Inactive Inquisition Quest: Mysteries of Brocante

[CappenVarra]

It's been Wahun from the start, following GW's tradition of mangling IRL names when creating background stuff and just using Wuhan would have been too much on the nose, even for 40k. Though I erred and typed Wuhan a few times in the thread, but by now all should be corrected.

my apologies, good sir

i'll try to post soberer next time, but no promises

 

[baud]

It's been Wahun from the start, following GW's tradition of mangling IRL names when creating background stuff and just using Wuhan would have been too much on the nose, even for 40k. Though I erred and typed Wuhan a few times in the thread, but by now all should be corrected.

my apologies, good sir

i'll try to post soberer next time, but no promises

no problem. Perhaps I just made a mistake with that name: I wanted to make a reference to the coof, but didn't want to use directly Wuhan, so I just swapped two letter and now we're both getting confused...

Anyway, Wahun's behind now and I don't think we'll go back there

 

[baud]

hey, can I get two d5 rolls? Not necessarily from the same posters

Not enough fire in these votes. I am disappoint.

You want DISCUSS? Ok, I'll give it a go...
I chose "you repeated close combat drills in the narrow space," as last mission we avoided a combat because of the possibility of CQC. Maybe we are practicing out of regret over not standing our ground? From a meta standpoint, we are dealing with a group of cultists that sound like they worship Korne; I don't like our chances of avoiding melee with only a few simple side arms. We must be ready to prove the righteousness of our Emperor's will on the field of battle, and practicing our martial skills can be a way of honoring him. Prayers alone are not enough to enforce his will.

I went with the Enforcers as the update said we would have to do some investigating and they will be good at shaking down the local population for information. And while they might not be as combat ready as a squad of PDF's, they will be slightly better trained at fighting in claustrophobic urban environments.

I should have repeated it at the start of this arc, but the cultists you're facing are definitely Khornate.

 

[Azira]

Sure.

 

[baud]

​

Part 2: The Precinct

You quickly flag down a passing delivery vehicle, bribing the driver to take you to your destination, through the pot-holed streets of the city. The precinct is an severe, utilitarian building of leprous rockrete, pockmarked by bullet impacts and decorated by half-broken gargoyles. Enforcers cars and vans constantly come and go from the parking space in front of the imposing building, the intermittent wail of sirens drowning all other noises. To one side, a group of off-duty officers are milling, smoking and drinking cups of recaff, taking a break before going back to the grindstone of enforcing law and order. Civilians are also moving to and fro, clerks keeping the institution running, like they do in a myriad other establishments all over the Imperium, plaintiffs, courriers, informants, witness and the like, all moving swiftly as if to either leave as quickly as possible or take refuge behind the walls of the building.

"Auth-codes like the one in our possession are usually entrusted to a planetary intelligence organisation, called the prospectors, under the authority of the planetary governor and missioned with rooting out dissent to his rule. Though, from what we've heard of them, they're more acting to protect the interests of the bigger commercial cartels."

"Thanks, Electryos. That should get us enough enforcers to deal with the cultists."

Inside the precinct, it's the same flurry of activity as outside, with the din of conversation being often covered by vox lines rigging, shouted orders and protests of suspects being dragged not too gently towards interrogation rooms or holding cells. After a quick chat with the officer manning the reception desk, you are escorted to commissioner Magret, responsible for the precinct. You meet in his office, which isn't in much better state than the outside of the building. The commissioner has the look of a man who's been living on recaff and stims for too long, but still determined to see his duty to its bitter end.

"So you're prospecting a little problem in the area? Your code had been verified, we are ready to provide assistance, within our limited means."

"Good afternoon, officer. Your cooperation has been noted. Though it's not just a little issue and we're going to need as many forces as you can spare. The target is an old mining compound outside the city, at a place named Sept Sillons. The intel we have is very time-sensitive, we need to strike before sundown."

"So quickly? It's going to be complicated, I'll see what I can scrounge, but we're already overstretched upholding the law in this wretched city. And why didn't you ask the local PDF? They're always eager to shoot things, looking at the mess they did two weeks ago at the Tolérance house."

"I couldn't trust them to do a proper job, especially to preserve evidence, the group we're after is bigger than just this compound, we'll need to rat out the rest of them and to do that, we need intel."

"Understood, I'll gather what I can. In the meantime, since you aren't heavily armed, follow officer Aymeric here, we can lend you a few weapons. We'll then meet for a briefing."

====][====​

Officer Aymeric leads you deeper into the precinct, passing reinforced doors, until you reach a destitute rockcrete room containing a mix of enforcers weapons and weapons clearly confiscated from criminals. The officer first gives you armor vests, then let you choose a pair of weapon among those stored. Telemacus grabs a shotgun and a riot baton and Electryos a wicked-looking axe and a vox-caster. As for you,
Choose two among:

[] lasrifle
[] autogun
[] shotgun
[] grenade launcher (with explosive and smoke grenades)
[] enforcer riot baton
[] cutlass
[] axe
[] mace
[] riot shield

You already have a stub revolver and a knife, which you'll keep as backup. Each gun comes with a reasonable amount of ammunition, of course.

====][====​

With your borrowed weapons, you arrive back in Magret's office, where a few more enforcers are present.

"...and Le Floch, call back the squads who just went off-duty, we're going to need them in Trou real soon. Normally it would have been Navarro's job, but he's gotten the special assignement." spotting your entrance, he turns towards you "As expected, we don't have a lot of officers available to accompany you: only one patrol of 8 officers and two riot squad, each with 6 officers."

