Aurumvorax.com

Temporarily on hold for Black Library open submission! (sorry Jerry!)

Edited by: 9thdm on 4/27/16

This is not a report, but rather "Volkov's recollections", in case it helps us write the report.

Recollections of Stanislav Andreiovich Volkov, regarding action Coscarla division, M41.???.

Prior to travel to Coscarla to investigate death of Saul Arbast (male, 23, unskilled laborer, unemployed, formerly of Tantalus Combine), citizen Lundt makes inquiries regarding sister Lilly. Turns up address. Same building as her brother, in Coscarla. Also turns up that she has not reported to work lately.

We ride transit down-hive. Environment deteriorates continuously during descent. Coscarla Division is broken shantytown. Population appears to be in the hundreds or thousands. Buildings largely abandoned, broken down.

Calculus Logis Speigel procures map from transit terminus - very helpful. We note that exit from Coscarla only by two means (transit and [highway - what is it called?]). Possible third option is another transit hub, distance approx. 80 kilometers through wasteland. Enforcement station. Market. Bar.

Coscarla seems largely lawless, enforcement officials corrupt. Moderate gang activity (very visible). Enforcement engages in arbitrary street killings, etc. (Possibly they are involved in disappearances - unknown.)

Lilly Arbast's hab is among the least-decrepit buildings. Citizen Lundt and Interrogator Zahn enter; Speigel and myself watch the area.

Reportedly, her residence is ransacked, no sign of her there. Find her hiding in Saul Arbast's residence, concerned about her residence. She reports increasingly common disappearances in district after dark for past few weeks - she thinks they were looking for her; she escaped by luck (stayed out late). She hadn't seen Saul for two weeks, is unaware of his death. She thinks the regulars at the worker's bar may have some knowledge of her brother's disappearance. Also, a local man named Evard Zed, friend of Saul. Saw him at the Templum recently.

She left, headed for the Pathery district. We are to contact her by way of "Deb" at the Sciber's guild there, if we learn fate of Saul [ahem].

Discussion on the street, in the market, etc is that there are increasingly common disappearances after dark.

We head to the Templum. Again, Lundt and Zhan enter. There are over a hundred candles burning for the recently vanished. Evard Zed is found. He was drinking with Saul Arbast the night he disappeared - last saw him heading to the alms house to seek treatment for wound received in bar fight. Zed intimates that the alms house has a bad reputation and locals generally avoid it. Director Moran of the alms house is "an asshole", and it was set up by the Tantalus (who are unpopular as a result of having recently laid off everyone in the district).

By this time, it is after dark. We head to the alms house. It is 3 or 4 stories tall, and lit by torches. The doors are shut. As we are forcing entry, we spot multiple figures with glowing red eyes leaving the alms house through another exit, and heading off into the city (perhaps to abduct someone). In the dark we are unable to make out much detail.

I watch the area from outside while the others enter. They find some evidence of small-scale paramilitary operation with barracks, packaged meals, mess hall, etc. Logis Spiegel detects a bio-auspex hidden behind a mirror in the public soup kitchen. It contains files on everyone who has entered the cafeteria, perhaps scanning for suitable candidates for parasite implantation or other heretical procedure.

In a storage room in the back, they find several metal drum canisters containing liquified soup-kitchen patrons. Markings on several of the canisters correspond to files from the bio-auspex, presumably specifying the contents. Sounded on vox like this was unpleasant experience.

Reportedly, enemy combatant arrives in storage room and is summarily executed by citizen Lundt. Some kind of heavily augmented combat servitor. Glowing red eyes are the result of a night vision augmentation. No parasite found. Internal microbead. It may have contacted the other enemy team and warned of intrusion.

Shortly after this point, two more of these combat servitors discover my position outside and attack. I manage to down one of them quickly and hold the other off until rest of squad makes it outside to take care of it. My assessment is that they are stealthy, but not particular accurate in combat.

I reposition and resume watch while the others return inside to continue the search. They find business papers, data slates on second floor. Tantalus combine suspended "normal food shipments" 30 days previously. (implications unclear - were they feeding the liquefied poor to the others? or stopping some unrelated shipment in order to drive more candidates to the alms house for evaluation?)

Discover some kind of alchemist's laboratory, where they are attacked by some kind of heretical biotech golem, and destroy it. During this combat, Logis Speigel detonates laboratory with bolt pistol. Search of golem turns up key.

When search of second floor is complete, I rejoin the group and we head to third floor via elevator. Large room, 7 corpses, room for 12 more on bloodspattered gurneys. Augmentation experiments. One unconscious survivor near death (in the middle of some kind of augmentation surgery). Surviving man dies shortly after we arrive. No sign of parasite.

Armored door, icy cold to the touch. Notches. Door opens to golem key. Room full of enemies - several more combat servitors, female who appears to be ex-Mechanicus heretic. There is a vat with a large-sized parasite.

Assessing the odds, Citizen Lundt opens with fragmentation grenade - surprisingly resourceful man.

Heretic flees down some kind of chute while we engage surviving combat servitors, and begins some kind of explosion countdown in alms house. Interrogator Zahn immediately pursues, but there is no trace of her. We eventually defeat servitors. There is a partially vivisected man in evidence (as if we interrupted her in the middle of something).

