain of events that would almost pitch us into the warp.  Yes Elsie finds more potential LOOT options and the capacity to kill everyone.  Horst had removed himself to an overwatch position to see what new threats may appear, proving to be the wisest ally in the group.  Lady B, despite hearing Reximus saying to keep him safe and protected while he completed his task, grew bored.  She could not help herself and had to go and open another crate! The profanities I screamed at her stripped the walls of a millimeter of metal, my anger was palpable and she finally knew she had crossed the line, here she finally realized was someone that was very dangerous, next to him was a person even more dangerous.  Lady B was in deep excrement; at this point in time she could not even touch the bottom.

What happened?  Elsie released a daemon of bone, and Lady B one of hearts.  I found out that Elsie had a grenade, a stasis one at that.  I wonder how the dumb primitive knew what to even do with it, then I remembered Horst had been giving him lessons in modern weaponry so I guess some of it must have stuck.  Elsie tossed the grenade, and ran like a Nancy to the safety of Wolf of Iron Francine (gradually increasing electrical shock), only to find out that it would not allow him access.  (It had adopted my personality likes and dislikes and had decided that Elsie was not on the welcome list unless specifically given them my Reximus or I.  What a wonderful and prescient artifice, the most endearing intellect I have come across to date.)  He only gained entry with the interference of EMMA, I must fix that loophole, but it was gratifying to note that Wolf of Iron Francine (gradually increasing electrical shock) was acquiring the dislikes I harboured.  What a wonderful and intelligent artifact (pleasant binaric feedback).

In the room where Reximus, Lady B and I floundered, the warp entity of pulsating hearts started to coalesce.  My only thoughts are to protect Reximus as per his last instructions, and I will die to fulfill that oath.  I use my enhanced frame to drag Reximus away from the summoning location (no mean feat I may add), Lady B attempts to assist, but it is like an ant trying to move a loaf of bread on its own.  Yet the fact she acknowledges her error, and needs to be seen to be doing something to help is what I believe is really driving her with this show of assistance – Reximus can pass judgment should we survive the encounter.

Horst has retreated to the safe vicinity of Wolf of Iron Francine (gradually increasing electrical shock), setting himself up to unleash a fury of Dark Matter energy at anything from the warp.  Slowly I continued my task of dragging Reximus from the danger zone, when he stirs and is no longer a burden of dead armour.  I quickly apprise him of the situation; mind you Lady B has already done the one mile dash in 6 seconds, clearly dreading an encounter with Reximus over the situation. Reximus is not far behind in his decision over the situation, I’m afraid that my internal reconfiguration is still ongoing and continual so I’m rather slow due to the enhanced and strengthened body frame.  By the time I have reached the docking back door, I see Reximus and Horst in positions to gun down the warp spawned daemons (now just making an appearance), of the others I know not, though Wolf of Iron Francine (gradually increasing electrical shock) tells me they are cowered inside its armoured hull thinking that a safe enough refuge.

The combat that follows is jumbled and furious, the party would have been lost were it not for the valiant deeds of Horst, Wolf of Iron Francine (gradually increasing electrical shock) and I.  I learned during this encounter that daemons of the warp are not on the whole friendly with each other.  The daemon of bone which Elsie had released took a massive barrage of missiles from Wolf of Iron Francine (gradually increasing electrical shock) as it sought to aid me (certainly not panicking).  A missile struck the target (daemon of bone); the remainder flew down the open space and opened up the rest of sections corridors, blowing out walls as if they were paper, allowing further exploration.  The daemon of bone had a nasty surprise for me when it raised its tail and sprayed the area with bone fragments.  Reximus proved agile as ever, I less so, but found the combination of power field, body armour and augmented body just enough to save me from mortal damage. It was as the daemon of bone was preparing to leap into close battle, that the daemon of heart attacked it.  The battle was very short, the daemon of bone was ripped asunder as if a piece of tissue paper – the daemon of hearts did not even pause to consider a victory but went on straight into battle.  Things then became very focused and confusing, Wolf of Iron Francine (gradually increasing electrical shock) released another truly devastating volley of missiles, Horst again proved his title “Killer” but when we thought it would surely succumb, it had healed itself before our very eyes.  Reximus had been knocked unconscious from the missile salvo; I was down to actually engaging the daemon with my dark age axe.  Then the capricious warpling played its trump card, a catastrophic conjunction of events led to a warp gate appearing and sucking the daemon back to its own reality.  Reximus though was still unconscious and unable to stop his armoured form from being sucked into the warp.  While I had succeeded in saving myself from being pulled in I had to do something for Reximus.  It was then that Horst shone forth, the fragile human from the hives, he had managed to secure himself and grab Reximus, but his human strength was insufficient to stop the armoured giant being sucked into the warp.  I then made the ultimate decision, hell I had made the decision a long time ago, I can’t go back, Reximus is the only one I can see as an ally, if I cannot save him, then I will follow him into the warp and share his fate.  Whether or not the fable of the God Emperor has truth and that there is a greater power in the universe than those beings that maliciously inhabit the warp, but my “oath of the moment” must have been heard as I found I had grabbed Reximus and Horst and with the aid of my augmented strength managed to hold on long enough for the gate to close.  The relief I felt at having survived, is the most “intoxicating” that I have felt outside of direct contact with the ships spirit and Wolf of Iron Francine (gradually increasing electrical shock).

