Chapter 1: Testing her mettle (Araleen 'Alta' Narcia)

Where there had once been calmness and silence, there was noise and energy. Everything you touched was vibrating, as if they too couldn't wait for the ship to finally land at Sassan Nictor. They were still an hour or so from finally piercing its atmosphere, an hour from the bells which would ring through the ship warming all aboard to make sure they were secure. Preparations were in place, and one did not have to be particularly perceptive to know what would be happening soon. You are to be found inside your small cabin, not only where you were recommended to be, but also where the note slipped under your door made clear that the meeting would take place. Simply printed on parchment in Low Gothic, it directed that you would be met at this time in your cabin. Stamped below the script is an image: two interlocking circles, with a small bird in flight between them. It’s a symbol you recognise as the seal of Inquisitor Yannick.

It had been a month since you had last seen this symbol, when it came attached to a ticket for your berth and a note informing you to board the ship and to then wait on further instructions. Beyond the destination of this pilgrim vessel, you knew nothing.

There was a knock on your door, and then it opened and a figure entered your room. This close you were easily able to perceive her. A woman somewhere in her late twenties, face and hands marked with feral tattoos, long black hair tied in a tight ponytail and clad in an armoured body glove, beneath a black duster. As well as the sword at her side, you were also aware of a number of other knives and grenades hidden from sight. She closed the door behind her and stands four feet away from you,  her stance light and relaxed. This is very different from the heavy strength stance you knew from the Sisters on Terra, more akin to the light step of a dancer but still carrying that impression of reserved violence. She observed you for a moment before starting to speak, her voice low and with an accent still marked with the rough edge indicative of a feral upbringing.

"You have gained the interest of the Twitcher. She thinks that you have potential, that you are capable of serving in His Name by ending the lives and schemes of His enemies. That you can serve the Inquisition. That is why you have been called here. The Twitcher suspects that there might be a conspiracy taking place on the planet we are about to land on and thus has pulled in a number of her resources to investigate. Ultimately this will be your main goal, to join up with the rest of acolytes in Agat Tha, and uncover what has been going on here under the direction of 'The Philosopher', the most senior acolyte on the planet. However first she wants you to complete another task."

Reaching inside her jacket, she withdrew a data pad and laid it down on the bed, before continuing.
"That pad contains general information on the planet, and the important powers who dominate it. Once you meet up with the others, they can brief you further on the exact situation, and how their mission is progressing. It is not to be your immediate focus, so there is little point filling your head with it yet. There is a chance that you may be captured, while completing your private task and we cannot risk jeopardising the overall mission. There is also a chance it will gain us little, beyond testing you in the fire."

You could feel her eyes on you the whole time she spoke, but her face carried no particular expression.
"Two days ago I received a message from a contact of mine, 'the Smuggler'. He aided me in a job I had here. He's not an official asset of the Inquisition but has been a reliable ally. His message said that he had just taken in someone obviously connected to the Inquisition, and someone who had been obviously tortured. I would like you to meet up with, the Smuggler and go with him to meet this person. It may be that this person has nothing to do with us. Or they may have been a member of 'The Philosophers' original investigation team who were all reported to have been killed. We want you to find out who this person is, what they know, and what happened to them. It will then be up to you to judge what to do with them, if it is worth healing them and returning them back to service, disposing of them or leaving them where they are."

The woman then extended a tattooed hand out to you, palm up, displaying a folded piece of parchment.

Spoiler:

"I have written down the true name of 'The Smuggler' here. He has agreed to meet you shortly after we dock at 'Olafur's Axe, a bar located near Station 4 in Agat Tha. He is in his early 40's, light of build and with lots of dark hair. He is very vocal. He has already been recompensed to aid you with this. If you would like his assistance beyond this, you will need to discuss that with him. He has no connection with any Inquisitorial agent beyond me and is quite skittish. I would recommend you not ask for him to be pointed out to you. Once you have completed this task, make your way to the 'Plugged Socket' and ask for the 'Ferret'. This is an acolyte currently in residence on Agat Tha, who will be able to join you up with the others. Do you have any questions?"

Alta stood to meet the person as the door opened, standing with both arms on her staff and leaning against it even though it was clear she wasn't frail enough to need to do so to stand. Her blindfolded eyes seemed to track the woman despite her lack of physical sight, and she tilted her head to listen as the woman spoke.
A lot of information was passed in a short period of time, but Alta simply nodded along and took it all in stride, accepting the paper and opening it without prompting to read the name of the smuggler with the tips of her fingers against the indentations.

The paper was tucked into one of the many pockets concealed within Alta's robes as her guide gave the last of the instructions. She was clearly someone who liked to do things quickly and efficiently, which Alta could appreciate.

"Yeah, yeah. Alright. I got you. There a time frame on this or do I have as long as I need to make sure it gets done right? Not that I think this'll take more than a few days tops, seems like I have everything I need to figure out what you want me to figure out pretty quick. You have any preference on what happens to the guy The Smuggler found? I might poke into his head a bit just to be safe, yeah? Get all I can."

She moved with her staff like a walking stick and picked up the datapad to tuck into her robes as well, saving the reading for later after the woman had left. There was an assumption that this woman served the Tickler, a safe assumption, but how many levels removed from the Inquisitor she was was another question entirely. And until that became clear she intended to keep her full attention on her newest contact in this sector.

"The time frame on this is dependable. If this person has escaped from a group that were torturing him, the group is going to be looking to get him back, either to continue their work or to kill him as soon as possible. They may be doing it at this moment. If it is a trap then you should have more time as they will be waiting to see who is drawn in."

Her green eyes watched the face of the woman leaning on her staff.
"You have the freedom to go about this as you want. I wouldn't take too long though. Same goes for the guy. If you feel he still has a use, retrieve him. If not, retrieve what you can, making use of all your skills. If he was captured by the cult, he might have valuable information about them, especially if he had been taken to their base.

As long as you survive this, the Ferret will be able to link you up with the others. If anything should happen to her, send a message care of 'Sarge' to the Moritat Lodge at the Labienus 2C Space Station, Thule Sub Sector and assistance will be provided. Both the Ferret and the Smuggler know of me by that name."

The woman who had identified herself as Sarge, remained in her relaxed stance, waiting to see if Alta had any further questions.

"Right right. Going to call you Sarge from now on, yeah? It fits. I think I have all the information I need to start my task. I am sure my success will impress the inquisitor and secure me a place at her side. I look forward to working with you and her further to bring the justice of the God Emperor to this sector. Thank you for this chance, Sarge. Until we meet again."
Alta gave a brief incline of her head and staff to Sarge, along with using both hands to form the Aquila over her chest for a moment before moving back to the corner of her chambers to sit down and 'read' what was contained within the Dataslate full of the information she needed to act effectively in the sector. Studying was something she had become quite skilled at during her time on Terra, so she had no doubts this would be a simple matter.

Regardless of whether Sarge left her to her own devices or not, she ignored the woman from that point on. She had studying to do, and once the ship finally reached its dock, a mission to complete. And she intended to dedicate her full attention to both tasks when their times came. Given she had no more questions, she fully expected Sarge to simply leave and allow Alta to get to work.

The woman who identified herself as 'Sarge' simply replied
"The Twitcher waits" before turning and leaving the capsule cabin. She barely made a sound between her final words and the soft click of the door.

