To quote an anonymous ork, "ERE WE GO!"

...but before that, I have two comments. The first is that our group's chronicler (me) is a hardened and unrepentant slacker. Of course, the fact that I'm also the GM and have been ridiculously busy at work means I'm just a wee bit behind on the campaign diary. To date, the group has completed 24 sessions but I've only posted 20 of them. The second comment is a reminder about the order. I started posting this campaign diary at session 16 because, well, that's where we were presently and that was a good break point. Then I got a request for the older sessions, which I honored. So, the sessions posted in this thread are 16 -20, and then 1 - 15. The new and shiny session 21 report is below. You may need to scroll back a bit to figure out what's going on...

<Session 21> SPOILER WARNING: Vaults of the Forgotten

Ship's Log, Angevin's Phoenix (255.817 M41)
Once more unto the Warp... Navigator Katain estimates it would take an average vessel 90 days to reach Vaporius under typical Warp conditions, not that 'average' and 'typical' mean much when dealing with the warp. Katain promises to better that time, and the hatch to the Navigator's sanctum closes behind her with a doleful clang. She keeps her word. The overcharged Markov warp drive spools up to full power with a bansidhe's scream, and Katain catches a favourable current. They make Vaporius in a mere thirteen days! The only trouble en route is that several of the crew, particularly Liatris, are plagued with nightmares. He dreams of his lost crew, bleeding, broken, and in chains. Shattered and desecrated Aquilas are the anchors which hold these lost souls enslaved. All in all, not a good omen. Katain's one weak point as a navigator seems to be making the transition back to realspace, as she brings the ship out of Warp rather far out. That means a few extra days travel to get to Vaporius, but no one in the command staff complains. Compared to their previous navigator, Katain is a gem. She's a gemstone in the rough in social situations - very rough, but still a gem.

Approaching Vaporius, the auger arrays show nothing but planet. Vaporius is free of navigational hazards, so there is nothing but a planet and void ahead of them. Suddenly, alarm klaxons blare on the bridge, and an ugly crimson flame lights the darkness ahead. There were two ships in orbit, but they remained undetected until they brought their plasma drives up to full power to break orbit. Worryingly, both ships are considerably more massive than Angevin's Phoenix. Nathin hastily orders an active augury to see what they are facing. This time, the ship's machine spirit cooperates, and they get a good enough scan to identify their foes. The first ship is Defiler of the Righteous, a Soulcage class transport. That doesn't intimidate Liatris. The other, however, is a Hellbringer class planetary assault ship named Subjugator Lux. The Subjugator Lux is infamous; dockside tales claim it has brought ruin to no less than 17 fledgeling human colonies. And, even though it is kitted out for planetary assault, the Subjugator Lux is still a light cruiser. One frigate against a light cruiser is not good odds.
"Hoo boy." Kell does not look happy.
Mouth set in a grim line, Liatris orders battle stations. Angevin's Phoenix is not going to run from this fight.
"Range and bearing?"
"Four hundred thousand, dead ahead."
"Hard to starboard."
Liatris is trying the oblique approach. Angevin's Phoenix turns, keeping the light cruiser barely in its prow arc, and glides forward. Meanwhile, the Subjugator Lux moves forward, showing a horrifying turn of speed, and launches attack craft. The Defiler of the Righteous, on the other hand, turns to flee. Whoever is captaining the transport wants no part of an Imperial frigate. However, the transport is so heavily laden that it takes quite some time to come about...

Angevin's Phoenix, meanwhile, burns retros and turns back in, pointing her prow at the corrupted cruiser. They are still out of range, with two squadrons of attack craft incoming. Subjugator Lux continues to close, and goes on evasive maneuvers. Liatris' stall tactic pays off, as Angevin's Phoenix glides forward at half throttle and gets within weapon range... ready to fire the first volley while their foe is still out of range.
"Range is down to 170,000 sir."
"Kell, let them have it."
"Aye aye!"
The command staff goes to work with a will. Winter tries to use her witchery to help, to no avail. Nathin, however, succeeds in locking on, and Liatris' words rally the crew. Despite the evasive maneuvers and the long range, Kell scores multiple hits on the traitor assault ship. The hull damage is modest, but Kell succeeds in knocking out a vital system: the cruiser's auger arrays. Subjugator Lux slows, and turns across the prow of Angevin's Phoenix. It launches two more squadrons of small craft, and fires prow and dorsal weapons both. Unfortunately for the heretics, the sensor damage throws off their aim, and only a few scattered shells strike. They just impact on the surface, and do no real damage.

Angevin's Phoenix surges forward. By the time the Sunsear batteries have recharged, the range is down to a mere 40,000 or so. The command staff is on their game. Liatris motivates the men, Nathin locks on, and Kell opens fire. He hits with nearly every shot, inflicting horrendous damage. The Subjugator Lux's dorsal macrocannon are blasted away, secondary explosions popping off like firecrackers at a festival. The damage is crippling, and the cruiser clearly cannot withstand another volley.

But, the mood on the bridge is tense, not jubilant. For Subjugator Lux put all four squadrons of attack craft in the void, and they are starting their attack runs now. They come in two waves, each a single squadron of bombers with a fighter squadron for escort. The bad news is the fighter squadrons are effective at suppressing the defending turrets. But, the good news is the bomber attacks don't do much damage. There is only one bomber squadron in each wave, and that isn't enough melta missiles to burn through the armour. As the bombers finish their run, Liatris realises he has a bigger problem. The Subjugator Lux is really close, and is committing itself to a boarding action. This is really the only option available to the reaver captain. His ship is badly damaged, has only one weapon battery operational, and has a damaged auspex. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't realise that most of the crazed killers aboard his ship are already dead, battered in spirit, and the battle damage has fouled his deployment plans. Liatris, on the other hand, has an undamaged ship and his crew, though small, is expertly led and highly motivated. The few footholds gained by the Subjugator Lux are quickly lost, and the counterattack takes the cruiser by storm. The crew of the Subjugator Lux routs, and throws themselves on the Emperor's mercy. Unfortunately for them, the Emperor and his servants are not noted for being merciful... Nathin makes no attempt to sort the innocent from the guilty, and orders the reaver crew spaced to the last man. Fearing warp-taint, they take nothing off the ship. The light cruiser, now a broken, lifeless tomb, is put into a stable orbit, the coordinates of said orbit noted, and left for later.

