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Post by Darko on Feb 18, 2014 23:10:32 GMT
The world of Anthraxia II is home to over 17 billion men, women and children of the Imperium. They toil in the manufactorums building weapons of war, or are conscripted to sate the vast hunger of the Imperium's war machine. It is an endless cycle. They're born, they work and then they die.
Stubbs Quin is malcontent. He sits expectantly, looking over the dataslate in his hand. This is all that we could get? he sighs internally. There were a few names on the list of people who had agreed to attend this little congregation of his. The room he is in is actually nothing more than a cellar, with dim glow-lamps providing illumination. A two-bladed rotary fan lazily turns on the centre of the ceiling.
That's when there is a knock on the door. Stubbs looked up, dropping the dataslate on the expansive wooden table which dominates the middle of the cellar. With one hand he reaches inside his leather longcoat, pulling out a las pistol as he approaches the door. Cautiously, he opens the view slit, sliding it to the right. He shuts it a second later, relaxing & holstering his pistol. It was only the first of the others who shared his discontentment with the current state of Hive Lucretia, ironically named after a revolutionary saint who lived over 5,000 years ago whose revolt had originally caused a shift in the government. It was ironic because the government today had degenerated into an oppressive, tyrannical regime with the nobles leaving the lower classes to suffer and die.
Although Stubbs knows it's the same on most worlds in the Imperium, he believes it's time for another change in government. It's reaching breaking point. Soon there'll be riots in the streets, likely followed by martial law and at that point they'd be screwed. That's why he's gathered other like-minded individuals here, tonight, to discuss taking up action for the good of the Hive before it's too late. Others might be motivated more by self-interests, however it doesn't matter. If they're willing to stand by him and help get back at the oppressive aristocracy, then that's good enough for him. Unbolting the multiple locks on the door, he opens it, allowing the first arrival in.
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Castiel
Rising Legend
Lord of the West
Forth Eorlingas!
Posts: 644
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Post by Castiel on Feb 19, 2014 16:00:34 GMT
Uriel tensed as the door swung open, one hand resting cautiously on the stock of the shotgun slung across his back, ready to draw at a moment's notice. He relaxed slightly as he saw Stubbs' familiar face behind it, throwing a quick nod to the man as he stepped into the room, eyes quickly scanning the room for signs of danger. Finding none he finally took his hand off his weapon and moved to lean against the wall facing the door, slightly to the left of the entrance.
"You want to tell me what this is about?" he asked Stubbs "And who are these others you mentioned?"
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coolyo294
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Slayer of Demons
Posts: 1,169
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Post by coolyo294 on Feb 19, 2014 17:42:34 GMT
"I'd be one of them" Elina said cheerfully as she stepped over the threshold. "Stubbs, you really ought to close the door. You're lucky it was just me that wandered in."
The other man whirled around and pointed his battered shotgun at her. "You can put that down, we're in this together." Elina said. "Just ask Stubbs."
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Castiel
Rising Legend
Lord of the West
Forth Eorlingas!
Posts: 644
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Post by Castiel on Feb 19, 2014 18:05:08 GMT
Uriel spun as a voice sounded, coming to rest with the shotgun aimed squarely at a young woman. She was, by his reckoning, of a similar age to him, with medium length white-blonde hair tied back in a pony tail to keep it out of her eyes. She seemed friendly enough, but Uriel wasn't going to trust his safety to judgements based on her manner. He kept his shoutgun trained on her, eyeing Stubbs for his response.
"For the Emperor's sake, put your gun down Uriel!" Stubbs said as he hurried to shut the door again. Uriel lowered his shotgun, turning his eyes back to the door. He wasn't going to let his guard down like that again. Stubbs stood by the door, ready for more arrivals.
"Elina," he said, obviously addressing the new arrival "This is Uriel. Uriel, this is Elina."
The woman took a couple of steps toward Uriel, holding out her hand for him to shake. He eyed it for a second or two, before finally taking it. The woman had a surprisingly firm grip.
"Pleased to meet you." he said.
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coolyo294
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Slayer of Demons
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Post by coolyo294 on Feb 19, 2014 20:30:35 GMT
"Likewise." Elina responded. She released her grip and stepped away. "I do hope you've recruited more people for this endeavor, Stubbs. I'm in no hurry to be tossed into the Arbites's torture chambers."
