The background noises aboard the Pious Lament have changed significantly over the past few hours as the Engines are bought into an operating condition and here on the bridge there is a sense of quiet anticipation. The view of space has gone now as the great armoured shutters have closed over the huge 'bird cage' window, the insides painted with images of the emperor destroying the foes of mankind in a series of imaginary ways. In the centre of the bridge the great, primary visual auspex display hangs like a giant pocket watch, showing vid feeds and tactical data to the command bridge, the helmsmen and the navigators below them. The three dimensional effect created by the tactical auspex display that dominates the floor gives the impression of a sphere of space, shrunk to forty feet across, in which a tiny image of the Pious Lament floats high above the planetary surface, accompanied by various other craft, including the Emperor’s Glory, each with their name floating above along with various coloured coded letters and symbols, and each surrounded by lines and circles representing predicted courses, weapon ranges and anything else anyone might need to know in the heat of battle.

Searlait stands in the command pulpit, looking down over the left head of the huge aquila that forms it, alongside her is Alexi and at their stations behind her are Sabrynn and Gregory. Off to her right, on her own balcony Hormonia conducts the prayers to the emperor while on the balcony to her left the enginseers conduct their own prayers to the Omnissiah. The helmsmen stand ready below the captain and below them is Cennet and one of her assistants.

The information displayed to these people indicates the Pious Lament in readiness to proceed, the Emperor’s Glory and the Grey star already moving, the Cowlan Blue and the Adeptus Terra scout ship at readiness and ten days flight time before the ship can enter the war. The Niger Porcus is in orbit but not prepared for action.
.

All things considered, Harmonia felt good about this expedition!

Of course, she was an optimist at heart, but despite the rumors and bad start to this whole business, it looked like the crew and the new officers had good hearts and respectable skills.  Even now, she'd had little issue with the occasional sermons she's had to give out, or the bits and bobs of blessing that were always needed to keep everyone nice and perky even here in the deep void of space!

She even had her own little balcony here from which to dispense her benedictions!  Of course, she wasn't initiated into any of the arts used by the bridge crew besides what she was expected to be good at, but it was nice to watch!

Soon, the Pious Lament would ply the starlanes once more!  Ready to do God's work!  It was a wonderful time to be aboard!

Cennet Melek Shiraishi held the staff and symbol of her office close as she relied upon it's strength of steel to maintain that rigid and imperious posture that many expected of the Navis Primaris. The familiar agony of fatigue and overtaxed, wretchedly withered musculature crawling through out leg, spine, neck and stabbing deeply into her temples. Dulled only partially by the tightening jaws of the serums, compounds, and sundry medicines that would prepare her for the coming rigors. After all, while she had been built, as well as tailored, to purpose... the act of Navigation remained an ordeal even for one the once perfect daughter of House Shiraishi.

Such pain was little but a distraction, however, as it was held at bay by the combined force of duty and the indomitable will that was required to stare openly into the depths of the Endless Sea and retain even a fraction of wit and sanity. The idle question still burning like a small star in her mind as to how many were aware of what was to come next. Even if this emerged planet was well and truly free of the storm's grasps... Well, there were many other complications to be considered that strayed close to topics best left unaddressed. She drew a quiet, steadying breath then as she continued the ritual tasks of inputting the initial course, adjusting for real time corrections in the predicted traffic from the tactical Hololithic display. Each motion of her free hand done with the painful care of one dedicated to the perfect execution of the task and to minimize the needless motion as she the burn extended into the upper reaches of her mutation wracked arm.

It would be no more than 9 hours by real time reckoning to reach the Mandeville Point at which time she would retire herself to the Navigator's Throne. The place where the real work would begin in contrast to the relative ease and lacking complexity of real space. A final stroke upon the baroque keys notifying the Helmsmen of the final iteration of the course and ensuring it's projection upon the Hololithic display for rapid reference.

Such done, her mind focused then upon that next step of their shared journey. Another slow breath was drawn in then as she closed her eyes and focused, for just a moment, to feel the light of the distant Astronomicon upon them all as she whispered prayers to Omnissiah and Emperor both in the tongue of her house. There was no doubt one or another among the ordained orders that ruled every vessel might draw exception to such a division of faith but she relied upon both the Machine God and the God Emperor to execute her duties... and to displease either seemed an all too unwise thing to do.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:34, Sat 31 Dec 2022.

Searlait stands at her pulpit above the mass of the bridge and its crew moving about at their various duties from weapons powering, to astrographic telemetry. It moved the heart seeing hundreds of people working, knowing that moved thousands more further down the line to their tasks to make the ancient powerful monster of a ship move, live and breathe.

When the prayers of the ecclesiarchy and Omnissiahic congregations quiet down she activates the comm-link in the pulpit ++Hallowed be the God-Emperor of man for the protection he provides the Imperium of Man. Hallowed be his guise as the Omnissiah, for the works he provides for the machines that keep motive force it provides to keep the Imperium alive.++ she starts her speech ++We give thanks as we prepare to depart from this realm in his Imperium to search out the darks spaces to spread his light, to expand the borders of the God-Emperor and to stop the malign forces of the traitor, heretic, & xenos. Forward, into the darkness we venture, but I believe we will persevere together, In the name of the Immortal God-Emperor, light the drives and cast us into the void.++

When finished she makes her way to the throne and takes her seat and address the navigatrix directly and says "At your leisure please direct the drives to the mandeville point and to our ultimate destination."

++Explorator Draccius, if you could report to Deck 3, senior visitor quarters, the quests there could potential use your assistance." [= team]]

Looking over to Vormav she tells him "Do you have any more news on Blake al'Duath and who his accomplice may be?"

If anyone notices that the Master at Arms is carrying an extra arms-coffer while standing at his station, in addition to his storm bolter and his two bolt pistols, or that he is fiddling with his "genuine Astartes bolt shell casing" while murmuring to himself, they give absolutely no sign.

Despite his obvious consternation over the imminent Warp translation, however, he has enough presence of mind to note status reports from the Lament's armsmen complement and their readiness status; they need to be ready to respond to potential... abnormalities but also protected themselves; he's asked the onboard Ministorum contingent to send a few extra priests among them to safeguard his men's souls.

As for him, he doesn't know if he'll have to fight off merely human boarders (in which case his borrowed shotgun and laspistols will minimize damage to the ship interior), or something like the horrible daemons the fresco of the Emperor before him is purging with his terrible swift sword, in which case he's giving the blasted things both barrels of his storm bolter and damn the collateral.

Searlait's speech does calm him down a little, but still...

Looming in the shadow of Searlait and her throne, a grim-faced woman stood protectively. Clad in gunmetal battle-plate that had obviously seen quite a deal of combat, and covered with icons of devotion to Him on Holy Terra, it was clear that this person was capable of great violence and great piety. Which was almost the perfect description of Sabrynn Rose, the new bodyguard of the Rogue Trader. Formerly of the Adepta Sororitas, Sabrynn looked to be undertaking her new duties very seriously. For in the aftermath of Searlait's prayer, the dark-skinned warrior reflexively went into the Fede Imperialis, but made sure to keep her eyes on her ward, and made sure to keep her in the protective range of her massive, wicked looking Penitent Eviscerator.

"A spiritu dominatus,
Domine, libra nos,

From the lighting and the tempest,
Our Emperor, deliver us.
From plague, temptation and war,
Our Emperor, deliver us,
From the scourge of the Kraken,
Our Emperor, deliver us.

From the blasphemy of the Fallen,
Our Emperor, deliver us,
From the begetting of daemons,
Our Emperor, deliver us,
From the curse of the mutant,
Our Emperor, deliver us,

A morte perpetua,
Domine, libra nos.

That thou wouldst bring them only death,
That thou shouldst spare none,
That thou shouldst pardon none
We beseech thee, destroy them..." the Celestian Sacresant whispered quietly, but fiercely.

Prayer finished, Sabrynn raised her shaved head and peered at the Sea of Stars and the crew in the grand bridge with equal measure. This was the beginning of the adventure she had set herself on, which made her heart sing, but fidelity would never fully allow her to relax while on duty.

"The stars of His domain are...beautiful," Sabrynn muttered to Searlait, knowing the horrors of Warp travel, and how different such sights would be.

