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[color=007236]Emphasis on Lucius' prior musings about the labrinthine nature of Space Hulks was added as he and his... "ally"... continued to wander through its hallways. Really, the additional pair of footsteps hardly improved the isolation - by now, he'd realised that the man actually lacked any form of dedication to Chaos on his person, even the eight-pointed star that was common to most, though Lucius supposed that made sense if he was only an occasional visitor to the Boutique before its liftoff - and the inherent tension involved in wandering through a place that realistically might kill you at any time didn't help either. He imagined after his initial encounter with those freakish xeno-mutants that they'd rather ambush him than give him another chance to bring forth cultists from nowhere.

And speaking of both those things, it seemed to Lucius that he could hear noise coming from somewhere up ahead. Footsteps and voices both, if he wasn't mistaken. That said, he paused his walking, and set a hand upon whatever-his-face-was' head to stop his movement too.

'Now look,' he said gruffly, 'whoever we come across up ahead, I don't want you saying a word. Not a word, not unless I give you permission, and then not a word beyond what I tell you to say, got that?'

The peon nodded, rapidly at first, and then more slowly as he glanced to one side, halting as he espied a nearby doorway. 'Uh... a-actually, maybe, my lord master sire,' he started rather pathetically, 'perhaps we should make sure they are allies, you know, b-before I, being somewhat less [i]trustworthy[/i] than your almighty self, am revealed to these...'

'That is a good way to get separated from me, a good way to get yourself killed, and a good way to show off your cowardice,' Lucius muttered. Nonetheless, the peon continued to glance toward said doorway, and ultimately, it wasn't as though Lucius cared overly much about his life. 'Fine, be a fool on your lonesome for the time being,' he eventually said with a roll of his eyes, removing his hand from the idiot's head and walking away as, with a sigh of what he assumed was relief, the man slipped through the doorway, moving it closed so that just a sliver of a gap was left between door and doorway. He'd handle whatever was being thrown at him alone, then. It wasn't like the mutant telepath could help with such a thing, at any rate.[/color]

[color=f08080]Gaduk stands with his squad while they hash out what their plans are. The sergeant discussing their path with the trooper with the auspex scanner. Ga'duk grinds his boot on the floor brushing the dust away revealing the bare steel, he grumbles to himself so low that nobody notices that he was actually speaking, "Needs a gud mop" but he pushes the thought from his mind, he is supposed to be ready to fight. While the sergeant continues arguing with the auspex scanner results Ga'duk hangs his axe on his belt and puts his fist into the grenade launcher gauntlet and readies to blast the enemy if they find any.

The trooper with the scanner shouts "contact left!" and each of the troopers swivel and a half dozen hell-guns point down the corridor towards the blip. Ga'duk on the other hand turns and points his gauntlet down the opposite hallway which happened to be at the rest of his squad, "Oh, uh.. lef'" he mumbles and turns around facing the correct way. the nervous troopers stare down the corridor waiting for some slavering monstrosity to turn the corner and try to eat them. The sergeant looks down at the auspex, "it seems to have stopped... Ga'duk!" he shouts 

"Yeh?" Ga'duk replies

"go see what it is"

"Mmm-ok sarg" and Ga'duk stomps off down the corridor switching to his axe as it feels much more comfortable in his hand than the grenade launcher. He rounds the corner and takes a few steps before noticing Lucius. Ga'duk freezes analyzing the marine, however he does not connect the bulky man to his idealized perception of a space marine. [/color]

[color=007236]And it turned out what was being thrown at him was a great brute of a creature. An Ogryn, if he recalled correctly. Dense creatures, inordinately strong beyond even most Astartes, but too stupid to put that great strength to any strategic use. And, well, they rarely came without back-up. That said, if he could convince this thing to... well, if he could get on its good side, rather, he was sure it might be somewhat useful in convincing its allies not to slay him on sight.

