Interlude: Greg's not-so-glorious adventure. Greg: Fearless leader, IG Tanker Bill: IG Tanker, Friend of Greg. Clank: Scruffy Tech Adept, good with locks. Feisty: Ratling Sniper/Food Critic Doc: The jaded Medic they dragged along for good luck. Hound: Loyal Ogryn muscle. He has the biggest loot bag. Double Down: IG Sergeant with a gambling problem and a gambling debt problem. McStabby: Probably Insane. He has a knife, he always has a knife. No one invited him. How did he get here? Greg looked around at the gathered individuals. "Welcome everyone to our little excursion team. Thanks for being here. You all know me but let me make some quick introductions." Greg raised a hand and slapped Bill on the shoulder. "This here is my buddy, Bill, he's gonna drive the truck while I navigate. We're both operators in the guard." "I still can't believe I let you talk me into this." Bill grumbled. Greg moved over and pointed to the lanky figure clad in a red robe who was fidgeting in place. "This here is Clank, a local Tech Adept. He's great with locks, repairs, and the like." Clank looked up and muttered. "Yes, hello. Um, my name is actually Claren-" "Anyway! Next, we have our spotter, sharpshooter, and local gourmand, Feisty." Greg pressed on. "I'm only coming along to loot the pantries." The squat woman declared while leaning against the wall with a long rifle. "This here is Doc! He's a swell guy. Great with stitches. Just in case we run into anything spicy he can help patch us up." Greg declared giving Doc a smack on the back that sent him into a small coughing fit. "Oh. Me next! Me Hound!" the largest figure in the group introduced himself. "Indeed! This is Hound. The big guy is an Ogryn from the guard. He's in the same unit as Double Down here, who's a Sergeant in the guard." Greg finished with a flourish. "I'm here for the thrones. You said you had a prime target that was ripe for a little looting?" Double Down asked as he took a slow drag from a Lho stick. "I do indeed. We can discuss it on the way. Everyone in the truck." "Where'd you even get this thing?" Feisty asked as she hopped into the back of the military-style truck. Bill slipped into the driver's seat as everyone positioned themselves in the back. Digging the key out of a pocket and sliding it into place in the dash. "This thing is ancient." Bill complained as he shook his head. With a bit of coaxing the engine rumbled to life belching a small cloud of smoke from the exhaust. With a creak, Bill put it in gear and the vehicle rolled down the road headed into the deeper parts of the hive. "Right! We're heading for one of the upper spires. Not entirely sure what happened to the noble family but their estate has been abandoned in a hurry. No one has touched it since the siege. The main reason for that is it is a little close to the main spire that is currently, uh, turning into a tree." Greg admitted before he held up a finger "But! I have a route of lifts that are all still working that will get us close. Quick in and out." Greg tapped the dataslate at his side with a wry confident smile. "Um… didn't you forget to introduce someone?" Clank asked, pointing to a hooded figure sitting in the back of the truck. Greg and half the other people all jump "Holy Throne!? Who the… wait… is that McStabby?" Greg looked around with a confused and incredulous expression. "Any of you guys invite him?" He pointed with a thumb towards the figure. "No." was the resounding reply. "I am the knife, the blade is myself. I cut." Whispered McStabby. "Ahhh…" Greg hesitated and cleared his throat, "Right, that's McStabby, a local legend. For those not in the know he's an expert bladesman, when he has a knife in hand he's downright spooky, and he always has a knife. He's welcome to join us or do whatever. Now, we're planning an even split of the final value of the sellable loot. However, individuals can choose to retain specific items rather than sell them. First come first serve. No infighting there will be plenty for everyone. I know some of you are looking for more niche or specific things." Greg looked at Feisty and Clank as he said the last part. "Good with me." Double Down said with a nod. Everyone seemed fine with that split. "Excellent. Hound will help port any of the heavier items we might find. Now my plan is to pool valuables together near the exit and then take what we can carry of the most valuable options. Depending on time we might make two trips but the truck only has so much space." Greg admitted with a shrug. Double Down nodded. "That's a good idea. Now for those of you new to this sort of activity. If it's got the pointed star or looks chaos-tainted don't touch it, don't even look at it for too