YAY

The trip was uneventful, and we traveled in silence. Rip was still reeling from those she failed to save in the attack, and now Conrad was among them. Cú was somber over the death of the first man I he connected with in a long time. As for me, I was doing alright. I only hoped that all we had uncovered would be able to change something and that my contacts will be able to assist us.

Armsman incorporated. It was my greatest sin and my hands were already due for a dip in gold. The company was a front for a semi-legit gun cartel. They made weapons, but “found” most of their stock. Whenever you ordered a bulk shipment and would find some of it missing, it was probably them. They also did modifications all at great prices.

I felt it was an acceptable evil, they traded to officers and gangers alike, but I knew what its discovery would mean for me. May the Emperor be with me on that day.

I was wondering when you guys would show up again

We were stopped often by Arbities boats, but my badge was enough to get through. It seemed they took my calls serious, something I was not used to but grateful of. First I looked for the ciphers of the Armsman friendly shops, it didn’t take long, they were everywhere.
“Did father come back from the war yet?”
“He never will”
Yep, he was an armsman alri-Oh no

“Uh, Cú…Rip, Never EVER tell anyone about this, in fact could you wait outside?”
They seemed confused, but did so. Cú wanted to do something with the body of Conrad so he was off for a while. The shopkeeper however took me to the lower level of the shop.
“So what are you looking for?”
“Manstoppers, dum-dums….Do you have any bolters?”
“Do I!?”

I would come value this day more than my first born child.

>>12717439
Two weeks ago I was lazy, last week I went to a weekend long party. I was NOT up to writing on sunday

>>12717488

Just a small correction, the ciphers weren't everywhere, but he did find a shop that was a front for Armsmen after a successful inquiry test

“Tell you what I’m going to do for you my friend-“ the man took a beautiful case off of a high shelf “I’m going to make your lifetime. You see, on Cintila there’s a city called gunmetal. This city has the glorious task of crafting shells for the mighty Adeptus Astardes, the Space Marines.” He clicks the case open “In order to prove their authenticity the shells are stamped and shipped, but sometimes…sometimes they’re misplaced. Sometimes they aren’t stamped.” He reaches into the case and takes out a massive bolt shell. “And here it is.”

I was in awe, that was all.
“C-can I hold it?”
“Sure”
It was massive, it was perfect, I could feel the Emperors wrath within.
“And here’s the only gun that can fire them” It was large, more grenade launcher then rifle
“This is- I don’t know how I can ever thank you for even showing me these”
“Well you could give me 1800 thrones for it”

If you heard a crack just now, it was my heart breaking, and as soon as they were given to me they were taken away.

“Jeez, they don’t pay you Arbities much. Well I got something more your price range too”
A bolt pistol, well crafted it even had a wooden grip to it, never fired, and he was giving me a free clip with it.
I offered him my Tranter to make up the difference. He offered me a low price for it because it was fired.
“Hey I can attest to this guns quality. It broke my friends arm and left another in his skull”
I realize I should have rephrased this, but he seemed to accept this. Just like that I had a bolt pistol in my hip holster.

I think I’ll call it Big Iron.

Me and Rip head into the hotel, unfortunately I was flat broke now, but Rip was kind enough to pay for a separate room for me.

You know, she was quirky and what they did to her body was…I don’t even want to think about it…but starting to grow on me. This was a kindness and she thought nothing of it. True I’ve paid for every room for everyone up to this point but I doubt anyone would return the favor. I didn’t even know what any of them thought of me, but hopefully this was a good indication.

>>12717895
BIG IRON ON HIS HIP

>>12717912
Yup

Also slight pause Cú is coming

>>12717488

>I'd more important matters to attend to than watching my commander shop for toys. Conrad was my fault. I was so close to him, I could've so easily repelled the beast, but I couldn't even hear my ally dying over the din of her song.