Over the next couple of hours, the noise and vibration increased in the cabin, as the ship powered through the atmosphere and then finally came into land. Alta's cabin was one of the last to disembark and she followed a long crowd of pilgrims and a few assorted others down a thick metallic stairway into the dock. There is a chill to the air, and impression that rain wasn't too far away. After an age of slowly shuffling forward, the stairway eventually flattens, and you move into a long corridor. This eventually leads into a medium sized room. All the other pilgrims around you appear to be lining up in a series of queues. There are six of these in total, but you notice that the sixth one appears to be much shorter and that none of the pilgrims are joining it at first. You are also aware of two individuals in dark green uniforms who are walking in between the lines and occasionally talking to people.

If you queue up and depending on which line you choose, this may take longer than others, you eventually find that the queues were leading to a booth. It is constructed of metal, with another person in a green uniform sitting on a raised desk. About ten feet further on, you are aware of a row of black armoured figures wearing helmets, holding their arms before them.

Closer to, you can see the person behind the desk is questioning those that come before them and then writing their details into a thick ledger. A skull is implanted in the top right corner of the booth. Between its open jaws is a mechanical device of some kind.

Once it is your turn to stand in front of the desk, the person asks.
"Name.
Reason for visiting.
Occupation."

The third world Alta had ever stepped foot on was not as exciting as she was expecting. Though truly nothing could compare to holy Terra now, and she would likely find herself dissapointed on each new place she visited when comparing it to the home of her God Emperor.
The crowd of pilgrims and lines was at least something she was familiar with. She, like all the others it seemed, avoided the one empty line. She didn't know why it was empty, but had learned that there was often a reason for these things and she was not one to question the subtle signs placed by the emperor to guide her way.

Her blindfolded face turned to survey the area as she waited in line, examining the people nearby. It took her a few moments to realize when she had finally reached the front, and she gave a smile to the person there.
"Hello there! Name's Alta, visiting on Adeptus Astra Telepathica business. I'm an astropath."

She decided it would be easiest if she was at least mostly honest. It was easy to prove she was an astropath, and the rest would likely be believed without issue. It was all far safer than if she lied about her job or name and they confronted her about it.

The line Alta had joined was the fourth along from the end. The person sitting behind the desk was a middle aged woman with a noticeably thick neck and a powerfully developed upper body, her greying hair, cut short to her scalp.

Her voice was cold and emotionless as she responded to Alta, the quill in her hand poised over the heavy ledger.
"Full name."

"Araleen Narcia." She sighed, a heavy sigh. She didn't like using her old name, but it was the official one that would be in most records to verify who and what she was, so in this instance it seemed fate was forcing her hand.

The woman notes down Alta's details into her ledger, and then indicates that she can proceed forward through the wooden hatch next to her booth. Once the Astropath had done so, she found herself in an open area. On either side of the large exit door, stood the black armoured figures. Most of the pilgrims hang their heads rather than meet the opaque gaze behind the helmets and passed through this door.

Once through the door, you suddenly find yourself outside, something which seems to catch most of your fellow passengers by surprise, if their bunching up outside the exit is anything to go by. The change in temperature is noticeable, though not as great as when you first exited the ship.
The door you had exited opens out on to a pedestrian walkway, capable of fitting six walking side by side, and boarded on your side by the grey wall of the Port building,and on the other by a palatial highway. You get the impression that there is buildings on the other side, but it is just at the edge of your ability to tell.

After pausing to gather themselves, the rest of the pilgrims and other travellers turn right and move on up the walkway. This continues straight, until it disappears into the shadow beneath a curved bridge. A sign immediately outside the Port building indicates that they are moving in the direction of the Internal Rail station. None walk the opposite direction, which is detailed as the way to the Mag Rail station.

As the crowd of your fellow passengers shifts, you can see the road more clearly. The wide and well maintained highway is empty save for two vehicles. The first of these is a boxy armoured car atop which is mounted a long barrelled automatic weapon. Someone in a blue uniform is behind this, and as the car rumbles by, the weapon makes a slow sweep over all standing on the walkway before continuing in the direction of the Mag Rail station.

The other vehicle is completely stationary. Long black and slim, it is clearly a civilian transport in the way the other was military or paramilitary. Its windows are all tinted, making it impossible to see in. Though still, the low rumbling sound of its engines is easily noticeable, indicating that it is not merely parked. What really catches your attention however are two little white flags on the front bonnet, showing the red capitol I with a skull in the centre. A symbol instantly recognisable across the Imperium as belonging to the Inquisition.

Alta did not avert her gaze from the guards at the door, she offered a blindfolded glance to each of them along with a smile as she passed through the doorway and out into open air.
She'd been cooped up for so long that it was quite refreshing to finally be back out into anything other than recycled air. She took a long, deep breath as she 'looked' around at everything nearby the exit, taking a long time to examine the vehicle carrying the mark of the inquisition.

As far as she knew none of the other members of the Twitcher forces would know that alta even existed yet, let alone know that she was doing a mission for the Twitcher, so she decided it was likely best to lay low for as long as she could and avoid being seen speaking with those people directly just yet.
Instead, she turned along the path that most of the other pilgrims were headed, towards the internal rail station. She figured that station four was likely along that line, rather than the mag rail, so it was as good a place to start as any.

As she walked, she tried to find any maps or other navigational aids that might be laying around that she could follow to her destination, but if none were to be found then she headed all the way to the rail line and just hopped onto one of the cars. She'd figure out where she was one way or another, either by going the wrong way first and then fixing it, or by finding a map. Either would work.

Alta moves along the walkway, in the midst of the crowd of slowly moving pilgrims. She is aware that there is a scattering of non pilgrims as well, moving more quickly through the crowd in front of her. As she moves under the shadow of the bridge, she hears the soft rumble of the stationary car's engine suddenly roar to life, as it pulls away from the kerb and accelerates down the highway.

The tunnel is fairly nondescript, a rockrete semi-circle, faintly lit with occasional glow orbs, and long enough to traverse in thirty seconds at your present pace. Halfway along you notice that someone has scrawled a slogan in white on the wall. In rough boxy letters, it reads,
'WE ARE THE CHANGE WE SEEK'.

Exiting the tunnel and back into the dull light of the day your find yourself in an expansive open square. It is dominated by a two story building shaped like the letter L. A large white sign stretches over its multiple entrances, identifying it as 'Port Rail Station'. Four train tracks extend out from it, the first two on ground level, going to your left and right. The other two tracks are raised up a level, one curving beyond the station and the other back towards the port. The wide highway which was beside your walkway you can see turns at the square and continues left, in the same direction as one of the rail lines. The only vehicle presently on it, is the car from before which must have passed you while you were in the tunnel. In a couple of seconds it disappears around a bend.

The square is relatively busy. There are groups of pilgrims still, but also a variety of others. Administratum clerks, clearly recognisable in their off white robes, factory workers in their stained and rough boiler suits, a number of people in brightly coloured robes of higher quality and some with dark patterned cloaks with hoods pulled over their faces. Against one wall of the station there are a number of food stalls, behind which vendors are busy calling out their wares, in a mixture of different styles, from enthusiastic eye grabber to repetitive announcer. More noticeable but even harder to understand are the high pitched calls and shrieks of the children moving quickly through the crowd. While the adults mostly pay little attention to them, they do make way for the two pairs of two in blue uniforms, crossing the square in different directions. It is the same uniform you saw atop the armoured car and both are armed with shotguns and shock mauls.

