[IC] Warhammer 40,000 - Chasing Chaos

[Skyrte]

"Subtract the great level of lavishness, shameless debauchery, extravagant vanity and large collection of colossal egos and self-centrism of the population, it would actually make a decent holiday vacation; with only a minor chance of warp storms." The Psyker remarked. Zhevon nodded shortly, "Perhaps one day I'd visit here while off duty."

"Aside from the quite obvious traces of Slaaneshi worship, whether intentionally or inadvertently created by the population, I also detected the Orkish footprints on the planet. Judging by the strong pulses, I would say that the greenskin are mustering for something big. But if the reports are to be believed and these are indeed just mere, primitive feral Orks, I doubt they would be able to overcome the garrison." She continued, walking out of the hall and to the bridge. Zhevon followed, several thoughts went though his head.

"But there was one part of the planet that did take my interest, a lesser, more luxurious hive city of some kind. I am not familiar with the planet, and so was unable to recognize it from the few fragments that I saw. Do you know how many Hive Cities there are on Friere II?" She asked,
"Just one large one. The others are fairly small, keeping most of islands they are on preserved." He explained, the two finally reached the bridge. He opened the door and kept it open for the Psyker.

He walked over to the holotable and clicked it on as he walked by, a holographic display of the planet appeared. He highlighted the big island. "This is where the biggest city is, as well as the largest space port. It might be the Hive city you saw." He looked down to his communicator and sent a message to everyone else in his team. The point they would meet up would be in Hanger B-12, and that they would be leaving shortly.

[Rithy]

Adrianne would take a moment to gaze at the holographic display of the planet as the image hovered in the air in front of her, the psyker spending a couple of moments simply gazing at the image.

"I only saw fragments from a ground point of view," She said, unable to really identify the city from the holographic representation of the entire planet.
"3-EX; bring me some advertisement pictures of the city."

She would suddenly instruct, as her servo-skull floated past her and up to the control panel. A small, metal digital connection rod would appear out from under the servo-skull's teeth to jut out into the air in front of it, before inserting it into the nearby applicable slot on the machine. As it connected with the machine, it would carry out the the bidding of its mistress, as soon, images of the hive city in question would appear around the holographic representation of the planet. The pictures were taken in quite a professional manner, containing everything from a picturesque view of the city's horizon to individual streets, resorts and pristine streets taken by the cameramen of various vacation companies.

"Yes, it definitely looks familiar." Adrianne would finally respond, after having taken a moment to study the pictures in silence as they appeared before her, the servo-skull giving her a couple of seconds to gaze at each one before shifting them about and bringing up a new set of pictures.

"That's enough."

With a single motion of her hand, the servo-skull would close down the additional windows and tabs it had generated on the holodeck, before retreating it's digital connector back into it's 'mouth' and moving away from the holo-terminal.

"I believe we have found our city. Once we are on the ground and closer to the source, I should be better able to scry its exact location." Adrianne would then explain as she turned to Inquisitor Zhevon who was standing next to her.

Taking a moment to merely look at him, she would eventually tilt her head slightly to the side as she'd give him a curious glance.

"If I may ask, Inquisitor... why the mask?" She'd inquire as her eyes focused on Zhevon's mask.

[Eisenhorn]

Stukov had been stalking his way back towards the shuttle bay when he looked down as he stepped over cabling, looking at his military issue boot. Some might place that as military issue, and its age also detracted from the rest of his new attire. Couple that with the fact it was not designed for a lot of crazy groundside work, he might want something with more support and durability in mind. So, he turned around and made his way back to the warddrobe that was marked off limits by the Inquisition. He made sure it wasn't the armory first, as he walked into the room again and made his way to where he had seen the footwear at. An unusual amount of fancy shoewear, dress shoes and the like. Nothing fitting. He was mildly irritated with it when he spotted a group of shoe boxes. It was worth a shot, he supposed, and as he walked over and opened the first box on the ground, a highly confused expression crossed the armsman's face as he muttered a solitary phrase to himself. "By the Emperor, are those women's undergarments?"

Stukov could not fathom why the Inquisitor would have a pair of women's undergarments, stuffed in a shoebox, hidden away within a warddrobe that was, beyond this discovery, completely male attire. He hastily found a new boot and made sure it fit before putting it on and quickly removing himself from the room. He could not fathom why the man needed to keep a pair of women's undergarments, unless he wore them himself? No, Stukov shuddered at the thought and quickly banished it before the mind could draw up a mental picture. No, that was something that he would have to bring up with the Inquisitor, amongst other things that concerned him. The armory still bothered him, for the reason that secrets tended to get vessels sunk. Such as when the Gellar Fields failed on his first ship, it had been a crew error that they refused to report for repair prior to warp travel. So secrets did not sit well with the senior armsman, so he decided to track the Inquisitor down, to ask his various questions. Since he doubted the man would want him asking about the women's undergarments in front of the whole team.

