[IC] Warhammer 40,000 - Chasing Chaos

[Eisenhorn]

Stukov bit back various comments that he could make in response to the Sis, at least willing to humor Watchman and play nicely. "I'm not going to keep arguing with you, Sis, since I've already been asked to try and play nice at least." Try to, at any rate, as he listened to Boss speak and work through what he had to say, listening to the man run through what he had to say on the shield and turned to address Sis, slipping out at that point instead of risking opening his mouth and having to deal with her further. He really didn't have the patience for that sort of dealings right now, they were cooking and could play nice together, if she wasn't willing to shoulder some of the blame, sure not all of it, then they could have problems all they wanted. Her interference, justified or not, set off that whole mess, so he would hold that much against her. But he was willing to at least humor Watchman out of respect, and removed himself from that little mess before it got worse. He knew what he had seen so far, and she could talk all she wanted, he would buy that when he saw the proof of it. Until then, he saw no reason that they would be above the Arbites, not in the grand scheme of things. Not like they were immune to the law, far as the Armsman was concerned. Shaking those thoughts, he heard Smiles call out about the servo skull. Showing off that botched mission to the Gallery, it seemed, even if it scored them a shield none of them could use. Which did not seem like it had been terribly effective.

"Might as well hang out and see things from another perspective, see if we missed anything. Beats sitting around not doing anything." The shield might get them some extra influence with whatever Chapter the damned thing belonged to, but beyond that, it got them nowhere, far as the Armsman was concerned. Maybe they could catch some detail they were, at the time, too busy to see. As in, too busy trying to not get killed off by the daemon statues for the most part. Standing behind the couch, he leaned forward against it, arms crossed as he looked over the footage with the full intent of picking apart anything he might have probably missed while fighting for their lives. Hopefully the sister would drop it since he had flat out stated so. If she wouldn't, then what happened afterwords was not on his head. Well, not the cause, he would accept the consequences of what happened after the fact if it proved necessary. She would have to tread carefully around him for the time being, he was not terribly happy with her at the moment, to put it mildly.

[WardenCelestine]

Aviza’s knife reflected the lights from the kitchen ceiling as it glided across each apple, cutting the skin off of them with no resistance or pull. The knife moved faster across the apples now while she listened to Stukov, remaining silent and emotionless until he had left the kitchen entirely. It was only then that she spoke to the Inquisitor who stood to her right. “If I was told I would be standing inside of a kitchen tonight with an Inquisitor helping him making apple pie, I would have thought the person quite mentally unstable.” The Adepta Sororitas glanced over at Zhevon, twirling the knife between the fingers of her left hand in a blur of motion before quickly slicing the apples and placing them into a metal bowl. With the correct ingredients selected, Aviza added a small amount of nutmeg, cinnamon, flour, butter and milk with the apple slices before gently mixing the contents together carefully as to not make a horrible mess. Then the mixture was placed into a prepared pie pan that held the bottom part of the pie in place. The pie crust would come next, being delicately placed on top of the pan and the edges would be crimped to hold it in place. Grabbing onto her knife again, Aviza cut small steam vents into the top of the pie to help it cook evenly.

Standing back from the counter, she admired their baking skills with a nod of approval. “Do you bake pastries like this often Inquisitor Zhevon? I am impressed, next time we have the chance I would like to try and make something more complicated with you, if you would be interested?” Bending down on one knee, Aviza opened the oven door before placing the pie inside and closing the door and making the correct adjustments so that it would come out a beautiful golden brown, well cooked and delicious. Standing up, Aviza walked over to the sink and cleaned off her knife before placing it back into its sheath. Turning around, she crossed her arms over her chest and looked into Zhevons eyes with her own. "I would like to talk to you about the events that transpired inside of the Military Memorial Art Gallery and why you found it necessary to break in. What were you looking for inside of that building, what were those statues, and why would you break in when you could just as easily use the front door to enter?” There was a long pause before Aviza spoke once more, “I also wanted to ask if there is a shower I could use, and potentially a bed I could sleep upon as well.”

[Rithy]

Adrianne barely noticed Stukov as he approached from behind the couch, her attention currently being split between watching the recording of the fight and chewing down on a snack bar.

M4R1-A provided a sky angle view of the fight in the corridor, from a perspective where it was presumably hovering right beneath the roof. Recorded audio, consisting of calls, voices and gunfire as well as exploding statues could be heard coming from the audio transmitter at the side of M4RA-1, which offered a surprisingly good sound quality for a device that small.

Yet amidst all the action going on in the projected image in front of her, Adrianne would slowly begin to slip sideways in the couch, before slumping down against the armrest, having fallen asleep during the show, and slept quiet as a baby!

M4R1-A on the other hand continued the recording. But during the fight, the servo skull would suddenly turn around and zoom in on a small vent entrance hidden behind some of the drapery. Without much delay, the servo skull would float up into the vent and leave the hallway and the fighting within behind as it instead would float through the darkened maintenance shaft. Due to the darkness in the claustrophobic ventilation shaft, M4R1-A would soon switch to nightvision, revealing every last little detail in the small shaft, down to the very dust, cobwebs and skittering roaches that fled before the servo skull. At the bottom of the projected video could be seen a small blinking text reading 'IDENTIFYING AUDIO ORIGIN' as the servo skull seemed to have picked up on something coming from the shaft.

On its journey, it would find a small and steep shaft leading multiple floors down, which it would easily hover down into.

Soon however, the servo skull would stop right in the middle of a long shaft, turning off its night vision mode and spinning around to look through a small grate leading down into another part of the gallery.

Three figures could be seen moving twelve feet below in another kind of marble covered hallway. One of them was running ahead of the other two to open up the large doors ahead, while the others were carrying what seemed like a heavy, black wooden trunk sealed with a rusty lock.They were all wearing elaborate garbs consisting of cloaks, hoods and robes in blue and purple, adorned with expensive gold embroidery at its ends and sleeve as well as exquisite jewelry. These were no mere humble monks nor priests, as their fancy robes were all too expensive, not to mention expressive for all intents and purposes.