long. Keep your wits about you and your weapons close at hand, there are still mutants and worse in the city. What we're doing is off the books, with permission granted, but if we call for help our gains are forfeit." The road got a bit rougher as the truck's tires rolled over the melted ground along the main road melted by the Mechanicus's terrible Ordinatus weapon. It did make for a nice straight away that expedited their trip into the city. The evacuation was still underway but the city was effectively under curfew and martial law. Bill pulled off the main route and continued deeper into the mess of ferrocrete and steel. The main spire loomed above creaking as the giant roots that were spiraling around it from below continued to creep upwards. They could even see one of the giant roots as Bill pulled to a stop. "We're here!" he called back. "Alright! Come along, everyone." Greg hopped out and approached one of the closed shutters and took out the dataslate to double check before he nodded at Clank who easily opened the lock with a set of fine picks. Greg hoisted the shutter and waved everyone in. "Throne, this place is creepy when it's this empty," Doc muttered as he squinted into the gloom. "Most of the lights are out too." "The building still has some power." Clank confirmed with a quick check with a wall panel. Greg flicked on a flashlight. "This way everyone. We are using the freight elevator." They found the elevator just fine, however when they called it down the only thing of note in the elevator cabin was the floor had a very large red-brown stain in the center of the cabin with streaks leading towards the exit. "Just some dried blood, a week old or so." Doc says as he steps in getting odd looks from some of the others. "No one or servitor has been by to clean. I imagine many areas are quite messy after all the riots." Double Down and Hound got in and let Greg pick the level they needed to head to. "Right, we're going all the way up. Transfer to another elevator and do the same twice more and then we'll reach the upper level." Feisty pulled out a piece of chalk and drew a big circle on the outside of the door when they reached the top. "This will make finding our way back easier. Old miner's trick." She explained flipping the stick as she left smaller marks at all the junctions they passed. "We're in a hive, not a cave." Bill replied with a small snort. Feisty shrugged. "Might as well be the same thing given how unfamiliar we all are with the area." "That's fair," Bill admitted as they continued their trek upwards. Between the second and third of the elevator legs, they came across the first corpse, or rather corpses. A dozen or so had been stung up on poles and spikes to be burned. The bodies were in a courtyard, a level below that they could see down into. "Movement." Feisty whispered, bringing their group to a halt. "Where?" Greg asked as he readied his las rifle. "Across from us on the parallel walkway. At least two figures." She said as she lifted her rifle and peeked through the scope. "I think they saw us." Greg frowned, "Leave them, let's go, the other lift isn't too far. If they follow, we can deal with them." They hustled to the third lift and once again found the inside absolutely painted with dried blood, only this time it was smeared on the walls and ceiling in large streaks. "Charming." Doc muttered as he glanced around before looking up. The emergency hatch on the roof of the elevator was open and also smeared with blood. "Doc, this is way too much blood for just one person right?" Bill asked. "Oh yeah. At least a couple. You have more blood than you think but this is a lot." He replied. Greg went to hit the button but stopped and instead used the barrel of his rifle to tap the bloody button for the floor they needed to reach. "Right. Once we get to the top we need to go up two levels and then an easy twenty-minute walk to the estate. Can't miss it, it takes up practically the entire Southern portion of this spire on this level." Thankfully the lighting on this level was still working. Making the trek up the stairs far less treacherous. Hound accidentally bumped his head on a low-hanging pipe on the stairs hard enough that it echoed through the stairwell making everyone but McStabby jump. "Ops. Sorry." "It's alright, Hound, just be careful, yeah?" Double Down said gently. They got to the right level and a few minutes into the walk Feisty frowned. "Do any of you hear that?" "Hear what?" Greg asked as they moved forward. "I don't hear anything." Double Down said. "I don't hear anything either." Clank offered. "Exactly. I don't hear anything." Feisty pointed out. The group slowed and listened. It was true all the