snowden's folly briefing 5

7/27/2019 Snowden's Folly Briefing 5

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Snowden's Folly, Act V

After a brief firefight in the corridor, you make your way to the lifts, and begin the ascent back

to the landing bay. Dimly, over the clank and rattle of ancient machinery and the whirring of the lift-

engines, you hear shouts and screams echoing down the corridors, the noise of gunfire and under it all,

the blare of alarms. A couple of levels short of your destination, the lift begins to slow, as the backlit

level numbers on the control panel near the top... But you come to a shuddering stop one floor shy of

escape. You hear raised voices outside the door, several of them.

(Party has 10 seconds do decide what to do)

The doors slide open to reveal almost a dozen humans and mutants, most of them wearing the

garb of the Magistratum. Only one of them is facing towards the lift, the others are either cowering or

firing back down the smoke-filled corridor.

There is a 50/50 chance that the ensuing gun-battle has damaged the lift somehow. Stray las-

round to the control panel, structural damage, etc. A challenging (+0) Tech Use test will allow the

tech-priestess to repair the lift. Otherwise, the party will have to use the stairs.

If the party is forced to take the stairs, then You advance down corridors thick with smoke. The

smell of cordite and fycline fill the air, the smell of explosives and propellants. Splashes of blood paint

the walls and floors, and scores of mutant corpses litter the area. The wounds all appear foreign to you,

and many of the dead look like they were shot in the back. You hear the echos of combat below you,

more screams and shouts, (and if they pass a hearing test, then the weapons have a strange, highpitched shrieking sound to them).

However, you make your way to the emergency stairwell, and climb to the landing bay. A fair

number of the craft there are wrecked or missing, but Haxte's patrol skimmer is still there. Probably,

you realize, because the landing gears have been secured to the platform by ceramite clamps, as per

security protocol.A security test is then called for, to release the docking clamps. A character with both

Tech Use and Common Lore (Arbites) can help (for a +10).

If the test is unsuccessful, it may be attempted once more before triggering safety lockouts. If

the safety lockouts are engaged, the players will have to find an alternative craft in the hangar. There is

another, almost identical skimmer in poor condition that the Techpriestess Thinks she can get running

again, and one battered old QRF Valkyrie, which will require a fair amount of work to get running

again, but has the benefit of being armed. If they choose the Valkyrie, they must locate

1) the parts needed to repair the engine

2) the munitions, hard-rounds, las-batteries, etc and


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3) the fuel. There are enough fuel drums in and around the landing pad for an estimated 6 hours of

flight time.

Where will the PCs go? Logic Roll: Haxtes, depending on the nature of his betrayal, may have

told the cultists about your safe house. The only one he knows about is the one in the middle hive where

he picked you up.As you rise above the Tower of Justice, you see that the entire Magistratum fortress has been

transformed into a warzone. Smoke rises from most of the buildings, and you can see evidence of

firefights below you on the ground. A trio of Magistratum fliers banks across the compound, but you

see two of them shout from the sky by a single vessel moving too fast for you to identify.

Flying over the great wall separating the High and Middle hive, you see long columns of PDF

vehicles moving, thousands of marching troops, all moving into the High Hive. Miles ahead, you see

smoke rising from the direction of the lawless zone.

The players then do whatever the hell they want. The Ceremony is scheduled for noon the

following day. They still have several safe houses, contacts with the resistance movement, and mob

connections.

Player Character Assets:

1) Lucius Cutullus, and his resistance movement consisting of several thousand loyal PDF troops,

Magistrates, and (the majority of them) concerned and loyal imperial citizens.

2) Their flyer (whichever they chose).

3) Their mob connection with Clan Gunner.

4) The Adeptus Mechanicus Temple, where Sam has made several contacts.

Lucius Cutullus is exceptionally alarmed by the reports. The summoning of a Daemon could

doom this world to total annihilation, be it from the corruption of the warp, or the cleansing flame of

Exterminatus... Every effort must be made to interrupt the summoning. The sacrifice of every single life

in this hive is as Nothing compared to the damage that would be caused by an abomination of this

magnitude.

