Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » (OPEN) Warhammer 40K: Gospel of Screams

(Okay, now this character is an old one and much of his lore I forgotten. I made him when I was still playing Eternal Crusade. Still, I know how the warlocks are and I got my shuriken pistol and witchblade ready. Just tell me where I should enter into the story. My guy is also sort of a "good guy",in that he's sort of here to help fight Chaos. However, he's not a frontline character, he's a support.)

The Inquisitor put the symbol of his office away in the depths of his coat. He studied the Space Marine trying to place which chapter he belonged to.
" The purity of my soul is is of relatively small concern compared to the danger posed by what lies below." He said before clicking his fingers. "Rainbow warriors... I though you were declare Excumiticatus Traitorus? No matter. Can you tell me what is going on up there?"
He points upwards.
"I've got a question too." Said a Voice in the Dark "What in the Emperor's name are you doing here and why shouldn't I shoot you where you stand."
Out stepped a figure clad in the armor of an Arbite with a military long coat oven it. She is flanked by troops clad in crimson and gold armor. Down the barrel of an ornate laspitol her mis-matched eyes glow with an old and personal enmity.

Little did the Mon'keigh realize, or perhaps more than what was being shown, was that they were being monitored and listened upon. In a secluded place there lay an on-listener, an Eldar warlock who remained hidden from the others. The oddity of this instance was that the warlock was alone and with no escort. That, and the Eldar was actually taking the time to observe the conversation the more primitive homo-sapiens were having with each other. Potentially they could be known to be in the presence of a psyker, but to the untrained mind they would go about their observations undetected. Still, the warlock didn't listen in for a chance to attack, but rather to do something unorthodox and listen into the words of the Imperials, even by himself with any sort of Striking Mantis or any support. Whatever the male warlock's motives were, he appeared to be interested in this conversation, as well as wary for any Chaos around them.

[OOC: Sorry if this introduction is rather rough, I didn't know where to merge my character into the plot.]

(Bump)

Kragoth took a second's worth of silence. "It appears that the Tau Xenos have their eyes on whatever lay within these halls." The Space Marine replied, surveying the ancient undercroft as eerie melodies seemed to haze from the very walls themselves, the origin of their voices were clearly immaculate in nature. Perhaps they were merely an illusion of Slaanesh? Or were the Iron Warriors jealously guarding this tomb for their own insidious desires?

"But..." Continued Kragoth, brooding on what was to come -- his gloomy eyes still swaying back and forth toward the next elfin statue, somehow unspoilt in the presence of the foul Warp. "If what I know about the Iron Warriors is true, then blue blood will flow across the moat of this vile keep."

Before the Astartes to ask a question of his own, he caught sight of a begrudging Anastasia, presenting herself from the shadows with her retinue. He gazed toward her with slight curiosity, silently questioning the intentions of the Imperium, and what they intended to gain from this sepulchre.

"Do you both hold some history with one another?" Kragoth asked calmly -- stampeding footfalls echoed in the distance. No doubt the Iron Warriors had finally noticed the unwanted intrusion.

"Tasia my dear you're not still upset about Arcarnas V are you?" Said The Inquisitor.
"You left me and an entire Hiveworld to be eating by a Tyranid hord. So yeah I'm still a little upset." Said Anastasia "What are you doing on my world?"
"Your world?"
"I've claimed it. I was thinking of calling it Anastasia's Folly but Oban's Sepuclar works for me to. So why are you here?"
"An Inquisitor answers to no-one but the Emperor himself."
"Oh... In the Emperor's name you found it" Said Anastasia the colour draining from her face.
She holstered her pistol and dismissed her guard with a wave. The Hauptman made to question but was stopped with a look.
After they had left the Rogue Trader turned back to the others.
"So Old man are you going to introduce us and explain what you plan on doing?"
"Ah yes Introductions; Brother this is Lady Anastasia Charc of Kronos, Rogue Trader and I am Inquisitor Oban Sherlock-Clousseau."

At this point the warlock found the mon'keigh's banter to be of little use anymore, once he deduced that they were merely conversing with one another as well as searching around. Still, these were once sacred halls of his fellow Eldar, however at this moment he realized their presence must be tolerated for the sake of purging the vile ancient foe. Now he quickly contemplated on how he would get their attention without them turning hostile. He thought of the most oddity of his species, to come in peace humbly. Granted this would be seen as ludicrous by most of his kin, but he weighed the soulstones and this world over petty in differences, at least for the time being. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before he called out to the humans.