sounds that they naturally tuned out from a hive were absent. It was just silent. "Well, that's freaky. None of the pumps are working on this level?" Bill whispered. "Not sure. Let's keep moving. We're nearly there" Greg said as they all unconsciously sped up their steps. The entrance to the estate had once been an ornate rod iron gate. Half of it still stood, the other half had been rent asunder bent out of shape and removed from its moorings. "Well, at least we don't have to worry about getting the gate open." Greg said with a chuckle trying to lighten the mood. The contrast between the outside and the area occupied by the estate was like night and day. Outside was the typical hive metal form and function favored with some Imperial aesthetics. The inside of the estate was lavish and ornate. A sprawling garden surrounded the space and a string of marble paving stones led up to the main door of the mansion. "Not familiar with this house. They've got an interesting sense of taste." Double Down admitted with a shrug. "Hehe, statue go pee," Hound said pointing at one of the garden fountains. "Clank, come get the front door open." Greg called out as they got to the large wood-embossed double doors. Clank plugged his dataslate into a port on one of the walls and then frowned. "Uhh… It's not locked?" "Didn't even lock the door when they left?" Greg shook his head. "Don't think it would have mattered to whoever ruined their gate." Feisty pointed out. Greg stepped up and gave the doors a shove and much to everyone's surprise they swung open smoothly, revealing the dark inside of the mansion's main foyer. "Alright. This will work as the drop area. We can split into smaller groups. Keep in vox contact. Bring back items that stick out every hour or so. Fifteen-minute check-ins." Greg ordered as the group split into two. "I'd like to find the pantry first." Feisty said as Double Down, Hound, and Doc joined her. Greg looked over at Bill, Clank, and McStabby. "Right. We're gonna try and find the vault. If we're lucky it's open like the front door. If not we'll see if we can crack it." The main group moved further into the mansion and passed large portraits hung on the walls depicting various nobles. "Those worth anything?" Bill asked. "Worth more to the individual that had them painted or their house. Not worth the trouble trying to find a buyer." Greg shook his head, "There should be far more valuable and portable things." Clank tried to flick a switch on the wall and frowned when nothing happened. "Seems like power's out. That's odd. Estates usually have backups and secondary power systems." "Well, if we stumble on them, we can try to turn them on. For now, let's go room by room." Greg suggested. Clank and Bill both nodded in agreement but when they turned around McStabby was nowhere to be seen. "Err… Let's go, McStabby can handle himself." Greg said with more confidence than he felt. Greg found a small dining room and picked up a small ornate butter knife. "Heh I wonder if McStabby would ?" "You offer me a knife?" A voice spoke from just behind him making Greg jump. "Throne! Frak! Don't sneak up on a guy like that, yeah… here, got you a knife." Greg said as he offered it. McStabby reached out and picked the item up, examining it closely. "A knife that does not cut but spreads, rounded at the edges, yet still a knife. A sign that all may find purpose regardless of their origin or faults. You have my thanks, and favor." He said reverently as he pocketed the butter knife. "You're welcome?" Greg said as he rubbed the back of his head, "Help yourself to more cutlery if it strikes your fancy." After a few minutes of searching Bill would call out to Greg "Greg, I think I found an office or a study. It looks promising." Greg made his way over and peeked inside, "Nice!" He looked around at the large bookshelves covering several of the walls. He spotted a large desk with cluttered documents on top and around it some were even strewn across the floor. Greg started to riffle through the desk. He pulled out anything shiny or valuable even as Clank and Bill came over to help. "This is a nice pen." Clank said, hesitating slightly before pocketing it. He peeked at some of the documents he frowned and skimmed a few more. "Greg… Greg!" Clank called out. "What?" Greg grumbled as he was looking for hidden compartments under the desk. "I think I found a map of the estate. There are a couple of hidden or discreet rooms and two locations that could house a vault." Clank explained as he unrolled more of the map. "Nice! Where was that at?" Greg asked. "Bottom drawer in the desk. In a case." Clank replied. "Shame they didn't leave any jewelry, whatever used to be in this side