That was about as close to a complaint or sign of anxiety that the Sister was ever to give.

The captain's vox crackles.

The enormous Explorator stood immobile, watching at the proceedings with the utter neutrality that only the near-lifeless face of a Tech-priest could manage. This might considered fortunate, for Arius Draccius found the whole ritual the captain surrounded the ship's departure to be unnecessary pomp. At least the Lord-Captain had the decency to invoke the Omnissiah.

He had no role to play here. The ship's functions were Enginseer Tesla's domain. The captain did not require his counsel at this stage it seemed. Although he did not know their destination yet, it would take weeks if not months to arrive there, so there would be enough time for him to be briefed.

A faint flicker of emotion called surprise lit his mind as the Lord-Captain ordered him to attend some guests of hers. Since he had nothing better to do, he might as well get to this task. He turned to look at the Lord-Captain.
++As you wish. What is the nature of the quandary your guests face?++
This message was last edited by the player at 23:11, Sun 01 Jan 2023.

Alexei stood silently at her station. It was both a familiar and strange experience to stand on a bridge again in this manner. The strangeness mostly due to the small differences she couldn't help but notice between the crew here and what she had grown used to over the course of her previous Naval Career. She absentmindedly had placed her hand over the Wings she had pinned on her chest, the simple thing marking that she was a Imperial Trained fighter pilot being a source of pride for her and in this case a simple reminder of where she came from.

With a deep breath she focussed her mind on the task at hand and left the reminiscing for later. She pulled out a data slate as she read over something for a moment before laying it aside again. She didn't quite know what kind of a Captain Searlait was, so for now she was content to just observe and ascertain in what manner she could best support her and enforce her will as needed.

At the Lady Captain's instruction, the Navigatrix turned back to the console and let her free hand dance along the keys with that same, almost painful deliberation of motion. Each of the helmsmen were provided with the charted course now to their specific terminals. There was no more for her to do until such a time as they arrived at the translation point but she was wise and educated enough to await the completion of pomp and ceremony before retiring to the Navigator's throne and undergoing the required isolation. Still, the command was required even if it was redundant for the maintenance of discipline and smooth function.

"The course has been charted, approved, and locked in. Helmsmen, guide us out." she commanded into the microbead, not wishing to raise her voice above the din of prayer and binary. Her voice professionally reserved and imbued with a measure of will behind it despite the soft spoken intonations of the words.

"Yes, they are Sister Celestian, even in the polluted space near the accursed eye." she tells her newly 'acquired' bodyguard.

++They will specify requirements upon arrival, should their requirements prove less demanding, you may attend anything you wish in your studies or assist in any repairs required of the ship that strikes your fancy.++ she quietly voxes the Explorator.

"Officer Talionis, how would you rate the armsmen aboard this vessel?" she asks almost conversationally as the Pious Lament starts to pull away from orbit, accompanied by the frigates.

There are subtle changes in the deep, powerful murmurs of the ship as the enginseers apply thrust and the helms man brings the mighty vestal slowly round onto the correct heading. Above the Mechanicus station, and repeated countless times throughout the ship the nixie array reads 9 hours, 58 minutes, and 42 . . . 41 . . . 40 seconds.

Auspex displays show the Emperor’s Glory, an hour or so ahead, moving off at a slight tangent to starboard so the gap between the two ships is getting ever wider, The Grey Star follows her from a good distance behind and the Cowlan Blue also gets under way, steering a course that will bring her between the two Cruisers.

Suddenly, across the entire ship, warning claxons burst into life with their intermittent growl, automated blast doors begin closing and the nixie display flashes twice before settling on 2 minutes, 27 . . . 26 . . . 25 seconds to the impact of three planetary defence missiles that are now rising up through the planet’s atmosphere. These are indicated are moving at hypersonic speed on the auspex displays and various other instruments across the bridge.

Coms channels light up with panicked queries but are quickly silenced by the comms team so that only essential traffic gets through and all goes ominously quiet.

.

Scarlet was conversing with the juniors and preparing the choir when she felt the ship shudder and the blast doors close, locking them in the bridge as the central auspex array flashed with signs of missiles. She flinched as a burst of chatter flooded her ears from the comms channels she was monitoring before the lines went dead once again and she pulled away from her juniors, informing them to find a safe place to stay, before she went to greet the captain, giving her head a small bow.

"It seems yet more complications come from this accursed planet, does the planetary governor's personal astropath perhaps need a foully worded message, after this?" She comments, attempting to break the tension with a small joke before sighing, glancing out at the auspex terminal, aware that there wasn't much she could do. She was a combat psyker, of course, any boarding party who tried would feel her wrath, but ship combat? beyond her specialty, so she was stuck waiting for news as anyone else, listening to the information the captain was receiving the best she could to gauge the situation. She just hoped and prayed that this was some sort of mistake, and most of all, was rather angry at the people who had orchestrated all this, she wasn't privy to all the details, but it was certain now that there was some sort of effort put in place to attack the captain and her crew.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:20, Tue 03 Jan 2023.

Gregory's hand flies to his bolter as the klaxons blare, but he resists the urge to draw it. One way or another, this is out of his hands. Instead, he voxes the flak-turret complexes nearest the missiles.

"Incoming planetside ordnance, flak-crews track and destroy."

He then turns to Alexei and Searlait, addressing them both (since it's impossible to do otherwise).

"Madam, it seems obvious that this is meant to delay us. If the missiles hit us, we'll have to slow for repairs or to demand an explanation from the governor. Meanwhile, our quarry gets away. We might be best served trusting to the flak-crews to take them down while redoubling our pursuit. Issuing a brace for impact order might help too."

Explorator Draccius had turned to see to his duties and was headed off the bridge when alarm claxons sounded and the bulkhead in front of him closed with finality. With urgency he returned to the Mechanicus station. His logis array pulled up information on the incoming missiles. The proposed course disagreed with him as the blessed data-stream informed him of possible outcomes.

His vox-box burst with a howl of static to advice the Lord-Captain.
"Warheads unknown. Plasma warheads or higher yield can cause crippling to catastrophic damage to this vessel."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:15, Tue 03 Jan 2023.

Alexei mind sharpened the moment the ship wide alarms rang. With a clear practiced response she turned her attention to the ship's scanners read out. She brought a hand up to her microbead ++Void Patrol Umbra move to intercept incoming warheads if possible.++ Her voice carried the gravitas of authority Alexei just had about her. She didn't wait for the Captain's response as she simply braced herself by spacing her feet out and placed a hand on the guard rail.

She keyed on the ship wide coms +All hands brace for impact.+ With that she simply shot a glance towards the Master of Ordnance and offered a silent prayer to the Emperor and the Omnissiah that the Point Defence crews would be able to shoot the torpedo's down before they impacted.

"All defence batteries live! target incoming ordinance, Launch Umbra squadron still in dock to intercept, direct CAP to intercept. If the gunships can launch in time to intercept launch them too!" she shouts across the bridge towards the small vessel control area.

With the crew ordered to brace, all defence batteries firing and void patrol intercepting or launching she sent a message to the vox console to send a priority communique to the planetary governor demanding those responsible be apprehended alive and held for her return and summary punishment or else she will take it as her government defying the High Lords of Terra to attack loyal servants of the divine God-Emperor on his mission and be declared Excommunicate Traitoris.

Sabrynn cursed as the chaos exploded around her. Battle at the scale of ships was an arena that should could not assist in. For all her years experience smiting the enemies of Him on Holy Terra, her sword-arm would do nothing against plasma missiles. So, the good Sister kept silent as Searlait worked. It would not do to distract her. Meanwhile, she was planning the most effient route to acquire her Mistress' family, and the Mistress herself, and the nearest escape pod, should things end terribly.

The Cowlan Blue, still behind the other ships, opens fire with her point defence turrets at the missiles and tiny red lines on the auspex displays stich the image of that ship to the icon of the nearest missile. The missile icon on the screen blinks out in moments. On the vid feeds there is nothing much to see initially, one star seems to be moving against the background and is labelled ‘Cowlan Blue’, the other ships are likewise labelled and three stars are circled in red, indicating hostile objects but no detail is disenable until one of the circled stars flashes brightly and there are only two red circles left on the display.