The dealing of encounters with the warp is troubling and Horst and I suffered again.  The resultant byproduct has left me with an intense phobia of crates; so much has happened due to the stupidity of the mutants that I now can’t even think of opening one without seeing visions of the daemonic spawn.  My ever helpful mutant companions think this is a wonderful joke, constantly asking me to open crates at every opportunity, but I am not interested. I am the one who has to live with these constant fears, I will try to master them in time.  I am hoping that access to a proper workshop and system mainframe may remove this malady.  I am sure that if there are any items that would be beneficial to me Reximus or Horst would see that I would know of it.  Horst was to admit to me later in life that his nightmare from this time was pulsing organs, he said even that of an engine feed or similar function was enough to bring him out in sweats.    

Personal powered armour of High Marshall Horst.
Date unknown

+++Historical Footnote+++

It has been noted throughout the period of time in which Alpha Capharius operated, he was never greedy.  He did not seek to rule, he was only interested in the good that could be achieved from the use of technology in bettering people’s lives.  Not just for the wealthy was the technology he produced or maintained (the ones who could afford it) but the average citizen and for the weak and the poor.  He created schooling programmes for technological devices that escaped the notice of the Inquisition and Mechanicus for centuries.  While the purges were dreadful to behold, after a while like a stray seed in soil, and the process would start again.  From the dark would be whispered “I am AlphaCapharius”.+++End Historical Footnote+++

Reximus spoke of an “oath of moment” to both Horst and I, saying that our actions were worthy and that he would not forget them and that his “acknowledgment” of our duty would be recorded and our reward of great potential.  A short period of time elapsed as the group assessed the situation.  Had any alerts be raised?  The newly opened wall sections Wolf of Iron Francine (gradually increasing electrical shock) missiles created had to be investigated.  Horst was again on the ball and on duty, ever vigilant for danger.  Lady B and Elsie were too busy playing “handsies” behind some crates…  Reximus and I were in consultation on what action to undertake next.  Eventually a move was made, and yes it was Elsie - off on another 4X maneuver.  The shattered wall section opened onto an area that revealed bones, lots of them.  Reximus indicates that these must have been the poor souls whose lives had been sacrificed to create the daemons we had encountered. 

I should point out that the group did not have a loyalty to support each other.  Horst was annoyed by this, I equally so, Reximus just saw this as the base nature of primitive cultures.  Lady B and Elsie buggered off on their own – again.  Lady B had returned to the room where the daemon of heart had been found and was rummaging about for loot.  Were it not for the feed to her body armour I would say the group would not know what was happening.  The link to Lady B went dead; we have now associated this phenomenon with psychic or warp intrusion.  So the group made a dash to the location with every intent to destroy whatever had been summoned (I was almost hoping it was Lady B).  There we found Lady B in a new form of body armour none of us was familiar with (though Reximus later identified it as psychic armour).  Horst and I both did sensor sweeps and found the suit fully enclosed with no weak points.  Someone did ask how Lady B was going to excrete, oh wait that was me, but the capricious warpling just giggled at the suggestion – I think it was enjoying Lady B’s discomfort.  Eventually Elsie turned up and he placed his Truesilver blade against the armour, I’m still thinking it a daemonic possession until proven wrong.  Yet all Lady B can see is the benefits she has attained, enhanced physical abilities, the morphing weapons - blade and gun type.  The gun type proved to be deadly to all concerned!

Of course Lady B, never to be put off with just a simple find of the armour, believes there must be more “goodies” to be found!  Why yes there is, another one of those deadly boxes – and before anyone can stop the stupid unthinking hag from the nether regions of syphilis she had unknowingly created a flame weapon of unknown type and configuration.  Purple flames (definitely from the warp) gushed forth from the weapons muzzle, engulfing the book and ALSO creating a backwash of flames into the area surrounding her.  Horst is agile as a cat and avoids the worse, I have to call upon the inner strength of a custom recently made know to me, shouting “69 dude” I avoided the flames, though I tripped and flayed about like a cat on a hot tin roof, far less graceful than pragmatic Horst.  As the flames die away the book is found to be cleansed!  Any taint appears to be gone, and before Lady B can even begin to start leafing through the book and start adding to her corrupted catalogue of sins she feels the pressure of Reximus’ gun to the base of her skull as he directs her not to read the book and hand it over immediately.  He is amazed that the book, while still a threat, has had the taint and corrupt symbols removed.  He adds it to the bulging sack of proscribed items.

To the group in general, and he reluctantly included the mutants, he offers this caveat. “I was given a message before I left old earth, which truth be told I placed little faith in.  It said that if all seemed lost and my agents had been compromised then I would be found and assisted by group of lunatics containing a son of alpha.” Reximus looked rather doubtful as he said this, still thinking he had some doubts as to the veracity of the message, though the lunatics part he seemed to agree with. 