There is the other matter of the transport to deal with... It had slowly fled and disengaged from the battle around the time that the Subjugator Lux was falling to House Liatris' armsmen. It has not, however, escaped the gaze of Liatris' navigator, Katain. Her third eye has other uses than navigation, and she is able to trace the path of the corrupted transport. Angevin's Phoenix has no trouble with this one. It closes, blasts the transport with laser fire, and knocks out the Soulcage'ssensors. Return fire is completely ineffective. Liatris continues to close, and fires with just one battery to avoid blowing up the target. The Soulcage, burning and broken, is unable to return fire. The Lord-Captain then leads his armsmen on the second boarding action of the day, and wins easily. This time, Nathin is overruled and they don't space everyone. The prisoners in the slave holds are spared, and Liatris merely consigns the entire crew to the void. The prisoners include many from the Ecclesiarchy mission. Confessor Bernardus is among them; he has suffered for his faith, but his tortured and branded body still contains the spark of life. He is very grateful indeed, and asks to be returned to the surface. Liatris doesn't want any of the freed slaves as crew, fearing taint, and agrees, provided the good Confessor will make sure the surviving prisoners are all properly purified. Bernardus has no problem with that at all, and the survivors are shuttled down to the surface. While the shuttles are carrying folks down, the command staff inspect the Defiler of the Righteous, and realise that it was a former Imperial transport. Unlike the assault ship, it isn't a Chaos design. Liatris decides to reconsecrate the ship and puts a prize crew aboard.

So, Liatris goes on his way, and Angevin's Phoenix takes leave of Vaporius. His only payment for the venture is paying off his debt to the Imperial Navy... and a glowing letter from Confessor Bernardus to his Ecclesiarchy superiors... and the transport following behind... and there is that hulked light cruiser, too. All in all, a good day's work.

It takes Katain ten days to get them from Vaporius to the Egarian Dominion. These are mercifully uneventful, and the only reason it takes that long is because of the transport following them in convoy. Katain has to keep the Markov warp engine throttled back to avoid outrunning the transport. The junior navigator she put aboard is capable of following her closely, and when they exit the warp, the transport is still with them. They have learned from the "Darter Incident" and still have their prize ship. This time, Katain brings them out of warp dangerously close to the system's star, and it is a rough transition back to realspace. Five more days sees Angevin's Phoenix at Egaria Omega. The world of interest is the largest moon of a gas giant. Navigation is nasty. There are hordes of smaller moons and multiple rings, and it takes some work to get there in one piece. Somewhere on that moon, which is nearly the size of Holy Terra, is an Egarian maze-city, presumably full of xenos artefacts. There is a Kasballica archaeological team there, and they won't welcome uninvited guests. But, Liatris does have an invitation...

The venture was previously between Baron Djanko Scourge and the Kasballica. But, Scourge's daughter and heir abruptly pulled out of the venture after Scourge's defeat at Liatris' hands. The Kasballica, miffed, turned around and offered Liatris the chance to 'buy in' to the venture. This was due to Liatris' overtures in dealing Eldar artefacts, and also a calculated slap at Scourge. The only roach in the liniment is that the dig has NOT produced anywhere near the profits the Kasballica has been expecting. So, Liatris has a letter of introduction, supplies for the dig, and a polite request to "find out what the feth is going on, and fix it".

Liatris and the command staff waste no time in taking a gun-cutter down to the surface. What a God-Emperor forsaken hole this planet is! There is no surface water, and apparently no native life. It is an arid, desolate wasteland. The Egarian maze-city is as big as an Imperial hive, and made from a strangely iridescent material that is neither crystal, nor stone, nor metal, but has aspects of all three. Light refracts all through it in a way that defies both reason and sanity. The city occupies most of a plateau, with a narrow ring of relatively level ground before cliffs fall away to the plains below. The city walls are five hundred meters high, and evidently quite thick.

The dig is outside the city proper, sandwiched between the wall of the city and the edge of the cliff. There is a defence perimeter, a landing pad, along with prefabricated storage sheds and hab units. The landing is a bit rough with the crosswind, but Liatris manages to land the gun-cutter on the pad. The shuttle is immediately surrounded by armed and suspicious, guards. "Who're you lot?"

Liatris introduces himself, and shows the letter.
"Roight. I'll get th' boss." One of the guards takes off at a jog.

Shortly, Overseer Leerus walks over. He is the Kasballica's leader of the dig. Leerus is a big man, going to fat, with a substantial mustache, and a very decorated military "uniform" that matches no military anyone has ever seen. Leerus reads the letter of introduction, carefully, then reads it again. He does not look happy to see the new arrivals.

"What do you want?" Leerus asks.
"I want to know what is going on." Liatris replies. "Why haven't you found anything?"
"Because we haven't found anything."
"I asked you, why haven't you found anything?" Liatris manages to smother his annoyance.
"Because we haven't found anything. we've turned up little more than dirt so far." Leerus' tone is one usually reserved for dealing with simpletons.

The conversation continues in this vein as they reach Leerus' personal hab. Once there, the overseer plies Liatris with drink and continues to provide an incessant stream of not-useful answers. Nathin and Liatris both feel the man is hiding something. Nathin asks to look over the books. Leerus allows this with no hesitation, and an hour or so perusing them reveals nothing amiss. Liatris, still mostly sober, is not pleased with the overseer's demeanour and is increasingly given to wonder what the man is hiding.

Meanwhile, Kell has been playing around with an auspex unit, trying to see if he can find anything that way. He does pick up a faint magnetic anomaly from underground, but is unable to pin down the location. It appears the dig site may have been sited well after all... With that, the group decides to split up. [GM note: NOOOOO! Don't split the party! :-)] Nathin and Katain decide to talk to the guard captain, while Kell and Liatris go with Leerus to the actual dig itself.