The command comm display shows, ++ Cowlan Blue confirms a hit. ++

The nixie display is on 57 . . . 56 . . . 55 seconds as the Umbra wing lunch and at virtually the same time the Pious Laments own point defence turrets open fire, the helmsman as managed to alter the ships orientation enough to bring a good number of turrets to bear on the missiles streaking up from behind. The noise of the weapons firing carries through the ship, the individual sounds merging into a great storm like howl.

One missile flashes out of existence almost immediately but the final one proves more resilient getting far too close before it’s explosion whites out the video screens and a slight nudge is felt across the ship.

Wing commander, Simian Laurel reports launch, to late to affect an intercept but he has encountered a number of crab mines, these stealth devices are a couple of tons each and lie dormant in space moving only when a ship comes within range and attach to the hull with crab like legs. They must have been placed here before hand and still might have been detected but for the distraction of the missiles.
.

It would seem her inclination to recite her own prayers of protection had been well founded as the bridge was suddenly alive with the sounds of klaxons, slamming blast doors, shouted orders and the heady airs of panic and betrayal. It was all that the Navis Primaris could do in the moment to brace herself against the console. The familiar agony of her withered and overtaxed musculature tearing at the edges of her awareness as the impact was felt, her footings and stance slipping perilously if not for the timely intervention of her assistant, Grund. His hand steady as ever as he spared her the indignity of a collapse upon the bridge.

There were questions now, however, as other reports came in from the deployed flight teams making mention of mines set in their way. It implied that someone knew the course she had set which had only been committed to the memories of the thrice blessed cogitators of the Pious Lament no more than a few minutes ago. It was something that could be predicted but to do so precisely enough for mines to be laid presented the notion that someone had particular knowledge of their intended destination and could narrow down which of the multiple points would serve them best to initiate translation at. There was also the more disturbing notion of a traitor among their ranks though this seemed the least likely outcome as she considered the precious few who would have known of the course, devised only a few hours prior within the supposed safety of the Navigator's Sanctum.

She would not deny in that moment she felt an utter indignation that set blood a flame and brought with it an unpleasant pain in her chest as she drew a harsh breath. That the one place she might deign to consider safe for her ilk aboard this vessel might be compromised was unconscionable. There would be questions and there would be answers... There were few, after all, that could withstand the focused attention of a Navigator for long.

For now, her eyes turned to the tactical display and narrowed as she considered the course she had laid out and where adjustment was now needed based on the current positioning of the mine field.

"Lady Captain, a course correction is required but the mines must be factored in. Is Laurel's wing able to confirm the breadth of the field or clear it?"

"Full status report" Searlait orders, mostly looking at the engineering sub-section of the bridge to determine the extent of damage that surface to orbit torpedo caused.

"Lady Navigator, please correct as you need to and I'll have the wing commander investigate and attempt to remove the field if possible."

Getting her microbead to re-direct to the Flight Commander ++Commander Laurel, can you determine the size of the minefield and if you can cause enough of a disruption to allow us through safely?++

Reports coming in from all quarters indicate that the Pious Lament has not sustained damage, the last explosion was close and did destabilise the plasm flow from the drives but the Mechanicus quickly got that under control.

The mines are designed for stealth and move slowly when they detect a target so are not a problem for the fighter wing to eliminate once identified and the best tool for identifying the mines is the mark 1 human eyeball. Umbra Wing have eliminated any mines that are within range of the ship, there are others that will need to be dealt with by the local authorities however there are five of these devices that have already attached to the hull. The whole minefield is estimated to be between 70 and 100 units.
.

Arius was perturbed. Was it not the purpose of a mine to detonate once it came into contact with its target? While the delayed detonation was welcome, he struggled to find a logical reason for it. One possible outcome came to mind.

"Lord-Captain. The attached mines may be awaiting a remote detonation signal."

Cennet Melek Shiraishi inclined her head silently towards the Lady Captain and turned to look to the tactical display before and above her. A soft, deep breath was enough to steady herself as her eyes closed and she allowed her third eye to open behind the exquisite mask that hid the wretched depths to which she had fallen physically. A mind trapped in a body seemingly doomed to failure yet gifted in ways few others aboard this vessel could ever hope to be. Another breath then and she felt her heart, still aching in her breast, slow and steady.

It was always a subtle and dangerous game to borrow the secrets of the near future, to horde them to allow her an edge in the instant. It was at first a blur, a haze of indistinct futures as her mundane eyes closed so her mind might focus all the more. Soon, the sounds of the present began to ring hollow as the visions of the paths before her sharpened. The consequences of each step, each action, each miscalculation laid bare to senses no longer anchored in the present but the perverse and twisting pathways of the future that could only be glimpsed in the depths of the Endless Sea. Each failure glimpsed brushing like chill and ominous wind and leaving her skin cold and clammy beneath the weight of robes, armor and the artfully sculpted ceramic that was her refuge and prison both from what she had become in the eyes of kin and kind alike.

Her third eye remained open behind the mask as her real eyes opened in kind, it's unnatural weight felt by those nearest her as she reached into the depths of her robes to produce the slim form of a data slate bound in finest black leathers and emblazoned with her personal sigil. The unmistakable form of a gene-lock worked into that same sigil. There was no hesitation then as she pressed her thumb into it and felt the needle pierce through body glove and exterior implant alike to draw blood. It's soft chime all the notice she required as she opened and rapidly referenced the ciphered maps, coordinates, and calculations that lingered within. The culmination of her life's work to date and, by the measures of her kind, an exquisite work if still short of perfected.

It was with a soft word of command that she unburdened herself of her staff and pressed her weight without care for grace or appearances onto the terminal before her. Her now freed hand inputting a new course as the glimpses of insight into the future faded as rapidly as she might type. The corrections rapidly flickering into being on the tactical hololith above her head and feeding, in kind, to the terminals of the helmsmen to set them on a new path away from the dangers they had already encountered.

"New course has been input, Lady Captain. His Light shines upon us but Master Draccius may be right regarding those minds that have found purchase."

the Navigatrix declared as she sealed and deactivated her navis prima and returned it to it's place within her robes with all the care one might give to a beloved child. Her other hand going out then to retake her staff from Adept Grund and straightening to that same aching straight posture now that she had it's rigidity to support her in full once more. The familiar agony of fatigue shrieking at the edges of the mind and held at bay by will and the growing desensitization to the physical from the slowly metabolizing chymical cocktails that prepared her for the rigors of the Navigator's throne and the Endless Sea.


OOC:
Pay no mind to the mutant doing mutant things.

18:12, Today: Cennet Melek Shiraishi rolled 28 -- 4 degrees of success using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 75.  Navigation (Stellar) +20 - 10(Foreshadowing) + 10 (Navis Prima).

18:09, Today: Cennet Melek Shiraishi rolled 8 using 2d10 with rolls of 7,1.  Foreshadowing for using 3 secrets on 1 roll.

18:04, Today: Cennet Melek Shiraishi rolled 6 using 1d10.  Charmed Trait.

18:04, Today: Cennet Melek Shiraishi rolled 34 -- 2 degrees of success using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 55.  Fate Point Reroll.

18:03, Today: Cennet Melek Shiraishi rolled 84 -- 2 degrees of failure using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 55.  Power Activation: Foreshadowing.

This message was last edited by the player at 23:50, Thu 05 Jan 2023.

"My thanks Navigatrix" she tells the navigator before turning to the Explorator, "Do you think we would be able to deactivate or at least disengage the mines Explorator I would very much like them off my ship." There is a look of annoyance on her face not just from the constant delays and attacks but from her inability to directly affect it with her lance or serpenta.

"Many will have to die for this insult..." Sabrynn growled angrily.

She held the hilt of her Penitent Eviscerator tightly and ground her teeth. Faith could move mountains, but all of her zealous martial skill was useless against the machinery of war meant for star-ships.

"I was thinking repentance through service, hosts to become servitors are always hard to come by. Perhaps the most egregious of offenders can be made into murder servitors." she tells her bodyguard.

"Augury can you determine which ship left these mines based off drift? If we can confirm it was the Emperor's Glory then this is an act of war and we will be well within our rights to enact vengeance."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:37, Fri 06 Jan 2023.

”Cogitating ma’am”

”No appreciable drift ma’am, the mines must have been laid by a ship, or more likely several ships that passed through this area in the last two days. That rules out all the ships that have been in orbit but any one of them might haves set the mine field using its auxiliary craft.”

