Hadrian gave a small shrug and nod to her first statement. "I've heard opinions differ depending on who you ask, but I for one like the idea. It got me out of the routine I was in at least."

He took no offense at her refusal of his offer. He had expected nothing less really. But he felt it nice to offer at least. He was technically her physician after all, though he was trying to be a possible friend to her as well. And while he knew there was little he could do but help as he could, he disliked seeing the pain.

"Ah. Sometimes that sort of conversation can be beneficial, a balm to the heart or soul. Sometimes there can be found truths. Sometimes, it's just nice to relax and chat." He smirked a little.

He slowed and looked around as they entered the observation lounge. After a long moment, he quietly said "Wow. How quaint and small." He let out a chuckle and shook his head. "That is an impressive setup, but I'm starting to get the idea that everything on here will be."

He headed slowly for a bench.

"Escape from routine is often all it takes to right the course. Or so I'm told, I've doggedly stuck to my trajectory and charts for some time now."

It was a strange balancing act when it came to speaking with her. Her voice was soft, measured and composed with little tidbits of information in inflection and tone. Her extreme reluctance to show anything of herself only complicating the matter as the few bodily tells of meaning or intent were all hidden away beneath the weight of ceramic, self-restraint and the trappings of station. Regardless, she seemed at least honest in this regard even as she chose her words with a mind for the nautical and spatial terminology that was, for the most part, the breadth of her world and function within the Imperium.

"It all depends on the time then, doesn't it? Still better to do it in good company than to listen as your own voice echoes into the Endless Sea."

The Navigatrix offered with a slight turn of head and glance towards Hadrian. A glimmer of humour again present in her tone as she gently stabbed at the habits that often led her to endless spirals of rumination or obsessive pursuit. She wondered sometimes at the conclusions that arose from some of his questions or examinations. As they arrived at the observation lounge, she turned her attention outwards once more to the plane of stars. The strange afterimage of roiling, crashing waves floating in and out of her mundane vision as her hidden eye interpreted what lay beyond the barriers between real space and the Immaterium beyond. Barriers that felt all too thin at times as the hues suddenly shifted and changed as she slowly took stock of the small gatherings of crew and officers present.

"Try not to let that slip away. It's strangely easy for the appreciation of finery to escape you when it becomes the expectation. A decade or two aboard an Explorator vessel taught me that rather quickly." Cennet said with a teasing note to her voice as she pushed herself to match the path of her far healthier compatriot. The familiar feeling of fatigue grasping now at her heart as will and sheer tenacity continued to force her onward. Still, her posture remained imperiously straight even as the cutting knives of her own wretched weakness continued to hack at back, legs and arms alike.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:08, Mon 19 Dec 2022.

Scarlet sighed and sipped her drink as she listened to the endless banter back and forth between her companions, not being much for talking herself, but she was learning about the other crewmates, slowly but surely.

With a flick of her wrist, she brought the bottle and an ice sphere back over to her and poured herself a second drink, taking a sip as she relaxed back and sighed, her promotion to choirmaster was an unexpected one indeed, she enjoyed the perks that came with it, but before this, she was more in her element. She was of course trained as an Astropath, but that had never been her calling, she was at her heart a fighter, and her skills reflected that she was probably one of the worst at actual telepathy on the choir, but at the same time, she was by far the most powerful member of it, which made her the natural fit for choirmaster, superseding her previous enrollment as a combat psyker on the previous Lord Captain's away team, a position she hopped to get back and have co-exist with her role as choirmaster.

Hadrian tilted his head a little. "In my case it took more than that to right the course, but...it will hopefully be a nice change of pace. And a new environment and group of people, a...much...larger...group of people, to help."

He glanced at her almost-completely-unreadable body and face and smiled nonetheless.

"Very true. I like having friends and hope to make some. Colleagues and co-workers are all well and good, and not everyone can be a friend nor should they be, but...sometimes, having that one person who knows you better than the others around you can help make the difference on a bad day." He paused and then she saw the Missionary in him. "Or tell that something is wrong and needs to be...taken care of."

The smile had slid from his face as he spoke. He did nod at her words, however.

"Good advice. I shall try to do so."

 A wall-mounted vox station (rather than his personal com-bead) crackles with a brief five-note recitation of the opening bar of a notable hymn of praise for the miracles of the Omnissiah before a (somewhat) familiar flat, mechanical voice states "Engineseer Prime Tesla for Chief Chirurgeon Kennek. Please confirm."

The guards at the mess suddenly snap to attention and salute to the latest visitor, who quickly returns it before waving them off.