got cleaned out." Bill said as he found mostly empty drawers. "Well, let's go find the vault!" Greg said with a pleased tone. "This is team one checking in. Team two, what's your status?" —--------------------------------------------- Team two had gone straight to the kitchens following Feisty's nose. They eventually ended up in front of a large door marked as the pantry. "Hell yeah, boys we found it. Hound get the lock off please?" Double Down asked politely. Hound leaned down to squint at the lock on the door before he simply yanked the door handle out lock and all. "Got lock." He said proudly. Double Down was more interested in the adjacent wine cellar. "Feisty, any idea which of those bottles is worth the most?" He asked while he stroked his chin. The small woman meandered over and after looking up and down a few of the rows she pulled a dozen bottles out. "Four of these are for me, high-end cooking wines, the others are the most valuable and oldest bottles here." "Thanks." Double Down carefully started to pack the bottles into an empty crate as Feisty walked into the pantry. "You know garlic is good for your health." Doc said as he picked up a few fresh cloves and gave them a sniff. "Hound, grab that huge wheel of cheese!" Feisty cried excitedly. "You're taking cheese?" Double Down asked with a raised eyebrow. "That wheel of cheese is stamped, it's worth more than a ground car." Feisty told him as she liberally looted the spice rack. "I stand corrected." Double Down was examining some of the tools in the kitchen, "What about this knife set or some of the silverware?" "Silverware is valuable and easy to pawn. Grab it, but make sure it's real first" Feisty shot back. Double Down was checking them when he noticed McStabby was suddenly right next to him, watching as he rifled through the cutlery. "Uhh…" He slid the block of knives over to McStabby. McStabby pulled one out and examined it closely before he nodded, "This knife worked well, its owner cared for it, a good knife. My Thanks." "No problem. Any idea which of these is real silver?" Double Down asked the strange man. When McStabby pointed at the leftmost set he blinked in surprise but shrugged it off and poured the entire set into a small bag. "This is team one checking in. Team two, what's your status?" The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "This is team two, we found the kitchen and are currently looting it. We got a nice haul." Double Down replied. "Alright, finish up and bring it all back to the rendezvous spot. We found a map of the estate and two possible vaults. I want us all together for these just in case." Greg replied. "Will do. Team two out." Double Down replied. "Oh fuck yeah! Truffles!" Feisty exclaimed from the pantry. "I'm going to take some of this tumeric, it's good for swelling," Doc muttered as he stuffed his pockets. —-------------------------------------------------------- Greg waited at the entrance as team two came back loaded up with a crate of wine, a cheese wheel, and various other boxes and bags. "You guys went ham. Heh, ham." Feisty nodded as she put down her haul. "Half of this is my share, the rest are the valuables from the kitchen, mostly the wine, silver, and a few trinkets." "Now, you said something about a vault?" Double Down asked eagerly. Greg nodded, "Clank will lead the way." Clank took point and led them through the dark corridors until eventually, they stopped in front of an unmarked wall. Clank checked the map and then frowned,"It's supposed to be here," he felt along the wall until he noticed a thin seam, reached out to the nearby sconce, and yanked it downwards activating the camouflage mechanism. There was a resounding clunk and then the wall swung open like a door revealing the hidden space. "Looks was the armory." Double Down said as he panned his flashlight around. "They cleared out a lot. No heavy weapons left, only a few stub and las rifles, and a bunch of sidearms." Bill said as he looked down at the empty racks and shelves which would have held larger guns and armor was barren. Loose autogun rounds and power packs had spilled on the floor. "Some of the pistols they left have some value." Double Down said as he hefted one of the empty weapon cases and began pulling it out. "A Widower is nice if we can find a buyer, a Carnodon, and a Fate Bringer. Heh, even an old Dueling Las." Clank gasped as he pulled something out of a forgotten corner. "They left this?!" "What'd you find, Clank?" Greg asked as he peered over to look. "This is a Lifter, an Archeotech device! It's a highly sophisticated suspensor." Clank said with trembling hands. Official source is novel_fіre.net "You sure? Just looks like some kind of brace