>He deserved a warrior's passing, and I would grant him the honor as well as I could. I found a general store and purchased a vast quantity of good, dry, aromatic lumber.

>With the load of lumber slung across my back, weighing too much for my body but not enough for my soul, I made my way back to the boat, only to find men of the Arbites tossing the dead into the river. I quickly snatched up Conrad, his shattered body cold and damp in my arms, and brought him to the nearest clearing I could find.

>Into the head of the pyre, I carved the words, "Dhia duit."

>I had done this many times before. After mother was taken, I soon somehow became the silent boy who always lent a strong arm to the grieving. For my Swordmaster's son. For Aoífe's brother. After so many, I couldn't feel the weight anymore. The dragging on the soul as I stack the timbers. Instead, I began to feel sick every time I thought of how I'd grown used to the act.

>I gently, solemnly seated two shells in the breach of Ol' Miss and fired the gun into the sky before laying it on the old warrior's chest.

>It was long past curfew by the time the fire was burnt to exhaustion.

I was starting to worry about Cú. It was past curfew and he still wasn’t back. Soon enough my fears were realized as my micro bead clicked to life. Arbities patrol picked him up and I was off to get him out of hot water. The officers were nice enough, and Cú was released into my custody. Still, for the inconvenience of it all, I asked them how their day was going.
“Well you know patrol, better then dealing with all those bodies”
“Heh, yeah.”
“Bodies?”
“Oh yeah, first colonist. This place has been a blood bath ever since they were tied to a cult.”

No! The last thing I ever wanted was this. “Has anything been uncovered?”
“Oh yeah, lots. Bastards will think twice before they try kidnapping anyone again”
Praise the Emperor! They weren’t killing mindlessly, the cult was being destroyed.

I thanked the men and we were on our way, not to our own hotel but to locate Cú’s wife.

(currently trying to remember an in character argument, may take a moment)

right

“Why were you out past curfew?”
“You’re out past curfew aswell”
“That’s only because I had to save you. You could have been killed.”
“Why aren’t you accosted?”
“Because I’m an arbities like they are. We’re the ones who uphold laws, like curfews.”
“Why aren’t the arbities under scrutiny?”
“The cultist are only first colonists, you know this.”
Cú practically scoffed at my response “You nearly shot one of your fellow Inquisitorial Acolytes.”
“You pushed me to that point Cú, I am not a heretic!”
“Neither am I”

That was all there was to be said. I could feel a rift starting to form between us, and soon it would only grow wider.

>>12718729
Goddamn arbites and their law enforcing ways!
How dare they patrol after curfew to catch curfew breakers!

It didn’t take me long to locate his wife however. I was beginning to suspect I have a knack for this “investigation” thing. Unfortunately Cú is an imposing man and more demanded the inn keeper to tell him where his wife was in this hotel then he did ask. The keeper was worried for the girls safety, and my reassurance did nothing to change his tone. Eventually he went up to check on her and when he got the full story from the girl she came down to meet us. Cú seemed relieved and so did she, they retired to her room and me and Rip returned to our separate rooms.

The next day we set sail again to recover Uriel and Lupus. Once again the trip was without event and the three days seemed short. I was eager to hear what they had discovered. Perhaps they trailed a boat to the heart of this all. Perhaps it will all be over.

Nothing.

Three days they waited, and three days they saw nothing. They seemed to be getting along well, but the news was hard to swallow. No one excelled at the craft of observation like they did, but it seemed to late. The cult had gone underground. Our mission was done without being done. The progress we made was important, this was true, but there was little to show for it. We knew the cult’s origin, its purpose, its method, but we could not locate this keep where the first family lay.
Another few days and we were back, giving our report to Ceveris and then going to the astropath to send our full report to Saul.

The mission was over for now, and soon our pay and tickets would arrive.

>Getting ready to go to bed early to try to compensate for DST fucking up my sleep schedule.
"I'll just check /tg/ one more time before I go..."
>See Duskwood Hearts thread.

