Deathwatch - Aboard the Space Hulk "Tusk of Iron"

A small Role playing thread for the Deathwatch team Aboard the Bridge of the Orky Space Hulk. Feel free to Banter, Establish squad bonds, And even try and further the Units Investigations.

If anything the players want to look into requires a Test, EG try hack into some ship Systems or Study the Ork's habitat for information on their likely habits, Just mention the task During your post and I will Roll dice and post up anything that is gleamed or otherwise comes of it.

This is intended for the players to be able to advance the plot between games, which in turn should help allow us to get right into the meat of the next game. With added Tidbits to run with.

I will be comparing rolls to your stat sheet posted on this forum, So better make sure its both There and up to Date!


It had been an hour, And Brother Kelt Godfrey, Blackshield of the Deathwatch, was just starting to feel confidant enough to wield the Relic he bore into whatever battle lay ahead of them. The Astarte paced back and forth before the Great open Armour-glass viewshield on the Bridge of the Damnable Space Hulk. He appreciated the grandeur of the view the prow of the ship offered, even in its current state The powerful dorsal Bombardment Cannons, which could bring an entire world to kneel before the might of the Imperium, still proudly bearing the colours of his Genetic Legacy, and reminding him of the standards his bloodline bid him uphold.

With every step, He continued to practice the Martial Karta of his order, deftly swinging the Thunderhammer in close but powerful Arcs around himself. With every movement, The weapon gave off a soft electric blue glow and hummed with the sound and smell of burning hydrogen. The weapon felt insanely light for a Warhammer, But Kelt had discovered it struck with the Legendary might that was the namesake of weapons of its class.

None the less, The Blackshield still felt unfamiliar with the weapon. His wounds to his right side had meant he had to change to a left handed primary grip, normally not much of an impediment for an Astarte, But Kelt prided himself on his Skill with a Sword, and found that he could not adapt the Relic to his offhand fighting style without risking a re-opening of his wound. So instead he practiced with the weapon, getting familiarized with it, And the limitations of his body until it had time to mend itself.

Kelt felt that after another Hour, two perhaps, he would be prepared to seek out the enemy again. He had little doubt the Killteam would hold quietly in this position for at least that long.

Jahi stayed some distance away from where Scipio was tending the injured and unconscious Astartes they'd recovered, in respect to Kelt's comments about the Templar's possible beliefs regarding psykers. He had made a mental note to ask Kelt more about that later, but it was merely a matter of curiosity, and could wait until a more suitable time.

Instead, after scouring the bridge for anything of particular interest, he had spent much of the past half-hour kneeling near the banks of cogitators that had been sheathed in metal and hidden from view. His battered helmet was maglocked to his belt, and his eyes were closed as he carefully stretched his mental senses throughout the area of the ship surrounding the bridge. The warp within and around the ship was fickle and treacherous, and Jahi suspected that it was not just the presence of the orks causing it, but something about the hulk itself. It made him uneasy, but he persevered, even after the moment where the warp rippled and flexed around him, causing some near-imperceivable side-effects that were unexpected but not entirely unwelcome.

His efforts weren't helped by the lingering headache from being hit in the head by an ork axe, but as time passed the ache gradually faded. Eventually, Jahi completed his mental scans, and felt confident that there was nothing of any real threat within the rooms and corridors surrounding the bridge. He settled a part of his mind into the routine of continuing to scour the surrounding area for signs of life, then opened his eyes and hauled himself back to his feet. He absently scrubbed one hand through his sweat-matted hair as he scanned the bridge, then went to seek out Palan.

The heavy armourglass of the bridge gazed out into the harsh void of the Karanos system. Somewhere out there, the Orks were destroying another of the Imperium's worlds and making off with their ill-begotten spoils. This ship itself was merely another trophy of theirs, twisted and perverted to such an extent that its glorious days voyaging at the Emperor's whim were almost completely missing. Still, it pleased Palan that the ship had survived the Ork menace more or less intact. Ignatius had made good progress on accessing the untainted data cores while Scipio served to sustain the gravely wounded Iron Templar so that he could fight again. All in all, the mission was progressing relatively well.

Palan was in charge of this operation and the swift strike at the head of the Ork horde was but the first stage of this mission. Extraction was the last and most important part for which, Palan admitted, he did not have a solution to their predicament. Scipio and Ignatius were right; contact would need to be made with the Captain back on their destroyer in order to arrange for some sort of escape. And if the Orks were as well-prepared as they were on the team's boarding, it was not going to be a simple matter. This ship teemed with Orks and the brief solace they had found here was not going to last.

