Chapter 1: Into the wild black yonder IC

Some time after the investigation of the Eldar station, Magos Pulsanus invited Torian and Alexium to accompany him to a small, secret compartment between decks, near the middle of the Anatem. The far wall was taken up by a medium-sized cargo container, essentially a metal cube roughly two meters on each side. Once all were present, and the hatch sealed behind them, Ignatio ignited two small braziers of incense, and then unlocked and opened the front of the container, folding the doors back to reveal the device they had come to call the Archaeocogitator, along with several other devices.

On one side, near the back, a thick power cable emerged from a hole in the bottom of the container, connecting to a bulky brick of a transformer with a large red switch on it, which was then itself connected to the cogitator. This switch also powered the other devices, including a small terminal with a pair of datascreens and a rune-slab which sat in front of it. On the other side, a thick bundle of data-cables ran through a lesser cogitator and databank, with its own smaller terminal. Thus the data to be gathered and fed to the cogitator was stored and curated.

"This, Lord Captain and Astropath Transcendant, is the product of my recent efforts," Ignatio introduced the subject before them. "What we have been referring to as the Archeocogitator is in fact designated as an Omega Cogitator. I have investigated it thoroughly and communed with its machine-spirit, and despite its ancient origins, the spirit is young and eager to learn and grow. To that end, I have endeavored to teach it some basic functions."

He went to the databank terminal and with a dance of his fingers across the runes brought up an index of economic data and plans.

"This data was gathered from Glacea, detailing the planet's industrial and economic capabilities and the planned efforts to improve the infrastructure of the spires. I will now deliver it unto the Omega Cogitator, with a prayer for analysis."

A few more rune-strokes, then he moved to the other terminal and entered a short series of commands, which appeared on the lower screen. Then, as they watched, the upper screen filled with flashing runes and numbers, before reformatting into a series of detailed projections, predicting the likely economic output and most needed commodities over the first five years of Glacea's growth. A data-prognostication that would normally have taken hours or days of cogitation to assemble.

"I have also assembled vox-translation protocols, allowing near instantaneous translation of any language we have stored in the ship librarium's databanks." He pulled out his adamantine-cased dataslate, and pulled up a vox recording. "This is a recording I took from a crewman whose planet of origin featured a distinct dialect of gothic, which I was able to convince him to speak for me."

What he played was indeed incomprehensible to anyone who hadn't grown up on that particular planet, a strange sing-song of half-understood words. The terminal then produced a monotone vox-voice in crisp Low-Gothic. "Yes Sir, where I come from they talk like this, it was a warped time learning my way out of it."

"I believe that the Omega Cogitator may also be of use in producing survey data of a system more quickly than would otherwise be possible, if we choose to compile such data for the Administratum. All of this it can do with only data and power provided from outside. I plan to investigate methods of connecting this cogitator with the Anatem more directly, in order to provide its power to the ship's targeting, maneuvering, or the coordination of the crew."

Putting his dataslate back away, Ignatio gestured to the secret hatch they had come in from. "However, it remains of utmost importance that the true power of the Omega Cogitator be concealed from outside knowledge. it is standard practice that a device of this power should be sealed away and preserved, rather than put to use. A practice with which I disagree. Experience is the first step in the path to comprehension. Instead, we must make pretense that whatever capabilities we make use of were inherent to the Anatem itself."

The flashing glow of runes sparked in Torian's eyes as he gazed at the wonderous device. He had heard tell of such cogitation, it was legend among the Seneschals of the Skarus Prime ganger clans. A large smile slowly spread across his face in realization of the extent of the possibilities such a device represented. This was truly something to not allow to go to waste. This would bring the Dynasty forward at a clip never before considered possible. With this, he could perfect the transformation of worlds into profitable enterprises for the Dynasty. Today was a good day.

"Golden Throne, Magos. Excellent work. I know it is not in your nature to request rewards, but truly if there is anything I can do in your service, simply ask and I shall see it done. I agree with your assessments, both that such a device must eventually be put towards maneuvers and targeting of the ship, and also that it must be kept strictly secret from the Magii aboard ship. Fortunately, the Anatem is a vessel of such greatness it would cast little doubt to claim such capabilities were latent in her all along. I will get this analysis for the development of Glacea to our ambassador and my colonization staff immediately. I will personally oversee its implementation."

Some time after exploring and thoroughly looting the Eldar station, and demonstrating the power of the Omega cogitator to the others, Ignatio approached Evangel to discuss the use of her lab.

"Mistress of Metal Evangel, I understand your lab is capable of cybernetic implantation? Unfortunately our expedition currently lacks several necessary instruments for more than basic cybernetics, and there is an upcoming project requiring such. If you would make such facilities available to me, in return I would be happy to explain and even demonstrate the construction and use of standard Mechanicus cybernetic implantation."

Pyritefoolsgold wrote:

"Mistress of Metal Evangel, I understand your lab is capable of cybernetic implantation? Unfortunately our expedition currently lacks several necessary instruments for more than basic cybernetics, and there is an upcoming project requiring such. If you would make such facilities available to me, in return I would be happy to explain and even demonstrate the construction and use of standard Mechanicus cybernetic implantation."

Oh, I've been absorbing data-72 exabytes of your nearly yottabyte sized medical database. It was exquisite, and has already allowed me to imp... to bring my systems up to local standards. I will remain during any surgery to be done, to intervene if needed. I would not take the risk that someone die on my table due to my absence...

You could see her left hand seeming shudder-what looked like a hand hid something metallic -maybe a scalpel- behind the perfectly-fitted plates that collapsed back into a plain hand. Her lab was fully deployed, and seemed both cleaner and messier than the mechanicus standard-while every surface gleamed in cleanliness, half-completed projects could be seen everywhere.

Alexium was eager to see what the Magos had been working on. Lately, the "child" had grown much closer to Ignatio and Torian. They seemed eager to confer, ask for advice, and listen to one another. Oddly, Roderick, Alexium's oldest friend on the ship, had grown more distant.

They made a mental note to check in on him more. Perhaps something was bothering him that he was too proud to talk about. It wouldn't have been the first time.

The Archaeocogitator amazed Alexium in the way that anything completely outside of their understanding would. The explanations from Ignatio were not only necessary but also thrilling. This piece of machinery was truly a marvel - and the Astropath saw it as a force multiplier to the Anatem.

"The need for secrecy, utmost and assured, is necessary indeed. I approve greatly of your unorthodox approach to its use. As long as there are no reasons to believe the warp has infiltrated this, it should be put into use for the glory of the Anatem, the Filiantus Dynasty, and both the Omnissiah and Emperor. Amazing, Magos. Simply amazing."

They kept their hands behind their backs, crouching at times to see all the various angles of the machine. The silken scarf over their long-burned out eyes was pure white - both in honor of their recent victories and as a tradition of purity before warp translation.

The ship finally transitioned back into realspace at the edge of AE52994. Valry Mace gave the topography of the system.

The star is quite anomalous-its the size of a red dawrf, but shining like a giant. Our data from the mechanicus assumed it was a hot-blue star, very strange.