OOC Anyone on the bridge may roll a 'Logic' or 'Tactica Imperialis' skill test for an insight into this situation.

.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:15, Fri 06 Jan 2023.

Alexei remained quiet as she kept near her station, she was mostly trying to think of what sort of mines these might be and how to best get rid of the ones on the hull of the ship. As she did so she was listened with half a ear to the conversation between the Captain and the Augury officer.

OOC

Int 36 + 10 from Good Quality MIU Implant
16:12, Today: Alexei Talionis rolled 62 -- 1 degree of failure using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 46.  Logic test.

Gregory considered the mines... but it was clear he wouldn't be getting anywhere by himself. After all, most of his knowledge was terrestrial in nature. However, his boss might know more, and so he quietly addresses Alexei.

"A word please, ma'am..."

OOC:
18:30, Yesterday: Gregory Asgard rolled 34 -- a simple failure using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 30 with rolls of 34.  scholastic Lore Tactical Imperialis.

If Alexei has Scholastic Lore (TI), can they do teamwork and stuff on it? I was planning to reroll with Fate if that was permissible and if I could at least apply teamwork to the reroll.

"Unknown. Logic dictates the mine machine spirits will self-destruct when outside tampering is discovered to enact their ordained purpose. Disarmament must be done with extreme care. However, lacking alternatives, I will have voidsmen approach them for remote assessment through my guidance."

Explorator Draccius would be monitoring their progress quite far away from their location...

---

17:41, Today: Arius Draccius rolled 69 -- 2 degrees of failure using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 45.  Logic.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:49, Fri 06 Jan 2023.

The Navigatrix was blessed with a prodigious intellect though one not yet touched by the blessings of the Omnissiah that the Explorator no doubt enjoyed. A fact that allowed her, with some care, to dove tail off the logic that the Priest of Mars was operating under even if he had admitted to a lack of firm data or hypothesis on which to draw. Her attention turned briefly to the tactical hololith again before her eyes narrowed at one of the other terminals near at hand.

"An initial auspex sweep from one of the deployed wings would give us a better idea of the state of the anchored mines as well as any signal traffic that might be going back and forth. If it could be sampled, maybe something could be excised to dupe the machine spirits into sleep?" the Navis Primaris offered, drawing in part on some of the understanding of ancient technology that her own experiences, research and past postings had graced her with.


OOC: Not sure what insight this might give me but my suspicion is any tampering with the mine's receiving of signals or an attempt to disarm is likely to trigger a deadman condition.

12:30, Today: Cennet Melek Shiraishi rolled 3 -- 2 degrees of success using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 27.  Untrained Logic.

This message was last edited by the player at 17:42, Fri 06 Jan 2023.

"Okay, easy...  easy..."  Harmonia mused as she started making the final preparations to do a really big show as the ship pulled away from the planet, properly blessing and sanctifying the operation.  She wasn't used to all the bombast and everything, but after a lot of study she acknowledged that all the pyrotechnics and laud hailer stuff was important, because a young lady like her could only shout so loud and be noticed by so many people without the right props!

But that was before the alert went out, before the reports of things going wrong, and of course, space mines.

What was up with that anyway?  Who'd have anything to gain?

OOC: Giving a throw of the dice myself...  59 vs 50 is too bad, so I'm spending one of my FP to get another throw of the dice.

26 vs 50 is much better.  I think that's 3 Degrees?

EDIT:

"Ummm..."  Harmonia mused, leaning into the microphone on her spot.  "The timing with the missiles...  Then the mines..."  Her confidence increased as her mind chewed over the implications.  Then she grimaced.  "What devils!  The missiles were a distraction to hide the mines!  They're probably supposed to go off when we enter the Warp!  What beasts to try and assault this holy vessel in such a fashion!"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:08, Sat 07 Jan 2023.

"I want sappers out on the hull asap, start disarming them or at least de-clamping them from the hull, we still have time before we get near the mandeville point. Guncutters on patrol rescue as neared should crewman get lost off the hull, Furies keep up the CAP and intercepting any other mines that may be out there." She bellows across the deck as the others murmur and talk about their own duties. Upon hearing the Confessors probably rhetorical questions responds with "Heretics to his Imperial Majesty, ones that will know his divine wrath and have the halls of their vessel cleansed."

Searlait Saoirse rolled 100 -- 7 degrees of failure using the Only War system with a target number of 35.  Tactica Imperialis. brain melts through the ears.
Searlait Saoirse rolled 15 -- 3 degrees of success using the Only War system with a target number of 35.  Tactica Imperialis reroll.

As the Pious Lament ponderously returns to is proper course, close up images of the crab mines on the hull are being relayed to various displays across the bridge, meanwhile, in response to the Captain, Mr Maverick, the Chief Bosun is assembling his crews and relays a message to the Mechanicus for advice and assistance.

The mines are black, angular things, more or less square, about eight feet across and two to four feet deep, at each corner is an articulated leg each with various means of attaching the device to a hull, in some cases magnets seem to be used, in one case it appears to be an adhesive, in another place the tip of the leg has drilled into the hull material but in the majority of cases articulated fingers have clamped round some protrusion or feature on the hull, a porthole frame, a gap between armoured plates, the base of an antenna, there seems to be no end of options.
.

Gregory is getting antsy; he's eager to do something and he has the feeling Sabrynn and the others want to get stuck in too.

However, in this case, addressing the captain directly might be improper; instead, he approaches Alexei. "Do you need me out there? I"m not sure what I can do, but it might help, right?"

For her part, the navigator held her peace as voice had already been given to the other deductions she had arrived at. A vessel was most vulnerable at that point of translation into the Endless Sea as any disruption, any unanticipated factor or development, could jeopardize everything. It was a pervasive anxiety for any navigator and she was no different for all her pride as she continued to watch the tactical updates develop on the hololith above her. A hand reaching out from moment to moment to carefully adjust the course and heading as they continued but as others had said they would eventually need to come to a full halt.

She also did not speak her mind to suggest that it was all too likely that it was the inclusion of the Inquisition among the souls aboard that may have provoked this. The first overture of a shadow war on top of the reeling consequences of recent misfortunes.

"Time to the Mandeville Point remains the same, Lady Captain. Given that the mines may be waiting for us to arrive at said and initiate translation, should we begin a deceleration burn just shy while the teams work?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:46, Mon 09 Jan 2023.

Time moves on, the glowing red of the nixie display reads 2 hours, 22 minuets and 27 . . 16 . . 15 seconds, there is another digit but it flicks round in a blur too fast for the human eye to see. The bridge is on running watch, the first officer or one of the 2nds is on the command deck, (the Captain doesn’t stand watches), the navigator is absent and many of the desks and positions are also empty, there are only five tech priests on the Engineerium balcony and only two choristers and a couple of cherubs singing praises from the ecclesial balcony opposite. The threat from the mines has long passed, hundreds of voidsmen and many tech priests swarmed over the outside of the hull and made quick work of releasing the mines and sending them into the path of Umbra wing who dispatched them in short order. Gregory got to go outside and watch, just for the hell of it. There is one exception to normal running in that the hanger deck is held in vacuum and at least two fighters are always on escort patrol.

.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:56, Mon 09 Jan 2023.

"If you feel you can help either diffuse the bombs or co-ordinate the EOD techs than you can go out and help." she says to Asgard as gets up from the throne and addresses Cennet "The Tiller is yours Navigatrix, and the bridge is yours Talionis, I'm going to retire to my quarters for a bit."

With that she gets up and makes her way to her temporary quarters with her family.

Alexei nods as she takes over from Searlait, just being a presence on the bridge. The crew mostly managed itself, she just stood there to enforce a level of discipline and to issue commands if the situation warranted it.

Wordlessly, Sabrynn followed in Searlait's wake. An attempt had already been made on the Rogue Trader's life this day. It was no paranoia to stick to her closer than usual, as any competent operator would have redundancies in place in case their initial attempt failed.

