Chapter 1: Into the wild black yonder IC

Alexium suddenly stopped drinking, wiped their mouth with a sleeve of silk most likely more expensive than the entirety of clothing in the spire put together, and leaned in really close.

"Tell me more of these Fluffalo. More importantly, how do I take one home to love forever?"

The Astropath then locked away the information about the hauntings. They knew that to be 100% correct already.

The Magos considered his midge leg for a moment, noting how the others were cracking the shells. He pulled out his combi-tool and used it to cut the shell in half, pulling the other half away, before forking a chunk of it and depositing it in his mouth lock.

"The Quest for Knowledge is our highest goal, however there is an order of operations we must follow in order to safely follow the path of understanding that the Omnissiah has laid out before us. One day, we will rediscover the technology that the ancients used to understand the warp. That is what makes locating and preserving those secrets which remain so vital."

Otherwise, he nodded along to the description of the central spire, his mind composing notes as the Manipulator spoke.

"Manipulator, If you join us at the Mechanicus temple once it is ready, I believe we can set you on the path to achieve the understanding you crave."

Lethia, as a connoisseur of fine food, learned her way around the shell cracking tool easy enough, she smiles at Alexium's ability to sound like an adult one minute, and an innocent child the next.

Iron and Metal wrote:

"Tell me more of these Fluffalo. More importantly, how do I take one home to love forever?"

The next nomad's bazaar is some time away. A few hundred days. Though some Manipulators of the Organic School may have rejected youths from their selective breeding experiments. As for your mechanicus temple, I may put my name in the running to be Glacia's ambassador on your ship. Or at least one of their assistants. I think I can learn far more that way.

After finishing the meal, he stood up and said:

Well, unless you have any other specific requests, I have work of my own to return to. I can bring you back to your ship.

Torian stood up, buttoning his overcoat and gesturing to the group to join him. "That would be wonderful. I encourage you to put your name on that list."

"Ignatio, do you think it would be prudent to have a team of your Magi fly down to meet us at the top of the spire, for a more thorough preliminary inspection?"

The magos stood up, falling in line behind the Lord Captain.

"The initial inspection should involve limited non-combatants. It is best to assume that every unknown situation will be dangerous. I will summon three lesser tech priests to act as assistants, as well as a detachment of Skitarii to protect them. We will dispatch a larger congregation after the initial survey."

As they returned to the shuttles, he reached out through the Vox transponder in the Aquila to give the orders to assemble the team.

Roderick stood with the others, and bid Treveres a good day. The seemed to know a thing or two which would be handy if he was to become the groups liaison. Alexium old son, are you ready for another adventure? he said as he watched the Manipulator depart

Alexium said their goodbyes and wished the Manipulator well until they met again. The first encounter with the inhabitants of an alien moon had gone very well, all things considered. The child let out a loud belch as soon as the Manipulator was out of earshot and turned to Roderick.

"You know, I was just about getting bored. I think it's time to have some fun." Turning a blind eye up towards the central spire, Alexium commented absently as they made their way back to the Aquila lander, "Oh, by the way, that place is 100% haunted. Heard some long dead psychic screams from there before we made planetfall." They laughed and patted their full stomach.

"This is going to be great."

Teveres quickly brought you back to the landing zone, and gave you a final salute:

Stay warm, wherever you may walk.

The armsmen had maintained guard on the vessels, Ahab indicating none of the local defense had made any attempts to approach the ships. He had even had a chat with a female commander that old him their autoguns used magnets or something to fire, as standard chemical propellants-any heat-producing reaction- became unpredictable in the planet's low temperatures & high winds.

A few of his underlings had seen numerous armored columns pass by, some appearing to be several more tank-like variants, similar to chimedons and devil dogs, as well as some artillery, likely basilisk-types. At your arrival, the armsmen took up parade positions and escorted you back to the shuttle, then returned to their lander.

++++In-shuttle++++

A quick vox-communication with the mothership led to a few enginseers and a small skitari troupe to be mobilised. Looter-lieutenant Danny Fitzgibbon, stated he and a small squad would accompany the enginseers.

As your shuttles struggled through the heavy winds above the central tower, you could see that it was surprisingly thin-likely no more than 50 meters in diameter over most of its height. At the top though, a cruciform tructure of much greater size could be seen, appearing to be built along the lines of an STC-standard CCC (Central control core) station. These stations would normally have elaborate structure around them, such as shipyards, but this one was on it's own save its connection to the spire.

On its northwards side, a single flight bay was open, and you could see some light coming out. Inside, a single halo barge had landed, and you could see several skitarii ruststalkers and vanguards, as well as a few voidsuit equipped armsmen milling about in the light of some large portable lamps. One of the armsmen started motioning to marshal you in.