So much for THAT idea.

>>12718965

>I needed to be with Katherine. I'd had enough of loss and the pyres' cold flame to last a lifetime, and I needed warmth.

>The man behind the desk at the inn seemed to think I meant my wife harm. I was in no mood for his foolish, ill-informed plays at chivalry and his implying that I bring harm to those I hold dear had begun to make my sword hand burn. He relented at last and had Katherine assure him that her husband was a ghoul in countenance only.

>In the morning, before our departure, I returned to the arms dealer I had seen Joseph with and recited their covert ritual of mutual condemnation. I needed to deal fairly and quickly with this man. I purchased a simple, new, well-made revolver for Katherine, knowing her incapable of handling much more, and asked the man if he could refer me to a Lathe swordsmith. He could not.

>I turned down his offer of a discount on behalf of Joseph and paid in full, insisting that I came as an ordinary customer, purchased a simple, common, legal weapon, and left. He agreed that I had done nothing more than simply buy a gun, and that there would be no mention made of my connection to Joseph, particularly not to Joseph, himself. With the agreement made, I left to join the others.

The pay isn’t what you expect. Saul seems quite hands off, simply paying us what is expected wages for our individual fields of work. He paid for travel though, quite a relief to our meager pay.

Really, looking at this latest batch of thrones I questioned how I was going to afford rounds for my bolter. Even with the discount the Armsmen could give me, it would be 14 thrones per shot. A clip of 8 was most of it. Still we were on our way back to Scintila, where this all started, and the inquisitorial palace. We were going to meet the man face to face for the first time.

“You work for the Inquisition?”
Cú responded quickly “I should hope so otherwise we’ve been doing a whole lot of work for nothing”
“if they shoot you, I’m not helping” Seems Lupus said what I was thinking.

Our weapons were taken from us when we entered and I quickly realized that every single member of the staff was mind cleansed. Not only that but all the walls and offices were bland in comparison to the building itself. A minimalist it seems. This was it.

His back was towards us, a woman was typing some sort of code near him, but he waved her away. The chair turned and I laid eyes on Saul for the second time. He was hardly human, bound to a chair by the machines that kept him alive. I think only his left arm was flesh. His recap of the mission was stern and mostly what I had reported to him save for one thing.

Strank was carrying out genocide on the first colonist. They either fled or were killed, that is all, and it was all because of me.

Uriel congratulated me on the slaughter of the innocent. “It must feel good to wear this like a trinket on your soul”
“Don’t worry we killed enough of them on our own” lupus ended his statement with a slight laugh, he was enjoying this.

I’m not feeling all that great.

“How many first colonist have been killed?”
I stared daggers at Cú. This was something I did not want to know, that I never wanted to know.
One. Hundred. Thousand.
Lupus laughs, Uriel smiles.
Cú acted the strangest in my eyes, a reaction I never suspected.
Cú fainted.

>>12719574

>Those with whom I have shared the spoils of a hunt.

>Those with whom I have shared a night's watch over the village.

>Those with whom I have shared both the burden of grief and the precious, scarce thrill of joy alike.

>Those with whom I share common blood.

>The children of war.

>The Sons of Death.

>They of the mask and great blade.

>The Macc Baís.

>Family.

>Friends.

Mother.

Aoífe.
All of us...

Together we number little more than four thousand.

My weakness... The failure of a Man of the Mask has led to a murder of innocence, terrible so, it could erase my world twenty-five times over.

I want to go home.