"Do not be alarmed, Mon-er. I mean humans. I merely come to speak to you, my weapon is lowered." the Eldar warlock said as he slowly walked out from behind his concealment.

This probably was not the best time to do such, but he knew that these humans would be his own shot at helping rid this world of corruption. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Soon the warlock would come into view, but as he said he had his witchblade and shuriken pistol lowered. While he had on his helm they at least could tell from his stance that he didn't look like he was seeking a battle, at least not abruptly.

"I need to speak with you on matters concerning the ancient foe and the maddened humans who have so given themselves to the one who thirsts." The Eldar said under his helmet.

The Veteran Sergeant shook his head in disapproval of this nonsensical confrontation; did these Imperial fellows not realise the Hell they stood upon? A world where the winds whirled with Human screams and earth that was bloody and foul in a parody of gore? This Daemonic bastion was irredeemable -- there were not enough priests in the galaxy that could pacify this place. Naught but ancient Eldar rituals, it seemed, as the inexplicable presence of one such Xenos had made themselves visible in the eyes of the trio. Willing, moreso; perhaps this was indeed serious...

...Or merely an act of desperation, as the Eldar dwindle, so does the collective sanity of their vile race.

But the bickering, nor the Eldar, were Kragoth's primary concern. The footfalls of the defiled Astartes grew in volume, as did the curious haze of foreign technology. It seemed the Tau had by some miracle pushed through. Negotiations should perhaps wait, but the Rainbow Warrior's thirst for vengeance had yet to quench; he did not dread the coming crossfire, it merely excited his nerves. One smouldering Bloodletter was not reconciliation enough for the genocide of his chapter.

"The hour is late, Eldar." Kragoth said, maintaining a defensive posture, far too wary of the Eldar's duplicitous ways to simply let his guard down. "Your people are doomed to feed Slaanesh's lust, yet you would step into the Lion's den?" He scrutinized, still carefully listening in to the sounds of battle above.

"I do so because I must, human. My kin have been already slain and buried properly, yet their soulstones are precious to me and thus I must protect them. However, as you said. Now is dire times indeed. The ancient foe is all around us, as is the vile taint of the Warp. We alone cannot handle the situation by our own devices. Thus, I would like to assist you in vanquishing the foul corruption of Chaos, at least for the time being." The Eldar replied rather sternly as he tried to maintain his composure while his face was hidden under his mask.

"I am the only survivor of the Eldar from my Warhoast. My brethren are dead, it is up to use to band together and help rid this world of madness. I am a warlock, my psychic power is well trained and I could aid you in slaying our apparent foe. Time is of the essence, for if we linger there shall be no hope to cease the corruptiors before they can be stopped." Salvris stated.

The Inquisitor glared at the Eldar weighing his options . He was so close to finding the Gospel and this xenos could be the key. It also looks like he could have a lift off this world if he could get back into Anastasia's good books because she was quite likely to leave him here then bring about her own form of Exterminartus.
"I doubt we will survive if we go our separate ways; Tasia I take it that you've brought the 65th?" Said Oban.
"I don't go anywhere with out them; considering they're about the only people I can trust." Said Anastasia with a pointed look.
"Good they can keep the traitors busy whilst we deal with matters."
"In the Emperor's name one of these days your death will serve the him on Terra and I hope to be able to pull the trigger."

The fetid whirl of strange, exotic technology became suddenly apparent as Kragoth reared his head back toward the darkened bowels of the keep. Cerulean, luminescent strobes beamed from the chamber, accompanied by the rushed panting of the Xenos -- their voices masked by the fuzz of the Tau vocal receptors. A cadre of Fire Warriors, ignorant of their surroundings, came into view; resonating rifles in hand. Behind the alien host stood the intimidating figure of an XV8 crisis battlesuit -- the heaving footfalls of the vehicle shook the catacombs, and the eerie whispers within quickly began to audibly whimper in fear. It seemed that this forlorn hall was indeed haunted by some enigma.

The pilot raised his railgun toward the Imperials, his visor beamed red as he stared the fellow intruders down. It was hard to believe that a living, thinking individual piloted this heathen abomination. "Stand aside, Gue'la. The Eldar is for us to court." Demanded the Cadre Leader, moving forward to size up the Astartes in a blatant act of dominance. "Only under our yoke can the Eldar be saved. The Ethereals know this, and the secrets that lay within this keep."

