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Post by Scrazz' on Feb 23, 2014 14:23:55 GMT
Sten listened to the conversation while lighting his cigarette. He didn't get the why some of them argued about Stubs plan. It seemed sound, straightforward. If they didn't make their point early on, things were bound to fail. He wanted to wait before giving his opinion, but seeming as everyone agreed to the plan now he didn't need to anymore
He blew out a trail of smoke while tucking away his box of matchsticks. He didn't get all the weird looks they gave the newcomer. Surely they would understand that an informant of this level could come in handy. Sure the others could have their own informants, but what sources would they use? This one could extract intel directly from the Administratum. Unlike most f them, he was thankful for this Zatus.
Sten decided he didn't need to say anything to agree with the planning. It was just like service in the PDF. You just pay attention and do as you were told. At least this endeavor was worth it. The stupidity of the PDF and the ruling castes was the main reason Sten deserted the PDF. He had to ditch his armor, but he kept all the other good stuff. A lascarbine, a bayonet, autopistol and some other gizmos, he stole with him.
For the first time in a while Sten felt useful, like he had found his purpose in life. This shithole needed change.
Taking another drag, he listened and waited patiently until it was time to act.
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Post by Jack of Names on Feb 23, 2014 18:10:35 GMT
Iscariot supposed he had waited long enough.
The video and audio feeds both confirmed to him that this group was legitimate. They had a plan, however risky, and they were going to fight their rule. The tall man switched off his vox and rose from the bench, giving the area around him a casual but cautious look. His brown robes were really just his trimmed red robes turned inside out, though nobody but a very keen eye would take the time to notice. Affirming that the case was clear, he began for the nearby sitars that would lead him to the others.
His boot-falls were heavy, his augments weighing down his steps. Once he started down the stairs it was likely those on the room could hear him, not that it mattered. Iscariot reached up with his augmented arm and gave the door two sharp knocks. There was moment of silence, the tech priest impatiently tapped his boot on the floor. Shortly the door opened, revealing Stubbs and a brief glimpse of the others in the room before he recognized who it was. As soon as the man had pulled the door further, Iscariot stepped inside.
He didn't pay much attention to the others in the room right away, after all he had just spent the last fifteen minutes spying on them. Not much more to notice at the moment. Stubbs said something about his being late, which just prompted a scoff from the priest as he moved past. "I am never late, Quin." He almost sounded insulted at the very idea. Regardless, he circumvented pretty much any other interaction he could have had by swiftly moving to the corner of the room, where he began undoing the latch to the vent on the wall.
However odd it seemed, intentions became clear once the lid was removed. A servo skull was freed from the confines of the vent, armed with a tendril and even it's own small las pistol. Iscariot gave a grunt in greeting to it. Stubbs seemed a little peeved, and asked if he had been spying.
"I had to make sure this was legitimate." Iscariot stated, giving the skull a momentary stroke with his natural hand before continuing. "Technically speaking this could be the perfect trap. But every one here seems..." His eyes drifted to the man with the knife, one who reminded him of various amounts of scum he was attempting to get off the streets by coming to this very meeting, "...reliable at least."
Facing away from Karus he gave a nod of his head in greeting to the others. The skull whirred, as if giving a greeting of it's own before it floated up and landed on Iscariot's shoulder to conserve power.
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coolyo294
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Slayer of Demons
Posts: 1,169
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Post by coolyo294 on Feb 24, 2014 2:31:11 GMT
"Well, it's good to know security is tight." Elina said with a grin. "Anyways, since it's clear we're going ahead with this, would someone be so kind as to provide me with a weapon? I don't think I'll be much help to anyone without one."
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Post by Darko on Feb 24, 2014 14:18:43 GMT
Lord-Governor Patronius Casmirre III, high ruler of all Anthraxia II & Imperial Commander of all its armies, sovereign over 17 billion men, women and children worldwide was vexed. His evening had been progressing splendidly; he had bedded three young noblewomen who now lay in his expansive chambers just prior to attending an evening banquet in his honour (the third this month).
Except his evening of debauchery and pleasure had been cut short. Lady Serafina, head of her noble house and also one of the most powerful and influential people in all of Hive Lucretia had insisted he allow an audience with her. Despite how tiresome he found her to be, there was something about the way she spoke that got inside his head. She was stern and hoarse yet always managed to coerce him one way or another about approving some law or other. He didn't enjoy being lectured to by the Lady Serafina, especially as she was a tall, imposing woman whose youthful features belied her advanced years. The perks of being high-born, he chuckled quietly to himself.
"Patronius? Patronius, you listen carefully to what I am saying," Serafina snapped. The fact that she addressed the Lord-Governor by first name and not his full and proper title always caused his egotistical side to wince, yet he always let it slide.
"Yes, yes, of course I am," Patronius replied, stirring from his reverie, thoughts of the three young noblewomen awaiting his return suddenly dashed away by reality.
