Men, women and children.
"Men, women, and children corrupted and changed by the Warp. It is a shame, but we must not suffer the heretic to join our august society. Their corruption will only spread and further endanger not only us, our ship, and the Legacy, but Humanity as a whole."
We should consider killing everyone on board, to be on the safe side then.
"I've know inquisitors who would do just that. This is a dangerous time for us. Should we show mercy to unsanctioned psykers, or witches, or the like? I appreciate your hesitation to render such final judgement, but mercy to Warp-Spawn will only end in tragedy."
Captain Havarro allows the marines to take custody of the prisoners, before searching the mutant leader for any clues to his transformation or the crew's corruption.
Scrutiny/Search (21) (whichever is more appropriate)
Cutter was thankful for the Lord Captain's support, but bludgeoning the militant into submission wasn't a good option - they would need her later, and having her harbor grudges and resentments would endanger that.
"We must be vigilant against the heretic. It is as an infectious disease. One that can grow undetected for a long time, before flaring up, suddenly fatal. Jene, can you personally vouch for these people who would kill us in a heartbeat. Can you, with good conscience, pledge your own life against theirs? Because if we let them be, that is what you do - you risk the life of the faithful to preserve the heretic." He kept his sermon relatively short and to the point - hoping to reach her self-interest, if there was little faith or fervor to utilize.
Letting the holy-man complete his sermon, Es'trisi then turns to the Marine sergeant, "Sergeant, mobilize your men. Complete a full sweep of the lower decks. Sterilize any other incursions." he pauses "With your permission , of course , Lord-Captain."
"Absolutely. As the Enginseer ordered."
Es'trisi signals the sergeant to carry out his orders. Calling after him "Sergeant, ensure that any engi-seers you run into begin work on re-establishing comms. We're blind otherwise."
Turning back to the Captain "My apologies , Captain. I endeavour to avoid such incidents, I will file a full report once we've arrived at Port Wander." Es'trisi looks chagrined that such an event occurred under his watch, despite the inherent dangers of traveling through the Warp.
"The warp is a strange and chaotic place. That you got us out of danger as quickly as you did shows my faith is not misplaced. A report and analysis for future travels will be most appreciated, though."
The cleansing of the lower deck 101 takes about an hour but the aftermath's remains will take days if not weeks to eliminate. You even manage to locate the crude but effective jamming device the cultists used.
Meanwhile in the enginarium, the magos attempts a procedure deemed heretical by his brethren. He seeks to interface with the machine spirit before he is certified as able by his superiors.
Cutter did not stand in the way of the needed cleansing, but tried to retain a few of the lower-ranking cultists for more intense interrogation. Confession wasn't going to spare their lives, or save their souls after such an intense touch of the great enemy. It might give him a better idea about the fatal chink in the ships spiritual armor, where the darkness had made its way into the community, how it could stay so well-hidden he hadn't noticed a trace before.
"I shall return to my tower, Captain. Advise me when you want us to be on our way once more. " Es'trisi nods to the captain then departs, making his way back to the bridge, then up to his tower.
Removing his armor and stowing is securely, he sits on a cushioned mat and begins to meditate on the events preceding the violent departure from The Warp; analyzing his decisions and searching his intuition for answers to what happened.
"We are needed back on the bridge. Something has appeared on the auspex. Something big, according to the bridge."
Captain Havarro sheathes his weapons, dusts off his uniform, and heads to the bridge without further discussion.
"Nicely done with the mutant-heretic, Rodriguez. Very nicely done."
No more than was required, Sir. I apologize for the loss of the marines, Sir.
"It was necessary. That was quick thinking with the demo-charge. I would not have liked to face down their leader with his full complement of heretics. I too regret their loss, but your quick thinking likely saved even more still."
From his aerie, Es'trisi patches into the bridge auspex to learn what the Lord-Captain is referring to.
Checking that all warp systems are in the green, he comms the Captain
"Captain, Warp transition available on your order."
<Received, Navigator. Standby until further. See if you can make anything out of the auspex data being relayed from the bridge.>
"Bridge, patch the navigator into the auspex data regarding the anomaly detected."
Captain Havarro takes his place on the bridge and begins to check out the anomaly detected himself.
"Captain - before you issue any more orders - you might wish to see this" the bridge officer's voice was somewhat subdued, as if the man had just either been shocked for his very life, or was trembling with opportunity.