"Saved?" Hissed Kragoth, dumbfounded by the Tau's words. "Saved?! Naive creature! The Eldar serve naught but themselves. What makes the desperate any different once they deem themselves safe?"

"The narrowmindedness of your kind sickens me, Human." Retorted the Tau, a strand of smugness laced upon his words. "Stand aside before I blow you aside."

"Is that before or after your kin are flayed, Xenos?" A monstrous voice boomed from the other side of the hallway, accompanied by a retinue of cybernetic mutants; a conglameration of ceramite and Daemonic flesh. The bestial hulks charged forth -- their speed was not swift, but terrifyingly certain.

"Kill these wretches, Human or not, I care little." Ordered the Champion behind, bearing the undivided icon emblazoned atop a tattered banner clutched within his left gauntlet. "The Gospel of Screams belongs to the Iron Warriors!"

"Gospel of Screams?" Fuzzed the pilot in confusion, but any answers were postponed, as members of his cadre was blasted in the rear by unholy bolter fire. It appeared the Alien had once again underestimated the ingenuity of these fiendishly intelligent Astartes.

Upon the arrival of the primitive and young Tau species into the hallway the Eldar was taken by a slight surprise. While he was unable to sense their souls or psychic essence well due to their lack of both aspects in their species, he could still sense their minds. As the cadre of Tau forces and their battlesuit came into view. Easily deducing that he couldn't handle such a contraption, the Eldar simply stepped aside and moved out of the way of the fire warriors and their mech. He wasn't looking for a fight, and he knew that these young species could perhaps be useful.

However, upon hearing that the Tau cadre and their mech pilot wished to force his species and himself under some sort of protectorate and more than likely, to submit to their bygone Greater Good philosophy was met with a slight sigh. One that for the most part, he kept to himself. The warlock was about to step in between they petty primitive species senseless squabble, that was until he felt a psychic spike in the area around him that made him shake.

"Chaos are here!" He then let out to the group just before the Iron Warriors made their entrance known.

At this point all he could do is get in the middle of everyone to shield himself as both sides of the hallway would come under fire. His natural instincts kicked in and he readied his witchblade and aimed around with his shuriken pistol. However, an oddity was about to take place. The Eldar would save his capabilities to come to the aid of the group if need be.

"Defend yourselves!" The Eldar exclaimed.

Anastasia duck to one side regretting sending her Praetorian away. Deciding at the moment that digression was the better part of valour she tried to make herself as small as possible.
"Can we leave off the cultural exchange until after well dealt with twisted ones." Said Anastasia in broken T'au. "Then we can discuss the fact your forces are surrounded and trapped on this forsaken world."
The Inquisitor glanced at his old acolyte wishing he had learnt more xenos languages. He drew his plasma pistols and started to lay down a methodical rain of fire.
"May I suggest a fighting withdraw?" Said the Inquisitor. "I know a much more deffensable place."

Scorching plasma fire and wretched bolter rockets were let fly within the catacombs. Sombre wails echoed amidst the gutteral roar of orders, clearly not of this realm. Kragoth hauled himself to tactical cover, which lay behind the wraithbone pillars. He was no craven by any means, but an inglorious death between two foes was not an end the Rainbow Warrior sought. However, a wretched boom emerged from the crossfire, heading toward the Space Marine and his newfound companions. The biomechanic drones encased within ancient ceramite did not care for the trade of projectiles. One such raving creature flung it's arm toward the Astartes, swollen like a club of ruddy flesh.

Kragoth's chainblade clashed with the firm meat; bloody giblets flew like rancid mince as the Astartes' weapon violently revved. It was hardly enough to carve through such cursed bone, however. Nor as terrible to disuade the possessed psychopath, who simply tore his arm from the blade before bashing repeatedly like some bloodcrazed savage, hoping that one such blow may break the Rainbow Warrior's guard. However, this would not come to pass. Upon the next instinctive bash of the flesh-club, Kragoth seized his opportunity, headbutting the Daemon savage while his chainblade locked once more upon the thick sinew. Red ichor cascaded down the dazed beast's nostrils, backing away. Easy prey for the next swing of the revving claymore which latched itself deep into the Iron Warrior's jugular. Behind the rusted helmet of the Space Marine lay a scowl of both hatred and satisfaction as he colourfully tore the beast's head from it's flesh clad shoulders.

