The first mission

After the long day of new Oaths and new duty, you are left alone to prepare for the hardship to come. As you are confronted to the reality of swearing to stand shoulder by shoulder with new Brothers, You do what you must to be ready for the challenge.

On the next day, you board the Wild Tarot a small and swift courrier vessel bearing the colors of the Deathwatch. Many days of travel lets you ample time to strategize, talk or meditate as needed before you arrive at your destination, the world of Treyan.

The ship lands a short distance of a fortified Imperial Guard Garrison and lift off as soon you disembark. You notice three squads of Imperial Guard standing beside their armored personal carrier in makeshift defensive position, looking in your direction with confused looks on their faces. Quickly, one of them order them to stand down and jog the distance toward you.

"Please forgive us Lords, the solar flares... communication around here can be unreliable and your ship must not have been able to reach the command center. I'm Sergeant Rob. Please follow me, I'll lead you to the station and again, apologies for the reception."

Sergeant Rob leads you, half running trying to follow your armoured pace, to the fortified station. The area around is barren and dusty, mark of explosive and lasgun fire can still be noticed here and there in the terrain. The Station itself is seem decently fortified, if you exclude the lack of sufficient numbers of defenders for any serious assault. As you enter the Station, the Guardsman gives you a wide berth and respectful stares. Sergeant Rob bring you all to a waiting room at the heart of the fortress and politely suggest that you wait till he contact the Adeptus Astartes in place.

After about half an hour, a unarmored Space Marine with a gloomy expression enters the room. He is big even for a Space Marine, he wears bloody research suit and you notice a necklace with a skull and the inscription "Woe betide!" on his neck. He looks at you all and acknowledge you with a stern nod before walking the the table to insert a data slate. A map appears over the table you see a region around a mountain chain with coordinate placing them in the eastern hemisphere of the planet. The Space Marine point on the map : " Here and here." You can see clearly that the vegetation is dying on both side of the mountain chain. The timestamp indicate the image as been taken only three days ago by aerial reconnaissance.

"We have a Aquila Lander outfitted for Power Armour transport and sample collection. Its for you for the next days, after that, you ask us or work around our schedule. Its in the east hangar."

The man looks at you, waiting silently for acknowledgement, questions or a nod to send him back on is way.

The big Space Marine manipulate the data slate to overlap images of multiple passage over the area. The first signs of deterioration were subtle but can be observed as far as 7 weeks ago. On the image dated 4 weeks ago, the deterioration becomes obvious although no clear sign of an abnormal cause. There is attached document of analysis report of some sample, but the results are summarized as inconclusive. Starting that point, the survey became more frequents, with a new image every 3 to 5 days.

A summary look shows that the main affected area seems roughly 30 miles in radius, growing very slowly and unevenly. You also notice no sign of settlements, habitation or other presence of civilisation.

@Stein The man look at Stein a moment before answering :"Its one of the rarer genus that was found on the planet. Its most relevant feature may be its chameleonic scales, they seem to have the potential to adapt their color even in the infrared and the ultraviolet." Then he goes back to waiting silently.

Having answered your questions and made sure you had all the relevant informations, the unnamed Adeptus Astartes head for the door. Before exiting the room, he turns to you all, gives you a respectful nod and says in a solemn tone :"May the Emperor be ever watchful for the moment of your death.".

You recuperate the data-slate for further reference and finish discussing your approach strategy. You find Sergeant Rob waiting outside the room, acting as your self-appointed liaison officer. He offer his assistance for whatever business you have to take care of and takes you to the east hangar for your ride.

The Aquila Lander comes with its pilot, which is good for you since the cockpit and control are not sized for a Power Armour. The interior as been mostly stripped bare, leaving strap in the wall and ceiling to leave as much room as possible for a team in Power Armour. The VIP section as been refitted for secure sample or cargo transport, a small stasis field generator as even been connected to the Lander's power source.

During the 18 hour flight, there is a few hours of disturbance in the vox-system making it almost impossible to communicate. The pilot informs you that it is caused by the solar flares of the nearby star and that long range vox communication in particular can be difficult.

After an otherwise uneventful flight, you land at Ar'Mat suggested coordinates. The pilot informs you that he can stays for about 6 hours above the site before needing to go back to base for resupply and being relieve by another pilot. Before you, the area is sparse vegetation until the mountain about 40 km away. About half way there, you can see in the distance the change of coloration in the affected region. Aside from the wind, the low rumbling of the Aquila Lander engine and the metallic creaks and clangs of your Power Armour, the place is completely silent, not a single bird or insect to be heard.

What do you do?

Petrix leaned forwards on the table, seeming to contemplate the map, but giving his squad time to feel out their surroundings, and their host, and pose their own questions. Though not a whole mountain range, the swath of desolation was still a vast area, one he was uncomfortable scouting on foot. The closemouthed nature of their host also disquieted him. It was strange that he did not volunteer his name or his Chapter. He was not sure he liked the ways of the Inquisition.

After the lander had refueled, Petrix instructed it to conduct a low-altitude flyover of the area, to conduct basic visual reconnaissance. If they saw nothing, Ar'Mat's landing zone would do, but he did not want to waste time if he could cut to the heart of the enemy.

You pass a few times in low altitude over the affected area. The vegetation is slightly worst than the last picture. The trees and bushes are dry and dying, both side of the mountain chain. But no signs of of any xenos presence.

If the xenos are here, they are well hidden. Your vigilance does not waver, of course, because you know the vile xenos can be as devious as it is deadly. You find solace in the knowledge that you carry with you enough blessed firepower to raze a small army and in the fortitude forged from the experience of hundreds of battle fought in the name of the Emperor.