In the centre of the square is a tall pole to which you can see a map is attached to either side.

Spoiler:

Moving through into the station, you easily find the train you need to take to get to Station 4. Though it isn't direct, at least you don't have to change trains. The train is reasonably busy as it stops at Station 2, and it gains more people as it continues its journey. While it is difficult for you to get a clear picture of the city outside, you can tell a difference in the passengers the longer you go. Between the Port Station and Station 2, there was a good mix of those in the richer patterned cloaks that marked their privilege, as well as those in boiler suits, and poor quality robes. By the time you are travelling between Station 3 and 4, there are almost none of the former left, and you appear to be one of the few who doesn't work in manual labour. You attract some stares, but the majority of eyes pass over you to stare at more familiar sites.

Exiting Station 4 you pass by two Commissariat Officers in their green uniforms. Both are standing confidently at the edge of the station, staring out at something beyond the station. One of the two, a tall man with short blond hair turns to give you and the other three who got off the train at the same time, all in stained blue boiler suits, a quick glance before returning his attention to the scene before him. Outside you can easily spot the building you are looking for.

Across the roadway from you and noticeably lower than all the buildings around it, Olafur's Axe is a long short building with a steep triangular wooden roof, that reaches down to just above head height. From this distance, the roof appears to be made out of thatch, and the walls from wood.

[It appears a lot like this, but surrounded on all sides by taller and greyer concrete buildings.]

Spoiler:

The building stands out for two reasons. The first obviously is due to its anachronistic appearance. The second is that the building is surrounded by a crowd of at least ten men in blue uniforms. A large armoured personal carrier is in the middle of the roadway, blocking any potential traffic, and the men in blue have established a rough cordon around the front of the building.

The three in the blue boiler suits, two younger men and an middle aged woman, all stop and react with surprise as they view the same sight as you. A hastily covered curse emanates from them, but they remain where they are staring. They are not the only ones hovering around the edge of the cordon staring.

To your left, there is a collection of four men and women, dressed in an assortment of brown leather with rustic looking animal imagery, with ostentatiously coloured hair, and dark tattooed on their pale forearms, and even some on their faces. Even at this distance you can tell that they are armed.

Directly in front of you are two, who offer a study in contrasts if you like them. A large hulking figure covered in a tattered brown cloak and with long straggly black hair hanging down past their shoulders. Their back is to you, so you can tell little else about them. Reaching barely past the others knee, is a woman with dark red hair. At first glance you might have assumed it was a child, but her face shows her to be in her twenties. A long thin object is slung over her back. While her companion is still, she's constantly in movement, turning her head to try and get a better view.

To your right there are three other figures leaning against a wall. Two are wearing thick grey cloaks, with hoods, that shield their faces. The last is a man with dark red curly hair, and a thick beard, which stretches down to his stomach. He is wearing his green cloak loosely and is smoking from a long wooden pipe.

Alta stayed out of the way during the train ride, not wanting to draw any more attention than her relatively out of place appearance already would. The last thing she wanted was to get in a fight with some random person over her wearing a blindfold and still being able to see, or any other number of random things that someone might take issue with.
She got more tense as the wealthy seeming people began to trickle off of the train as the trip went on, they were the type to not lower themselves enough to bother commenting on her appearance and when they had been a large portion of the people riding with her she had felt some measure of safety.

Still, in the end her concerns turned out to be for nothing as even the few stares she did get didn't turn into anything that would take more work to deal with than simply ignoring them. What did cause some stress once again however was the lockdown on the building she was meant to enter. She didn't know much about the world she had found herself on just yet, but she figured that such attention by the local law enforcement was likely not a good sign for her mission.

With a hum, she walked apart from the three in boiler suits that had been with her until now and approached the pairing of tall and short figures that also seemed to be looking at the building and its unexpected guards. She leaned beside the short one, keeping her between Alta and the taller figure as she started to talk.
"Well this is some shit, hey? Know what's going on over there that's got them all riled up and gathered? Here I was hoping to get a drink but seems like that's not going to be an option now."
She gave a grin to both of them as she finished, hoping to get herself in their good graces and maybe start enough small talk that she could figure out what in the emperor's name was going on here.

Closer to, Alta was able to tell that the smaller woman was a Rattling, one of the few officially recognised ab humans. Her clothes are a mix of brown and green leather, and around her neck was a long haired grey cat, which appeared to be asleep. As Alta spoke, she turned to look up at you with a frown, that quickly twisted into a smile.
"You're telling me girl. I'm calling this persecution. Shut down one of the few friendly bars in the whole city? They're try'in to keep us from our drink. Try'in to force us into one of those shit regulated places. Try'in...."
Her fast flowing speech was suddenly interrupted by the deep voice of her companion. Alta quickly realised that he was another ab human. An Ogryn. His voice was slow, but not unintelligent.
"There was a murder Nissa. There is reason."

The red haired Rattling rolled her eyes and then shook her head at Alta, a wide grin still in place.
"A murder he says. Like that's a reason for all this fuss. Know how many people die in the underhive? Know how many people die in this area every week? Know how many people actually died in that pub and got two U-Paets at best? You tell me that Gundrik."
The Ogryn's face shifted, but without better experience of them, it was hard to know what this might mean.
"He was important. Important people get attention."
"You telling me I'm not.... It's not even worth talking to you now."

She turned to look up at you again and suddenly giggled.
"Not been much help have I? I'm Nissa, and he's Gundrik. What's your name? I don't think I've seen you in there before. In fact I'm certain I havn't. We came along to get ourselves a wee drink this morning and you know, have a look about for some work." She gave you a wink when she said this before continuing.
"Anyways its been like this for the last two hours. Apparently this Administratum big wig was found murdered outside early this morning. Cut up into all manner of tiny pieces out on the street outside. U-Paets are questioning the owners and other staff inside. And attempt to look for clues I suppose. 'Parently it will be another hour or so before they lets us back in."

"Murder eh? Sure lots of deaths all over the place, but the higher ups always like to look after their own, so of course they bring in the big guns and cordon off the area, right?"
Alta took a long look at the bar and its collection of guards. It certainly put a bit of a damper on her starting the investigation, but having an hour to get to know the locals might be a good thing.. Had she been given any sort of real identification or symbol to show that she was with an inquisitor she would have flashed that to get through right away, but unfortunately she was on her own for now.

So it was time to make friends.

"My names Alta" She stuck one hand out to shake, the other clinging tightly to her staff. She would shake both of their hands, if they both wanted. But she was aiming at the ratling for now. Nissa. "Can't say I've been around here before if I'm honest. New on planet, just got a bit of time on land after a long ass haul on a pilgrim ship - stuffy as the Administratum, they are - and finally I went looking for a drink, had some local recommend me this spot, and it's blockaded! Not my day today."

After shaking their hands she pulled back to lean on her staff again and once more turned to observe the goings on around the bar, trying to see if she could spot her contact anywhere nearby. She had a rough appearance, surely he'd be around by now? Unless he was the one that got murdered. That would really make things difficult.
"Seems like we have an hour to wait then. Mind if I ask what kind of work you two were out hunting for? Maybe I can help out a bit, I know a couple people around here that could provide depending on what it is you're after. And while I'm thinking on it, you catch any glimpse of what the guy looked like before he got cut up? See his hair or something? Might be nice to be a bit ahead of the news on who he is."