At least, that is how Sabrynn would operate if she were given the mission to assassinate someone of importance. In fact, thinking on the matter, she would create a distraction to distract any security measures, and in the confusion, make a direct assault with her Sisters. Most likely the Repentia, as they were tough, and would make the attempt no matter the casualties. Then bring in a squad of Seraphim to hit the target from an unexpected angle, should a distraction and zealous fury fail. And should that three pronged plan fail, a twin blitz by a wing of Avenger Strike Fighters and heavy artillery bombardment by Exorcists.

It was a good thing Sabrynn was on the Rogue Trader's side. Not only was she martially skilled, and utterly loyal, she could imagine all the tactics and plans of a seasoned force commander.

Despite the stories about the void being deathly cold, the insides of Gregory's void armor are hot. Stiflingly hot, in fact, and he feels like there's an ocean sloshing around inside his magboots whenever he shifts.

On the plus side, watching the voidsmen and techpriests clear the mines is very educational, and seeing big explosions always warms the heart. Slab would probably have enjoyed this, but Slab hates getting into small places and Gregory doesn't have the heart to make him do it unless it's necessary.

Once the work is done, he returns to the to the vessel to see if any other business needs to be taken care of.

The Navis Primaris had long since turned her attentions to the next stage of their shared journey as they drew closer and closer to the Mandeville Point. The potent chymical cocktails required to weather the worst of warp navigation having already metabolized and left her without much in the way of mortal sensation. She remained aware in that defuse way that allowed her to focus more pointedly upon what lay beyond the thin veneers of reality as interpreted by the minds of those not blessed by the Navigator Gene or psychic potentiality. This was not to say she was beyond reach as the microbead remained in place as she reclined upon the Navigator's Throne but no longer was the world of flesh and blood the focus of her prodigious mind as hands played without sensation over the leather bound cover of her Navis Prima.

It was, unsurprisingly, in this state that she felt the most able, the most alive as no longer did the fickleness of her construction impede her in the fulfillment of her duties. It was only the work of the mind, the spirit, and the will that mattered now as she counted each breath and second that passed. The subtle clicks, chirps, and hum of arcane edifice and technology that surrounded her the steady counterpoint to her heartbeat and as familiar as the star-borne halls of her ancestral home. Time continued onward for her as it always did so dependably before the plunge into the depths of the Endless Sea and all she could do was wait for the command to come.

In the interim, she did as ritual had taught and tested the connection between herself and the mighty spirit of the Pious Lament. It's vast presence pressing down upon her mind through the cybernetic systems that bridged the gap between herself, the Navigator's throne, and cogitators upon the bridge. As the connection stabilized with whispered prayers to the Omnissiah, she tested her connection and provided sample instructions to the principle helm terminal and awaited confirmation from the present watch that it was received.

Alexei made herself comfortable to an extent as she observed the procedure of the mine removal simply by looking on the holo screen that displayed where they where attached. "I wonder.. Who is targetting us.. It could be any number of people targeting me.. Or maybe the Lady Captain.. Or perhaps its simply a skirmish of the Inquisition and we are merely caught in the crossfire." She mused out in a soft voice, voicing what weighed on her helped Alexei put things aside and just mull over them a bit more easily.

"Hardly an auspicious beginning, eh, ma'am?" Gregory muses as he returns to the bridge and hands her a cup of recaf. "At least the Lady's safe, thank the Emperor for that. Won't have many people messing with her considering the kind of guards she has."

Alexei shrugged a little "Crudely put, there will be many more attempts that her bodyguard will be ill suited to shield her against. Though her presence will help in keeping the overt ones at bay at least." She gave a soft smile as she took the recaf. "And I have had better maiden voyages, that is certain."

"That worries me too, ma'am," Gregory says as he sips his recaf. "Like, if you want overt warfare, me and the lads are as good as you can get. If we can see it, we can shoot it, and if it bleeds, we can kill it. But we're not good for the sneaky stuff. I mean, I've had some history on that side of things, but I can't speak for everyone. And then there's the... witchy stuff. Maybe the Choirmistress can handle herself there, but we're just babes in the creches against them for the most part."

He takes another sip.

"Still, no reason to stop fighting. The Lady's a good one, and so are the rest of the people. Can't do everything, but I gotta do whatever I can do."

Alexei nodded a bit "Bridge, ready the ship for Warp Translation on our honoured Guide her command." She briefly turned to issue the standard order and then turned to Gregory again. "I simply hope our good Lady is capable to keep her cool when confronted by those who would seek to ensnare her politically speaking.. An asassination attempt can be cleverly disquised with a duel to first blood as well. Or the duel is used to separate her from her bodyguard."

After guiding the uninitiated through the steps to securely remove the mines through great appeasement of their murderous spirits before removing them, Explorator Arius allowed himself a brief moment of introspection to give thanks to the Omnissiah.

Then he departed for Deck 3, senior visitor quarters to see to the Lord-Captain's guests..

At 15.07 there is a disturbance in the warp, the navigators aboard sense just a moment of squiggly alien-ness and if they look there is nothing to see, the prisoners in the warded confines of the black cells squirm and cry out from their drug induced sleep, it is the astropaths who feel it most intensely as painful alien twisting within their minds. Scarlet and Veronica are disturbed and sickened, Meredith shakes it off easily, Judith Rosha, the new girls from Stone’s Throw, screams and faints but Joko Myanna, the girl who jumped ship from the Emperor’s Glory, just shudders and shakes her head, it seems like it’s not a new thing for her.

Moments later and many thousands of miles away, the Emperor’s Glory transitions into the warp, the nixie displays are reading 1 hour, 3 minuets and 17 . . 16 . . 15 seconds, about time for all concerned to return to the bridge ready for the Pious Lament’s own transition.

.

Alexei opted to just extend her shift a bit, an hour longer didn't quite matter much if her plan was to try and rest up a bit after the transition or well as well she could manage with her tendency to sleep far to light at times. "Commence preperations for warp translation, seal all outward view ports." Was the order she issued with a calm and commanding voice.

Scarlet grunts and clutches her head for a moment as the cry from the warp rips over her, making her clench her teeth for a moment before just shaking it off, giving a soft huff of annoyance. What was that? She sighs softly as the feeling subsides, she was certainly strong enough to get through a little warp interference, but she was suddenly thankful for all the endurance training she had been put through, to harden her body almost as much as her mind. With the feeling subsided, and her choir most obviously in disarray, she called for them to return to their quarters, no good things came from trying to communicate while in the warp anyway, their job was done, for now.

Once she had carried Judith to her quarters and made sure the others were comfortable in their rooms, fussing over her girls a likr a mother might after such a traumatic experience, she goes to seek out Anastasia, the old choir mistress had a stronger mind than most, but her body was starting to degrade, as was the fate of all astropaths, she was worried the alien signal had adversely affected the poor woman.

++Acknowledged, Madame Talionis... Do remember your prayers and wardings.++ the Navigator replied to the spoken command, a subtle flick of thought and instinct silencing the vox link as she allowed her real hand to search along the arm and ceramic clad fingers to curl around the neatly arranged form of the Emperor's Tarot...The hungry, eager presence of the Pious Lament lurking ever at the edges of her mind. The ancient machine spirit, no doubt, well aware of what was to come and sensing something of the potentiality in it... It's many cogitators churning in instinctive preparation for what was to come and what might await them based on the blessed data housed therein.

Her mortal eyes closed then as her third opened and she began to gently shuffle the Emperor's tarot. Her fingers never quite feeling the psycho-active wafers as she worked, her clan's rituals of augury coming to her like second nature as she began to sing of journeys and places past, of dangers witnessed, evaded, or conquered with nothing but skill and will. As momentum grew within her, Cennet began to gently deal out the cards upon the back of her Navis Prima. It's many charts, tables, and references useless for the journey to come and wounding her pride with the acknowledgement of such a reality.

The Great Eye, The God Emperor, The Supplicant...

On and on it went as she drew each new card, each foretelling of what may come at each stage of the journey and focusing her mind and her eye for what was to come. Finally, when the last card was dealt and the last song and legend had been sung... The vox link engaged once more from the Navigator's Throne to the Bridge.

++The Omens are auspicious, Madame Talionis. Please proceed when all preparations are complete.++

There was a confidence in the Navigatrix's voice that could not be missed nor could one miss that distinct energy of one excited for what came next... Of one driven to moments like these. After all, it was for this that she was crafted and molded and for all that her peers may find wanting in her... She would never be found wanting in this most indispensable of duties. Her pride, her sense of self, and all that she hung upon mind, soul, and genetics would not allow it.