"Get it loaded in the truck! We need to vacate this building as soon as possible!" Sounded a feminine voice coming from the lead figure who stood by the door and urged the other two to hurry up. If her voice was anything to judge by, she was definitely female, further indicated by her narrower shoulders and broader hips.
She was carrying a long, pointy spear kind of weapon, which was also adorned with various arcane symbols engraved into its silver frame and with a gem positioned inbetween two dual blades sticking out at its top.

"I'm coming *grunt* gah, this is heavy." The second robed stranger would say. Although its figure appeared lithe and feeble, unlike the lead figure, his voice was clearly that of a young male. At his belt hung what looked like a one handed autopistol, alongside a couple of magazines.
"That damned inquisitor picked the worst time to enter this place. We barely finished a single ritual!"

"Ease your mind, young Alpheous. I am quite satisfied with the result of you and your consort." Sounded the playful voice of the third robed figure, who by the sound of it was also a female. But unlike the two other robed figures that she was accompanied with, she stood at least a head and a half over them both! Although she wore the same robes as the two other, her robes looked very small on her unlike the perfect fit the other individuals had on their own clothes, especially around her chest and thigh area where they were pressed against her skin! She was also, unlike the two others, completely unarmed by the looks of it.
"Your pet psyker has some skill, but she would be nowhere without your wisdom, my lord. I owe you a small debt for your help."

She was helping the young robed man; whom apparently was called Alpheous; carry the trunk, and by the footage, was doing most of the work herself, almost even dragging Alpheous after the trunk! The weight of the heavy trunk barely seemed to bother the tall and mysterious woman at all, as she and Alpheous hurried through the doorway with the chest.

"Enough chatter and get it loaded. You cleaned up everything?" The lead female figure asked, directing her attention at Alpheous.

"Yes... " Alpheous gasped as he and the tall and mysterious woman carried the trunk through the door and down through a maintenance corridor.

"You'll drive. Keys are in the glove compartment." The woman replied as Alpheous and his assistant left the room. As they disappeared, the lead female figure, now alone, would turn to look out across the room below the ventilation shaft. Staring out in the air for a moment, she'd suddenly looked up towards the grate where M4R1-A was hiding, revealing an elaborately decorated golden mask beneath her hood, and two strands of blond hair running out from each side of her hood.

The moment she looked up, the servo skull, M4R1-A would quickly hover to the side, moving away from the grate inside the ventilation shaft. Waiting for a couple of seconds, it would hover back in front of the grate and zoom down into the room.

By now, the mysterious female had disappeared, and the heavy wooden doors whom the two others had left through was now locked shut.

Scanning the room, M4R1-A failed to find anything else of note, before turning its night vision back on and began to hover down through the ventilation shaft, a small message now blinking at the bottom of the projected image reading 'RETURNING TO MASTER VALENTHIN', as the servo skull began to make its way back towards the hall.

[Skyrte]

“Do you bake pastries like this often Inquisitor Zhevon? I am impressed, next time we have the chance I would like to try and make something more complicated with you, if you would be interested?”
"Fairly often." He replied simply,
"I would like to talk to you about the events that transpired inside of the Military Memorial Art Gallery and why you found it necessary to break in. What were you looking for inside of that building, what were those statues, and why would you break in when you could just as easily use the front door to enter?” The sister asked.
Zhevon washed his hands and put his leather gloves back on, "The Gallery was closed at the time, and we had a possible lead. What we're going after is a page from a book, a particularly powerful page from a powerful book. I suspect the page contains the true name of a Greater Daemon or something like that." He explained, "We were supposedly going in undetected, didn't want to scare away our possible lead. The statues are called St. Ives Statues, lesser Daemons that attach themselves to a sculpture or a statue to anchor their presence in our world. They are usually passive, preferring to talk instead of fight, they also don't leave their nest."

“I also wanted to ask if there is a shower I could use, and potentially a bed I could sleep upon as well.”
"There should be a bedroom and restroom on the second floor on the apartment." He picked up the pie and exited the kitchen, pointing at the staircase with his free hand. He came into the living room just in time to see the trio on the screen. Zhevon put the pie on the table with some plates and forks, watching the screen.
As soon as the recording finished, a wave of discomfort swept over the entire island. For Psykers, it would feel like a surge of anger. Zhevon looked at the others, knowing that the wave of discomfort was not natural. Bravo walked over to them from the corner that he and Alpha were standing in, "I just got reports of a brothel being burned down. Seems awfully coincidental, maybe we should check it out."

[WardenCelestine]

While lightly leaning over the freshly baked apple pie that filled the apartment complex with its sweet and tantalizing smell, Aviza gently stuck a toothpick into a number of random locations upon the pie to insure that it had had cooked evenly. Thankfully the toothpick came out clean every time without any raw materials upon it, meaning that it had indeed been cooked thoroughly and that it had been made by a person or maybe two that clearly knew what they were doing. Satisfied with the pies condition, Aviza leaned against the countertop behind her and turned her full attention to Inquisitor Zhevon who was now explaining what had happened at the War Memorial Art Gallery to her and answering the rest of her questions in a rather blunt way.

Apparently the War Memorial Art Gallery had been closed at the time that Aviza saw them breaking in, and waiting till it reopened or talking to an employee was out of the question due to the creditable lead they had and did not want to lose. Keeping quiet, Aviza nodded her head at the Inquisitor to keep talking and tell her more of what she wanted to hear. They were looking for a particularly powerful page from an even more powerful book that held the name of a Greater Daemon or at least something similar to that. Pulling out a data pad or something that resembled one, Aviza quickly started to write down what the Inquisitor said about the statues, adding it to her own small electronic notebook.

Glancing up at Zhevon while still writing, Aviza followed closely behind the Inquisitor and into the living room, seeing the three figures on the screen for herself. Snapping her small electronic notebook closed, Aviza took a seat and watched the footage until it stopped with a soft flicker of light. As soon as it did, a wave of discomfort swept over the entirety of her body, causing Aviza to look at Zhevon with soft glare, “I know I wasn’t the only one that felt that, and it does not bode well at all. We may have an extremely hostile and volatile situation upon us.” Turning back to the pie, Aviza did a couple measurements with her knife before cutting a slice of pie for herself and placed it upon a plate with a fork before doing the same but with a much larger slice.