The guards are mercenaries employed by the Kasballica to keep the dig site from being bothered by beasts, nosy strangers, or, well, just about anything. The guard captain is a grizzled man, worn beyond his years, named Bren. He doesn't say much, until Nathin prods him by asking if there has been any trouble. "It's been quiet. We haven't seen a dang thing. Aside from the disappearances, we got nothin'".
"Disappearances?"
"Yeah. Disappearances. Some of the workers have gone missing right outta the camp. It's been goin' on for a couple months now."
Katain is openly skeptical. The moon they are on is lifeless. There is no surface water, and nothing to eat... In other words, there is nowhere for a worker to run to.
"Yeah. I know." says Bren, with a pointed glance at the yawning portal into the maze city.
That prompts questions about the maze city. Nathin wants to know what has happened to the groups who have gone into the maze city. Bren bluntly informs him that no one has been seen gone in or coming out, and he also mentions that Leerus has been ordered into the maze city but has not yet sent anyone in. Nathin and Katain thank him for his time, and are pleased to have gotten some straight answers. They note that Captain Bren may be a potential ally.

Meanwhile, Kell, Victor, and Leerus are at the actual dig site. The workers are in sorry shape: Overworked, underfed, underpaid, and jumping at shadows. They look rough, but one of them is chipper enough to say "Welcome to Egaria Omega, sir." and shakes hands with Kell.

Kell manages to keep a straight face; the worker has slipped him a note. Leerus says something to the guards, and the workers are roughly shooed away from Liatris' group. They inspect the dig. It's a big hole in the ground, plus some scaffolding. They also look at the storage shed. There are a dozen odd xenos curios in storage. However, these are merely objets d'art, and evidently have no function. It is obvious to everyone that the dig has yet to strike it rich. It is getting toward dusk, and Kell suggests that they retire to the gun-cutter for the evening. Leerus agrees readily, and escorts the party back to the landing pad at the edge of camp.

Once the guards are out of earshot, Kell tells Liatris "Hey, one of those guys slipped me a note."
"Well, let's see it, then."
The note is simple. It reads: 'We want to make a deal. In the name of the God-Emperor, please get us off this Throne-forsaken rock.'
At the gun-cutter, they notice three workers performing the rites of maintenance on the landing pad. One of them is the man who passed Kell the note. Kell spots him and yells, "Hey, you. Get over here and have a look at this."
The three men hustle over. Kell ushers them inside where Rogue Trader Victor Liatris is waiting. Liatris greets them politely, and then asks them exactly what is going on. The men spin a tale of woe. Most of them are Footfallen, or other lost souls adrift in the expanse. Leerus hired them with extravagant promises, none of which have been kept. And then, the disappearances started. Each of the three men has his own theory about what has been causing the disappearances, each theory wilder than the last: cult sacrifices, cruel sport from the guards, angry xenos ghosts - none of the theories is backed by any proof. However, they do agree on several points. Namely, all agree that the disappearances have been going on for a couple months, and that people are simply vanishing right out of the camp. They also tell Liatris that their leader is a man named Rhiner Gelt. Liatris tells them to return to their duties, and to tell Gelt that he wants to meet him.

<end of session>

This had been a great read. I hope that there is more in the near future.

<Session 22> SPOILER WARNING: Vaults of the Forgotten

Ship's Log, Angevin's Phoenix (293.817 M41)
It appears as though Rogue Trader Victor Liatris has turned in for the night. However, appearances can be deceiving. The gun-cutter is resting on the landing pad of the Kasballica's dig site. Liatris, accompanied only by Astropath Shaundra Winter, slips away from the darkened gun-cutter to meet with Rhiner Gelt. The two dodge the searchlight beams that sweep the camp; the mercenary guards seem to be playing their searchlights inside the camp more than outside. This is little trouble, and soon Liatris and Winter are at the workers' humble hab. Gelt is a beefy man, but unlike the overseer his bulk is honest muscle and calluses. Liatris speaks to him in low tones for a few minutes. Gelt tells of the disappearances. He has nothing more to add, but at least his story matches the workers and guards. Gelt offers the workers' labor - the only coin they have - if Liatris will get them off this hellhole. Liatris agrees, and the two men shake hands. Winter, who hasn't said a word the whole time, senses nothing amiss. Liatris and Winter take their leave, and head back to the gun-cutter.

On the way back, Winter's wondrous auspex starts whispering to her. It flags an "anomalous cargo" on one of the passing servitors. Liatris orders the automaton to halt; it ignores him, as it is not programmed to recognize him as an authority figure. The servitor continues lumbering toward the garbage dump with what is evidently a load of rubbish. However, it does not object when Liatris swipes the questionable item off the top. The item appears to be a crude augmetic limb, and not of human make. The scraps of flesh attached to it have not yet rotted, so it is reasonably fresh. Winter 'looks' at it. "Ork, maybe?"
"No, I think that's Rak'Gol." Liatris replies.
"What are those?"
"Some kind of Xenos scum. Raiders and brutes. Honestly, I don't know that much about them."
The two turn to head back to the gun-cutter. A falling star burns its way across the heavens, and impacts maybe fifty kilometers from the dig site. It throws up a small plume of dust, very small...
Liatris, alarmed, sprints for the gun cutter. He voxes Captain Bren and warns him that there is likely trouble, and that he is going to check it out.

The gun-cutter's engines spool up. The thundering roar of lift-off disturbs the camp, but Liatris does not care as he sends the ship hurtling across the moonlit dunes. They get to the "meteor's" impact site in a few minutes. It's cracked open, and hollow... Even from the air, Liatris spots tracks leading away. Winter decides to scan with psyniscience. A few seconds later, she gives a cry of revulsion and slams up every mental barrier she has. There is something indescribably foul out there. The instant she saw it, it became aware of her, and tried to force a tentacle of raw blasphemy into her brain. The God-Emperor is with Winter, and she is barely able to keep it out of her head. Winter is not pleased with this, and changes her seat. She sits down in the portside heavy bolter turret, and arms the weapons.

