An ancient Quest

[Black Cohort]

In Orbit over Port Wander, aboard the Imperium Veritas

 

"ALL COMMAND STAFF TO THE CAPTAIN'S BRIEFING ROOM, ALL COMMAND STAFF TO THE CAPTAIN'S BRIEFING ROOM"

 

 

Captain Cadeyrn's briefing room is wood paneled with high backed wooden chairs and a long stone table, buried deep inside the core of the ship. Portraits of previous holders of the Warrant of Trade line the walls, along with a painting of the Imperium Veritas in battle, a broadside smashing a nameless xenos warship apart. A pair of servitors stand-by to serve refreshments to the command staff.

 

When you arrive the Captain is finishing a conversation with an known missionary.

Edited August 16, 2017 by Black Cohort

[A.T.]

Victris was among the first to arrive with no other duties to delay him. Disheveled as ever, a curious cross between a man recently waken and one who hasn't slept, he none the less tries to make a good impression with the ships captain by avoiding eye contact with the missionary as he sinks into a chair and waves towards one of the servitors for a drink.

[Slips]

As the call sounds throughout the ship, Romelia stops on a dime and turns to guards accompanying her on her rounds though the vessel"Duty calls. Finish the rounds, I want the report on my desk once I get back from this meeting." and she hands off her dataslate to the junior officer of the bunch before and leaves toward the bridge before any of them get a chance to say anything.

 

She arrives at the briefing room with the click of her boot heels echoing the halls behind her as she stops in the doorway to announce her presence "Romelia Jome reporting as ordered Captain." and walks to her seat once the Rogue Trader acknowledged her presence, waiting for the others to arrive before taking it, however.  Sneering mentally as the Navigator starts drinking already.

Edited August 12, 2017 by Slips

[Xin Ceithan]

Floating inside the meditation tank, Magos Thane notices the binary runes indicating the alert from the Ships Mistress, a red band running vertically through the nooshperic halos of genomic bands. Bubbles leave respirator feeds from an almost bearable sigh, stirred by a unconscious, all too human shrug. ++Now, off all times.++

Estimations are run along mental processing lines, weighing the delay in research now against the delay incurred by repercussions later. A solution is found. Mental commands are given. Outside the tank, a single medical servitor of matching proportions is wrapped in crimson robes by it's kin. Solus whirs around it on humming suspension fields, the ServoSkull feeding the deception's progress back into the tank, until the automata double is deemed presentable. Thane cannot suppress a grin at this, imagining the reaction this would draw from an orthodox member of the Martian priesthood. With another mind impulse, Solus whips a snaking protrusion down the sevitor's robes. Piggybacking the ServoSkull's senses, Thane sequesters a part of consciousness to commanding the Servitor. Another thought sends it shuffling towards the doors of the Sanctum. Subroutines and hidden enhancements begin to synchronize, turning the slack slouch of the lobotomized unit to the precise movements and posture of it's master by time of it's arrival on the command deck.

Solus sings the customary Praise to Imperium Veritas and her human Crew in binary, the Thane Automata giving a curtly nod to the Rogue Trader and a the semblance of a cursory glance at the missionary. Taking the customary place near one of the briefing rooms oculus ports, Thane opens a noospheric pictfeed overlay, witnessing the briefing room and settles on continuing meditative communion with the Omnissiah.

[Black Cohort]

As the command staff filters in, the unknown missionary gives a small bow to the Captain and takes a seat at the far end of the table.

 

"Whhat caan III gettt ffoorr youu Siiir," The servitor asks as it approaches Victris.

 

The Captain turns to Romelia, "How goes training of the armsmen?"

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't know, Sarvus?" Ethan asked, displaying his trademark smirk. "I know everything that happens on this ship, and a man with your responsibilities shouldn't be-"

 

"Alright, alright," the gunner's mate hissed. "They warned me about you. I shoulda listened. What's it gonna cost me to keep this quiet?"

 

Ethan was a man of average height and slender build, thanks to a childhood illness that forever compromised his constitution. He was neither handsome nor hideous, but it was the fire behind his eyes that drew your attention. He stepped closer to the taller man who was built like low sink hive muscle and straightened the lapels of his dirty work uniform. "You're new here, which is already a strike with the indigenous crew, so I'm going to help you out, Sarvus, that's what I'm going to do. I'll forget that you ever got First Gunner's Mate Mikkelson's secret lover hooked on obscura, for the low, low price of thirty percent of any future sales. How's that sound?"