Stukov ended up on the bridge right after the psyker had finished speaking, having looked at several other likely spots he could think of, not catching her question and standing politely to the side. It wasn't his first trip up to the bridge to brief the Captain on the status of his teams prior to a warp transition, so he was not an unseen sight on the bridge. So he crossed his arms, speaking briefly as to not interrupt any more than necessary. Besides that, with the female Psyker present, that was the worst possible time to bring up the undergarments he had found in the wardrobe. Unless he rather would have her know they were there, in which case he would throw that discretion to the wind. "When you have a moment, Inquisitor, I have a question to ask in private. A few, really."

[Skyrte]

Zhevon watched as the Psyker brought up images of the location, keeping silent as she observed the buildings. After she examined the holopics, she spoke up. "I believe we have found our city. Once we are on the ground and closer to the source, I should be better able to scry its exact location."
"Good, we'll depart shortly." He replied, gathering his stuff, noting that Stukov had just arrived.
"If I may ask, Inquisitor... why the mask?" She asked. Zhevon looked up at her, finding that she was eyeballing his helmet, realizing that to all of them, it was essentially a mask, since his hood was concealing the rest of it. He narrowed his eyes and thought about his answer, mostly thinking back to whomever else had asked him about his helmet. Not many did, an atmosphere of slight tension was felt, as many of the bridge crew, the Captain included turned to face them, wanting to know the answer as well.
It was Stukov who had broken this tension. "When you have a moment, Inquisitor, I have a question to ask in private. A few, really."
Inquisitor Zhevon looked to the man, who was standing next to Adrianne. "Ah, excellent timing." He said to Stukov, in his usual cheerful demeanor. He looked over to the Captain of his Blackship, "Captain Horner, may we use your personal quarters for a small chat?"
The Captain spoke up, "Of course Inquisitor, just don't touch the brandy."
"Excellent. Come on then." He said to Stukov, walking over to the door leading to the Captains Quarters. The door slid open automatically, "And to answer your question, Psyker Valenthin, I am headless." He joked, before stepping into the Captains Quarters.

[Eisenhorn]

Stukov noted the tension he had cut from his entry, and would put that in an ask later position, he had other, more pressing concerns to ask about for now. The captain quarters he had followed the Inquisitor into were fairly humble, with a few items of comfort vice necessity, but such was to be expected from any Imperial Captain, far as he had dealt with. Then again, all he had gone off prior to this entry into the Captain's state room was the salvage work he had done after crashing or doing clean up post Gellar Field failure. Neither of which he had any interest in living through again. But neither of these incidents were either here or there, so he focused on the present as he calmly took a position near the desk, arms linked behind his back as he stood vice sitting down, facing the Inquisitor directly. At the beginning of his career he would never have ever even imagined being face to face with an Inquisitor, let alone asking questions of one, but a lot had changed, and he spoke plainly as soon as the door sealed. "Thank you for your time, Inquisitor, I will be brief as possible so time is not wasted."

"Firstly, and this stems from prior experience, I am concerned about ship security. Every vessel I have served on, barring this one until recently, has had secrets that no security crew could keep track of. This has led to the failure of Gellar Fields, in the case of a Cruiser, that led to over 75% crew causalities. And the second time the complete loss of an Apocalypse Class Battleship. So my question is, and I doubt I will get any details or even a real answer, does your armory contain the means to cause this ship to be destroyed or lost to the warp?" Stukov didn't really expect to get an answer out of that one, but he felt it necessary to ask. Even if he was not formally a part of the ship's crew anymore, having been reassigned as such, his mindset was still on security. And that meant asking questions that might not be pleasant or even, in other circumstances, any of his business. But he asked anyways, and kept it direct.

"Secondly, and still pertaining to security, how are we intending to mask so many soldiers in an investigative operation? They tend to not be the most subtle sort, and I do indeed speak for my own skill set as well. As well as the comment you made on the call being put out to more than just yourself during the brief, are we expecting to run into other members of the Inquisition, and should we expect conflict in that regard?" Still professional and all business on the matter, and it was unlikely any of it seemed like it had been necessary to request a private setting to ask the questions. Stukov was saving that question for last. He really was hoping the man had not put the items there of his own volition, even if that meant someone had ignored an Inquisitorial warning plate. But that did lead, in his mind's train of thought, to his last question, pausing long enough to almost let the Inquisitor begin answering the first two questions.

"Lastly, and on a rather different note, and this is not intended to question your personal life choices, why does your personal wardrobe contain a set of black woman's undergarments? Contained in what I believe was a shoebox?"

[Rithy]

"And to answer your question, Psyker Valenthin, I am headless."

