"Psyker Adrianne, do you sense anything out of the normal? anything that would cause alarm?
"What's ever the definiton of 'normal'?"
The amusing thought passed briefly through the Psyker's head, but she kept it to herself. Instead, she glanced through the shaded visors of her skull mask at the empty halls and corridors all around them; her Servo-skulls having returned as they floated around in the air on each side of her.
Unlike for the rest of the party, she could clearly hear it in the otherwise complete silence of the grandiose architecture all around them. Voices. Voices whispering in the dark, from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. She glanced towards the right towards a shadowy corner, barely lit by a pair of failing lumen globes. The shadows were deep, they were intense, and the longer one looked at them, it was almost as if they were moving about on their own, writhing and threatening to suddenly spill out and engulf the entire grand archway in complete and utter darkness.
All around, she saw the same; writhing shadows and echoing, ethereal voices. For a moment, she thought she saw a shadowed, horned mask reflected in one of the water pools on the floor, but when she looked directly at it; it was gone. Despite the fact that her helmet and suit was entirely sealed, she could still *smell* the place. The air was thick, rank and almost hard to swallow, leaving a minuscule burning sensation in her throat.
"There is a dark corruption that hangs over this place, Celestian." Adrianne said, turning back to look down at the Celestian.
"It has been here for some time, but it has recently been... boosted, as if some foul ritual or atrocity has recently given it sustenance."
One did not have to be a trained Psyker to detect corruption. Regular mortal humans could do so too, albeit to a lesser extent. Signs of corruption were often the root cause of tales about haunted buildings or mansions.
When they arrived at the armoury, it was a bloody mess; the remains of what had been a decidedly one-sided fight.
She walked through the carnage, stepping over or between the bodies with her long legs. Although she might have been used to the sight, she had no intention to desiccate or dishonour the memories of those who gave their lives in this room.
Rummaging through the large stockpiles, most of what she found was standard Imperial Guard or Mechanicum issue. Rummaging through the armory, she pulled out a dusty, wooden crate filled to the brim with melta bombs. She took and and mag-locked three of them to the side of her legplate, but not after double-checking to make sure her refractor field was still ready.
"How I wish I could bring you along too, sweetie... "
Adrianne murmured for a moment as she stared longingly at a melta-gun lying on a crate nearby, although she knew she hardly had room to carry any more. For her to try to lug with her a melta gun in addition to her already full equipment would be ridiculous!
*
"I found out where the Orcs went, and they seem to be gahtering around the Titan..."
"Unless we brought a gunline of heavy bolters or flamers, I doubt we could take that horde on." Adrianne commented as she placed herself next to and out of sight from the hole, her servo-skulls slithering in the air around her.
There were many Orks. Many Orks. And she knew that nothing short of consistent, concentrated, overwhelming fire & brutality could ever hope to stem the tide of such a mob if they started to move!