Saul asked to take a walk with him and I obliged. The others waited in the room and Cú recovered in about 30 seconds. Rip hadn’t said a word, but I could see the pain on her face as well. Saul and I ended up on a balcony overlooking the city.
“Joseph Evens, the rest of the cell seems to have designated you leader, so, tell me, what happened down there?”
“An unfortunate outcome, but an outcome I prefer. Best of the worst if you will.”
“What makes you say that?”
“It bothers me that innocents were caught up in all this, and that I am responsible for their deaths.”
“Innocents die-“
“So that humanity may live. I know sir, I just know there was a better outcome here, but we didn’t achieve it. Still this is a good outcome.”
“Agreed. So, what can I do for you in return for your service.”
“Well, Cú wants a lathe blade, Lupus could use a power sword, Uriel would benefit from a nomad, and I could use bolt shells”
“I’m sorry son, but my teams equip themselves. I was wondering more if you had anything to ask me.”
I paused for a moment, then smiles
“Where did you find these people?”
We both laughed to the city, and Saul gave me our next mission

It seems we would be going to the world of Grantor, a funeral world. A former friend of Saul is buried there. It seems their views on things were very much opposed, but he actually trusted the man. A rare thing among people, let alone inquisitors of different mind sets.

We were going to be an honor guard, going in place of him to be present while his tomb is once again blessed.

I am very grateful to receive such an honor and as I leave he asks me to send Rip in.

The room is quiet, Cú seems very uncomfortable without his sword and doesn’t want to be here but besides that all is silent. I was going to speak to the woman who Saul was talking to when we entered but as I neared I noticed the covering for her eyes. An astropath is not a person I want to have a conversation with.

>>12719888

>I awoke folded like wet linen over Katherine's arm, staring into the small droplets of sweat and tears which decorated the floor.

>Roaring. I felt it. Like the heel of a great beast on my back, crushing me flat. Hardfang strained at its leash. A blade I swore would feed without end upon the heartsblood of any who threaten us. It wanted my head. It bellowed its outrage like cannonfire and I could feel my ribs about to crack under the weight of its anger at my betrayal. My arm grasped clumsily, desperately for the familiar haft which it thought to find proudly towering, as always, over my shoulder. Abandoned by my blade; my war mask, my pride lying where it had been dropped callously to the floor.

>I don't want to wake up alone again.

>I don't want to wake up clothed in silence and mother's blood again.

>I don't want to be left to be swallowed up in the roaring of a billion glassy wings beating the air again.

>It hurts and I'm cold and scared and I'm lost and I want to go home.

I just want to go home.
>I felt Katherine help me out into the other room and sit me down in a chair against the wall. She was a kind woman for so faithfully standing by a fucking wreck of a man who she hardly knew.

When Rip leaves she asks for a boy named Nancy. Cú rises and I’m honestly a bit shocked Saul would go so far as to call him a nancy boy for feinting. I don’t blame him for the way he felt, I only hoped it wouldn’t interfere later on.

I quickly told them to not request any material items from Saul, and that our next mission will be in a few days.

Soon enough we were released to a much nicer set of rooms. All walls were bare of anything resembling value, so it seems Saul learned his lesson there. We even all got our own room.

I decided to see how Lorenzo was doing, but about half way there I heard a voice behind me. It seems Uriel has decided to follow me and I fill her in as quickly as I can.

I had the nagging feeling that this was going to change from a simple visit to a horrible experience.

>>12720059

The girl emerged from the inquisitor's office and spoke awkwardly, asking, "Umm... He said, send the 'Nancy Boy' in...?"

I stood slowly, half begging and half demanding that my legs hold steady. "If by 'nancy boy', you mean to summon Cétlaid of the Macc Baís, then I'll go." The others seemed numb and so my words slipped past them. It is just as well; I'd rather they not know my name.

I asked what the man in the chair wanted from me, and he told me he expected me to ask things of him. Favors. Questions. Apparently these people feel a celebratory offering due in the commemorating of a genocide. I requested that Katherine be given shelter, luxury, and protection aboard the inquisitor's own vessel. He obliged and I made one final request of him: that I be provided with subskin and cranial armor, a locator matrix, and fine synthetic muscle grafts. I would not allow this to happen again. I would become a machine if it meant being a hunter who would know not hunger, fatigue, fear, distraction, nor weakness. He agreed to provide the best facilities and surgeons available if I could acquire the prosthetics.