Adrianna would raise an eyebrow at the Inquisitor's reply, her face taking on a quizzical shape as if the psyker was ever so slightly dazzled and befuddled by Zhevon's comment. She maintained the odd gaze until Zhevon together with Stukov had stepped into the Captain's quarters, and the door slid shut behind the two.

"What a strange man."

If anything, the role of inquisitor seemed to attract the type of eccentric personalities, to say the least.

But regardless of what she had heard, she would soon return her mind to the task at hand. They had yet to make planetfall, and it would be prudent for her to be present at the hangar before the inquisitor ever made it there.

Thus, with her servo-skull following closely behind her, Adrianne began to make her way down from the bridge and towards the hangar B-12. But not without first visiting one of the ship's lonely kiosks that sat alone in the maze of corridors that was the ship's interior, where she requisitioned a bottle of sparkly vanilla and licorice flavored soda that she brought with her.

After even more walking, including some elevator rides, she would finally appear in hangar b-12.

It was a hangar further in the back of the ship that consisted mostly of transport vessels. The room was wide and open, with a massive inquisitorial banner hanging from the main wall in the room. But despite the room's grandeur, it was rather empty of people; with only the occasional tired, overworked engineer walking about and trying to direct the literally brainless servitors.

Stepping into the hangar, Adrianne's eyes scanned her surroundings for a place to sit. But after having observed no clean place to sit, the ground being covered by grime and dirt, and any nearby crate being oily and dirty; she decided to improvise. Leaning back, she suddenly sat down cross-legged in the middle of the air, mystically hovering over the ground with the help of her telekinetic powers in a rather leisurely fashion. She had no idea how long she might have to wait, so she might as well get as comfortable as she could!

Leaning back, she uncorked her soda bottle and began to drink from it, all the while watching the handlful of workers scurry about in the hangar. Her servo skull floated besides her, and began scanning for any news or radio channels from the planet below, shuffling through everything from advertisements, voice-novels, podcasts and music channels.

[Skyrte]

"Thank you for your time, Inquisitor, I will be brief as possible so time is not wasted." Stukov began, "Firstly, and this stems from prior experience, I am concerned about ship security. Every vessel I have served on, barring this one until recently, has had secrets that no security crew could keep track of. This has led to the failure of Gellar Fields, in the case of a Cruiser, that led to over 75% crew causalities. And the second time the complete loss of an Apocalypse Class Battleship. So my question is, and I doubt I will get any details or even a real answer, does your armory contain the means to cause this ship to be destroyed or lost to the warp? Secondly, and still pertaining to security, how are we intending to mask so many soldiers in an investigative operation? They tend to not be the most subtle sort, and I do indeed speak for my own skill set as well. As well as the comment you made on the call being put out to more than just yourself during the brief, are we expecting to run into other members of the Inquisition, and should we expect conflict in that regard?"

Inquisitor Zhevon glanced up at the ceiling. "I understand your concerns about the armory. Currently its contents are mostly Imperial made weapons. There are several weapons of xenos origins, which is why I don't want anyone entering the armory. While I am sure that they have no connection to the Immaterium, I am still unsure how they function technologically. We don't want someone carelessly handling said weapons and then accidentally rupturing their power core or something like that." He explained, "So in short, nothing there will cause harm to the ship, unless handled with without care. As for your second question, some nobles will surround themselves in a large number of bodyguards, as a way to project their power or wealth. If we need to split up, I'm sure it won't be a problem." He said, waving his hand, "And we will be encountering other Inquisitors. As of right now, I know that Inquisitor Cattleya is in the sector. And I have heard that a number of other Inquisitors are in the same sector, but I have only heard. I'm sure that there will be no conflict, I personally know many of the Inquisitors that I have heard are here, Inquisitor Cattleya included."

"Lastly, and on a rather different note, and this is not intended to question your personal life choices, why does your personal wardrobe contain a set of black woman's undergarments? Contained in what I believe was a shoebox?"
"...Ah. Those uh, are not mine. Inquisitor Cattleya has a very aggressive method of..." Zhevon paused, searching for the word, unused to speaking on topics such as this, "Courting." He inhaled, "I would appreciate it if you kept knowledge of this secret."

[Eisenhorn]

Stukov quietly heard out the Inquisitor as he explained the armory in more detail then the Armsman anticipated, including the mention of several weapons of xenos origins. The mention made his mind think back to the Dark Eldar he had encountered, those being his only experience with Xenos of any sort, and made him speak once he finished answering the first question he had, although it was a brief statement. "With all due respect, if any of it is of Dark Eldar make, destroy it. Nothing they have created is worth the risk involved in dealing with such things. Those are tools of suffering and torture as much as they are weapons of war."

