Lazar Sector Gazette: The wheels are a turnin’

Back into the fray!

The Underhive is a massive warren of never ending tunnels, collapsed flaws creating huge vistas in once busy, thriving production centres. A patchwork quilt of new activity growing in amongst the industrial detritus of millennia of machines built, condemned, replaced, condemned and just left to rot where they are.

Amongst the great columns that separate the layers of the hive, the denizens of those grim and desperate spaces eek out the best form of living they can find. Some scurry amongst the vast chasms searching for relics that still have some form of value. No matter what their jobs are, the wheels of the hive never stop turning. There are always bounties, there are always contracts for materials, parts or blueprints lost in the factories left to decay.

This cycle is no different to the many that came before. Well, unless you are or care for any of the individuals scrabbling in the dirt doing the bidding for the lords of the houses up-hive.

The scum demanded it and the hive listened. This cycle we saw Esher and Goliaths take a stand in the fighting pit – each with desires to covet it for themselves.

Esher turned up early so took priority advancing towards the Goliaths. They took some high ground to spot a Goliath head or too taking cover. After a couple of failed shots the Goliath’s retaliated with a very wild grenade shot that almost hit some onlookers foolish enough to get too close.

Esher then used a tactic they had been keeping a secret and advanced their Khimerix, a Wyld Runner with two Phyrr cats all led by the gang Queen. They sprinted towards a Goliath Bully in the open with the Forge Tyrant taking cover nearby.

The Goliaths didn’t see this coming and the Esher party took the advantage by charging in with the Khimerix on the Goliath leader. As scary as this first appeared, the Khimerix was clearly intimidated by the Tyrants size and what resulted was just a lot of hissing and back arching.

This allowed the Goliath leader to take his power hammer and send it back to the kennels. The Wild runner then saw the opening to do the same, thinking her 2 cats could inflict some damage with their toxins. Whatever beheld the Khimerix had the same impact on the Phyrr cats, again they were unable to land their paws on the hulking gene-smithed human.

With a look of fear upon her face at what was to come, the Wyld Runner let out a whelp. A few furious moments later and a crumpled heap with the two cats by her side were all that were left, she’d need a trip to the doc if she was to survive this.

Dressing their wounds, the rest of the Escher fighters decided that discretion was the better part of valour and so climbed out of the pit and ran into the distance. Leaving the Goliaths flexing their muscles waiting for the next opponent to arrive.

Lord Leasa, a courtesan and confidant of Lord Helmawr, has not been seen nor heard of since stepping into the Crooked Cane seven cycles past. The proprietor at that time vanished not long after, leaving the popular drinking hole closed indefenitely.

Obviously, gangs in the area saw this as an opportunity too good to pass up on. Three such bands of miscreants descended upon the local landmark to stake their claim.

It was decided that rather than go hell for leather that could result in the destruction of the Crooked Cane itself, that the three gang leaders would parlay outside and discuss, like gentlemen, who should run the bar.

Thing is, it would appear not everyone had the same idea of what a “parlay” is. The Ogryn Overboss made short work of both the helot cultists leader and the venators hunt leader.

It was almost over as fast as it started, the cultists being the first to decide that a drinking hole, whilst a great front for their, erm, clandestine ongoing, was probably too prominent a face to really trust in and faded back into the shadows whence they came.

The Weasel Conclave – the brave band of Venators clearly saw their opportunity to try and drop some outlaws and possibly get in some extra creds. In the end, they had to make do with the cash register as they saw living a bit more important than taking down hulking Ogryns this time out.

The fight for the Crooked Crane erupts! Pints of Helmawrs Bitter and packs of Lone Walker crisps are sent flying as a 3 gang moot goes south! Hammerstein slung his shotgun and opened the loot box “Hey Toni is 70creds enough to get Deadeye to the Doc?” “Hammer, give it to the Blade, Deadeye is dead, and her face is needs some work after that orgyn smashed her up and she fell of the tower…” “And Baz did you record that grenade hit?” “Sure did Boss” “Good get it up on the vid feeds, show them what happens when you break parlay with the Weasles!”
(Dom took some photo’s which can be found here)

When the dust settled, Dogg, the hulking overboss, sat down with a waste paper bin full of Helmawrs Bitter. As he did so, he notice the tattered remains of an expensive garment. He picked it up and gave it a sniff.

“Hmmm. That smells clean!” he thought to himself.
“That’s posh up-hiver stuff!”

Has the first clue to the fate of Lord Leasa been found?