"You must sign this construction warrant for the lower city, it is imperative that we increase weapons production by fifteen-percent this quarter. You simply must approve the construction of these additional manufactoria."
"Let me see, give it here," Patronius grumbled, snatching the datapad from Lady Serafina's outstretched hand. He disinterestedly scanned the writing, although the administrative dictates drilled into him as a child by his late great-grandfather, Patronius Casmirre I, automatically allowed him to pick out the key details.
"You wish to demolish five districts of lower-hive habitation? Won't the commoners complain or something equally trifling?" Patronius queried, staring over the datapad.
"Nonsense! Reports indicate it is merely the sick, the old and the dying occupying those areas, the decrepit who can not work nor serve any other purpose. Send them scuttering back to the underhive like the useless gutter-rats they are. We must increase production, Patronius!" She scorned.
"I'm not so sure I concur, my lady, in the last few years alone you have had me instate so many new laws and pass so many construction bills increasing work hours beyond safety regulations and decreased all monetary compensation to the minimum. And that's merely the beginning of it all, I dare say the rabble will-"
"The rabble will do nothing, you understand? These unwashed plebians live only to serve us and if you do not tighten the grip, they forget their place in the world. You wouldn't want to appear weak now, would you dear Patronius," Serafina pointed out, her tone as cold as ice and sharp as a blade. "The other nobles would not be pleased if we do not meet the new demands of our... private contractors. If you prove incapable of doing what is necessary then whom have you to blame except yourself for your own failings?" She said, her words delivered for maximum effect - too advisory to be a threat, yet the implications were clear.
"Well, I mean there's no need to involve the other High Lords now, let's not be hasty," Patronius smiled, a bead of sweat dripping down the back of his neck. His thoughts became that of the fate which had befallen his predecessor. His father had failed in his duty and the other noble houses hadn't liked that. They hadn't liked that one bit. Shortly after he'd suffered an... unfortunate accident. Patronius gulped.
"I suppose you're right. More money for me anyhow," he smirked half-heartedly, signing the datapad with his personal encrypted datacode before handing it back to the austere noblewoman.
"Excellent work, Patronius. You continue to prove a far more capable and wise leader than your father was," Serafina commented, traces of a wicked grin barely restrained across her resplendent features. Yet those eyes, those deep blue eyes that spoke of a mind far older and more devious than one might suspect, with an iron will to back it up.
With formality satisfied, Lady Serafina left Patronius Casmirre the thirds' opulent private hall. It took her a full five minutes to simply walk to the exit. The finely-crafted door opened and then slammed shut, the firm sound echoing around the hall. Only when he was sure that she was gone did Patronius allow himself to sigh in relief, followed by a quaint shudder. That woman gave him the chills sometimes. Still, it was done. Just another day at work and it was over now. Now where was he... ah yes, three noblewomen awaiting him in his chambers. With a gleeful expression, Patronius stood and made his way towards the bedroom wing of the Imperial Palace.
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Post by Darko on Feb 24, 2014 14:39:15 GMT
"Well, it's good to know security is tight." Elina said with a grin. "Anyways, since it's clear we're going ahead with this, would someone be so kind as to provide me with a weapon? I don't think I'll be much help to anyone without one." The light-haired woman raised a good point. Of course, this resistance movement wasn't entirely unprepared. Stubbs strolled to one corner of the room, waving over Uriel simply because he had been closest. The man obliged, curious as to what this meant. Stubbs knelt and pulled out a combat knife from a sheath on his belt, obscured by his long coat. He carefully used it to pry out a loose stone block in the wall and once it was removed, he reached inside, seemingly straining somewhat. A moment later he withdrew from the secret hole, pulling out a long crate. Uriel grabbed a hold of the other end and together they hefted it towards the group and planted it on the large table with an audible thump. Inputting a four-digit code in quick motion, the seals on the crate released and he pulled off the lid, putting it aside against the nearest wall. The assembled rebels looked in. Within were a dozen assorted weapons. There were several stub pistols and also a selection of laslocks - simple, cheap, single-shot las rifles. They weren't fancy but they were better than nothing. "Help yourselves," he said, dismissively waving an arm towards the open crate. He was fully aware that the weapons were quite underwhelming. Despite not being particularly reliable and only being able to fire once before reloading, they did pack a slightly more powerful punch than a typical las rifle.
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Post by Scrazz' on Feb 24, 2014 15:05:03 GMT
What kind of resistance cell was this? If you knew what you got yourself into, you should have got your own weapons by now. Luckily for Sten, he had his own gear. If his arms needed replacing, he would find his own. This collection of small firearms was underwhelming. Anyhow, it would serve it's purpose, as a start. The raid would gain them better equipment, and then things could really go down.
He took a drag, and flicked the finished stub in the ashtray nearby. Sten got up from the chair he was in and started to speak.
"Now that we are armed and ready, what are we going to do until we hijack the convoy?"