A few minutes later, they see a group of approximately fifteen Rak'Gol jogging across the dunes. They are heading straight toward the dig. The xenos are hulking brutes, looking somewhat like the illegitimate love child of a serpent, a spider, and some alien chest-bursting thing. Liatris does not deign to land, and starts strafing. His first attack kills one, but both Winter and the armsman in the starboard heavy bolter turret miss. The return fire actually damages the gun-cutter a little. Two of the xenos have heavy weapons, some sort of flechette cannon, and these are powerful enough to get through the gun-cutter's front armour. Liatris brings the ship around for a second pass. This time Winter obliterates one and Liatris misses. Liatris continues to strafe the foul xenos without mercy. At the fourth pass, Winter gets out her archaeotech auspex and starts highlighting the heavy weapon gunners. These get singled out, but as soon as one Rak'Gol gunner goes down, another one picks up the weapon. This does serve to reduce the rate of incoming fire, though... Ultimately, it takes seven strafing runs to obliterate the Xenos threat. The gun-cutter has been somewhat damaged, but the machine spirit says the structural integrity is still at 60%. Liatris lands, to make sure the Rak'Gol are dead. They're very dead... a close inspection reveals the Xenos have suicide explosives implanted. A burst of heavy bolter shells is enough to set these off, so yeah, the xenos are a mess. Winter notices that one of the flechette cannon is still intact. Liatris immediately orders its retrieval. It will make a good addition to the trophy room if nothing else.

The gun-cutter returns to the dig site, and Liatris goes to have a few words with Captain Bren. Bren promptly orders nearly all his men to the wall, with the remaining few guarding the weapons store as Leerus does NOT like having armed workers about. This turns out to be wise. About ten minutes later, one of the heavy bolters on the perimeter opens up. A second later, all the other heavy bolters open up. A few seconds after that, the first of many, many solid rounds come whipping over the containment fence. Liatris swears, and runs for the wall. Winter is close on his heels. They get to the perimeter, and peer over the flakboards. Outside, running toward the containment pylons, are a vast horde of Rak'Gol. There must be thousands of them...

So, there is a spot of target practice. Unfortunately, the return fire is in murderous volume. The Rak'Gol have weapons that act remarkably like heavy stubbers, and they are strong enough to fire them on the move. Even with the flakboards for cover, guards are dying. The containment fence crackles and flares, electrocuting many a foul xenos, until the Rak'Gol get through it by sheer weight of numbers. The ravening hordes tear down the fence, seemingly oblivious to the losses they take, and keep on coming.

The Rak'Gol look like they're about to come over a weak spot in the wall, so that's where Liatris goes. Winter is still accompanying him, though reluctantly. She reaches the wall just in time to have a burst of fire go whipping past her head. This section of wall has is occupied only by Liatris, Winter, and two guards, so the Astropath will have to help dispose of the Rak'Gol. One xenos gets to the wall, only to have it's face staved in by Liatris' powerfist. There are quite a few more behind it, including the hulking, blasphemously augmented form of a Broodmaster.

Winter finds herself in hand to hand with a Rak'Gol. "I must protest, Captain. This is really a poor use of resources!" The astropath does not like being in hand-to-talon battle. Winter ducks the swipe of a claw, and flees. Meanwhile, Liatris attacks the Broodmaster while the guards whip out their chainswords and start hacking at the others. One of the Rak'Gol tosses a grenade after the fleeing Winter, but she sidesteps the blast. Liatris dodges one swing from the Broodmaster, and his conversion field stops the other in a flare of light. He counterattacks, and the battle rages on.

Winter stops running as soon as she's out of reach, and draws her Inferno pistol. She gets shot for her trouble, but its only a flesh wound. Meanwhile, Liatris has gotten the best of the Broodmaster, and kills the abomination with a flurry of blows from his powerfist. Unfortunately, another Rak'Gol blindsides him and Liatris is badly slashed. The remaining guard is at least keeping the other Rak'Gol busy, and Liatris turns to face his new assailant. It doesn't last long - Winter finds the range, and Liatris connects too. About this time, the last guard goes down, torn nearly in half. The good news is there is only one Rak'Gol left... Winter empties the last charge out of her Inferno pistol. BOOM! Headshot! Her fury is most righteous, and the headless corpse is blasted off the wall.

Despite their victory, it is clear the wall is lost. There is another, much larger wave of xenos approaching. Overseer Leerus is so desperate that he has ordered the workers armed. Yeah, it's that bad. The workers are fleeing toward the maze city. Liatris has an idea... "To the gun-cutter!" They are able to make it to the gun-cutter before the Rak'Gol completely overwhelm the wall. Liatris doesn't want to leave the shuttle in Xenos hands, so he decides to fly off - INTO the maze city. The portal into the maze city is so huge he thinks he can fly in easily. Sadly, he thinks wrong. The gun-cutter hits the wall hard and ground loops into the portal. Liatris manages to put it down with the guns pointing out the portal. The autocannon and heavy bolters discourage the Rak'Gol from getting close while the workers throw up a hasty barricade. The Rak'Gol rush the barricade, but the portal to the maze city funnels them into a narrow stream. They fail to get through a withering storm of weapon fire.

As suddenly as it began, the attack is over; the Rak'Gol suddenly withdraw, for now. The silence is deafening. It takes a few minutes to sink in, and everyone realises they are now inside the unnatural angles of the maze city. How bad can it be? Winter thinks the place is haunted. However, there is something living here, too. She checks her auspex, and picks up a life sign. A flickered glimpse, and Winter tells Liatris, "There's an Eldar in here."

[GM note: only 2 players this time.]
<end of session>

<Session 23> SPOILER WARNING: Vaults of the Forgotten

Ship's Log, Angevin's Phoenix (332.817 M41)
Rogue Trader Victor Liatris and his command staff have just entered one of the maze cities of the Egarian Dominion. Astropath Winter promptly tries to map the place, and gets a splitting headache. She goes off to lie down, while Liatris is joined by Seneschal Nathin.

"Hey, get a load of Leerus." Nathin comments.
Leerus is visibly disturbed, and is glancing around nervously. Liatris walks over to chat with him and asks him if he's sent anyone in before. Leerus denies this. They talk for a few minutes... Bren arrives at a jog and asks to reinforce the barricades. That sounds like a good idea, so Bren heads back to the entryway. Nathin, ever dutiful, mentions that they only have enough food and water for 2 or 3 days. Sitting around isn't going to do any good, and going outside means too many Rak'Gol, so Liatris decides to go exploring.