A faint shudder passed through the ship, with artificial gravity cutting out for a second before setting itself back.

I recommend we move the ship farther out, we are easily a light-month away from the star and I'm still feeling the pull.

As the ship moved further away from the system, Valry continued her scans.

A number of dust clouds and asteroid clusters further in. They seem to be moving erratically. With a star like this, I would assume some kind of powerful gravity riptide. Oh, and a single large planet a bit further out from our current location...

Valry brough up an image of the planet on a viewscreen. It appeared to be a large, grey-black sphere veined with whitish-pink lines.

We've got this single planet. Dense and rocky. Oh, and those lines-they arent just white, they are emitting light. It would likely be blinding up close, and klics wide. Curiouser and curioser. We may not be the first to think so however-I'm picking up signs of a space station near the edge of the system. Dead, but not trailing any debris like some of the other's we've seen. Wait there's something else furhter in. I'll need a bit of time to scan, I'm not sure what I'm seeing.

Valry dove back into her work, tuning out the world.

"Start taking us in, Rod, but be ready for whatever comes. Ellen, William, work with Ignatio to pull the data from Valry and I as it comes in, how much time and data do you need to get this properly charted? Could we do that from the Mandeville point if necessary? Alexium, anything from your choir? Anything significant from the transition, Lethia? I am going to assist Valry."

Torian sunk back into his throne as he had before, screens floating down around him like so many snowflakes, obscuring him from view as they spun around him. His hands flitted out from time to time to snag a new dataslate or press or drag along different metrics. He shunted all incoming data to both himself and Valry, and called for a direct vox between him and Valry linked for ease of communication. He knew the crew would take care of whatever else was needed, and had some dataslates set aside to alert him to anything relevant.

Well need a couple of hours to have a general chart of the system-the most interesting features are further away from the sun than we are. And the mandeville point is sufficient-though we will get more data if we orbit the planet.

She continued her scans, eventually popping up.

Theres a structure near the sun. I dont know quite what it is, but its exhibiting significant birefringence oddly enough-like it was one giant, extremely pure crystal. Bizarre.

She typed a few actions and a simplified map of the system popped up.

Map-AE52994:

Roderic asked whether he should head for the planet or the space station on the system's edge.

Alexium bowed slightly to Torian, "We have had no luck detecting anything in this system. Whether that is because the system is devoid of any Warp anomalies or they are well hidden is impossible to say."

In truth, the choir had been out of tune and Alexium was frustrated with that fact. Alas, they would do better.

Torian bowed in response, "Thank you, Alexium. I'll have the staff attend your choir and provide them any luxuries they ask for." He gestured at an attendant, who began scribbling on a data-slate and then briskly walked off to make the necessary arrangements.

"Take us to the station for now, Rod." He turned to Valry, "Does that get us close enough for a more detailed planetary scan? What more can you tell me about this crystal structure?"

In the time it took the scans to complete, Magos Pulsanus made his way to the bridge. Plugging his electro-graft into a cogitator, he looked over the sensor data that Torian had processed.

"It appears that the ancients believed that something in this system was worthy of their attention, though apparently other concerns gained priority. The station appears to be fully in compliance with orthodox STC construction. There are no signs of damage or rapid evacuation. It appears that the fusion reactor was laid to rest with all the proper ritual, as the machine spirit has not vented its radioactive wrath over the station in the remaining centuries."

Turning to Torian, he announced "Lord Captain, I believe this station represents a significant opportunity, both to learn more of the ancients as well as to potentially restore or salvage their technology."

Alexium listened carefully, adding only, "If they shut it down with the proper rites then they were simply waiting for worthies such as us to come and restart it. Or, like you said, gain from it."

They were excited at the newest opportunity presented by the Emperor to the crew.

Victoria came forth:

I can prepare an away team to scout it out.

Lethia arrived on the bridge just as the auspex officer was describing the system. She was tired and exhausted, the tolls of warp travel ravaging her body and her mind as it did all navigators.

Her inexperience may be to blame, or it could possibly be the rigors of travel through the empyrean without the benefit of the astronomicon. It made the faint beacon in the sector even more important. She was determined to find it......

This system looks rather isolated and lonely, I wonder what the purpose of these structures are? Why put a monitoring station out here? and is it tied directly to this crystalline structure?"

When Victoria arrives, Lethia feels little hesitation, at least these were the safe void structures and not dustballs. "If need be, I shall accompany you." she tells the armsman.

Sylphilis wrote:

When Victoria arrives, Lethia feels little hesitation, at least these were the safe void structures and not dustballs. "If need be, I shall accompany you." she tells the armsman.

Victoria stated:

Maybe if you sense anything...warpy. Though alexium seemed to sense nothing. Otherwise looks fairly standard. I'll get the team going. We'll be close enough to give you a live feed.

+++++

About 30 minutes later, a live feed started coming in from Victoria and her squad of looters. You could easily hear the chatter, mostly standard minute-to-minute feedback and reports, though the following from Victoria stood out.

++We are starting the spacewalk. One of the ensign-Obo I think their name was, used to work in a space station factory-mentioned a lot of these cant be completely locked down if there's nobody at the command deck. We'll be checking around for unlocked doors.+++

5 minutes later:

++Well, the 4 hangars are locked down tight. The squad's gonna spread out, try to find all the pressure doors. We've done a few small scans. The inside is definitly depressurized. There is some micrometeorite damage that wasnt seen by the Anatem, but thats hardly surprising. Ensign Obo's going to scan them, see if there are any full breaches.++

125 minutes after that:

++Well, an unlocked door has been found. Its a single door in the main sensor mast, well hidden behind a bunch of dishes. We'll start mapping out the interior.++

30 minutes later:

++Still mapping out the inside. Must have been important in its time, it quite big, like a small city. A lot of dross and trash left over in the rooms, gives the impression they evacuated with all they could and left the junk-everything's still clean so they clearly werent in a hurry. I mean there are a couple of shops still full of old junk, but all the crew quarters are empty. ++

++++

Lethia listened to the reports with anticipation.
"Understood, have you found any essential equipment or nodules important for the actual running of the structure or has it all been living quarters? How is the atmosphere integrity? Are pressure suits still required that far in or can it sustain breathing that far in?"

She had many questions, but tried to keep it confined to the most pertinent ones.

Sylphilis wrote:

"Understood, have you found any essential equipment or nodules important for the actual running of the structure or has it all been living quarters? How is the atmosphere integrity? Are pressure suits still required that far in or can it sustain breathing that far in?"

+++We are working our way there, our entrance wasnt near central control. There is an atmosphere, but the pressure weak and the atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and carbon dioxide.+++

The exploration continued, with victoria finally reaching the command deck.