18:14, Today: Cennet Melek Shiraishi rolled 27 -- 4 degrees of success using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 75.  Stage 1: Divining the Auguries (Psynicience (+10%) + Rituals).

Additionally, warding against ill tidings/what have you is largely just a declaration of what rituals or preparations we take for the sake of the crew like blasting scripture through the ship voxs, prayer services, etc etc.

This message was last edited by the player at 23:58, Thu 12 Jan 2023.

With just under an hour to warp breach Searlait returns to the bridge, a small entourage with her in the form of Orlaith, Sabrynn, several aids, one carrying her shield and another her lance while she herself comes in with Shireen at her side, the young woman is in a lightly decorated but exquisite ocean blue dress that goes to her ankles.

They make their way to the command pulpit and somewhat amusing to some the young girl takes to the throne confidently and pushes herself back as far as she can in the comically oversized chair and looks almost like this was her spot regardless of the reality.

"Status report Talionis?" she asks XO.

Alexei looked up briefly before returned her focus back towards the task at hand, whilst finishing the last of her recaf. "We're on final preperations to prep for Warp translation."

She turned to the ship's comms officer "Send the message out, all crew ready for Warp transit. Make sure everything and everyone is secured.. I doubt this will be a smooth one." She grimaced a bit as she sat herself down in her chair and secured herself in it and then she took the comms herself, letting her voice be transmitted across the ship.

++All hands prepare for Warp transit, I repeat. Prepare for Warp transit.++ After that she simply looked at her station for a moment as she could feel the massive ship lingering on in the back of her mind before she disconnected her MIU from her station.

Scarlet returned to the bridge with enough time to find her seat, relaxing, though without most of her choir, she would be using her own Psychic might to send any emergency messages that may be required. She never liked sending messages while immersed in the warp; they always garbled from the roiling chaos around them, but she knew that her services would undoubtedly be necessary for a pinch.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 04:12, Fri 13 Jan 2023.

Searlait looks about the bridge and her smile momentarily fades to a slightly angered grimace as she listens to something, looks over the bridge and taps her microbead

As before, Gregory's hand tightens around his stormbolter. Reports come in from the various subordinate officers, which he forwards to Alexei with his free hand even as he surveys the bridge, which is now sealed off by the massive transit shutters.

He glances over at the L-C's entourage as she brings them in; more targets to defend, but at least defending them will be honest work. He barely manages to suppress a snort of amusement as Shireen takes the Captain's throne, then squeezes his eyes shut; he will NOT look bad in front of his boss' daughter, who probably weighs less than the arms-coffer loaded with guns and ammo that he's got beside him.

He takes a deep breath, and exhales.

Then his eyes snap open and his face turns grave. He rises to his feet, nods to Alexei and Searlait, then quickly excuses himself.



As he enters the nearby turbolift down to the main ops center, he begins sending a rapid stream of microbead messages to his team and the duty watch.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:58, Fri 13 Jan 2023.

Alexei noted the activity but thought nothing of it for now, if her attention was required on it the Captain would let her know. When the last of the stations signalled ready to jump she turned to the Captain. "Ready to make the transit Captain, on you're word." She gave Shireen a friendly smile as she had to supress her own chuckle at seeing the girl in the command chair.

Scarlet grimaces as she gets out of her seat, having hoped to start the transit in relaxation, but it appears that wasn't possible. She walked over to the Turbofan lift and headed for deck 10, gripping the railing as she grimaces.

Sabrynn followed behind Searlait's entorage, as was her sacred position. The good Captain had made it clear where Sabrynn's priorities lay should there come a conflict. When Searlait listened to her vox-bead, it was clear that she was displeased by something. Unconsciously, the Celestian Sacresant's fingers twitched toward her savage weapon, but held herself in check for now. She had no desire to cause anyone any distress.

The captain watched the Master at Arms leave she opened the vox once more

"Looking to her bodyguard she softly whispers

Gregory nods as he receives the Lady-Captain's directives. Live captures... he's not sure what their stock of less-lethal stuff is like. Sounds like a job for the High Factotum.

Sabrynn gave the slightest of nods to her mistress, before taking a subtle but significant step closer. A few glances around the shadows in the cathedral ceilings of the bridge, and she was back to her usual intense scowl at everyone and everything that wasn't the perfection of the Emperor.

Time has passed, the nixie displays are now reading 2 minuets and 24 . . 23 . . 22 seconds.

.

++This is the Captain, all hands brace for Immaterial breach++ She broadcasts to the bridge before ensuring Shireen is locked firmly in the restraints of the throne as she sits in one of the reserve seats near the captain's throne.

Scarlet swore as she went for the nearest empty room with a pressure hatch, ensuring it was closed as she prepared herself, physically and mentally, for the ensuing warp breach, breathing as deep and steady as she could manage, reciting the scriptures of her youth and performing the breathing exercises her mother had taught her, warp breaches were arguably the most unpleasant part of being a shipborne astropath, and she didn't have her comfortable quarters to stay in this time. She would have to make due with a hard metal floor and her training, grabbing a pair of padded cuffs without any actual locks, locking it around a nearby pipe as she closed her eyes, she didn't know what she would see or feel this time, but she wanted to ensure she wouldn't hurt herself or others.

It was a little different each time she experienced a warp breach, but always the world felt like it was collapsing in on her, as if reality has shrunk to herself and the infinite expanse, nothing but her memories playing out in its infinite plains, her greatest moments and deepest traumas all on display, playing on repeat in front of her.

With her past experiences with warp breaching rather fresh in her mind, she sat and breathed, ready for it.

OOC: I'm aware that it's not happening quite yet, but given warp breaching is quite intense for psykers and its different for each person, just wanted to throw out what it's like for Scarlet, just in case the DM wanted to be mean or do something with it :P

ne of the problems with a space-borne command center designed to withstand the rigor of void travel is that there isn't a lot of space to sit down, yet one might need to do just that to withstand orders like "brace for impact!" or "warp translation imminent!"

And, as Gregory discovers, it's worse when you have a claustrophobic Ogryn that you can't keep in the command center.

Still, there are solutions to these issues. One of them is a separate, armored cabin with a nice big harness that can hold even Slab. Katyusha takes his mind off the impending transition by encouraging him to join her in singing "The Wheels On The Land Raider Go Round And Round" to distract the gigantic abhuman. The crisis, it seems has been averted.

++This is the Captain, all hands brace for Immaterial breach++

"Oh feth," Gregory mutters. He'd thought to head back inside the command center, but he really, really doesn't want to be anything but stowed and secured when they make the jump into the Immaterium, and there's a long stretch of corridor between him and the nearest berth. Thus, he ducks inside the nearest room to him... and finds himself face to face with Scarlet.

"Hey," he begins, and then he notices something; her eyes are closed, she's securing herself to a nearby pipe, and they could be translating any minute now.

He abandons all thought of disturbing her. Instead, he sinks to the ground, braces against the nearby corner and walls, and reaches up to grab the pipe before quietly intoning the parts of the Voidfarer's Prayer For Safe Passage that he remembers.

"Master of Mankind, smile upon your servant's plight, shine upon him with thy light, Master of Mankind show thy hand, return they servant to thy blessed land..."

She hardly even notices when the Archmilitant entered, speaking prayers to the emperor under her breath, her left hand cuffed the the pipe, making sure she couldn't move away while incapacitated by the transition. A measure of surprise crosses her face as her eyes flutter open, feeling Gregory beside her, his hand brushing against her own, she had worked with him enough that they could be considered friends of sort, colleagues really, but one wasn't picky when facing existential dread, her hand slowly closing around his, thankful for the comfort of another person, as she continued her steady breathing, drawing her knees anxiously up to her chest as she awaits the imminent transition.

Anticipation.

It was always a strange sensation in moments like these when so many of the crew whispered prayers of protection and deliverance from what lay ahead. Still, it was here that her pride was validated, that her duty to her fellow man fulfilled, and the value of her expertise, her knowledge, and her experience all justified. That moment combined with her communion with the greater whole of the Pious Lament through the interface of the Navigator's throne was almost enough to forget the wretched state her body had been reduced to for those same gifts she so reveled in.