Nathin, Liatris, and a few guards head into the labyrinth. A short while later, they hear a horrified scream from one of the workers, and go investigate. They find the worker standing over a mauled, decayed, and partially eaten corpse. The shaken worker is saying "Slem, no, no, no..."
"You knew him?" Liatris asks.
"Yes, that's Slem Worllen. He was one of the first to disappear."
"Thanks. You'd better go back to camp now."
The worker needs no urging, and takes off. Victor and Nathin examine the corpse. Whatever killed the late Mr. Worllen inflicted wounds that don't match either Eldar or Rak'Gol. Eldar are nowhere near strong enough to tear an arm out of its socket, and Rak'Gol tend toward mono blades. This flesh is rent and torn, curiously shriveled near the claw marks. Leerus shows up, turns white, and promptly orders the corpse burned. Nathin asks why, and the answer of "Um, alien spores" is so obviously grox dung that Nathin glares at the Overseer in displeasure. He does not, however, override the order.

With that Liatris and Nathin take a pair of guards into the labyrinth. There is an Eldar, and evidently something else, out there. They quickly realise that no one in the group is skilled at surface navigation. However, one of the guards mentions that Adept Zpha, back at camp, is quite good at it. So, they backtrack... They're most of the way back to camp, when they hear screaming, mixed with the unmistakable bellow of the Rak'Gol. They dash forward, into a small chamber just off the main entrance. It is slick with the blood of many disemboweled workers. when they arrive, the only human still alive is a small woman they later learn is Adept Zpha. She is attempting to fend off two Rak'Gol with nothing more than a laser trowel. Yeah, like that's going to work...

Nathin promptly opens fire with his Storm Bolter, and despite the short range and hulking target, he does nothing more than chip the crystalline walls. Liatris charges, and tries to punch the other Rak'Gol with his powerfist. It parries, and counterattacks with a frenzied series of slashes. Victor parries with no trouble. Nathin, meanwhile eats four stubber rounds from the other Rak'Gol but stays standing and returns fire. He shoots the offending Rak'Gol a lot, but it stays on its feet too. Victor has taken the measure of his foe, and clobbers it repeatedly. His powerfist does brutal damage, setting the Rak'Gol on fire and blinding it. The critically injured xenos charges and deliberately sets off its own suicide device, catching both Liatris and Nathin in the blast. Both are uninjured, thanks to their conversion fields, though Liatris' field does overload and collapse. Nathin shoots the surviving Rak'Gol. Liatris charges it, and finishes it off with a single energized punch.

Adept Zpha quite sensibly fled as soon as Liatris' arrival distracted the foul Xenos. She sticks her head back in now, looking slightly the worse for wear. "Are they dead?"
"Yes."
"Oh, thank you so much!"
Introductions are made, and Adept Zpha proves intelligent, grateful, and quite willing to help.

Liatris fixes his own Conversion Field, much to Nathin's surprise, and they head back into the maze. Their first order of business is backtracking the Rak'Gol. They follow the claw marks on the crystal, and soon realise that the Xenos simply snuck in through the front entrance... probably before the barricades went up.

They go back into the maze, and soon realize that it gets more unnerving the longer they stay in. It is fortunate, then, that they find the Eldar in short order. They corner the Eldar in a dead-end corridor. Nathin identifies her as one of the Crow Spirits, from her garb. The Eldar looks at them like they were something she'd stepped in, and clearly expects the worst. Evidently, Liatris has a 'catch and release' policy. He tells the Eldar that if she doesn't interfere with the dig, he won't interfere with whatever it is she's doing, and promptly lets her go. They keep searching, and find an old blood trail and a cracked bone.

There is a vox call from camp. One worker foolishly wandered off alone, and has vanished except for bloodstains. Then, two guards who followed said worker get ripped to shreds. Seething at such incompentence, Liatris and Nathin return to camp, and order everyone to stay put and remain in one big group at the entrance. This time, the blood trail is fresh, and they get after the creature quickly. They finally find its lair at the center of the maze city, but just as they enter, the whole city shakes with the roar of a massed Rak'Gol attack. Panicked cries over the vox tell Liatris that the humans at the entrance (meaning everyone else) are about to be overrun by a huge horde of Rak'Gol. Liatris and Nathin, however, have immediate concerns of their own: they've just entered the lair of whatever dwells in the maze, and it's home right now...

The lair is in a huge room with a crystal plinth in the center. The floor is littered with human bones, and the thing in the room was clearly once human, though its form has been grossly distorted. Liatris is shaken by sight of the warp tainted brute and won't advance. The guards and Nathin back him up, and everyone opens fire on the thing. The eldar, Badb Ra, reappears and decides to cut in, firing a razored volley of shuriken into the monster. Whatever it is, it's tough! Neither the elegant Eldar shuriken nor the brutal Imperial bolts do any real damage at all. Even the plasma blast from Liatris' pistol fails to hurt the thing. The roaring beast charges, claws crackling with the blasphemous energies of the warp. Liatris' conversion field saves him with a huge flash of light. Liatris counterattacks; the Emperor is with him, and the powerfist does colossal damage. Shooting is once again ineffective, and the thing strikes at Liatris twice. He dodges the first slash, and the second ends in another brilliant burst as the field does its job. Liatris counterattacks, and hits with every one of his attacks; three sword strikes plus the fist. Badb Ra and the guards continue to pour automatic fire into the monster, but it is still on its feet and swinging. Liatris dodges one set of talons, and his field overloads for the second time in a day stopping the other. Fortunately for him. the once-human fiend can only take so much abuse, and Liatris next combo sends it crashing to the floor with a smoking hole in its chest.

One of the guards looks at the thing's face, and comments "****, that looks like Stahk."
"Ayup." says the other guard.
"Who?" Nathin perks up.
"Stahk. Leerus' deputy. He was the very first one to go missin'."
"Oh reeeally? Leerus has some explaining to do."