Halo Barge:

Her face softened and she bowed her head in a manner that suggested she'd most definitely lash herself at night for this misstep in etiquette. My apologies, Lord Roderick, I meant no offense. I would never doubt your experience with the warp and its affects on the world. I was only trying to say that while I might be unable to visualize the warp in a real sensory manner, I let the God Emperor's will take that ability's place. And Teveres, I find your desire to understand it without direct contact with it commendable. Learning where to place your faith and how to act on it when you have no other choice but to trust the clarity of vision of those around you will bring you far.

She looked at Alexium drinking through the hollow leg with her peripheral vision the whole time she was talking. After she finished her pep talk to this manipulator, she wondered if their third eye comment about Roderick was a dick joke.

As they boarded the shuttle, Magos Pulsanus established a vox link with Hikari Rai on board the ship.

++Omnicogitator, I have made contact with the heathen technicians, and they are willing to accept a temple to the machine god among them. We are surveying our prospective location, the Central Spire which the heathen have been unable to rouse the machine spirit of.++

++I request that you begin selecting tech-missionaries and planning a course of indoctrination for new initiates. They have largely fallen into the fallacy of pure materialism, and I predict significant resistance to core Mechanicus concepts. As such, I recommend a strong focus on the miracles we can achieve, especially in terms of feeding their people and electrifying their remnant hive spires.++


On arriving in the central spire hanger, Ignatio took a moment to adjust the harness which helped support the use of the heavy meltagun he had obtained on Skaros, making sure that it did not interfere with his voidsuit. Marching down the ramp behind the others, he observed the inside of the hangar with a keen eye, discerning what he could of this place's archeotech provenance.

Turning to address the other Enginseers, he connected with them over the noosphere and asked ++Was there any difficulty in gaining access to the hangar bay? What assessments have you made of the facility?++

A junior enginseer, marked with the appelation Gamma-Epsilon 635, came to you and responded in techna-lingua.

++ No, the bay doors where already opened. A few doors already broken open as well. We had to move some equipment the locals must have left here-a launch cradle for rockets I believe, and some oxygen supply tanks in a later chamber- but we have had no issues as of yet. We will have to remain void-borne & zero-g for now however. Our attempts to rouse the machine spirits have only allowed local access, indicating that any primary and emergency power is long gone. In addition, attempts to pressurise have failed, there are likely micro-meteorite strike piercing the skin. 3 servo-skulls have been released and are mapping accessible corridors.++

The enginseer lifts a data-slate showing the feed of a servo-skull identified as Aleph 28756. It seemed to be going down a spiral staircase.

++This one is attempting to follow the path used by the visiting locals. They seem to have used an emergency staircase to get up. Lots of paint scratched or chipped, they must have had a hard time bringing their equipment. The skitarii are awaiting your orders to start a sweep.++

Alexium donned their small voidsuit without issue. They had made sure their backpack didn't interfere with any of the mechanisms that would save their life, should that be the case. Alexium had read of some powers that allowed Astropaths to float in the Void in a bubble of oxygen; that seemed like a nifty trick. They put it out of their head and focused on the mission at hand.

The priorities of any potentially deadly outing were always as followed:
- Stay safe and aware.
- Never volunteer.
- Keep a spot in the center of the group so as a meat shield was always in front and behind.
- When in danger, be aggressive.
- After danger has passed, always wash your hands.
- Somehow, some way, Profit.

Exiting the landing craft, they took a moment to appreciate the enormity of the spire and the abilities of the ancients. Humanity was truly capable of some incredible feats. Knowing very little to nothing about the Omnissiah and its workings, Alexium could easily chalk this up to human ingenuity.

The child strolled forward in their suit, surveying all around them, ready for yet another adventure.

Ignatio turned to Torain, patching into the vox frequency the command crew had set up between them. "Lord Captain, the Skitarii are prepared to make an initial sweep of the facility. They are equipped with pict recorders and are exceptionally disciplined. I suggest sending them on a general sweep, with instructions to retreat to the hangar bay if they encounter anything potentially dangerous."

He turns toward the central door leading further in. "I recommend that we then make our way to the central control room. I believe that this facility is not merely a landing pad, but an orbital spire. A miracle of the machine god. Fully deployed, it would be a significant boon to our efforts in this system."

In order to prep for the mission, she met with Ahab and other senior members of the scout team and told them to again split the armsmen into two groups. One would be for guarding their exit, however this time the second group would accompany them up until they reach a halfway point to their objective to whatever major junction is available to them at that point. That team would hold this point and provide support as needed and act as an escort on return to their exit. "Any questions?