Her mind focused, instinctively, on the sensations of the Gellar Field. It felt strong as it tingled over what her mind interpreted as her flesh. In kind, she could feel the thrum of redirected power to only those systems most essential to the task at hand... and the greedy hunger of both the Gellar Field Emitters and the Warp Drive that enabled such a violation and subsequent escape from the constraints of the natural order. She could even convince herself, with some effort, that she could feel the state of the crew though if that was merely perceptions of their warp shadow or an echo of internal auspex read was a matter of some internal debate as she turned her attention then fully away from what was mortal and sane to the immortal and logic defying.

Vision, such as it was, through the lens of her third and blessed eye was a strange affair that she was never certain she might ever truly explain to an ordinary man, let alone one of her kinfolk. Those sensations, those inputs, that might hold and capture the mortal eye seemed to fade away into muted static of greys, blacks, and whites that seemed weakly super imposed over the roiling expanses of the Endless Sea that lurked across a gulf that seemed all too inconsequential distance as she drew one more breath inward and released it slowly. Her mind knowing with certainty that it rolled from her in a cloud of condensation in the cold of the Immaterial Observatory. The steady hisses, beeps, and more esoteric sounds of the arcane machinery incorporated into and slaved to the Navigator's Throne growing more urgent in their tempo as their spirits sensed the soon to be fissure between realities.

"By His Light our way is lit, By His Will we see our souls home, By the Dutiful Will of the Machine, We are protected from disorder and our journey given speed." the Navigatrix whispered to herself and whomever of her kin may be near at hand as she sought the brilliant light of the Astronomicon so as to orient them according to the galactic center as reckoned by the Imperium.


Preemptive roll but just so you all know things are going smoothly. If you'll excuse me, I'll be reducing a piece of wood to saw dust by knocking on it. :D

18:01, Today: Cennet Melek Shiraishi rolled 45 -- 2 degrees of success using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 65.  Locating the Astronomican (Psyniscience +10).

Alexei quietly braced herself, despite the many countless times she had done this she never ever got used to the eery feeling the act of translation into the Warp gave her. She simply gave words to the prayers in silence as she surveyed the bridge. Maintaining a cold steely outward demeanour for the sake of the crew as she held her own anxiety and nerves at this hidden.

Transition is over in a moment, it's not pleasant for most and each experiences it in their own way but mostly it's over very quickly and as the sounds and vibrations of the ship settle down the nixie display resets to 22 days 14 hours 11 minuets and 11 . . 10 . . 9 seconds which is the soonest time you might return to normal space.

Please would everybody give me a Routine (+20) WP test against Warp Travel Hallucinations and just PM me if you fail.
.

It feels just like it did when he translated for the first time; the sensation of phantom vertigo and the world blacking out, as though the universe had disappeared and he was plunging into an endless lightless void of utter cold and silence. Something inside him feels like it was trying to escape his body, pressing against the insides of his head and chest and abdomen in all directions at once and squeezing against his organs. The visceral compression makes him want to vomit, but he isn't that callow youth from Karacallia IV-G any more and he resists the urge to throw up like he did back then.

The warmth on his hand reminds him that he isn't alone here, and as he gets his breathing back under control, he glances over to check on Scarlet.

OOC:
08:26, Today: Gregory Asgard rolled 30 -- 3 degrees of success using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 60.  Warp Travel Hallucination +20 WP test.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:30, Wed 18 Jan 2023.

Scarlet felt reality collapse in on her as she always remembered it, even though she could see the room around her, she couldn't seem to make sense of it, it almost rippled as if it was alive, unnaturally shiny, she hadn't experienced anything like it before. She almost opened her mouth to speak and question what she was experiencing before the walls begin to move, a horrid skittering filling her ears as dread gripped her, the walls weren't different, just buried under a thick layer of cockroaches, a silent scream being caught in her throat as she just hides her head in her knees, completely taken by terror.

Scarlet sat beside Gregory, silently sobbing, her eyes squeezed shut tightly as she's curled into about the smallest ball she could manage, mumbling something about them "being on the walls". Of course, nothing was particularly out of place if Gregory were to look, the walls are the same as the last he had seen them before the warp transition, but that didn't really help the quite terrified and sobbing girl beside him.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:02, Wed 18 Jan 2023.

Gregory wonders if he should say something to Scarlet, but then he sees that she's sobbing, and he realises that no words are needed. There is a faint voice reminding him that he could be taking advantage of her, that it's unprofessional and so on, but he brushes it aside as he settles down next to her, putting an arm around the Astropath's shoulders and guiding him into his embrace. He pats her gently and speaks as soothingly as he can manage.

"Hey, Scarlet. It's okay. I'm here. We're all here. You're safe."

Looking down at Scarlet, he thinks about how someone as sensitive to the Warp as her must feel when she crosses the boundary into the Immaterium, even behind the safety of the Gellar Field. It makes him squeeze her tenderly, reminding her that she's not alone.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 00:15, Thu 19 Jan 2023.

Vormav sat calmly at his 'station' his role on the bridge was limited in general but it did serve as the command center for the whole of the vessel and if there were massed casualties or rioting it was good to be able to communicate with the rest of the leadership without worrying that the vox would go out from Gellar interference.

As the ship lurched and transitioned out of real space Vormav became a bit light headed but quickly blinked the spots out of his eyes and took a drink from his flask to clear his head.

"Well then, lets hope for a good clean trip. The obvious emergent issues not withstanding."

12:19, Today: Vormav rolled 34 -- 3 degrees of success using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 65.  Warp Resistance.

All is calm and peaceful on entering the warp, for a moment at least, then the alarms go off and the screaming starts. Across the ship security troops are on the alert, firstly for signs of disturbance within their own ranks, then tackle the rest of the crew, using non-lethal force wherever possible, fortunately the military can be relied upon to take care of their own. Soon the Hospice begins filling with, attempted suicides, the wounded and a large number of sedated people, the morgue in the Hall of St Gothren receives its first customers and the cells behind the security office also start to fill, mostly for the prisoners own protection. Reports begin to arrive about the more serious incidents, but in general things are better than expected. The Pious Lament has an experienced and well-motivated crew and know how to handle the effects of a warp transition.


.

Harmonia shuddered as the vessel flew into the Warp--she had never felt especially comfortable in transit, despite the best efforts of the Tech-Priests to maintain the sanctity of Reality As It Should Be.

But she knew the rites, she knew the rituals, and with a little effort and getting back to her blessings once the issue with the mines was sorted out, everything would be fine, she was sure of it.

OOC: Succeeded, spent 1 FP to make it happen, currently at 2/4 for the scene

Searlait gently grips Shireen's shoulder as they pass through the event horizon of the warp breech partially in a motion to give comfort but also to restrain her should something happen. When she was younger the crossing of the breech used to cause her to lash out in fear, and it appears this time she managed to keep herself composed.

Whenever she cross over into the Immaterium, Sabrynn said a little prayer to be extra vigilant with her mind and soul. This passage was no different.  Only she had to make sure that no foul Xenos popped out of the shadows to skewer her Mistress at the same time.

She was pleased to see that neither her mind, nor her charge, were harmed during the passage.

OOC Mechanics
08:58, Today: Sabrynn Rose rolled 33 -- 4 degrees of success using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 80. Willpower.

++Translation complete and we are bathed in His Light, Lady Captain.++ the Navigator declared as she rested fully back into the throne, gently shifting the tarot deck to the arm of the Navigator's throne and thumbing the gene lock of her Navis Prima. Each motion so refreshingly numb and distant as she forced her mind to define the boundaries between woman and the greater breadth of the Pious Lament. Another motion soon connected her prized possession to the cogitators of the throne and begin the task of charting the journey in earnest.

The path was unlikely to be direct given the navigational hazards she could anticipate but it was something of value and one more component of her duty as her fingers moved to flag the entry point and other pertinent data such as orientation in relation to the Astronomicon, orbital positions in real space and endless other variables whilst never truly taking her eye of the endless sea stretching out before her on curved horizons. Any weakness of her treacherous flesh held at bay by the endless assault of chymical compounds that would sustain her for the duration of her rotation.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:53, Sun 22 Jan 2023.