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Post by Scrazz' on Feb 20, 2014 21:42:13 GMT
*Edited on Darko's request * The streets were darkly lit and dank. Fluids dripped through the cracks in the Hive level ceiling as a rat passed by his feet, darting through the falling water drops. He went through some very narrow streets and quickly found himself constricted. Sten swung his lascarbine on his shoulder and unhooked the strap on his Autopistol. In these confines, even a lascarbine, with it's shortened stock wouldn't be much help to him. Finally reaching the the right alley, he saw a dim light around a corner. Walking towards the light, Sten checked his notes again. He had scribbled the whereabouts Quin had given him on a small strip of paper he had tucked away in his ledger. He seemed to be at the right place. Turning around the corner, he could see a door a few steps down, hushed voices could be heard from within. He wandered how Quin's men would be like. Would they be crazed zealots that would get him killed on their first mission? Or would this team actually be able to pull this off? He walked down the stairs, keeping the noise down. His hand still resting on his holstered pistol, he knocked on the door two times. The voices inside fell quiet, and he could hear a shotgun getting cocked. Suddenly, a viewing hole on the door opened up, and he could see a pair of eyes watching him. He couldn't remember if it was Stubbs Quin, it's been a few days since he was contacted. Remembering, he put down his scarf to show his face to the questioning eyes on the other side of the door.
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Post by The Glass Ninja on Feb 20, 2014 23:09:31 GMT
Violet eyes. Both a blessing and a curse. A mark of the Emperor's favour, of his most devoted warriors amongst men and yet a very noticeable characteristic. Peter hadn't ever cared for the other children in the small Schola he'd attended with his cousin Maxamillian. That boy was being pampered in one of the high spires, wining and dining the imperial governor. Max was the first corrupted piece of gak that Peter had ever come across, and now he could see it everywhere. Only the Emperor remained true and pure.
The Aqulia clinked against his flak vest as he made his way down the street, the heavy helmet on his head giving him a feel of security; just as the lasrifle over his shoulder and trench knife in his boot did. It was comforting to know that the dent in his right pauldron was received stopping an orkish slugga round and the one in the chest plate when his dad had been kicked by some Eldar witch. It was a sturdy and reliable set of armour which he had been gifted. Even the little snub nose auto at his belt made him feel better about this mission he had set out on.
The location was very secluded, the smog of the manufactoria turning the lumen-lamp lit street into a shadowy mess of blended colour and dull light. Peter nearly slipped as he turned down into the steps, and stopped dead as he saw a man at hte bottom knocking at the door he had been told to go to. "Alright Pete...this is it...faith". Readying himself for a scuffle, the young man started down the stairs, heavy boots clunking on the cold lascrete.
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Post by Darko on Feb 21, 2014 17:24:45 GMT
Elina, Sten and Uriel were looking around and exchanging small talk when there was another knock on the door. They momentarily paused and Stubbs opened the view slit for a scant second, gazed around, then shut it. He glanced over his shoulder and nodded to the others, reassuring them it was friendlies. Once again he unbolted the locks and swung the door open with a slight screech. He bade the two new arrivals in with a wide gesture of his arm. They stepped through the door way and Stubbs took another cursory glance around the alley, his head momentarily poking out of the entrance before he shut it again. He glanced at his timepiece before relocking the door, shaking his head slightly.
"I was hoping for at least one more, ideally. A cog boy. Looks like a no show," He commented. "Maybe he's just late," Elina mused. "A cog boy could be very useful." "Are you kidding? Surely he'd just bring attention to us, with those red robes and fancy bionics," Uriel replied. "Says you," Stubbs interjected. "If you all walk around the lower Hive armed to the teeth like this, the Arbites will pick you up and process you like common gangers. Try to keep more of a low profile." Sten nodded from where he was leaning against the wall at the far end of the room. He seemed like the quiet type.
From where he was watching, Sten regarded Stubbs. He was an average-height man, wearing his characteristic long leather greatcoat and he seemed to perpetually have a five O'clock shadow adorning his face. His features were defined but clear and his hair was a short, ragged matte black. All in all he looked like a typical under-Hiver. The kind of person you walk past down the street and don't take a second glance at. He was exceptionally unremarkable, something that was a useful trait in this.. business.
Stubbs returned to the seat he had originally occupied, it was the position which faced the door in case there was ever a raid. Thankfully, he had no expectation of being found out unless one of this lot got themselves followed by an Arbite agent. Nonetheless, he liked to be prepared for any eventuality. He looked over the dataslate one more time, scanning it intently as the others took the momentary silence to congregate around the table, each one finding a seat. They utilised the pause to introduce themselves to those whom they'd yet to meet.
"I think we all know why we're here and you all know who I am," Stubbs began. "But just in case you're a knucklehead and need a refresher, I'll run it by you one more time so that we're all perfectly clear." His voice was somewhat gruff, but had a poignancy and flowing tone about it.
