GuardsmanA young man is leaning over the control panel, hurriedly pulling levers and pressing worn buttons. He glances at the elevator, then looks askance at you, a flush slowly rising in his pale cheeks. Giving up, he removes his trembling hands from the panel and turns to you. "Your Shordlip/Shadylip— sorry! Your Lordship/Ladyship! Th-the lift. Th-there's n-no... power." The young man takes a breath. "The xenos — damaged the batteries. To restore the current — we have to turn something off. In the settlement. Anything. That's it."
GuardsmanJudging by the marks on the soldier's uniform, he has survived an encounter with the metal xenos. Who is to say which he found more terrifying: the sight of their iron claws, or the prospect of being an obstacle in your path?
YOU"I must have misheard. Are you suggesting that I scurry about the settlement like some sort of servant?"
Guardsman"Your L-Lordship/Ladyship!" The young man drops to his knees. "I w-would do it myself! I-I swear! But — they won't let me turn everything off. It'll take too long. They won't refuse you! Turn off the power to anything!"
GuardsmanYou see the sense in the young man's words. As much as you might dislike lording it over the common people, you alone have the right to disconnect any device inside the settlement.
YOU"I must have misheard. Are you suggesting that I scurry about the settlement like some sort of servant?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Eogunn, can't you solve our little problem?"
Eogunn"I do hope your question is rhetorical, Rogue Trader, or I will be most aggrieved. I am a conduit and a receptacle of the Motive Force, for so the Omnissiah has spoken." His mechadendrites latch onto the panel, directing power, accompanied by reverberant words of the First Galvanic Hymn.
end of branch
YOU"Pasqal, I believe this is a task for you."
PasqalThe Tech-Priest's visor flashes in the direction of the lift. "The assessment is flawed. The machine spirits are ravenous, and my functionality does not allow me to satiate them. The algorithm of action proposed by the layperson is correct: it is necessary to plunge the excess machines into a blissful slumber and redirect the currents of Motive Force to the repository circuit."
YOU"I must have misheard. Are you suggesting that I scurry about the settlement like some sort of servant?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Eogunn, can't you solve our little problem?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Pasqal, I believe this is a task for you."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Wait. I will shut down something in the settlement and return."
end of branch
EogunnEogunn smiles. "There is no need for that, esteemed colleague. Each of us sooner or later meets the limits of our functions, there is no shame in that. However, if the Rogue Trader will permit, I am willing to shoulder burdens that are beyond you."
PasqalPasqal's visor flashes scarlet, and a stricken binharic screech erupts from his vox. The Tech-Priest does not dignify the Manipulus with a reply.
YOU"I must have misheard. Are you suggesting that I scurry about the settlement like some sort of servant?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Eogunn, can't you solve our little problem?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Pasqal, I believe this is a task for you."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Wait. I will shut down something in the settlement and return."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Wait. I will shut down something in the settlement and return."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Eogunn, can't you solve our little problem?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Pasqal, I believe this is a task for you."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Wait. I will shut down something in the settlement and return."continues where this line first appears above