to me." Greg admitted. "While it's Archeotech, who is gonna buy it? Moving that stuff is asking for a visit from the Cog Boys." Double Down said, shaking his head. "Maybe we can give the Archeotech to the Mechanicus and they might give us a finder's fee?" Clank suggested. "Actually… I heard a rumor from the upper hives about one of the high-ranking Mechanicus nobles. I might know who would and could buy that, the pistols too, and afford both easily. Even met her briefly." Greg said as the gears turned in his head. "Pack up the most valuable pistols, their magazines or charge packs, and as much ammo as you can bring. Clank you can just wear that if you want. You don't want to keep it?" Greg inquired. Clank looked horrified "Are you kidding if I kept this and they found out it was stolen they'd skin me alive! Though I will wear it for now." He said as he strapped on the device. "You seriously think you can move that?" Double Down asked Greg. "I do." Greg said with a nod as they had Double Down and Hound take the loot case back to the entrance while Greg nabbed a nice Steel Burner las-pistol some poor fool had kicked under a table and strapped it to his hip. None of them commented as McStabby seemed to take every single knife he could find from the armory and secret them away somewhere. "Take what you want but we should go look for the second vault in five." Greg called out. "Think they either took a lot of ordinance with them? There weren't signs of combat in the entrance or the parts we've poked around aside from the front gate." Feisty asked while they waited for Double Down and Hound to get back. "Not sure. Hopefully the vault isn't as cleared out." Greg said with a shrug. "I am worried we might need to get the power on to access the vault." Clank said as he carried a nice-looking las carbine with some mods over to one of the weapon benches and gave it a sling for him to carry around. "Well, if we do, can you figure out where we can do that?" Greg asked, looking expectant. "I do but it's down in that mess of a basement." Clank replied with a sigh. "Some lighting would help." Double Down said as he came back. The team moved towards the second location. When they arrived they found the vault door wasn't hidden like the armory, but visible. It even had ornate carvings worked into the outside. "Someone was confident in their vault." Feisty commented with a snort. Clank took a few minutes to inspect it before he sighed, "Yeah, no dice. We need power to open this. " he said, shaking his head. "Alright. No point complaining, let's get it done. Where to, Clank?" Greg asked as he looked left and right. "This way. There should be a stairwell we'll go down and if I find the breakers or generator we should be able to get power at least for a little while." Clank said as he led the group down through the mansion. As they arrived at the stairs a rank smell assaulted their senses. "That stinks." Bill said, wrinkling his nose. "Smells like someone or something died down there." Feisty muttered gruffly. "Ehh, I've smelled worse." Greg said as he wrapped a cloth over the lower half of his face. "Come on, the sooner we go down the sooner we can get back to looting." Clank put on a small mask and descended the stairs, his flashlight leading the way foward. He paused at each intersection as he walked through the small maze of machines until he finally found the one he was looking for. "This is it, looks fine, but give me a few minutes." Clank said as he started to inspect the generator. "Anyone spot the source of the stink?" Double Down asked though they hadn't noticed anything amiss in the dark. "I've got it!" Clank declared as he flipped the large lever and the generator growled to life. Moments later the lights flickered on above them illuminating the space in full. "What the fuck?!" Feisty exclaimed as she peered down the hallway with a look of horror. The rest moved over to look down the hall. At the end of it rested the remains of what they assumed might have been a person, they had been pinned to the wall with an ornate jeweled knife and some industrial bolts in the center of an elaborate ritual circle painted in blood. "That man is… very dead," Doc commented with a wince. "How did we miss that earlier?" Bill asked in horror as they had walked fairly close to that spot on their way to the generator. "That looks bad. Poor bastard." Greg said as he took a few steps closer to make out a few details. The corpse was missing its limbs and head, leaving only the torso behind with visible runes carved into the chest. Greg was eyeing the ornate knife in its chest when a hand grabbed his shoulder. "That knife… is a bad knife. Do not touch it." McStabby hissed