LogYuriRT1-2011/01/21-Jacko-1

Game log for the 2011/01/21 session of Rogue Trader: After the Gold Rush, as taken by Jacko

While the conversation with the dreadnought continued, Bors was summoned to the surface to speak with an armsman. He reported that a fire team had found signs of life but the team went silent shortly after, just a few clicks away. Bors immediately requested four more fireteams to arrive at his location to setup a perimeter replete with Tarantula turrets while the excavation team worked.

Anastasia decided to fly over the last reported location of the missing team. They found life signs, small signs, near rubble that the lost shuttle was located at. They grab a fire team and send them in to investigate while the shuttle provides overwatch. They find the inside of the shuttle burnt and totaled, the dead pilot still in his seat.

Anastasia reports her findings and its decided to investigate the life signs as they could be weak humanoid signs. The team soon finds dropped equipment, spent magazines and other signs of the previous team. The surface team that was left at the burned out shuttle soon seems to spot something in a hab some distance away. They fire and manage to score a hit, blasting something out of a window.

As they move to see what they killed, waves of chitinous vermin pour out of the windows of the hab. The team inside the rubble report that they found dead versions of the leggy, toothy monsters, each about 2m long, and that they recovered 3 of the missing fireteam. Anastasia is able to land and retrieve the teams before anyone is brought down by the monsters.

Lord Machariel decides to maneuver the Drakban into the upper atmosphere so they can blast the LZ to smithereens with macro batteries. He pilots the ship himself and then allows Victrus and the gun crews to obliterate the area after Anastasia evac'ed the teams.

The excavation team finally reaches the bay door of the underground bunker and is able to open it, allowing Lysander and the Marines to be retrieved. They board a lighter and head to the Drakban first, soon joined by the other teams and the Drakban soon has all her crewmen back.

Jahazar was able to detect the trail of a second Ork ship that had left before they had their own encounter wit its sibling. The Warp is disturbed around this planet, hints of Chaos and ghost ships visible in the memories of the Immaterium.

Machariel and Livienne go to the lighter bay to speak with Lysander. They introduce themselves and Marneus announces that he is the captain of the vessel. Lysander haltingly speaks with them about his chapter and his need to contact them. He mentions that there used to be four habited planets in this system. Jahazar double checks the star charts and the asteroid belts in system could be the results of planetary eradication. Lysander says that if the planets were destroyed, it was Imperial forces that did it to keep their enemies in check. Lysander asks to be taken to Port Wander and Machariel says that it will be done shortly after they make some salvage trips to the planet.

The senior crew members convene and make plans on what their next steps should be. A debriefing of the armsmen on the planet revealed little new information concerning the xenos monsters. They decide to salvage the Space Marine armor still left behind at the Mechanicus site. Stern orders are given against taking any souvenirs and treating the dead Marines properly as they're exhumed. They send 24 hours salvaging before they decide to leave for Port Wander. The ship stops by the station, finding renovations well underway though strides still remain to be taken.

They make the journey to Footfall at marvelous speed, waiting only an hour to send out astropathic communications. They jump back into the Warp for Wander and soon are found to be thrown about, taking 4 times as long than it should have, seeing ghosts (yawn), having nightmares (yawn), suffering through bouts of madness that result in 4% of the crew perishing, a calm week, a incursion of nasty warp critters running around the ship, and then a warp storm before we begin to receive hails from numerous ghost ships. Lysander mentons that the battle for the planet revolved around rumors of a complete STC, but he doesn't know what happened after they sealed themselves into the bunker. Jahazar tells Anastasia that she has the comm, then wonders aloud where we are.

The crew see an arcing structure outside, obviously part of an ancient space station but the lights are on and the ship is being hailed using Imperial Navy encryption. They're soon joined by some Cobra destroyers and so Machariel, Livienne and Bors soon board a shuttle for a Tyrant class battleship. They meet with an admiral and they're told they're in a restricted area. Jahazar, back on the Drakban, and Victrus discover they're at the Jericho Gate, a spot in the Jericho Reach (On the other side of the galaxy!) where a massive crusade has been undertaken. Machariel is told he has 36 hours to vacate the area and will be under quarantine but the good Captain promises it won't take that long.

Lysander is waiting for the captain when he returns and they explain that there was a navigational error but things will be remedied soon. Marneus mentions that Lysander could speak with the admiral to corroborate their story before they leave, just to avoid any potential problems. Lysander discovers that Imperial Fists are actually operating in this segmentum and so they will drop him off, along with the salvaged and recovered Marines, with the Navy here. Marneus confers with Jahazar about the Jericho Gate, which he believes has a sister gate somewhere in the Maw. He thinks that going back through the Gate should allow a rapid transit back to the Maw.