Once Governor Nickolai had taken his seat, he raised his feet and rested them upon the ornate wooden desk in front of him, while at the same time crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in the chair. Clearly, the man preferred comfort over presentation at the moment, and was not worried about letting those currently present in front of him know that. When the members of the retinue asked their own personal questions, Nickolai was sure to quickly respond, doing what he could to answer each of the inquiries to the best of his ability.
"I do believe I can set up a meeting between you and my chief astropath, Adrianne. Though currently they are preoccupied with another task at the moment. I will inform her that you wish to speak with her, and I assure you she will get back to you as soon as possible." said Governor Nickolai before taking a small sip of whatever amber colored liquid was in the glass next to his right hand. Andromedai had some guesses, but was not about to inquire upon it.
The question that Tech-Priestess Medaira asked was a rather peculiar one, and Nickolai thought on it for a few short seconds before responding.
"The Cult Mechanicus has been performing their duties swiftly and to the letter, no delays, no malfunctions, no sudden deficiency in supplies and lack of servitors, in fact there are no complaints from me on their current performance." Nickolai crossed his left leg over his right to make himself more comfortable before responding to the last question.
"That is a rather interesting question, Titus. Unfortunately, I am unable to disclose that information to you, it would be a breach of protocol and my own rules. Perhaps at a later date I can hand over some of the requested information but at the moment, as I said before, is going to have to be denied. Now, I have another meeting set up that has arrived, they are currently waiting outside the doors to my office, and with that I bid you all a fond farewell. If you need anything else, please feel free to reach out to me." Nickolai raised his left hand and waved it lightly in the air in a dismissive manor, informing them they had
permission to leave his office now. It was at this moment, that the Planetary Governor noticed that his room had grown slightly cooler, and the temperature was still dropping. This occurrence currently had no explanation, and was baffling him.
"We have been waiting to do so." said Celestian Andromedai as she turned her back on the planetary governor, then left his office with her retinue following close behind. On their way out, they would pass a group of Skitarii Rangers who eyed them curiously before entering the office with the doors shutting behind them.
"I do not believe the man to be a Chaos infiltrator, at this time at least." said Andromedai into her helmets com after she had placed it back onto her head and secured it into place.
"Let us return to the Typhon, from there we will fly to the Inquisition safe house." The Celestian superior picked up the pace slightly, wanting to leave their current surroundings.
Andromedai was first on board, and first to take a seat, motioning for their local and friendly Psyker to take the co-pilot seat once more.
"I would like to warn all of you." began Andromedai,
"That the Inquisitorial safe house may be slightly uncomfortable at first, it is much different than most other buildings anywhere in the Imperium. After a while, I am sure you will become accustomed to it. by the time Andromedai had finished speaking, they would already be airborne.
The Typhon did not climb high into the atmosphere as would have been expected, instead the craft remained rather low to the ground, using the natural storm that had now moved into the area to mask its movement. They would first pass through a snow capped mountain range, passing by seemingly untouched nature, its type rarely even seen on Garden worlds. Then, approached a coastline, where the Typhon made a sharp but still smooth turn to the left, curving along the base of the mountain range before gaining altitude. The sensors of the Typhon would inform them multiple times through the flight that Andromedai was coming a bit to close to the ground or other hazards that could end their journey. Though now, those sensors informed them that they were coming up upon the Inquisitorial safe house, and would arrive shortly.
At first, they would see nothing, but then the greatly unique looking building that stood out in contrast to all other Imperial buildings would come into view. It had been partly built into the hill that it stood upon, hiding how large the actual building was from view. The Typhon would decelerate before the cloud of moisture that had been forming on the front of it dissipated. Without having to bank forward or backward, the aircraft would position itself above an area of the safe house. Two large metal doors slid open below them as the Typhon lowered itself into the hidden hanger, before they would close above it, cutting off all sunlight, leaving only the artificial light that had been installed around them.