On the shuttle, Torian quickly and efficiently stripped out of his fine suit into his underlying bodyglove, donned his void suit, and strapped both pistols to his hips and his bolter onto his back. The archeopistol had been enough for a diplomatic meeting, but this had the potential to need more firepower.

He voxed up after Ignatio's near-instant cant-speak: "Cleo, get in touch with the Norald bloc for the installation and reception of ambassadors, let's get a network set up.

VIctoria, take half the troops off standby readiness and begin preparations to make ready additional barracks space, enough for 100 troopers and the crews of 20 vehicles, with accompanying bay space for the vehicles and enough additional bunking for support teams and regimental followers. Try to set it up so they'll have their own space while still being part of the larger barracks. We have some new soldiers joining us soon.

Heng, I have several tasks for you. Prepare a generous living quarters and station for an ambassador from this planet and their staff - work with Cleo's crew, I want eyes and ears in those quarters. Next, consider 100 crew members to transfer to the planet in the near future to spread knowledge and goodwill to these people; take from areas with tasks most replaceable, but they must be well educated and personable. Finally, we will have the opportunity to take on additional crew. Work with Bull and Stephan on the matter, find out whether we have the need, and if so, where and how many."

_____________


Torian stepped off the landing craft, eyes sweeping around them trying to take it all in.

"I agree with your analysis and recommendation, Magos. Send them, and take us in. Brenonya, take point. Loose fireteam around Lethia and Alexium."

"No, we need to make with some haste if we are to be working close with this bloc. I assume making landfall has stirred up the other factions, we should capitalize on the time we have before hard choices need to be made. The looter-lieutenant's forces will be sufficient please pass along that they will be keeping the landing zone secure. We will have the skitarii perform double duty as our fall back point."

She locked her helmet back on and took a knee. She propped her chainsword in front of herself and bowed her head toward it. It had a hilt shaped in the form of a Fleur de lis. Brenonya was quietly whispering a prayer to the God Emperor, the same one as before they made planet fall.

thepooreconomist wrote:

"Cleo, get in touch with the Norald bloc for the installation and reception of ambassadors, let's get a network set up.

VIctoria, take half the troops off standby readiness and begin preparations to make ready additional barracks space, enough for 100 troopers and the crews of 20 vehicles, with accompanying bay space for the vehicles and enough additional bunking for support teams and regimental followers. Try to set it up so they'll have their own space while still being part of the larger barracks. We have some new soldiers joining us soon.

Heng, I have several tasks for you. Prepare a generous living quarters and station for an ambassador from this planet and their staff - work with Cleo's crew, I want eyes and ears in those quarters. Next, consider 100 crew members to transfer to the planet in the near future to spread knowledge and goodwill to these people; take from areas with tasks most replaceable, but they must be well educated and personable. Finally, we will have the opportunity to take on additional crew. Work with Bull and Stephan on the matter, find out whether we have the need, and if so, where and how many."

Each of the officers declared: On it!

saelean wrote:

"No, we need to make with some haste if we are to be working close with this bloc. I assume making landfall has stirred up the other factions, we should capitalize on the time we have before hard choices need to be made. The looter-lieutenant's forces will be sufficient please pass along that they will be keeping the landing zone secure. We will have the skitarii perform double duty as our fall back point."

OK. I'll report to Victoria. Over & out.

[Before Landing w/Brenonya]

Alexium watched as the Battle Sister gave clear, crisp orders to her men and then locked on her helmet and took a knee. The child approached as respectfully as one could given the circumstances.

"Battle Sister, I would pray together with you, if you'd allow the witch a seat at your table, that is." Ever the jokester, Alexium simply couldn't resist adding that last jab, no matter how serious their request was.

The vanguard alpha, a unit by the name of SVA-AIM-006, led a squad of vanguards toawrds the core of the station, with other squads going in perpendicular directions.

From Squad 1 (Blue):

++Following path used by locals. First chamber appears to be shipping facility. Monorail tracks in center of chamber. Passing through door; appears to be heavy blast door; seems military grade, no mechanisms to open from exterior. Entering landing bay 8, 2 shuttles inside. Turning right, entering corridor turning right into stairwell. Descending one level. Entering atrium for mounting into elevator. Large blast doors, fully closed, blocking access from further outwards in the station. Following floor marks. Other stairwell, entering, descending. According to GPS signaling, we are within one of the major cables.++


From Squad 2 (Red):


++Following Squad 1 into landing bay 8. Remaining for further inspection. Enginseer inspecting shuttles. Based on presence of sensors, boarding mechanisms, likely customs shuttle. Leaving landing bay through north blast door. Entering large plaza. Presence of scanners, line-configurations makes it likely to be customs plaza. Detecting ... analysing...37 bodies. Bodies dessicated. Grasping at throat suggests asphixiation. Several bodies with skulls riddled with bullets. Blood stains on surfaces, indicating shots taken before artificial gravity loss. No uniforms in presence on bodies.++