As the man continued onto the handling of being almost all soldiers, one and all, Stukov nodded. If that was all it took to hide their presence, than so be it. The mention of other Inquisitors, including one the man seemed to know by name, and that none of them would be hostile did not seem to sit well with the Armsman, although he didn't speak on the matter. That seemed too good to be true, if this page was indeed a source of eldritch power, he had this nagging thought that some would rather use it for their own purposes vice reclaim and, hopefully, destroy such a thing. Then again, he was hardly an Inquisitor, simply an overcautious Naval armsman. But experience dictated he act as such. The man's unsure response got a smirk out of Stukov and he shrugged. That was odd, but far more reasonable than it could have turned out. "Either she wants you to see her in such an outfit, or she intends you to fill that role in such a relationship. I can't say which is more amusing yet. Regardless, I shall not speak on the matter to another, it is hardly my business anyways. Appreciate the answers boss, that's all I got for questions for now. Ready to roll out when you are."

Stukov's questions were indeed answered, and while he was uneasy with Xeno equipment being in the armory, the man's reasoning was sound enough. Kept locked away and out of untrained hands would hopefully be enough. So with that, he would follow the man to the hanger bay when he was ready, or when he was dismissed, whichever came first.

[Skyrte]

"With all due respect, if any of it is of Dark Eldar make, destroy it. Nothing they have created is worth the risk involved in dealing with such things. Those are tools of suffering and torture as much as they are weapons of war." Stukov warned, he then continued, "Either she wants you to see her in such an outfit, or she intends you to fill that role in such a relationship. I can't say which is more amusing yet. Regardless, I shall not speak on the matter to another, it is hardly my business anyways. Appreciate the answers boss, that's all I got for questions for now. Ready to roll out when you are."

"I see. I will take your advise then, and dispose of any Dark Eldar weaponry I come across. The armory only contains a few Tau pulse weapons, and an Ork rifle of some sorts." Zhevon said, to ease any of Stukov's concerns, "And I don't know which it is either." He said unsure. After a second of awkward silence, Zhevon spoke up again. "We should get on the that transport.", and immediately made his departure from the room, making a beeline to the Hanger.

Zhevon stepped into the hanger and looked at the Aquila Lander that would be bringing them to the planet, the pilot was already in, doing preflight checks. Zhevon stepped into the rear hatch of the Lander and sat down, staying silent mostly. He sent a ping to his team, signalling them to get to the Lander that he was in for the transport.
...
Once everyone was inside, the lander took off, and before they knew it, they felt the turbulence of reentry.

Once the Lander set down on the landing pad, Zhevon was the first one out. It was night at the moment, but the city was still alive. Blinding neon lights and signs surrounded the elevated landing pad, he spotted signs for restaurants, gardens, shows, galleries. He walked to the edge of the landing pad and saw balconies and parks full of people, party-goers in the balconies and pairs of people in the parks. He heard the buzz of music and laughter of the distance. Zhevon walked back to the lander and stood near it, pulling back his sleeve, he looked at his watch. In a couple of minutes, an orderly would come out to register them into the logs.

He pulled up his wrist comlink and sent an encrypted message to his agent. "We've landed at Site B, regroup on us. We'll meet you in the lobby on the ground floor."

[Rithy]

Adrianne would be the first to step out of the transport after Inquisitor Zhevon, as with her role of a diviner, it was easier to warn the inquisitor of any possible assailant or sniper that might have awaited him the moment he stepped out of the craft by staying close to him.

She walked down the ramp after him, her staff-sword in hand; and wearing her full kit, including her pressurized gothic style helmet that was adorned with a human skull in front of her face, a souvenir from a corrupted psyker she had once known. Her shaded visors were barely visible between its empty eye sockets, making her eyes almost look like a pair of pitch black pools.

As she clamped down with her boot on the metallic surface of the landing platform and looked up, she was immediately met by a wave of channeled emotions emanating from all around the hive city!

She had felt the psychic presence of the planet even in space. She had felt it in the shuttle as they made their way through orbit. And now as she stood on the very planet itself, in the middle of a hive city; she could feel it far greater. It was an exhilarating feeling, to feel the very beating heart of the city itself all echoing through one's mind!

She could only imagine how dull an experience it must have been by comparison for her less-gifted colleagues arriving with her. No matter how amazed they might have been at the city's skyline or grandiose architecture, it was nothing compared to what she was feeling in her head. Although being all suited-up prevented her from feeling the fresh breeze against her skin or experiencing the physical smells that filled the city, such senses were but minor to the psychic concert that she could listen to all around her in the city.

Compared to being stuck in the metal container of a ship flying in the dead-empty of space, being on a live planet was liberating.

But any facial expression she might have made was hidden behind the emotionless expression of her skeletal mask. As Zhevon made his round on the landing platform and began walking back towards them, her gaze moved from the surrounding city skylight to fix on the inquisitor.

