I did a bit of commerce work... House Mandre supplies most of the Soylens Viridian to the Eastern part of the Segmentum Fleet, impressive.
Up and coming, greatness in the making... no pun intended. It is an honor.
With that, Jene moves to exit the establishment.
The Artificer grunted in acknowledgement as the group left.
The Acolytes were able to meet up nearby without any issues, and with a few more leads.
"Glad so see you return unharmed and without an alarm being raised. Did you uncover anything of value?"
In steady, clear bites of words, Vasyl replies:
"Plenty. First, the ritual killing file was light. The stiff was Alamara Khavara, 38. Hiver all his life, except a pilgrimage 5 years ago, didn't say where. The 'forcers were keeping an eye on him for drugs. Funny thing, no case went far. No reason why given either. Powerful friends, perhaps? His corpse contained drugs, partially of xenos origin, species unconfirmed."
"Second, a bunch of high-grade tech shops have been hit on the East side of the hive lately. Specialised gear taken - and not the most expensive either. The crim knew what they wanted. Best I can tell, parts for a heavy-duty long-range transmitter. Two things happened before these heists. Menesk's team got stomped and the navy reported a weird signature for a few weeks prior at the edge of the system. I think the crook is our target, one and the same."
"Third and last, more naval reports. Lots of attempts to infiltrate the system. Only real action was the Navy catching a banged-up eldar ship. Abandoned and booby-trapped, blew up when boarded."
"My guess? Crim's in league with eldar. Maybe snuffed Khavara to cover up something. We need to track down the crim - and their transmitter - fast. East side sounds like a start."
"You find out anything while waiting around?"
We stumbled onto an artificer of House Mandre. Not certain what the conversation amounted to, except perhaps we could cultivate him into a loal resource... if, we can show the value in cooperation.
On the other hand, house Madre supplies a vast majority of the Soylens Viridian to the Eastern part of the Segmentum Fleet.
They do have a small but significant fleet of there own vessels facilitating bulk haulage for this task, and their own House troops.
It is only their relative newness to power that keeps them from being seen as a Great House.
Jene silently considers. Could be as simple as having found a resource and leveraging them for transport. Wildly positive, there may come an opportunity to leverage their combat forces to take down corrupt authorities. Imagine the lift that would give them in status.
Or, they could be involved in some form of business espionage to elevate themselves.
Vasyl's pilfered documents include a list of the shops that have been broken into. The closest is also the most recent, and therefore the most logical to go to.
The shop itself is a large one, almost a warehouse full of tech. One set of shutters are down, with a Servitor scrubbing at some kind of graffiti with mechanical determination.
"With what we found in Khavara's quarters they were connected. Either they were investigating, competitors or in league. A vague pilgrimmage sounds like a potential cover for something more sinister. They were likely a xenophile." Lothars mouth twists in distaste of the last word.
--------------------------------------
Lothar pays attention to the graffiti just in case it lines up with anything they have seen before. "I wonder if the shop has begun trading again. The murder scene was being monitored so we should be careful here."
Lazerus will try to examine the graffiti before the servitor scrubs it out
The paint seems stubborn, and only the mechanical and repetitive efforts of the Servitor suggest it will ever be gone. It won't be soon, however, and the chain of numbers listed is clearly visible.
8-15-12-25 15-18-4-15-19 3-8-5-3-11 20-8-5 18-5-1-18
The store itself seems to be open, only the graffiti-covered shuttered still down.
Vasyl stares at the numbers.
Pattern. What?
After a few moments, something clicks.
Ah.
Over the microbead, he whispers:
"The numbers. They say 'Holy Ordos. Check the rear.' Let's do just that."
The hiver keeps both eyes on his surroundings and his ears open for the tell-tale warning beeps of the auspex.
Jene is impressed.
The auspex quickly picked up a small, weak signal from a paving slab at the rear of the building. Approaching it showed a small I have been lightly scratched into the corner, which had been broken away. Below that was a piece of paper with a small transmitter in a waterproof pouch. The paper had the following on it.
Fblyraf Ivevqvnaf Znahsnpgbehz, Rnfg Fvqr. Haqretbvat ersheovfuzrag.
Jene considers the cipher...
Careful.
Vasyl carefully removes the paper though not the transmitter.
As he examines the paper, he says quitely over the microbead:
"Someone could be seeing if the transmitter goes dead. And this reads: 'Soylens Viridians Manufactorum, East Side. Undergoing refurbishment.' I suggest that we go there next."
The transmitter is very low powered, but might be getting boosted by a nearby relay. It doesn't seem to be set to stop upon opening, either.
The bulky factorum is built into the side of the hive, surrounded by a heavy chainlink fence. Building materials litter the area, but most are stashed away under tarps and it seems clear that work is not currently being done for some reason. Where the large entry bay doors would normally sit there is a temporary barrier made of simpler material with a small work door build in.
Lazerus will look around for any signs of life or psyic activity
Vasyl looks around, trying to spot picters and other hidden surprises.
Impressed once again by the resourcefulness and cleverness of her companions, Callidia accompanies them to the factorum keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.
Once they reach the factorum, she makes a careful sweep of what she can see.
There are no signs of life here, nor even a guard post - if this site is secured it isn't by people. But Vasyl can't find a security system either, and Lazerus can only get a vague sense of groups working with intent. It seems like this place simply doesn't have anything valuable enough to guard. The only oddity is an active power line running into the building, but it might simply be how the tools are powered when the site is active.
"There#s some one here. It could just be workers but be on your guard."
Lazerus will walk into the factorum
"Let's walk in like we're meant to be here.", Vasyl adds, walking in also.