Nissa tapped her forehead with one finger and then pointed up at you with a grin.
"Already talking sense. I know I'm going to like you. Why should this 'clerk' get anyone than me or you might get? Then again, I can see a fair few missing you. A face like that isn't fast forgotten."
As the Rattling gives you a roguish wink, the grey cat resting on her shoulders suddenly wakes, and stretches out its legs, giving a deep yawn. When he deems to look up at you, his look is far from complimentary.

From what Alta could see, half of the blue uniformed officers looked like they were in charge of the cordon, keeping onlookers from getting too close. Three were over by the side of the building, down on their knees examining something. The final two, one darkly handsome man with an evil looking scar running from forehead through his eye, and down his cheek and the other a giant almost as big as the Ogryn, were questioning two who looked like they might be staff. These two were made up of a garrulous, roundish looking man with a plentiful belly, and long curly dirty blond hair and a thick beard, and a thin pointed woman with wild angry beauty and a very severe expression.

Nissa reaches up to shake your hand. Hers feels a little rough, but it is nothing to the calloused massive hand that reaches over her head to shake yours. The Ogryns fist completely encompasses yours, but his touch is gentle and causes no pain.
"Pleasure Alta. And feck sake. Stuck with a mass of pilgrims? Emporor save me but any more than the bare bloody minimum with those bowing and scraping superior pointless goat fondlers."
She held up her hands towards you, a wicked grin across her face.
"I've nought against those bent to a religious pursuit, but dedicating yourself to poverty and uselessness? I'd take wee Cathal above any number of them in a heartbeat. And wee Cathal is Gundrik's pet rock."

At this, the Ogyrn's right hand, seemed to automatically move to his side and touch a pouch there, where you were aware of something suspiciously hard and roundish was contained.
"What work we are looking for? How should I put it? The kind of job you'd prefer done quietly and without arising the interest of anyone else."
"We are mercenaries."
"Gundrik, look I know Alta might be pretty, but lets make like a mountain peak?"
The Rattling shook her head up at you.
"Men eh? But yeah if you known anyone who want's something difficult done without involving those blue uniformed pig sucklers, there's none better than us. And no. Apparently he was cut up in the early hour, like two or three or something. All we saw was them shoving the bits into a bag and carting it away."

[+10 Awareness check]

Awareness:

Alta grinned as they both shook her hand. She hadn't actually been expecting the Ogryn to, but it was a welcome surprise. And they were mercenaries to top it off... It was always good to have contacts at her disposal should she need them, and perhaps having a pair of bodyguards during her mission within the city would be wise.

"I don't have any clue what you're talking about, people forget me all the time. I've seen about thirty people wearing blindfolds on my way here alone, not to mention all the folks carrying staffs. It was like a forest on the train." She chuckled, and if she were capable she would have winked as well. It was an obvious joke, one to keep the mood light and keep these two people viewing her as a potential friend or partner.

"Bit of bluntness never hurt me, not yet anyways. Tell me, what specific skill sets do the two, or four if I include the cat and Cathal, have?"
She leaned forwards to make things a bit less obvious to anyone else listening in.
"Or to be blunt. What jobs do you specialize in. I might know some people. I might be one of them. And as a new arrival to this fine place I find myself with a distinct lack of helpful, on the ground contacts. So sell me on you, eh? We've got time to burn after all."

She gave a brief gesture towards the guards around the crime scene with the head of her staff. They'd be here for a bit.

"A likely story. Only ones likely to forget you are those with a terrible case of brain diarrhoea."
The small red head, gave a massive yawn before reaching inside her slightly tattered green jacket and removing a long back pipe and a soft leather pouch. As she started to fill it with a black grainy tobacco, she gave you another wink.
"Oh I'm sure. You wouldn't believe the amount of Rattlings and Ogryns we see around here, especially on the trains. So common we barely get noticed."
"It does not bother me when people stare."
"I wouldn't say it bothers me Gunny, it just saddens me. Even staring as we stand right here now. Too many arses around here and too few have poles jammed up them."
The Ogryn turned to look over again, his rocky face as unreadable as before.
"A constant disappointment for you."

For a second there was silence, and then the Rattling suddenly burst out laughing, jamming her elbow into the knee of her companion.
"You dirty bastard... I walked into that one. You just wait till I get those mech boys to fashion me a mechanical one and then you'll be sorry."
Still shaking her head, she turned back to Alta, as she posed her question. Finally finished filling her pipe, she tilted her her head to light it, before dropping the match, and reaching up to scratch the head of the cat wrapped around her neck.
"It's definitely Greyscale and Cathal you need to watch out for. Conniving wee tricksters. Turn your back and one will be inside you and not the one you'd prefer. Painful memories."

She took care to exhale the thick black smoke away from you, before turning her face closer, bright green eyes examining your face carefully.
"Two of us though, we don't really upset expectations. I'm top three when it comes to sharpshooters in this system and the only one you don't have to sell your soul to meet. And it'd take nothing short of a squad of marine boys, or a Russ to stop Gundrik. See Gunny, that's me having your back and not disappearing off to stuff a hog down your greedy gullet."
"Moody mornings mourn lost jobs."
"You wait till we're alone and I'll shove more than your shit poetical observations down there. But yeah, back to the selling. We've been in this system a year and half now, and not picked up once. Those in there and the Plugged Socket will speak to our reputation. Generally its a lot of dirty work. People need convincing, or removing. Items that need to be returned, or sometimes lost forever. We tend to get a variety of work and it's a rare job we don't complete."

She exhaled smoke again, and continued, her voice low.
"We're not cheap but you won't be selling off body parts to get us."
Tapping the bridge of her pipe likely, her eyes watched Alta's face again.
"Anything or anyone you specifically looking for?"

Alta laughed right along with Nissa at the Ogryns joke. She hadn't got it, she was quite confused in fact, but laughing along seemed like the way to keep things going smoothly.
She nodded along to Nissa explaining their skills but she wasn't positive how much of it was them blowing smoke up her ass and how much was real. They didn't look like people that were quite that powerful but... Looks could be deceiving, and really she wasn't going to be all that picky right now.

Alta wasn't sure how much of a budget she would have once she passed this trial she had been given, nor was she positive on the willingness of the Inquisitor to let her agents hire more people and possibly allow them to be privy to some information. Things would need to stay vague for now.

"Looking for a guy in his mid forties, lots of dark hair. Pretty loud. Skinny. Not a lot to go on, and I think I can find him myself without too much help, but I'm never lacking for a desire to keep myself safe. Ever done bodyguard work? Keep my company while I do the work I've got to do and make sure nobody can do anything that stops me from enjoying life."

She quickly tapped her staff against the ground and stretched out. Leaning in one spot was not something she was used to, Alta liked moving. But today she had to stick around here, at least until the bar was open.
"I'd have need of those services for at least a few days. And after that I may have other jobs for you to do, assuming you're both willing to be... Exclusive, with me. And I'll know if you aren't, so it's best if we're both honest about that up front."

Nissa took another meditative puff of her pipe and appeared to be thinking. Around her neck, Greyscale gave another yawn, before settling its head on one arm, continuing to observe you with one black eye.
"Skinny older fella, with a lot of dark hair? There's a couple of them in there like as regulars. There's Stinker and Gussie. Not sure why you'd want to meet with either of them though. Who's that taller guy who hangs around with them?"

