The Geller Vault
(More procrastination from real work by writing a 40k adventure set on an spaceship carrying paper destined for a planet of bureaucrats.
This bit comes from the only information I can find online about how Geller fields work: “Gellar Fields are generated via a comatose Psyker slaved into the bowels of Imperial vessels.”)
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THE GELLER VAULT
A ship plies the Warp like a soap sud on the rolling sea. All that protects it from infinite predatory chaos is a bubble of real-space, enveloping the hull.
This bubble is known as a Geller Field. It is powered by bad dreams.
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VAULT DOOR
Reinforced plasteel, bristling with prayer parchment and purity seals. Shut, but not locked; a nearby console blinks: “+++OPEN? Y/N+++”
Its servos grind ponderously open. Almost immediately, gunfire begins pouring through the gap.
The door console is linked to the cogitator within the Vault. Text messages to Chief Enginseer 1-Xayful are possible. The console blinks: “+++HELLO? HELP+++”
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VAULT INTERIOR
A hemispherical chamber. Ten stasis sarcophagi, also plasteel, arranged like standing stones, offer some cover. The floor vibrates with arcane technologies.
The sarcophagus closest to the door is broken. In its side, a gretchin slumps into an open panel, flesh burnt crisp by an electrical fire.
The farthest five sarcophagi glow blue. Behind them is an open vent shaft.
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POSSESSED SERVITORS
Four gun servitors train their heavy stubbers at you. Their teeth and mouths glow blue. Anxiously muttering, each trapped in a separate nightmare:
1: “No daddy, I’ll be good, I don’t want to go into the cellar!” Only fires at male creatures. 2: “Contamination warning, masks on, abort, I can’t breathe!” Wheezes, claws at their neck. 3: “Enemy advancing, officers kay-aye-eyy, please advise!” Uses cover and clever tactics. 4: “My eyes, why did you have to take my eyes, damn you!” Blind; only shoots at noise. 5: “Let me out, let me out, you’re wrong, I’m not a psyker!” Rooted to a spot, like a turret. 6: “Anna, no, I didn’t mean to hit so hard, please wake up!” Doesn’t fire; closes into melee.
Released, if the glowing sarcophagi are disabled -- and stripped of their servitor conditioning.
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COMATOSE PSYKERS
Psykers, drugged and dreaming in their techno-coffins, power the Geller Field.
But the Geller Field generator is old. It leaks. Whenever an unconscious or cyber-slaved creature is present in the Vault, it becomes possessed by a psyker. Both the creature’s mouth and the psyker’s sarcophagus glows blue.
These psykers want to be free. They will parley with other psykers.
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A floating cogitator station, shaped like a lectern. Push a button and it sinks into a bolthole in the centre of the Vault. Currently retracted. This is where 1-Xayful is hiding.
The cogitator informs you that failure in Unit One -- the result of interference with its power supply -- caused the Geller Field fluctuation. Units Two through Ten are still viable.
Purging psychic emissions would require a full system reset, resulting in the deaths of all Units. Live Unit removal is risky. Only psykers make viable Units; at least one is required for Geller Field projection.
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CHER 1-XAYFUL, CHIEF ENGINSEER
Ranking techpriest. Red galero, brim crenellated like a gear; multitool fingers; a mecha-proboscis instead of a mouth.
No longer has a voice; their psyber-parrot familiar was possessed and fled down the Vault’s open vent. Communicates via gesture and console text-chat.
Wants the Vault purged, the psykers replaced. Needs a new retinue of servitors. You will do. Furious if you meddle with the Flaxen Demoiselle’s devices; that is 1-Xayful’s prerogative.
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GIMCRACKS OF THE CHIEF ENGINSEER
1-Xayful is a compulsive tinkerer. Leave them alone with a piece of gear and you may find it upgraded, a half-hour later, with:
1: Holo-emitters, monopod, auto-quill attachment. Whatever this is, it doesn’t work. 2: Mecha-legs, spindly as a spider’s. Capable of independent movement. Clumsy. 3: Fuel tanks, jet injectors, braziers. Incendiary effects. Bright and hot to the touch. 4: Reinforced struts, extra cables, shielding. Durability doubled, never fails, bulky. 5: Cyber-eyes, auspex screens, red-dots emitters. Range and accuracy doubled. 6: Gears, brass scrollwork, engraved exaltations to the Machine God. Value tripled.
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VENT ENTRANCE
Almost seems gnawed open. Inside, the vents are full of shredded paper, assorted shinies, fungal blooms. A furry squig bed purrs in a nook. This is where the gretchin liked to nap.
The detritus eventually leads you the orkoid camp.
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( Image sources: https://www.deviantart.com/vookasheen/art/Fate-s-Edge-821461003 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMGRa4_UjE4 https://www.reddit.com/r/40k/comments/g93sew/my_recently_completed_imperial_cogitator_and/ https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Sanctioned_Psyker https://warhammer40kdatabase.tumblr.com/post/77004798356/wh40khq-engelbart-kappa-by-nikolayasparuhov http://citricanime.com/2010s/2018/Goblin%20Slayer.html )