Rithy

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

"Welcome to Erebus! If you all would be so kind to follow me, we have much to talk about, away from prying eyes and wanting minds."

It was easily more than one thing that made sounded off about those words, and Adrianne felt an immediate tingle of unease.

Still, that being said; the fact that they were greeted by the very planetary governor spoke leagues about how serious the local authorities took their visit and Aviza's mission. Furthermore, if the local authorities were indeed influenced by the darker forces on the planet, she highly doubted they would try and immediate ploys or trickery anytime soon. At least not until the planetary governor had managed to get a few dozen kilometers away from them.

That, of course, assuming this was indeed the actual planetary governor. Adrianne had little actual familiarity with the planet.

One thing was sure however, the 'building' in question was absolutely monolithic; considered large even by imperial scale, it was like a massive fortress that loomed to dizzying heights above them. Its insides were sure to be a mix of both the grandiose and endless, maze like corridors for servants and secret passageways.

As they walked inside, Adrianne quietened her mind instead, allowing herself to open up to her ethereal surroundings as the psyker made a quiet attempt to gauge the spirit of the place; her body automatically following the group whilst her mind expanded across the room inside.

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

I was just waiting for teh Rivaan :>

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

I'd make a postie, although I have made quite a few lately so I'll let someone make one first :>

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

I will have a post up shortly.

@Andromedai

As I feel it is appropriate, I will revive the old meme ^_^

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

"Also, we are not exactly equipped for subtle, undercover activities ma'am. I pray you have a plan to address that, or the sight of a Sister of Battle, mercenary, the tallest psyker in the sector, and the shortest krieger in the sector is going to rumble things rather quickly."

"I'm not _that_ tall." Adrianne interjected, peering over to look past her ornately decorated shoulderpad and down at the krieger.

The krieger was indeed very short, now that she thought about it.

"That being said," Adrianne would continue however, shifting her violet eyes towards their superior.
"He does raise a mostly valid point, especially if we are going to do most of the legwork as well. Not that some renown isn't something we can use... "

Adrianne paused for a moment, as if thinking for a moment, running a pair of gauntleted fingers up to her chin while she tilted her head slightly; her long ponytail bobbing behind her head.

"I agree on his suggestion about securing whoever is responsible for the planetary security first. Once we know we have their backing, it should be easier for us to go about our business. Not to mention they may have information for us." Adrianne said, not hiding some growing enthusiasm.
"Once we have done that, I would recommend we go to whatever place; preferably high profile; where we suspect the corruption to be the most present, and investigate. If the stench of chaos exists there, I can find it, and likely track it down to whatever the source is. If worst comes to worst, we will at least take down some heretics and get some prisoners for questioning in the process."

Adrianne nodded, feeling confident about her plan. Sure it was simple, but that made it easy to follow; and they could deal with the details whenever they arose.

Not to mention she had a feeling the group in question would be better suited for whatever direct approach they could find. Plus, kicking down doors and apprehending the lesser minions of chaos might be a great warm up and ice breaker exercise for their new group!

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

"Does that satisfy your curiosity for now, ma'am? My neck is getting stiff."

That last comment made Adrianne raise an eyebrow and tilt her neck slightly as she looked down at the shorter krieg guardsman, before throwing a more amused smile and nodding.

"That it does, Krieger." She said. The mention of tyranids did not have much of an impact on Adrianne, as it was a threat she had fortunately never had to deal with herself. Nor did she envy those who actually had seen them. As the rumors went, to be put against the tyranids meant almost certain death to any warrior, whether guardsman or adeptus astartes alike.

That being said, she was not sure what else to ask the Krieger. He certainly did not seem to be the talkative type; rather, the reputation of the Death Korps of Krieg was the polar opposite of chatty. Perhaps she might learn a thing or two about the tyranids from him. Knowledge was power, after all; a lesson that Adrianne as a psyker had learned well. And knowledge could sometimes be found in the unlikeliest of places, whether from a hive world urchin from the dark underworld or the mind of a guardsman who had survived through multiple campaigns. And, although not as impressive and seemingly mundane for a person of Adrianne's supernatural powers; she knew that a simple conversation was often the safest source of information, as opposed to other means that might be available to a Psyker like her.

"I am certainly intrigued by your experiences. I may probe you for stories in the future, to share what's not too heavily classified." Adrianne said with a soft smile, before turning around to enter the Typhon.