Liatris is more concerned with the eldar. "Hey, what are you doing?"
"I don't have time to explain, mon'keigh. Let me be, and I'll get the rest of your kind out."
The eldar has taken a crystalline key from somewhere inside her clothes, and has slotted it into the plinth. The plinth splits open, revealing a strange, spherical artefact. This is tucked under one slim arm, and the eldar makes an impossibly fast series of adjustments with the key. The entire maze city reconfigures itself... There is now a broad, straight corridor from the entrance to the plinth room, and another broad straight corridor to a new entrance that wasn't there a minute ago. However, the new pattern isn't at all stable, and the safe corridor immediately starts to shrink...
"We have five of your minutes to get out, then the city seals itself."
Liatris and Nathin head toward the new exit, and vox orders back to the main group. The remainder of the dig staff were already fleeing into the maze city, with the Rak'Gol hot on their heels. They too run for the new exit, with the Rak'Gol in hot pursuit. Nathin and the two guards make it to the exit just fine. Liatris, however, slips. A moving crystal slab descends like a guillotine blade, but someone grabs him from behind and pulls him to safety... It is Adept Zpha, repaying her earlier rescue. Liatris, Nathin, and the guards provide covering fire from the entrance and hold off the Rak'Gol until the last of the dig staff get out... there are fewer than there were yesterday when Liatris arrived, but that is understandable.

The new entrance closes with a dreadful boom. The other entrance is closed too, so the Rak'Gol hordes are now sealed inside the maze city. Nathin immediately turns his mind to other matters. He spots Leerus among the survivors. "Last chance. What was that thing?"
"I don't know." Leerus has the gall to lie to Nathin's face.

Nathin levels the storm bolter and squeezes the trigger. Leerus dodges surprisingly well for a man of his bulk, and evades four bolts. However, Nathin's aim was dead on, and the other four bolts leave Leerus splattered over a goodly section of crystal wall. Nathin delivers a succinct and heartfelt epitaph over Leerus' corpse. "What a tool."

The eldar has a quiet word with Liatris. Most of the other staff have not yet noticed her presence, and she wants to keep it that way. She holds up the spherical artefact. "I meant to seal this away, but cannot now that the Rak'Gol are inside the walls. You... failed to live down to my expectations. This is on loan to you from my people. Perhaps it may prove useful to you."
So saying, she hands Liatris the crystalline globe, turns, and vanishes into the wastes.

Liatris walks around to the original entrance. The gun-cutter and chimerae are there, intact. Either the gate pushed them out instead of crushing them, or someone had enough sense to move them out in the confusion. In the distance, he sees a small group of Rak'Gol, that were not trapped. These are running away, and they are carrying something. A quick auspex check reveals that the magnetic anomaly is gone. Whatever was hidden at the dig site, the xenos have it now.

Liatris looks at all this, and says one word. "Unacceptable."

[GM note: only 2 players this time, again.]
<end of session>

<Session 24> SPOILER WARNING: Vaults of the Forgotten

Ship's Log, Angevin's Phoenix (408.817 M41)
The bloodstained sands of Egarian Omega have not yet drunk their fill. While most of the Rak'Gol are now sealed within the maze city, a small group remains outside. They are running away, and carrying something. The something is, presumably, a priceless Xenos artefact...

Veriakh Kell isn't happy with this, and he runs for the gun-cutter. Liatris is dealing with diplomatic issues back at the dig site, including screaming at his lawyers. Ahem, that's *charmingly* screaming at lawyers. Astropath Winter is hot on Kell's heels. The two of them get into the gun-cutter, and order the armsmen to accompany them. A motley group of armsmen, some of them Liatris' elite and the rest Bren's mercenaries pile into the gun-cutter, and the battered craft struggles aloft.

The engagement opens with a single strafing pass. Kell kills one of the Rak'Gol, but the gun-cutter is damaged by ground fire. The gun cutter then lands ahead of the Rak'Gol horde and drops off the troops. It is Winter, Kell, and 15 mercs against the nine surviving Rak'Gol, on a boulder-strewn field... Kell opens up with his heavy bolter, killing one vile xenos and seriously wounding a second. However, Winter's aim is not as good, and her shot misses. The storm of return fire kills two of the mercs and wounds a third. One Rak'Gol is carrying a flechette cannon, and shoots at Kell. Fortunately for Kell,
the Xenos' aim is off. "Oh, you sonufabitch!" Kell exclaims. He knows what a hit from that weapon will do to him...

Worse, one of the Rak'Gol is a sorcerer, and engulfs the group in a warp spawned tide of lies. Winter and 2 guards have their perception scrambled; they are compelled to attack, but cannot tell friend from foe! The guards, belatedly, begin firing on the Rak'Gol. They kill one Rak'Gol and injure a 2nd, but slay two of their own number with 'friendly fire' thanks to the sorceror's blasphemous deception. A third merc dies a horrible, charred death from Winter's Inferno pistol as the Astropath has also fallen prey to the sorcery.

Kell exchanges fire with the cannon-carrying Rak'Gol. Kell scores a few hits but the xenos stays standing. The second flechette blast is a clean miss, much to Kell's relief. [GM note: sucks when you can't roll under 80.] No sooner have the flechettes gone whipping past Kell than the firefight is momentarily interrupted by the Rak'Gol sorceror's next incantation. The results are spectacular, but not successful. The Rak'Gol's epic failure to channel the warp results in the entire Rak'Gol horde getting tainted with blasphemous energies; several spontaneously mutate and/or go mad. [GM note:
Rolled 00 on focus power test. Then rolled Perils of the Warp. Then rolled Warp Whispers with 35 meter radius... and the nearest PC was *37* meters away. ****, ****, ****!] The humans think this is a fine time to shoot the Rak'Gol sorceror, a lot, and the Xenos drops in a hail of hellgun blasts. The other Rak'Gol, undeterred, return fire, and one of the mercs is sent to the God-Emperor.

Kell has had quite enough of the flechette cannon by now, and his aim is true. The Rak'Gol carrying the cannon is blasted to bits by a hail of bolts, the cannon's power supply cooking off in an incandescent series of blasts. The surviving Rak'Gol continue to fire, killing 2 more guards, and both Kell and Winter are hit with several slugs. Fortunately, neither is seriously hurt. Winter reloads as Kell blows another Xenos to hell, and the guards exchange poorly aimed fire with the surviving Xenos. There are only 2 Rak'Gol left by now. Kell shreds one, and Winter dispatches the other with a flawless head-shot.