Taking the pipe from her lips with her right, she started to click the fingers of her left hand, looking up at the Ogryn.
"You know the one I mean. Gormless face, like a shaved sheep, just standing there with no clue what to do next."
"Bertivich."
"Berty, that's it! Oh and I suppose Stannislas looks a bit like that too."
She titled her head towards you again with another grin.
"A couple of names for you to try anyway."

As Alta, outlined her proposal, the two abhumans listened, the smaller one intently and staring, while the larger one kept his eyes on the blue uniformed officers, though still clearly paying attention.
"We've done a bit of bodyguard work in the past. There's a couple of nobles here who like exploring the proper dark and gritty."
"Irresponsible and foolish."
"Bloody feckless bastards with about as much sense as those penitents who swear off life's finer things. Though that's not really the problem with these ones. Always keen to experiment and try out something new, which brings them into dangerous situations."

She tapped her nose.
"Not to tell stories, but I'm sure we'd keep you from harm. And yeah from the right price, we are willing to be exclusive. We come as a team though. Not to be separated. Our day rate is a hundred golden eyes a day, first day up front and the next day paid the night before."

[As you know, DH2 doesn't do money really. During the game I'm playing it that you have a certain amount on you, enough to feed, and house yourself and perhaps to pay small bribes, up to about 50 Golden eyes, so not enough to hire these two as bodyguards. I like where you were thinking with this. You could offer to exchange some of your items, or see if you could arrange some mutual aid, or keep them as contacts to remember for a later occasion.]

Alta hid her realization that they had seen the man she was seeking, Stannislas, by looking off towards the guards again and observing them for a few moments longer. Once that topic of conversation passed, she looked back at her soon-to-be bodyguards and nodded at their pricing. She drummed her fingers on her staff for a moment or two as she thought.

"Certainly not cheap there are you? Of course I wouldn't dream of hiring you separately, a pair that knows how eachother operates is worth ten individuals, as far as I'm concerned. But I'll be fucked if I could afford that much on my first day here..." She chuckled softly and shook her head. They were expensive, which meant they were probably good. At least that's what she would assume. Thinking of another way to get them to work for her would be beneficial, but the question was what would they want.

"Any way we can set up some exchange of favors? Mutual help? I'm sure there's some things I can do for the two of you that not a single person on this planet can do as good as I can, at least not a single person that'd be seen dead down here.. Maybe our corpse over there might have, yeah?" Another soft, brief bit of laughter. "I think we can come to an agreement, if you two are willing to come up with some alternative methods of payment here. Favors, mutual aid, any of that.... As for those people you listed, you happen to know where Bertivich or Stannislas are? Sounds like one of them might be my mark.

Nissa continued to puff gently at her pipe while Alta spoke. When the other mentioned about their price she grinned broadly.
"Well as me old ma said. When you do sell yourself to someone, make sure they've got a good pair of shoes and look like they've eaten recently. She was a sozzled old fool, but every so often she'd come out with some wisdom."

She gave you a long scrutinising look, before turning her head over to her companion. He made a movement with his head and shoulders that again was hard to comprehend but Nissa seemed to get some understanding from it. She turned back to you.
"We don't normally do this. Me and 'im are fairly self reliant when it comes to what we need and cold soft gold tends to be the water that fuels all life. But I've taken a liking to you. You seem like someone it would be good to know. And by Father Donnacha's shaved back, it might provide us some interesting opportunities. We could exchange favours.
Over in the Administratum building, the mercenary office has a file with both our pictures in it, as suspected mercs. We'd like that information to disappear. If you can do that then yeah we could be your bodyguards and keep you safe for two days here. As you say, our type tends to get short shift when we venture over to Planetfall."

She took another sup from her pipe and exhaled the contents.
"Bertivich is probably still in bed. He rarely makes an appearance before late afternoon. Stannislas is just over there."
She indicated with her head, over to the far wall where the three figures were standing.
"Furthermost one in the grey cloak. He's been keeping his eye on you since you came over here."
She gave you a wink.
"Either your mark or he has a similar taste to me."

Alta gave a brief little smirk and nod in response to the wink, being unable to do so herself. She didn't turn to look at Stannislas, in theory her supernatural sight would let her see him even if he was behind her. "God Emperor help anyone whose taste is blind women with staffs. About as odd as my taste, I'd say." Another smirk as Alta pointed towards Nissa in an almost finger-gun gesture. When one couldn't wink one had to make do.

"Only two days, hey? You wound me! Think of the possibilities of a long, flourishing partnership with me. And if I can clear this record of you that ought to prove that I am someone who would be quite capable of enabling you both to stick around far longer than normal without the Arbites coming down on you, yeah?"

Alta wanted something more than two days. She would be able to make do, if she had to, but having a long term pair of guards that could help her do her work with the inquisition would be good, and she assumed that once she was fully a member that she would quite easily be able to waive any crimes the two had committed. But that would need to come later. Two days would do for now, unless they were willing to extend that time without knowing she was soon to be an inquisitor... Or at least an agent of one.

"Well as much as I love hooded men staring at my ass, I think I better go figure out what he wants. You two think things over, alright? Longer term partnership would be good for both of us. Otherwise... I suppose I'll come find you after I do that little task for you. All goes well I'll get it done today, and meet you back here if that sounds good?"

Nissa grinned back up at Alta.
"We're a weird bunch to be sure. But then what would be life if everyone liked what they were meant to? I like life with a few surprises."

She started giggling midway through the blind woman's response, and had to lower her pipe to her side while she shook her head and wiped the mirth with a free thumb.
"My, my, Alta, the trout of craic has really rubbed off on you. You've certainly got a way with words and you drive a hard bargain. Sure, I'll give you a third day. Post that though we'll have to work out some other favours. Longer term partnership could be good but we'll need to see how well the glove fits for each of us. I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about after those three days."

Nodding her head over towards Olafur's Axe, she continued
"We'll be inside there once it opens again, and generally every morning. If by any chance, we aren't there, leave a message with the staff and they can pass it on. Have fun with Stannislas."
The Rattling gave one last grin, before turning to observe the uniformed men in front of the pub again.

By this point the one of the men in grey cloaks had removed his hood, showing his bald head and was talking about something with the red bearded man, as the two exchanged smoking materials between them. The grey cloaked figure that the Rattling had indicated was a few paces back from them, still leaning against the wall, his face still in shadow.

"Excellent! I'll be seeing you then my dear soon-to-be Bodyguards." With a mock little bow given to the pair of abhumans, Alta turned around and headed over to the hooded figure that had been pointed out to her. She headed over slowly, making sure to take a lot of glances around the area just so it didn't look quite so obvious that she was focused on speaking to this one person. But, frankly, she was still new to this whole clandestine meeting thing and had room for improvement.

Assuming she got over to him without issue, she leaned against the wall next to him and looked off towards the bar as she spoke in a hushed voice. "I hear you've been keeping an eye on me since I showed up, wouldn't happen to be a reason for that would there? If I can help you at all, maybe we can head somewhere a bit less public."

No one paid the astropath much attention as she moved over to lean against the wall next to the man in the grey cloak. None except the man himself who watched her as she came over, before switching his gaze back to the crowd of officers outside the bar. As Alta speaks, he lets down the hood of his grey cloak a bit, revealing a little of his appearance.