*

"What you were not informed about is the fact that we will be rooting out Chaos infiltrators that have taken root someone upon the Capital Planet Erebus."

The tall Psyker peered out from her seat; Adrianne's violet eyes fixing on Celestian Superior Aviza as she spoke.

"Chaos infiltration on a rich, wealthy world of system aristocrats, high military officials and merchant lords? My guess would be either the agents of the changer, or perhaps even the debauched servants of She who thirsts."

Adrianne took the information in, chewing on it. She was no stranger to the servants of the ruinous powers, she had faced them before on different worlds; each god's minions unique in the ways they preferred to work and spread their mad gospel. She had opposed them all; all except the minions of the changer. To be fair, Adrianne privately hoped it would be the minions of the changer they would find on the world. She knew that they could be particularly difficult to catch, being masters of guile, cunning, plots and schemes; even moreso than the servants of the three other gods. This was mostly due to her curiosity; she had faced the minions of the other three, it'd be fitting she finally got a chance to face the servants of the fourth.
But there were more selfish reasons why she hoped it was not the servants of She Who Thirsts, and that was because she had had a bad run in with those before. Having been part of an inquisitorially lead effort to dispatch one of their cults, she had come into contact with one of their daemonic patrons. Whatever the daemon was, it had been powerful; and not only had it been strangely nonplussed about having its local cult destroyed; but also displayed an uncomfortable level of curiosity towards Adrianne through the veil.

Whoever you were, gaining the attention of a powerful daemon was bad. And the fact that the daemon hadn't even been angry, but pleased to meet her made her fell all the more worse for it!

The thought of getting into contact with that daemon again through whatever mortal servants might be operating on the world did not reassure Adrianne in the slightest. She did not need to use her powers to scrye through the veil to get the distinct feeling she was being followed somehow.

And then, lastly; there was the idea that there might be servants of BOTH chaos gods on the planet. Which, at the very least, might be a small boon given how awful the chaotic forces of the different gods were to cooperative.

" I mean, do we have potential estimates of the degree of infiltration or should we proceed by the usual 'all are guilty until proven otherwise' course of action here?"

It was the heretech's words that finally snapped the Psyker out of her deep thoughts, causing her to blink and peer towards the shorter woman with a coy smile.

"Oh, I would not worry too much." Adrianne said with a nod towards Vala.
"The servants of chaos are marked by the foul powers which they serve, and the more important they are; the bigger the mark. If there truly is a significant chaos element on the planet, I should be able to find its rough source with relative ease."

Adrianne explained, her gloved hands resting around her staff as she spoke. That was one of the benefits of being a psyker; she was very sensitive to the touch of chaos on a level the normal blunts in the ship could never comprehend. Granted, that 'blessing' was also a double-edged sword, given that Adrianne suspected none of the blunts around her had to worry about becoming the object of curiosity for powerful daemons.

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

@Andromedai

*prods* *Prods*

Oi, Andro! I think it's your turn to post :>

Are we going to crash that gunship or what?! :D

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

"I do hope you all have what belongings you wish to bring with you upon this mission, for we won't be returning for quite a while."

"Do not worry, Celestian. I have brought all the essentials I need." Adrianne said in a reassuring voice through her steel mask, as the Psyker gestured towards the entrance where a series of heavy, metallic steps would sound. Stepping out of the entryway behind her would be the short and stocky semi-human figure of a servitor as it trundled towards the gunship on cybernetic steel legs, carrying a heavily reinforced, sealed metal casket adorned with protective warding runes and scrolls of protection and banishment. Given its size and the way it required an industrial class servitor to carry it, the box must have weighed more than half a ton or more!

With a click followed by the hiss of air, Adrianne removed her skull helmet; revealing her smooth face, her pale, white skin and snow-white hair that flowed in a long ponytail. With a gesture of her head, she instructed the servitor to load the heavy crate onto the gunship, and it trundled obediently along with only a whirring of cogs and beeps being emitted from its mostly mechanical face.

That was when Adrianne tilted her head slightly to the side, peering over her shoulder down towards the shorter Krieger.

Adrianne had seen many depictions of the Death Korps of Krieg, some of them artful illustrations on walls, murals and books; others as videos and recordings of epic battlefield deeds, marching in rank beneath a hellish rain of artillery fire; their gray, dark uniforms and gas masks making them look dark, brooding and dangerous.