+++Well the place is empty. There are some papers tacked up on the consoles, but its in that weird symbolic script the jaicro used so I havent a clue what it means. We're gonna start looking for more info.+++

A few minutes later:

+++Got some news from the external inspectors. No detected full penetrations, though some external structures have damage-mostly some sensors and macrocannons. Some appear to be in good shape however, might be reusable.+++

A few minutes more:

+++Ok, so some bad news. The emergency batteries are fully depleted, we'll need some more time to get something set up. This place is huge. We found a schematic of the layout in techno-symbolic though. According to the tech-adept with us, this place should have hydroponics decks, high-quality life support, shields, macrocannons even a gellar field generator. Must have been important in its time. +++

+++In any case its gonna be at least a few days to get this place functional enough that we can see if its still functional. Decisions up to you all now.+++

"Understood" she says before turning back to Torian.

"Obviously we don't have the time or resources to get the entire thing staffed and up and running. But I think it's worth the few days to ascertain if there's any salvage that we would find useful, Magos, do you have any thoughts on what a STC station of that shape any size might contain? Would there be anything useful for us?"

"Let's not be hasty, Lethia. You may be right, but I remain hopeful that an investment here could reap rewards in the future if done properly. Certainly a few days to ascertain potential salvage and understand what exactly is necessary to bring this station back to life is needed. Rod, pull us up next to the unlocked door of the station, close as you can, I'll have the voidsmen teams see if they can rig up a temporary dock with that door for ease of movement. In three days time, I want to know what all we could salvage, how long it would take, and what value may be gained in doing so. I also want to know what exactly reviving this station entails and what the prospects are for an industrial colony utilizing the STC." The scribes around Torian were furiously taking notes and passing along the necessary litany of orders to make his commands reality. "We need a full-scale operation here to get that done. Get as many teams of Magi over there as possible right now, to focus on restoring the atmosphere and life support. Once voidsuits are unnecessary I want the full Mechanicus contingent, all looting teams, and 3000 armsmen deployed across the station for fact-finding and assessment, with the armsmen as support and security. Magos Ignatio, I will need your cogitation skills in assessing this station. Lethia and Alexium, I will need your accompaniment as well in our trip to join the exploration efforts before the operation unfolds. I need to know if there is taint aboard this station. We will depart shortly alongside additional looting teams to oversee the initial exploration." Torian switched from his throne earpiece to his portable comlink and began striding toward the launchbays. He put his finger to his ear, temporarily overriding the comm systems in the bridge as he asked: "Assessment: what would it take to get those emergency batteries charged as soon as possible?"

"Lord Captain, I am unclear what benefit you believe restoring this station could grant us. This system offers little of value, especially given the presence of many dangerous gravitic anomalies. The Jaicro ancients clearly intended it to monitor either the gravitic anomalies, or the anomalous planet."

The magos pulled up the list of salvageable components, and compared it to a list of necessary components to assemble a void colony.

"our priority should be to determine the reason why the Jaicro ancients chose to build a station to monitor this system. This will inform us of what dangers to expect, as well as what value could be gained from establishing a presence here. If that value is insufficient, I reccomend we salvage these components in order to better establish a void colony in a more productive location."

Victoria responded:

++We should be able to open things now that whe're inside. We'll get started transferring the personnel, should take a day or so. ++

The Omnissiac Congregator Hikari Rai stepped Forward:

Lord-Magos, if this is truly a station built to STC standards, its value would be inestimable! The team even mentionned that it has a gellar field generator-meaning it could be towed through the warp. Imagine, a deployable temple to the wisdom of the ancients, deployable anywhere the omnissiah ... and of course the Filianatis require it.

She came and prostrated herself in front of Ignatio.

Magos, I supplicate you, please allow me to try to revive this ancient spirit and return it to glory. I feel the motive force pulling me towards it! My own soul will re-ignite the batteries!

Alexium stood and watched the interchange. It was interesting to watch the Magos challenge the Lord Captain, but then again strict hierarchy wasn't something this crew was big upon. Not only that, a leader who surrounded themselves with only yes-men wasn't worthy to lead themselves to the bathroom.

"I would never miss an opportunity for adventure. As an aside, please have all search teams on the lookout for anything that looks like this." Alexium produced the Astartes Action Figure. Only certain members of the crew would know its significance, and even though not its full potential.

To any odd looks, Alexium smiled across their cherubic features. "Indulge me. Let's just say that I am a collector, and when I get the whole collection, amazing things will happen."

Ignatio froze for a moment, as he rapidly recalculated. He had only considered the value of the components mentioned, and had not made the connection to the capabilities an operational gellar field geneator would allow.

An instant later, the Magos raised his arms, and a stream of binary chatter passed between the two tech priests as he implored her to lay out her plans and projections for awakening the ship's machine spirit.

Satisfied, Ignatio nodded. "We must not allow the knowledge of the ancients to be erased. Every effort must be made to preserve and record any data left behind. However, once this task is completed, I will give my blessing to the revival project. If the station can be restored and moved intact, then it would represent a significant asset to the filiantius dynasty and to humanity."

Then the magos turned to Torian, bowing to him in turn. "Lord Captain, I request your leave to make pilgrimage to this ancient station and endavor to understand, and comprehend, it's purpose."

When all looked ready to go, Alexium retired to make ready for moving on. They met once more with the Astropathic Choir, and as one, pushed their combined wills out into the void. Frustrated with their first attempt at this upon entering the system, Alexium decided to try once more in a much more focused manner.

As Torian commanded the crew in inspection, Ignatio led the tech-priests to inspect the station. After 3 days, the following had been established:

-The hull was sound, easily re-pressurizable and likely still able to take macrocannon fire if it came to it.
-All essential components appear to be functional according to basic diagnostics.
--Archeotech Generatorium-with enough stored fuel for several years of operation.
--Ancient Life Sustainer
--Multiple Void Shield Array
--Gellar Field
--Civitas Decks
--Hydroponics Decks (Filled with a bunch of dead, desiccated plants, but otherwise serviceable)
--Science Bridge (Bonuses to scientific scanning & such)
--Ultimo Sensor Array (Note: will become more powerful with repairs)

-The external damage had reduced the detection power of the station, and rendered non-functional one of the macrobatteries-there is still one functional.

-While in some distant past the station was clearly heavily occupied, it had little more than a skeleton crew when it was abandonned-with all save 5% of the bunks being sealed & closed.

-The internal data storage network was unfortunately solid-state-this meant that most of the data was likely degraded and scrambled after thousands of years, though the drives where still usable.. The core programming was on a more reliable storage medium (data-spools), so running the station wouldn't be a problem.

-No notable psychic Residue-while an old toy shop was found, the action figures inside still vaccuum-wrapped and boxed. They simply didnt feel like they had anything like the others-those you already had had lived, been loved, been seen. These old boxed ones where just plastic.

-The conclusion was that the station was recoverable. It could easily accomodate a colony's worth of people.

While it was clear that Lethia would not stubble upon a mini astronomicon here, the station itself was amazing, like a time capsule from the distant past.

She left the techno-sorcery to Ignacio and contented herself to study of the hydroponic decks. While she did not expect to find any delectable foods there, she was very interested in seeds that she could have the dirt tender serfs cultivate into something new and edible.

