Session XIV: A pastel, fuchsia colored battle - Report

General Summary

Rushing in may have been a miscalculation... Bjorn, Murk and Stig had left the women behind under threat of being shot if they followed and ran further into the cave making their presence known as they booted along with only a care for expedience.   The narrow corridor opened up into a sizeable chamber that was roughly ovular and 25 meters by 30 meters with a domed roof overhead. Two fire teams of imperial guard that had gone rogue flanked either side of the room a large bonfire with purplish to pink smoke rising out of it was in the center of the room and at the far side with the bonfire directly between a chaos space marine stood silent, watching the tiny mortals around him. His power armor was colored a mix of neon pinks and incredibly deep blacks. Spikey bits littered the surface of the ceramite armor as well giving the marine a distinct look of evil and corruption.   Bjorn was quick to act, throwing a Krak grenade at the bonfire for some reason, only to miss his intended target and have the grenade bounce and explode directly in front of the marine. The resulting explosion damaged the helmet of the marine and set the battle that ensued into motion. Murk stepped forward and opened up on the supporting squads of rogue IG. His big shoota peppered the under prepared guard with bullets putting a couple down immediately.   Stig was confused but he followed Bjorn's lead. He dexterously grabbed the Captain's last Krak grenade from the netting on Bjorns body armor and tossed it deftly at the large bonfire. The grenade bounced true this time and exploded amongst the logs of the fire sending coals, ash and burning longs spraying in all directions. Some of the nearby IG got a bit singed but the situation in the room remained largely unchanged until finally the marine took action.    The towering man who could look downward on Murk walked efficiently across the room pacing himself and setting himself up for the strike which was coming. He reeled back with his power fist and sunk it squarely into the dense frame of the Ork standing in his way. The sound of bones breaking and organs slipping out of the way of the impact could be heard throughout the chamber. Murk was hurt. The IG in the room shot at the interlopers as well but were largely ineffectual beyond inching the big Ork closer to incapacitation.   It was at about this time that Ani and Eve had stopped squabbling enough to get something done. Eve produced a meltabomb and coaxed Ani into setting and detonating it. Ani wasn't keen on the idea but knew that her Eldar counterpart was beyond stubborn and the two them could very easily slip into an argument that would last long past the point when the boys below would need their help. Ani bit the bullet and placed the bomb.   Unfortunately for her the krak grenade explosions beneath their feet must of left the surface fractured and loose because the usually graceful and blithe Eldar slipped on her way back to a safe distance from the bunker busting explosion that took place before she was able to escape the blast radius.    The bomb went off with an incredible force sending the relatively young Eldar woman flying. The heat of a small sun was released along with it and it forced the domed room below their feet to collapse. Perhaps the bomb was slightly misplaced or some other power of fate intervened because instead of burying the enemies below in a cascade of jagged crushing rock, the room was instead split between the boys and the enemy, safely separating the good from the bad. Ani's pride was hurt more than the melta managed to hurt her but there were growing bruises all the same. Eve's cloying melodious laughter sounded like a children's parody tune meant as much to entertain themselves as make fun of someone else.    The crew regrouped on the now crushed top of the cave system. After some time Rasp was able to join back up with the team and lend his expert medical ability to balm to some aches. The group had a brief discussion about lancing this part of the planet but in the end the two Eldar women agreed that the risk was too great and the destruction of a sacred piece of their culture was unacceptable.    In an unsurprising move Bjorn sided with the women much to the Tech-Priest's chagrin. Murk was just looking to punch someone back for the beating he had received and Stig seemed generally happy to just be here with his friends, neither of them offering constructive advice to the conundrum.    After decided to spelunk into the cave system and retrieve the Tear of Isha the team moved away some of the rubble to expose the cave system once more. They slid in from the small entrance they made and headed onward into the cave from whence they previously were.    The cave began to descend into the earth, the floor was sandy and somewhat difficult to maintain a footing on but they pressed onward. The glowing root system which they had seen on their previous foray was getting thicker as the went and as they moved further downward they began to hear strange ritualistic chanting once again as they did when they first entered the cave.    Not long after they began to hear the chanting some of the team were contemplating sneaking forward and scouting out the trouble when suddenly the female members of the party got a now somewhat familiar glassy look on their faces and began to stimulate each other. Eve started to kiss and writhe on Ani who in turn reached out for Bjorn in a wanton fashion. Bjorn pulled away and Ani half moaned half complained "No!" loudly. The chanting stopped further on down the tunnel.   