++Excellent transition Navigatrix, my compliments++ she sends back before walking around the front of the throne "Well my love should we go home for a spell and let the crew get on with their duties?" she tells Shireen who gets up from the throne and says "First officer you have the bridge" before taking Searlait's hand as they walk from the bridge and head back to their quarters.

Once she's there Shireen runs off either to her room or to look for her other mother while Searlait goes to her office and contacts Asgard ++Any update on our unwanted guest?++

Gregory is still soothing Scarlet in his arms when the call from Searlait comes through. That said, she doesn't seem quite ready to be released for the moment, so he continues patting her while keying up his microbead.

++Asgard here. Ma'am, I passed down word about the intruder and ordered everyone to alert status, but the warp translation happened before we could go too far with it. Once we get everything settled down we'll start a deck by deck sweep. Mr. Vormav's helped a lot by providing us with the pick of his counter-insurgency gear, but the plan is to keep his people and the crew as far from the xenos as possible; report sightings, then send our breachers in to cordon and hopefully take them down.++

Having followed her mistress back to her quarters, Sabrynn tried to be as invisible as possible. Which was hard to do when you were wearing ancient power armor and carrying mighty weapons of war, but she tried her best. This was Searlait inner sanctum, a place to live her private life with her family. Sabrynn very much felt like she was intruding. But for now, until this Xenos invader was caught, she could not afford to leave the Captain unprotected. That would be a failure of duty.

And so, the looming, scarred woman tried to find a quiet corner from which to observe her charges, while still not impacting their leisure overmuch.

++My pleasure, Lady Captain.++

There was a certain relish in Cennet's voice but whether that came from the compliment itself or merely that she had performed to her own exacting standards was a mystery to those beyond the confine of her mind and immediate company. The truth was simply that to be recognized was a sorely needed thing and one intimately coupled with the need to perform again and again to impossible expectations. After all, she had once been thought perfect and fallen from that lofty pedestal through nothing more than the crass betrayal of her own flesh. The least she might do, by such standards, was prove exemplary at the sole task expected of her now.

It was to that end that her attention turned fully back to the expanse of the Endless Sea before her. An endless litany of considerations and calculations playing out within her mind, aided in kind by the arcane edifice and cogitators of the Navigator's throne before finally being translated and transmitted to the Helsmens' consoles. The seemingly endless stream of course corrections necessary to keeping them away from the most dire of threats that might be found in the Sea of Souls and adhering to the, by necessity, indirect route that would bring them to their final destination in time.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:56, Fri 27 Jan 2023.

Alexei nodded a bit to Searlait's orders. As much as she had wanted to sleep a bit, with the sounds of a unfamiliar ship to her during Warp Transit, she doubted she'd get much of it anyway, instead she simply opted to sit in her chair and rest as best she could whilst keeping a watchful eye on what happened there.

OOC. I’m going to move things on a bit here.

The consequences of the transition into the warp, as usual, provoked a certain degree of mental instability resulting in two fires, a riot in the mechanicus temple, one trooper killing his captain, a man destroying files in the admin office, and a small riot on Gabriel St. This sort of thing is expected and for the most part quickly delt with. After several hours Gregory finally manages to coax Scarlet out of the room she thinks is full of roaches and she is then able to carry on as normal, apparat from freaking out on a couple of occasions when she sees a real roach. The hospice and temple are inundated with crew seeking help and solace but it passes quickly and things return to normal.

Before entering into the warp Mr Church, the twist catcher had already prepared a search operation to seek out the missing unregistered communities, with the help of a couple of hundred breachers loaned by Gregory, they also undertook to search for any Eldar that might be hiding in the hidden places on the ship while the entire security contingent made a thorough search of ship proper. Neither missing communities or Eldar were found, a number of mutants were caught and dealt with, one borderline case has been imprisoned pending the Captain’s judgement and two more psykers have been placed in the black cells. Of more interest are the several thousand fruit husks and twenty-two incendiary bombs discovered during the operation.

The fruit husks were all together in space, under the floor of a long and rarely used maintenance corridor, low down on the starboard side, towards the rear of the ship. The fruit had been ‘lelequins’, commonly found across the sector, the tough skin is orangey yellow when ripe, as these were, about ten inches long and four across, the flesh is a creamy pink, shot through with tiny black seeds. Although not particularly tasty they are highly nutritious and one would feed a person for two or three days. In amongst these husks were a large number of rages, possibly clothing from the missing unregistered. On the floor of the corridor, there were fresh scratch marks and gouges where something very heavy had been turned through ninety degrees. Whatever it had been had four sharply pointed feet in two pairs, each foot being about eighteen inches from its partner and each pair being about eight feet from the other. There was no further sign of what the object had been, where it had come from or where it had gone, just that it had initially been across the corridor and had been dragged around to be along it.

The twenty-two incendiaries were a different matter, militarrium issue, with the batch numbers and other identifying information intact, each is a series of interlocking cylinders about eighteen inches long and four wide, they had been discovered mainly by the mechanicus who were carrying out their own search for the Eldar. Each had been placed in a location likely to continue burning once they had gone off. These were not well hidden; some were in plain view and adjacent to much better hiding places.

In the meantime, the Inquisition team had been pursuing their investigation. The body of Lord Harington Velspar was removed from the statis chamber and taken to a surgery in the hospice were the autopsy was carried out by the Chief Chirurgen, Hadrian Kennek. The servitors have been investigated by experts in the Hospice Mechanicum, the scene of the event has been meticulously examined and surviving witnesses have been questioned. All this aided and observed by the Exploritor, Arius Draccius.

The ship had run smoothly through the warp, the Navigator steering a deft, if slightly convoluted path that had avoided any serious incident and now that the transition back to real space was approaching there is the usual air of excitement and tension as the ship was readied.

The Nixie reads four hours, eleven minuets, fifty-eight . . . fifty-seven . . . fifty-six seconds to transit.

Please feel free to react retrospectively to any of the above.

Any hallucination don't persist back into real space.

.

Searlait spent the days between her official life and private life in an unfortunate 14/10 split, coordinating with departments over the search for the Xenos aboard, discovery and disarmament of explosives, the search for mutants, to the clearing of the former captain's quarters.

When the Captain's quarters are declared free Medb immediately goes through the entire space, with her servants deciding what stays and what goes, which room turns from a tertiary waiting room to Searlait's new personal armoury, fifth bedroom to Shireen's practice room. The planning would take hours, the moving and redecorating, days.

On the bridge she would do her shifts, dealing with problems as they appear, occasionally Shireen would join her as well, doing the initial training of being a naval officer and occasionally some crew begin treating her like a good luck charm and enjoy her time on deck and dutifully fulfill her orders as if she were a Solar Admiral walked on deck.

On the 'civilian' side of things the childrens football game gets organised with the tournament beginning 2 days before they drop from the warp, the round robin on the first with each team having two games before the last eight are determined. On the second the teams all play against each other, the victors advancing to the quarter then semi-finals. Shireen's team made it to the quarter finals before losing to a last minute shot and getting 4th place while the finalists are the Launch Deck Furies in their black team uniforms with a stylised fury interceptor logo and the Cathedral Aquilae in their golden yellow team uniforms with a silver aquila icon.

The game is a thriller, displayed across the various screens on the ship's recreation and meals areas. Searlait is sure that massive gambling is taking place but she pays that little mind. In the final minutes the furies have a break away, two players rushing the keeper, passing between them and when the keeper expects a pass then shot and moves but a small girl, barely 10 if her slightly malnourished frame was anything to go by takes the shot into a now wide open space and wins the game. The crowd explodes with the children all celebrating or commiserating.

Taking the field she moves over amongst the crowd of children, shakes all of their hands and makes some small talk before inviting all of the children unto the pitch to celebrate as the crowd cheers for them. Each of the children are given a specialty frozen treat flavoured with fruits and berries and at her demand a fortified with nutrient while those in logistics  were in place to get them and their families their extra rations.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:41, Wed 01 Feb 2023.

High Factotum Vormav will inform the Captain and Crew that he has located the empty dunnage of 27 explosive devices matching the description of those that were found in the sweep of the hull. While he is no expert in military matters the managing of sums happens to be his specialty so he estimates that there are 5 bomb clusters still at large.

OOC: This seemed an obvious connection so correct me if for some reason I think these are unrelated. He will cross reference serial numbers if available.