Besides that, she moved across the civitas decks, rummaging through the personal affects of the prior inhabitants, looking for interesting finds of a more personal nature.

Alexium moved to the toy shop to conduct their own investigation. They believed the reports, of course, but with little else to do at the immediate moment, they took it upon themselves to see it first hand.

They would know immediately if there were any anamolies in the area....

Torian brushed some dust from the sleeve of his fine woolen cloak as he finished the most recent tour of the station. He returned the salute of an attachment of armsmen on a security patrol, and shook hands with repair-team leader as he walked by. As he shook the woman's hand, his earpiece chimed with her name and any relevant information - Bessan, with a young daughter beginning schooling. Torian let his voice project wider, so the team could easily overhear. "This is excellent work, Leader Bessan. Let your team know you'll all be receiving double grog rations tonight, and report to your quartermaster tomorrow morning for some extra school supplies for little Tori." Torian knew the value of morale and symbolism... and to be fair, the work was solid.

The three days were now at an end, and he found himself satisfied with the progress being made. This looked to become quite profitable! Still, he knew they were on borrowed time. He called for his attendants and core officers to meet him on the bridge, and began the walk back, stopping occassionally for more praise and rewards. It paid to be seen as a generous captain.

...

Torian stood in front of his command throne, arms behind his back, gazing down at the assembled officer corps waiting in the central command deck within the bridge. "You have all achieved beyond expectations. For this, you have my personal thanks. We are now in a position to make re-animating this station a reality, and even to take it with us until a most profitable scenario reveals itself for more permanent placement. This is cause for celebration! ...and celebrate we shall, once in transit to the next system. Until then, there is more work to be done. I have been informed of a 5 day estimate to make the station warp-ready and towable. This gives us 5 days for deep-scanning of this system with a skeleton crew. The core repair crews, mechanicus complements, colonists, and 3000 troops are already aboard the station. They will stay there with sufficient supplies, continuing to work on repairs. I want rotating shifts for constant work. We will leave them several orbital shuttles and sufficient voidsuits for exterior repairs as needed. The rest of us will move into the system for scanning and to see if there is anything else of value. In 5 days I want us sitting at the mandeville point, preparing for warp transit. In 6 days, there will be a cask of vintage Amasec from my personal stores sitting empty before you, and a side of slow roasted Grox flank in your bellies. Let's get to work."

Alexium showed up on the bridge in exquisite purple robes. A similarly colored bandana was wrapped around their eyes. The astropathic choir had remained in their quarters, no doubt bickering with one another as per the norm.

Alexium approached once the rest of the crew jumped to start getting to work.

When the core group of ship leadership was present, the Astropath started. "So, aside from the space station, I hope we can find some real action in this system. To go from cultivating a following of non-sanctioned yet non-threatening psyker warriors and eliminating the evil sorcerer to a planet with veneral disease has been less than thrilling."

They smiled.

From the moment Ignatio set foot on the station, he worked like a man possessed by a machine spirit. Cataloging every detail of what the ancients had left behind, measuring the final position and state of every sensor instrument, collecting remnants of long-decated code, and even measuring which control runes had been used more often than others. Only once a chamber had been catalogued did he lead the efforts to begin assessing damage and refurbishing.

He shared what details he could with the curious Astropath as they attempted to comprehend it for themselves, but much of what he investigated would be of little use.

With all this data, he retreated to the secret Omega Cogitator chamber, and spent a full day churning through it to pull patterns out of seemingly random noise. Finally, after achieving a state of one-ness with the data, he emerged from his fugue to examine the conclusions he had compiled.

The haze parted as Roderick felt the pecking of Haast's hooked bill against his eyelid. *tap. tap tap. tap.* His companion was careful not to blind him, but if Roderick had taken much longer to rouse, the bird probably would have begun to scavenge on his useless cadaver. With a swat, he sent it flapping into the air to watch him gather himself from the post overlooking his quarters. Away with ya, ya scavenging prick. I'm not dead yet. He laid on his back for a few more minutes trying to find the strength to roll over, like an infant, onto his front and push himself up. Mind you, it might be better if I was...What day is it? The eagle glared down at him disapprovingly, and remained silent, which drew a long raspberry from Roderick. Fine, be the way. He took a shaky few steps around the broken glass on the floor, and went to the washbasin to get the grit out of his eyes.

An hour later, he appeared on the bridge in his Kintail finery, ready to find out what he has missed out on. He had been derelict in his duties lately, and was keen to pick up where things had left off. When no one was on the bridge he went to the helmsman and asked for a status report. Bruce, what have you got? Where is the Captain and the rest of the team?

The bridge attendant turned to give Roderick his attention. "Ahh, excellent! The Lord-Captain left a vid for you." She then gestured to a data-screen near her and pulled up the file, entering the correct encryption code, then left her station to wait at a reasonable distance to give Roderick some privacy.

The screen showed Torian sitting at his desk in his private work chamber. He simply began speaking, "Rod, it's good to see you up and about. The standing order is to leave you be unless needed. I hope you are feeling well and retaining your control over the bottle. Let me bring you up to speed, as I have an ask of you. You remember the diseased world and the tablets we took with us. Our artifex team is working on the last coordinate necessary to triangulate the data properly, although I expect it will take another month. We then took on ancient Eldar armor and a weapon, and stripped out what appears to be a portal of some kind and some particularly ancient wraithbone to serve as bargaining chips when we next meet the Eldar. After our jump to this system, we are now attempting to deep-scan this system while recovering and renewing an abandoned STC-construct station, complete with gellar field, defense capacities, and able to warp-travel. I have a colonization crew, 3000 armsmen, and our mechanicus and looting contingents working nonstop to bring that station to a point where we can tow it through the warp until we find somewhere profitable to leave it. This is all taking place now. The officer corps and I are likely on-station overlooking repairs. I will return shortly to announce the next step in the repairs. I want to leave this station behind for 5 days, to give them enough time to make it towable and warp-ready, to venture in-system for deeper scanning and to potentially investigate that crystal. The issue is that this system appears to experience significant gravity fluctuation the closer in-system you get. I doubt our crew can handle the necessary piloting to deal with them. I need you for this. … I will be back soon, to rouse the officer corps and get things moving along. Let us talk then, if you are awake to see this."

Alexium strode over to Roderick, their oldest and closest friend on the ship, just as Torian's message was finishing. The Astropath stood nearby, facing in the same direction as the pilot so as to look to onlookers as though they were both conferring and strategizing.

They no doubt both looked the part of two of the ship's most senior crew, privately talking about how to keep the flying city alive and in good shape. Of course, no one could hear the actual conversation.

"So, you get enough beauty sleep, you giant ballsack?"