Lady B is beside herself with her new suit, which she decides to name Zoot (I guess small things amuse small minds, maybe this might keep her off the path to damnation).  I think it is perhaps a tragic name, with the taint of the warp linked to it.  I think it has a link with Slaanesh the wicked bad naughty zoot, that’s what dingo said, setting the beacon alight which is grail shaped, it’s not the first time we’ve had this problem, wicked bad, naughty, evil zoot, punishment – tie her down on a bed and spank her, then spank the rest, then after that the oral sex… hang on - has my system been corrupted by the warp.  System analysis now being done, no – just an old data file that must have been inadvertently been lodged while looking at the data slates Horst discovered.  Some holo-movie called Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Reximus laughs when I mention this and finishes the reference with “I bet you’re gay!”

Lady B also finds out a side-effect of her new armour - it does not like anything else being added or carried, and she drops all this unconsciously!  A rather amusing circumstance as we see the malady play itself out, this provides further proof to the “humans” that Lady B and Elsie are clearly warp touched mutants, dangerous - but like grenades useful if detonated in the right place.  All Lady B’s possessions are taken back to Wolf of Iron Francine (gradually increasing electrical shock).  It is at this time Reximus becomes aware of some of her possessions and an interrogation begins.  The old earth latin book and data slates are the primary source of contention.  Reximus is most concerned that none have been able to read it, I was never allowed sufficient time or access so I’m safe.  I believe that Reximus now has Lady B under more clandestine observation than she is aware, which is of course, all for the good of the group and the universe.

The book proves to belong to the “captain” and has much forbidden terminology within, which is why he questioning with an unwavering pistol pointed at Lady B, his demeanour stern and unyielding.  Reximus places the book into the iron sack amongst the other tainted or cleansed items, again reminding me of my oath to keep the bitch away from the contents at all costs.  As if he needs to remind me! As to the ancient data slate he talks to himself as he skips through it, my link allows me to catch glimpses, though I feel that they are only those he chooses to share.  Symbols, heraldry, references to legendry names and places – Reximus even laughs at one point saying, look I’m even in this one!  While I saw the page and can recall it, there were at least thirty names on the page, none of them Reximus.  Satisfied that he doesn’t need to terminate anyone he motions that the group should continue on with its 7 year mission, he chortles at that reference…

The movement that Horst had spotted in one of the rooms cleared by Wolf of Iron Francine (gradually increasing electrical shock) missiles proved to be a security sensor in the shape of a ball running along a tracked rail in the ceiling.  It scanned the group, but did nothing else; no one decided to deactivate it.  Horst missed his chance to waste some more precious Dark Matter rounds, which are slowly being depleted – it’s why I use a pistol on single shot. 

Reximus links with me and reveals that Ironfoot must have discovered a number of these forbidden artifacts and managed to seal them away from the tainted followers of the warp.  Both he, Horst and I are fast becoming annoyed with this term dragonkin, the primatives are clearly going to have to adapt or …  Our reverie is broken as Horst reports that the area is littered with bones, lots and lots, but of the skulls – there are none.  I am hoping at this stage that the skulls were those already discovered, but looking at the number of bones I fear that that may not be the case.

A room containing a number of unsettling crates have been located by Elsie, it worries me that he has that evil glint in his eyes again as he asks that I open them.  I can easily see these crates are of a variety not requiring my skills and after an extensive sweep for traps leave the looters to their labours.  Elsie’s constant chant of “roll, roll, roll” echoes around the environment, but I ignore the primitives’ poor attempt to provoke me and settle down to find some peace and quiet, what little there is on this ship.  The group is ecstatic with their finds, Horst finds a mastercrafted meltagun, Elsie a sabre of such workmanship that it is capable of slicing through metal, Lady B finds a handgun which is a match for the armour she wears (a flachette firing catapult) and finally a missile launcher suited to be mounted on an exo-suit of powered armour.

Exhausted and needing to return to Wolf of Iron Francine (gradually increasing electrical shock) with these items and to restock some supplies Horst spots one last chamber near the entrance docking port that has not been investigated.  A missile trap is detonated flinging the investigating members in all directions; I of course along with Reximus had no interest in such foolery.  Yet I am asked, after the smoke has cleared to investigate the crate (to the chants of “roll, roll, roll”), which I did, found the trigger trap and disarmed it.  I then left, the silly fools managed to find another trap in the process and detonated a far more satisfying explosion this time – punching a hole all the way through to the deck below.  When the dust clears, Lady B has vanished?  Where did she go?  Am I finally free of this warp tainted daemon spawn?  Knowing my luck, not a chance in the Forge!

Corrupted Forge World Fabricator General
Date unknown

+++Personal Encrypted Journal+++

I continue……

S.I.M.O.N floats in the warp, it is pleased with the offerings

+++End Encryped Journal+++

+++Appended Encrypted Note+++

Hey who’s been mucking about with my notes?

Sod off you bastard, before I get angry and have to come looking for you!

+++ End Appended Encrypted Note+++