The sudden silence is nearly overwhelming. Winter breaks it by commenting "Rak'Gol are going on my grumpy list." No one laughs, though there are a couple of expressive eye-rolls. The medikit is put to use, and the wounded are bandaged. Seven mercs are still standing, and three of the casualties are saved by first aid. Kell goes and retrieves the artefact the Xenos had been carrying. It is a statue, perhaps a half meter in length, depicting some kind of coiled worm or maggot creature. Ugly as sin, but it will fetch a pretty penny back in civilisation.

At this point, the command staff have had quite enough of Egarian Omega. The battered gun-cutter returns to the dig site, and an evacuation is ordered. Angevin's Phoenix has enough small craft to get everyone off, and also to pick up the dig site's few vehicles. The modular habs are left behind. Angevin's Phoenix easily evades the Rak'Gol ships in system, and heads out. Navigator Katain is indisposed, and her inept understudy takes sixteen days to travel the very short distance to the neighboring system of Egaria Epsilon. There are disturbing dreams near the end of the voyage, but otherwise no real trouble.

The time does give Adept Zpha time to study the recovered artefact. She informs the command staff that she believes the 'coiled wyrm sculpture' is actually some sort of device, but one which is inert at present. Winter has a look, and thinks it is a warp artefact. That may cause trouble if they try to sell it...

Winter, meanwhile, has been studying the other artefact, the globe on loan from the Eldar. She informs all and sundry that it is a Hollow Atlas. She thinks (correctly) that it is a detailed map, and that it can only be activated by someone with psyniscience. However, she has not yet been able to activate
it to test her theory.

The arrival at Egaria Epsilon is uneventful. There are several maze cities on the surface of this planet; one is selected essentially at random, and the dig staff shuttled down to start a new dig. They get set up all right, though they are somewhat handicapped by the lack of hab modules. The tents they are using now offer precious little shelter against the biting wind. Adept Zpha makes an idle comment that gets the command staff to thinking. She mentions, "Gee, there must be a use for this stuff."
"What stuff?" Kell asks.
"This Egarian crystal. You've got enough to make a hive city here, literally, and it has some unusual properties. Perhaps you could make some Thrones off it?"
Ahh, the magic word: Money. This sparks some interesting speculation among the crew. Swords? Lasers? Kell orders the tech-priests to "Start tinkering." They are less than enthused, but comply.

The Sanctarchs, who have been aboard ever since the Dread Pearl, take this opportunity to complain to the Lord-Captain, again, that he promised them a new world. The first reports from the surface, however, indicate that the Sanctarchs will have to wait. Egaria Epsilon is cold and dry. There is a little surface water, but the arid wastes have precious little vegetation. Farming or hunting here would be very difficult. At this point, someone mentions Naduesh... that's a benign planet, and the group needs to visit there anyway. Liatris is still indisposed, so Kell suggests heading to Footfall to resupply (including a new hab module for the dig), and then on to Naduesh.

[GM note: only 2 players this time, again!]
<end of session>

Man, I haven't updated this in quite some time. Then again, real life has interfered with gaming sessions... I hate it when that happens.

<Session 25> SPOILER WARNING: Dark Frontier

Ship's Log, Angevin's Phoenix (447.817 M41)

The command staff is still on the ground at Egaria Epsilon. Rogue Trader Victor Liatris rejoins the group, having seen off the attorneys. A group of adepts is studying the Egarian crystals; Adept Zpha in particular thinks there has to be some practical uses for this stuff. Liatris hears her, and thinks "practical = profit!". So, he's intrigued.

The Egarian crystals are extremely hard and sharp, and have strange optical properties - namely a negative refractive index. More, they're thermal and electrical superconductors, have an impossibly high density (30 to 40 range) and the density seems to fluctuate. Measure the same piece twice, get two different readings. And, when shattered, the mass of the fragments is greater than the mass of the original piece! All this is more than enough to make the Tech-Priests blow a gasket. They mutter incessantly about violations of the Omnissaiah's Law, warp taint, impossible angles, and generally view the crystals with utmost suspicion. Katain, on the other appendage, is curious, and pockets a large crystal when no one is looking.

Liatris, however, wants to make money off this. The command staff gets together, and comes up with several ideas. First, make a sword out of it? Second, make armour out of it? Third, use the focussing properties to enhance an energy weapon? Liatris orders the Tech-Priests to get to work. The Prandium tech-priests are cautiously optimistic, though they repeatedly mention that this is high-risk work.

By the end of the week, they have several samples ready. The sword is first, made from laminated crystals. Liatris tests it, and is unimpressed. The crystal sword is better than a mono-sword, but his power sword is far superior. Worse, the crystal blade can easily shatter if you twist it wrong. Katain calls dibs on the crystal sword. "It's better than my staff."

Liatris looks at the pneumo-boosted staff. He hadn't realised anyone of the command staff wielded anything so crude. "Oh. Take it."

The carapace armour looks better. Tech-adept Oddyle discovered a set of reagents that make the crystal pliable; the resulting crystals can be laced into carapace armour and significantly improve its resistance to energy attacks. The only drawback is the crystal-laced armour is quite heavy. This is a very small price to pay... Unfortunately, the reagents are quite rare. There are only enough on the ship to do a few suits. The command staff get upgraded carapace armour, and Liatris takes detailed notes on exactly what reagents he needs to buy. The armour will sell... Oh, will it ever sell. Many in the Expanse will love the extra protection, and aren't too picky about the Xenos origin. [GM note: The sword and armour are from EotA. The hellgun mod is homebrew as the players got really creative. They had a lot of fun figuring out uses for this stuff.]

The final experiment ends up being a mixed bag. A hellgun fitted with focussing lenses of Egarian crystal proves to have significantly more hitting power. Unfortunately, the altered weapon has a nasty tendency to get searing hot. [GM Note: +2 Damage per shot, Overheats.] Liatris has no qualms about equipping his armsmen with the revised hellguns. For that matter, Navigator Katain pulls rank and insists that her personal hellpistol be the first one so
modified! The Navigator - usually the terror of the crew - seems almost happy once her new kit is in hand.