I spoke. Less than a reflex. "Thank you, Inquisitor."
"Please, call me Saul."
"Thank you, Inquisitor Saul."

We were both welcomed and I did my best to accommodate Uriel. It was plain as day that she was not a “people person”, but so long as she never learned of his artifacts he would live. This of course I could only hope to be the outcome.

We began to talk about how things were. I told him my work was going well and he told me that things have improved since the robbery. It seemed even his daughter had found another and all was well. He offered me some drink and I took him up on it with earnest. We laughed and joked for several hours, I even showed him my new bolt pistol. To my shock it seemed to have been owned by one of his good friends. I had to laugh at the irony of it all, and he seemed to find as much humor in it all as I did.

His daughter arrived with an unenthusiastic “Oh, it’s you” Maybe it was because I was a bit drunk at the time but I felt insulted.
“Whadya mean “oh it’s you”? How have you been?”
“Good, good…who is that?” she was of course speaking of Uriel. Uriel being who she is answered in the most insane way possible
“I am the fire of emperor’s wrath”

It’s no surprise I have turned to the drink

i need moar

also these inspired me to join a hd game my self :)

>>12720975

That is as awesome as naked bitches on an ICBM shooting fireworks and hearty Italian subs out of their baby-boxes whilst Ted Nugent systematically Leonidas-kicks all the world's commies into a wood-chipper.

Son. Am proud.

Also, Joseph better not be asleep.

>>12721118
I'm still awake I just post very slowly

Also lupus is having a conversation with me on facebook and my girlfriend is talking to me on skpe

mix in a cold, heavy metal and nyquil and you get super slow typing

>>12721118
>I hope he's not asleep.

>>12721206
>mfw Nyquil

>Animoot

>>12721235
oh the sleepy part has worn off now, it's just my brain work no

>>12721118
I made a slightly xeno tech, using tech priest, already got it so all teck use checks are golden i have tech use +20 a utility mechadendrite +10 and a int of 62 so fuck yea medicare will bee at that lv of awesome soon too just need the +10 and master churgan and then +20 i can get next rank , i just fix shit and Heall the others, i have been rping being withdrawn from the whole process and video recording all events to make into my reports, its cool i am like the creepy nerdy kid with a camera that follows them around cleaning up for them and fixing shit simple las pistol it the only weapon the have seen me use and i look weak clutching my staff (i hid a grenade launcher single shot and camera in it its like the omniscience pez dispenser of madness fuck yea hallucination grenades)

For some reason Uriel asked for a tour and soon enough they were off. She bumped the chair a little and I fell over but I was ok. I was drunk but not too too drunk. I thanked Lorenzo for the good time and soon enough me and Uriel were off.

I’m not sure how the tour went honestly. It seemed to go by quickly while me and Lorenzo chatted, but knowing how Uriel does things she probably called it short when she felt she saw what she needed to.

Next on my list was visiting Bones. He’d love to hear what happened on Strank, and he’d pay. I’d never give away true secrets; this wasn’t going to be covered up. It’d just be a scoop. He’d be the first to hear the story.

Cú was again playing body guard, and he seemed down. I decided to ask what was wrong. He told me he felt responsible for Strank. This wouldn’t do. I don’t want the frontlines swordsman to be in poor spirits. I told him it was me. I told him feeling bad is a sign of strength, but acting like that is true weakness.

I then found out why they called it liquid confidence.

I told him to man up.

It seems my choice of words were lacking. As Cú wound up to strike me, Uriel struck him with her mind.
He was knocked down and the patrons fled screaming. Cú rose and followed through, slapping my face. My hat flew off.

>>12721512
That's an awesome character, and it really strikes me as a tech priest done right.

>>12721572

>I suppose that's why he's our commander.

>To resolve a conflict with an ally bloodlessly by forcing him to strike in futility.