"Hive Lucretia is a mess. You all know how tense things are, there are even rumours of martial law being instated if it gets much worse. Which it will, mark my words. We're going to seize the opportunity to do something about this while we're still ahead of the game. Everyone in the lower Hive is choking under the current regime - the nobles are extorting everyone down here, forcing the longest working hours under minimum wage and little to no hazard compensation. They only care that the manufactorum fields keep running 27 hours a day, nine days a week, to fuel their off-world arms industry."
A few nodded, listening intently, while others sat back in their chairs having heard all of this before a dozen times. It was all that was on anyone's minds these days. All people did was complain about it.
"We're going to stand up for the common people - our friends, our families, our neighbours. The manufactorum workers and even the ganger scum," Stubbs continued, accentuating his point by lightly banging his fist on the table, ensuring he garnered everyone's full attention. He looked each one in the eyes.
"If you want out, then now is the time to leave." No one moved. "Good."
"I hate to interrupt your mesmerizing speech," Uriel piped up. "But what are we actually going to do?" "I second that," Elina said. "Preaching in a basement won't get us anywhere."
"Right you are, let's get down to it then," Stubbs replied. He handed the dataslate to Peter who was sitting closest on his right, indicating that it should be passed around. "Tomorrow evening there's a munitions shipment to one of the outlying Arbite precincts." "How do you know this?" Sten asked, speaking up properly for the first time. "A good question," Peter concurred, handing the dataslate to Uriel after looking over the details. The information was thorough. "I have a good source, but I can't reveal any more than that for the informant's sake," he could see some of them were going to press the issue but he quelled such notions with a piercing glance.
"So what's the plan, exactly?" Uriel asked, giving the dataslate to Elina. Stubbs stood, producing a blueprint of the area and spreading it across the table. He indicated with a black-gloved hand to a passageway and indicating the route drawn out faintly on the blueprint. "The convoy has to pass through this tight back road to avoid going through the territory of a local gang. That's where we hit it. Then we take the munitions and we hit the Arbites outpost." Uriel chuckled. "I'm all for sticking it to the man and getting payback, but there are only five of us and you want us to hit an Arbite outpost? Don't you think that's a little out of our league?" "Listen up, they're not fething around and neither are we. We have to send a message. This outpost maintains the curfew for three districts, so it will be under-manned when we get there. Our little hijack will mean it'll arrive a bit later than expected, but we can come up with some grox-gak story. Once we're inside the complex we can open up with the heavy firepower we'll have acquired from the convoy. They'll never see it coming."
"How well defended is the convoy?" Elina queried, handing the dataslate over to Sten once she had finished reading it. "According to my source, it's just the armoured truck and an escort car. Five men in total. Two in the truck's cab, one on its turret gun and two in the escort. If we play this right, we can pull it off before they have a chance to react." "Like you said, it's an armoured truck, how the hell do you plan on taking that out? Our assorted small arms won't even scratch it," Elina pointed out. "That's the tricky part," Stubbs answered. He reached into one of his coat pockets and produced a cylinder. "I've got a few gas grenades. Drop one of these babies in the turret and we'll gas them out. Once they're on foot, we can drop them from concealed positions here, here and here. With the escort following behind the truck, we simply need to stop it from backing up and going for help. That passageway is a radio deadzone so they'll be alone, but if they get away then the whole gig is busted. They only have to get two minutes around the corner to re-establish communications, and that's walking distance time."
"So, what you're saying is, if we screw up even a little bit, we're totally fethed," Uriel summarised. "That's the gist of it. If any of you are suddenly getting cold feet, it's too late to back out now. You all know the plan and the rest of us can't risk one of you leaking it. We stay here tonight, there are bunks in the side room and a restroom down that hallway. Any questions?"
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coolyo294
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Slayer of Demons
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Post by coolyo294 on Feb 21, 2014 18:27:10 GMT
"This is a bad idea, Stubbs. Really bad." Elina said. "First, let's assume we actually pull this off. Then what? We've just signed our death warrants. Do you really think it would even pose a challenge to the Arbites to hunt all of us down and drag us off to Emperor knows where? We need to start smaller."
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Post by Darko on Feb 21, 2014 18:35:15 GMT
Stubbs turned to face Elina. "It's dangerous, I know. But this is what you all signed on for. This is a big hit, but if we don't do it now we'll never get the opportunity. When the Arbites realise a good deal of serious ammunition and weaponry has gone missing, they'll be hunting for us anyway. We may as well take a chunk out of their forces and cut down their operations in this area. That outpost covers three districts as I said - they'll have a much harder time maintaining an efficient search for us if their local C&C centre has been taken out." Stubbs replied, fixing his hazel eyes on Elina.
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