"The heart of this city beats with such unrestrained vigor and lust, I would not be surprised to find it already to be an altar to the god of desires." Adrianne would comment as Zhevon came closer, her voice ever so slightly twisted with a metallic tone from speaking through her helmet.

[Eisenhorn]

Stukov was quiet as he had followed the Inquisitor on to the shuttle. There was nothing else for him to say right now, not to the inquisitor or anyone else for that matter. They all knew what they were going down there to do, in a broad sense of the words. Fully dressed out as a mercenary bodyguard, he calmly took his seat across from the Inquisitor, strapping into the seat and relaxing. There was nothing he could do to control the ship he was on, so there was no sense being nervous or panicky about entry into the planet's atmosphere and landing.

He was not fond of unarmed transports, but once again, he could not control that and an armed transport would be more suspicious descending on an area of celebration and relaxation. So he kept his arms crossed over his chest as the descended, and eventually they would land and the ship settled on the ground. He unhooked the straps and stood up as the Inquisitor and Psyker both walked off the transport. Affixing his breathing mask and the flash proof shades and walked down the ramp, putting his hands into his coat pockets as the psyker spoke on the fact the planet might as well be an alter of the god of desire.

Not a good sign, Stukov suspected, considering they were also looking for a page of unknown contents. The demonettes that were sworn to that dark god were also as dangerous, if not more so, up close than from a distance. He rather hoped whatever the psyker was sensing was just a side effect of a luxury planet and there were no shrines to any dark gods. He was scanning his surroundings, not for the luxury going on, but for hidden security and threats to the group of a more mundane manner. But he did respond to the psyker's comment on the manner, inserting his own comment. His visual scanning and speaking concealed from a distant viewer thanks to the mask and shades. "Ma'am, forgive me if I pray your wrong on the matter, or at least don't encounter that one's servants. I don't see any overt defenses, boss, but I can bet our every move is being watched out here. And not a lick of cover out here if things go south."

[Rithy]

"And not a lick of cover out here if things go south."

"Don't do yourself such a disfavor as to limit your mind to the mere physical, Armsman." Adrianne's voice would crackle through the breather of her helmet in reply to Stukov's concerned comment, the psyker apparently not anywhere near as worried nor concerned.
"If the situation should indeed change, there are numerous ways out; especially in such a vivid city like this."

Adrianne would explain as she looked at Stukov through her skeletal mask, before her visor turned to look out across the city's epic skyline beyond the borders of the landing platform.

Indeed, a landing platform suspended high above the air with only one conventional way down could indeed look like a deathtrap to anyone un-initiated in the arts of the immaterium. But Adrianne was not worried. If they did indeed need to leave asap, it was something she felt confident she could more than easily facilitate.

"And do not worry about the followers of Slaanesh. They are nothing like that of Khorne. They are too afraid to ever come at you in the open, unwilling to risk a frontal confrontation. They prefer to lurk in the shadows and come at you when you sleep. And counter-ambush is my specialty."

[FinDragon]

Zachary follows after others soon enough out of the landing craft. he had been like a shadow most of the time, not really talking to anyone or noticing them in any oteher way either. He had been assigned in just recently for whatever reason, it was never his place to question the authorities, as much as he did so anyway. He takes a look around the rest of the group and then his surroundings slowly, while keeping his ears open for any possible briefing or other intel he might gather. He snorts slightly while laying his eyes at the city itself, he had been listening to the casual chatting of the others in their transport. He was more familiar warring against the greenskins instead of armies of chaos, well, what does it matter, both could be killed with enough shots in their bodies. He approaches the Inquisitor then, it would be appropriate time to introduce himself. Other would probably have done that quite sooner, but not him. He stps before the Inquisitor and presents more than careless attention to him.

"Inquisitor." He greets bluntly and lowers his hand back down."Kasrkin Zachary Silver. I have been placed under your command to utilize as you see fit by your best judgement or so." He states and turns around then, glancing at the others too before speaking at Zhevon again over his shoulder."With all due respect Sir, try not to get me killed." He walks away few steps and then turns to simply wait for their next course of action.

[Shadowman215]

James simply stood as he acquired the message from the Lord Inquisitor, it was time. His moves silent as he strode towards the location Amoxa ordered. James rolled his shoulders, though not too much as to lift his jacket to reveal the holster for his Exitus Pistol, he was clad in civilian attire at the moment, even a hat to hide his face. Back at a dead drop he had made, which he was proud to believe it was well hidden. Everything was better when hidden in plain sight, but even better when it was hidden where noone would dare look. Either way he needed to move quickly, time was not a friend in this case as he hurried himself forward to the meeting location. Though...He still pondered the debatable decision of why a Vindicare was chosen over many viable Callidus for the task of finding and retrieving a page of such importance. Then again, who was he to question the choices of the Inquisition? Even as one of the deadliest men in the Imperium, not much. Though the music of the city pulled him from thought and back to reality. Each step seemed to be a new place, so many bright and vibrant lights accompanied by many types of music simply pushed out so many atmospheres at one time, it was a lot to take in even for him. Still, he had to stay focused, he was near the rendezvous and needed to be completely aware for the Inquisitors sake. No matter who his group had, a sharp eye was always needed and effective, he was also a damn quick draw and good shot. Just ask the Sorcerer..Nevermind he doesn't have much to say.

