Escape From Hadrian IV (I.C. Thread)
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		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Extreme =&gt; Extreme Small Groups =&gt; Topic started by: Urbanzorro on 10-02-2013, 22:47:11</h2>
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				Title: <strong>Escape From Hadrian IV (I.C. Thread)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Urbanzorro</strong> on <strong>10-02-2013, 22:47:11</strong>
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				Surrounded by Ork forces and abandoned by those in command of the failing defense of the planet. The fate of Hadrian Secundus was already sealed; but the once great hive city simply did not yet know it was already doomed. &nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br>In the four days that had passed since the Orks surrounded the outskirts of Hadrian Secundus the greenskins had managed to breach the hive city’s outer ring of defenses within a single hour. Throughout the remainder of the first three days the underhive had played host to several vicious battles as Hadrian Secundus’s defenders tried desperately to halt the Ork advance. But despite these valiant efforts the invaders had already fought their way through nearly all of the underhive’s defenders, the green tide having washed away any who stood in its path. By sunrise of the fourth day all but the smallest pockets of bitter resistance had fallen and the underhive was undeniably Ork territory. &nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br>One such pocket of resistance which still stood by midday was an arbites precinct courthouse in the western portion of the underhive, just on the border between the underhive and the hive proper. During the initial stages of the conflict for Hadrian Secundus the courthouse had served as a command and control headquarters for a large portion of the underhive’s western defensive zone. But as the defense began to crumble the fact that the courthouse was already heavily fortified, and was home to one of the few lifts still capable of ferrying people and cargo from the underhive to&nbsp; upper levels of the hive city caused it to become a rallying point for the retreating imperial forces.<br>&nbsp;<br>Despite being surrounded and having no hope of holding out against the multitude of greenskins besieging the courthouse, the forces within had been given orders that they were to hold the building at all costs. And so, those within the courthouse were now forced to prepare its interior for what was sure to be a fight to the death as soon as the courthouse itself was breached.<br>&nbsp;<br><hr>&nbsp;<br>As Inquisitor Marcus Praxis quickly made his way down one of the precinct house’s many halls, he could hear&nbsp; what, for lack of a better descriptor, sounded like a soft yet constant roar coming from the very walls and ceiling of the building itself. It sounded almost akin to an extremely heavy rain striking a thin roof, but it was in fact the reports of the many gun servitors that studded the precinct’s outer walls as they fired a constant stream of rounds at the Orks outside the building. As of yet the practical wall of firepower that the guns provided had proven enough to hold back the greenskins. But a quick visit to the precinct’s control room had told Marcus that the ammunition for the servitors’ weapons was already running low and would soon be exhausted. It was an enescapable fact that the building would fall before day’s end.<br>&nbsp;<br>His business in the precinct was almost complete and his final movements through its halls had revealed many scenes of those others within it grimly resisting their already sealed fates. In the armory Adeptus Arbites officers could be seen issuing weapons to the very hive gangers who had been their sworn enemies just a week before. Squads of Imperial Guardsmen could be seen erecting sandbags and assembling heavy bolter emplacements as&nbsp; priestd preached the word of The Emperor in order to rally their spirits and a cold eyed commissars insured they did not waver from their tasks. Citizens begged and bargained at the precinct’s lift station in the hopes of being allowed to escape to higher levels of the hive, and a scant few members of the Adepta Sororitas who had found their way to the precinct house intoned their final prayers before what was surely to be their deaths.<br>&nbsp;<br><hr>Within the armory Jacky found himself standing opposite an old and scarred arbites judge who was in the process of handing out weapons to any hive ganger, thief, or murderer who could carry them. There had been no formal ceremony, no agreeing between chiefs and officers. Instead there was only the unspoken but still ever present knowledge that they were all human and would now be forced to stand side by side as such.<br>&nbsp;<br>As the judge passed Jacky a Lawbringer shotgun he quickly uttered the same phrase he had said to every non-arbites member who had thus far received a weapon. “In the name of The Emperor I deputize you, go forth and destroy his enemies.”&nbsp; No sooner had the word’s left the man’s lips than did his attention pass form Jacky and to the next recipient of a weapon.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br>Seconds later a frantic looking man in a tattered Imperial Guard uniform with Sergeant’s stripes on his sleeve burst into the room “We need armed men in the main courtroom now! If you’ve got a weapon move it there on the double! Find 3rd squad, they’re the ones you’ll be with!”<br>&nbsp;<br><hr>&nbsp;<br>The courtroom itself was a large circular room which reached as high as the precinct house itself. Every hall way within the building eventually led to the large courtroom. In times of peace it had been the place where court was held. Now, with its commanding view of the building’s entrance hallway, it was the anchor of the Imperial forces’ defenses. Against the portion of the circular wall opposite the main entrance doorway sat the judges’ benches, where those reviewing a trial would have sat. These benches were raised higher than any other portion of the room so as to give a further appearance of authority to those seated in them during trial. The walls to the left and the right of this wall were comprised of large rows of gently rising seats which gave the hall the appearance of a miniature stadium. The seats ended exactly half way around the circle in either direction from the judges’ benches. The center of the room, had once been host to several tables where the accused, and those prosecuting them would be made to sit. While the edge of the circular room opposite the judges benches opened into the precinct’s main entry way, which under normal circumstances would be the path that any accused citizen would be forced to walk when approaching their trial. The hallway itself was studded with ornate marble sculptures of various imperial saints.