Roderick took the seat vacated by the helmswoman and got up to speed from the the Lord Captain. He had expected a chewing out, so was quietly surprised when he got a bout of sympathy instead. Things had progressed in his absence, and the feeling of missing out had him subconsciously reach into his coat pocket for his silver flask. Bastard. Where the devil did I leave it? he cursed under his breath when the pocket came up empty. He focused back on the debrief after a bit more patting of his uniform pockets turned up nothing. The idea of a warp capable station had him thinking of dropping it at the gate of the expanse, acting as a toll booth, collecting crowns on ships entering and leaving, while insulating the first planets somewhat from hostile takeovers. Torian had probably already considered the idea, so he dismissed it.

He felt the presence of his friend over his shoulder before he spoke, and tried to come up with a witty greeting of his own. It's good to see you too, Old Son. I had a dreadful itch that needed to be scratched, and just like a ball sack, when you finally do scratch it it pays not to overdo it. I, unfortunately, did overdo it and so...here we are, tender and raw. Does that answer your question? He pinched the fold of skin on Alexium's elbow. It feels a bit like that, if you're curious. He then clapped the psyker on the shoulder and grinned broadly, before turning to survey the bridge side by side. So, what malarky have I missed out on?

The pseudo-child nodded thoughtfully, ignoring outright how Roderick had wrinkled their silk robes to make their point. If anyone else had done it, it would have been trouble. Alexium was just happy to have their friend back.

"That answers it. Seems quite unpleasant. This, uh.... this has nothing to do with the dreams, right? That was just jokes. Granted, it was ultra intense... ork... sexual molestation jokes, but jokes all the same. I hope I didn't go too far."

Alexium was sincere in that hope.

Answering Roderick's question, "Well, I seem to have gained some new abilities I haven't told the others about yet. They're tied to my figurine." Alexium produced the figurine.

It was an Astartes of exceptional quality; though it looked it, it was definitely not a child's toy. Much too well made. The Space Marine was armored in blue and white, with a supernova on one pauldron - a Novamarine. He wore no helmet, sported a short cut mohawk of light brown, and had bionic arms. The nameplate read: "Lucius Vorenus, Tactical."

"My suspicion is that whomever made these did not just create the one. Or rather, the power that manifests in them did not simply choose one. If I can find more, I could potentially harness those powers as well."

They put it away and carried on. "Other than that, the typical usual bullshit. The Herpes Planet was a bust, at least from my perspective. I didn't get to drop a cargo truck on a titan or anything awesome like that. Ignatio and Torian have been responsible for keeping things running while I fucked off and Lethia was in dreamland. Haven't seen the Battle Nun in some time. Come to think of it, I haven't seen that priest in even longer. No idea where they are off to."

You're lucky I have a sense of humour, and can understand your deplorable one. Some other fellow might not have taken so kindly to that intrusion. He flared his nostrils in mock indignity, before cracking into a wide grin and clapping his friend on the shoulder again. It was creative though. Their soft hands was a mercy! He let out a bark of a laugh, that wasn't entirely convincing before continuing.

Anyway, enough of that. He stooped to have a closer look at the craftsmanship of the model, What sort of power does this one have, or does it need the entire set to manifest the power? How did you come across it, and why are you so sure there are others? He then pointed at the codpiece, huh, I would've thought it would be bigger. I'm interested to help find the rest and see what happens. He straightened back up and reached for his flask, again patting himself down and cursing under his breath when it wasn't found.

He listened to Alexium give a more casual account of what has gone on in his absence. He gave a single nod. Good, I wasn't missed then. What about this crystal?

Valry came to join the discussion, passing you a datapad.

Here's what we have on the cristal. It's larger than the station-about 5 km in diameter. Composition is unclear-there's a NIR peak which suggests its diamond, but the spectra is so irregular that its definitely much more complex.

On the datapad, you could see a strange crystal, with a 13-fold spherical symmetry. Its form suggested fractal structures repeating.

We also cant properly estimate the travel time yet due to the gravity tides. You'll have to try and see.

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

A first attempt to penetrate deeper into the system began. For an entire 8 hours, Roderick and the crew where at the edge of their seats. At irregular intervals, sudden gravity tides popped in and out, sending the entire ship reeling off-course. By the end of the period you where exhausted, but appeared to have found a calm spot to rest and recover. As the crew confered about the ride, a few conclusions came to the fore:

-During this travel, 136 crewmen where injured due to sudden gravity loss smashing them against floors, ceilings and bulkheads.

-Over the period, they ship travelled around 1/10th of what would have been expected. If current trends held (an unsure thing considering how unpredictable it was), it would be maybe a month's travel to reach the station. Assuming you survived.

-Usually gravity tides could be spotted by tracing ions or dust. Unfortunately, the tides have too effectively cleared the space, leaving nothing to trace. You would need to find some form of advanced gravity sensor-something that you dont have, but that the mechanicus might. This would make things drastically easier.

-Direct warp-travel nearer the crystal, while possible, would be risky-if you translated into a gravity tide, it could rip you to shreds.

You had decisions to make...

Ah, thank you Bru...err, Valry. Roderick caught himself as he took the data slate. He looked down and scrolled through the readouts. He clicked his teeth as he looked at the gravity well situation. That will be a shitpickle, he thought Dancing in and out of gravity tides, and surging through eddys will be challenging. He squinted his eyes knowingly and looked down at his companion with another wry grin. Perfect opportunity to put this lot through their paces.

He flipped the slate back to Valry, best get back to your station. This will be interesting. He strode over to the helm and took his throne below Haast. Bruce, transfer controls to me. I want to get into some short work with this pony.

Once he had control of the reins, he began working through the path that Valry had designated as the safest route. At times, the ship would stretch out to a suicidal speed, given the tightness of the route they were required to follow, and just as it seemed they would veer off course Roderick would shut down momentum using the controls, all the while keeping the thrusters at the same output. The high power behind the bit allowed him to turn sharper than if he were to simply brake into maneuvers. The power kept the ship collected beneath him, as if he were riding his stallion back on Dalmore. Anyone observing him could see the subtle movements of his knees and lower legs, helping to coax more out of the Antanem, either into turns or to check their speed.

This continued for 8 hours, and by the end of it, it wasn't just Roderick that was spent. He could feel the Ship's fatigue through the sticks, as if it gave a heaving sigh to pull into an eddy for a rest. Hold her here, Bruce. Transferring the traces to you for a bit. He grunted as he stood and walked around his throne a few times to get the feeling back in his feet. Might have to flag it on the crystal for a bit, and come back to it later...I'm not sure if we moved at all during that stint in the saddle, he said to Haast as it watched the Helmsman hold the ship steady. He hadn't noticed if anyone else had appeared while they were travelling.

Alexium nodded in agreeance. The ride had been rough, and that was saying something given how good of a pilot Roderick was. This was not something to chance.

"We may have milked this system for all it is worth for the time being. We've something to show for it at least. Alas, let us continue forging our own empire.... in the name of humanity and the Emperor and all that, of course."

They smiled at the bit of mild heresy they had implied.

After a day's wait, the station was ready to be towed through the warp. As Lethia went through her activities, the auguries where just barely good-bot the best time, but enough to get going.