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"But we are meant to be here." Callidia adopts a reverent demeanor suitable to her cover identity, and follows the other inside.
"If the only oddity is the power line follow it and seeing if it brings us closer to something less obvious might be worth considering. I have to admit you're excelling yourself Vasyl."
The entry to the factory is a simple thing, moving a flap to one side and going into the large space beyond. Compared to some of the other structures you've seen this one is not too massive, but the hulking vats and massive machines make it feel quite...full. A partial second and third floors run around the edges of the building, and walkways crisscross the space above in a spiderweb of steel.
The sole power conduit running disappears into the middle of the mass of machinery.
Vasyl advances slowly, using abundant cover to mask his approach.
Lothar lets Vasyl scout ahead but keeps an eye out in case someone tries to catch them off guard or in case of traps.
It is strange, almost haunting to walk through such a massive area without people or moving machinery. The thick walls dull the standard machinery, pumps and fans that keep the air flowing through the city are muted as well. This might be the first time some of you have heard such total silence, with only your own breath, footsteps and heartbeats to accompany you.
The powerline led to a massive machine in the centre of the floor. It seemed to be some kind of vat, perhaps one designed to hold and grow Soylens Viridians. A hatch to drain the vast vat is sealed one side, a number panel attached to the side of it.
Let's see.
Vasyl slowly circles the giant piece of machinery, aiming to ascertain its threat and purpose.
It seemed to be a simple growth vat, the hatch sealed by a new numerical keypad. The Auspex did pick up a second, more cunningly hidden addition - a mico pictstealer above the hatch, watching you all.
"Growth vat. New keypad. Micro pict-stealer watching us above the hatch."
Vasyl sees if he can reach the pict-stealer smear or tape it over.
Jene searched for identification... a house mark.
"Lets see if we can trace it and see who's looking in on us"
"Could the code for the keypad be that chain of numbers we saw before?"
"Worth a try."
Vasyl tries them.
There was a small mark carved into the side of the panel. It seemed to a scroll with an I imposed on top.
It would be possible to destroy the pict stealer if needed, but typing the number sequence in got a response. "So you found my message," a voice rang out. "But you're not who I was expecting. Who are you?"
"We are simply servants of the Emperor doing as we have been commanded, who are you?" Afan waits to see what happens next.
Drop that plan. Time to talk. Slight risk but larger risk of leaving mission unfinished.
"Backup, sent from Destiny. Footage got back about one of your team getting tortured. Hence, us. Want to talk in person so we can get on with the rest of the mission?"
There was a paused. "The Manfiest Destiny? Inquisitorial warship. Operates under the auspices of Inquisitor...Dalamar?"
Identification - or a trap? Here we go.
"Inquisitor Eliza, with her right-hand man..."
Vasyl leaves that hanging in the air.
As soon as the voice spoke, Callidia tucked her hands inside her robe as one of her assumed identity might when seeking comfort in ritual gestures. In fact, it serves to put her hands very close, indeed, to the grips of her weapons.
What happened? How did a simple mission turn into such a cluster?
Compliments on your survival. We'd like to extend that streak.
The God-Emperor's hand is extended in succor, ignore it at your peril, soldier.
"Mmmm, mmm. Skull, I believe his name was. Rather more...energetic than I had expected for an Inquisitorial agent." The door beeped once and clicked, before opening. "Enter. I shall explain away from prying ears."
"Noted.", Vasyl replies as he moves towards the door, as ready as he can be.
The inside of the vast vat had been transformed into a small command centre. Pict viewers lined the circular walls, showing images from around the factory and the Hive as a whole. A workbench, components neatly arranged, is across from the door. A cot has been pushed to one side, its blankets carefully folded. An old man in a grey robe sat on a stool by a console lecturn. "Greetings. Make yourself as comfortable as you can."
Nice setup. Guessing time.
"Hey. You Samanor then? I'm going by Lex. What have you learned since things went to hell?"
Lazerus will check he has any pysic powers
The man's mind lacks any psycher gifts, although he winces notably when Lazerus checks that it is so. "Kindly refrain from touching my mind, sir. It is all I have and I prefer it left undamaged."
Nodding to Vasyl, the man responded with, "Something of a tale. We were sent to investigate a murder, as well you will know I would imagine. The target was a drug dealer masquerading as a herbalist. When we examined his produce - his killers left in a pattern around his corpse for whatever reason - we found it was xenos in origin. The Eldar. The Darker ones, the ones tainted by the warp."
He shrugged. "We can began trying to chase down a supply chain. Our suspicion was that they were addicting key figures to the drugs, and would then cut them off. The command of this world would be crippled and the Dark Eldar could launch an assault. They don't target Hive Worlds as a rule, simply because they have neither the numbers nor the staying power to fight off the PDF. But one without a command structure? They could hit and run before any real defence could be mounted."
"Unfortunately, as we searched, we found the dealer was not alone. One of the others involved warned there masters. We were attacked by Eldar assassins. The rest of my fellows..." He paused. "It was decided that the information we had learned was most important. They remained to cover my escape."
Kept his head. Good.
"That explains why someone is boosting high-end transmitter parts in this area, and the navy sighting reports. We found a log book filled with sharp eldar runes. Maybe a list of these high-end addicts. If you can read that, then Sawyer here can show it to you."
Do you trust any local authorities? Also... House Mandre, any connection? Jene dreaded the response.
"I'm sure some of them are uncorrupted," the old man replied, "But I have no idea who. We were interrupted before we could make much headway." Pausing, he added, "I can't read Eldar sigils, but with enough time I can translate them."