Roleplay thread: The Unidentified Xenos Ship

Krondo Sigma was looking at his data slate while listening to Reliquant Superior Maria Grace. A picture of Violet Equinox was circling on it giving various topographical, weather, and other myriads of information. He had recently arrived at Violet Equinox to aid the Sisterhood of Black Rose in maintaining, soothing, and retrofitting the various gifts of Omnissiah held in the blessed sanctum of the Sisterhood. Many machinaries were kept in moderate condition, but he didn't like that. Some cogitators should have been soothed properly with binary hymns in proper cycles. Some machinaries required more unguents to ease their friction torques. He didn't like the generator coils kept in such precarious condition. However, all the Sisterhood's wargear was kept in proper order. As properly as they can manage. It is after all the duty of the Priesthood of Mechanicus to alay the Machine spirits and lubricate their function, or else they will make their displeasure known. Some of which he had come to notice and requested the authority of the Sisterhood to change by petitioning through proper channels.

He had been summoned to aid once again, but this time it seemed like a mission outside of the Sisterhood. Either the Sisterhood has been lacking individuals or this mission requires individuals to have specific skills that he may complement. He didn't voice any of his opinions but when questioned, he looked up from his data slate.

"Reverent Sister Superior Maria Grace, I would like to bring this to your attention. It seems the Governer has done something downright heretical in allowing a Xenos ship to crash land in your blessed soil. Such an abomination should have been blasted in the atmosphere. Not only did he fail that, he managed to lose a scout ship crew to investigate this crash site." His eyes looked at her with absolute determination.

"Hypothesis: Planetary defence grid lacks enough firepower to halt xeno advance (probability chance 31%). Xeno ship is advanced and eluded auspex scans due to lack of proper functioning (Probability chance 12%). Governor wanted to know more about this xeno ship and purposefully crashed it without notifying others; when things went out of hand he is calling your help (Probability chance 55%). Finally, he is incompetent at his station (Probability chance 2%). Based on the calculations, I would think he has committed a heretical breach of conduct by not notifying you about his investigation early. I request that you look into him further."

He looked back at his slate, "Any information of where the ship landed? Further information on the scout crew will help us determine more about who was sent and what we should be looking for there? Also, more information on the xenoship signature will help us look into the archives to prepare for the worst. With the current condition, I can extrapolate that the success probability for this mission is 45 %."

He finally stood silent, awaiting the Sister's response to his information dump.

OOC: Tell me if this font is looking bad. I wanted to bring the Admech theme. If it looks bad and difficult to read, I will use normal fonts.

Bigby understand the tone and understand a ratling better keep his mouth shut. He is smiling nevertheless - if the Governor wanted to investigate ship on their own, there must be something of a value to discover.
If the Governor didn't want The Sisterhood to get all the loot I can help with that he thinks to himself

The veteran sister of the Seraphim, Sister Sabathica Dominissa, watched with some disdain at the tech-priest who had spoken out of turn. It was typical of the cogheads to forget decorum, but such disgrace should not be so easily tolerated. As for the mission, her mind was clear.
These scouts must be something special to warrant protection. More likely, our Sister Superior wants an account she can trust. But she would not say so with outsiders present.

Instead Sister Sabathica spoke in a commanding voice, filled with zeal.
"It is not for us to question. We serve the God-Emperor of Mankind. There is but one course of action, and that is to purge every last remnant of the foul Xenos that have unhallowed the Emperor's domain by its existence. We will bring the information you seek into the Emperor's Light, Sister Superior, as the first step to bringing the blessing of purgation to these interlopers."

After Sister Sabathica's pious interjection, Sister Olivia Belli offers her affirmation, "His will be done!". Pausing for a moment, she then raises a hand, as if she were still in the Schola Progenium, "Reliquant Superior, may I ask what chain of command you wish us to adopt for this patrol?"

The only sound that came from Sister Retributor Domitia Jurgena was the incredibly soft hum coming from her power armor, and the even softer one coming from the double-barrel of her monstrous multi-melta, now pointed down in a sign of good will and respect for her superior. She was the last one to speak, assessing the situation. She didn't look with too much disdain to the Tech Priest and to the Ratling, too. At least, with palpable less disdain than her Sisters.

Probably, the woman had been beautiful during her youth, but her face was now tempered with grim determination, sour eyes, and sunken lines. She had made sure to steer away as possible from the other bystanders, sparing them from the heat radiating from twin barrels of her multi-melta.

Sister Retributor Domitia Jurgena was old. Not as old as the Reliquant Superior, but old enough to have served alongside her when they were both rank and file Sororitas. She had not been promoted, yet, and that probably spoke volumes about her bitter attitude. There had been talks about it, but the Sister had never cleared the air.

Still, even if the Retributor had grown older than forty, she was still a beast of a woman. She was tall. Not as tall as an Astartes, but tall anyway.
"His Will be done" The old Retributor muttered, chewing out the words and almost spitting them.

"We will try to bring the scouts home. Lest the Governor has something brewing" Sister Domitia Jurgena added, bitter, eyeing both Sister Olivia and Sister Sabathica with a grim look.