<br>&nbsp;<br>The now looked very different from how it once had. The tables within the room’s center had been cleared away and replaced by sandbag walls and deployable barricades which were to be used as cover by the defenders. Heavy bolter emplacements now occupied the rows of seats that had been used for public observers of the courtroom’s trials, and a single lascannon had been erected upon the judge’s bench.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br>As it was, the courtroom had become a scene of both ordered preparation and near total panic at the same time. In the time since the precinct had become one of the few remaining safe havens within the underhive it had witnessed a massive influx of refugees attempting to escape the Orks. The majority of these citizens had managed to escape using the precinct’s lift, but many still remained when the order to stop lift movements had been given. &nbsp;Many of these refugees were now attempting to make their way to whatever portions of the precinct house they felt would bring them safety or comfort. And their paths all invariably forced them to pass through the courtroom. This caused them to be slowed in their movements by the guardsmen, arbites, and other Imperial warriors who were erecting defenses.<br>&nbsp;<br>It was from within one of these groups of refugees within the main hall that Prax, quite by coincidence, caught the attention of Marcus. He caught a quick glimpse of the woman beneath the disguise she wore and immediately knew she was just what he needed for later in his mission. A psyker, corrupted and unsanctioned but a psyker none the less. “That woman, there!” he said firmly to a passing commissar “bring her to me, no matter how tainted she appears do not kill her. By order of The Emperor’s Inquisition”, With Marcus’s badge of office clearly displayed man found himself with little choice to obey without question, as the commissar’s extensive training had taught him to.<br>&nbsp;<br>As the commissar walked towards the Prax he passed by 3rd squad, the improvised group of soldiers and deputized citizens who were tasked with building one of the many barricades. As fate would have it this was the squad that Gunney Halleck and Jacky had been sequestered to. Pointing at both men the commissar gave a firm order, his bolt pistol in hand making it evident that there would be no bargaining. “You two, go grab that woman and bring her to the Inquisitor” he then pointed at Prax and then at Marcus to insure that his order was clear “Now!” he said firmly.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Escape From Hadrian IV (I.C. Thread)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>IrishWolf</strong> on <strong>13-02-2013, 02:58:59</strong>
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				Two Hands would have laughed, in the strange and unsettling manner of a mad man, had the long line of gangers and other riffraff not been watched by one of the Guard's Commissars and handful of arbitrators. Never once, in the past seven years, would he had thought that he'd be standing before a judge and get deputize of all things. He had always expect, that should the arbitrators manage to take him alive or decided they wanted to and dragged him before judge, that he would end up on a firing line or sentenced to a penal world, if the judge was feeling lenient. But now, in the middle of a whirlwind of chaos from an Ork invasion, he was being deputize, along with scores of others of his kind.<br><br>There was tension in the air, more then what could be expected with a horde of green xenos waiting outside the walls. Old loyalties remained, even now that most of the gangs had been destroyed, in the fighting for the underhive. Survivors shot guarded looks at former blood feud enemies, hands caressing what weapons they had, in promises to see vengeance before the orks killed them all. Then they traded glares with the arbitrators, each side remembering dead comrades and brothers, who had been made examples of, outside of this very courthouse or fallen in ambush in the dark tunnels. True enough, they could fight together and had set aside their natural battle in the face of an inhuman foe but old hatreds die hard. <br><br>Two Hands took the shotgun, as the old judge handed it over and stepped away, letting the next man take a weapon. He already had a bandolier slung over his shoulder, the leather loops filled with shells, an odd mix of solid slugs and far less useful, scatter shot. He had also filled the many pockets of his pants with extra shells, as well as as many spare magazines as he could get a hold of, for his pistols. When he had staggered in a few days ago, he had been out of ammunition and a knife, no matter how good it was, was a poor weapon to use against orks. Like many others though, he stuck around in the armory, trying to get more shells, until a guardsman came running in, calling for as many armed men as there were, to hurry to the courtroom. It was in a slightly panicked rush, that the gangers had raced to the courtroom, believing that the greenskins had finally broken in, only to find that the walls still held and what was really need, was men to move sandbags.<br><br>It could be said, that they gangers and especially the former Blue Knife, were not pleased with having rushed here, just to stack things. However, they found it wiser not to grumble too loudly or turn back to find the sergeant who had caused their running, as sharp eyes commissars prowled among the guardsmen (and now the attached militia). Jacky fashioned a crude sling for his gun, not wanted to put it down, only to find someone had snatched the weapon, when he needed it, before slipping into the group. Several sandbags later, he found himself standing next to a guardsman, when one of the murdering devils approached and leveled a bolt pistol at them. And it could be fair to say, that the pistol was more aimed at the tattooed covered ganger, then the good guardsmen. <br><br>For a moment, Two Hands considered going for his pistols, which were tucked into his belt. He was one of the fastest draws in the tunnels and close quarter surprises were daily things for him. There was a good chance he could get the drop on this man but then again, Commissars had to watch their backs every minute of every day and there were several of them in this very room. Being very careful to took his hands away from the stubguns, he nodded, glancing towards the so called woman, all covered in bandages and a robe and then over at the powerful looking man. He didn't like it, being pushed around like that and for what looked like a last quickie for some Inquisitor but it was better to die in a few minutes, rather then right now. Rolling his shoulder to adjust the shotgun, he stalked over towards the woman, not really caring if the guardsman was with him or not.<br><br>"Hey you" he spat, reaching out and grabbing the woman's sleeve, "Come here!"