The Adeptus Mechanicus has prepared a report that is going to be broadcast at once to the

nearest forgeworlds, but reinforcements could take weeks to arrive. The Tech-Magos are confident that

this uprising can be suppressed by the Titan and Skitarii legions of Belacane or Turanshush. They are

also confident that their own Skitarii garrison is capable of holding the mutants and riotous rabble at

bay, at least preventing them from sullying the factories of this hive. The rest of the hive must look to its


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own defenses, but the depletion of the work force is a minor inconvenience compared to the loss of the

war-factories. The Mechanicus is prepared to take no offensive action, firm in the belief that their

garrison is strong enough to hold whatever chaotic rabble their might be at bay. They have dismissed

reports of the presence of Traitor Astartes, and are confident that the threat of Daemonic incursion is

minimal, although they have had reports of strange ship sightings, disturbances in the warp, and anumber of strange energy signatures from time to time, most recently just before the disturbance/attack

on the Magistratum headquarters.

No matter which way they turn, the following report is clear: The PDF has Heavily garrisoned

the High Hive, moving in more than 6 divisions (some 300,000 troops) into position, with three more

divisions taking up positions around the lawless zone, the Planetary Governor says, to suppress

rebellion and punish insurrectionists for the brazen attack on the Magistratum headquarters. Entrance to

the High Hive is now officially forbidden by law, the entire city placed under Martial Law, and the

gates of the Middle Hive shut fast against the Insurrection of the lower zones.

Bullshit along with the players (i.e. let them do their thing, make their own decisions and plans

etc.) until you get to the moment of the Governor's Address.

Either before their very eyes, or on a viewscreen, they see:

The Planetary Governor, Quintus Silvanus, stands upon a large platform. From the richness of

the architecture, the marbled columns and breathtaking fountains, he must be somewhere within the

palace grounds themselves. He is a slender man, with jet-black hair and a thin goatee. Draped in velvet

and samite, his opulence is almost repulsive, although it might be the Mark of Slaenesh on his

forehead, constantly shifting colors, from gold to silver, shifting to bronze and then a deep, shimmering

black.

Once you manage to tear your eyes away from his forehead, you see his courtiers, fops and

dandies in the background, many of them as richly dressed as him, and some of them showing signs of

mutations. Tentacles, extra eyes, scales instead of skin, any number of mind-numbing, gut-churning

abnormalities.

But the worst thing that you see are the Traitor Astartes. You miss his opening words altogether

as you stare in shock at the six towering monsters. Easily 8 or 9 feet tall, the miasma of the warp almost

visibly surrounds them. Disgusting runes of corruption cover their armor, itself a riot of purples and

blues and pinks, trimmed with silver and gold. There's almost a beauty to it... you each think as your

minds begin to bend somewhat...


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WILLPOWER TEST

Pass- No effect.

Failure- Feel nauseous. Take 1d5 insanity or corruption points (50/50 chance)

More than 2 Degrees- Uncontrollable Vomiting and 1d10 insanity/corruption points.

You snap out of it to realize that the Governor is spouting heresies and droning on and on about

the beautiful glories of Slaenesh. He rants about the unfairness of the Imperium, the dull tedium of

Bureaucracy, and the uncaring contempt that radiates from the Golden Throne. He promises to unleash

a glorious era of joy upon the planet, to usher in a time of peace and happiness and revelry! The

shackles of the imperium are thrown off! This day, I give this world to the Prince of Pleasure,

Slaanesh! Let all revel in his name, let the Cult of Joy replace the cult of the corpse-god! Already

my troops move against the minions of the so-called-Emperor! We shall purge this hive of his pitiful

influence, and give this Hive over to joy and love, pleasure and ease!

To this end, I shall summon an envoy of our most glorious Prince!

Hideously mutated Guards drag some thousand prisoners, chained together in a great many rows, into a

wide open space to the governor's right. Many are bleeding, babbling, and begging. All have the mark

of Slaanesh branded into their flesh. They are goaded along by a thousand priests and cultsist, all in

robes of blending colors, shifting from purple to blue, pink, orange and gold. They each take a prisoner

and force it to its knees, lifting high a blade...

Let their souls shine as a beacon to the warp! Let their sacrifice in the name of Joy bring

forth one whose love and laughter and power will outshine the stars themselves!