The somewhat occluded astronomican did make navigation difficult, the new point of reference was getting clearer and clearer. Every second you where getting a bit closer, and it was starting to distract you. You barely saw the warp-rifts before they hit you. While the heavily armored ship was able to take them, there was some damage to the station you where dragging along, and it swayed and shook after the hit, with you losing communications though not the tow cable. You where able to control the entry however, and managed to slide into position at AE 34882 after 3 days of travel.

We are re-entering realspace. Lots of debris, looks like a ship graveyard out here. Maybe 2, 3 floating hulks out there, maybe more broken-up ones. Seem human-made. Though what is that....CONTACT! Unknown live vessel 300 000 klicks to starboard. Seems to be about the size of a frigate, maybe a bit larger. Having a hard time determining its status, its clearly xenos.

Xenos Ship:

Lethia entered the bridge. Ragged and bleeding from her nose. The journey had been particularly rough and she was much more concerned about the STC station over the xenos ships...for now.

"What is the status of the station? Have we regained contact?"

A ship graveyard? She had not seen any sign of that in the empyrean. Was it hidden on purpose or had her senses failed her?

"Those xenos are much too close. This had to have been a trap that we walked right into."

Aye, for the Emperor, Roderick echoed. His gaze was drawn to Lethia and her unusually disheveled appearance before Valry dragged it to the bridge's viewing portal. As soon as the word 'frigate' was mentioned, he was moving and vaulted back into his throne. Though they outclassed it by two degrees, their prize left them lame, like a three legged rocking horse. Bruce, give me the reins back, and put the ship on battle readiness. That ship's a lot lighter than us, but it'll dash about like a cut cat if we aren't careful, and we'll wallow about like Alexium in your mum's pajamas. The ship instantly came back to life in his hands. Someone get the Lord Captain up here.

Upon entering the system, Alexium immediately began conferring with the Astropathic Choir. They had stood ready to receive their Astropath Transcendent upon arriving, knowing without having to be told that entry into a new system always required a psychic probe into the void to see what was out there.

Alexium slowed their breathing, as did the others. Then as one, they pushed out...


+++

Arriving at the bridge was more chaotic than they had expected. The ship graveyard intrigued them greatly - so much potential salvage, history, and mystery. This was what they lived for, but bigger problems presented themselves.

"Lord Captain, the Astropathic Choir has finished its communion and we have reached out into the void... though it doesn't take Emperor-given powers to see that we are not alone. Would you like my full report now or shall it wait?"

As usual when translating from the Immaterium, Ignatio led the procession at one of the gellar field generators, while one of Hikari Rai's disciples took up her place at the other, protecting and nursing the life-preserving machines through the most dangerous parts of warp travel.

With his attention split between monitoring the gellar field and going over the reams of data gathered from the ancient station, the Magos had largely let his attention slip from the bridge, where his servo-skull floated to carry his eyes and voice.

The shout of "CONTACT!" got through the noospheric haze he peered through, and with a wave of his hands he parted the ghostly icons and picts, bringing his full focus to the unfolding situation before them.

The sight of such a clearly alien machine made him recoil slightly, and his hands automatically raised to form the symbol of the cog.

"The probability of hostilities initiating between us and the xenos vessel necessitates that I relocate myself to the Engineerium," his voice came from the floating skull. "Given the appendages and the presence of a debris field, it is most probable that our enemy is an opportunistic scavenger. Given that, logical reactions to our presence are to initiate communications, flee and abandon the field, or fight to defend and add our ship to it."

Alexium had decided to project out what they had gathered to the appropriate crew telepathically. It was necessary to follow protocol upon entering the bridge - giving the captain the formal choice to hear a report or not - but they felt that this was important, need-to-know information.

