As the artificial illumination dimmed to a lower setting in the evening cycle, drunken masses of revellers filled the streets of Gelttown in the wake of the exciting Gladiator Tournament. The Enforcers were stretched thinly keeping the peace, but for the time being it was going well - there had only been seventeen reported injuries and one murder so far. It would be a long night, yet more than worth the trouble from the high profit the Guild had made from the festivities. The Golden Gelt was overflowing with customers in good spirits fuelled by cheap spirits.
Overhead, there was a flash. Some paused in their merrymaking to look up. Then another flash. The electrical storm was beginning. Of course no one was particularly bothered by this, they were a relatively common occurrence and with the multitude of large lightning conductors set up by the Guild around the settlement, there was no real danger. Everyone continued their business. The inhabitants of other towns which were unprotected were less happy, of course.
In The Mutant's Taint at a table in the far corner, a group of individuals were talking. No one paid them any attention, as it was a busy night and all the hard-cases in the Underhive were here. Of course, if anyone had taken the time to examine these individuals, they'd recognise them as Falcon lieutenants. Einar, Urbain, Terzo and Lucien. They had dressed inconspicuously - a rarity for Falcons, but in this case they were leaving nothing to chance. The boss had given them a job, and they weren't about to fail as Leon had.
Their subservient gangers weren't present, they'd be noticed if they brought several dozen rowdy, trigger-happy gangers into one tavern. This job required more precision and intelligence than their underlings possessed. This time it was personal.
Einar glanced at his chrono. "It's time, let's move," he said.
"I just ordered another round of drinks," Lucien scowled.
"You can drink later - this time you do your job like you're supposed to. No surprises, understand?" Terzo emphasised. None of them liked Lucien, but he was a damn fine shot.
They moved out, carefully moving through the crowd rather than barging them aside as they normally would. The streets were packed and they had no difficulty blending in. They walked right past a pair of Enforcers who paid them no heed. Falcons in Gelttown was nothing new, but four lieutenants in one place was a cause for concern. But tonight, the Enforcers had far too much to worry about to pay four gentlemen taking a stroll any attention.
It took quite awhile to navigate through the hordes of drunkards, joygirls and scummers flooding the streets, however they made it to Valorum's workshops in good time. The machine man had closed up shop early tonight to prevent intoxicated morons from harassing him.
"Remember - we take the coghead alive. Don't shoot to kill," Einar reminded them.
"He doesn't die so easily," Lucien pointed out. "It'll take everything we've got just to disable him."
"I've never dismembered a mechanical man before," Urbain grinned, idly rolling a small knife between his fingers.
"Is our ride in place?" Terzo asked.
"Yep, had a few of my boys park it round the corner a few hours ago," Lucien confirmed.
"Good, I'll signal my team to create the distraction," Terzo said, reaching for a small vox which he spoke into briefly.
"Let's do this," Einar ordered. On his word, the four of them threw off their concealing greatcoats. Einar pulled out a shock maul, Terzo held a simple sword and a krak grenade, Urbain had a pair of chain knives and Lucien had his pistols. They'd hadn't brought much, but they didn't need to pack a lot of hardware to get the job done.
All the people nearby suddenly realised who they were and began to rush out of their way, none of them particularly eager to die tonight. The four advanced towards the workshop and Terzo began affixing the krak grenade to the metal door on the front.
"Three... two... one," Einar counted. The grenade exploded, but its detonation was drowned out by a far larger explosion elsewhere. That would keep the enforcers busy.
The door was blown inwards and the four of them advanced inside.
A servitor faced them but before it could fire, Lucien had already gunned it down with his dual pistols. It was a smoking wreck in less than a second. As they continued further into the lair of the tech priest, it became an increasing mess - spare parts and machines and half-finished servitors or bionics scattered around. Finally they reached the heart of the complex and they put their backs against a wall and listened. The Tech Priest was speaking to someone.
Terzo wasted no time and kicked the door down. Terzo, Urbain and Einar rushed towards Valorum while Lucien ducked out of the way of a hail of bullets. Two combat servitors were approaching and he began firing.
Valorum had been aware of the intruders the moment they engaged one of his servitors and he had prepared. He hefted his Omnissian power axe in two hands and swung it in wide arcs, keeping the Falcons at bay. A servo-skull that had been hovering nearby turned and flew off into a small vent shaft.
+++Situation untenable. Contingency Delta-IV initiated. You shall be terminated for this intrusion+++ he informed them.
The Falcons were not deterred. They were rightly feared. Terzo was incredibly strong, Urbain vicious and Einar deadly with a melee weapon. Their battle was a mobile one, moving through the complex with none of them quite managing to break through the Tech Priest's guard.