wearily. Greg shook his head and nodded, "You're right let's get back to the vault and get the hell out of here." No one complained as they walked briskly back the way they came, the paths now illuminated with several having obscene markings painted on them with blood. When they went back up the stairs the markings had appeared on some of the walls and ceiling. There were several ominous smears on the floor outside of the vault when they returned that they somehow had failed to notice earlier. Clank glanced at Greg who nodded and he got to work on the mechanism to open it. "Huh, that's odd." "What?" Greg asked as his head snapped around. "The key code to open the vault is already here. I don't even need to do a bypass." Clank explained as he typed in a few commands and nodded. "I can open it." "Damn, that doesn't bode well. The crazy cultists might have looted it already." Double Down grumbled as he clicked his tongue. Greg had everyone get ready before he had Clank activate the mechanism. There were several loud thunks as pinions shifted and gears turned. Then the door to the vault opened slowly. The interior dark before the lights closest to their group flicked on, then the next set of lights in a series flicked on one by one. The center of the cult had been converted into a massive ritual circle on the floor where all the severed body parts from the corpse and several others had been arranged. As they watched the figure in the center of the circle sat up and slowly rose to its feet. Red eyes of a servitor stared back at them. Its skin had strange needles inserted all over its body along with obscene sigils carved directly into its flesh, its body was splattered with an obscene amount of blood. It lifted one arm which had large metal shears and flexed them menacingly. "Awww… fuck" Greg groaned as two more pairs of eyes appeared behind the first. "Warp-tainted servitors" Clank gasped out horrified. "Put it down!" Greg yelled as they opened fire on the abomination. The corrupted servitor charged forward, shrugging off most of the las fire. As it moved forward it hefted an arm that held an industrial gas-powered rivet gun. "Shit! Scatter!" Double Down called out as he dove for cover just in time for a salvo of rivets to punch a series of holes in the wall where he had been standing moments before. The bark of Feisty's rifle caused the creature to stagger, a hole punched into its shoulder leaking a dark mixture of oil and blood. "Shit! It's armored! Aim for the joints or the head if you can punch it!" She called out even as she backpedaled. Hound frowned and glared at the charging machine. Unslinging the large club from his back. "Get em, Hound!" Double Down called out. Hound swung down, his club connected with a clang that folded the lead servitor but failed to put it down fully. The shears came up and Hound blocked only for the shears to snap his beloved club in half. Hound looked down at the now stubby stick in his hand for a moment before he frowned and slammed its hilt into the head of the machine, denting it and impaling the handle halfway into its skull. The servitor crumpled but even as the first fell the other two fired a pair of bolts, hitting Hound in the arm and torso making him yelp as his flack armor blunted but failed to stop the impacts entirely. "Kill! Kill! Kill!" The Servitors chanted as they pressed forward. "We need to focus fire! Target the one on the right!" Greg called out. Clamp shouldered his new carbine and let loose a burst that peppered the servitor, blowing chunks of skin and a few of the needles off which seemed to make it jerk and stagger briefly. Bill opened fire, aiming for the creature's knees, his shots leaving a few smoking holes behind. Greg drew the pistol he had snagged from the armory and took a brief second to carefully aim. Doc went to fire his rifle and unfortunately the fine piece of Imperial guard weaponry known for its reliability somehow jammed. Double Down placed a burst of shots into the torso as the servitor closed on Greg. Another well-placed shot from Feisty slowed it just enough for Greg to land a solid headshot and blow out the back of its skull. The third cursed servitor swung wildly and the shears slammed into Clank with enough force to smash him through a nearby stained glass window. It started firing bolts that sent the group scrambling for cover. McStabby stepped up, pulling a pair of knives out as he moved into melee with the servitor. Ducking its swing as he repaid the strike by burying two knives in its shoulder joints. McStabby left the knives there and produced two more. The next few moments were a hectic exchange with McStabby dodging savage blows by a hair's breadth and