Picking up the plate that had the larger slice upon it, she walked over to the Psyker and placed it down on the table that was only a couple feet away from her. Placing her hands on the Psykers shoulders, she shook her gently while trying to wake her up. If she did wake up, Aviza would point at the Servo-skull and would speak in an emotionless tone, “I am sure you can feel the disturbance as well Psyker, or whatever your real name is, but for now Zhevon and I have made Apple Pie.” She quickly pointed with her left hand at the large slice she had cut for the Psyker before getting up and grabbing onto her own smaller plate of apple pie. This rather different Sister of Battle motioned to the end of the couch, “Would you please move your feet so that I may take a seat? As for the brothel that is engulfed in flames, I personally would like to see this cleansing fire burn away impurity with my own eyes, take that as you will.” Aviza brought a forkful of the pie to her mouth before taste testing it, giving a nod of great approval all around for it.

[Rithy]

"Behold and be judged; witness the righteous verdict smite this heretic for his blasphemous crimes against the false-emperor!" Announced the heretical commander with a loud and booming voice, holding a stolen holy set of imperial scripture in one hand close to his armored breastplate, whilst motioning towards an old priest sat atop a makeshift throne of rubble and bent steel rods.

Overhead, blood-red lighting crackled across the sanguine clouds covering the hellscape. All in front and around the small stage with the heretic commander and priest was the courtyard of an Imperial Guard stronghold, surrounded by high concrete walls and numerous vehicles parked in lines in front of it. In front of them, the 'audience', was a host of captured guardsmen sitting on their knees, with their hands tied behind their backs. Guarding the captured guardsmen was a horde of armored heretics, wearing a combination of ragged, black cloth, scorched carapace armor and unholy, red plate armor carrying the brass seals of Khorne, the chaos god of war and bloodshed.

The priest; an old man with white, silver hair named Venicious Curnus, and donned in a set of humble, brown priestly garbs; sat on the makeshift throne next to the khornate commander playing the role of 'holy' judge, jury and executioner. His hands and feet were tied to the throne by spiked chains, restricting his movement. His clothes were soaked and wet from the gasoline that had been poured all over him, and placed atop of Venicious's head was a laurel made out of barbed wire, cutting into the old man's skull and sending trickles of blood running down all around his face.

"For the crime of spreading false hope of victory against the ruinous powers, I hereby, with the chaos gods as my witness; condemn you to death in the name of the false-emperor!"

The heretic commander reached towards his pocket, to produce a small, silver-tinted lighter. Venicious's eyes had remained closed for the entire charade, only to now be opened as the old priest looked around him and at the audience of captured guardsmen in front of him, all at the mercy of heretic autoguns.

When he saw the grim, terrified, fearful or angry faces of the guardsmen; Venicious would simply smile.

"Do not mourn the passing of a servant of the emperor." Venicious would speak with a calm and seemingly unaffected voice, even though some of the muscles on his face contorted as he secretly fought the pain.
"To give my life in his name was the greatest wish I could ever ask for. Because of that, I die happy."

Venicious would continue to smile, his eyes centering on a female and white haired guardsman kneeling in the first row of prisoners.

When Adrianne noticed the attention centered on her, she would blink as she looked back up at Venicious, lightly shaking her head, but she would not say a word...

The heretical commander would step closer to the throne with Venicious on top of it. Holding up his right hand with the lighter, he'd flick it on, producing a small flame. Holding up Venicious's old scripture book in his other hand, he would hold the texts over the lighter until the old parchment would catch fire and started burning.

"May your misguided ideals burn alongside you! May these unholy flames purge your moral corruption!" The khornate commander spoke, barely able to contain a large smile, before he threw the holy scriptures into Venicious's lap. The flames already engulfing the book would immediately spread to the flammable gasoline spread all over the old priest, and within the blink of an eye, the entire old man alongside the makeshift throne he sat on would be engulfed in a pyre of ravenous flame!

"All glory to the false emperor!" The khornate commander would announce, turning to the spectating crowd with a large grin on his twisted face. A series of laughter and shouts would erupt from the ranks of khornate heretics attending the execution, some of them firing their guns into the air whilst others mocked the priest as he burnt to death.

Adrianne, surrounded by guardsmen both horrified and infuriated, would continue to focus solely on Venicious as the fires burnt around him. Through the flames, she could make out the old man's face. His old smile was still on him, before his face twisted into a tortured grimace as the pain became too overwhelming to bear, and the man cried out in pain as he burned to death on the makeshift throne, his cries drowned out by the laughter and cheer of the celebrating heretics in the courtyard!

*

" ... I have made Apple Pie."

"Wha, whooo?" Adrianne awoke from her dream, staring around her in confusion for a moment, before looking up to see the sister of battle, now standing in front of her, clad in full power armor whilst extending a plate of apple pie.

Adrianne's violet eyes would flicker back and forth between the apple pie and Aviza, as the psyker tried to make sense of things.

What she did know however, was that the pie smelled delicious!

"Oh, thanks!" Adrianne was quick to accept the apple pie with a smile, though at the same time confused by the suddenly very generous gesture from the sister of battle. At the sister's request, she would also be quick to move her feet out of the way, making room for Aviza in the couch. As the sister of battle sat down next to her, she would already take the first bite of the apple pie. And it tasted every bit as good as it had smelled!

"I never thought the sisters could actually cook anything but people!"

"As for the brothel that is engulfed in flames, I personally would like to see this cleansing fire burn away impurity with my own eyes, take that as you will."

Adrianne's chewing slowed down a bit, as she glanced over at Aviza who was sitting next to her, before slowly nodding and continued eating.

"Each to their own, I guess... " Adrianne would mutter. An awkward pause would ensue between them, as if Adrianne wasn't sure what to say to the sister of battle who had just gone from a baking mother figure to psychotic pyromaniac in a single moment! Eventually however, Adrianne would gulp down the last bit of pie on her plate to look over at Aviza.

"My name is Adrianne, I don't think we ever actually got introduced to each other."