His reply, though low, had a strong accent, though unfamiliar to the acolyte, had the deep reverberations and fluctuations that told of a life growing up in the lower reaches of a hive.
"No dust on you is there shuck? And there was I, just admiring the scene. It's not often this den of inequity would be graced by a bit of culture. What am I talking about, I'm there every week."

Reaching a hand into his cloak pocket, he withdrew a silver timepiece, and made a show of checking it, and shaking his head. In a blink, the chrono was gone and replaced by a llow stick. Turning his back on the bar, he bent his head towards Alta, gesturing with the stick. His brown eyes flicked over her face, his expression asking the obvious above question. His low voice was quite different.

"Came here to meet the ally of a certain tattooed lady friend. If you happen to know what she is known by then yes rightly I know somewhere we can head instead."

"I think we have a mutual friend in Sarge, by your description." Alta kept her face forward towards the bar. She could see all around herself anyways, and there was little reason to make it any more obvious who she was speaking to than she already had. "I'm rather new, so if you've got a place we can go I'll follow a few steps behind you, just excuse yourself and I'll keep with you, eventually. "

Stanninlas blinked his eyes back at Alta before leaning back and saying,
"No light?"
He turned his head towards the man with dark red curly hair.
"'Bout you Cú, you hairy bastard? You give this dying man one last light to smoke?"
The red haired man spat on the ground near the feet of Stannislas, before reaching into his pocket and producing some matches. He carefully withdrew one and handed it over.
"Only thing you are dying of is the Emporor's flush. When am I going to see the veg you promised me?"
"A single match? Should I be worrying 'bout you being able to make payment?"
"You just worry about getting those to me or you'll be learning how to walk without kneecaps."

Stannislas struck the match against wall before bringing it up to his lips and lighting his llowstick. Nodding his head back as the red headed man, he brought up his hood and turned on his heel and moved back past Alta and down a dirty alley. He ambled along, not seeming in a particular hurry and made an easy target to follow. After a couple of minutes moving in the same direction, he started to make a series of turns, sometimes almost seeming to back up on himself. After about ten minutes, he came up to the side of a large circular wall from which was echoing the constant reverberating noise of other humans. Passing through the gate in the side of the wall, anyone following found themselves in a circular space which was packed with stands, tables, carts on which were a wide variety of items, and a shouting mass of people weaving their way through these. People variously haggled, shouted, and came to loud agreement over deals. Everything was shouted, and with the circular walls, the noise was initially quite oppressive. Just past the gate, and drinking something from a hip flask Stannislas was waiting, casually watching whoever came through the gate.

Alta followed as late as possible, just before she lost sight of Stannislas entirely and stayed about that distance away the whole time he was walking. Once he entered the gate she waited outside for a couple extra minutes and then entered, browsing around the area with blindfolded eyes and eventually drifting her way over to where Stannislas had set himself up, trying to make it as subtle as possible that she wanted to speak with him.

"Quite loud in here, don't you think? Good choice of locale, if I say so myself... When are we going to meet your recent guest? I wouldn't want to take up too much of your time."

Stannislas took a long drink from his flask and nodded his head absently at someone in the crowd.
"You should have heard 'm first thing when the opening deliveries come in. Din's so loud you'd swear it was some new torture the bloody green jackets thought up. The sound of money has never clattered as loud."

His face which had looked serious for a second creased and he shook his head, his brown eyes glittering.
"Look at me, talking shite trying to impress the new arrival. This is one of the few places I'd trust for a secret chat. Anyone trying to listen in is going to have to have their head up one of our asses.

Down to brass tacks through. My most recent guest is about 30 mins fast walk from here. We'll head there in a bit, but I thought I'd fill you in on background. Sarge and myself only have a limited repertoire of code words we can send so my earlier message was brief."

Holding up the flask, he gave it a little shake, and then apparently satisfied with the feeling it gave, slid it back into his pocket. His expression was still light and jovial, but his eyes constantly moved from face to face.

"Its another subject but sometime I'd love to know more about whoever your Inquisitor is's recruitment policies. Because when it comes to you and Slice n'thrice I'm not seeing a lot of obvious similarities. I'm getting more of an explode my brain than being cut into five separate pieces with you.

Anyways, 'bout three days ago I get word that someone strange is roaming the streets, sleeping rough. There's lots of whisper's of that dreaded 'I' word. Any talk of inquisition naturally peaks my interest so I find 'im."

He pauses again and then blows out his cheeks.
"This guy is in a bad way. Obviously been tortured and fairly brutally. Real old school style, not like the green jackets do. And pouts nan, they've also carved this big massive I into his back. Flayed him something serious. I've got a tower block I operate as a residency so I managed to get him back there fast as I could. As I was settling him in he kept babbling deliriously about a cult and something about a betrayal. I figured pretty quickly it probably wasn't a gang ambush."

"You can color me impressed, you clearly know your way around the area. Mind if I ask who Slice n'thrice is? I'm pretty sure they just pluck people they find interesting, nothing special from what I can tell. I wouldn't dig into that too much though, you never know what'd set them off, yeah?"

Alta was, thankfully, aware of basically the entire area around herself at all times. A useful skill when it came to making sure she wasn't being watched, so long as things were close anyways. So while she looked off into space, she very much kept an 'eye' out for anything suspicious nearby.

"And you'll be happy to know I have absolutely no intention of exploding your brain!" She gave a wide grin for a moment before continuing. "Has he spoken since you took him in at all? Anything beyond just the babbling about cults? If he's not lucid then my task here is going to be a lot harder than I would like, but I can manage. Just need to be informed of how he's doing, I suppose. Ah, and has anyone been looking after him since you took him? People checking to see if he's still alive or anything? Interested parties would be good to know.""

"Slice n'thrice? Ah that's just a little nickname I came up with for Sarge. She's fairly deadly with it comes to blades. Never a gun in hand though. I get the impression she came up through one of those lodges that focus on close combat. That or her feral background."

He gave a shrug, which turned into a shiver, pulling the cloak a little closer around him.
"I know well enough not to grasp that particular hot coal. My curiosity is as likely to get me killed as is my propensity for giving dangerous women nicknames, but even I know when to stop."

He appeared to grin at someone else at a stall.
"The little beans in my skull appreciate that. And to an extent yes. He seems to slip in and out of lucidity. The problem is that when he is lucid he ties his tongue up and says he can only talk to his boss. He seems to be afraid that I'm with this cult or whomever was torturing him, apparently for information. Perhaps he might trust you more. Delirious, there was some stuff I didn't understand. Philosophy? Something about undercover. And betrayal mentioned a lot."

Turning his head slowly he observed the crowd again, as if looking for someone in particular.
"And yes. That's why I'm being as careful. Last night I got word from a contact. Someone on the street's been asking about him. Someone with money too."

"Right. You know who that person is, or just a general idea that there's someone out there interested in him? Very good to know, that. I'll keep on watch so long as you do, yeah?"
More attention was given to her surroundings now that she realized this may be slightly riskier than she anticipated.

"I think we should move, faster I can get what I need out of the guy the faster I can resolve this and get him out of your hair. We waiting here for anything or are we good to leave? I can follow you, same as last time, just lead the way to the place you're keeping him."