From squad 3 (Green)


++Entering freight transit plaza. Additional inspection: Tracks retracted away from docking spine blast doors. Blast doors sealed. Stationary transport monorail in position. Returning to door deeper into station. Heading down tunnel south-east. Veryfying second blast door, indeed can only be opened from inside. Entering landing bay 4. Three shuttles, enginseer inspecting. Seems to indicate their are gas collectors; ram-scoope underside & large tank visible. Continuing north. Blast doors north currently sealed; will require breaching augur to pass through. Continuing east; door opened. Entering corridor, opening blast door at right. Second freight plaza.++

Maps:

Ignatio directed the command crew to follow behind the Skitarii as they moved in towards the center, lagging behind briefly to examine the method the Glaceans had used to force the blast doors which were already open.

As he received the report from Squad α10, he turned to Torian as they walked through the corridors. "Lord Captain, we may want to discuss local burial rites with the Manutarch. I believe we have found the remains of their ancient ancestors, possibly dating to the Xeno attack she spoke of."

As they reached the blast door in the wake of squad α01, Ignatio looked over the obstacle placed in his way, considering the best method to get it open. He would prefer to use his combi-tool and leave the door mostly intact, but the power axe or meltagun would serve if necessary.

Reaching out over the noosphere, he spoke to the Skitarii which had begun to proceed down the cable. ++Squad @01, interrupt current sweep for higher priority task, return to Command Crew location to provide support as needed during door breach into central chamber.++

Roderick donned his voidsuit with the others and entered the station with his arms clasped behind his back. He wasn't expecting trouble, but his powersword and bolt pistol were both strapped to his belt in case. He listened over the vox as the skitarii squads made their sweeps. So far nothing sounded particularly important to one such as him, but if they found a warhawk or some kind of void attack craft, that would be a different matter...

He waited and stuck next to Alexium as they moved, making sure to cover him if the ghosts it mentioned popped up

As he considered the door, it quickly became obvious that nothing less than a destructive solution would be adequate. As he directed the others to stand clear, and shouldered his meltagun, his vox began to intone the Benediction of the Omnissiah.

"Immortal Omnissiah, hear us."

The wave of superheated plasma flowed from the end of the meltagun like water from a firehose, burning into the plassteel door. The voices of the Skitarii, both in the area next to her and in the other sections of the station, joined him in a haunting synthesized chorus.

"We are your servants, the executors of your Grand Design

We march into the crucible of war, and we beseech you to walk by our side"

The heat from the door was immense, and it was fortunate that there was little air to convect it back towards them. The Magos stood resolutely, channeling the wrath of the omnissiah into the obstacle standing in his path.

"Bestow upon us the blessings of your omniscient sight and direct us where you will

By our action may your Grand Design be wrought upon the stars"

The wall of steel evaporated inch by inch in the face of the storm of plasma, painted evenly over a wide area to ensure there was plenty of room for the party to move forth. And then finally, the meltagun fell silent. In the quiet, the mechanical voices of the priests and skitarii rung out over the vox channels.

"Omnissiah bless us all, may we bring glory unto thee."

And the last of the blast door melted and slumped apart.

Alexium smiled with glee beneath the shielded facemask of the void suit. Meant for filtering out the ultra bright, radioactive rays of stars, it allowed a perfect view of such a terrifying weapon up close. Granted, Alexium could very well have watched it all without the protective face mask; not having eyes had that benefit.

"OK, so I can kind of see the appeal of the Big-Bad-Robot-God now," they click-radioed over to Roderick. They pointed towards the slag of what once was a blast door. "That was pretty epic. Not nearly as cool as when I dropped that freight train onto that archaeotech titan, mind you. But pretty gakkin' cool."

The door melted down into slag. It took longer than expected; there appeared to be composite layers of adamantine and ceramite. In front of you a corridor opened up, though an even thicker blast door was at its end. To the right and left more conventional void doors could be seen. Squad 1 of skitarii walked forth, going left first.

++Entering left door. Room apparently filled with console, appears to be a control pit, with a large screen on the outer wall. A single corpse, appears dead from a shot to the head. Continuing north-east. Second corridor; verifying door going outward; can be opened from this side.  Continuing in standard door to the east. Another control pit. Continuing south-east. Another corridor. Passing southwards. A third control pit; continuing south-west. A fourth corridor. Passing westwards. Fourth chamber filled with large lockers, benches. Lockers unlocked, a single one has what appears to be a reinforced uniform; flak-grade armor. A few lasgun magazines are present, some solid projectiles. Continuing north; returned to the first corridor.++

You saw the squad return to the corridor you broke into.