Back on the bridge, the reason of that excitement soon became very clear. It had been a one in a billion chance. They could have ended up literally anywhere at all with that emergency translation. But as it turned out, they had ended up about a light-hour away from a binary system of two brown dwarf stars. There was a tiny planetary system of three worlds showing on Auspex. A lone gas giant, Methane and Hydrogen, on the verge of the frost line. But two habitable planets edging into the thin habitable stretch. A world of vast swamps, and the veritable jackpot. A temperate planet. About two thirds the mass of Holy Terra itself. Blue dotted with white and green.
"Captain... we got inbound vessels. Primitive fusion drives, from the looks of it. Two skiffs, probably some kind of scout or proto-fighter. Fusion drives, from our readout. No huge issue."
"Well, that certainly changes things. Ensure weapons systems are on 'ready', but let's not shoot first if its avoidable. Scan those incoming vessels well, and prepare a reception squad."
As the sensors started their analysis of the inbound vessels, some more facts became clear to the crew: These ships were not as slow as their primitive propulsion was suggesting. The ETA was settling in on somewhat over five hours - a significant achievement. They had pressurized hulls, so unmanned fighters were not likely. Other than that, the sensors produced heaps of difficult to understand data, that probably fe
Common Forbidden Lore (Mechanicus) OR Very Hard (-30) Tech use:
"There is a request for a meeting, Lord Captain", an officer reported.
When the other ships appear on sensors, Es'trisi opens his Third Eye, attempting to see if the ships or the area present any psychic dangers.
Psyniscience [PER+10:50)
Es'trisi send out his mental senses, in addition to the prying eyes of the machine spirits. The echos he receives are... unclear. Something is not quite right with the approaching craft. Not an outright warp entity, or active psycker. Rather something... lower-key. As if the souls of the people aboard the crafts were like washed-out paint.
"Very well. These people wish to meet, allow us to show them how we do so in style. Commander, prepare an honor guard. Sidearms and dress uniforms only. Place the murder-servitors on standby, and give me a sharpshooter team with a good line of sight on the bay."
Captain Havarro strides to his quarters thinking to himself..."What to wear, what to wear? Gilt trimmed uniform and the white leather weapons harness? Sable cloak? Decisions, decisions..." Finally selecting a finely tailored green and gold uniform with a fine sable cloak, Captain Havarro attaches his archaeo-tech laspistol, bolt pistol, and power sword in a tooled and gilt-trimmed leather harness before pulling on highly polished leather boots. A cap with plenty of thread-of-gold braid on the trim completes his outfit.
<Attention senior staff. Please meet in landing bay alpha vestibule in 30. We have guests to greet.>
Es'trisi keys his receipt of the Lord-Captain's order. Standing he regards the display of the approaching ship, represented by a yellow blip, slowly making its way towards the Proficio Humanitas
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he moves to his garment wardrobe and selects his finest Nobilite robes. Casting them over his xeno-mech armor, he straps on his hell-pistol and charge pack. The Es'trisi dons a headscarf of fine silk, obscuring the red lesion in his forehead.
Standing quietly, he once again attempts to visualize the wrack and weft of the Warp, and the newcomer's interaction with it.
Psyniscience (PER+10:50)
His efforts gleaning no new information, Es'trisi sighs in frustration, then descends from his tower to join the Lord-Captain in the landing bay.
The two patrol craft approached the Proficio, one staying about 100 miles out, while the second approched the landing bay, performing a perfect spot-landing, even without the assistance of the larger vessels guidance systems.
The vessel was a small, elegant construction. Flowing curves, silvery metal alloys. The style was most reminiscant of Eldar technology, but significantly less advanced. No ship to ship armaments besides two bulky fusion bombs jutting almost like foreign objects from beneath the wings - which seemed more like a stylistic feature than something intended to support aerodynamic flight.
An iris airlock opened, and three figured exited the craft. Three woman in simple, blue jumpsuits. They were unmistakably human, if all of above-average height. All featured simple, crew-cut hair. The one leading the formation was about 30 standard years old, with the two tailing her being maybe five years younger. The leader had an air of authority about her, each movement composed and without haste.
Captain Havarro waits with his senior staff and honor guard standing at attention. He allows the visitors to disembark and begin walking across the landing bay, eyes watching for movements and hostile action. Knowing his sharpshooter team had his back, he relaxed very slightly.
As they get closer, he speaks. "Welcome to the Proficio Humanitas. I am Lord-Captain Pietro Havarro. These are my senior staff, and a few of my marines to assist us if needed. Would you care to take refreshment and speak in a more comfortable setting."