Once the Typhon had landed, Andromedai powered down the craft and unstrapped herself,
"Let's get everyone situated and familiar with the safe house." said Andromedai as she moved to the airlock and once more opened it for her retinue, though this time she was the first to leave. Stepping down the ramp, the first thing they would notice was that the landing pad was surrounded with lights that shined down from the ceiling, creating small spots of light in a perfectly shaped circle around the edges of the landing platform. The walls of the hanger were of smooth beige colored stone, below the landing platform was a body of natural cave water. Near them, at the end of the landing platform was a metal path that lead into the safe house, at the end of it was a door made out of polished steel, and a small glass slit built into it.
Walking towards the door, it would automatically open for her, and would remain open while anyone was near it. As soon as she had stepped inside, a short but thorough decontamination system would begin as they walked down the whitewashed hallway that lead into the actual safe house. Like its exterior, the interior could be considered smooth, ultra-modern, clean, and well lit but not to overly illuminated. The secondary entryway they had just arrived in was tastefully decorated with a few real plants and pieces of art that Andromedai had confiscated from important figures within the Imperium of man and even beyond.
At first, it seemed as if they were the only ones there, but another Sister of Battle quickly rounded the corner to meet them as they entered the large and spacious living room that had a sunk in couch and full sized coffee table in the middle of it. This woman looked a bit like Andromedai, though was apparently younger, and her hair was a dark black that made the rest of her attractive features stand out. Next to her was a Servo-Skull, though this Servo-Skull was apparently made from a dead commissar's Skull, and held a muzzle in its mouth as if it was a cigar. Its piercing red eyes scanned the group as the two of them stood before each other in silence for the briefest of moments.
"Celestian Superior Andromedai" said the woman in normal gothic before saluting her superior.
"Took you long enough." she smiled slyly before Andromedai responded.
"Sister Celestian Aviza, I'm glad to see that the safe house is still in one piece with you in command of it." Andromedai did not smile at the woman, but her voice had relaxed quite a bit in tone.
"I was unsure when you and your retinue were going to arrive, but I have prepared a lunch for anyone who may be interested." Aviza would pause and look over the retinue before speaking once more,
"Stukov and Adrianne, I am glad to see you two are both still alive and healthy. It has been many years since I have seen you two, but it is always a welcome sight. Your two new members though, a Tech-Priestess who is named Medaira and a Scribe named Titus, new additions. What happened to that mercenary and the Space Marine that would always accompany the retinue? Wait, I rather not know in all honesty." Aviza shrugged slightly, it was better to not ask to many questions.
"Follow me, if you would be so kind." As Aviza lead them through the safe house, it was clear a lot of credits had been spent to make it, and a lot of time and effort had been put into not only its design but also acquiring everything that filled its halls.
When they arrived in the kitchen, Aviza moved behind a bar counter top, that was made out of some sort of stone, that glowed a amber white. The mineral had actually been hallowed out and had lights installed into it, creating the soft and comfortable glow. At the counter top was a set of backless bar stools, neatly pushed in and lined up, awaiting use.
As soon a the retinue had entered the kitchen, their senses would be graced with the smell of freshly and exquisitely prepared meals.
"I was unsure what each personal taste was so I went with something simple for the moment." What was presented was nothing simple, it was clear that this Sister of Battle had quite the talent when it came to not only killing heretics but also creating meals fitting of the Inquisition. the meal was a Turkey and Bacon Club Sandwich with sweet potato french fries and fresh fruit, though none of what was presented was fake, everything was real meat, real fruit, real vegetables, and all of it was extremely expensive to acquire.
"I can also make any drink of your choice, we have quite the stock saved up, just name it and I will present it to you." said Aviza with a small but genuine smile across her face. Andromedai took a seat and removed her helmet, setting it on the counter next to her before requesting her own drink.
"Mint Julep ice tea, as always after a flight through the warp, please and thank you." said Andromedai, scooting her bar stool in a bit closer to her seat, then looking at the rest of her retinue expectantly.
"Of course, anyone else?" inquired Aviza, already working on the drink that Celestian Andromedai had requested.
It was at that moment, that Andromedai noticed that some sort of
music that she had not heard in many years was playing, something she had acquired a personal taste in.