 

"THIRTY?" the man cried out. 

 

"It just went up to thirty-five for the heads you turned with that little outburst. If I informed the captain, you'd be lashed and bounced off the ship at the next port. If I told Mikkelson... Well, fatal accidents happen all the time on a ship this size."

 

The larger man scowled and gritted his teeth, but nodded. "Thirty-five. Can I get back to work now?"

 

"By all means, and I do hope you have a nice shift." He watched the man stalk off, fists clenched, and his microbead pipped, informing him of the staff summons. With a smile, he made his way to the closest lift.

[Slips]

She nods at the captain finishes asking her question and takes a sharp breath before starting, maintaining eye contact the whole time:

 

"Preliminary training has begun weeding out those unfit for duty, Mistress, and if all goes according to plan, we should have a sensible fighting force before long. The main issue I see is discipline being maintained in...emergency...situations. Still, given time, this will become less and less of an issue as the armsmen start to view the vessel as their home alongside proper disciplinary action being carried out as is necessa- Ah, nice of you to join us, Ethan..." and she nods to the captain to signal that she was done with her report.

[A.T.]

"Wine, anything" Victris muttered to the servitor while Romelia gave her report. While he didn't much care for the state of the lower ranks he still listened for any sign that they might be leaving port soon, his position not truly secure until they were under way.

 

Something else was off though, some smell or taste in the air not quite right. Unable to pin it down he hoped the wine would mute it.

[Morovir]

Regias is one of the last to enter the captain's briefing room, his shock staff tapping on the floor as he walks. He gives a low bow to the captain, and then unerringly turns to each of the rest of the command crew, and gives them each a shallow nod in turn. With this having been done, he turns back to the captain, remaining standing, and waits for what he has to say to him.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

As soon as Ethan entered and set eyes on the missionary he had to suppress a shudder; while he believed that the ten thousand year-old being strapped into the Golden Throne on Terra was more than a man, he never could accept him as divine. After all, how could a god be crippled in the first place? It was one thing to give lip service to the Emperor and maintain the illusion of a smattering of belief, but the devout, nonsense-spouting servants of the ecclesiarchy made his skin crawl. Luckily, he had long ago perfected the control of his face and gave the warmest, welcoming smile to the missionary. He nodded to the captain as he sat and shot Romelia a wink at her familiar use of his name. 

 

To the servitor, he whispered, "Wine, and keep it coming."

[Slips]

As the Seneschal winks at her, Romelia responds with an eye-roll and once the Astropath arrives and momentarily distracts the Captain, she quickly pantomimes "Come one, it was ONE time." before regaining her composure.

 

Still, she thought to herself, the appearance of a Missionary and the first question out of the Captains mouth being the state of their armed forces got her thinking: an opportunity had arisen and it probably wasnt a simple transport or trading run...she'd have to up the training regimens at the very least.

[Black Cohort]

The servitor returns with Victris' wine "Itt iiss aaa Genorian bluue eighht ninnee seveven Siir, aa particuulaarlyy excccelent vinttagge withhh mild seddative." It turns to the Seneschal "willll yyou have thhe saamee Ssir?"

 

"As always you have a detailed report whenever I need it" the captain tells the Arch-militant.

 

"Please everyone, have a seat this could take some time," She says.

 

"A distant relation, Missionary Cedwyne," she nods to the man seated at the back. "Has recently returned from ministering to the colonists Entropia Six and has found something of interest. An ancient life barge was found crashed deep in the bloodstone peaks, and it bears a strange sigil." She pauses as a pict projector starts up and begins displaying footage of the wreck, which looks like a rusted out shuttle of strange design. Eventually it zooms in and pauses on a partial sigil. It appears to be an imperial aquilia with Quae Palatin Praepoten above and EF 1173 below.

 

"This sigil and the phrases contained within have been discreetly queried in the archives of Port wander. Deep within those archives a single record was found referencing expeditionary fleet 1173, it is a record of requisition for supplies to be delivered into the region and a note stating that the requisitioned supplies were never claimed and the fleet is believed to be lost. That report is dated 992.M30, a date you will note predates the Imperial ascension and is from the time of the most ancient warrants of trade."