"...Traitorous scum..." Kragoth whispered, surveying the other mindless Astartes clash with both the Tau and the Imperials. While the crossfire prevented him from spotting how the Inquisition fared, he could see that the Fire Warriors were not enduring so well against the monsters. Caught between a hammer and anvil, they were easy prey for the screaming mass of bladed bone and deformed matter. Soon enough, the gory sinew of tendrils that covered the cursed ceramite soon became blue with alien blood.

"Gue'la vermin!" Cursed the Tau Captain, his railgun turning one of the possessed into little more than a pile of scorched remains. "Do not sully my tongue like that. It's because of you that we are now trapped on this planet!" With that, the War Machine turned itself upon the Astartes gunmen -- the optics of the XV8 battlesuit granted this Tau pilot all the knowledge necessary to counter his foe. Not even the Iron Warriors were invincible as their weakest chinks were blasted open by plasma; soon enough, the bolter fire subsided. But Tau rifles alone - no matter how advanced in comparisson to such backward Human weaponry - were not enough stop the Daemon tide.

"Shas'la, take cover within the catacombs!" He ordered in his native tongue. "Remain as one, I shall cover our retreat!"

Kragoth glanced toward the Inquisitor, the wreathing sound of jetfire drowning out the Tau babble as the aliens made their craven escape. With their blue-blooded prey gone, the hulking jackals turned their gnarled heads toward much larger quarry. "Withdraw, you say?" Kragoth wondered aloud. "While these beasts still draw breath that is impossible, thanks to the fleeting Xenos."

The Astartes savages screamed in an intoxicating rush for blood as they closed in; Kragoth readied himself once more for the carnage.

"A tactical withdraw would be most wise! It is a full-proof tactic of my people." The warlock said as he dashed under cover of the wraithbones, almost in an supernatural way given Eldar reflexes.

Once under cover he saw that these were wraithbones, perhaps used by his kin. He only took a slight hymn to pray to Ynead for the souls of the dead kin he had, before he tried to assist the Monkeigh. Between the Eldar and the humans, he felt it would have been best not to assist the irreligious with his powers. At least humanity knew very well the potential of Eldar. That and he already mastered their tongue. No, he needed everyone at this moment so characteristically scurrying away to save his own life while his kin's soulstones laid vulnerable was unthinkable.

"Mon-humans, I shall assist you!" The warlock let out as he channeled his psychic power while under cover and casts Destructor upon some of the Iron Warriors and their possessed in front of the Astartes's line of fire. Within moments, the witch unleashed a barrage of psychic bio-lightning towards one side of the incoming fire to help decimate some of the Chaos foes without trying to hit the marine.

However, when the Warlock saw the Tau break off and try to retreat he cursed them in Eldarnesh to be given a fate to Cegorach. While running away wasn't a bad idea, splitting up and thinking they could survive alone within the catacombs against the ancient foe was foolish. However, trying to reason with the primitives would have been useless anyways, especially under such dire circumstances. All Salvris could attribute their fate to was that they would get an ironic end worthy of the Laughing God's amusement.

"The child race flees human! We must stand our ground against these Chaos abominations if we are to survive!" Salvris called out to the Space Marine, all the while trying to fire his Shuriken pistol at any unarmored foe, all the while ducking every so often behind the bones and to avoid fire..

"polluting their tong? I polluted my mouth with barely literate pidgin. "Cursed Anastasia.
"What did they mean about you stranding them here?" Asked the Inquisitor.
"Their ship exploded as we entered orbit, I was going to offer to evacuate them; now I might just take a couple to add to my collection or to give to the Mecharium."
She drew Warpbane and crossed to the Inquisitor. Flinching as arcane fire took down one of the abomination in front of her.
The Inquisitor was unhappy things were getting away from him. The gospel might be the key to closing the great rift. He needed to claim it or the very least stop any xenos and heretics getting their foul hands on it. The Emperor hand sent him trails but he had also sent his dear Tasia. Now he had to figure out if he had sent her to aid him or give him death.
"Warlock, do you know of somewhere more defensible we could fall back to?"
Anastasia lobbed a frag grenade down the corridor to land amongst the Iron Warriors.