As he began to draw closer to the meeting point, he simply replied to the message thusly: "I am on the ground floor." then placed himself nearby, awaiting the Inquisitor and his entourage to join up with him so they could proceed with the mission. They needed to be quick, he could feel eyes on him. Though that was the paranoia of every Vindicare in his experience. You were always thinking, always assuming eyes were on you. The paranoia kept you alive, alone, but alive. He finally stopped wandering off in his thoughts and kept an eye on his surroundings. Making sure noone had an eye on him as he awaited the Inquisitor and the retinue he had brought to the surface alongside him.

[Marcus XVI]

When Commissar Kreel had arrived to the transport he had made quite a ruckus - nothing unfitting for his rank, but more the heavy steps of his boots and occasionally pausing to take a better grip from the handle of a large case just made it clear that he was not in any way a sneaky individual. His sheathed sword was slung quite casually over his left shoulder and seemed to weigh quite heavily on him. Instead of properly saluting Davian just politely tipped his hat to those who were already present in the transport before taking a seat and more or less staring at the floor for the whole flight - though he had been just fine on the larger ship travelling in the small transport seemed to make him ever so slightly uneasy.

When the ship had landed the Commissar had taken his rather cumbersome equipment and followed after the others. His mechanical hand gripped tightly on the handle of the large case as he took a quick glance around. Davian had seen many worlds, some whilst leading a detachment of guardsmen, others while working with the Inquisitor - and this world did not seem that different from the rest. He mumbled a silent prayer to the God Emperor that there would not turn out to be a Necron tomb under the planet's surface. His attention turned momentarily to the Kasrkin who had addressed the Inquisitor, Davian thought that the man's attitude would have gotten him killed if he had been in any other company that this, but there was just something about the brashness of this Kasrkin Silver that amused Kreel.

[Skyrte]

The first to step out of the transport was the Psyker.
"The heart of this city beats with such unrestrained vigor and lust, I would not be surprised to find it already to be an altar to the god of desires." She spoke, her voice was mildly distorted due to the vox on her helmet. Her mask reminded him of the soldiers of Krieg, fond memories. Despite only being named as numbers, they were some of the most human people he had ever met. Genuine in their service, and very dependable in a fight. He looked out to the city skyline.
"It's pretty much a guarantee." He replied, looking back at her, "Nice choice of fashion." He said, Stukov was the next to appear.

"Ma'am, forgive me if I pray your wrong on the matter, or at least don't encounter that one's servants. I don't see any overt defenses, boss, but I can bet our every move is being watched out here. And not a lick of cover out here if things go south." He commented.
"Don't do yourself such a disfavor as to limit your mind to the mere physical, Armsman. If the situation should indeed change, there are numerous ways out; especially in such a vivid city like this." Adrianne began, looking at the bright skyline. "And do not worry about the followers of Slaanesh. They are nothing like that of Khorne. They are too afraid to ever come at you in the open, unwilling to risk a frontal confrontation. They prefer to lurk in the shadows and come at you when you sleep. And counter-ambush is my specialty."
Inquisitor Zhevon looked to his Armsman and grinned, "Oh yes, the cultists and daemons of Slannesh prefer to corrupt rather than confrontat, but they don't shy away from fighting either." He added, "The last time I fought a Daemon of Slannesh, I was fighting a two front battle. With my mind, and sword. It kept trying to tempt me into its servitude, promising power of immense proportions, wealth of unimaginable scale, the most beautiful women the galaxy had ever seen." Zhevon told, attempting to scare the senior Armsman, although likely to no success.

Next was a Stormtrooper that had been recommended to him, a Kasrkin to be exact.
"Inquisitor." He greeted Zhevon, "Kasrkin Zachary Silver. I have been placed under your command to utilize as you see fit by your best judgement or so. With all due respect Sir, try not to get me killed."
"Ah, welcome to the team, Kasrkin Silver." Zhevon replied, bowing slightly, "And believe me, it's not my intention to get any of us killed."