Map:

Looking upon the destruction he had wrought, Ignatio decided it was good. "Lord Captain, I would request that the Looter-Lietenant bring forth the breathing augur for the next blast door. While we wait for it, I would suggest watching through the lockers while I examine the controls to see what can still be accomplished here."

The looter-lieutenant sent back for a breaching augur. An arvus light would be sent with the tool, which was far too large to be wielded by an invididual. In the meantime, the enginseers set up a small generator to hook up to the control pit to attempt to extract data.

[Before Landing w/ Alexium]


Well all sinners will be cleansed, my Lord Alexium, so let me be in your company and trust that I might shield you from its flames. She said this with a motherly tone, shifting her face slightly toward their's with a sly grin creeping across.


[During the tech priest's fantastic show of efficiency and coordination]

She trailed behind the Skitarii group ready to reinforce the line wherever Brenonya was needed with her grox whip in one hand and chain sword in the other. She marveled at their ability to coordinate so effectively, and her pulse elevated slightly at the thought of fighting by their side. Only in the midst of this operation, could the Immortal Emperor's glory be understood in all their marvelous construction. On the last line, she very quietly joined in, "Omnissiah bless us all, may we bring glory unto thee."

[W/ Brenonya]

Alexium decided right then and there that they liked Brenonya. Initial impressions were quickly being thrown aside as the Battle Sister, while zealous, clearly wasn't an idiot.

I cannot stand the zealous AND stupid.

No, Brenonya was obviously more than that. Alexium smiled at her behind their void-shielded helmet.

"In that case, I require a thorough bathing, Madame Brenonya. I should say that my daily readings of the Imperial Creed have been... less than pious. I intend to make up for that here and now. I defer to you."

Alexium moved closer and held out their hand. They had no idea if that was proper, but also couldn't resist the urge of holding the powerful woman's gauntlet.

Torian stood back, letting Ignatio take charge; he was more than capable. Torian watched the proceedings eagerly, a small smile on his face as he witnessed once more the power of the Cult Mechanicus. He would learn these words, and many more, and many actions alongside, to access such power.

This instance of cult observation was slightly different though, in a way that deeply unnerved Torian. He felt a small stirring of emotion from hearing the chanted words, from seeing the technology so unleashed. He felt the ceremony tap into him at a level marginally deeper than the mere analytic. This was new, and unexpected. It would require much introspection.

As the door slumped into a pile of semi-vaporized slag, he cleared his head. "Let's have a look at those lockers, then. See what we can identify. Brenonya, do you think you may be able to identify anything from the headwound regarding weapon used and who that may implicate in the murder?"

While the others investigated more mundane matters, Ignatio sought to commune with the machine spirits of the ancient consoles. Generators were brought in, and cogitators were booted up so that the Magos could connect to them with his MIU, rooting around in their ancient data-vaults.

The disorder of damaged and corrupted cogitators disturbed him. "It appears that the spire retracted and vented its atmosphere intentionally, likely to impede whatever threat they were attacked by. If the legends from Glacia are true, however, it seems their sacrifice was in vain."

Having wrung what usefulness he could out of the ancient cogitators, Ignatio disconnected. "There is little data remaining that is accessible without restoring full power. However, I believe that from here I can begin reopening the blast doors into the other landing bays."

He directed for the generator to be brought to each of the other blast doors, and one by one triggered them to reopen.

Lethia stayed on the ship. She did not want to leave the dinner party, but also did not like the idea of being left behind. She had no void suit, however, and would have to stay aboard the craft in the meantime.
She stayed in the craft and watched the skitarrii squads fan out to inspect the areas and take stock of the spire.

The spire itself was nothing special to her, but Ignacio seemed interested in it so she would let him have his fun.

With the doors open, the enginseers returned with a detailed list of what could quickly be found.

Landing bay 1 :
-Richly decorated with bright paint on the walls.
-A large, luxury apartment on the back & upper levels of the shuttle bay
-A single-seat flyer, decorated with bright-red marking suggesting a falcon/hawk

OOC note:

-A single individual, wearing an odd form of light armor, stretching their hand towards the flyers, apparently dead of asphyxiation.