With that, the group leaves the dig and heads back into orbit. Liatris hears the planned course, and promptly tosses it in the rubbish bin. He sees no need to return to Footfall and resupply, when most of what they need is on the ground at Egaria Omega. So, back to Omega they go... Navigator Katain gets them there after a mere eight hours in the warp, and her exit is spot on. Another fruit basket mysteriously appears outside the Navigator's door. (It is courtesy of Astropath Winter, who really hates the warp.)

However, Winter soon has reason to be grumpy. Seated at the auger arrays, she spots a flotilla of Rak'Gol ships. Three raiders and a cruiser are in the way. But, Rak'Gol are poor to manoeuvre, and there are plenty of asteroids to hide behind. Angevin's Phoenix evades the Xenos scum with ease, and soon arrives at Egaria Omega. Shuttles are sent down, and the large pieces of the hab blocks retrieved. They have enough time to pick up everything, and head back before the Rak'Gol return to the moon. Behind them, the Rak'Gol seem to be trying to crack open the maze-city with macrobatteries.

Navigator Katain makes the short hop from Egaria Omega to Egaria Epsilon in a mere four hours! The crew is astonished. [GM Note: 18 Degrees of Success. Katain's good at her job.] The hab blocks are delivered, and then it is off to Footfall. This journey is also without incident. They drop off the salvaged transport with orders to have it refurbished. It will be going to Victor Liatris' younger brother Kaelen. House Liatris has several licensed trade routes in the Calixis sector, and Free Captain Kaelen could use the upgrade. Shopping at Footfall, however, proves a problem. They do get the reagents Oddyle needs to make more crystal laced armour, and Katain gets her chunk of crystal carved into an amulet. Everyone else's shopping ends up in vain. No hammer for Liatris, no new pistol for Winter, and no lawyers either. Bother.

The next stop is the space hulk near Falcon's Fall Gamma. The ship leaves Footfall, and heads into the Warp. The first week is uneventful, but then a strange trembling runs through the hull, like a flywheel out of balance. It doesn't take Katain long to realise something has gone horribly wrong. The ship is accelerating in the Warp, faster than even the overcharged Markov Warp drive can take it, and no longer answers the helm. Her crystal amulet is glowing a baleful crimson, a brighter red on one side than the other. Turning it, she realises the bright spot is pointing toward something in the depths of the ship.

Liatris and the rest of the bridge staff see the door to the Navigator's sanctum slam open, while they are in the warp. Navigator Katain emerges, bodyguard at her heels, locks the door behind her and takes off at a run, with a glowing amulet in hand that none have seen before. She does
not say a word while she does this. To say this profoundly disturbs the rest of the bridge staff is an understatement!

"What the HELL?" says Liatris as he chases off after his wayward navigator.

"Oh, bloody hell." sighs Winter as she gets up and runs after Liatris.

Liatris catches up to Katain. "What the hell is going on? What is that thing, and why have you left your post while we're in the warp?"

"I've lost control of the ship. Don't want to talk about it." Katain snaps.

That is not an acceptable answer. Liatris puts his foot down. "Tell me. Now. That's an order."

Katain loses the battle of wills, and reluctantly explains the situation. "Something has wrested control of the ship..."

The explanation does not improve Liatris' mood. The amulet leads them to the warp drive. There are no Tech-Priests guarding the door to the drive chamber, a horrific breach of Mechanicus protocol. They get inside, and realize that the Tech-Priests aren't themselves today... The warp chamber is occupied by a levitating... thing... that is crackling with blasphemous energies. Tentacles of energy violate the data ports of the warp drive, and experimentally probe their way into the Tech-priests through various orifices. With some difficulty, they recognize the thing as the worm sculpture they dug up on Egaria Omega. You know, the one they tenatively ID'ed as an inactive warp artefact? Well, it's active now! [GM note: My comment of "Hey, now you know what it does! Aren't you glad to have your curiosity satisfied?" went over like the proverbial lead balloon in a downdraft.]

The dominated Tech-Priests attack immediately, to little effect. The Worm blasts Liatris with warp fire, to much greater effect. Ow. Winter uses her witchery to terrify the Tech-Priests, and Katain promptly locks the Worm in her gaze. A shudder runs through the ship. Liatris charges the Worm and misses, while Katain's bodyguard, Matilda, shoots it. The Worm strikes at Liatris with a warp-spawned tentacle, but he dodges it easily. The Worm also attempts to use some Warp-based power, but the effect fizzles as Katain puts forth her will and disrupts it. The panicked Tech-Priests are no longer a threat, so Winter simply shoots at the Worm. Sadly, she misses, and the inferno pistol takes a chunk out of the warp drive's casing. The drive begins to
leak light in all colours in the rainbow, plus a couple that aren't. Katain steps back, and proves a better shot. The Emperor is with the mutant, and her fury is most righteous as her shot strikes home. Liatris, not to be outdone, begins pounding the Worm with his powerfist. Three hits, two of them with righteous fury, are more than enough to end this particular manifestation of evil. Unfortunately, it explodes when it dies, and Liatris takes the full force of the blast. Critically injured and trying to hold his guts in, Liatris slumps to the deck in a spreading pool of blood.

Katain immediately turns and runs for the navigator's sanctum, barely sparing a backward glance for the Lord-Captain. Winter applies first aid, and is able to keep Liatris from bleeding out. Shortly thereafter, Katain brings the ship out of the warp. The bad news is they have drastically overshot Falcon's Fall Gamma, and are in an unknown system all the way out in the Rifts of Hecaton. The other bad news is the system has some kind of unnatural gravity well surrounding it that prevents all escape!

Meanwhile, the remains of the Worm are swept up, taken to sick bay, and presented to Lord-Captain Liatris for inspection. This is his first time looking at the Worm up close, and he identifies it as Yu'Vath. He orders it ejected from the nearest airlock with extreme prejudice. Meanwhile the Cult Mechanicus is quietly doing the same thing to several Tech-Priests... They do not see fit to notify the bridge staff.

Winter returns to her seat at the auger arrays, and begins scanning the system...

<end of session>