Inquisitor/Pulp Alley: Beyond the Grave

The first of two transblog, transatlantic, Flat Stanley crossover AARs today as the Emissaries of Sector Six attempt to locate the missing Inquisitor Verhoeven and determine the source of the Sector Six xenos attack.

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Sector Six Emissaries search ancient Xeno structures for the MIA Inquisitor

Having made the interstellar journey to Krellborn IX (see Secret War III: Missed Rendezvous), Agent Blanch-Andres – more familiar to the subjects of the Sector Six Kingdom of Colores in her public guise of Ambassador Sophie – has had difficulty contacting Inquisitor Verhoeven.  The Inquisitor has information that may shed light on the unprecedented xenos attack in Sector Six (see Secret War II: The Trap) and which may also expose corruption in the local Ecclesiarchy.  

The only image of the unknown Xenos attacker.

The communications blackout in large areas of the Northern continent of Krellborn IX (caused by the machinations of the Ork Warlord Frangk, see The Ragna Rock) has meant that locating the Inquisitor and his cohorts has often been a case of heading towards the largest explosions.  Although Agent Blanche Andres has once come within visual range of the Inquisitor since she made planetfall, she has yet to make full contact.

With the Inquisitors loyal hired gun Rosa Stone and attendant Astropath still recovering from wounds sustained in recent engagements, the Inquisitors last known encounter, a chaotic evacuation of a jungle compound surrounded by encroaching zombies (see Get to the Chopper!) ended disastrously.  The report of the Space Eunuch that limped back to civilisation left little hope for the survival of the Inquisitor, last seen surrounded by perilium zombies as he stared through a fence at a departing shuttlecraft.

The Inquisitors great age betrays him, preventing him from reaching the evacuation point.

Nonetheless, Agent Blanche Andres has a job to do.  Scraps of pertinent information were gained from the eunuch debriefing (Milo the eunuch has since applied for employment in the Ordo Hereticus).  These scraps were then correlated with details from the coded information sent by the Inquisitor to Sub Ambassador Tigh before the Sector Six contingents departure.  The results of this research have led the emissaries to a graveyard on the edge of the Radlands.  

The Sector Six emissaries are unaware that they have been followed since entering the Krellborn system by “Da Dirty Doubloon”, a vessel under the command of ork Freebooter Kaptin Fiddy Teef.  Having supplied Warlord Frangk with the map required to locate the Ragna Rock, Kaptin Fiddy is under orders from Kommodore Skabsquig to obtain the Ragna Rock itself.  Troublesome as that task may prove, its not going to stop Fiddy from trying to make a bit of profit on the side… and these well heeled humans look like easy pickings…

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Maj. Guiscard from The Governor General of Sector Six blog and I are connecting a few of our games together a little via narrative and a bit more via sending each other our painted miniatures for inclusion in each others games.  Some details on the goals of the project are here.  Its a bit like a 28mm sci-fi wargame version of when Jessica Fletcher met Thomas Magnum.

If these guys were in space and had bionic eyes and fought aliens, then this image would represent something very similar to whats going on here.

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The Forces

L to R: Pvt. Harry, Pvt. Richard, Tech-Assistant Lt. Jones, Agent Blanche-Andres, Bodyguard Ace Cannon, Sgt Smith and Pvt. Thomas

 

L to R: Roger the cabin Grot, Kaptin Fiddy Teef, Sub-Kaptin Ay-Whole, Bigface, Mr Killgore – Quartermaster and Hotshot

The Scenario

We played a minor variation on the “Sinister Swamp” scenario from the “Perilous Island” supplement.

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Knowing that the Inquisitor has led them here for a reason, the Emissaries enter the old graveyard at the coordinates decoded by Lt Jones.

Having tailed the Emissaries to this location, the Freebooters rub their clawed paws together in anticipation of stealing the treasure that the humans are after.

The Emissaries split up to cover more ground, each heading to a location specified in Verhoevens data (the three small gravestones with crows on them in the top left define one Plot Point and the green open grave with a zombie unearthing itself at the bottom if the image is the second.  A third Plot Point is off to the left of the picture, close to the ork deployment).

The integrated sensors in Mr Killgores cybernetics lead the pirates to another of the strange energy signatures (the crows and gravestones).  Bigface is delighted to see a human corpse burst from the ground and immediately sets to riddling it with weapons fire, alerting the Emissaries to the Freebooteers presence.  The orks begin to shoot their way towards the Western anomalous energy source.