Three working in tandem was unstoppable however. It was only a matter of time. Einar dodged under a wide axe swing and smashed his shock maul into Valorum's leg. He hissed in binary as he stumbled, but didn't drop. Their weapons scraped off his armoured skin and were beginning to take their toll.
In a surprise move, Valorum lashed out with the multitude of mechadendrites protruding from his back. Snapping pincers, surgical lasers, plasma cutters and other tools were unleashed against the Falcons and put them on the back foot for a few seconds. It was all Valorum needed and he turned to flee as the servitor that had been guarding the rear end of the complex finally arrived. It wouldn't stop the Falcons, but it would slow them down.
The servitor had a deadly servo-arm, capable of crushing vehicles. Its effects on a living person were terrifying. Of course, it was slow and ponderous. Einar stunned it with his maul, Urbain chewed through its servo-arm at the elbow-joint with his chain knives and Terzo simply took hold of it and began tearing it apart with brute strength. Kicking it over, he forcibly pulled one of its legs off in a spray of dull metallic blood and sparks.
Lucien strolled over and took a moment to appreciate the scene. "Huh, would you look at that. Never thought I'd see Terzo beat someone to death with their own leg again."
"That thing isn't a person, it feels no pain," Urbain pointed out. For a twisted psychopath, he was genuinely disgusted by that prospect.
"Shut your holes, Valorum is getting away you idiots," Einar shouted, already chasing after the tech priest.
They burst into a large garage in time to see Valorum climb into a truck. The garage doors hissed open and it rumbled forward. Lucien raised his pistols and blasted several smoking holes across the truck, but the damage was mostly superficial and it continued to make its escape.
"Come on, our ride isn't far from here," Lucien reminded them.
Hurrying across the street and into an alley they found their Pickup truck parked, a few Falcons hanging around. One of them tossed the keys to Einar, the best driver of them all. Terzo got in the passenger side while Urbain and Lucien climbed in the back, the latter of which manned a pintle-mounted big stubber. He racked the slide on the large machine gun as the pickup's engine growled to life. It didn't look like much, but the parts were top quality. Its wheels screeched and it powered out of the alley to give chase.
"Target his wheels!" Terzo shouted.
"There are too many Throne-damned people in the road," Einar complained. In response, Urbain pushed Lucien off the gun and opened up on the crowd, a smile on his face. Dozens died within seconds and the rest ran in terror as the Falcons pursued their target with all haste.
"You're really not a people person are you," Lucien remarked, casually lighting up a lho stick.
"Man's gotta enjoy his work," Urbain replied with a laugh, barely audible over the incessant rattle of the heavy stubber.
The chase went south through winding roads and narrow passageways. They came ever closer to Valorum's truck and once Lucien had fed another belt into the heavy stubber, Einar fired again. Bullets punched holes across the back of the truck and one nicked the fuel tank and promethium began leaking behind the truck.
+++Speed insufficient. Initiating boost+++ Valorum chimed as he pressed a big red button in the truck's cab. This activated the nitro and the truck began to lose its pursuers.
"He's getting away," Terzo pointed out.
"You don't say, colonel blatant," Lucien rolled his eyes.
"He has nowhere to go, this road leads out of town into the wastes," said Einar.
***
Kal-Kallid Masdalli jumped out of his seat with panic as noise drowned out his own thoughts. It sounded like an explosion - nearby, too. He ran to a nearby drawer and rustled through it, pulling out an old laspistol. Making his way down a flight of stairs, he burst out of the front doors of Big Black. Several Enforcer vehicles and patrolling squads had already rushed to the scene and he ran into the street. His mouth fell agape as the looked around at burning wreckage and smouldering corpses. The large lightning conductor that had been placed near Big Black to protect it and the Guild Emporium was destroyed.
"What in the name of the Throne is happening?" He shouted. Captain Roth had just arrived and ran over.
"I'm not sure, I got a brief comm message from the guards stationed here, said they were under attack. Line went dead, and then that explosion a few moments later."
"Who the hell would do this?!" Masdalli exclaimed.
"Could be the bastards who hit the convoy, but something isn't right here. There was no purpose to this - they obviously weren't attacking the Emporium, and if they just wanted to blow up one of your conductors they could've gone to any one of a number of settlements."
"Look, nevermind that captain - before this happened I was just examining my instruments and this storm is far bigger than I expected. Without that tower, this district might be in some serious trouble," Masdalli explained. As if to accentuate his point, lightning furiously crackled overhead.
"That's your department Kal, right now I've got bigger problems to worry about like securing the area. You deal with the weather report."
Masdalli watched as the captain hurried off to attend to his duties. "Emperor preserve us, this is going to be a long night," he sighed and made the sign of the Aquila.