To Roderick, Ignatio, Lethia, and the Lord Captain they sent the following:

~~~The xenos here may be of a hive mind; souls linked together - expect their reactions to be efficient, perhaps even robotic. Their thoughts resonate with ideas of control and hunger. I do not expect they will want afternoon tea. ~~~

EDIT (Ties That Bind +5): With that done, Alexium then began radiating a pure energy into those around them. As they weren't actively engaged in battle, they did not push any of the Sanctioned Imperial Propaganda. Instead, this felt like the high of the best cup of recaff without the jitters; a cool splash of water on one's face after a hard run; this was clarity and awareness for all who felt it.

The Anatem Imperabit jetted forwards, severely slowed by the station it was dragging along.


Lethia moved to the cogitation station for engineering. "We need an extra power you can squeeze to the thrusters in case we need to make a sharp turn. Divert what you can from other areas, but dont touch life support, gunnery, or shields. Those are more important."

Torian sat calmly at his throne as the reports came flooding in. He had mastered his adrenal gland years ago, and would not be distracted by it. He processed the data rapidfile, sinking into the throne to pull up viewscreens as necessary. He radiated a sense of calm focus to those around him, giving small encouragements and corrections to officers as they performed their tasks. He paused for just a second as the familiar tendrils of Alexium's mind spoke to him, then voxed Valry for 1-to-1 conferencing and extended support. A hive is not constituted of one. He pulled up the augury screens and delved into the scans, targeting anything that stood out as unusual and pursuing any loose ends in their knowledge of what lay around them.

The ship itself was built confusingly, with a verticality and compaction that wasnt found on most vessels. From what could be told, there where 2 sets of macrobateries-both dorsal-as well as frontal torpedo tubes. It had a single void-shield. Otherwise, not much could be understood.

As Alexium's psychic link made contact with his augmented brain, Ignatio quickly became aware of the priorities of the rest of the crew in regards to the situation. The station's guns would make a dramatic difference here, but they needed to be coordinated with.
Dispatching a tech priest with a long-range vox to take a shuttle to the station for immediate coordination, the Magos quickly assembled a void crew and got suited up, making his way out onto the hull on the rear of the Anatem to retrieve and reattach the comms cable that the vicissitudes of the warp had torn free.
Over the 30 minutes, crews where able to go out and start working on the connection. It would take at least 1 more turn to repair the connection and time the cannons.

Roderick was quick off the mark, letting the ship have its head and plunge forward. It did not easily ate up the distance towards the opening between the debris fields and the xenos craft.
The craft simply wasnt responding right with the station connected. While you managed to go forth and turn, you felt as if you had barely move.

The enemy was not hampered however-it launched a full spread of torpedoes. The ship's turrets shot two down, but two managed to cut through your armor. From the bridge however, you did not see the explosions one would expect. A message came from the lower decks:

"Boarding torpedoes! We've got xenos on board, we need reinforcements in Shields and Life-support!"

Cameras started streaming images to the bridge of the boarders.

Xenos:

Map:

With the torpedoes having penetrated the ship, dozens of these large, spideer-like xenos started attacking the crew.

"Ill take life support. Send a security detail." Lethia says with grim finality.
She walks briskly towards the exit, each step is accompanied by the heavy clang of her navigator's staff.

On her hip she had her best weapon, the hellpistol. Lethia led her navis bodyguards with some armsmen assistance managed to clear out life support, with no significant losses.

Torian Led the Armsmen into the shield bays, cutting their way through the xenos until only the boarding torpedoes remained of the enemy presence.

While the leaders kept busy with the enemy, the others jumped into action.

Roderick felt the weight of the spaceport bite, as if a noose was around the neck of the ship, as he tried to stretch out again and come about face to look at the xenos vessel through the debris field. He took out the cutter and gave it to the Mundus, but it refused to listen to his cajoling and lolled forward ponderously. We are going to need some more time in the saddle together, I think, if that's the way you're going to respond to a bit of hard work...he thought.

Out between the ship and the station, where the chain strained to pull the mass behind it, two tech priests converged from within the links of the chain, each with a massive utility mechatendrite which they used to weave the communications cable through the links of the chain, moving link by link and stopping to desperately cling to the side of the chain as the Anatem turned maneuvered, only to continue once their inertia had stabilized, until they came together at the pre-calculated midway point.

There Magos Pulsanus floated, voidsuit-clad, with a long tether between him and the Arvus Lighter that held position outside. He held out a thick black staff, steady on the horizontal, as the lesser priests arrived.

"Engage the linkage, Omnissiah!" he sang along with the others across the noosphere, as each end of the cable was was pressed into the corresponding end of the staff, splicing the two ends together with a hardpoint, turning the point of weakness in the line into a point of strength. "Our Truth has come online!"

Once he detected that both ends of the connection were once again in communion, he linked arms with the two of them as the tether between him and the waiting lighter reeled the three of them back across the gap.

Soon they were stored securely in the shuttle, replenishing their personal oxygen supplies. As they were conveyed to the Anatem, Ignatio re-established contact and surveyed the progress of the battle so far.

"The Anatem is being boarded," he announced a moment later. "I am redirecting our pilot to a different docking bay. We must prepare ourselves to defend the Prime Vessel from the blight of Xenos."

As the ship and the station where now connected, the station macrocannons could be used.

The enemy vessel surged forward, deploying another array of torpedoes-though your turrets took down the 2 that got close enough to try to penetrate while the others flew wide. The prow and dorsal cannons started firing, most shots going wide, some being absorbed, with a single group of shells coming through-luckily weak enough that the armor absorbed the pitiful damage. At their hit though, an irritating whine started propagating through the ship-luckily to no effect beyond irritation.

Map:

The enemy fired multiple missiles without success, every one going wild or being shot down by your turrets.

Roderick pushed on, forcing the straining controls submit to his heavy hand. He didn't like to work so much with just his hands as it could make even the most responsive mount go wooden in mouth, but pulling the spaceport behind meant using thrust alone was out of the question. The Antanem charged ahead, but managed to bank to Port when asked. The xenos ship slewed to Starboard and was now looking down the barrels of their broadsides. Boris Almighty will enjoy stuffing a few macros down their throat at this angle, Bruce, he commented, though it wasn't clear which "Bruce" he was speaking to...

Torian trusted his data streams. These foolish xenos appeared to genuinely be alone. Now it was time to dissect these insects and expose them to the harshness of fire and void. He voxed Valry again and took personal control of the augury sytems, swarmed again by the datascreens that always hovered around his command throne. This time he focused all directional equipment directly on the opposing ship, narrowing search fields and tightening bands to learn all he could about his opponent. Such is the first step to any victory. know thy enemy

With hellgun and crushing claws, the Magos led his team of tech priests through the foul xenos boarding the ship, and made their way to a relay station between the Anatem's sensors and bridge. There, he made his way inside and plugged into one of the targeting cogitators.

Downloading the sensor data, he processed and revised it, creating an updated predictive algorythm for the ship's movements in order to better guide the Anatem's fire.

"For the alien, nothing," he incanted, as he watched the data-feeds from the primary lance line up with his calculations.

Lethia exits the lift back onto the command deck. Sweat beaded on her forehead and she could feel the heat from the recently used hellpistol on her hip.
"Life support secure." she reports. Taking stock, she sees an intensly occupied crew. Torian was instructing the auguries while Ignacio was assisting with the gunnery station. Alexium was seemingly not doing much, but her mutant senses told her otherwise. Roderick was putting the ship in a prime shooting position.
Without hesitation she moves to the gunnery stations neck to Ignacio. He was making sure the crews had the Lance operating at peak capacity. She moved over to the cogitators for the crews who fired the weapons. The firing positions were moving in closer together, showing a good firing solution. She moved over the gunnery staff and began adding in her own computations. These were less-perfect techniques, and more her-own experiences. Then the lines merged into one on the screen.
"Fire!"

The shot streamed across the void from the macrocannons, the first few absorbed by the void shield, the others striking home. Most of the rest embeded themselves in the thick armor plating of the ship, though some broke through into the superstructure and ripped through many decks, depressurising the living quarters. This was followed by a lance-beam that really dug into the hull, damaging the life support systems. The ship was likely chaos at the moment.

This chaos seemingly pushed these xenos to desperation. Their ship aimed itself towards yours and the power in its fission drive rose to maximum. Their strange vessel rammed into your doing fortunately little damage to your much larger ship. Boarding would be much easier now.

Map:

