The huge fin that hangs down below the rear of the ship has no floors or decks within it but the vast, cavernous space is dissected into an intricate three-dimensional maze by the machinery within and the cat walks, girders cables and ducting that connect it all together. Visibility is restricted in the fin by the great jumble of items mentioned above and also the moisture vaper and translucent gases that form a permanent cloud throughout the whole area, limiting vision to a few hundred feet at best.

What is actually going on here is confused, there is sporadic laser fire from a number of different locations and troops moving here and there with no apparent direction or leadership, each squat, or in some cases, individuals seeming to be acting independently. On a walkway below, two units can be seen struggling to pass each other in opposite directions, both units in a hurry, over to the left two men fire reputedly into the mist while laz shots vaporise tiny craters in the panel they are using as protection and a substantial explosion echoes up from deep below.
.

 By comparison to the usual armament of the shipboard defence teams - shotguns, slug-thrower pistols, lasguns and suchlike (with more exotic arms limited to only the most elite forces), Jak's ornately manufactured bolt gun and resilient armour represent a considerable force multiplier all on their own, and it's more or less assured that wherever his presence is made to be felt, he'll change the state of affairs.

 So it's perhaps something of a surprise to anyone who doesn't know him that his first action upon arriving is to take up a position at the very top of the fin looking down and to signal anyone in his vicinity with a powerful vox-caster to join him, whereupon he spends a few minutes connecting himself to the comm system and reaching out to the soldiers and ship-crew below, co-opting speakers, servitors and comm-beads as necessary as he starts to try and gather information about the shape of the battle.

 ---

Using my augmetic brain and any sensors and comms I can pick up to try and make sense of the fight down there, so we can deliver reinforcements to needed locations.
 Like other PCs (hint, hint).

As the elevator opens onto the auspex fin, Gregory has his helmet down and the air flowing. He's already consulted the disposition of the fin's interior on the way down, and his plan is simple - rally all nearby forces and ensure repairs to the auspices are completed. Then he notices the sound of boltgun fire from above; clearly officer grade material, and he keys up his microbead.

++Asgard on the scene. Master Enginseer, I'm heading over to your location. Are there any other arrivals inbound?++

Saying so, he signals to the others to follow him over to Tesla's location. As it happens, his command squad DOES have someone who manpacks a voxcaster everywhere she goes; Kyria Gerhart his personal signaller.

++Oh bother, this isn't where I parked my gun-cutter. Vormav is on deck heading your way. It's a fair mess down here. Any idea where the actual enemy is?++

Vormav stays low trying to avoid being accidentally fired upon but the weapon mounted to his shoulder hums with pent up energy and he is keeping an eye out with pistols. If he comes across any voidsmen he will flag them down and try to get a sit-rep.

++You're here too, Vormav? We should probably mob up, then begin steadily re-establishing control of the place. Could you round up any armsmen you find along the way? We're headed toward the top of the fin to meet up with Enginseer Tesla.++

Gregory, Vormav and Scarlet meet Jak on an unloading platform by a freight elevator near the top of the fin, there are already twenty or so Tec Priests here that Jak has organised into a perimeter defence and Gregory and Vormav have rounded up about fifty assorted ship troops.

By now they have realised that they are fighting the missing unregistered people from the ships bilges though they are now better equipped with and
I assume Scarlet is here, if not please just ignore that reference.
.

After greeting Jak, Gregory begins organizing the men they've found into a security detail to supplement the enginseer prime's forces.

"Seems like we'll need to take the fight to them, but our top priority is probably fixing the auspex fin. In that scenario, I think we should leave some of our people here as a secure staging area while the rest of us escort the cogb... I mean, techpriests out and defend them while they perform their holy duties. What do you think?"

The question is directed at everyone around him.

"I've never liked the idea of these people being allowed to thrive aboard our vessel. Like you say, establish a perimeter up here so that none escape. Cogheads can tell us what the priority objectives are. But I expect any part of the fin being actively torn apart is going to be a set back. So we shoot anyone else we see on the way there."

He steps aside momentarily ++Mr. Church I've found your missing people. By the Emperor we will be having words about this later.++

"Enginseer'" he pronounces the prime as a clicking of his tongue "Point the way."

Scarlet grimaces as she pops a tendon in her neck a bit, her blind left eye glowing blue as she tapped into the warp, which was easily visible through the faceplate of the armour, a transparent field of blue-tinted force surrounding her as she glances to Gregory. "I agree, yes, are we going to leave any of them alive? or just shoot to kill," she asks, gripping her staff firmly as she keeps her breathing steady.

---

Casting Telekinetic Shield: Unfettered, 3 AP To All Locations.
04:55, Today: Scarlet rolled 35 -- 4 degrees of success using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 77.  Focus Power Telekinetic Shield (Willpower).
This message was last edited by the player at 13:01, Thu 16 Feb 2023.

"Let's try to take them alive. Try. Not going to get anyone killed just to save a traitor's skin."

"Why? If I had had my way every one of these would have been vented into space or sold off as scullions to another ship. I'm sure enough will be disabled by their wounds that they can answer questions." Vormav was clearly fairly off put by this whole state of affairs. Addressing the state of the undocumented population was literally the first thing he complained about after taking command of the ship's civil functions.

 There are half a dozen members of the Cult Guard standing at the back of Explorator Tesla (the small handful of truly elite forces of the Cult - the two maniples of Hypaspists and the four Contubernium of Classiarii - are assigned to secure other sacred sites), a half-squad of the Cult Guard (five armed with Merrovech-pattern lasguns and grenades, one holding a Voss-pattern grenade launcher) accompanied by a lay priest (carrying a Lascutter), all wearing fairly good light flak-pattern armour or its equivalent.

 Jak himself, when the group starts to arrive still seems to be wrestling with the 'comm channels, announcing to the Archmilitant when Gregory addresses him "Delay is inexcusable, but I have been unable to separate loyalist from insurgent forces by comm alone. Our highest priority must, in these circumstances be the targeting and active sensor arrays. All other concerns are secondary."

"I'm just saying that because I brought down a breacher squad loaded with your riot control munitions to capture some xenos and if there aren't any xenos in sight, I might as well let these rioters have it. At least we know your gas rounds will work on them. As for the rest... kill them all, the Emperor will know his own."

In response to Jak's statement:

"Sounds like we have a plan, then. Are both those sites close together or will we need to split up? I don't like splitting up but needs must when the devil drives."

 "Wait!" Jak declares, indicating the lay priest and one of the tech-guard, who step forwards and assist him in unrolling a lengthy sheet of what looks to be purity-seal-embossed parchment. One of the servo-skulls floats over, then another and then a third, each projecting a small hololithic display for a fraction of a second then another - botching together an ersatz tactical display while Jak, with a smooth hand outlines a side-view of the fin in general form and fills in major tactical objectives, managing a basic map in mere moments.

 Eight - and a flickering ninth - groups of red-outlined 'insurgents' start to appear over the map at specific choke points, with one additional larger group (as many as fifty-strong to the one-to-two-dozen of the others) occupying a major cogitator node which is flagged in gold.

 Six groups marked with Aquila sigils appear on the map, along with two additional groups in strobing yellow - all but one of the twenty-strong squads seem to be pinned down or otherwise restricted in their freedom of movement.

 One final group, marked in blue but with Captain Aase's tag are marked as being at the bottom of the fin, but they bear multiple 'poor communication' tags.

 "Archmilitant Asgard, the situation is as I display, tactical command is yours. I can endeavour to secure better communications with our forces or provide direct support, at your discretion." the tech-priest states.