Wednesday 14 December 2011

Rogue Trader: A Coda: What Krawkin Did Next

So, having followed Lord-Captain Claudia Black to the Hive World of Piscinius IV, Krawkin managed to miss her by this much with a directed lance-strike, and scored a direct hit to the planet's ocean covering. As the Vegas dropped into the Warp, Krawkin had no leads and a very angry and confused Hive Governor to deal with. Negotiations with Quint made heavy reference to the accidental bombardment, and how it would be a shame for His Unconquerable Will to miss her target again. Cowed into peace through superior firepower, Governor Quint allowed a small landing party, including Krawkin, down to the surface to discuss the actions of Lady Black.

As per usual, the phrase "small landing party" was lost on the Captain, and he brought forth several shuttles, filled with the most ridiculously heavily-armed men he could muster. Heavy stubbers, plasma guns, even one with a missile launcher flowed from the holds and set up a perimeter around Krawkin. Quint knew, sadly, that Krawkin had him over a barrel with a gun to his head - and the Hive's. He offered as much help as he could, fearing retribution of the most powerful kind. He talked the Lord Captain through the events of Claudia's stay, Krawkin pushing for more and more detail. Eventually, he seemed to let up, and told Quint his version of the truth - Captain Black and her crew were, in fact, renegades from the Imperium, pirates and brigands, who would raid planets to steal their natural resources. Only Quint's superior cunning and paranoia had saved him from watching as the "Rogue" Rogue Trader strip-mined his planet for all it was worth.

Quint, who had suspected that Claudia was up to something, was both shocked and vilified - and redoubled his efforts to help Krawkin bring the Rebel Captain to justice, preferably at the end of a macrocannon shell. He even personally piloted Krawkin down to the spot they had visited - the psychoactive coral reef.

Krawkin took his own personal guard and away party - a Tech-Magos of some repute, several battle servitors, and a psyker. As they approached the coral, the psyker could feel its odd properties - leaving the sub fully suited up, Krawking and the psyker closed into the perfect sphere missing from the centre of the coral. As if in a trance, the psyker stripped off one of the suit's gauntlets, and touched his bare flesh to the coral, muttering a few invocations to the Warp and The Emperor. Krawkin watched in amazement as the coral formed shapes, faces, and limbs, before finally settling on the face of his quarry - Lord-Captain Black.

As Claudia found out at a later date, the coral "copies" small portions of the consciousness of those who enter - some small part of the Lord-Captain was still within the coral reef.

That small part managed to stick out a cheeky, coral "tongue" before Krawkin could crush it with his fresh prosthetic - a metal hand, of the finest craftsmanship money could buy, with a few built-in surprises. Working for many days, the psyker managed to find a way to follow the traces of Claudia as she traversed the Warp, much more reliably than their previous attempts - and set off, looking for a desert planet. Krawkin, heart full of faith and mind full of rage, swore he would get his revenge...

I let the players in on this little touch of OOC knowledge to show them that Krawkin was a proper stubborn bastard. They'll encounter the other rival Traders soon enough, but what started as a simple rivalry has become a full-blown vendetta on his part - and he'll stop at nothing to get his revenge.

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