Armoured footfalls distracted him from his analysis and he turned around as Jahi of the Shadowed Suns approached. Or rather of the Deathwatch now, as they all were. His battle brother had suffered under the crude blades of the Orks for his armour bore numerous embellishments of their last battle. Palan silently reprimanded himself for neglecting appropriate firepower to handle Orks of the magnitude that they had encountered. Ignatius and Scipio had proven their foresight for this mission while his had lapsed. Palan's instructor, a scarred and unsmiling Crimson Fist veteran of Rynn's World, had tried to ram into his head that there were only two things that truly scared Orks: fire and isolation. How Instructor Conquist had come to know that second fact was a tale that he said he would tell once Palan had become a true Space Marine. The Deathwatch called for him before he could hear Conquist speak.

"Brother Jahi. Do the Orks threaten us once more?"

Palan turned to face Jahi as he approached, and the Librarian tilted his head slightly in polite greeting as he came to a halt nearby. "Brother Palan," he started, then shook his head at the question. "Not immediately, no. I have completed my scan of the rooms and corridors immediately surrounding the bridge, and apart from a few minor life signs that are most likely merely rats, squigs, or particularly stupid grots, there is nothing else of note so far. I am continuing to monitor the area, and I will let you know as soon as I detect anything approaching."

Jahi paused for a moment and gave Palan a faint, wry smile. "Something else that may please you to know - all the spores within the bridge from the orks we have defeated are now dead. The orks will not have a chance to replenish their numbers from this particular lot."

"Excellent work Brother. We shall move out once Scipio has tended to the fallen Templar. Prepare yourself for we will be upon the Orks soon enough." Palan raised his gauntlet and rested it on Jahi's shoulder. "And Brother, know that you have my apologies for not being able to extricate you before the Orks overwhelmed you with numbers. I will ensure that I will fight at your side in the next battle."

Jahi nodded at Palan's comment about moving out, then blinked in mild surprise at the apology. He recovered quickly though, and clapped one hand on Palan's pauldron in return. "Appreciated, brother," he replied easily. "No apologies are necessary though, and no lasting harm was done. I look forward to fighting at your shoulder." He paused for a breath and flashed Palan a quick grin. "Though I probably should have brought an assault pack of my own so I could properly keep up with you."

After that teasing comment, Jahi resumed his usual calm demeanour as he continued talking. "Speaking of moving out though, something occurred to me which I believe I should bring to your attention. Since our last mission, I have spent some time studying with the Fer De Lance's astropaths. If we are able to reach this ship's astropathic chambers at some point, I should be able to use it to reach them, and communicate with the Deathwatch destroyer more securely than if we were to try and retake this ship's communications array." He quirked one corner of his mouth wryly. "I cannot guarantee how well it will work - telepathy is not my main discipline - but it is an option I thought you, as squad sergeant, should know about nonetheless."

Palan shook his head sternly. "It's not that I don't trust in your abilities Brother Jahi. It's that the appearance of the Ork psyker in the previous battle indicates a strong convergence of Ork might in the Warp. We are still within communication range of the Fer De Lance's arrays and, provided Brother Ignatius is able to salvage the equipment from the Orks' savagery, there should be no need to attempt Warp communications. If this ship's communications are non-functional, I will turn to you."

"The Orks dominate this ship, both physically and mentally, with their xenos corruption. We've gutted their leadership but we will need to avoid any future actions that might draw their attention. A telepathic signal could act like a beacon for the Orks, particularly if there are more psykers on this ship. It will be a last resort. Your strength will be needed Brother Jahi. Make no mistake about that."

Jahi nodded at Palan's words. "Understood. Still, it would have been remiss of me to not let you know that it was at least an option."

He then tilted his head slightly, his brow furrowing in thought. "Speaking of the ork psykers, though... what we saw in that previous fight concerns me. From what I know, greenskin psykers do not normally work in a conclave like that. Have you encountered such before? I am concerned that they may have been... taught how to do so by outside forces. And I also believe that the... turbulence in the warp around this ship is not entirely due to the orkish presence." He paused for a moment to glance around the bridge before continuing. "I feel like there is something about this ship itself that is to blame, though I am not yet sure what. Perhaps, again, outside forces that we have not yet identified are influencing both the orks and this hulk."