Krondo Sigma nodded at the Sister Superior and then followed the group towards the armory in order to prepare for the mission. After collecting all his stuff, he checked the information cogitators present in the Sisterhood for more precise knowledge of the place where the Xeno ship had crash-landed.

He collated all the data and copied it on his data slate. In the Thunderhawk he remained seated at his place, occationally sharing information to the Sister Domitia, notifying her about all the necessary topographical details and terrain scans. When the ship finally reached the destination, he came out and observed the crashed Xeno ship along with the Peagasus AVF. He cursed himself for not bringing a scout servo skull for close inspection from a safe distance. However, a scout ship belongs to the Omnissiah and it must be salvaged and repaired for proper functioning again. He watched the damaged Peagasus trying to ascertain how much it had taken and how far it was repairable.

His eyes flashed as he clasped his hands and activated the Omnissiah's blessing of the Augger array in form of advanced augmetics that had been given to him. He looked at the ship to detect any possible heat signatures of life signs.

OOC: Oh Boy! So first of all, I got 2 wrath criticals, so that means 2 glory for the group. I don't know how much DN it is for the information test of the local data net, because I will shift some icons then. The same goes for identifying the Xeno ship and trying to determine the damage of the Peagasus. Total success for the test: 16 success out of which I can shift a lot, 5 success for the Xeno ship test and I can shift upto 2 and lastly, 5 success for the Pegasus test and I can shift once. I just noticed that Auspex range is 50m so, I guess we need to go closer before we can detect life signs.

There is a long moment of silence as the chain of command is rested upon the Veteran Retributor. Sister Retributor Domitia Jurgena hears the orders of her superior, and stays put.

Her eyes glitter for a moment. Rage? Regret? Pain? Bitterness? Surprise? The emotion flares up for just a fraction of a second. Probably surprise. The supposedly level-headed woman looks down to the younger Sisters, the ones that so adamantly believe to be following His will to the letter. Domitia Jurgena studies them, taking a moment to understand who she should be leading.

"As your command" Sister Domitia Jurgena replied, respectfully. The woman, now invested with the authority of command, eyes her sisters, the Admech representative and the abhuman auxiliary. She simply nods, and heads for the hangar.


Onboard of the Aquila lander, Sister Domitia Jurgena sat with her multi-melta on her lap, like a son or a daughter. The Veteran Retributor seemed to pay no mind to the comments of Krondo Sigma, but the tech priest could easily understand that the woman was actually listening, especially given how she asked a couple of clarifying questions.


The silent Retributor studied what her fellow Sisters are doing during the flight. She glared grim at what Sister Cassia is reading, but didn't break her silence.

Until, of course, the Lander actually arrived in sight of the crashed Pegasus. The Retributor stood up, supporting herself with one of the handles.

"Thank you, Krondo Sigma. Please, report to me your next findings" she ordered him.

The grim Retributor looked at the group at her orders. She seemed as if she was about to speak something. Then, Retributor Domitia Jurgena looked at the pilot.

"Bring us around and down" she ordered. "Vox check, vox check" she added, muttering first in the comms of the team and then voxing directly the Thunderhawk.

After confirming that everything is in working order, Sister Retributor Domitia Jurgena addresses directly her fellow sisters.

"There is a time for zealous charges and purges, and a time for discipline, Sisters. Our priority objective IS the scout team and their informations, Sisters. The crashed Xeno ship is our secondary objective". Sister Retributor Domitia Jurgena speaks with harsh, commanding sentences. She clearly expects to be obeyed.

Krondo stood there checking and making notes on his data slate and then turned to Sister Domitia Jurgena. "The pattern of the Xeno ship seems to resemble the vile corsair raiding vessels of Drukhari. This is pretty bad, Sister Jurgena. It might answer some questions but raise several others. Records of their raiding activities suggest, they capture people of the Holy Imperium and subject them to torture and experimentation. Hypothesis: This is a Drukhari scout ship trying to gauge the defensive potential of Violet Equinox in order to prepare for further choreographed raids. However, Violet Equinox being under the protection of Holy Sisterhood of Black Rose, I find that it is folly for them to even attempt (Probability chance 29%). The Drukhari have tried to find isolated habitats of Violet Equinox in order to perform lightning raids and leave no survivors, thus it remains undetected. Though I believe that is very unlikely because the Sisterhood would have detected it by now (Probability chance 24%). The Drukhari have someone already working inside the planet's organisation who gives out safe passage or vital information that lets them escape auspex scans and freely enter the planet without alerting anybody. My guess is, of course, the Governor which is downright heretical. This explanation is mostly plausible but then again, why would he contact the Sisterhood knowing that if they investigated, his association would come to limelight (Probability chance 39%). Finally, this might be the first time Drukhari are trying to infiltrate Violet Equinox (Probability chance 8%)." He finished and looked back at the data slate.