'Greetings,' he began, slowly so the Ogryn understood him, but quietly enough that his nearby allies didn't overhear what he was saying. Not as slowly as he might talk to a complete idiot, but since Ogryns were generally complete idiots, he wouldn't want to overwhelm it in its first chat with him. Speaking of which, he'd just give him the simplest alias he had. 'My name is Thorn. I'm a Space Marine. Do you know what those are?'[/color]

[color=f08080] Ga'duk continued staring at the Marine even after he spoke, gears grinding in his mind. This 'Thorn' didn't look like a marine, he didn't even have the armor. He was big, and had some of the metal bits sticking out of his skin but so did Ga'duk and that didn't make him a marine either. The other problem was that he was simply told to go see what it was, talking wasn't part of his orders. He looked around anxiously in hopes that one of the guardsmen or the sergeant would come and rescue him from this intellectual dilemma. Part of him was quite excited however, if Thorn was indeed a space marine it means he would be talking to one which is about as close to the Emperor as he would ever get.

"Uh, I know 'em" he said simply, turned on his heel and taking a step before pausing conflicted with the seriousness of his dilemma "Th'rn yous should come talk to da sarge" he said slowly mimicking Thorn's slower speech "he da boss, an' would know what to do" but this was more of an admission that he had no idea what to do.[/color]

[color=007236]Lucius pursed his lips at the comment. Obviously, if he went out there first, he'd be shot almost immediately, whether or not the projectiles harmed him - the Black Carapace was marginally defensive in nature, but it was certainly no Power Armour. And on the other hand, this brute coming out before he did, telling his team that the person he'd discovered was no threat... well, it'd give him more time to sway them to his good side, anyway, even if they got the wrong impression about him. Overall, then, the grunt should go round the corner first.

'Of course,' Lucius offered, not smiling but giving the impression of a smile in his voice, at least as best he could. 'Please, lead the way to your sergeant. Being attacked immediately would be bad for me, after all.' Once the Ogryn started moving, he'd follow on after it a meter or so back, holding off just long enough for the team to understand that they weren't threatened by him. Which is to say, he'd rather not need to be a threat to them, since that'd be fewer allies either way.[/color]

[color=f08080] Ga'duk nodded, seemed like things where going well. Sarge could figure out what to do with Thorn. "doh-kay" he said, almost cheerfully, and turned stomping off almost exactly the same way as he came. He wasnt paying attention to Thorn at all simply assuming that he was following. When he rounded the corner a lance of red light shot down the hallway and grazed Ga'duk's arm scorching the exposed flesh. He stopped sharply supprised at the damage, he glanced down at the coil of smoke and steam rolling from his arm as the sergeant shouts to hold fire, and one of the troopers shouts down the hallway "sorry big guy". 

"Ow.." mumbles Ga'duk, and he pauses while he tries to remember what he was coming back for. "oh! Sarge, dis is uh... Th-" he twists his face trying to remember the marine's name, and now entirely forgetting the las-gun burn to his arm. "Th'rn!" he shouts remembering. "He say he a Marine"[/color]

[color=007236]The tell-tale crack of a lasgun accompanied the grazing of the Ogryn's flesh by a brief beam of red light, giving Lucius pause to not keep following after the injured brute for a moment. It took a few moments for the Ogryn's squad to apologise, and for the "big guy" to recall why he'd been shot in the first place, but he eventually got it out. Now, considering that they were clearly on edge, it was perhaps not a good idea to simply stroll out from behind cover... though meekly edging into sight would also do the Astartes no good. He was trying to make a positive impression. So, perhaps a power walk, then. He was unarmoured, he was without ranged weapon, and they all knew he was there now, but he was nonetheless in control of the situation.

So, just quickly enough that his reveal would be reasonably paced, but not rapid enough to startle, he trodded toward, and then past the corner, at last turning to reveal his full figure to the squadron of guardsmen that this beast hailed from. And that was certainly a lot of guns.