"This ship was thought lost and not capable of travel and yet here it is." Palan gestured around the crude handiwork that reflected the Orks' compulsive desecration of the Astartes cruiser. "There is much to still understand about what has happened. Once we return to the Fer De Lance with our prisoner, the Deathwatch will be able to glean much as to how the Orks managed to achieve the impossible."

"Your concern regarding the Ork psykers is noted, however we shall leave the contemplating to our Captain once we have reported to him. We shall be aware of the danger, Brother Jahi, and so we shall act fast to minimise any possible contamination this ship may hold. This ship will be purged with fire in time but only if we return to our Captain in one piece."

Palan tested the joints on his shoulders as he rolled them back. "The time for battle is nigh, Brother Jahi. Purge your mind of concern and open it to the righteous duty that we perform. For the Emperor." Palan thumped his fist upon his breastplate and walked towards Brother Kelt. The Black Shield was testing the limits of the Thunder Hammer and Palan could see that the weapon was suited to his hands. The Hammer would be cleansed by vengeance and indignation and reforged in the blood of Orks. Emperor willing, the Iron Templar Chapter would have a future if they recovered the gene-seed stored on this ship.

"Brother Kelt!" Palan called out. "How does the Hammer feel? Has the weapon accepted you as its wielder? Have you accepted it as your instrument of death?"

"Indeed Commander, the weapon is astounding. It's name is "Light of Sol", And it is unlike any Thunder Hammer i know of. It has interfaced with my armor of its own accord, And despite its weight, it wields as if were no heaver than a wooden stave, seemingly predicting my actions. Whats more, it appears not to use Electric power as most Weapons of its Class.." Kelt spun the hammer on its axis, twirling it as if it weighed no more than a baton. The Light of Sol gave of a white-blue glow as it picked up speed, thrumming deeply as the light trailed in a circle. ".. It gives of the oder of discharging Plasma. Given the Name of the weapon, i suspect that is its power source, tho i do not understand how."

Kelt Swiftly canceled the weapons momentum, the head of the hammer swiftly cooling from blue-hot back to its neutral chrome texture. He gingerly rolled his right shoulder, a Large rent in his pauldron following thru into a rent half way across his chest-plate cleaned of blood, but made all the more obvious by the hasty repairs to the armor. "As for Myself, My right is a fraction second slower than i would like, But i have adapted my fighting style to compensate for that. Hammers are not as good as Swords for the Faint and Parry style i favor, But this weapon more than makes up for it with brute offensive power."

Kelt's face was alight with confidance "Yes Commander, The Light of Sol and I shal exact a telling vengeance on the Orks of this Ship. But to see it purged completely via the completion of out mission is the only true vengeance to be had. How fare the others? Do we deploy soon?"

Ignatius looks up from his current project, mechadendrites still at work.

"Unfortunately, the reamins of the Plasma weapon will take some time to complete their discharge. If we wish to reclaim the equipment used and scavenged by the Orks then plasma-tech would be of considerable value. Failing that I would destroy the equipment we cannot collect."

Returning to the task of building what could best be described as a wheelbarrow, much like the stretcher built for the unfortunate terminator astartes, but designed to carry any spare weaponry and equipment retrieved from the green skins.

"That is good to hear Brother," Palan said as he observed the soft glow of the Hammer. "We shall deploy once Brother Ignatius has finished his work and Brother Scipio as attended to the crippled Iron Templar. Then you will have your vengeance."

Brother Ignatius' report echoed throughout the bridge before his mechadendrites quickly returned to restoring the plasma weapon that the Ork Warboss had wielded. It was a weapon desecrated by the Orks crude modifications and only Ignatius' skill prevented the complete meltdown of the plasma core. Palan left Brother Kelt to his exercises and moved towards the impromptu workbench that Brother Ignatius had made.

"Brother Ignatius, do what you can in recovering any relics that might be of use. We will need to travel lightly though and carrying the wounded Iron Templar and the prisoner will hinder our mobility enough as it is. Prioritise those weapons and pieces of equipment that we can easily carry in the tray that you have constructed. Destroy the rest. We move in thirty minutes."

Kelt followed Palan to the workstation of the Techmarine, Noting the heat emanating from the cloud of dispersing plasma surrounding the Salamander.

Ignatius did not seem to notice the heat.