>To then turn that ally's loss into a begrudging victory. A reassurance.

>And to do it while drunk.

>Damn him, he's good.

>>12721593
Agreed.

>>12721593
I hide and watch looking as inconstant as i can its a big party (noble assassin a void born book guy they are the criminal tag team and do the highly messed up stuff or us. there is a bro tear guardsman feral world er last session i thought him the feral assassin and the other guardsman how to read. lol a is for Adeptus Arbites those pricks who make our job harder. b is for bolter which you can't afford c is for cunt just like Adeptus Arbites.) o we also have a psyker and a guardsman handler

I felt unharmed, a much better result then what I thought was going to happen. My first action was to stop Uriel. She was fiercely loyal to me and I already knew she recalled her rifle. My second action was to recover my hat off the ground and put it back on my head.

I looked up at Cú, and smiled
“Now THAT’S the Cú I remember” I said while poking his chest.

He seemed stunned for a moment as I walked into the club, but called out to me seconds before I entered
“To not be hurt by this doesn’t make you a man, it makes you a monster!”
“…We’re all monsters Cú.” And with that I was in and away from the man from dusk

>>12721801
That alphabet offends me

keep it up

I walked right to Bones, and not only offered him info on Strank but membership in the Armsmen. To little surprise he was already a member so I instead recommended the fence I met there to him, and described to him the joy of holding a real bolt shell.

For all this he asked what I wanted. I told him I needed either money or ammo for my new gun. With that he took out his bolt pistol, ejected the magazine, and handed it to me. I was honored, for some reason this felt personal and I looked forward to continuing business like this.

With all my business settled I returned to the hotel and slept a peaceful sleep. The kind of sleep you can only get when you’re a little drunk, and a little slapped with 8 more bolt shells to boot.

The next morning came gifts, a single box for each of us. Inside was a ticket to Grantor and masterfully crafted clothing. It was an amazing uniform, far more regal then even I was used to and just felt good to touch. It seemed all of us got much of the same. Lupus had a noble’s uniform with an impressively crafted sheath that fit his longsaber. Cú wore a grand officer’s uniform. Rip got another almost identical pair of Mecanus robes but made of a finer material. She seemed saddened by this and disappeared in her room to do alterations. Cú’s bride and Uriel received noble dresses of very differencing styles and impressiveness.

This was the garb of an honor guard. I would finally, a mission away from gunfire, poor meals, and a planet known for its stench.

If only it turned out to be that easy
>to be continued

THAT TOOK FOR MOTHER FUCKING EVER.

I can't stress enough that those filthy denizens of that backwater planet were all Cultists... grow a pair and get on board... genocide is only genocide if it involves people... cultists aren't people... they are a plague upon humanity and need to be purged... which, in this case, they have been

>We arrive to celebration
>Cú becomes depressed
>MURDER
>Pic related!

see you next week, Sunday at 7pm

>>12721967
Aha

Aha ha ha

I can't wait for Sunday.

>>12721833
yea sorry they fucked us over hard all the time when were trying to be stealthy and not draw attention to the face we were acolytes. i haven't done much else, when we got a hold of xeno micro beads( you know its in your hand but you can barley see it i used the to upgrade ours to have a 2km range we have like 15 left so were trying to get into xeno trade and bring it down,)

d is for det cord it goes boom, e is for The Emperor who protects f is for food that you did not bring so you bum mine g is for geller filed pray it does not fail h is for home that you will never see I is for Imperium of man j is for justice that we bring k is for kill do it more (they cant seam to hit shit) l is for las them well M is for machine god nuf said.

>>12722005
Nah it's cool bro, I like it. Hell i'm sure if you ever ran into a Joseph Evens as opposed to the usual arbites it'd go better. Arbities tend to be dicks, but the point is that's good rolplaying

Hating a group, due to events and stuff like that is all part of the game. Glad to know your game is going awesome

Archived, motherfuckers.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/12717096