The three woman saluted - a strange gesture involving presenting an open palm held outstretched before their chest, which was then raised up above their head. "Shel'tan Morisette Varo of the Amitrian League, and Shei Victoriana Geris." She motioned towards the third woman, whose overall displayed somewhat different colors "And our mission specialist, Sigrid Von, of the Khortian Dominion"
Awareness:
Shel'tan Varo listened to the Lord Captains invitation, and after a moments consideration, replied "Gladly, Lord-Captain. We have no knoffle for your hospitality, but let us drink and let us talk. This historic moment requires more than rote procedure and military protocols."
Her gothic was off, in several ways. Tonal shifts and changes in grammar had rendered her sentences hard to understand - sometimes only loosely recognizable, in fact. In addition, there were several words totally unrooted in the familiar vocabulary, where only educated guesses could be made.
awareness Success, by 1 degree
"You are most welcome. Please, follow me. We will have some light repast and share some delightful amasec, and learn of one another. To start, let me share a bit about myself and this vessel. I am a Rogue Trader, of the Imperium of Man. My crew and I travel the void in search of profit, from one world to another. Let us relax a bit and talk, shall we?"
Captain Havarro keeps a smile on his face while analyzing the women for hostile action, unknown 'tells' and anything else which may yield an advantage in negotiations. He allows the honor guard to lead them to a small, but lavishly decorated and appointed reception room, laid out with fruit, vegetables, small pastries, and several nice bottles of amasec and wine. Breaking the seal on one such bottle, he pulls the cork personally before pouring small measures in glasses, one for each guest, himself, and any senior staff who wish to partake.
"Be at ease on board my vessel, and tell me of yourselves."
Taking his queues from his Captain, Es'trisi remains silent, nodding to the women as he was introduced.
Declining the aperatif, Es'trisi remains watchful, passively allowing his impressions of the women to wash over him now that they were in closer proximity.
Psyniscience (PER+10:50)
The navigator once again focussed his otherworldly perception on the trio of woman, as they made their way from the hangar to the reception room. Now, closer to them and able to see their faces, he was able to glean more - but not necessarily anything reassuring. Not one of these woman had the expected presence in the sea of souls. They were all... muted, less vivid. As if someone had drained something essential from their very being.
The designers had done well in hiding the grit and dirt of the operations from this small refuge only fifty yards inside the ships interior. The room was well-appointed with a clean marble floor, several wooden tables, and tasteful decor by an imperial eagle and several small images of the faith.
The lord captain settled his guests and himself, and went through the few bits of information he had been able to glean so far. The leader was, for lack of a better word, a machine. She hadn't violated any rule of decorum or protocol, but kept her cards extremely close to her chest. The two younger woman also remained almost too calm.
The leader raised her glass slightly, and sipped from it. Her dusky skin flushed slightly, as she raised her voice to answer. "Thank you. For your hospitality, and your kind words. But I doubt you would be interested in me personally. So, I will talk to you about the Amitrian League. We are, by most accounts, the most powerful nation of Ard, both military and economically. We are governed as a republic, with a lower-house elected by the populace, and an upper house randomly chosen for life. Our mission was to explore the moon systems of Marthas, our outermost planet."
After short monologue, she took another sip, and shifted in her chair somewhat. "Now, indulge me. What does ship of your mass do here? Who did you get here - we detected no inbound trajectory of any object of your size. Is this some kind teleportation technology?"
"Well, Shel'tan Varo, I must admit the technical aspects of our propulsion is beyond my know-how. What I do know is that the engines create a field to protect the ship from the energies of the empyrean, then create a passageway through the warp. We travel that way through the void, alongside and outside the rest of the universe."
Captain Havarro sips his amasec and observes the visitors closely, in case they react poorly to the news of warp travel.
"As far as how we ended up here, of all places, that's a relatively simple story. During our travels, we were beset by a storm in the warp. That forced us to return to our normal space, and here we are."
The news of "warp travel" were met with more or less blank faces - the brief explanation was seemingly not enough for them to make any connections or qualified judgements. Still, they politely took another few sips, and listened.
"So, your arrival here was an accident?" The one woman who had been identified as being affiliated with a different power spoke up. "Nevertheless, your arrival is perhaps the most major occasion since Fahrinstein. I think my Senk'alahi would question my sanity if i failed to formally invite you to a state dinner, in the capitol of the Khortian Dominion"
A slightly poisonous glance was cast from the leader towards her specialist - but she nodded. "Naturally, an equal invitation is extended on behalf of the Amitrian League. In case you require any supplies, we will make an effort to aid you in procuring them"