[WardenCelestine]

The Psyker was spread out across the couch, her head lying flat upon one of the incredibly comfortable cushions among it, making it no surprise that she had fallen asleep so quickly. Aviza had also fallen victim to the couches soothing comfort, drifting into a peaceful sleep which was void of any dreams. Now kneeling down next to the Psyker, Aviza waited patiently for her to fully awaken from her own unconscious state of sleep. She did not have to wait long however, for the Psyker sat up and glanced back and forth between the slice of freshly baked pie and the Adeptus Sororitas who offered it with an emotionless look across her face. As soon as the piece of pie was taken from her, a smirk spread across her face, this wasn’t anything malicious but her own form of a smile. Once the Psyker had politely moved her feet allowing Aviza to sit down upon the couch, she reached for the T.V. remote. Placing the remote on her lap, she stretched out her legs and rested them half way upon the metal table in front of her and relaxed.

That was, until the Psyker introduced herself, which then Aviza turned her head and held eye contact with her new comrade. “An honor to meet you Adrianne, I am Aviza Norea, Celestian of the Ebon Blade. I usually do not spend time with the type of soldiers that make up this squad, unless they are impure…” Aviza pointed at the white phosphorus type grenade upon her belt followed by a light cough while she covered her mouth. “Worry not Adrianne, at this point you are in no danger of becoming a human torch.” There was a short pause as Aviza reached for the T.V. remote and turned it on. What showed upon the screen in front of them was a military history documentary for part of the Imperium of Man. Tossing the control to Adrianne, she spoke “Try channel [4278] also, toss me a bag of those Cheesy crisps and a soda.”

[Rithy]

" unless they are impure… "

Adrianne would glance down at the phosphorus grenade at the sister's belt when Aviza motioned towards it. She was more than familiar with its effects and abilities, knowing full well that compared to the phosphorus grenade, a frag grenade was a gift of mercy!

For a moment, her mind flashed back to a dark basement room in what seemed like a bunker of some sort. Six wounded and battle weary guardsmen were huddled together in a group at the center of the room, performing weapon checks and tending to each others wounds when suddenly the metal door to the bunker room swung open!
Things were blurred afterwards, but she heard quite clearly the voice of a power armored woman cry out from outside the room: "Cleanse the impure!", before the sound of metal clanking against the concrete floor could be heard as a grenade was thrown into the room, and the metal doors were shut closed by power armored hands behind it!

One of the guardsmen, Marcus, shouted out as he immediately got to his feet and rushed towards the door! But by the time he got there, it was already shut and locked tight!

A fearful moment passed then, before the grenade lying on the ground burst into a consuming white gas cloud caressed with fire that filled the room and consumed the guardsmen in the blink of an eye! Terrified screams filled the bunker as the guardsmen were burned alive both from the outside, as well as inside as they breathed the lethal gas! Some of them twisted around on the floor in pure agony, whilst another stood upright, blinded, and walking clumsily around the room; parts of his skin and uniform burned right off his body!

Her mind returning from the memory, Adrianne would nod slowly, before passing a bag of chocolate covered chips and a bottle of caramel soda to Aviza sitting next to her.

"I'm at least glad you consider me so. I somehow doubt the rest of your sisters would have given me the same treatment." Adrianne would smile slightly as she looked at Aviza, before tossing a quick glance at the bag in her hands.
"I did not believe the sisterhood would ever condone the consumption such lower class junk food among their members. You surprise me, Celestian!"

[Eisenhorn]

Stukov had been silent from what he had seen during the recording that the servo skull had made. So, it looked like the footage had not gone to waste after all, and wasn't just some mindless recording of the fact that the bumbling of one sister had caused them to have to fight off the statues long enough for the three to escape. Shame the woman was wearing a golden mask or ID'ing her would have been far easier, to put it mildly. The Sister came in eventually, bearing a piece of pie and asking Smiles to move so she could sit, furnishing her with an olive branch in the form of food. He couldn't help but make a comment as the two sat together and spoke in brief, his presence apparently forgotten. "I have heard that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but Sis, I didn't think you would try that with Smiles. Wasn't aware it worked that way for women too."

Snorting in amusement at his own joke, Stukov half expected some biting remark from Sis since the two of them had yet to see eye to eye on anything, far as he had seen. But he leaned against the back wall of the living room, arms crossed across his stomach as he considered what he had seen during the holo vid. One male, Alpheous from the vid, and some mutantly tall woman in form fitting robes that left little to the imagination. But those two did not mean much to him, the one who kept his attention had been the woman with the gold skull mask. Blonde hair, at least partially, average height and build as far as he was able to tell, armed with the equipment of a sorcerer of some sort. Gold skull obscured facial patterns beyond that, the recording that the servo skull had displayed replayed in his mind like a record. He needed to pick apart further details about that group, what he could gather, and the burning of a brothel really, to be frank, paled in the armsman's mind in comparison to this group.

"If I may Smiles, M4R1-A had some interesting recordings from the run I think bear reviewing. M4R1-A, begin playback from timestamp Theta, if you would be so kind." Assuming the skull listened, or Smiles reverified his command, he would begin to rewatch and analyze the playback that the servo skull had made of the run, pretty much the three figures. He was noting names, specific notes, anything of particular value before they all got hauled off to investigate this burning brothel mess. He had a gut instinct Boss would want to go check it out, and once he had reviewed the information he had found from the vid recording he would speak, to no one in particular. "Alpheous, we have a name. Boss might want to know about this recording, for review once the mess at the brothel has been dealt with, one way or another. Shall I pass word along to him, or one of you two have something else you need to speak to him about at the same time?"

[WardenCelestine]

Aviza took the bag of chocolate covered chips and the caramel flavored soda from Adrianne with a “Thank you.” and a soft nod of her head. The tasty snacks were placed next to the Sister of Battles left side before she turned back to the groups Psyker noticing that the remote that had been placed upon her lap remained untouched. It was as if she hadn’t even seen or felt it landing upon her lap. “I am not going to steal any of your food Adrianne, just taking back the remote so there is no reason to panic or get upset.” Aviza very carefully reached over the Psyker before grabbing onto the remote and quickly turning to the channel that she wanted.