Taking a look at the officers already present, the patrolmen are the standard beat enforcers, equipped with shotgun, pistols and clubs, whereas the riot squad have heavier equipment, including bigger handguns, riot shields and armor.

"Lieutenant Navarro will be in command" continued the commissioner, pointing toward a rough-looking officer in riot armor, half his face covered in scar tissue, twiddling a shock maul in his augmentic hand. "I've looked into the compound you told me about, it was used as part of mining operations, but it's been abandoned for decades, since the mines were exhausted. There had been a few reports of squatters, but we never had the manpower to deal with it. If you leave now, you should be ready to assault roughly one hour before nightfall."

"Good."

"But the assault team of the precinct is currently putting the smackdown on some scum with inspector Javert and should be back in 60 to 90 minutes, if you feel you can afford the delay. This assault team is much better armed and better trained at dealing with violent opposition, which looks like is going to be tonight's business. That'll delay your departure, of course."

You turn toward your acolytes, with Telemacus talking first, taking care of not being heard by the enforcers: "We've already faced those cultists, you know we can't take lightly and having a few more fighters with us might make the difference between life and death."

Electryos interjects, whispering: "Vince's intel wasn't exactly clear on the timetable of our target, not even on what they are planning. I'd counsel that we go now.

So what do you decide?

[] Go now
[] Wait for the assault squad.

====][====​

AN: The rolls were for what troops were available. Your choice will of course have an influence on how well you'll do in combat (melee weapons are better in CQC than your knife, a shotgun better at close range and so on)

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Autogun and grenade launcher.
Striking now is a bad idea but I'll take it.

 

[True Ukrainian]

Shotgun and grenade launcher.

Strike now.

 

[Baltika9]

Lasrifle and grenade launcher.
Strike now.

Our team already has close quarters covered. We should pack mid-to-far ranged weapons.

 

[True Ukrainian]

We should min max. The riot squad and beat cops are all equipped mainly for close range combat. One lasrifle is not going to make a difference. The grenade launcher can use smoke grenades, allowing the entire team to close in.

 

[Gondolin]

Inspector Javert...

 

[baud]

Inspector Javert...

I'm not good at naming. So all the enforcers are named after fictional cops (except Aymeric, I just took the name of someone I know)

 

[Kalarion]

[x]Grenade launcher.
[x]Mace.
[x]Strike now.

I agree with daveyarsegallant , we need some utility. Smoke and possibly high kill count ability is going to be useful if we're moving fast without heavy weapons. The mace might be good for incapacitating a target for later interrogation; we can break bones without causing extensive bleeding.

Actionable intelligence is an oxymoron; the only question is how cold the trail's gone by the time you arrive on the scene. If our guide is intelligence and not, say, an inside man, we need to get on the move as quickly as possible.

 

[ChumBucket]

Autogun and grenade launcher.
Seriously, who would pass up a grenade launcher?
Strike now.

 

[baud]

So the vote is solidly in favor of striking now and taking a grenade launcher. For the second weapon, the votes are pretty split, with the autogun receiving two votes; unless there's vote changes over the week end, that's what we'll go with

 

[CappenVarra]

mace
grenade launcher
strike now

 

[baud]

and now the vote are tied for the second weapon, between mace and autogun. If that's still the case, I'll just flip a coin before writing the update

 

[Azira]

Go Mace

 

[Gondolin]

Go Mace

Go autogun

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Go Mace

Go autogun

Get the tech priest to make us an automace gun.

 

[baud]

Azira:

 

[Baltika9]

Autogun for second weapon.
We already have a knoife for melee.

 

[baud]

​

Part 3: One last question

"We strike now. We cannot afford to leave our quarry any more time." you announce to the commissioner.

"Understood. The vehicles are being prepped..."

"Just one thing, bosun, before we get going?", interrupts lieutenant Navarro, "As much as I'm ready to believe that whatever drek you're after had it coming, what are we going to put the smackdown on, exactly? Gangers, insurgents, claim jumpers? The last guy who made a move on the governor's favorite? Worse?"

Before answering, you take some time to consider what you'll say. Those enforcers, like most inhabitants of the Imperium, would only have a dim knowledge of the Warp, taught by the local Ecclesiarchy. At most they know that it's an otherworldly dimension, populated by heinous entities worshiped by heretics who seek to corrupt the faithful. Telling that your targets belong to such heretics could work, they would be properly driven by their Faith to destroy them, but they won't be so eager to look for clues, fearing proscribed knowledge.
Beyond the basic, you could even go further, telling them about the cultists, how they worship the lord of skulls (without uttering his damnable name, of course), favoring bloody, ritualistic murder. How they favor melee combat, how some fall into a mad frenzy while fighting, making them ignore grievous wounds. Learning that would definitely help them when facing the cultists, but that'd increase the risk of having to purge them after the operation is done because they know too much.
Though, even if you tell them nothing about the true nature of your targets, what they might see during the operation could condemn them either way.

So, you choose to
[] lie to them, it's just the usual dissidents
[] tell the truth, your targets are heretics worshipping a Warp entity
[] tell the truth, like the above, but also giving them details about what they'll face
[] Write-in
------

I'm slightly disappointed by the short length of that part, ideally it should have been part of the previous one, but I didn't though about it at the time.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Ask them if they're willing to be purged for knowing too much.

 

[CappenVarra]

[X] tell the truth, like the above, but also giving them details about what they'll face

let's face it, they're all gonna get purged either way - lets have them be effective in the meantime

clues - we'll look for those ourselves

 

[True Ukrainian]

Tell the truth, just the basics.