Alta flashed him a smile, she wanted to get him out of the danger zone of holding this guy as soon as she could and also the faster she got this dealt with the less danger she exposed herself to. It was a win-win.

Stannislas gave his shoulders a general shrug.
"It wasn't someone my contact recognised and I didn't press her. If you want we could pass her by on the way there and see if she has a description."

His teeth showed suddenly, a white flash against the black of his beard.
"Normally I'd have been right interested to hear that someone with money was interested in something I had. Sadly though I don't think I'll be making any profit from this, and the less I know about regrets the better."

He pushed both his hands deep into his pockets.
"As exciting and diverting as it is to work with the I again and to have Sarge owe me a favour, I think you're right. Sooner this thing is resolved I can back to dealing with people who'll only try to kill me over a few coins, rather than their ideological beliefs. You want to see my contact first or head straight to the building?"

"That is not the kind of interest your should be broadcasting to a member of the inquisition." She looked deadly serious for a moment and then chuckled softly, shaking her head. "I won't tell anyone. I get it, money's valuable. Glad you didn't do that this time around, yeah? Things would have gotten much more difficult for both of us."

Alta had to pause for a minute to decide what to do first, but after a brief few taps of her staff against the ground she'd decided.
"I'd like to see our person of interest first. Get that done and sorted before I go prodding into who exactly was interested in him. Safer that way, I'd bet... And who knows! If your work is good enough, that favor might get you out of the danger of death while working entirely, just have to use it right, yeah?"

Stannislas gave a wink and a nod with his head towards one of the stalls, a smile playing across his features.
"To be fair, if I had chosen money above, well I'm sure what you'd call it. For the sake of brevity, we'll call it loyalty, respect and doing the honourable thing for the Imperium. Anyways if I hadn't been as noble, and perhaps heroic.... and chosen money, you'd be safe up on your ship and my pockets would either be full or lying with the rest of me in a ditch."
His tone was light and jovial, clearly enjoying exaggerating his own deeds.

"I'll just say. I almost feel bad for the next person who makes an enemy of me. Favour from Sarge pretty much guarantee's the ending of a life. But I'm yet to know them so no worries yet. Right, I'm going to make my way over there now. I'll let you follow."

Lifting his watch again from his inside pocket, he gave it a quick glance, before looking around him carefully. After the second scan, he shook his head and walked past Alta and out through the exit.

For the next fifteen minutes, Stannislas moved quickly through a series of back streets, occasionally glancing over his shoulder, but mostly looking straight ahead. The further he went, the more decrepit the streets became. Litter on the walkway, piles of rubbish corners and some broken and boarded windows became more prevalent. Overhead the clouds had darkened, causing the shadows to grow between the lights. There was also a growth in the amount of people on the walkways, and rather than moving quickly in a decided direction, a number of them just seemed to be standing where they were.

[Roll +10 Awareness test]

Rolls:

Alta followed as she had last time, staying a good distance behind but not too far that she would ever lose sight of Stannislas. Delving into the sketchier parts of the city was unexpected but nothing that Alta couldn't handle. Even so, she clutched her staff just a little bit tighter as she walked, keeping her senses spread out and monitoring all sides for anything dangerous that came into range of her eyeless sight.

Ahead Stannislas splashed through a puddle and ducked his head slightly as he passed through a cloud of steam emanating from the edge of a steel pipe which had ruptured through the rockrete of the walkway. A young child sheltered in the edge of a blocked up doorway, staring out at the passersby, her eyes almost unnaturally dark. A hand suddenly emerged from a window on the other side and poured something out.

Whether she had let her concentration slip, or her senses had been too focused on the figure ahead, Alta became suddenly aware there was someone behind her, when a hand came down on her shoulder.

The man behind her was average sized, only a little taller than her, and so thin it looked like a stiff breeze might knock him over. The skin was pulled tight over his skull, with deep hollows for cheeks and a prominent pale forehead, his green tinged hair stood erect and out like the splayed fingers of an outstretched hand. One brown eye appeared to be looking over her shoulder, but its bright blue brother was focused on her nose. His pinched thin black lips drew back, revealing teeth that had been filed to points. He was dressed in a ragged short sleeved tunic and shorts, from which thin arms and legs came out. His right hand let go of her shoulder and then opened out in front of her.

His voice was high pitched and musical.
"You've got tooo pay the toll. You've got to pay the tolllll. Pass my hand with value."

Another figure moved up to stand five feet further back. She was a large woman, with thick rolls of fat around her stomach and a neck like a bull. The face that stared back was pugilistic, with a misshapen nose that had been broken and badly reset a number of times. Her eyes were dark and her head shaved close to the skull. Her hands had a shotgun, which was pointed towards your feet.

Alta silently cursed herself for not noticing the people sneaking around her, she should have been more aware - she wasn't on Terra anymore, it was far more dangerous in the back streets here than back in her adopted home.

With her staff to anchor her, Alta hardly missed a beat before responding to the man that had grabbed her, using her voice to hopefully distract him from noticing her open her mind as she attempted to create a telepathic link between them to read his thoughts.
"Oh dear! Forgive me, but I wasn't ready to pay any toll." She rummaged through her robes, miming the search for a wallet. "Let me just get my money. How much was the toll now? An upstanding gentleman like yourself must have specific fees of course, right?"

OOC:

A high pitched giggle escaped from the man, his head rolling back momentarily to laugh to the sky. When his face rotated back down, it held precisely the same expression as before, lips pulled back and his eyes empty and lifeless. His extended hand turned and he tapped Alta on the chin with a dirty finger.
"Careful now. CAREful now no eyes. Seee this is not a place for gentlefolk. They scream with no tongues."

For a second he pinched her chin between his thumb and extended finger, before stepping back and cocking his head to the side and observing her.
"Forty Golden eyes, one with no eyes."

"Forty? Dear dear... Let me just.." Her telepathic link had failed, which was frustrating but nothing could be done about that now. Alta finally pulled out a small pouch, and began counting out forty Golden eyes into the palm of her hand, resting her staff in the crook of her arm as she did so.

"There are better ways to earn eyes than this, pulling them from a blind woman's pocket." She played up the blindness as much as she could, fumbling with coins when she didn't need to and otherwise looking off at strange angles rather than directly towards the people around her.
She finally handed over the forty golden eyes, offering them out in cupped palms into space and waiting for someone to grab them. "People would pay to hire people like you, people that know these streets better than the gentlefolk."

The man continued to stare intently into her face, his eyes unblinking even as she moved, looking in different directions. When she held out the money he reached out and gathered the coins in both hands and deposited the dull clinking objects into a dirty outside pocket, his focus still on Alta's face.

"No eyes and yet you try to see. My blood belongs to the Duke. If you want to buy it, yours will flow."

He stepped forward again and placed a dirty thumb on the centre of her forehead.
"You now have passage."

Wild giggles slid loose from his lips as he turned away from her and moved back to the shadows at the side of the street. The large woman backed slowly toward the opposite side.

Up ahead Stannislas continued, apparently unaware of what had occurred behind.

The Duke wasn't something Alta was familiar with. Something to ask Stannislas about, along with this whole shakedown she'd just recieved. It was possible he'd know and had led her this way on purpose, and if that was the case then she'd found herself in a very dangerous place indeed, surrounded by people that she couldn't trust...