After a moment of watching the television, Aviza quickly turned it off and placed the remote back upon the metal table in front of her. Leaning back against the cushions of the couch once more, Aviza reached for the bag of chocolate covered chips next to her before carefully opening them and pulling out a couple, eating them slowly. Her Psyker friend obviously did not know much about the Adeptus Sororitas, for good reasons to.“Lower class junk food?” asked Aviza with a slight laugh which was extremely rare from her, “Where do you think I learned how to cook pastries and the such? We enjoy junk foods just as much as the next person, we are still human after all."

"In the time we spend fighting along each other and the time we spend in rest and relaxation, there will be plenty more surprises from me.” Said Aviza realizing just how suggestive that sounded before popping open the caramel flavored soda. Stukov had apparently made the assumption that Aviza was offering food to help mend the current relationship between Adrianne and herself, and this was of course true. The events that happened inside of the War Memorial Art Gallery had tainted her relationship with her new squad and Aviza was working on reversing the negative image that had been painted upon herself one person at a time. Aviza shrugged at Stukovs comment, the smirk still spread across her face as she responded.

“Of course it does Stukov, I have yet to find someone who does not like a freshly baked pastry. Such as a blueberry muffin, apple pie, apple strudel, peach cobbler, angel food cake, sponge cake, and so on. I have a saying that goes like this, food is symbolic of love and friendship when words are inadequate.” Aviza pointed at the apple pie in front of her "Should I cut you a slice or...?" Once M4R1-A started up the projector once more, Aviza paid close attention to everything that was going on in the video recording. “Maybe heading back to that location and searching the area they were in would help us track them down or at least give us some sort of hint. A name is also a fantastic lead but the burning brothel should be taken care of first in my opinion.”

[Rithy]

Adrianne would raise an eyebrow at Stukov and Aviza's commentary as they talked about the gesture behind the pastry offering, her violet eyes switching from Stukov to Aviza with an odd gaze.

She did not mind a friendly gesture aimed at improving relations, which she ideally considered common social etiquette. On the other hand, it almost sounded as if Stukov was raising a question about just how far said friendly gesture went, and to what end! With Stukov's attention on them, Adrianne would secretly shuffle herself a few inches away from Aviza.

"If you fight as good as you bake, Celestian, then our mission on this planet is already a success." Adrianne would finally comment with a small smile as she looked towards Aviza. Although Aviza still retained her hot-headed impulsiveness and holier-than-thou attitude that was so common for the rest of her order, it was still nice to see that she was capable of being a normal human as well. Something Adrianne had never really thought of the sisters as.

When Stukov attempted to activate M4R1-A projector, the skull did not seem to respond to him at all.

"It's voice-locked. Unless you're a really good voice imitator or really good with a screwdriver, it'll only respond to my commands." Adrianne would explain to Stukov, before she repeated his command, except modified it as to start a little further into the recording.

The idea that she had missed some vital tidbit from the video recording because of her falling asleep on the sofa did at first seem a little implausible to Adrianne, but when she saw the part of the recording where M4R1-A went away from the battle to journey on its own little adventure through the galleries expansive ventilation system, her eyes would widen.
At the sight of the three mysterious individuals, the psyker seemed genuinely surprised. The boy named Alpheous, the unnaturally large and curvaceous woman, and the blond psyker who lead them.

"Stop at 24:32."

Adrianne would suddenly comment, causing M4R1-A to freeze the video in a picture where they saw all three of the mysterious strangers in the room. Listening to Stukov and Aviza's comments, Adrianne would simply stare at the picture in the meantime.

"Alpheous, we have a name. Boss might want to know about this recording, for review once the mess at the brothel has been dealt with, one way or another. Shall I pass word along to him, or one of you two have something else you need to speak to him about at the same time?"

“Maybe heading back to that location and searching the area they were in would help us track them down or at least give us some sort of hint. A name is also a fantastic lead but the burning brothel should be taken care of first in my opinion.”

"It's probably best to summon the Inquisitor to see this for himself before we leave for the Brothel." Adrianne reasoned as she stared at the picture of the mysterious figures, before turning to look at Aviza and Stukov.
"What's more, we also know that these three suspects left in what they described as a truck through what must have been some back or auxiliary exit, probably at one of the lower levels. Possibly connected to one of the many underground highways. We also have a rough timestamp of the time they left the gallery, which we can combine with local traffic surveillance to perhaps get a picture of their truck, or even track their movements in the hive city!"

Adrianne spoke as she looked to Aviza and Stukov, when she suddenly could feel a strange yet powerful sensation wash over her like an invisible tidal wave of emotions! A subtle yet deep tremor; no, a roar echoed across the entire planet, inaudible to anyone with a weak connection to the warp. Whatever its source, its presence was unmistakable, for it was an entity of great power, not at all from this world! And the idea that something had managed to anger such a powerful entity to begin with could never be a good sign!

"By the Emperor, it can't be... !"

To Stukov and Aviza, it was as if Adrianne had almost frozen on the spot, her pale skin becoming even whiter as her violet eyes gazed emptily out across the room.

[Skyrte]

"It's probably best to summon the Inquisitor to see this for himself before we leave for the Brothel." Adrianne said, "What's more, we also know that these three suspects left in what they described as a truck through what must have been some back or auxiliary exit, probably at one of the lower levels. Possibly connected to one of the many underground highways. We also have a rough timestamp of the time they left the gallery, which we can combine with local traffic surveillance to perhaps get a picture of their truck, or even track their movements in the hive city!"
Zhevon spoke up, "Right then. A name, and a brothel." He began, "Alpha, get on the name and see if there's any connections, be sure to use Psyker Velenthins suggestions. Bravo, lets get your truck warmed up. We're going to that Brothel to take a look at it." Zhevon walked to the table, while Alpha went onto his computers, and Bravo left the safehouse to the truck they were going to use. He looked over his team to make sure they were ready and noticed that Adrianne had gone pale with something similar to the thousand yard stare. Zhevon leaned over to make sure he was in her vision and asked, "Psyker Velenthin, are you okay?"