A quiet beep came from Zhevon's communicator, he glanced down and spotted the message. "I need to get down to the lobby and greet someone, could you stay and wait for that orderly to register us?" He asked, he pointed two of his fingers at his retinue, but sort of waved it around. Sort of telling all of them to wait. "Before I go," He stopped himself, rummaging through his pockets, "Ah, here they are." He pulled out a stack of cards. "These cards will allow you to purchase anything you wish. So when we're not actively chasing some enemies, feel free to wander a little bit, and if something catches your eye, you can buy it. As long as it's not something ridiculous. And always go in pairs." He explained, in the style of a protective parent. He grabbed Stukov's hand and placed the cards into his hands. "Hand these out. Have to go."

He quickly then walked to the tower, which their landing pad was attached to. Taking the lift, he went down to the ground floor and walked to his Vindicare friend. "James, I trust that you haven't partied and gotten drunk the entire time you were here." He joked, "So, what have you found out, any good places to us to start?" Zhevon looked around the grandiose lobby, the designers had forgone with the typical Imperial gothic style and instead gone with a more regal style. Shining gold made up a lot of the color in the lobby, luxurious chairs and couches, with wood coffee tables. A small cafe, serving high quality recaf, expensive food, and even wine was in the lobby.

Meanwhile, on the landing pad. A few minutes after the Inquisitors departure, an Orderly did appear. Flanked by a squad of heavy gun servitors, each one as tall as a Space Marine. The servitors were dressed in brightly colored cloth, perhaps in an attempt to make them seem less intimidating. It did not work very well, as their plasma cannons, heavy bolters, and lascannons were still in plain sight. The orderly walked over to the retinue and tapped a few buttons on his dataslate. "Mhm... Yes. We have been expecting you. I just registered your vessel, welcome to Port Venatus. The lobby contains a cafe, if you desire refreshment. The second floor features a spa, and the third and fourth are dedicated to small shops and restaurants. Although I personally recommend the cafe in the lobby, if you want drinks. For lunch, I would recommend the LeDésir Bakery on the third floor, and for dinner, there is a wonderful restaurant on the fourth called Vue. Delicious steaks. Anyways, I need to get back to work." The Orderly explained. He turned and began to walk away, "You wouldn't want to keep your Inquisitor waiting." He called back to them, as the servitors turned to follow. One lingered, staring at the retinue with a single red eye.
"Come Menelus!"
The servitor then turned, and followed the Orderly into the tower.

[Rithy]

Adrianne would watch the orderly quietly from behind her mask. She was accustomed to letting others do the talking for her, as was usually the case whenever she had been assigned to everything from imperial officers and officials in the past. Without a word, she had already positioned herself behind the group as a subtle act, a little out of the way of the direct stare of the orderly.

This had inadvertently left Stukov as the psudeo-representative of the group, being the man who seemed to occupy the attention of the orderly, whether that was the man's wish or not.

But while the orderly would chatter away about the numerous luxurious and facilities the space port had to offer, Adrianne would feel her mind drift. Emotions, violent and filled with fear would begin to fill her mind. Quietly, she would turn her mask around and look away from the main meeting, instead choosing to focus on her visions as she closed her eyes behind her shaded visors. The visions were clouded and and fragmented, but they all held the single promise of impending violence!

As the orderly would walk away, Adrianne would snap back out of her meditation. She would turn to look over to the rest of the group at the platform, her mask focusing now on Stukov.

"We are not safe here." She would suddenly announce.
"I fear our inquisitor may be in trouble. We should go see to him immediately!"

Without saying anything else, Adrianne would walk past the group on the landing platform and head immediately for the tower connecting the platform. But rather than use the elevator that Zhevon had used just earlier, she instead walked towards the maintenance door right next to them, hidden in the corner. With a flick of her hand, the metal door blocking the stairwell would slide to the side with a slight hydraulic hiss, leaving the way clear for her to enter the stairs leading down to the lobby.

The stairwell was narrow and not anywhere near as lavishly decorated as that of the public halls or elevator, as it was used mostly for maintenance work and emergency exits.

[Eisenhorn]

Stukov snorted at the tag team from the Inquisitor and Psyker on the matter of She who Thirsts, as the being was referred to by the xeno Eldar and Dark Eldar. The cultists he had not ever been nearly as concerned with, and it was the very same problems that the Inquisitor described in fighting such daemon spawn that made him concerned with their presence. But the man's attempts to rattle the Armsman had elicited the amused snort, and an easy response towards the two of them as they finished in their manner of speaking, giving the psyker his own nickname since he never was one to use people's actual names, superiors getting boss, sir or ma'am while equals or those that ended up working alongside him got nicknames. He based his for the psyker on the utter lack of the very named behavior. "Appreciate the warnings and such Boss, Smiles. I've seen their lesser daemons before, boarding actions being what they are, and having to shoot the guy next to you as this purple haze goes over his eyes from failing to shelter himself ain't fun. Khornate at least will just kill you and be done with it, the others tend to do far worse, in their own special little ways."

