You decide to act humble. The cogboy doesn't seem to be in too good a mood and stroking his ego a bit can't hurt.
'Greetings, servant of the Omnissiah. I am the father of the deceased occupant of the 454th, and am in search of truth on her death. I hoped that your hidden skull picter could have taken a picture of the assaillants,' you say.
'Could you please help a father in distress?'The techpriest blinks. He coughs and starts to say something, hesitating.
'I really... this is highly unusual,' he mumbles. He looks at you for a good, long while, controlling his breathing. You try to put a touch of pleading onto your face.
'It would mean the world to me,' you add, hoping to prod him into making his mind.
'But... what do you mean, the truth of her death? They said... they said Miss Sabbat died in an accident.'
God-Emperor, but just hearing her name hurts. Some of it must show on your face because the techpriest seems to falter.
'It wasn't an accident,' you say simply.
His face just twists up. He sets his jaw in what you assume he thinks is grim determination, and you realize just how young he is. He nods, slowly. When he speaks again, he sounds more collected.
'I believe I know who you refer to, Mr. Dezler,' he says. 'I cannot allow you to witness the sacred rites of the Omnissiah, but if you wait here, I will retrieve the picter feed for... for those men.'
You nod, not wanting to push it, and the techpriest turns and strides across the cramped maintenance room. You take a surreptitious look around with his back turned. The room doesn't exactly come off as inviting, steel walls and pipes, with a small bed and table in the corner, continuing into another chamber the techpriest disappears to. You suppose he doesn't need many comforts, or perhaps just can't afford them.
A moment later, the servoskull from the door whirrs inside, bobbing back and forth in the air. It follows the youth inside. There's a long silence - you begin to wonder if something happened to the boy - and the pair return. The techpriest holds a dataslate in his hands.
He begins reading aloud quickly. 'Err... right. Arrived 25.10, three men, identities unknown. Items identified; two lasweapons, Cet Saul-pattern, one civilian autoweapon, unknown pattern, one proscribed item known as multikey, two injectors, possibly used for illegal narcotics, one pack of lho,' he says, frowning. 'First man possessed Administratum clearance, tertiary level. That... explains why these weapons didn't trigger any alarms. In any case, they left a few hours later.'
You ask to see. The techpriest hands you the dataslate. The pic quality isn't good, but you take in all that you can. The three men were muscular, clad in low-Hive clothes. You note the tattoos on their skin - probably gang marks, if you know anything - and the ease with which they hold the lasguns. You can guess from the pic the first man - a scarred, lean-faced man with a military buzzcut - is the leader. You consider the complexity of the hit upstairs. Usual ganger scum wouldn't go to such lengths - but usual ganger scum wouldn't come this high in the first place anyway.
Damn. You hate it when they're not predictable.
'I'm Ardun,' the techpriest says. 'I mean... was... was I of any help?'
---
Fellowship Check (+0, rolling against 38): [34], Passed.
Name: Marlowe Dezler
Wounds: 12/12
Stats:Characteristics:WS 38
BS 46
S 41
T 38
AG 45
INT 36
PER 49
FEL 38
WP 36Skills:+
Awareness+
Linguistics (Low Gothic)+
Drive (Surface)+
Survival+
Tracking+Dodge
+
Security+
Scrutiny+
Search+
InquiryTalents:*
Deadeye Shot*
Quick Draw*
Rapid Reload*
Combat Sense*
Crack Shot*
Light SleeperEquipment:- Akroxis-pattern Naval Pistol
(6/6) [
Range 20m/RoF S/3/-//Damage 1d10+4 I/Pen 0/Reload Full -
Tearing] [
Common Craftsmanship]
- Street Blade [
Throw Range 5m /Damage 1d5 R/Pen 0 - Primitive] [
Common Craftsmanship]
- Concealed Armor [
Covers Arms, Body, Legs/AP 2] [
Good Craftsmanship]
- Chrono
- Keys to Apartment #454
- Lho Packs (2)
-
Bag