[Eisenhorn]

Stukov was not surprised about the fact that the servo skull failed to respond to him, those type of things typically seemed to be voice locked. Not surprising, all things considered, if they weren't locked out to the voice then one could have their own tools turned on them by one suitably smart hostile later. Rewatching the vid recording, he noted the Inquisitor arriving and speaking up from behind them, not having announced his presence at all as he issued plans to move out and get this show on the road again. Good, the armsman decided, they needed to get this sorted out. Sooner they got this mess resolved, the better off the planet would be. And the sooner that happened, sooner they could be back in the cold comfort of the void. Which probably wouldn't sit well with most of the others, granted, but Stukov much preferred the void and their voidcraft over having his boots on the ground. That typically had never ended well for him, so that was that. Beyond this, however, he checked his rifle as he noticed Smiles freezing up, and Boss looked over to get her attention. Slinging his double checked rifle, how many times he had done that now was lost to him, he leaned on the back of the couch, overlooking things and cocking an eyebrow at all parties involved.

He felt a sense of forboding, an unpleasant sensation that was well and completely beyond what he normally noticed. Same thing had preempted his descent after the fleet records, and encountered Dark Eldar, and when his ship crashed and the survivors and him were fighting for their lives. It had been years since he had felt that dread, but he covered his physical response up by focusing elsewhere, he would address his own sense of dread once he was off by himself, when it was possible to do that now at any rate. "What got your attention this time, Smiles? Looks like someone went and grabbed you out of the void, just like that."

[Lotta Pumpkins]

Ben gingerly put his glove back on his hand, not wishing to harm the more delicate machinery in the knuckles. With the glove on, Ben flexed his hand a few times, and satisfied with the results, returned to the living room to watch the footage of the gallery raid. He watched intently, thinking about his movements. Those that had been critical to his survival, and those that had been superfluous or unnecessary and putting him at risk.

Ben looked at the sleeping psyker. Amateur. One fight and asleep. When he turned back to watch the recording, he found the skull was in a vent system. He was a bit disappointed that he couldn't continue watching the fight, and see what else he had done in the fight that he didn't need to.

The skull watched three cultists. Blue and purple robes meant nothing to Ben, and he looked at the weapons. A strange spear he wasn't familiar with. The boy had a pistol. He watched the rest of the interaction with mild interest, until he saw the gold mask. Easy to identify. Woman. Boy. Tall...woman.

The Inquisitor and the Sister entered the room with a pie. A rather homely couple. Ben looked up and watched as the clip ended.

He was then taken by a wave of discomfort, and he dryheaved once loudly. He brought his real hand to his mouth, and steadied himself. It was at this time, the Inquisitor mentioned a brothel burning down, which the sister seemed fine with as long as she could see it.

Ben gathered himself as the Psyker and Sister exchanged pleasantries over pie, the conversation going until the psyker looked sick. Everyone started to ask her about her health, which meant Ben wasn't going to bother her with anymore asking about it.

Instead he listened as Zhevon issued some orders, and the small squad was getting ready to move out again. Ben checked his various weapons and his medical kit to make sure he was ready. Once he was, he retrieved a compact power pack from the box of ammo, and slid it into the gun.

Ben walked back to the group. "Well. Lets get this over with."

[WardenCelestine]

“If only it were that simple Adrianne, then this dark age war would have concluded with the superior victor quite a long time ago.” There was a short and awkward silence while Aviza took a sip from her soda before placing it back down upon the metallic table in front of her and continuing. “Even though I am a Celestian that was handpicked by Canoness Colistis to be her personal sentinel while on assignments and missions, not even I can pull off that kind of miracle.” Aviza gave a soft nod of her head at the Psyker before returning to slowly eating her own slice of apple pie. “If someone had told me this is what I would be doing on a Friday night, I would have questioned their sanity and purity.” She thought to herself before finishing the last bite of pie, looking at the window as if expecting to see something. While reaching out to the metallic table where she placed her plate upon it, she watched Stukov try to command the Servo-Skull to begin playback from timestamp theta, but the machine did not react at all, it merely hovered in its same position while completely ignoring him. “As amusing as I find this It’s not going to work Stukov, the Servo-Skull most likely only activates and responds to Adriannes voice.”

Aviza sat up straight upon her place on the couch and waited for the inevitability of Adrianne giving the same command. Only a moment later, the Psyker did just that and the Servo-Skull came to life then paused the video at exactly twenty-four minutes and thirty-two seconds. After watching the video so many times, Aviza was trying to memorize the sound of their voices to help her distinguish them in a group of people, or anything that would help them stand out. After the Psyker had watched the video she informed the group that Zhevon had to see the video before they left and investigated the burning brothel. “Adrianne, Inqusitor Zhevon and I entered the room at exactly the same time, we have both already seen the footage but watching it again won’t cause any harm. In my personal opinion, we should have left for the brothel quite a while ago. I do enjoy a freshly baked apple pie but I think we would have enjoyed it even more after we had handled whatever the warp is now tossing at us as well as these three ominous figures.” Turning her head to glance at Ben, Aviza nodded at his words, “Ben has the right idea, we need to get moving immediately.” Standing up and not waiting for anyone, Aviza walked towards the door with all of her gear and her weapons equipped and ready for whatever laid before them.

[Rithy]

Adrianne would continue to stare emptily across the room for a few moments after hearing Stukov's question, before finally rearing her head.

"Well, eh... " She began, sounding unsure as she glanced around her and up at Stukov.
"I felt a presence of the warp, this one of a far greater magnitude. It was angry, powerful. It might be a daemon, but I'm not sure what kind... "

She would continue, only staring away from Stukov at the end of her sentence, for she had indeed lied about her apparent ignorance.

She knew exactly what kind of presence she had felt, for she had felt it before, back at Mordran V; and it was something that she could never forget, for it was the aura of a Greater Daemon of chaos! It was an unmistakable sensation, the kind to inspire a dread that would never go away. Only all too well did she remember the sickening aura a Greater Daemon could produce, capable of haunting an entire world!

"Ben has the right idea, we need to get moving immediately."

At the sister's comment, Adrianne would rise to her feet. Extending her right hand, her staff would float through the air and throw itself into her grip. Lifting up her skeletal helmet with her other arm, she'd turn to Stukov.