[A.T.]

More familiar with the symbols original meaning than those who were raised amongst the imperial cult Victris volunteers a thought, "was the aquila not originally called the palatine?"

[Slips]

As the Captain offers for those present to take a seat, Romelia finally takes hers and starts going through any files present as the Madam informs the group of the missionary's findings.

"A wreck that predates His Ascension is a one in a trillion find, Mistress, and if we know about it then others do too...hence...your...previous question...Excuse my being forward, but how old is this information and I assume we're leaving immediately?" she asks looking to the Seneschal, Astropath and Navigator in turn to see if they would have any more information she didn't have access to or ideas on what their possible next course of action could be, trying very hard to mask her enthusiasm and excitement at such a prospect; finding a veritable relic of the Imperium was a once-in-a-dynasty chance after all.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

"That will be fine," Ethan says to the servitor. He takes the goblet and sips while the captain begins her presentation. Before she finishes, he already has his dataslate up, putting inquiries out to his contacts in the academic circles, as well as the administratum and imperial navy to see if any of them can shine more light on this mystery. One glance at the captain and she knows he's got his network running on it. 

[Xin Ceithan]

The Servitor-Simulacron has remained unmoving up to this point, save for an occasional, inattentive nod and a purr of servos to maintain it's posture. Now, Solus begins straining the length of the connecting mechadentrite, the ServoSkull's eye lenses focusing, re- focusing on the pict-capture. Frantically hovering this way and that, it attempts to cover the image shown from all angles possible, giving the impression of increasing frustration as it's mechadentrite anchor limits it's movements,

 

Inside the meditation chamber, Thane abruptly turns towards the pictfeed from the briefing room. A small geyser of bubbles rises from the respirator feed. Serene floating gives way to thrashing. Sweeping motions push away noospheric feeds, dispelling some, evoking others. A semblance of life returns to the remaining three medical servitors in the chamber as they snap upright and begin lurching towards the tank. Binary chanting issues from brazen voxgrilles. Pulsing runes cast the room in a fiendish red light as the Magus begins the Rites of Surfacing.

[Black Cohort]

"Yes, I thought that would get your attention.  Victris, I am no expert on pre-ascension lore, as you know information from that time is incredibly difficult to find and often contradicts other sources.  Arch-militant, Cedwyne was on the first ship to leave Entropia Six after the discovery.  His ship arrived at Port Wander 4 hours ago, and you can bet that within the day every Imperial Navy Captain, Rogue Trader, Pirate lord and Salvager in this half of the expanse will know something about the find.  So we leave in 5 hours, and Victris we will need all the speed you can muster.  Ethan, we need an expert in ancient forms of High Gothic, preferably one willing to do long term contract work on short notice and see what your Imperial Navy friends can do about delaying some of our rivals from departing.  Explorator Solus, I need confirmation that sub-warp and warp engines are optimal and all weapon systems primed, I have a funny feeling we will need them all.  As the Arch-militant said, this could be find of our lives, failure is not an option and tell your staff only as much as they need to know.  When we get to Entropia Six our reclamation team will be primed and ready to launch, every scrap of metal from that shuttle is to be claimed and loaded on this ship as soon as possible."

[Conn Eremon]

Dafydd slipped in with only a quiet "Ma'am" to announce his arrival. His aunt was in the midst of speaking to the navigator on the subject of Imperial prehistory as he took a seat. As she continued, it was clear to Dafydd that the meeting had already begun. Not unexpected, the captain waited on no one. Dafydd wasn't too terribly worried about his tardiness. His aunt surely knew him well enough to know he'd come as soon as called, and all here were aware of the many delays an ancient ship can impose upon them. Such as a conveyor stopping at the wrong deck three times in a row, forcing him into a more circuitous path.

 

Dafydd idly accepted the spirit offered by the servitor as he listened to his aunt continue on, casually holding the glass after only a slight sip. From what was being said, he could gather that there has been a shuttle of considerable age and value has been uncovered. Entropia Six was a familiar name, but not one Dafydd knew terribly much about beyond that the current colonials are far from the first of humanity to try their hand at taming the world.

 

All the better. What's the point of exploration if you've already gleaned all there is to know?