striking out at the corrupted machine with his blades. He eventually produced a small revving chain knife that he used to perfectly catch the servitor in the neck and sever its head from its body. As the third and last servitor fell McStabby stood there panting. "That was too fracking close" Feisty hissed. "Clank!" Greg ran to the window only to stop as he watched Clank floating slowly upwards. Clank coughed out a small mouthful of blood. "Lifter… works" He wheezed as he slowly floated back through the window and then slumped against the wall as Doc ran over to check him out. "Oh, you've definitely broken a rib, at least one." Doc said after a minute. "Fraking feels like it." Clank replied with a cringe. Greg let Doc handle Clank and Hound's wounds. Meanwhile, he peeked into the vault with his rifle shouldered as he scanned for any lingering threats. "Vault looks clear. Well… no more hostiles. Damn there is some stuff still in here but half of it we don't dare touch in case it is… corrupted." Greg lowered his rifle and grumbled as he looked over the corners of the vault away from the horrible ritual circle. "Yeah, not touching anything with that crap on it." Double Down seconded. "The Sisters, the Inquisition, or the Ecclesiarchy find out about that shit and you get a bolt round between the eyes." He muttered, shaking his head and making the sign of the Aquila. Feisty remained outside, acting as overwatch as McStabby retrieved his knives. Bill pragmatically shot each of the downed servitors in the head, "Just in case" He said when the others gave him odd looks. "Thing broke my stick," Hound said with a whine. "We'll get you a new metal stick, Hound." Double Down said placatingly as he helped Greg look around the vault. "Anything Greg?" "A small pouch of gems. Some jewelry but a lot of this stuff is either extremely niche or unique, not the kind of stuff we want to try and pawn. It'd get traced back to us in a heartbeat and half the stuff I might consider has blood runes on it. It looks like they did manage to take a bunch of their soluble assets with them." Greg shook his head. "This box of jewelry is a set of rad counters." Double Down snatched the box up. "Yeah, nothing like a relic or something we can easily move or liquidate in here. A shame." Double Down grabbed a few gold-plated combs before grabbing a nice heavy candlestick holder the length of his forearm. "Hound, I found you a new shiny stick!" Hound took the candlestick and swung it a few times before he gave a happy nod "Good stick!" "Guys… not to alarm you but I think we need to go." Doc called out as he stared down at the defeated servitors. Everyone paused and turned to stare. The servitors were letting out a strange black smoke that seemed to be flowing off back towards the stairs. Greg turned and watched as the candles around the ritual circle in the vault suddenly lit themselves. Obvious warp fuckery was more than enough for Greg, "Yup! Pack it up, everyone. We are leaving! Clank, close the vault if you can, please!" They beat a hasty retreat to the entrance of the manor. Feisty had procured a silver rolling cart which they had loaded up most of the food and some of the loot that didn't fit in the sack Hound was carrying or their personal bags. Horrific cackling and howls echoed from the manse as they made their way out. The mansion suddenly burst into flames as they made it to the gates. Greg looked back and spotted a figure with a headless conical torso with two long arms that ended in stumps that were dotted with sharp teeth and flicking tongues belching out smoke as it jumped around the insides of the mansion. The sight of the creature made Greg's mind ache. Their return trip was far more frantic and treacherous as they had to fight off two small packs of crazed but thankfully poorly armed cultists on their way to the first elevator. "I think one of the cultists stabbed me in my ass with something" Greg complained. They were nearly in the clear when they got out of the second elevator and were about to get into the last one when the power went out and the lift refused to function. "Powers out… Vox too." Greg said as he checked his gear and frowned. Even Clank's dataslate had turned off. "What does this mean for us?" Feisty asked, "Do we wait or what?" "Unfortunately… This means we have to take the stairs." Greg said with a groan. "How many floors did this lift cover?" Bill asked. "A little under two hundred." Greg replied. "Oh, this is going to suck worse than Guard PT." Double Down said as he looked around at everyone loaded down with their loot. "I hate PT," Feisty whined. The only one not bothered by the stairs was Hound who bore the heaviest items with an easy smile.