Large parasite appears to be dead, but we take it for study by Interrogator Sand. Logis Speigel takes bio-auspex from the soup kitchen on the way out. Building explodes. We meet up with Zahn - apparently the chute leads to some kind of cave system that lets out nearby.

Edited by: cook on 9/28/13

CLASSIFICATION: After action report
CLEARANCE: Delta, pending review by recipient
ENCRYPTION: Cryptox v2.3
DATE: [???].M41
AUTHOR: Stanislav Andreiovich Volkov
SUBJECT: Investigation of Sepheris Secundus Corruption
RECIPIENT: Inquisitor Verziehen, Scintilla, Calixis Sector

While en route to Sepheris Secundus, Calculus Logis Speigel determined from archives that guardsmen in theater are Carnelian Light Foot, 97th battalion.

Upon arrival at Secundus, we descend by lighter to Carnelian encampment, leaving Corinthian in orbit to retrieve us when investigation complete. World frigid, barren, wretched; significant geothermic activity, outgassing, smog. Population replete with deformities, minor mutations. Low technology level.

In Carneilan encampment, signs of significant casualties during pacification - dead, wounded, destruction of property. One corporal clearly insane, restrained in medicae tent, gibbering about "the eyes in the walls", "the walls bleed", "eyes everywhere", etc, in the Shatters. Suspect more than simple rebellion.

Upon landing, we are met by young corporal [I didn't catch his name], followed quickly by older man, sergeant Raynard. After some coersion, sergeant expresses opinion that "there is a wrongness here", reports that when he lead men into the mines they were set upon by mutants and perhaps worse.

We were brought to Commissar Nihilis, who reports that soldiers found evidence of corruption while clearing out rebels - sheafs of heretical papers, unspeakable acts. The dozen squads sent into the mines suffered more than 70% casualties, including several insane. Those who returned reported encountering twisted mutants (more extreme than usual) and daemons.

He supplied us with map of the Shatters and upper reaches of the mine leading to it. The mines have been sealed with enormous gate, which takes upwards of thirty minutes to open; we are advised to "try not to be in a hurry on the way out".

We set out for the mine. Along the way, Speigel obtained some equipment (including some grenades) from quartermaster and I discussed mines with young corporal. He asked me to attempt to retrieve corpse of former colleague Cpl Hastis, who went missing in mine. We noted more signs of extensive fighting along the way, and also passed temporary holding cells filled with miner-cultists awaiting processing. Men guarding these pens displayed commendable dedication to isolating their tainted charges.

The mine's seal is an enormous (~70 meter diameter) doorway. Doors are slid outward over the course of about 30 minutes by teams of large xenos beasts. Upon opening of seal, foul-smelling yellow gas emerges from within.

We enter. Many hours of travel to reach the Shatters. Mines are quite unpleasant -- moderately toxic fumes, inconsistent lighting, chasms, pits, caustic pools, sporatic geothermic activity, cave-ins, stench of death, etc. At one point we noticed a section of cart rails that had been destroyed, perhaps twisted by something monstrously strong. We passed occasional spattered gore, but remarkably few corpses. I believe only intact corpses found in locked area, "Sub Section V". They looked to be miners based on equipment, deformities, etc. Many of them have more serious mutations than usual.

After several hours, arrive at doorway to Shatters. Construction in area is cruder, rough walls, moisture and slime ooze from walls, etc. Door to shatters covered with fresh gore, perhaps as if many dismembered corpses dragged through recently.

We enter. Fumes increasingly noxious. The shatters was the scene of a great slaughter, chunks of gore, stench of death, etc. Again, no intact corpses. I noted many tracks (perhaps the Carnelians and the miners). Some tracks stood out - very large humanoid on foot.

Many passages to secure, started doing so. Encountered enormous mutant, which appeared to be eating corpses, perhaps after removing the heads. We manage to destroy it. From identification on monster's corpse, it was Cpl Hastis; evidently he had mutated into this daemonic beast within only a few days.

In another tunnel, discovered miner ("Rat") who had locked himself in. No information forthcoming, but we extracted him on the way out and is available for interrogation.

In another tunnel, discovered and killed four armed miner-cultists. Primitive stubbers, crowbars.

In another tunnel, Volkov wounded by partial tunnel collapse, likely triggred by geothermic activity. Entire mine extremely unstable, frequent tremors, etc.

In another tunnel, nine barrels of prometheum stored. Also encountered hostile (another enormous mutant, tentacles), took precaution of leading it out away from the prometheum before engaging and destroying it. Also encountered additional scenes of sickening gore and horror.

At end of tunnel, in perhaps recently excavated area, encountered source of corruption. It was a pulsating lavender stone obelisk, perhaps one meter by one meter by two meters in size. Flashes of light induce nausea, suspect radiation. Obelisk manifested some kind of warp gate, and large daemon emerged. Proved impervious to las fire. Buzzing swarms of flies with human faces biting us, etc.

After harrowing encounter, Speigel managed to set off explosives in proximity to the obelisk, destroying it. When stone was destroyed, demon vanished.

Stone was destroyed, rendered inoperable, but fragments remained. Our judgement was that corruption must be completely sterilized, decided on course of action to incinerate the Shatters using nearby prometheum store. (Commend Calculus Logis Speigel's engineering and combat abilities; rational under pressure, fearless, etc.)

Speigel set timer on prometheum purge, we leave with witness ("Rat") in tow.

Emerge from seal to ... [?? - To Be Continued]