"At ease lads, we're not on parade here. Is the Choirmistress in?"

"I saw her enter just now, sir. She should be at the senior tables."

"Perfect. Carry on, then."

Gregory strolls leisurely into the mess like he owns the place (which, to be fair, is not too far from the truth), and as he slowly approaches the seats for the senior officers, he raises a hand in acknowledgement to some of the junior officers who are raising a stein his way. Finally, he spots his quarry and slides into the seat opposite Scarlet.

"Heard about the promotion. Congratulations," he smiles. A serving girl comes over and he says "The usual, two glasses," without so much as looking her way.

Scarlet gave him a bit of a side eye, nodding a bit, she had certainly worked with the Master Of Arms before her promotion, It was hard not to when your job was to fight, but she certainly hadn't expected him to be looking for her after she took on a desk job.

"Why thank you, suppose this is the first time we're talking on equal status" She comments and chuckles a bit, downing her existing drink as she places the glass down on the table.

"though..." she says, giving him another glance "I don't suppose you're coming to find me just to congratulate me" she gives a bit of an amused chuckle, looking him up and down.

"What, you mean I can't?" he grins. "It's just... well.

The grin fades, and then he looks at her with a rare seriousness on his face.

I hate to bring up work at a time like this, but as you know, we've got a new Lady-Captain. Nothing wrong with that, except for the circumstances in which we got her. I thought old Lord H would be around forever, but then..."

His voice trails off. Even someone as sheltered as Scarlet ought to know the kind of furore the passing of the late Captain Harrington Velspar caused. For him, it was endless security drills and pointless makework because his men were fighters, not finders. That would be Vormav's job, and he notes that the man is present nearby.

I'll have to buy him a drink after this, he muses.

"In any case, I do NOT want that to happen again, not with a new el-see on deck. Part of that includes being able to secure a room for the Captain, and I think we've got most mundane things locked down. What I haven't locked down is things that aren't mundane."

He indicates the sphere of ice that is bobbing up and down in the glass before Scarlet.

"So I was hoping I could borrow one of your sparkheads for extended secondment to my team; someone who can see things we can't and give us advance warning of pitfalls that we can't get any other way. Can you arrange that?"

She paused to consider his words for a moment, checking her nails and cleaning them out as she gives a bemused nod at this, bringing the glass over to her with telekinesis and taking a sip, more to punctuate his point than anything else. On the topic of seconding one of her juniors to him though, she immediately shook her head "neither of the junior members of the choir is combat rated, normal Astropaths are at best given basic pistol training, much less combat powers." She grumbles a bit before pausing, considering "However, there is one psyker on the ship who is combat rated"

She chuckles a bit and drums her fingers as she considers "I'll have to ask the new Lord Captain for permission of course, but I'm somewhat of a veteran when it comes to being a combat psyker, and we shouldn't need any serious interplanetary communication I can't handle on my own while I'm deployed" She says as she considers, glancing up to him to gauge his reaction "I can at the very least count on myself to come back alive, I think those sheltered girls who make up the choir would crumple immediately after being shot" She comments, chuckling a bit

Gregory's jaw drops, and he pauses for a while to take this in. Scarlet, the ship Choirmistress, participating on sweeps with him? And it's not like he can send her back and ask for another either; she's got a point that most Astropaths can't fight their way out of a gunny sack.

"You're serious about this?" he ventures. "Look, I've got nothing against you, and quite frankly, I don't think I could ask for anyone better. Still, you're the Choirmistress... You're obviously not just a voxcaster, of course, but..."

He's pretty certain letting the Choirmistress catch a slug to the head would be a Very Bad Thing, and that in terms of importance to ship operations she greatly outranks him. But at the same time, having someone like her around could solve a lot of problems, and when you got down to it, at least she would be nearby for him to safeguard.

"Oh, feth it. Pitch the idea to the Lady-Captain. If it goes through, then welcome aboard. I'd be glad to have you," he says. "Need me to go with you?"

She rolls her eyes as she swirls the drink in her hand, before taking snother sip and glancing up at him again "I'm very durable, I may be an astropath but I took... electives, so to speak, I had the full combat psyker training course, though I still chose to be an astropath because it was the way of my family" She chuckles a bit and gives him a lopsided grin "I'm willing to bet I'd have an easier time than you when I'm shot, so you really don't need to worry about me coming back alive, I'll manage it one way or another"

She considered his second comment, but shakes her head "Nah, I got that locked down, already set up a meeting, I gotta recruit a couple extra members for my choir when we're down on world, from rhe local Telepathica Enclave. Our choir is running a little weak and a few more members will pick up the slack" she grimaces a bit at that calling it a choir at this rate was insulting to choirs, it was hardly even a band.