As Palan delivered his orders, Kelt noticed Light of Sol appeared to be absorbing some of the cloud, passing it off as yet another of the Relic Weapons mysteries.

"Brother Ignatius, What is the state of the Shotguns?" By way of Explanation Kelt suggested to Palan "The weapons would be almost as good as a Bolter in these close corridors, and the Greenskins so far appear to have no short supply on munitions for them. The same cannot be said for our limited supply of Bolt Rounds. Were we able to share out the Assault weapons, they may prove a useful fallback if the Green Tide swallows our current supplies."

resting nearby to Ignatius were Eight whether beaten Astarte Assault Shotguns. Each weapon had been soiled by the Orks, evidence of weapon modifications being removed and 'upgraded' in greenskin style with useless trinkets, doodads, and the auxiliary barrels of other small arms. The Techmarine's previous inspection of the weapons suggested that were they to be stripped down and blessed by the Omnissia, they would be functional, if temperamental, weapons. With time and an Armory, Ignatius knew he could restore the weapons fully after the mission. However, still easily produced, the Shotguns were hardly rare or hard to create, and would not be missed.

The plasma weapon continued to vent the last of its gasses, And would make a much more glorious and challenging project for the Techmarine upon his return to the Fer de Lance

Though the thoughts of future work upon plasma tech filled the techmarines mind with anticipation, Brother Kelt had brough up a very good point. Though carrying what would be an excessive qualitity of ammunition, were they not facing greenskin hordes, the idea of salvaging the Astartes Assault Shotguns was wise. In the least Scipio would not want for ammunition for his Shotgun, and practically Ignatius felt he could produce a few functional shotguns from the desecrated weapons the Orks had used, ideally this would allow the squad to conserve their bolt rounds and promethium untill truly needed.

"A wise strategy Brother Kelt, I shall endeavour to produce a number of functional Shotguns, though I hope the greenskins modifications were aimed at aesthetics rather than function. Although, rather than wait for our supplies to run low I would suggest we focus on using the shotguns as a primary weapon for smaller groups, ammunition permitting."

Jahi nodded at Palan's words, and replied with a solemn, "For the Imperium," in reply before the Crimson Fist walked off to talk to Kelt. He watched them for a moment before looking around the bridge again, noting where everyone else was and what they were doing.

Jahi then turned his attention back to the bridge itself - or rather, the banks of consoles that had been hidden beneath some kind of façade. Although he'd never spent any amount of time on the bridge of a ship this large before, he was familiar with the Fer De Lance's bridge; using that knowledge, Jahi spent a few moments to analyse the layout, then picked a spot along one of the banks that he hoped would yield one of the more useful consoles. He took a minute or two to examine the façade - it was obviously constructed, but didn't seem to be of any kind of Imperial build he was familiar with, and he couldn't figure out what methods of artifice had been used to make it.

Curiosity piqued, Jahi began carefully breaking away parts of the façade, trying to reach the console beneath. As he worked, he idly listened to the conversation between Palan, Kelt and Ignatius. He had little to contribute to it for the moment though - most of his attention was divided between revealing the console, and continuing to mentally scan the areas around the bridge for any signs of life.

As Jahi removed the façade and, despite the strange construction, he was able to identify the material as plain old ferrocrete. The two meter thick slab's providing solid protection to the sensitive equipment behind them would have been nearly impossible to move short of industrial mining equipment or anti tank weapons.

Conveniently, Ignatius' Servo arm counted as Both, and once the wall was breached it was simply a matter of pealing away the heavy slab's one section at a time, this otherwise arduous task little more than routine exercise for the power armored Astarte.

Every now and then Jahi would pause for a moment to focus on one of the ambient life signs moving around the surrounding decks. Nothing registered as sentient, or at least none of the three different species of creature registering as anything Jahi would recognize as such. He sensed the familiar background scuttling minds of Rats, somehow present wherever humanity was to be found. These ones were Large, Jahi had the impression they would come up to his thigh plate. But they were hardly the largest he had ever seen, and nothing like a threat to the Killteam.

Also there was some kind of insectile creature, scuttling around the outside of the Tusk of Iron. That is what had drawn his attention, if just for the unlikely location. As he watched as the millipede-like creature scuttled across an exterior corner of the vast view-port that dominated the fore of the bridge, before scuttling away from the light projected within. The Rats were a bigger threat.