Landing bay (Secure bay) 2 :
-Tooling bay, with equipment for repair
-3 arvus lighters with tool system

Landing bay 3 :
-3 transport barges, mid-unloading, with a worker trapped under a crate

Landing bay (Secure bay)  4 :
-3 gas-collection shuttles
-Large gas-densification system

Landing bay 5 :
-1 halo-grade barge

Landing bay 6 :
-7 arvus-grade lighters
-Setup for passenger disbursement

Landing bay 7 :
-Empty; current base-camp

Landing bay (Secure bay) 8 :
-2 modified shuttles
--Added auspex equipment
--Boarding equipment
-Space for 4 more
Landing bay 9 :
-2 halo-grade barges
Landing bay 10 :
-8 arvus-grade lighters (all spaces filled)
-Setup for passenger disbursement


Landing bay (Secure bay) 11 :
-3 inspection shuttles
--Added auspex equipment
--Boarding equipment
-Space for 3 more
Landing bay 12 :
-2 halo-grade barges

Failed Awareness 5 DoF:

Alexium stepped forward with the group, careful not to venture out on their own. The body with the gunshot wound to the head intrigued the child though.

"If the legends of the brain-suckers are true, and they are indeed what attacked this place, I wonder if the wounds are self-inflicted. Perhaps to stop the attackers from claiming their prizes? One had multiple gunshot wounds to the head, yes? Excessive, but perhaps that was the only way to kill one who became infected."

They were just thinking aloud, but it seemed plausible.

Roderick watched the Magos incinerate the blast door with mixture of admiration and sadness. That was a good door, there. How long before we can replace it? he thought, though the Mechanicus cadre on board the Mundus was proficient. It wouldn't surprise if the door was fixed by the time they went back to the light for supper.

Ever hungry for loot and access to the past, he walked over and glanced over the shoulder of the reader at the list of things occupying the various bays. His eyes locked on the "single seat flyer" and ignored the rest of the list. I would like to take a look at that flyer if you'd like to come along Alexium.

Spoiler:

As he went about his work opening up the station, the Magos also glanced through the pict feeds of the skitarii as they swept through the dead station. A few things caught his eye, and once the doors in that section had been opened he ventured over to the landing bay with the single seat lighter in it.

After an initial inspection, using his combi tool to open panels and plug in with his MiU, he turned to Roderick, who had also taken note of the vehicle. "My lord, I believe this vehicle will be of interest to you."

With his head still plugged in to the side of the fighter, he triggered the artistic panels on the front to slide back to reveal weapon emplacements.

"The armor plating is also far thicker than it appears at first glance, and the engines more than powerful enough to compensate for the added weight. This is an interceptor fighter, based off of the STC used to produce the Astartes Xyphon pattern interceptor."

He pulled his MiU out of it and bowed to Roderick. "Would you like to claim it personally, My Lord?"

By then, the boarding augur had arrived, and Ignatio recieved an update over the Noosphere. He bowed again. "My lord, I believe it is time to make the final breach into the central core. Would you please accompany me?"

The breaching augur was towed by the land crawler to the door. It was an enormous drill, assorted with a number of plasma projectors. The plasma liquefied the metal, with the drill chanelling away the fluid and digging into any ceramics that where in the door. The door was clearly built to resist military attack. Alcoves to both sides of the door, currently closed, could be concealing weapon systems. Ignatio's skills at demolition allowed the discovery of tiny internal fractures to take advantage of, allowing the door to be opened in minutes rather than hours.

As the door collapsed, a scene of strange carnage unfolded before you. There were 14 bodies in the room. Twelve bodies, seemingly shot through the head while kneeling,  could be seen spread out around the room. There was no blood-spray, surprisingly enough, though some fluid appeared to have flowed out of the hole in their forehead. Two people in slightly more intricate uniforms seemed to have been shot standing up, also in the forehead, and a small six-shooter seemed to have fallen out of each of the hands onto the floor. Two small cases where set  on top of a nearby console, clearly meant for bullets but half-empty.

The Magos plugged his MIU briefly into the boarding team's auspex, quickly scanning the room beyond. "I believe the area beyond to be bereft of power for the automated defenses, though we should make sure we are clear of the doorways before we power up the facility."

With that, he turned to Alexium. "Standard protocol when accompanying a sanctified psyker calls for consultation when uncovering rooms full of preserved corpses. Do you see anything of concern in the area beyond?"

Roderick followed Ignatio to the bay with the flyer in it, eager to see it in person. As the Magos plugged in and scanned its inner workings his palms practically itched, wanting to be rubbed together in delight. The designation of interceptor made him grin malevolently, and he slapped Ignatio on the shoulder and laughed in answer to his question. Ignatio, old son, we have a saying on Dalmore. Does a sabrecat shit in the highlands? When the Magos looks at him blankly, he laughs again. I would love to take this noble steed into my care. I think with a lick of paint, and the MacCoinneach tartan on the wings, it'll be right at home in my stable. He walked over and ran a hand over the fuselage, inspecting the plating and artistry. It really was a work of art as much as war. He placed both hands on the body and bowed his head before
muttering in his home tongue, Fàilte gu cinneadh MacCoinneach, Claymore. He gave the fuselage another slap and then turned to Ignatio again. Lead the way my friend. Let's see what other secrets this place holds

Spoiler:

"Sounds like bad luck. Us voidfareres area supersticious lot you know." Lethia says to Roderick on the idea of keeping his own personal craft.