Gregory thinks briefly before conceding the point with a shrug. "Fair enough, fair enough, o psyker of steel," he winks. "A planetside visit, hm. I should see if I can upgrade the old arsenal myself, maybe get you something new as well. Perhaps we could patronize their finest arms emporiums together after you've finished your negotiations with the Telepathica?"

The serving girl arrives with Gregory's drinks. He hands her a couple of Throne coins and winks before sipping from his own beverage, then slides the other one in Scarlet's direction.

She chuckles and accepts the drink, considering his offer "Well, I wouldn't mind window shopping, but I still have my carapace armour and my weapons don't really hold much of a candle to what I can do with my powers" She smiles and takes a sip "Unless they somehow had force weapons, of course, Ill always accept one of those" She said, mostly kidding, force weapons are exceptionally rare after all.

"Force... weapons?" Gregory is a devoted weapons aficionado and he knows about pretty much every pattern of infantry weapon used by the Imperium of Man and quite a few that aren't but this doesn't ring a bell. He tries to think about what a force weapon might be, but he's drawing a blank. Clearly the Sanctioned Psykers he's served with never had to look to their own defense...

"Please enlighten me. Do they shoot beams or something?"

The Imperial Truth was a strange bedfellow to the likes of Cennet Melek Shiraishi as she defied it by her very place in the order of things. She was other and mutant in the eye of the common man and something to be avoided of and spoken only in hushed, terrified whisper. The notion that she might be something more understandable never occurring to many... And such rumination was before the matter of her personal history and pedigree. The perfect daughter, after all, was a failure for something beyond her control. A fact that ate at her endlessly as she noted the shift in tone and expression with one slight turn of head and turned in kind to contemplate the details of her hand.

"Such friends are few and far between that understand that sometimes... a moment's pain is what's needed to ensure that both souls will carry on." She offered after a further moment's consideration of her own appendage. The familiar hues of ceramic, arcane black material, and the delicate flowing veins of gold and vines of blue that adorned the cybernetic system that hid much of the wretched nature of her flesh on display for just a moment before slipping back into the flow of her robes.

"I try to be a font of wisdom where I can. Someone must learn from the mistakes of the supposedly perfect daughter, after all." the Navigatrix replied with a faint note of bitterness that was almost lost beneath the typical self depreciation that such comments often carried. The crackle of the nearby vox earning a curious glance from the Navigator as the hues of emotion shifted to curiosity and surprise.

"It seems like someone rather atypical of your usual flock may need your expertise. A new opportunity." Cennet added with a cheerful, if cheeky note, given the nature of the one asking after him.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:42, Fri 23 Dec 2022.

In reply to Gregory Asgard (msg # 38):

She chuckles and nodded "Theyre weapons of the warp, melee weapons, like a sword or a staff, it allows the Psyker who wields it to channel their powers of the warp through it, making them quite destructive in the right hands" She chuckles a bit and considers "In the right hands, they're far more powerful than any power sword, though, in the hands of a mundane, it might as well be a normal blade" she comments as she continues to sip her drink "Understandably such weapons don't come about often, usually only those in fairly high positions can get their hands on such a thing"

"Weapons...of the warp?" Like any Imperial citizen, Gregory has a healthy fear and respect for the warp and psykers, even if he doesn't express it as violently like others might. However, he has a great fondness for weapons of all stripes, and upon hearing Scarlet describe a force weapon he nods thoughtfully. When you thought about it, it made perfect sense, and it also made perfect sense that a psyker like Scarlet would want one as well.

"Those sound like rare weapons indeed. Now I wonder if there are guns that work the same way, shooting mind bullets at people..."

Hadrian liked the Navigator, though she was a bit strange. He knew was a bit odd himself, so he didn't think anything negative of it. Of course, maybe all Navigators were strange. She was the only one he'd spoken more than a a word or two with. Well...except the one, but that was something best forgotten and not a situation to judge someone, or all other Navigators, off of.

He opened his mouth to answer her when the wall vox went off. His eyebrows rose up sharply as he heard his name. "Interesting. Not a call I would expect, especially so soon in my tenure."

He smiled at her before standing up and giving her a small bow. "Alas, Lady, duty calls, so I must take my leave. Thank you for the company, and the wisdom."