Rasp was disgusted with the display of licentious xeno promiscuity, Stig seemed mostly mission focused still, Bjorn seemed interested but torn between seeing where this was going and getting the job done and Murk was confused, especially after Ani began sucking on his large fingers in a suggestive manner.    The team eventually decided to move on and let the women come to their senses on their own or finish what they started, but the men were here for work, not play. They moved on while Ani and Eve overcame the drugs that had entered their systems. The call of Slaanesh sang in their minds, and it would of been easy if not enjoyable to give in but both of the women realized what would be lost in the process and pulled themselves together awkwardly. They too made their way forward soon after, no longer looking at each other and avoiding eye contact like the plague.   The room the group came upon wasn't much better than the scene they just left behind. A massive cave room spread out before them it had pools of warm standing water in natural basins, stairs going to two other cave tunnel entrances carved by millenia of underground river movement and candles everywhere. This room was very reminiscent of imperial cathedrals on any self respecting world loyal to the golden throne but in this church they worshipped another.   Bodies entwined all around the team clearly under the effects of the same toxin that effected Ani and Eve or devotion to Slaanesh. All manner of acrobatic pleasure was taking place along side self mutilation and intense S&M. Rasp rigged up a bomb after seeing the heretics, place it where he thought it would do the most damage and promptly gave the detonator to the least responsible member of the team, Murk, for safekeeping.   The crew wisely chose to go down the left hallway. Following the glowing root system they came to a place that was the vines enveloped all available floor space. In the center of this filled room they for the large gem they sought. Cultists were cutting themselves and bleeding onto the crystal, their blood seeming to infect and dissipate into the natural color of the stone visually darkening it shade by shade as they performed this bizarre ritual.   They died quickly with no fanfare as the squad dispatched one or more of the nearly helpless humans with barely any effort each. The group then started to talk about what to do with the stone until Rasp spoke. "Blow it up" was the tech-priest's suggestion since he hated all things that were inferior xeno constructs. Murk thought he was talking about the bomb and promptly pushed the plunger of the detonator down, engulfing the strange cave cathedral behind them in fire.   Screams of pleasure immediately were silenced or turned to screams of pain but to the Prince of Excess these two feelings were both one in the same, just as long as they were extreme and these particular extreme feeling pushed the unholy ritual the zealots had been performing over the edge.    And unearthly scream echoed through the tunnel followed by the sound of quickly running clawed feet moving down the corridor. The group readied their weapons and didn't wait to see what was coming before they opened up on the incoming Daemonette. The grotesque and beautiful woman made up of essentially sex and claws sprung into action and engaged with Murk who had once again put his body on the line. Stig felt compelled to run as far away as he could for a moment until he eventually regained his composure somewhat, Bjorn, Ani and Eve all tried to shoot the insanely fast creature.    In the scuffled Murk went down but not before he badly damaged the Daemonette and made it possible for the rest of the team to ventilate her. Rasp once again came through in a pinch and got the large Ork back on his feet only a little worse for the wear. The two big men Stig and Murk then easily hefted the Aeldari glowing rock as the team moved to the exits.    In a comical keystone cops type comedy of errors they managed to drop the Tear and sent it bouncing down the long sandy tunnel again having to go back down to retrieve it. As they did the deep guttural basso voice of the now enraged Slaanesh loyal Emperor's Child rung off the cave walls. The team once again beat feet and hauled the gem up and out of the tunnel. Bjorn sent the group on ahead as he waited for the marine at the small entrance to the cave. In a last ditch effort to stuff a high explosive down the marine's throat he reeled back and pitched it at the small entrance when the furious marine attempted to climb out after them.   Unfortunately either the light of the Emperor does not shine brightly on Solace Encarmine or Slaanesh was watching over his own because the grenade once again went wide and collapsed the entrance but did not kill the marine. The gang moved back to the ship wasting no time so they would not need to encounter the marine again, less than prepared than any of the times before. Before they knew it they had reached the shore of the island and were once again headed back to the ship, seemingly safe for the time being.

Rewards Granted

+5xp
57 total xp

 

• Ani +5xp (previous logs)
• Bjorn +5xp (previous logs)
• Isaac +3xp (previous logs and hidden plot found)
• Murk +4xp (previous logs)
• Rasp +1xp (previous haikus)
• Stig +4xp (previous logs)

Missions/Quests Completed

Grasping hands from every corner of the Void - Part 1 & Part 2, objective 1 complete

  Ani - Getting past the visions of the future (begun - In process)
Bjorn - Darktide (begun - In process)
Isaac - The god-machine (begun - En route)
Murk - A tail of two Waaagh! (begun, optional object 1 failed)
Rasp - Children of the Machine (begun - detoured)
Stig - The Jungles of Ash (begun - detoured - Objective 1 critical)

Character(s) interacted with

Emperor's Child Chaos Space Marine - Unknown Daemonette Slaanesh Cultists Traitor Imperial Guard

Related Reports

Session XIII

Notes

Eve's quest complete