Refit for duty was one thing, but to knowingly keep a tainted soul, even that of a ship....

It would be a long time before those craft wouldn't bear the stain of whatever had happened.

She sits back in the seat and continues to monitor the vox traffic.

Torian took careful notes cataloging the findings. He was particularly pleased with the number of halo barges and arvus lighters. They would make a fine addition to the extant fleet aboard the Anatem. The shuttles would be helpful to the regency, although he would have to consider whether to keep a few for future colonies use. He made a mental note to have all aircraft taken up to the ship for the time being. Torian was not one to turn down a tactical advantage when it so presented itself.

The single flyer was a prize indeed, and one Torian was glad to see Roderick claiming. It would do well to have some heavier firepower available as backup in future, and one so quick and agile just adds to the usefulness. "We'll get that some sanctified oils, blessings, and elbow grease first thing, cousin!" he exclaimed, flashing Roderick a smile.

Upon entering the breach into the central core, Torian stared at the scene for a moment before putting on his Mark IX goggles. Perhaps they might give some insight into the situation. Hopefully Alexium could shed some light as well.

[before leaving bay 1]

As Roderick was leaving with Ignatio, he stopped at the body of the pilot laying on the ground. He checked the pockets for anything important, activation codes, command wands, or keys even. He inspected the armour to see if it would be of any use also. Once he was done, he dragged the body to the fuselage, to make sure it wasn't left behind when the looter team came down to ship Claymore back to the Mundus.

[with the others]

That poor beggar died, not because of the ship, but from a loss of atmosphere. It's only bad luck when you change a horse's name. I didn't ask him what this ship was called, so I didn't change it but merely gave it one. He leered at the Navigator with a wild grin. Thank you cousin. I think it'll be a worthy addition to our holds. Let's see what's behind door number 100!

While Torian had yet to develop the skillset to fully make use of the goggles, he could nonetheless recognize patterns. Specific mixtures of components called "nitrocellulose", "nitroglicerin", various hydrocarbons show that half of the people had been shot from one gun, and the other half with the other. Oddly enough, the two gun-wielders had shot each-other, each placing their gun on the opposites temple.

Further inspection showed that the bullets had not passed through the skull-whatever strange shot had been used, the brain had been pulped without a bullet going out the back of the skulls.

The guns themselves seemed to be of a high-quality, if based on a simplistic design. Some form of hand-cannon perhaps? One of them still contained a single bullet , its tip somewhat strange.

++++++++++++

With a declaration of safety, the enginseers came in and started inspecting the location, bringing in various equipment. While servitors removed the bodies and started cleaning the floors and walls. They even found a hatch leading downwards, into what appear to be maintenance tunnels for the fusion core. After about an hour, Gamma-Epsilon 635 returned and gave a report on the inspection of the power systems.

++So, the good news: the fusion core appears to be undamaged if our initial systems checks are reliable. The bad news is that all reserves, including emergency batteries and fusion-fuel are spent. The Magos Gamma-Epsilon 008 downstairs tell me he expects it will be minimum some work to get the generator running assuming he has sufficient personnel & we siphon fuel from the ship. Another bit of bad news: this generator will not allow us to re-deploy the space elevator; it simply isnt powerful enough. There must be a larger power source on the base, and without it we cannot hope to re-deploy it. In the meantime, this location can definitly be recovered; he estimates that with the whole of the Gamma-Epsilon cadre he can get this location ready in 168 hours minimum, 243 hours maximum. We lack the data to determine which of the shuttles on location can be repaired. What decision may I communicate to Gamma-Epsilon 008?++

Hydrako wrote:

As Roderick was leaving with Ignatio, he stopped at the body of the pilot laying on the ground. He checked the pockets for anything important, activation codes, command wands, or keys even. He inspected the armour to see if it would be of any use also.

The armor the man wore was strange. Its outer shell appeared to be as resilient as flak armor; some form of high-quality bodyglove. But within where a series of chambers, linked into some form of cybernetic installed on the corpse. It reminded you of certain suits (normally far more bulky) that voidfarers use to compensate for very high-g environments that would normally shred even the most experienced void-pilots; this would likely allow the use of very high-g maneuvers that would make someone pass out normally. It also seemed to include adapters for ship-MIU integration over the whole body.