He walked to the wall and pressed one of the button. ++This is Kennek. What can I do for you, or where am I needed?++
This message was lightly edited by the player at 17:52, Fri 23 Dec 2022.

 "During the course of reactivating sealed spaces, anomalous bodies have been located. Extensive auspex readings of the cadavers have been completed and your analysis is required, along with your recommendations." the vox relates, along with the 'you have mail'-esque rising chime that indicates a data-packet being available for use at any suitably blessed and codified medical analysis station.

Hadrian blinked a few times at the wall vox as he mentally processed that. They found bodies? Anomalous ones? Strange. He shook his head.

After only a moment he replied, ++Very well. I will take a look and get back to you.++

He made his way to the medbay to take a look in his office at what data they had.

Scarlet considered his question, thinking back to her training, she had handled a force sword, one used for training, on a few occasions but she hadn't seen anything like that. "I'm unsure, it certainly seems possible, but the mechanics of how the force sword stayed imbued with warp energy for extended periods of time are beyond me, it may be that such channelling has to be done as one solid object and cannot be done for, say bullets. Plus, I have mind bullets already" she chuckles a bit at that one "why do I need a gun to do that for me? the force sword just lets me unleash raw power in a way that normal spells cant, but I don't know if a gun could do the same."

"My pleasure, Master Kennek. May you go in His Light."

It was a particular blessing for, perhaps, the obvious reasons when one considered the source of it but perhaps a welcome one all the same. For her part, burdened by the wretched withering as she was, Cennet was not able to offer much more than a polite incline of her head. The gesture and her tone both carrying a pleasant note of invitation to future discussion and company when the circumstances allowed. Beyond this, however, she made no move to rise as her attentions returned to the vista of stars beyond the armored glass and she allowed, at least partly, for her attentions to shift inward and leave herself alone with her thoughts.

The familiar fusing of her knack for, by any other name, prophecy and simply the knowledge of the habits and routines of her own staff leaving her with the notion that Grund would soon be hovering at the edge of vision and awareness to see her ushered off to some other official task as dictated by the schedules arranged by Madame Myrbald. A fact that she would admit to some eagerness for if only because in duty she found purpose despite the obsessions that had grown from the fears she felt about her own seemingly inevitable degeneration.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:30, Sat 24 Dec 2022.

"I'll definitely keep my eyes open for any of these psi-blasters I find," Gregory says, just as a message comes in over his microbead. The smile slowly fades from his face as he looks back to Scarlet.

"Well, something just came up. If you want to second yourself, you'd best let the boss know ASAP. I'm going to get my team and figure out what's going on."

He polishes off his drink and winks to Scarlet one last time before rushing out the door of the Conquest, heading toward the lift shaft leading down to the Ops Room on Deck 10. He rattles off instructions on the way down, directing his team to meet him there.

As the turbolift doors open on Deck 10, they reveal Gregory flanked by his bodyguard Slab the Ogryn and Katyusha, his eyes and ears. They were in the Deck 4 Observation Dome when the order came down and pretty much just joined up with him on the way there. The others are already there and nod to him as he enters.

"Ma'am, this is Asgard, ready and waiting in the Ops Room. Can you give us an idea of the scale of the campaign you wish to undertake?"

Scarlet swore under her breath as she got voxed herself, getting up and starting to sprint off towards the hangar. "Will do, for now, I gotta get down on world to secure us a choir member, only have two hours" She comments as she goes out of sight, continuing her sprint through the ship halls, narrowly avoiding bumping into other people on her way there.

Ooc: playing it out with GM in PMs

The declaration over microbead that they would be leaving sooner than anticipated earned a frown behind the expressionless mask as Grund joined her finally on the observation desk, a hand extended to assist the wretchedly withered navigator to her feet. With care, she accepted it and rose to her feet whilst her other hand grasped at her staff and hauled it up with her. Wretchedly withered muscles trembling with the effort despite the power they had possessed not so long ago.

There was much to do now in a very short time but this was not so unusual as she released Grund's hand and allowed herself to be led by her assistant back towards the Navigator's Sanctum and all that was contained there. Another hand dipping into the midst of her robes to produce a small case. She turned it carefully in her hand before returning it to where ever it had emerged from the depths of her robes. Every Navigator Clan or House had their own... particular formulations to prepare them for the rigors of their duties but her pride would not allow her to consume them or show anything of herself until such a time as she could be assured privacy. Fortunately, like so many things when it came to her ilk, there was no expense spared and her metabolism was comfortably adapted to quickly absorb and circulate.

For now, she pushed both herself and Grund to make haste.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:27, Tue 27 Dec 2022.