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				Title: <strong>Re: Escape From Hadrian IV (I.C. Thread)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Belisuavious</strong> on <strong>13-02-2013, 06:47:49</strong>
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				The courthouse was a mess, in Gunney's not quite expert opinion. The refugees were blocking the guardsmen, the guardsmen were knocking the refugees down and slowing them even more and all the while the gangers were glaring bloody murder at each other or the arbiters. And here he was, caught up in the command structure of this new squad with unfamiliar faces, not even given any politeness due to his, admittedly small, rank. Of course he could be outraged later, but still, he had held command in the Imperial Army and here he was attached to a squad as nothing more than a simple trooper.<br><br>Well, that wasn't exactly true, the squad was in shambles and there was a number of smaller groups that formed around particular people, sort of like how companies acted under battalion command. He was one such person, with other displaced guardsmen who had also been separated from their units attaching themselves to him. So he did hold an unofficial command. Now if only he could try and stop the gangers from trying to stab each other while the orks needed to be fought.<br><br>The command shook him out of his thoughts, and he was tempted to glare back at the commissar for thinking force would be needed to get an officer to do his duty. Maybe his insignia was worn too much for it to be seen? In any case he followed after the ganger to the woman that had been pointed out.<br><br><strong>"Hey you" he spat, reaching out and grabbing the woman's sleeve, "Come here!"</strong><br><br>He heard the rough ganger command and although he rolled his eyes, the past few days had worn his patience thin. "We need you to come with us." He said curtly, drawing his autopistol. He wasn't pointing it at her, it was aimed down at the floor. It just helped to be careful with desperate frightened people. The lasgun stayed slung at his back, and wouldn't be deployed until the orks attaked. The chainsword was at his hip and had caused a few issues bumping people until he had fiddled with the straps to have it hang more or less straight up and down. He hoped it wouldn't come to the time when he would have to use that, he didn't like the idea of facing an ork in hand to hand combat.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Escape From Hadrian IV (I.C. Thread)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Datawych</strong> on <strong>13-02-2013, 19:55:33</strong>
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				<em>Maybe this Ork invasion actually <strong>isn't</strong> the best thing to ever happen to me...</em> Praxedes thought as she was corralled through the most heavily-defended areas of the courthouse to a safer location with the rest of the refugees. At least when she was a prisoner she didn't have to live in constant fear of what would happen to her if someone so much as got a glimpse of what she really looked like.<br><br>The almost whimsical nature of her tormentors as the simultaneously brought her to the height of agony and ecstasy... That she could take. At least she wasn't operating with the ever-looming fear that one of the numerous, heavily-armed defenders would actually notice what she looked like and decide to fill her body with a few dozen laspitol shots 'just to be on the safe side.' She can't help but wonder if perhaps all daemonettes felt this way; with so much of the Imperium who would attack them on sight just for the way they look, maybe they're so vicious because it's the only way they can survive...<br><br>As it was, Prax was starting to get more than her fair share of weird looks - over how little fear she was showing... over how she seemed more nervous about what was inside the courthouse than outside... and over the awkward way she had arranged one of her arms in a sling to better disguise her claw beneath her robes.<br><br><strong>It's alright. All you need to do is wait until the defenses break. You're faster than anyone else here. Getting away shouldn't be that difficult.</strong><br><br>So far her disguise seemed to be working. She had found a robe that appeared to have once belonged to someone much bigger than she was, so it was easy for her to disappear within its folds. Any body parts that might be exposed she had wrapped with makeshift bandages, figuring people would be more concerned with the greenskins and less with the wounded stranger who was seeking shelter. It was this or spend the foreseeable future avoiding Orks that would shoot at anything that moved and wasn't green.<br><br><strong>"That woman, there! bring her to me, no matter how tainted she appears do not kill her. By order of The Emperor’s Inquisition."</strong><br><br>Well, maybe not.<br><br>Upon hearing the words and seeing the armed pair of men moving toward her, an overwhelming amount of tainted adrenaline dumps into her bloodstream. Suddenly, instead of fighting an urge to run, Prax finds herself fighting an urge to strike. To sink her claw into her would-be attackers. And then, the Voice. Dark, unintelligible whispers that worm their way into parts of her mind that should be left unexplored.