For now she continued as normal, offering a short nod to the man as he stepped aside and then - using her staff like a blind person might use a cane - she poked her way forward after Stannislas. If she was allowed to depart without issue, she'd go back to trailing the man and hopefully make it to where he kept her target.

Stannislas' speed remained constant as he moved through the grimy dirty streets for the next 15 minutes. Their path was winding twisting like river cutting through the heavy concrete buildings, the path occasionally empty but mostly cramped with half broken wooden stalls, bins of rubbish or other detritus. People hung by the edges, occasionally watching them, but no one moved to intercept either after the first two. Finally Stannislas moved up a dark alleyway, barely wide enough to hold them both standing side by side and came to a stop by the corner of a building. Turning his head for the first time, to look at Alta, he nodded his head at her, before returning his gaze to look around the corner.

(If Alta moves up please roll +10 Awareness to look around the corner)

Taking the nod to be an invitation to move forward, Alta walked up behind Stannislas and took a safe position against the wall of the building, extending her psychic senses briefly to get a glimpse around the corner but otherwise waiting for her escort to take the lead and move them forwards.
Alta was, frankly, in a very vulnerable position right now. She didn't know the city, didn't know the people, and relied entirely on Stannislas to get her where she was going - so she didn't have much choice to wait for his move.

Awareness:

As Alta took her position against the wall, Stannislas turned his head to look at her, as if surprised that she wasn't looking, and then realising why, shook his head, a wry grin across his face. He waited for her to finish getting a view.

In her mind, Alta could see that directly across the street from their present alley was an apartment building, about 36 floors or so in height. It appeared to be hemmed in on all sides by other taller buildings. The street in front of the building was largely empty save for a few people. One particularly large and burly man stood by the door in front of the apartment. On the other side of the road, a young woman with a bit of belly was cooking something like meat on the grill of a portable wagon. Two men were queued up obviously waiting for food. What looked like an old woman, was slowly shuffling away from the building up the street.

After a long moment Stannislas looked at her again.
"That's a handy skill that, being able to look around corners without anyone seeing you. Wouldn't mind that myself. Anyways, that building opposite is the one we want to head to. Few more people than I'd like, but they seem innocent enough. The man on the door is mine. Fact he's still there is a pretty good sign. How do you want to play this? The guy you want to see is top floor."

It was a lot of people to simply walk into after what had happened just a bit earlier on this same trip. But if she let Stannislas go in alone then it was possible she would be caught alone if something DID happen. Another difficult situation. An uncomfortable trend that Alta had absolutely no love for.

Still she grinned at her companion, giving a small nod and a tap to the blindfold over her eyes.
"It's a great ability, all I had to do was have my eyes burned from their sockets by the emperor's glory. Painful, but worth it to receive his blessing." She tilted her head in thought for a moment then shrugged. "I think we should go in together. It's your guy at the door, best if you vouch for me in person, skips the step of proving I am who I say I am, and if shit hits the fan then at least we're together to handle it, yeah? You lead us in, I'll be a few steps behind you.. And then we just go up to the top floor, smooth and easy."

Cocking his head to the side Stannislas gave her a long look, one eyebrow raised and an expression of amused incomprehension on his face.
"Eyes burned out of your sockets? No insult to your faith, ma ecureuil but that's not a deal I'd my hand in for. Fingers been burned a little too often. Power to you though, I'm glad you have his blessing. Makes one of us anyway."

He gave a long sigh and then slapped both of his cheeks with his hands, and gave her a grin.
"I'll have you know, the way I generally handle things is running as fast as I can. But I guess we are both into this right now."

He reached into his jacket and removed a worn looking auto pistol and gave it a quick check before replacing it.
"I'd probably follow just behind me this time. Anyone see's us, its going to be obvious we are together. I'll get you up to the room, but then I'm following your direction. There's something about all this I don't like."

Rapping his knuckles twice against the brick wall, he led the way out of the alley and into the street. As you moved, one of the men at the stall turned his head to look at you before looking back at the produce. The old woman had stopped still and was leaning against the corner of the apartment building. Stannislas nodded at the man, who moved quickly to open the door as you climbed the steps up. Perhaps it was your imagination, but you still had the impression of eyes still on you.

Moments later you had passed through the doorway and into the dilapidated entrance way. The man who had been standing at the door, a large doughy looking bald man with studs and tattoos was assuring Stannislas that no one had entered or left the building since. Clapping him on the shoulder, Stannislas ushered him back outside. Turning back Stannislas was looking a little paler, but grinned again before indicating the far wall where there was a lift and a staircase just next to it.
"Which way do you favour?"

"The emperor watches over us all, regardless of whether his blessing has touched you directly." She commented briefly before they made the walk up the steps and into the building. The feeling of being watched was concerning, especially given she couldn't place it and Stannislas was obviously uncomfortable as well. Something was wrong, but Alta couldn't quite tell what that was.

She tilted her head at the doorman and then turned her attention towards the stairs and lift. It would be a long climb by stairs, but if something truly dangerous had happened then the lift is likely something that whatever was after her target would sabotage or watch.

"Stairs, I think. You don't seem any more confident in our safety than I feel, and stairs are a bit more difficult for people to mess with than a lift they could cut or rewire or something, yeah? Got any objections to that?"

Alta turned to face Stannislas again, it wasn't necessary for her to do so with how her gifts worked, but she found people appreciated it.
"You seem pale, is something wrong?"

Stannislas turned his head back briefly to look at the two options before looking back at the Astropath and giving her a wry grin. The fingers on his right hand had been twitching but with an effort he stilled them.
"Its odd isn't it. If you asked me I couldn't identify a single thing that's out of place, yet I'm all a flutter. Either I've noticed something subconsciously which the body is suspicious about. Or..."
He grinned more broadly at this and puffed his chest exaggeratedly.
"Or I've lost my nerve and I'm just getting worried crossing a road. If that's the case I'll get you a drink back at the Axe and let you disparage me to your hearts content. In any case yeah lets go for the stairs. Thirty fifth floor is the one we are looking for."

He moved over to the stairs, gave the corner in front of him a long look and then started to climb. A good twenty minutes later, after taking breaks on the way, the two climbers finally reached their chosen floor. Stannislas leaned against the wall for, slowly getting his breath back and silently indicated a closed door at the far end of the corridor, on the right. It was the only one that was like this, the others were all propped open. A couple of seconds later Stannislas explained.
"I'd cleared out this building... well a month ago for some deals. He's the only resident. Along with a minder. You want to check it out or have me open and go in?"  

The corridor was silent in front of you, the black closed door, about twenty feet away.

Alta wasn't the fittest person in the world, so the breaks were appreciated with how long the climb was. At each stop she'd look around, check the windows if there were any in the stairwell, and otherwise make sure nothing strange was going on.
They made it to their destination, which was a good sign. All the doors being open was much less of one. It made it so easy for people to simply walk inside a room, hide, and then pop out when people passed without even the noise of an opening door to give them away.

"I'd like you to go first. No offense, but you being concerned makes me even more concerned - this is your safehouse, if you can't trust it then I've got a lot to worry about. I'll follow right behind, going to shut the doors as we go if that's good with you, yeah? Some warning if assholes are hiding in them would be nice."

If he lead, she would start to follow. She'd close every door they passed after extending her senses inside to check for anything unexpected.

"What should I be expecting? He going to be tied up or free-roam or what? And who's the minder, didn't mention them before. Not your doorman, yeah?"