This, however, was not the case with Ansger.

Standing alone in the flight bay, the krieger almost looked lost! Not at all as omineous or imposing as the depictions of the Death Korps had been! Adrianne wondered just why Aviza had decided to bring a Krieger for the mission. From what she understood, the kriegers were stout and loyal, but they were not known for possessing the level of creativity, self initiative and individual decision making that typically characterized inquisitorial agents. She could have understood it if it had been a bunch of kriegers, in which case they could make a sort of protection detail, although just one krieger?

"Krieger." Adrianne nodded towards the Krieger and smiled, and said nothing more; mostly because she was not sure what to say around the guardsman! Turning around, her violet eyes returned to gaze at the oversized gunship.

Moments later, however, her curiosity would get the better of her in the end, and the Psyker peered again back down towards the krieger after a pause.

" ... just... how did you end up here?" She asked quietly, leaning slightly down towards the Krieger and trying to keep her voice as free of judgement as she could!

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

I am almost surprised we didn't find the Krieger already entrenched somewhere in the hangar between ammo crates and rations... ^^

Warhammer 40k: Enigmas of the Warp

The sharp click of metal heels and the slight grinding of the dark brown jumpsuit beneath a set of silver ceramite half-plate armor were the first cues of the psyker as she entered into the hangar shortly after the mercenary.

Moving like snakes around her would be a pair of servo skulls with long, black metal spines that flowed through the air akin to eels in water. The psyker in question was tall; a pure, white ponytail jutted out from the back of her full helmet and down past her tattered blue cloak to her lower back. A skull adorned the front of her helmet, with a red imperial V printed at the center of the skull, just above a pair of black eye sockets where the ghostly blue lumen light shone from a pair of optic sensors within the helmet. She was well built, a bit more narrow shoulders but wider and powerful hips. Scrolls and papers hung from rings to her armor and cloak, inscribed with various written wards and rites of banishment. A heavy, iron-bound grimoire sat on her hip; hung by a belt that ran across her torso; and in her right hand, she carried a slightly bent dark wood psyker staff; a unique conglomeration of simple wood adorned with multiple wires and small devices beneath a small figurine representing a watchful, open eye.

As she stepped into the hangar area, her two servo-skulls split up, fanning out on either side of her and scanning her surroundings. Adrianne too spared a glance around herself, just in case so no truck driven by an idiot servitor would 'accidentally' run her over. Alas, the notion of safety regulations seemed a foreign concept to the tech priests of Mars so well as the average imperial facility.

Having reassured herself there were no wild servitor-trucks or other pieces of heavy machinery running amok, Adrianne eventually turned her attention to the over-equipped mercenary sitting by one of the crates.

"Tech-heretek-" Adrianne's voice distorted by the metallic echo of her mask as she gave a nod towards the mercenary.

Vala was a curious case, the Psyker thought. Why Inquisition had chosen to take her on baffled the Psyker's sensibilities. While Vala certainly had the same enthusiasm for technology as any tech priest; the fact remained she was not a tech priest; her ratio of technical knowledge versus cybernetic implants and body modifications was disproportionate by any Mechanicus standards. A thought crossed Adrianne's mind that perhaps the reason the Inquisition had chosen her was because they wanted to reduce the Priesthood of Mars's influence on their operation as much as possible, but the fact that they would potentially have to leave their equipment maintenance in the hands of a heretek did not inspire much confidence in Adrianne regardless.

"Celestian Superior Aviza, I, Psyker Adrianne, have arrived." Adrianne announced, instead turned her attention towards the sister of battle currently consumed by her preparations.

"She will fall,-"

A whispering voice like broken glass coated with sugar slithered through Adrianne's mind when her gaze fell on Aviza, yet the Psyker only tilted her head slightly, ignoring it.

Something about the Sisters of Battle always unnerved the Psyker. While they may appear good hearted and even naive when you talked to them, they also had a tendency to be aloof and melodramatic. It was possible to have a perfectly good working relationship with a member of their order, only for them to suddenly turn around and run off because of some 'omen' or 'prophecy'. Beyond the extreme inconvenience such almost random behaviour might create, it was also incredibly irksome to Adrianne, because unlike some regular guardsman, Adrianne was the only one among these blunts who might credibly be able to read the future! ... at least to a certain degree.