***
The following day
The Emporium's council was in session. It was very early in the morning, and everyone was tired. Lady Thebe sat at the head of the table, the colour drained from her face. In her hands she held a cup of premium recaf from the upper hive. She sipped it slowly, letting the caffeine steadily reinvigorate her weary mind. The other people sitting around the table all wore very worried expressions. Her advisers began to explain the situation.
"My troops managed to round up a few witnesses last night after things calmed down. People were scared, but a bag of thrones quickly gave them a certain clarity. A dozen or so people just some amongst the many on the streets last night - took out weapons and caught our guards by the lightning conductor by surprise. Gunned them down with precision, some witnesses described bolt weaponry being used. After our guards were murdered, they planted a detpack and made a run for it. The explosion completely destroyed the conductor," captain Roth began.
Masdalli continued. "As you all know, electrical storms are breaking out across the entire underhive. Scrapton, Little Gelt, South Cirset, Grimtown, Solstar and West Cirset are all protected with lightning conductors, as is Gelttown. Well, mostly. The size of this settlement is not lost on any of you I'm sure, which is why it requires far more conductors to cover it all. The one protecting this district is gone and that left Big Black vulnerable. That shouldn't have been a problem - the conductors were a precaution if anything, but the storm is the biggest one since '54. It grew exponentially in size last night and we couldn't get a replacement conductor set up in time. Big Black is the largest building in the entire settlement and it suffered some severe hits."
"So what's the damage?" Thebe asked, still drinking her recaf.
Masdalli gulped and glanced at Chief Jorman who was sitting next to him. "Most of it was superficial, but one lightning strike hit the main body of the generator and damaged the cooling system and there's no way we can see to shut the thing down. The technology is simply beyond us. Normally Valorum would handle a problem like thi-"
"Then send for Valorum at once," Thebe interrupted.
"Well, ma'am, we would've done that already, but--"
"But he's gone missing," finished Roth. "I've had my troops search his workshops up and down. It looks like the lightning conductor wasn't the target last night. It was a distraction. Someone broke into Valorum's workshop, fought their way through his servitors and got to him."
"Are you saying he was kidnapped?" Thebe asked. Her voice was calm and smooth, but Roth knew her well enough to see the slight changes in her posture and expression that meant inwardly she was very worried.
"That seems to be what the intention was, however I don't think it was successful. Several witnesses, including a few of our own enforcers saw his truck racing down the streets. He was being chased by some gangers in a pickup who slaughtered their way through nearly a hundred people in their pursuit. Word on the street is that Valorum's truck was last seen headed into the wastes. No one knows where he is or if he's still alive."
Thebe placed a hand over her head in dismay. "This is ridiculous. If the Emperor is watching us, he has an unusual sense of humour. The priest of the Omnissiah shows up and goes into business with us for ten years and the one time we truly require his arcane knowledge of machines, he is absent."
"It gets worse," Roth began elaborating. "Word on the street is that it was the Falcons who hit us last night. Makes sense, they have the manpower and gear to pull off something like this. They used the festivities surrounding the tournament to blend in. Otherwise my enforcer's would've spotted a Falcon a mile off."
"It also fits Valorum's story," Masdalli added. He turned to Chief Jorman who handed him a steel box. Unlocking it, Masdalli lifted the lid and a servo skull hovered out of it. "About half an hour ago this thing turned up at the front door. It has the symbol of the Mechanicus imprinted on it and carried a parchment saying it had a message for the Guild. I managed to get it to play it, apparently it responds to an old code Valorum left me about, oh, three years ago now."
Chief Jorman cleared his throat and then read aloud from an old piece of paper. "Four-two-six-nine-one-three-two-five-three-eight-six-two-nine-three-Delta-four. Begin playback."
The servo skull beeped in recognition and then positioned itself above the centre of the table. It projected a hologram from a lens protruding from one of its eye sockets. It was a recording of Valorum's head, and his clipped monotone voice filled the room.
+++They are going to make an attempt on my life – I am certain of it. I have seen them loitering around by my workshops with increasing frequency and following me whenever I travel out of Gelttown. I don't think they know I know. They're Falcon thugs, Ravion has been sending them to harass me more and more in the past few weeks. I refused to make that power-mad oaf a custom force-field and he's trying to threaten me. It seems he finally got tired of waiting and decided to finish me off. They are coming for me even now, my defence servitors are being destroyed one by one.
I've decided to hide out at a secure location for the time being until Raveon backs off and realises he cannot bully an agent of the Omnissiah into doing his bidding. My research here is far too valuable to risk my life, and if I stay then the Falcons and the Guild will be at each other's throats, tearing the sector apart in a pointless war.