After checking something, he started again, "The Peagasus seems to be in normal condition, so that means the AVF is intact. I know it's not priority of the mission but we must retrieve that blessed artifact of Omnissiah lest it get's corrupted by foul Drukhari. We might also use the Pegasus as our extraction vehicle, I am confident I can operate it. We can also try to look into it's storage compartments. Since, it was sent as scout vehicle, we can probably find a scout servo skull there. It might help us to have a servo skull act as our eyes when we enter the Xeno ship. I would also like to add that the Drukhari are going to use their speed and heretical weaponry to oppose us. We should expect foul, underhanded tactics employing stealth. I never doubt the capabilities of a company of battle sisters; in fact, I believe they are more than capable in obliterating the heretical Xenos. I merely want to provide tactical knowledge to increase your efficiency." He finally shut up, giving his entire report and then looked at the party.

Bigby sits next to Macho Savage quietly chatting with the Ogryn, seldom laughing. Impatiently waiting to get out of Aquila Lander - ratling hates flying machines, but tries not to show that.

Sister Olivia regarded the Tech Priest as he delivered his report and although keen to question the data she remained silent out of respect for the acting Sister Superior.

Olivia's gaze drifted towards the almost comically paried abhumans; one a behemoth that she thought might be reminiscent of an Orc, although she had never seen one, and, of course, the Ogryn wasn't green, and the other a diminutive and, to her eyes, a grotesque creature, like something from a child's cautionary tale. But then the thought hit her - the emperor protects such as these as well! These are no Xenos, and aren't they also offering their lifes in His service?

"Your name is Bigby, isn't it?", she said to the Ratling and before any answer came, she continued, "I'm Sister Olivia. You seem nervous, perhaps you don't like spaceflight?"

Sister Sabathica Dominissa made the sign of the Aquila as the Sister Superior left them. She was not snubbed by not receiving command. After all, it was the duty of the Seraphim to close distance with the enemy and engage in brutal close-combat battle whilst controlling their jump-packs. Such duties did rarely allow for the burden of command to be heaped upon them. That, and the Sister Superior understood the preference of her assault specialists and decided their expertise was not the most suited mindset for the mission. The fact she was included, however, told Sister Sabathica that the need for her specialty was not ruled out either. Such is the wisdom of the Sister Superior.

She went to the armory to commence the rites of armament. Kneeling and praying, she underwent the rites that would clad her in sacred ceramite and plasteel. Servitors made out of blessed petitioners adorned in prayer scrolls locked the complex underlayers and armor plates together as cherubim floated overhead carrying censers from which clouds of incense billowed. Novices sang in choir, beseeching the God-Emperor for protection and damnation to His foes. Clad in her armor, Sister Sabathica inserted the nose and mouth plugs allowing her breath and speech under high inertia and strain before her helmet was lowered over her face. Finally, her wings were lowered down from on high to rest upon her back, clamping in place where normally only a power pack would rest. She rose a Seraphim, looking up to the great statue of the God-Emperor, thanking He Who Sits On Terra for this chance to serve Him. With great reverence two honored novices brought forth the sacred relics she would bear in battle, twin ancient inferno pistols that had been passed down for generations. Sister Sabathica picked up each with a prayer of thanks, honoring her forebears, before holstering the deadly instruments of fiery annihilation. At last, prayer scrolls were attached to her armor with honor seals. Sister Sabathica had chosen prayers admonishing the Xenos and the glory of their destruction. A scouting mission this may be, but there could be but one outcome. Finally the rites were complete, and Sister Sabathica joined her Sisters and the rabble that was blessed to be in their presence on transport ship.

As they flew she paid the presence of the males no mind. Each was ugly and repugnant in their own way. The Tech-Priest that paid homage to his near-blasphemous Omnissiah. The tiny abhuman cradling a sniper pattern, clearly a craven. The Ogryn, whose small mind was blessedly devoid of doubt. That one offended her least. Still, that the Sisterhood had felt need to augment their forces with them was a troubling sign in itself. She decided she would not be held back in carrying out the Emperor's will because of them. Thankfully there were Sisters with her that she could rely on.

The target came into view, and Sister Sabathica's helmet augurs gave her a zoomed impression of the Xenos craft. She recognized it not, but this was only proof of her purity. The ship landed and she jumped forwards, scanning the site for enemy presence. As she found none, the Tech-Priest began rattling off his babble.
"Speak not of the failings of the God-Emperor's servants, Tech-Priest, and shorten your diatribe to something suited to the battlefield."
The tech-priest might be knowledgeable, but she wished they had brought a simple Enginseer. At least those were battle-hardened and kept their comments to what strictly necessary...

"Check your barbs, Sister Sabathica" came the admonishing reply of Sister Retributor Domitia Jurgena, as the commanding Sororita shot a glare to the Seraphim.

"Your suggestions are well received, Krondo Sigma" the Retributor added.

"These foul abominations believe this planet stands undefended. Everything seems to lean in direction of a scouting party, and for that, I would very much wish to confront them with an opinion made of fire today. .. But I would like to know more. I want to extract the servo skull of the Pegasus, yes" Sister Domitia Jurgena added, grim.
"If, of course, it does contain the treasured informations we are seeking" . The Retributor didn't sound too convinced. She was clearly thinking.

Either way, this was the first time she had actually spoken for more than a couple of words.

OOC: Should we approach the Pegasus AVF and search it for any gear and a servo skull?