Attempting to limit contact with the greenskins as much as possible, Agent Sophie, Ace Cannon and Pvt. Richards head directly to the Southern anomalous energy signature.  They are horrified to see irradiated corpses emerge from poisoned soil in the area “Why would Verhoeven lead us here?!” shouts Ace over the moans of the previously deceased.

Following standard anti-living impaired combat doctrine, Sgt. Smith calmly directs his troopers fire as corpses glowing with perilium radiation claw their way out of their toxic former resting places.  Will the troopers training be enough?

In his element, Ace happily advances, blowing meaty lumps from the living deads stinking shoulders as they stumble forward.

A close range headshot showers Aces smiling face with putrid gore.

Mr Killgore examines his find, what appears to be a filthy human skull.  However the eye sockets begin to glow red exposing unnatural, hi-tech manufacture.  At that moment a grinning silver skeleton emerges from the ground only to be scoured from the area by a timely ball of superheated plasma launched by Hotshots heavy plasma gun.  “Tinboyz” mutters Fiddy, adjusting the settings on his kustom shoota accordingly.

Agent Blanche-Andres orders Ace to redeploy to assist the Northern units while simultaneously planting a round between the eyes of another cannibal corpse.  But Pvt Richards is over confident and advances, leaving himself exposed to a previously non-hostile quarter…

…Kaptin Fiddy rips Pvt. Richards apart in a hail of fire from his Kustom Shoota.  Knowing that the humans would not have put themselves in an irradiated graveyard full of zombies and cyber-skeletons without having something valuable to gain, Kaptin Fiddy pushes Sub-Kaptin Ay-Whole and Bigface to contest the Southern energy source.

Hotshot racks up some more zombie kills, keeping some of the pressure off the Quartermaster.  No stranger to the pros and cons of being largely mechanical, the weapons fire and moans of the dead are drowned out by the screech of metal limbs being sheared by the orks power claw as Killgore methodically disassembles his metallic foe..

With the Necron currently within headbutt range of Quartermaster Killgore, Hotshot turns his high energy weapon attentions to the beleaguered troopers at the Northern energy signature…

… ripping apart zombie and human alike…

…and distracting Pvt. Harry enough to result in his demise at the irradiated maw of a zombie.

The fusillade of ork fire forces Agent Sophie to fall back from the zombies at the Southern energy source.  Some canny maneuvering by Sophie leads a zombie to blindly fall into an open grave and bash its brains out on a rock.

… the zombies are relentless however and Sophie cant get near the Southern energy source…

…although the continued zombie dismembering fire from Kaptin Fiddy and his cohorts as they try to clear the objective inevitably also takes some of the pressure off the Emissaries.

Aces arrival in support of the Lt. results as might be expected – in a spray of zombie brains…

…but the arrival of another cyber-skeleton takes the LT. by surprise, forcing her to the ground and almost, but not quite forcing her to take a dirt nap.

Hotshot and Roger approach a vantage point at the wall and spray the remnants of the Northern emissaries with fire…

…but bolts of plasma arent exactly discerning and Aces directional power buckler shields hims from the blastwhile the robotic horror in front of him is blasted apart.

Fiddy is disgusted to note that his orders have not been followed to his liking as he spots Tech-Assistant Lt. Jones (top right) get to her feet, grab the piece of Necron tech and retreat.

 The games ends in a draw, with each side in possession of a single plot point.

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The game was fun, with my opponent PB grabbing a Plot Point in extreme circumstances at the very last moment.

1) Krellborn IX has been revealed to be a Necrontyr Tomb world.  Recent seismic disruption caused by the Warlord Frangks unearthing of the Ragna Rock initiated the revivification sequences.  Now unknown numbers of the evil dead are slowly rebooting from their slumber beneath the earth.

2) The technology behind the xeno attack in Sector Six seems to have been Necron, although the hand controlling that tech is still unknown.

3) Now that the Emissaries know what they are up against, they can use that knowledge to narrow down the search parameters and find Verhoeven.

4) Even if found alive, Inquisitor Verhoeven sense of duty may force him to stay on Krellborn IX now that the planet has positively been identified as a Tomb World.