"But I'm fine now. These things go as quickly as they come." She would explain, throwing the armsan a reassuring smile before turning towards the rest of the party, and glancing over at Zhevon.

Would she inform the Inquisitor of the presence she had felt? Would it truly be wise? For all she knew, the presence of a Greater Daemon might just be the excuse the inquisitor would need to call down an exterminatus on the entire planet. For all she knew, they might not even encounter the daemon on their stay on the planet.
Then again, a Greater Daemon was not exactly a problem that ever went away by itself when ignored. Instead, it had a tendency to grow, and Adrianne cast doubts as to how far the local populace of the planet would be able to deal with a Greater Daemon in their midst, especially with the possibility of them being infiltrated by a chaos cult whose sheer influence was still a mystery to them!

The consequences of a Greater Daemon left unchecked could potentially be just as bad as that of an exterminatus - if not even worse!

Walking next to Zhevon as the team prepared to leave the safehouse, Adrianne would put on her skeletal helm and pressurize it, before leaving her head towards Zhevon to speak in a low voice.

"Inquisitor, we may have a big problem on our hands... "

[Rithy]

COLLAB POST: Skyrte, Rithy and Andromedai

Zhevon:

"Well. Lets get this over with." Ben said, having walked up to them, the veteran soldier didn't like loitering around like they had been doing for the past hour or so. Understandable, as the fires of war usually left no room for such relaxation.
“Ben has the right idea, we need to get moving immediately.” Aviza agreed, hopping to it and already moving to head out the door, as eager as she was, speed was likely of the essense if anything was to be found at the burned brothel. If they took too long, others may take whatever valuable information was to be found. Zhevon was still concerned about his Psyker however, and stayed put.

Meanwhile, Bravo was already down on the ground floor. This was routine to him, walking to his truck, opening the door and switching the vehicle on. He tuned his vox and listened in on some of the reports that were going to and from the brothel. Apparently a zealous Sister of Battle had gathered a crowd and put the torch to the place. Several units had arrived on scene already, but they could only hold back a crowd of civilians as the Sister and her band were preaching of purity and the word of The Emperor. The situation worsened as the mob of civilians had gotten rowdy, and the Arbites on scene began to arrest the ones causing trouble. It was likely to get worse.

"But I'm fine now. These things go as quickly as they come." The Psyker replied to Stukov. Zhevon let out a quiet sigh, as long as she was in fighting shape, he was content with it. Even though he didn't quite believe it. As he turned around to walk out of the door, Adrianne walked over to him.

"Inquisitor, we may have a big problem on our hands..." She said in a hushed voice, perhaps hoping that the others wouldn't overhear
Zhevon rose an eyebrow, "What sort of big problem?" He inquired in a volume that matched Adriannes own, that discomfort was obviously one borne of the supernatural as everyone else had felt it too. What he did not know was if it was a warning from The Emperor, or the presense of something more evil. He turned his full attention to her, hoping that what she had to say would provide more insight on the feeling of discomfort that they all experienced earlier.

Adrianne:

Adrianne scanned her surroundings at the Inquisitor's question, eying the other members of the party to make sure no one was in listening range. Yet none seemed to be paying her and the Inquisitor any particular attention at the moment, making her feel safe enough to resume her little conversation with the Inquisitor.

"Maybe you felt the psychic wave that just surged over the planet's surface?" She'd inquire, staring at Zhevon as they walked out the door.
"Its origin was that of a Greater Daemon."

Giving the Inquisitor a few moments just for the information to sink, Adrianne would walk quietly at his side. She knew perfectly well that a Greater Daemon was no trivial foe, if a daemon could ever be described as such. And as an Inquisitor, Zhevon would probably among the few could truly appreciate the sheer extent of the threat that one might possess.

"I do not know its exact origin, but if I am to guess, I would suspect it to be a Keeper of Secrets, a Greater Daemon affiliated with Slaanesh. Hiding on a garden world is typical of their kind."

As they reached the elevator, Adrianne secretly held Zhevon back as the rest of the party walked into the elevator in front of them.

"We are going to need some heavy weapons and support if we are to deal with a Greater Daemon." Adrianne would speak, before looking forward at the group.

"But, I'm sure you already knew that."

She would add at the end of her sentence, as if she had just remembered that she was speaking to an Inquisitor and not just a mere guardsman.

Aviza:

The entirety of the room felt tense, due to either the psychic wave that flowed over the surface of the planet, or the gnawing want to leave the apartment building and investigate the dark occurrences that only grew with every moment that passed. While remaining silent, still, and showing no emotion she leaned against the wooden wall behind her, and waited patiently for the rest of her group to finish prepping themselves.

Her eyes followed each of the members as if they were being studied and memorized down to every last detail, and her now narrowed eyes appeared as if judgment was soon to be unleashed upon those who were impure. Her eyes quickly focused on Adrianne as she approached Zhevon, and turned towards him, speaking in a soft voice, trying her best to make sure no one else could hear her. Aviza found this amusing, she was standing close enough to hear what the two were talking about.

Unsure if it was paranoia or an actual threat, Aviza patiently waited for the conversation to continue but this time straining to pick up at least some sound of them talking.Three words were all she heard this time, “A Greater Daemon.” Aviza was tempted to immediately call upon the Sisterhood to inform them but refrained from doing such for the moment being. Running a couple scenarios through her mind, she finely turned on her com and spoke to her whole squad.

“I will willingly and happily lay down my life for the Emperor Adrianne, but for the sake of the rest of the squad, our sanity, and the fact that you are still breathing…” She paused to let that soak in before speaking once more, "I would advise you to tell the whole squad about what you just told Inquisitor Zhevon, or should I find your soul wanting among the impure?” That last sentence was followed by Aviza turning off the safe upon her weapon and leaning it against her shoulder.