'Greetings, Armsmen,' he once again stated, more directly than he had with the Ogryn. He wondered how many people he'd need to please before the day was out. But how much information to give them? Perhaps let them know which Legion he hailed from, to show off his generally taciturn nature to begin with, and give incentive for them to not ask much more than that? Yes, that seemed reasonable. Justify his lack of equipment, too, now that it came to mind. Half-truths, of course.

'I am Thorn, a Space Marine of the Dark Angels. I have been stranded upon this Hulk for some time, and though I have fought valiantly, the forces here have not been kindly. Most of my equipment is lost to me, and my armour is damaged beyond usability or repair, thus the need for the makeshift clothing you see. Shamed as I am for these losses, I am no less capable than I was before, and rest assured that nothing... malign, let us say... has tainted me, mind body or soul.'

Well, that last part was a straight untruth. His body was at least unaltered, but whilst he'd like to say his mind was intact, this was hardly true when his memories were literally in the hands of who knew what Chaos daemons. And as for his soul, well... Chaos corrupts. How much, he knew not, but he was not yet absolutely corrupted, so he had that going for him, at least. And it wasn't like they'd be able to tell at a glance, anyway.[/color]

[color=f08080] Ga'duk watched the exchange between his sergeant and the marine with interest. Namely because he was eager to know if Thorn was indeed a marine. The sergeant seemed skeptical which made Ga'duk uneasy. He was now sizing the marine up in case his sergeant decided Thorn was not to be trusted. Thorn was smaller than Ga'duk, but so was basically everyone, compared to his sergeant or the other guard Thorn was very broad and probably much stronger than he appeared. However, he seemed to have no weapons or armor so it would be a very one sided fight which made Ga'duk relax again, Thorn probably wasnt that much of a threat.

His sergeant asked a few questions, "Name, rank, serial number?" he asked because if Thorn was telling the truth such information would be easily called to mind and be rattled off without thought. Even Ga'duk got it right most of the time, and such data could be sent back and checked through imperial records though, it would take time. 

Ga'duk vaguely heard more of the discussion but a faint scratching sound pulled his attention away, he glanced around trying to determine its source but it seemed to be happening all around them. Even a couple of the other guardsmen started looking around noticing the sound. After only a few moments the sound was making him uneasy, like rats in the walls or something, "Uh.. Sarge? i t'ink der is a probl'm" He says interrupting whatever conversation was happening with Thorn.[/color]

[color=007236]Ah. Name and rank could be bluffed simply enough, but serial number might be problematic, unless he was suddenly gifted new memories from out of nowhere... or, unless he could trick the sergeant, perhaps?

'First of all, you lack the authority to request that information about me,' Lucius began, arms folded and voice clear as if to imply he knew what he was talking about. 'There are few outside the ranks of the Astartes who do, frankly speaking, and you are certainly not one of them. Secondly, you're asking the wrong individual. Processing of Space Marines is handled by our serfs, serial numbers included, and for reasons that I hope are obvious, they do not head out on missions alongside us.'

By now, of course, he'd noticed the scratching of what could only be alien claws against the ship's metal surfaces, and had entered a state of high alert. By the time he'd finished talking, he was already engrossed with looking around the corridor, and had both hands on the hilts of his weapons, ready to draw them at a moment's notice. 'As the Ogryn says,' he continued blandly after he'd said his bit, 'we have company. I suggest you ready your wea-'

The clatter of claws cascading off the ceiling above him was all the warning Lucius got of the Genestealer leaping down to bite into his skull, and yet it was all the warning he needed to, almost instinctively, draw and swing his sword one-handed, swiping it over his head whilst stepping backward in the same half-second. The xeno body landed before him, its head and thorax cleaved in twain, a bizarre four-armed creature of pale skin tone and solid black, semi-insectile eyes, though by now they had glazed over with the fog of death.

The sort of battle that warranted both weapons, then. Swiftly, he drew his combat knife as well, readying it for the inevitable horde of alien scum that would shortly surge over them all.[/color]
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