It was the third creature which worried Jahi the most. It had a kindred aura to the Orks, only much Much dumber and even more single minded. The creatures felt as large as the Rats, but appeared to be winning a war of natural selection, as the two species fought for dominance in the food chain.

Finally Jahi removed the last block obscuring the desired console. It appeared to be some kind of ship scanning array. Projected in grainy bleached colour was an image of the Tusk of Iron as it had been. The ship was overlapped with blocks of colour varying from blue to red, and splotches of yellow. Most of the mid section of the ship was lined over in blue, lines of it stretching on to the ships flight decks, bombardment cannons and torpedo battery. Conspicuously, The primary reactor and engine decks, as-well as the locations previously identified as giving off the strange warp signatures were all crimson lit. The yellow patches appeared to follow no apparent pattern, until Jahi peered out the great armourglass windows, and saw that they correlated with the myriad other structures adhered to the Tusk of Iron like cancerous barnacles.

Once the console had been cleared and the screen revealed, Jahi spent a few minutes studying the image of the ship, even as he kept a mental note of the scurryings of the local ambient life signs.

When he had gained some idea of what he was looking at, he turned to look back towards Palan and the others. "Brother Palan, Brother Ignatius," Jahi called. "I have found something you may be interested in seeing - a scanning array showing a layout of the ship, with various areas marked out."

"A useful discovery, I shall record a copy future reference, it may prove helpful."

Ignatius records the scan in as much detail as is practicable. Once this is complete he turns his attention to the scanner itself to determine if it may be of further use.

"Brother Jahi, are there any areas of the space hulk that you wish investigated further? Additionally, I have made use of another terminal containing significant data relating to the hulk; my storage capacity is but a tenth of the available data, I have already copied the Navigational and Security data but could hold more. If you have any suggestions for which knowledge may be of use or value then I would be glad to search for and store it."

As Apothecary Scipio labored over the body of the Unnamed Astarte before him, The Message again reported itself onto the HUD of his Diagostore helm.

It was the same message every time, the data-stacks implanted in the back of his mind throwing out the same procedural conclusion every time.

The Apothecary continued his labor in spite of The Message, closing the prompt again and focusing on the almost-corpse before him. The Marine, an Iron Templar as far as they could tell, should by all medical science be dead. But what had be wrought the Templar, as it was in Scipio and the others, Defied medical science, and the Templars hearts beat on.

The Iron Templar was missing his Right arm from the bicep, his right leg from the thigh, and his left leg from the knee. The amputations had been messy, and besides losing a lot of blood, the marines body was pushed further to fight off infections. It was the infections that had taken up the last twenty minutes of Scipio's time. He had cleared them up, and transfused two liters of blood from Brother Kelt, and infused Kelt with one liter of the Templars blood to be purified by the healthy marine.

The Iron Templar's Kidney had failed some days ago by the Apothecary's reckoning, and the Oolitic Kidney had taken over the task of detoxifying the marines blood, Which to Scipio's knowledge was what was keeping the Templar Unconscious. Having examined the tools used on the Templar, Scipio suspected even the Greenskins stood a substantial chance of dying on their own operating tables, And had taken several samples which may prove useful and cultivating future toxins.

Several of the Templar's other organs were failing. Most problematic, the Larraman's Organ had been over taxed and failed. The transfusions from Kelt were helping, but the Templar had been almost completely flensed of skin. The synthskin would protect him from further infection, which would have to be enough for now.

It would take days just to figure out a treatment plan once they got off this forsaken ship.

Scipio continued what therapies he could, manually looking up symptoms and cures for what he could diagnose without risking further damage to the Templar. At the very least they could move him now, And Scipio could monitor the marine via the hastily repaired medical cuff in the remnants of the marines armor.

A few minutes later, Kelt came over, and they performed another blood transfusion as before. As they finished Kelt wandered over to where the rest of the Kill Team investigated a terminal unearthed by Brother Jahi, And Scipio's HUG flashed again with the Message.


The medical programming of Scipio's Diagnostore linked with the data in his Cerebral Implants could find only one solution with a reasonable chance of success, And worse still the teachings of the Codex agreed.

Offer the Emperor's Mercy. Spare the Templar more suffering, Collect his Gene Seed and hopefully samples of his grey matter would offer some insight via use of the Omophagea. The mathematical programs in his mind put this at the course of action with the highest chance of success by a factor of over seven hundred. The tactical teaching's of the codex suggested this mission was already near suicidal, and the dead weight of this marine would not only risk losing the geneseed for good, but probably cost other lives or even the mission as well.