In the Glorious and Powerful name of-

At this point, if the player characters haven't managed to infiltrate the palace grounds one way

or another, the screen goes dark. An ear-splitting crack shatters all the glass in the city, and the

electronic squeal of vox and power overload reverberates as all the power sources around you die or

explode in a shower of sparks. Tech Priests and all 'integrated' followers of the Adeptus Mechanicus

must take a Willpower Test at -20 or gain two levels of fatigue, and must Halve their Willpower for 1d5

hours.

If the players are outside, they witness several dozen white hot beams, blazing with an intensity

almost gold in color, stab down like the wrath of the Emperor into the hive from above, most of them in

the inner hive but others scattered elsewhere. The air itself feels supercharged, and at the instant the

beams appear all the public viewscreens go dark, fizzle out, die. Glowglobes and electric signs spark

and shatter. Some shop windows break, and the grav trains grind to a shrieking halt.


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After almost a full minute, some lights return, clearly under emergency power, and the wailing

note of PDF invasion sirens begin their haunting chorus.

Players roll Perception-Sight (If anybody decides to look up in the sky, +30) A ship of unknown

design has appeared from a strange, swirling vortex in the sky. Nearly three kilometers in length, it

looks fragile somehow, delicately built. As you watch, swarms of attack craft separate and launch outover the city, even as the deadly beams cycle back up and begin stabbing with surgical precision into

the dying city.

With an almost aching slowness, the behemoth that is Snowden's World's PDF begins to react.

Tracer fire stabs into the sky as lascannon beams and missiles race skyward to combat the new threat...

If anybody has Forbidden Lore: Xenos, they can test it and figure out what this new threat is.

The players can do whatever the hell they want, at this point.

If they are at the Mechanicus Temple/Complex/Factory-Fortress, it will come under heavy

attack by Enemy forces, both Mutants, PDF, and the Mysterious Strangers.

If they are at a 'friendly' PDF command bunker/Resistance stronghold/Pro-Imperial Bar, there

will be chaos in the streets. They will encounter PDF and Mutant forces no matter where they go from

there.

If they make their way to their gunship, they will find the landing pad/area under attack by the

Eldar. Or, if they say that they're going to the spaceport to get the fuck out of here, they'll encounter

Dire Avengers there.

An attempt at reaching the Astropathicus Templum is going to be Very difficult. Let them be

attacked by rabid Imperial rabble that will be VERY hard to reason with, waves of cultists, PDF

checkpoints, etc. And then, once they get to the Astropaths, throw SOOOO many Dire Avengers at

them.

Either way, slowly but surely make it clear to the player characters that this hive is doomed, the

Eldar can't be defeated by their own meager forces, and that no matter what else happens, their best

bet is to get the fuck out. The Mechanicus can punch a message through the interference that Should

reach the inquisitor. Alternatively, if they can fight their way through to the Astropath temple, and

rescue one of them (if they're not all already dead). The starport will provide them with an off planet

route, but it is going to cost them dearly.

Anyways, wing it.


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Dire Avenger WS BS S T Ag Int Per WP Fel

55 52 32 33 51 38 42 42 32

Move- 5/10/15/30

Silent move +10, Dodge +10, Heightened Senses (Sight, Sound), Hard Target, Quick Draw, Mighty

Shot, Unnatural Agility x2Armour- Gem-studded Eldar Carapace armour AP 6 all over

Weapons-

Avenger Shuriken Catapult (80m; S/3/10) 1d10+4 R; Pen 4; Clip 30 Rld Full, Reliable, Tearing

Shuriken Pistol (20m; S/3/5) 1d10+2 R; Pen 4; Clip 40

Best Quality Mono-knife 1d5+4 R; Pen 2

Gear- 4 Clips Shuriken Catapult Ammunition, 2 clips Shuriken Pistol ammo, Xenos-craft medkit,

waystone gem, scanner, Helm with incorporated re-breather, photovisor and microbead.

Mutant Abomination WS BS S T Ag Int Per WP Fel

35 12 52 43 22 18 30 25 11

Movement 2/4/6/12 Wounds 20

Mutation: Vile Deformity

Weapons- Large Spiked Club- 1d10+10 R, Primitive, Unbalanced

snowden's folly briefing 5

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