There were a few of the abominations headed toward Kragoth's direction. Luckily, one of the beasts had been put down by the strange magics of the Warlock. It slumped upon one jet pillar little more than a quartered carcass, still wreathing eldritch fire from it's charred wounds. It's companion - yet another of the dribbling creatures - was too preoccupied by the origin of the blast to evade the Rainbow Warrior's gore crusted chainblade. The gnarled, misshapen crown of the Iron Warrior was parted in two under a fountain of blood.

But before the Space Marine could once again curse these twisted creatures in victory, the sound of an explosion singed like fire to his ears. A frag grenade which startled the more sane ranks of the Iron Warriors, of course. As much as he despised the Inqusition, Kragoth realised that he would need to rendevous with these fellows for the sake of his life before he ended up merely a moving target for the Iron Warriors to test their advanced, heretical tools of war.

"The Xenos scum delve toward the inner chamber!" One of the deranged Astartes yelled as he fired toward the fleeing Tau. "They must not touch the Gospel! It is our offering to the Dark Prince!"

"The savage ones have been dealt with for now, but the more 'pure' Iron Warriors are the marksmen of Chaos." Kragoth warned, now present among the party of Imperial and Alien. "I don't know what this 'Gospel' is, but it sounds important. If retreat is necessary, then following the Tau would be our best measure." His words were utterly calm and coherent among the stress of battle. Such was the Astartes psyche.

"The catacombs would be a very unwise decision. We would be cut off from the surface and potentially closed in!" The warlock spoke out to the Inquisitor.

He then took some moments to think and contemplate the situation while kneeling back under cover. While running away was almost instinctual in these instances for most, if not all Eldar, it also was a grave dishonor to his kin who had fallen. None the less, the threat of Chaos accessing the Eldar inner chamber. Now was neither the time for craven or to abandon the Mon'keigh. He swallowed his pride and tried to think rationally about the humans and his situation. If they were unsuccessful he would fall anyways, just as these humans would. No, he would assist these Imperials and at least die trying to protest his people's soulstones.

"Still you are right, we mustn't let them desecrate the inner dwellings. We need to stick together. It shall be very close quarters and if we get boxed in we must fight our way through their forces. Can you provide us an opening to the inner chamber? We require some cover fire. I can potentially lead the way inside." The Eldar asked the marine while trying to recover enough psychic focus to potentially cast another Destructor spell as he tried to get back under cover and channel his mind once more.

The Inquisitor watched the Iron Warriors follow the T'au making Calculations. Anastasia watched hime.
"That battlesuit will be able cause them a little trouble but the firewarriors are dead they just don't know it yet... I could get the Requital to bombard this location."
"Ah and there I thought you'd forgotten how to think like and Inquisitor."
"I turned down the rosette remember."
"True... but as much you may doubt it Tasia I do value your life." Said the Inquistor. "We can't let them get that book; brother if you lead the way."

"These Aliens should make good fodder should we find ourselves pinned down." Kragoth replied to Salvris' advice, planting his eyes in direction of the cerulean strobes dimming from the tunnels. "At least within the catacombs, this Daemonic influence will wane."

The Space Marine kept his chainblade close by, revving the bloody claymore with impetuous fury in wait of more bestial Astartes to emerge from the crossfire. This did not come to pass; only a flurry of defiled bolter rounds emerged from the smoke, crackling upon the incomprehensibly durable pillars of wraithbone. It would be the first - and hopefully, only - occasion that Kragoth would appreciate such strange Xenos material.

"Very well, I shall take the vanguard!" Kragoth answered as he overheard the conversation of Anastasia and the Inquisitor. "Any heretic, Mortal or not, I care little. They will meet the grinding end of my blade. Cover my rear and this book you seek will be as good as yours." He did not wait for a response as he began his slow but inevitable push toward the inner bowels, following the steps of the Tau. The terrible shots of the Iron Warriors still screamed as they whistled throughout the tunnel. This was strange of the Iron Warriors, who even in their madness were masters of subtle ingenuity and exploiters of every concievable advancement on the battlefield. Perhaps the importance of this 'Gospel' was not to be under-estimated: an artifact capable of making even the Iron Warriors act so rash...

...Regardless, Kragoth could not turn back and charge the heretics head on. To face the brunt of an Iron Warrior's line of fire was suicide, even for an Astartes.

"Eldar, do you sense anything in front of us?" The Rainbow Warrior inquired as he moved forward, trudging with the startling calmness of a Bull before the charge. "With those marines out our back, the last thing we need is some creature blocking our path."