Magos Pulsanus translated for Torian's benefit.

"Lord Captain, it appears that this fusion core is redeemable, but it will remain inadequate to launch the orbital counterweight station into orbit. It is suggested that there is a more potent power source deeper in the spire, but I believe that Norald forces in the central spire may oppose our exploration without further negotiation with the Manutarch."

"I believe that this station can be rehabilitated in a matter of approximately two weeks. If nothing else, it can serve as a useful space port above the inclement weather of Glacea. Shall I order Magos Gamma-Epsilon 008 to begin that work? Assistance with the Norald Bloc war effort returns the highest probability of hastening our negotiations with the Manutarch."

Alexium sat cross legged in the room, reaching out psychically in an attempt to get an idea of what happened here...

...but nothing came to their mind. Perhaps it was the void suit, or the elevation, or just the fact that these sad sacks died without reason. Well, definitely not the last one. The child was convinced this had to do with a concerted effort to destroy the brain specifically. Even still, the ancients spoke no secrets.

"I cannot get a reading on anything. For now, the aether is not speaking to me."

It was unfortunate, but these things happened.

Lethia concurs with the psyker, her own pscrying having turned up nothing.
"I sense no disturbance in the warp."

Leaving the enginseers to their work, the group contacted the Manutarch again. After going through a few coms officers, the manutarch accepted your proposal and transfered you to a military coms officer to organize the rest. Members of the "Fighting Fluffalo" 67th mechanized infantry company would meet you at a set of coordinates provided.

It only took a few hours, but you landed on a cleared metal surface. 5 chimeras waited for you there, with a few soldiers waiting for you outside them.

Torian took in the flow of incoming information in stride, cataloging important pieces to review later and letting the team do what they did best. Upon news of the core needing fuel and the likely existence of a greater power source further down, Torian gave a series of instructions in person and through the vox before moving forward with the team to meet their escorts.

"Ignatio, approved, give instruction for work to begin immediately. Additionally, offer my authority to commandeer menial crew members to assist in the work. Do you believe delegating an additional cadre would allow for accomplishing the tasks sooner? Time is of the essence.

Roderick, delegate a taskforce of your crew to determine which of the aircraft we have found are flight-worthy, and get them to the Anatem. If any can be made flight-worthy in a matter of hours, do so and get them aboard too. Get a few from Cleo's team to come down and go over the bays once the aircraft are gone, we want no trace that they were ever there. You know the drill.

Lieutenant Fitzgibbon, give your assistance to the engineseer cadre and Roderick's team, and go through here with a fine-tooth comb. Let's see what that cargo was, and make sure the storage areas are all accounted for.

Andalia, Cleo, get our ambassador team sent down and communicate our desire for an ambassador to join us - in a timely fashion - to the Regency. Include that we enjoyed our communications with Manipulator Teveres and would consider him to be an acceptable envoy. Also, take over the apartment facilities we found, get it running as an indefinite ambassadorial post and establish quarters for those of us who may need to stay for extended periods of time off-ship.

Valry, request for a new scan: see what you can do to locate potential sources of fuel for the ship and other fusion generators. I would like to leave this system as close to fully fueled as possible.

Chirurgeon Kistka, come recover these bodies, get them bagged and tagged. Let's try as respectfully as possible to offer these back to their people. See what you make of their wounds, but for now hold off on any autopsy or invasive procedures. Put in a request for permission to perform an independent autopsy, but respect their decision in the matter. Have someone in the diplomatic staff assist you in your communication to the regency. These people are unused to such logical and efficient communication as the Omnissiah - may his wisdom ever guide our calculations - has blessed you with."

_______________


Torian watched with interest as they got closer to the military escort. Whether ally or enemy, it was always good to know the capabilities of those around you. He stepped forward from the group and smiled and raised a hand in greeting. As he began to speak, projecting his voice outwards, he kept an eye out for an officer to move to greet them from the assembled company.

"Hello! I am Lord Captain Torian Siegel, Seneschal to the Filinatis Dynasty, sanctioned traders of the Imperium of Man. We have negotiated an alliance with your government, and wish to bring you to a new level of prosperity and power. We have already been impressed by your manufacturies and mastery over this climate. We continue to be impressed by the coordination, discipline, and strength of your military forces. If the opportunity so presents itself, we will be honored to fight by your side.

This is Brenonya Halahla, our Master-at-Arms and chief military officer. I will let my other colleagues introduce themselves in due time as we move forward. It is my pleasure to meet you, and thank you for escorting us this day."

Torian offered a slight bow, before gesturing to the team and swiftly moving forward for more informal introductions and to get the group moving into the spire.