Just in case there is an emergency that requires my presence, I have hidden an encrypted datapad somewhere in the sector. It has a map on it that will reveal where I am hiding. None of Ravion's cronies have the intelligence or equipment to decode it, but the Guild possesses the cogitator I sold them ten years ago that can decipher it. Otherwise I shall return in a few weeks after finishing my research. I--bzzk, that is them now. They are at the door. Situation untenable. Contingency Delta-IV initiated+++
The hologram disappeared as the recording ended, and the room was silent for a moment. Then Thebe spoke. "Masdalli, you said that the power generator could not be shut down without Valorum. What does that mean exactly?"
"Unless we can come up with something very soon, an explosion is inevitable within the next twenty-four hours."
"How big are we talking about?" Thebe inquired, becoming increasingly more concerned.
Masdalli shrugged. “Difficult to say. The longer it takes, the bigger the bang when it blows. My best guess is about five or six square kilometres... if we're lucky.”
“Six kilometres!” Thebe exclaimed, the colour draining from her face. "That's most of the sector! Isn't there anything you can do?"
"Not now. It's beyond me and my boys. Only Valorum knows enough about the generator to stand any chance of shutting it down now."
"Fething Jaeger Ravion, that's all we need," Lieutenant Faye fumed. She was Roth's second in command and sat next to him with her arms crossed. "If he's involved then we may as well say goodbye to the sector now. If he gets his hands on Valorum, he'll never let him go."
“He may not have him yet. If we can find him first, then we still have a chance at preventing a catastrophe," he pointed out. He turned back to Lady Thebe. "I've already got every single one of my men out searching Valorum's workshop and the surrounding area, but nothing has turned up yet. There's so much junk in there and the sector is too large for them to cover. I doubt my men will find that datapad in time to decrypt it and bring back Valorum before it's too late. Besides and they'll be needed elsewhere if we're going to start evacuating people to a safer area... which means assaulting Falcon territory. Everywhere else is at risk."
Thebe raised her hand for silence and turned to the Guild Father. “Uncle, you haven't spoken yet. What do you think about this... difficult situation?”
Narrero was silent for a moment, still lost in his own thoughts. The others waited patiently for a reply, respecting his wisdom too much to try and hurry him. Eventually he spoke.
“I believe there is a simple solution to this problem,” he began, his voice a quiet rasp. “Captain, call your men off the search. As you say, if we need to begin an evacuation we will need them here and they will need your leadership. As for the tech priest, my thoughts are that he will be found most quickly if we leave it up to the gangs to search for him.”
“But these new gangs are little more than vagabonds – their only interest is in themselves. They don't care for the settlements or their people,” Roth protested. “They're not as organised or skilled as Grimm's lot were. As much as I hope that bastard is rotting in some pit, he was more reasonable than Ravion and far more competent than the new gangs.”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures, captain. Offer a large enough reward and you will have an army of dozens, if not hundreds scouring through the underhive. They will find this datapad and they will find Valorum. Trust me,” Narrero countered.
Roth wanted to disagree. He had fought in too many battles against gangers to trust them with something this important. But the old man was right, there were lots of them out there and they had a much better chance of finding this hidden dataslate or at least picking up Valorum's trail before it went cold. He could have gone anywhere.
“Are we agreed then?” Thebe asked. The others nodded.
“Then spread the word. Captain, I want all Guild representatives informed of our decision within the hour and I want runners sent to all the major gangs in the area. Time is running out, and we only have twenty-four hours to save the underhive.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEEK 2, DAY 2 BEGINS
----
There are lightning strikes across the underhive. The following settlements are protected by lightning conductors:
- Gelttown
- Scrapton
- Little Gelt
- South Cirset
- Grimtown
- Solstar
- West Cirset
Travelling outside in any of the other settlements has a 1 in 10 chance for anyone to be struck by lightning for the duration of this day. If hit, a person suffers a strength 10 hit with no armour saves allowed. Lightning be scary.
----
Valorum has gone missing. Big Black has suffered critical damage. More than a hundred people were massacred last night and people are panicking.
Messengers have been dispatched to all the local gangs (ie, every single player's leader has received the following message first thing in the morning).
To all local gang leaders: the Guild demands that you travel to the Emporium to pledge your assistance in a crisis. The lives of everyone in the underhive are at stake, including your own. Any who respond to this call and successfully help us resolve this crisis will be rewarded handsomely.----
It has spread around the underhive that the famous Drak the Hunter has been killed by the Doomheads of North Cirset, with his body hung on display as proof. People are starting to recognise them as an emerging power and some wonder if, in days to come, they will reclaim the seat of power left empty by Grimm's Reavers. In every tavern, people wonder if any of the other new gangs are actually capable of challenging the Doomheads, or if they don't have the guts to stand up to them. If they can kill one of the most legendary bounty hunters, then perhaps only the Falcons can stop them?