But there were other Teachings the Apothecary had, Those drilled into him as a Knight Tempest. Teachings of politics and diplomacy usually unseen in the Adeptus Astarte’s, But what made his home chapter the power that it was.

What the Codex did not consider, was the effect saving the marine would have. It would give the Kill Team renewed purpose. Delivering mercy to the Templar would be detrimental to the cohesion of the squad. Saving him would inspire them to greater feats of heroism, confidant that they would be restored of any wounds suffered, no matter how mortal, by the dedication of the squads healer. Scipio knew he would either lose or gain the unconditional loyalty of Brother Kelt with this choice, and that the renown that not only Scipio as an Apothecary, but the entire Kill Team would gain in the Deathwatch if they could bring this Templar back Alive was alone worth more glory than this entire mission.


“So…” he murmured to himself. “...the decision isn’t a decision at all is it?” Scipio smiled as he recalled Chaplain Kathay’s lessons on political economics. “You’re going to live Brother, and you will fight again once more. You will bring us glory, renown to me, and gift your Chapter with knowledge and pride.” Scipio sat back and patted the comatose marine’s shoulder. “Much appreciated, Brother veteran sergeant.”


Ignatius deftly tapped into the machine spirit of the console Brother Jahi had uncovered. At first the flood of numerical data was confusing, but Jahi’s supposition that the yellow zones aligned to the other less identifiable craft forming sections of the space hulk proved insightful.

The data matched known algorithms for measurements of gravitic force. Ignatius took a few minutes to parse the data fully. The sections of the ship highlighted in yellow were anomalous readings of the gravity of other smaller ships.

The blue sections were spaces of nominally average gravity, mostly in the usual up down facing of most imperial ships, at approximately one standard Terran G. This covered most of the inner parts of the ship inhabited by the orks, from the edge engineerium decks right up to the torpedo bays, and including accessways up to the ship's external defences and hangers. The Techmarine noted that the gravity in the ship's vertical arterial varied in that it was angled to the walls, creating an octagonally aligned passageway, where each wall would appear as normal gravity, and would suspend the inner section in a gravitic null zone.

The most curious parts of the ship were those highlighted in Red, indicating points of extremely high gravity. The Engineering decks, linking to each of the suspected warp drives, the ship's plasma reactors and even including the suspect alignment of passageways Ignatius had earlier identified as the last places logged in the ship's system for integrated activity.

The ship's sensors also suggested these Red Zones were almost devoid of life, the high gravity compounded by faulty ventilation causing them to mostly be hovering at temperatures too high to sustain life as the radiant head of the reactors was leached throughout parts of the ship.

"Excellent work Brother Jahi, Brother Ignatius. All of you," Palan raised his voice so that he could be heard throughout the bridge, "have performed honourably."

Palan pointed at one of the areas in red surrounding what appeared to be closest warp drive to their position. "Our next objective, after securing the communications array, is to determine the next destination for this ship. Brothers," he traced his finger along one of the sections coloured red, "is there an alternative route that avoids this hazard? Otherwise we must venture further afield to trace this ship's coordinates which increases the likelihood of encountering the Orks. As long as we carry the Iron Templar, we must not willingly throw ourselves into danger."

Jahi merely tilted his head towards Palan in silent acknowledgement of the praise. At Palan's question, he hummed quietly in consideration for a moment before replying. "I am not familiar enough with the layout of ships like this to suggest alternative routes - perhaps Brother Kelt may have more insight on that," he began, his tone thoughtful. "However, I see little reason for us - in fully sealed power armour as we are - to avoid those areas in the first place." He tapped the screen with one finger. "These red areas are like... arteries, throughout the ship. We could use them to travel in relative safety and avoid the orks entirely. And though this scanner shows no noticeable life signs within those areas, if there is anything living within them, either myself or Brother Ignatius should be able to detect them once we are within range."

Jahi then looked back up at the others. "Of course, this idea would not currently be feasible for our recovered Templar brother or our Ork prisoner unless we find some way to fully protect them, as well." He turned to face Ignatius. "Do you think it would be possible, Brother Ignatius, to rig up something suitable if we can find sufficient parts?"