<br><br><em>No. No, not now...</em><br><br>The time it takes for the pair to make their way over to her is only a few seconds, but in Prax's state it feels more like ten minutes. Ten minutes where she can't seem to make her body respond to the imminent danger. Ten minutes while she considers all the possible options available to her.<br><br><strong>"Hey you, come here!"</strong><br><br><em>It's too late. There are too many of them; attacking would just get you killed.</em><br><br>Out of options, when the ganger grabs her sleeve, all she can do is allow him and the guardsman to escort her to the inquisitor who had made the request.<br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: Escape From Hadrian IV (I.C. Thread)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Urbanzorro</strong> on <strong>17-02-2013, 00:06:47</strong>
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				As soon as Two Hands and Gunney had brought Prax within arms-reach of him Marcus’s hand was moving forward towards the hood of her robes. He took hold of the fabric and pulled it back revealing her face. <em>Just as I thought</em> he thought to himself <em>a psyker in the process of being possessed.</em> One of the many thing’s his former teacher had taught him was the ability to spot and recognize the signs of possession within humans. All it had taken was a single flash of the woman’s purple skin to arouse his suspicion.<br>&nbsp;<br>Were these anything but the most desperate of times he knew it would be best to simply put the wretch out of her misery and execute her. But these were not normal times. His situation was desperate and in very real danger of becoming impossible. He needed a psyker for what was to come, and with his former astropath now dead any psyker, even a witch, was better than nothing. “You are coming with me” he told Prax” his voice brooking no argument with the statement.<br>&nbsp;<br>It was as this statement left Marcus’s lips that something both important and terrifying took place. The, up till this moment, &nbsp;constant sound of the precinct’s auto-turrets firing round after round into the ork hoards outside gave way to silence. The weapon systems had finally expended all their ammunition.<br>&nbsp;<br><hr>&nbsp;<br>Outside the precinct the Orks had been forced to take cover due to the accurate and rapid fire of the building’s defenses. &nbsp;The sheer wall of firepower had been enough to make even Orks hesitant to charge the building. Being forced to hide in cover while there were humies to pound had angered every ork in the mob outside the precinct. But none more so than Grimgul , he had been told to take the humie building by Boss Grotrippa himself and when his boyz had been forced into cover by the guns he’d roared his frustration to them, but no amount of threats and smacks could get the boyz to break cover when they all knew they’d get shot up before they even had a chance to shoot back… But now the guns had stopped, and Grimgul was the first to get up “Come on boyz!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “Let’s smash da humie gitz!”<br>&nbsp;<br>As far as Ork speeches went, this one was both rousing and inspiring, and moments later the other boyz were up and moving. From somewhere within this group a single ork shouted one word at the top of his lungs, this word was almost instantly keyed on by every other ork. It triggered something within all of them and almost as one they all took up the same warcry. As one massive green wave they charged towards the door to the humie building.<br>&nbsp;<br><hr>&nbsp;<br>Within the main courtroom, through the fortified walls, the war shout could still be heard as hundreds of orks all cried out their foul bloodlust. <strong>“WAAAGH!”</strong>With this, the guardsmen and other human defenders quickly ran to their positions most of them making it there just in time.<br>&nbsp;<br>Less lucky were those civilians who were still caught in the court room. Many of them had congregated into the entrance hall, taking comfort in the sight of the statures of Imperial heroes, as they attempted to gain their bearings. &nbsp;As the massive doors into the precinct were blown open by crude ork explosives these men and women now found themselves trapped between the guns of the humans and the onrushing greenskins.<br>&nbsp;<br>From somewhere within the building’s defenders a single officer recognized that these people were already dead. “Open fire men!” he shouted. With their nerves on razor edge this order was all the excuse guardsmen needed &nbsp;to push aside any worry for the civilians and start using their weapons. The rest of the Imperial forces joined them in doing so within moments of the first shot being fired.<br>&nbsp;<br>The courtroom was filled with the snap of lasguns, the deep cough of bolters, and the roar of heavy bolters. The civilians were cut down almost instantly, most of them not even having time to react.
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