[Eisenhorn]

Stukov nodded as Smiles mentioned that she was fine, keeping a calm face on despite the fact he was bothered by that energy wave that had been emitted from somewhere. It had triggered a gut reaction that typically only happened when something was about to go very, very wrong in the span of an equally short amount of time. Before he could respond to her, though, she had gone to speak with the Inquisitor while the armsman pondered what he typically had encountered whenever he got that gut instinct. Daemons, mostly, and the Dark Eldar had triggered it too. Effectively anything most sane men would have considered well above what they can typically handle. Well, Stukov was not one for letting pesky things like 'out of his league' ever have prevented him from doing the Emperor's work before, and all he caught was Sis going on with more threats towards Smiles. Well, that was getting old fast. Stukov may have a serious problem with the Warp and its powers, sure, but that was not something he typically held against the ones who were 'blessed' with such things. Not like they chose to have that damned curse laid on their shoulders.

"Look, can we stop with the threats for five Emperor damned minutes? Not even thinly veiled at that. All I know is that there is big trouble lurking out there, call it gut instinct, and the bigger the guns we have access to, the better off we'll be. Shooting each other won't do a damn thing but make us less able to stand against this threat, whatever in the accursed Warp it is. So if we could put off infighting until after we are done with this mission, that would be good." Stukov, to illustrate this, didn't go obviously bracing his weapon against his shoulder or making it a point of fiddling with the safety mechanism just to make a dramatic point. Sure, he didn't like Sis anymore than most folks tended to get along with Sisters of Battle, but he could at least play nice on the job. No sense getting everyone killed and letting the warp consume some damned planet over a petty internal squabble. He would admit it was typically that, far as he had seen, and wouldn't call it anything else until it became more then that.

[Rithy]

" ... or should I find your soul wanting among the impure?"

Adrianne would turn around from the Inquisitor and instead look back towards the Sister of Battle through her skeletal visor, eyeing the sister for a moment. Though any facial expression was concealed behind her mask, she would raise an eyebrow at the sister's statement.

No words were spoken, but a cold staring duel would instead take place in the elevator between the Psyker and Aviza!

"Does she have an Imagifer stuck up her big butt or something!?"

Her fingers would grip harder around her staff as she glared back at Aviza, still not having uttered a sentence in return. Fortunately however, before things could go any further, Stukov would be the first to take action; the armsman suddenly getting between the psyker and the sister, a hot spot to be in if anything!

" ... so if we could put off infighting until after we are done with this mission, that would be good."

"You should learn from the armsman, sister." Adrianne would finally speak, focusing her attention on Aviza whilst motioning towards Stukov.
"Despite the lack of power armor, a bolter or ecclesiastical blessing, he is clearly far more wiser than you. I recommend you leave your dogmatism at the door, for bigotry is a weakness the daemons of Slaanesh love to exploit. They feed on pride."

Adrianne would remark, before turning to the rest of the party. There was really no point trying to hide it any longer, was it? Tossing a quick glance at Zhevon, Adrianne would look towards the rest of the group before slamming the button of the elevator, causing it go move down along the building down towards the parking lot.

"Yes, what I did feel back in the apartment was the aura of a Greater Daemon here on this planet. I recognized it because it is a presence I have felt before, back on Mordran V... "

Adrianne explained to the group, pausing for a moment.

" ... where I detected a Bloodthirster the moment it manifested on the planet." Biting her lips behind her mask, she looked across the rest of the group.
"Yet I cannot say for sure if this Greater Daemon just recently manifested on this planet. It could have been here for a long time for all I know for sure, masking its presence. Yet its presence is unmistakably real as of now. Whatever camouflage it may have used, it just made a slip, or intentionally decided to reveal its psychic presence."

Giving the group a few moments to digest the news as they traveled down in the elevator, the hum and clanking of the gears the only source of noise in the small confinement of the elevator, Adrianne would eventually continue.

"Make no mistakes, my friends." She said as she looked out at the group, but left her gaze on Aviza.
"We are facing a considerable foe. Forget about whatever threat assessment previously given to this planet. If the chaos cults on this planet have themselves a Greater Daemon on their side, the only thing that could be worse would be an all-out chaos invasion!"

[WardenCelestine]

A metal snapping sound came from Aviza’s heavily modified bolter as she snapped yet another attachment onto the side of it, a target designator and range finder. Having managed to find this device, she quickly took it and contemplated where the best place would be to attach it. In the end she decided to attach it next to the bolters scope, for easy accesses. Ranger finders are a device that measures the distance from the observer to a target. A target designator is a laser light source which is used to designate a target. Laser designators provide targeting for laser-guided bombs, missiles, or precision artillery munitions.

The chances were small but they could eventually end up with such support and when they did, she could direct those munitions with pinpoint accuracy upon the hostiles. While looking down at her bolter and adjusting the new modification, Aviza managed to catch what Stukov was saying to her. Slowly she raised her head to look at Stukov then very lightly tilted it to the left, “Do not speak of the Emperor in such a blasphemous way Stukov, this is your second warning. Adrianne chooses to withhold important information that is essential to our survival and the success of our mission.”

After waiting quite a while for the squad to finely leave the apartment, Aviza walked alongside the Inquisitor without speaking to anyone. Inside of her helmet, she had turned on her own music which flooded her senses with satisfying sounds. The squad walked down the hallway and stepped inside of the elevator, Aviza switched the safety upon her bolter on once more before letting it rest upon her back. The music kept on playing for a while in the silence until Adrianne finely spoke. It was as if the Psyker had been trying to choose the exact words she wanted to say with extreme caution. What she said was not about the Greater Daemon but about how Stukov was wiser than her and that her dogmatism should be left at the door.

“You speak to me as if I am an unintelligent, egotistical chauvinist who thinks that she is infallible beyond all others. I know I am not the most amenable Adeptus Sororitas in the universe but none of those statements about me are true, including being dogmatic or a being a bigot. I am not concerned of the way I am viewed from within the squad, only that I hope we can carry out our mission and bring an end to this Greater Daemon."

Once the elevator reached the bottom floor, Aviza left the elevator first and quickly walked up to the transport truck, jumping into the back of it and readying her weapon for whatever may come next down the road or at the brothel. Once safely in her seat, she pressed a button on the side of her helmet and spoke to Adrianne privately, "One must keep up there act if they wish to keep their image intact, I will let you think on that." Leaning back against the seat behind her, she turned on her music once more and waited.