Torian strode forward fearlessly into the breach, las-fire streaming around him and xenos chitin and oily blood strewn about. He fired his boltgun on full-auto, reloading fluidly as the magazines emptied, raking enemy defense lines and creating breaks in enemy fire for his teams to advance. As he strode, a series of transluscent screens flickered around his skull, keeping him constantly updated on command logistics and troop movements. He spoke unceasingly into his headset - quiet, terse orders to dozens of squadron leaders, replenishment teams, ship-board strategists and tacticians, and louder orders barked through moments of silence to the armsmen surrounding him. In his camo-cloak he appeared to flicker around the corridors and breaches, almost seeming to be in multiple places at once. Such was the attention to detail and ruthless efficiency of his command. This xenos ship was a prize to be won - with blood and lives. He felt no sympathy for the alien, as they were slaughtered at his command. He gave no mercy, and spared none. As he decimated the enemy, a strange feeling arose in Torian amid the cold, calculating cunning that typically pervaded his mind in times such as these. He felt hatred, hot and messy. This ship felt wrong, the alien technology disgusted him. He stopped for just a second, to look upclose at the smote corpse of a xenos combatant. He found himself wasting a bolt, simply to savage the alien body. They would venture into the depths of this ship, he determined, to utterly wipe out these filth. This ship was his, the value of its contents to go towards the glory of his house. Nothing would stand in his way.

The reeling xenos where swept away in a wave of destruction as your armsmen blasted through, suffering few casualties and no losses. The alien ship's octogonal symetry, which might have been truly disquieting, was ruined by the severe damage to the ship. After a single hour, all the ship had been taken except one place-the bridge. Victoria Stein reported on comms:

+++Tsssch...BAM BAM BAM... We've reached the bridge sir ... BAM BAM BAM ... we've reached the bridge and breached the bulkhead ... BAM BAM BAM ... They've got some kind of automated heavy stubber equivalent ... BAM BAM BAM... And significant troops ...BAM BAM BAM... I'm sending you a layout ...BAM BAM BAM... How do you wish to proceed? ... BAM BAM BAM +++

Bridge Map:

Torian strode forward fearlessly into the breach, las-fire streaming around him and xenos chitin and oily blood strewn about. He fired his boltgun on full-auto, reloading fluidly as the magazines emptied, raking enemy defense lines and creating breaks in enemy fire for his teams to advance. As he strode, a series of transluscent screens flickered around his skull, keeping him constantly updated on command logistics and troop movements. He spoke unceasingly into his headset - quiet, terse orders to dozens of squadron leaders, replenishment teams, ship-board strategists and tacticians, and louder orders barked through moments of silence to the armsmen surrounding him. In his camo-cloak he appeared to flicker around the corridors and breaches, almost seeming to be in multiple places at once. Such was the attention to detail and ruthless efficiency of his command. This xenos ship was a prize to be won - with blood and lives. He felt no sympathy for the alien, as they were slaughtered at his command. He gave no mercy, and spared none. As he decimated the enemy, a strange feeling arose in Torian amid the cold, calculating cunning that typically pervaded his mind in times such as these. He felt hatred, hot and messy. This ship felt wrong, the alien technology disgusted him. He stopped for just a second, to look upclose at the smote corpse of a xenos combatant. He found himself wasting a bolt, simply to savage the alien body. They would venture into the depths of this ship, he determined, to utterly wipe out these filth. This ship was his, the value of its contents to go towards the glory of his house. Nothing would stand in his way.


Pre-battle IC:


Alexium strode forward in their typical full battle gear. Torian's command and charge had been fierce and brutal, and the Alexium was in awe of the captain in that moment. They had seen him fight and lead before, but there seemed to be an air of the Emperor himself in the Anatem's leader in that moment.

With combat shield and laspistol armed, they strode down the corridors, engaging in the fight when necessary; however, such was the violence and speed of action of the Anatem armsmen that they found themselves more often than not adding extra las shots to the critical areas of the enemy anatomy as a coup de grace.

They waited for instruction, as Valry sent her report.


+++

Roderick could feel his mount shrug off the desperate charge of the xenos ship with casual disdain. Though they were locked together, the greater size of the Mundus meant victory was inevitable.

He leapt from the saddle at the sound of Victoria over the vox, and his heart stuttered at the chugging sound of the gun emplacements that broke up her report. He couldn't help but feel it was his duty to lend her aid and make sure they took the bridge with as few casualties as possible. He scoffed at himself for being a hopeless romantic all of a sudden, dashing to the aid of some damsel. There was no doubt she could take better care of herself than he could of his own person, but it didn't stop him from drawing his weapons and barreling into the breach. I'm coming, my lo-uhhh...Victoria! Haast looked coldly at its master as if sensing the stupidity in his heart. A moment later, it took off in pursuit.

+++

Torian pulled a delicate handkerchief from his inner suit pocket and wiped a small bit of xenos gore from his hands and a bit that had made it onto his shoulder. All that was left here was clean-up, something he could leave for subordinates. As Victoria finished her vox message the screen that had been playing it in front of Torian's left eye retracted. He stood still for a moment, contemplating the situation. Strategizing.

+++

A previously sealed door close to the bridge went red-hot and then melted to slag, as Ignatio's modified Centaur, painted in the Filiantius House colors, burst through the remains of it.

The tech priest could be briefly seen, head and melta-gun popped out of the top hatch, as he announced "The Centaur fighting vehicle is intended to allow infantry to close the distance with gun emplacements, so sayeth the holy STC documentation."

Then he popped back down, pulling the cover back over, and skidded the centaur into the corridor. Whatever spaces inside were not taken by other members of the command crew were held by Skitarri, weapons hot and ready.

Battle IC:

The plan went off without a hitch. Smoke bombs blocked the line of sight of the 4 turrets, while flashbangs disoriented those that Alexium handt blinded with his psychic powers.

The centaur jolted forward, followed the Victoria and your armsmen.

There was an odd mix of scents in the air-you had smelled parts of it earlier, but never at this potency. Sweet, acrid, citrusy, rotten-not enough to disorient, but enough to disturb. As the centaur neared the large enemy, the smell got stronger.

While the others who had been blinded seemed quite disoriented (with the two large ones nearest the largest having fallen off the walkway), the largest did not; while its many, many eyes moved wildly, its movements remained constant, and by the time you had reached it numerous smaller enemies had come to its defense. As the rest of your force got caught up with the other enemies of the chamber, you would need to fight the big boss yourselves.

Roderick peered out through a firing slit in the side of the troop carrier. Xenos littered the bridge, attempting to throw back Victoria and her troops. Luckily the Centaur was providing them with cover now, though they were quickly being surrounded again as the aliens fanned out around them.
The xenos were hideous tentacle ridden creatures, which caused his throat to tighten in disgust. His bolt pistol shot up in response so he could draw a bead on one of the lesser creatures nearest to him. A single shot boomed from the barrel. He had joined the war finally.

The bolt skidded off the surface of their armor, doing little more than superficial damage.

+The result was similar from the flamer; it lacked the punch to penetrate the enemy's armor, setting fire to something on its slick, armored surface that burned away in instants.

Lethia hoisted herself from the hatch and made herself a target to the leader of the xenos rats.
"You! Foul spawn of the netherealm. Face me and know judgement."

She removes her golden silk headband that protected her third eye, or rather, protected others from it.
"Eyes on the target, not on me." She warns her allies.

The power of the warp tore through the lesser, still-sighted creatures. The big one's blindness likely helped protect them, as they didnt even seem fased.

The magos skidded the centaur to a stop in front of the giant alien, at an angle so that the front and side gun ports had it in their sights. Then, eschewing either, he stepped up onto his seat and opened one of the top hatches, bringing his meltagun to bear against it.

The mighty machines ominous hum built, and then kept building as Ignatio pointed it at the monster, its rising temperature becoming increasingly concerning.

He prayed to the machine spirit of the mighty weapon, a burst of frantic binaric blasting from his vox.

<I feel your wrath, but it must be channeled. Show these Xenos the glory of your divine fire!>

With that, the magos slammed his helmeted head into the rear of the weapon in a show of supplication, which apparently appeased the machine spirit, as with a kick it unleashed the power it had been building, a shower of superheated gas streaming toward the Xeno monster, joining the blaze from his captain's inferno pistol below.

Something something blaze like the sun, waves of plasma, smell of burnt ozone. The commander was tired, but his shot was true.

The melta-shots tore through the arachnoidal creature, tearing through one of its left legs and right arms and doing significant damage. A blue ichor seemed to flow from wounds that were quickly sealed up by a silvery powder coming out of its broken armor. Despite what seemed like significant damage it nonethless stayed standing.

It walked forth, confident despite its blindness, swinging one of it's arms towards the centaur, left immobile as its whole complement fired at it. The arms was wreathed in a purplish power field, and the centaur's geiger counter went nuts as it approached.

THe other two, lesser creature started moving delicately up the ramp, still blind.