[A.T.]

Victris nodded. The ship was under-provisioned with astronomical data but it seemed a poor point to raise the matter, there would be little time to study new information before the transition.

 

Still though... The navigator glances towards the ships Seneschal. Protocols and politics were different here than on an exploritor vessel, he would have to speak with the man once the meeting was adjourned.

[Xin Ceithan]

At the Rogue Trader`s remark, Solus stops his probing. The ServoSkull seems to blink, mechancical irises whirring . Then the ServoSkull emits a short binary burst, the machine code equivalent of a giggle. +AFFIRMATIVE*, it proclaims from it´s voxgrill, bobbing up and down in excitement. +AFFIRMATIVE*

 

Inside the Mechanicus Sanctum, the three servitors struggle through the Rite of Resurfacing, lacking the one send to the Briefing Room. Than2e is swirling imside the meditation chamber, straining to access what little pre-ascension lore the local noospheric nodes may provide while leading the Servitors through the holy process of emerging. Part of the Magos consciousness meanwhile compiles a list of neccessary upgrades when faced with the limitations of it`s still all to human form. Evolution has clearly fallen short of providing a sufficient number of extremitae and sensory options. Trust in the Ohmnissiah, for He will surely correct this at the earliest opportunity.

"Explorator Solus..." rings the captain`s voive throug the feed. Thane stops, in perfect synchronicity with the ServoSkull providing the feed. An involuntary muscle reaction sends the throbbing phantom of a grin over the area where blessed implants have replaced the weak flesh. Thane adds to his mental payload by running  prelimiary estimations regarding the probabilites  of the Rogue Trader just  teasing  for sending a simulacron to the briefing versus the likelihood of intentional   insult or the ship`s mistress just confusing the verbal labelling of the Servoskull with that of it`s Magos among the emotional biochemical disbalance over the excitement of the missionary´s report

."Explorator Solus?! .. I will never hear the end of this... Then again, this is what I get for letting a mere servitor don the sacred red of the enlightened..."Thane turns, forcing the already undeerstaffed parts of anatomy trough another swirl of noospheric prana. An overview of realspace enginarium ad warpcore templum explodes from point of light. Another thought impulse begins the Catechism of Pre-flight Examination among the ship`s drive core. Down below,lesser adepts respond to ritual summoning,  forming a diagnostic procession.

[Black Cohort]

"Unless there are other questions this meeting is concluded."

 

 

OOC: to be clear, the rogue trader isn't going to be a DMPC, she will rarely leave the ship and won't be significantly involved in space combat (basically just handing out her +10 "I believe in you" bonus). But will be a source of information and side missions and keep things moving.

[Slips]

"I'll redouble patrols inside the ship in that case, Ma'am. Won't be able to post additional security at any points to and from the ship and the port if we want to maintain a semblance of normality, however..." she says, mostly to herself. 

 

"Is there anything else about this opportunity that is deemed necessary for us to know, Captain?' she asks, reviewing the picts of the crashed vessel once more."And is there any one group or persons I should specifically be on the lookout for once we get underway?"

 

Being a Rogue Trader meant that the Mistress had many friends across all strata of Imperial Citizenry and just as many, if not more, enemies especially out here on the fringes of Imperial Space where the Emperor was more of a suggestion to most than an actual Deity and Xenos were able to roam freely...

[A.T.]

Waiting for Ethan to stand before he does, Victris follows the Seneschal from the room and stops him once out from under the gaze of the captain, "I know there is little time but maps of our target would aid our journey, if not from the port then perhaps our guests ship would part with them. No matter how soon we leave a better provisioned ship may still arrive before us."

[Black Cohort]

"Romelia, we have no further information at this time but be on the lookout for stowaways, someone may try to sneak an agent or two aboard. At this point we have no clear rivals in this matter, but they will likely reveal themselves in the coming days."

 

OOC: unless something seems worth delaying over coves up, I will move forward to the voyage to Entropia Six tuesday after work.

[Slips]

Ooc: cool with me; guess just some RPing until then I guess its just figuring out any gear we might want to try and requisition?

 

IC:

 

"Understood, Milady, I'll relay orders as soon as I meet with my subordinates." she replies, standing to go but waiting for the sign to be dismissed by the Captain.

Edited August 21, 2017 by Slips