"All things are possible, with a sufficiently stocked workshop." Ignatius quipped. "However, environmentally sealing the Terminator armour with what is available;" Ignatius looked around the liberated command deck "may prove taxing, and while I do not have Brother Scipio's understanding of our brothers health I cannot imagine the conditions in those areas would help his recovery. The ork on the other hand I understand even less, but what I know suggests it's survival would be easier to facilitate."

Ingatius begins compiling a list of tasks and related subtasks regarding the options available to the team.

>Navigational:
-> Compile a map with estimated travel times for each section of the hulk we expect to travle through.
-> Add adjustments for a vareity of tactical modes of transport (increase times for stealth, decrease times for aggressive movements).
-> Add time increases for use of Auger Array and Jahi's abilities.
-> Estimate threats of each section using available lifesigns data and the teams knowledge of Orks.
-> Calcualte a variety of best-speed scenarios for a variety of risk scenarios. (Based on the information we compile, work out how fast we can go without exceeding certain risks)

> Technological
-> Catalogue available resources.
--> Recoverable, Usable technology, Astartes weapons for instance, or any resources that can be used/ have value, and moved with us.
--> Unrecoverable, Usable technology, items that could be used immediately but not moved easily. For instance, anything that could be used to build or upgrade the protection of our patient or the ork.
--> Technology to be kept from others. All technology that cannot be recovered or is not worth recovering, and could be of use/value to others; to be considered for destruction/booby-trapping.
-> Begin considering ways to protect the patient and the ork from the environmental dangers in the ship.

Kelt Considered the Librarians point. "It would be far more expedient to use the red zones to our advantage. I admit to being unfamiliar with any Void-ships beyond The Fer De Lance and her Sisters in the Deathwatch however."

Brother Kelt considered the issue further as the Squad deliberated, whilst collecting and packing the gear worth salvaging. He divided up the available Ammunition and Shotguns between the unit, and cataloged the rest into the mission report.

Access to Mission Report [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Palan listened closely as Brother Ignatius detailed the extent of the situation and environment that they would have to operate in aboard this hulk. He silently nodded as Ignatius ran through the extreme conditions and the likelihood of encountering Orks for each path that was open to them. Their situation was not ideal.

"Thank you for the report, Brother Ignatius. Coordinate with Brother Jahi and see what can be done to chart a path that we can follow to reach our objectives. The destination and trajectory of this hulk is our primary mission and getting to one of the warp drives is paramount. Inform me when you have determined the best possible pathway."

Palan turned away from the Techmarine and the Librarian as he strode towards the Apothecary. Brother Kelt stayed with the Techmarine and began to collect the weapons that the Orks had defiled. It was best that he wasn't present for what came next.

"Brother Scipio," Palan began, "what is the chance of survival for the veteran sergeant? Is he stable enough to travel in the void or through plasma exhausts?"

Kelt joined Jahi and Ignatius and investigating the available data on the Space Hulk for the optimal path.

"The inner workings may be flooded with the green-skins, but packed so tightly I doubt we can expect a war footing. Rather this entire Hulk seems more akin to a floating Hive City. Were it not for our prisoner and ward, I would support simply cutting a rout thru the horde, moving on before they know what hit them. To Make the Bastards suffer..."

Kelt took a deep breath before continuing, "But with our cargo, The Void would be safest. Only small groups of Greenskins with Void Gear could hassle us, we would stand the best chance of going un-noticed. but the going would be painfully slow. Rather we use the Advantages the Emperor gifted us and take to the Red Zones. The hulk is a mess of ships, and I'm sure we could find what you need, Brother Ignatius."

The Black shield sighed "Either way, I suggest we plan to set up Staging points. Whichever rout we take, It would be foolhardy to enter major combat encumbered as we are. Better we travel to whichever part of the ship we must operate in, And one of us Stay back in a secure defensible position with a viable avenue of escape with the Templar, Prisoner and Relics. Once we complete our objectives we can fall back to the position an ex-filtrate, without being weighed down for the entire operation."

Kelt looked over to where Palan talked to the Apothecary. "In the State the Templar is in Scipio may be needed to monitor him directly, And should hold the Staging point. However, If the Templar is Stable enough, It would be better I held the fallback and Scipio deploy, His skills will be invaluable in the front... as much as it urks me to admit, My wounds slow me." As the Black-shield watched Scipio and Palan talk, he suspected the subject of their conversation. The unknown Templar was in a worrisome state. But Kelt did not fret, He believed they had found the Templar for a purpose. He did not doubt the Marine would Survive this, He had Faith.