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Post by Darko on Feb 24, 2014 15:32:41 GMT
No sooner had Sten spoken than there was a knock on the door. A few people rolled their eyes, while others gripped their weapons more tightly, finding it difficult to believe yet more people could still be showing up late.
Stubbs slid open the view hatch and took a few moments to examine the unusual trio. A man and two women, the former of which whom had knocked. Closing the view slit, Stubbs glanced at the others with a cocked eyebrow and slight smirk. "The whole gang made it," he observed with a hint of humour, although it seemed like he was actually pleasantly surprised. He opened the door and the three stepped in. One held himself much like Stubbs, rigid and alert. A soldier, or former soldier at least. The second to walk in was a young woman with brown hair who brandished several sheathed blades. Finally entered the most curious of the entire group - a young girl dressed in the garb of a servant.
There were a few hushed comments from around the room, many realising for the first time since they arrived what a rag-tag and disparate collection of dissenters they were. No one even bothered to ask Stubbs just exactly how he'd managed to find such an unusual and abstract group.
He gave the same run down to the recent arrivals as he had the first group; what was at stake, the severity of what they were committing, an opportunity to leave before committing and finally running over the plan, albeit more hastily this time. Having finished, Stubbs made his way to a refrigeration unit at the other end of the room and found himself a bottle of cheap amasec. He leant back against the wall, drinking steadily and observing his recruits as they tentatively began to talk with one-another. It was vital that they could at least be amicable together, if not necessarily trust each other, not just yet. Otherwise in the heat of a fight, things could easily fall apart if they all acted like every man for himself rather than as a unified team.
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Post by Warork on Feb 24, 2014 15:49:32 GMT
Karus noticed that many of the others who now stood in this cellar-like that served as their base of operations were looking at him. He supposed he couldn't blame him. In Karus' opinion he was pretty damn good looking for a man who had spent ten years in lock up; what with his roguish handsomeness and distinct lack of disfiguring scars. He'd had fun giving those out but took good care not to receive them in return.
"Real nice group of malcontents you got here, Stubbs." Karus remarked as he walked over to the crate of weapons the man brought out of his hidden safe. "Kill virgins and clerks and cogboys..." He said with a slightly forlorn look, as if grudgingly accepting the resources he had to work with.
Karus was the first to pick up one of the las-locks from the crate. It was no doubt an old weapon but it seemed to be quite well taken care of, not at all like some of the las-locks he'd seen in the hands of plenty of two throne hitmen all around the underhive. Karus busied himself looking over all of the little details of the weapon and aiming down its sights while point the weapon at the ceiling. He handled it in such a way that a man intimately familiar with many weapons would.
"Well, they ain't autocannons and chainswords but they'll do until we get our hands on that sweet ass arbites gear." He said with a devilish grin.
Walking back over to the table with the weapon in hand, he looked again at the schematics of their plan. His face scrunched up slightly as he did this.
"Hey, I think I know this street...yeah this tunnel is where we're going right? I know a guy near there who owes me a favor and has a freight truck. If we can barricade the exit it'd be easy to block off their only escape route with it." He gave Stubbs a conspiratorial smile. "Hell, we might not even have to waste those pretty grenades of yours on these pigs."
One of the more quiet members of the group spoke up...Karus noted he looked something like a PDF soldier, probably a deserter.
"We've got a bit of waiting to do." He said as his hand went for the lho stick box in his pocket. Flicking the carton open and looking inside, his face suddenly became dissapointed. "I'm gonna need another box for this shit." He said with a slight sigh.
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coolyo294
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Slayer of Demons
Posts: 1,169
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Post by coolyo294 on Feb 24, 2014 16:09:36 GMT
Elina grabbed one of the pistols from the crate. She briefly checked the safety and ensured it wasn't loaded before tucking it into the waistband of her trousers. Her brother had taught her how to shoot a few years back. Now she would put what he taught her to good use taking revenge on the people that killed him.
The ganger began talking. She ignored him. Just because she wasn't some tattoo covered slab of muscle who killed people for a living didn't mean she was useless to the resistance. In time she would learn to fight, and there was more to pulling off a successful rebellion than just blowing things up. Her clerical knowledge would come in handy when it came to actually organizing the insurgency.
As the others began to talk, Elina walked into the side room Stubbs had mentioned earlier and flopped down on one of the bunks. The mattress was threadbare and tattered, but at least it was something. This day had been exhausting and she wasn't in much a mood to socialize. She crossed her arms behind her head and stared up at the grey plascrete ceiling contemplating everything that was going to happen. Once she did this, there was no going back.
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Post by Scrazz' on Feb 24, 2014 16:36:51 GMT
Sten put the empty box of smokes on the table behind him, and went for his bag. He opened it and started searching the contents until he found what he was looking for. He picked up, and threw the bag on an empty bunk a few steps away before turning back to face Karus again.
He opened the new pack of smokes and took one out. His other hand went for his breast pocket to get his matches. Putting a smoke between his lips and lighting it he offered his other hand holding the opened pack of smokes to Karus.
"Want one?"
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