Stukov didn't even have time to respond or rebut to the Inquisitor as he shoved the equivalent of infinite money into his hands and moved off, having told him to distribute the cards right before the man walked off. Well, that was abrupt, and the arrival of the Orderly and heavily armed security detail only confirmed his concern on the fact that there was no cover. Psyker powers wouldn't help if the first volley vaporized her. But the man seemed to focus on him, talking and listing off places that sounded far too above his paygrade to ever warrant him wanting to set foot in such places. But he nodded politely and responded briefly before he stormed off to do whatever Emperor forsaken tasks the man had to go about doing. "I appreciate the tips, we might have to check those places out during our stay here."

The man mentioned keeping the Inquisitor waiting, which immediately put the Armsman on edge. If this was supposed to be a subtle mission, was the Orderly supposed to even know they were an Inquisitorial party? Why bother with the disguises then? Stukov didn't need the Psyker telling him there was trouble afoot for him to realize it this time, and nodded curtly to the rest of the group, including two new arrivals he would deal with afterwords, when he dispensed the money cards. "You heard the lady, let's move." Stukov was quick to catch up to the woman, and while the Armsman hadn't overtly drawn weapons he was on a hair trigger, so to speak, ready to draw on the first sign of trouble. If that meant a threat to his boss, then that was what it meant. If someone came after them, six chambers of buckshot plus a sidearm with slug was waiting. And that didn't include all the other nasty tricks and weapons the rest of this little group were packing. "What are we looking at Smiles, what unseen warp tidings got you all riled up?"

[Lotta Pumpkins]

Ben made his way to the lander and was last in. He nodded curtly to every, his face now fully visible. Those who hadn't seen it before would be greeted by a red lens for an eye and scar tissue around it, along with a beard that had probably lingered a day or two longer than it should of. His hair was slicked back, and shaved to the skin on his sides, and some lines could be seen reaching past his collar indicating tattoo work on his body, but nothing actually prominently visible.

The ride down wasn't so bad, much smoother than most rides in a Chimera. Ben rubbed his hands together, feeling the leather gloves he was wearing with his real hand. When the ship landed, he would follow Zhevon and the group out. He scanned around, the weight on his sword on his back, and the comforting warmth of his plasma pistol on his ribcage in his hidden holster under his jacket. Ben looked to the skyline, he wasn't too impressed. He had been to the upper hives of Armageddons cities a few times. They were like this. Just, they hadn't spread around a globe like a disease. Ben felt a familiar itch looking at all of it. Gambling was one of Ben's few vices, but they likely wouldn't have time to entice that. As he kept looking at the narrow pathways he saw greenskins running down narrow streets into imperial positions. He wiped the sweat from his brow and dismissed the idea.

When Zhevon descended, Ben would take the cards given to him, and pocket them. He heard the comments, and followed Stukov and Adrianne. Ben reached into his coat pocket and drew his plasma pistol, and thumbed a rune, prepping it for activation. He left the safety on, and returned it to the holster.

[Rithy]

"What are we looking at Smiles, what unseen warp tidings got you all riled up?"

Adrianne would suddenly stop and turn around to look back at Stukov at his 'Smiles' comment, a thing that was the complete opposite of the grim and immovable expression of her skull mask. But behind the grim mask was the look of confusion on Adrianne's face, as the psyker was torn between whether or not she should be offended at the armsman belittling her significant role and power with such a trivial nickname, or appreciate the thought he had put into the name, as it that was beyond a more generic name such as simply 'the psyker' which she had received from all too many people.

But even though that, for a moment, it might have looked like she was about to lash out at him; she instead simply turned back around and continued to walk down the narrow maintenance corridor.

"Daemon." She answered bluntly as they continued on yet another set of stair, the path to the lobby being no idle matter on foot!

"Daemons, and probably misfits as well. Although the human soul is inherently tainted, even the purest among us; this is no trivial corruption. There is a dark presence afoot, hidden... clouded, but still there."

Stopping, she would turn right to walk through another maintenance door, where they would step into the back of a cafe, with a series of glass-panels and balconies that looked down into the lobby below which was at least a 30ft drop to the main floor. Most of the guests seemed preoccupied with their own private discussions or quiet reading lessons, as the music in the cafe was subtle, almost inaudible to create a sense of tranquility; whilst the glass panels shut off any noise from the outside.

"It's good your old ship was boarded. At least you will not be a complete stranger to our foe."

Adrianne would walk towards the glass wall, staying close to the wall before stopping by one of the large, velvet curtains where she would look down onto the main floor of the lobby, trying to spot Zhevon. Due to the sheer size of the lobby, even such an unique character as Zhevon was no easy target to locate.

"Can you see our Inquisitor?" She would ask, leaning her helmet slightly in the direction of Stukov.