Xersus turned as the first of the visible members of his retinue arrived, he was aware of the Assassins arrival and presence since he had, after all, requested for them to come along in this situation. Each of them were talented in their own fields, the Callidus was excellent in her ability to infiltrate and eliminate, while her compatriot from the Vindicare temple was equally lethal at range, and was surprisingly more amiable than her sister, but that was neither here nor there. They were both more than capable members that did their jobs well, though it was rather curious why they had never been recalled by their respective temples, and he suspected that the Assassins in general were more than content where they were, but he had his theories behind why these two were, apparently, 'forgotten', so he always kept that in mind and didn't overstep his boundaries with those two, they were a useful resource, but he couldn't just go power mad with them, that would not end well. He did not say a word to betray their presence, instead offering a small gesture that would not be readily noted if someone had walked in unnoticed, but let them know he indeed acknowledged their presence and welcome here.

The first to arrive was the other Psyker in this group, and a man Xersus generally was inclined to like, all around., and he was already facing the man when he entered, noting his presence before his arrival. A fellow psyker and one capable of that curious art of precognition, the Inquisitor respected the man's abilities and prior service in the Imperial Guard, and while he did often employ him for those abilities to see what the future held in store, as much as he could at any rate, he was also a fearsome presence on the battlefield, gifted in pyrokinetics and capable of torching quite a bit of enemy forces. As Sten made his greetings and bowed, he returned the gesture and greeting. [b]"Welcome to the front, Sten. We will begin once the others have arrived, including our blank interrogator, so you may wish to brace yourself in that regard."[/b] He gave the primaris psyker fair warning in that, since it would have quite the adverse affect on the psykers in the group.

The next was a voidborn mercenary he had made sure was employed into his retinue recently. The man was a quiet sort, from what the records and recon had stated, and he could tell the man was nervous, despite the armor that he wore. He took up a guard position by the door without being ordered or asked to, and the Inquisitor offered a mild incline of the head in greeting towards the voidborn Atellus. [b]"Welcome, Atellus Zuriel. I had hoped to meet you before a ride through a contested world, but such things are not always able. I do not stand on great formality, so do not trouble yourself greatly in that regard."[/b] That was all he had to say to Atellus at the moment, since he hadn't dealt with the man before, he had other people to greet and deal with, as they trickled in. Battlefield conditions made such gatherings like this annoying.

A man clad in the robes of a Ecclisarch came in, carrying his own gear, and Xersus placed the name to the face before he introduced himself. Confessor Christus, a man chosen not for his combat skills, but the skills of convincing the enemies of Man to confess their sins to him, which would no doubt provide valuable information to the Inquisition in general. Such a man would serve him well once they got their hands on the heretic they sought this day, but he would have preferred that a chaos invasion had not been going on at the same time, but he suspected the Confessor could defend himself, and he left it at that. Returning the bow to the Confessor, he spoke to that man as well. [b]"Welcome, Confessor. You need not refer to me as Lord Inquisitor, I have not attained such a status yet. Inquisitor when in the fray, and Xersus otherwise, is sufficient. The same goes for the rest of you."[/b]

Xersus knew who was coming next, that blank shadow approaching their room indicated that more than enough. Interrogator Cassius, a feisty and generally disrespectful woman, but one of talent, if it bent on the dark side of what the Inquisition could tolerate before calling for their execution. Her status as a blank gave her more leeway than others might have, but it was a dangerous line to walk. He had postioned himself just so that the blank field, while painful, would not be too much so. He didn't betray so much as an instance of this though, and gave her a feint smile in return towards her sarcastic commentary. [b]"A pleasure to have you arrive, as always Interrogator. I've had something forged for you, here."[/b] The feint smile did not leave his face as he tossed her a collar device, apparently elegant and made to fit her neck perfectly. Even if she 'accidentally' dropped it or brought violence to it, it would cause no damage. [b]"That device restricts the blank field you emit, so when amongst the retinue in situations like this, or not in combat with psykers, your notable presence shall not interfere with the powers of those psykers among us."[/b] Her pet warranted no response, and he gave her no indication of his innate reaction to a blank field, just because he knew she enjoyed seeing such things.

The collar would prove a relief to the psykers in the room, as well as that uncomfortable nature she caused in normal people as well, and allowed the Inquisitor to focus on the next person who entered. An Explorator of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and a bit of a renegade in their eyes as well, he would fit in well enough in the retinue. His technical aptitude and varied skill set from his bodily replacements would prove helpful, as would his experience exploring the galaxy in search of new technologies would help. He had his own goals, which the Inquisitor recognized, and suspected they would not necessarily harm the Inquisition, so he remained amiable towards the man, returning both gestures of the Cog and Aquilla, working with enough members of the Adeptus Mechanicus to be able to do so. [b]"Welcome, Magos Errant. Your talents will be most welcome here, as too will your experience, I have no doubt in that."[/b]

The next to arrive was one Edwin Venator, a talented medic and, according to the recommendations that he was given, an even more talented torturer. The man was pleasant enough, but he knew the records and first hand accounts of the man, according to those very same recommendations, that indicated he had a split personality, in short, that took over when doing that grim work of torturing the secrets out of men. He would be useful if the Confessor's own arts failed. But his primary work would probably be as a medic for now, considering they were in a warzone after all, and injury was likely to occur to some of the more lightly armored individuals, if they did not act carefully. But he greeted the man as he made his own in turn. [b]"Your presence is welcome indeed, Venator. Your medical expertise shall be put to good use, in more ways than one, I suspect."[/b]

Last to arrive was the twin sisters, dressed as the Repentia did and bearing Eviscerators, whom went about their own methods of greeting him, which he respected as he did the others. They acted pleasant enough, even childish in some ways, but were absolute nightmares to the enemies of the Imperium, should they ever drift close enough to the screaming teeth on this blades. More than one foe had met their end on those weapons, and they often took to overseeing executions of heretics and their ilk, such as deserters here, to pass the time. They had their uses, and he applied them to the most benefit possible. [b]"Welcome, Mary, Yoheved. Your tardiness is not at all a problem, we haven't begun yet, I planned for extra time since I expected delays from the artillery and such. We will actually begin the briefing a bit ahead of schedule."[/b] With that, he activated the holo console and the image of a raggad man, clad in ruined and defiled robes of a Navigator were worn, and the pict showed him firing a laspistol on Arbites forces, third eye clearly visible in the image.

[b]"Ladies, gentleman, this is Navigator Astradas, of the House Mercator of the Navis Nobilite. he served aboard several smaller cargo freighters with distinction, and never showed a iota of taint until he vanished several systems away from here, stranding the cargo ship and leaving it unable to flee Dark Eldar raiders. We found no survivors or bodies. But the Ordos Xenos will handle that aspect of matters, and inform me of any developments from the remains of any survivors, if they are fortunate enough to catch them before they flee reach. We want this man alive, and have traced him here."[/b] A series of vids and images were listed, showing the evidence of his violence against the loyal Imperial servants who attempted to apprehend him, from men who had seemed to have their lifeforce itself torn to shreds, for they were dead without a single physical injury, to those who seemed to have been reduced to piles of bones and charred meat, indicating the sheer danger this man had posed so far.

[b]"He is, clearly, a great threat to anyone who crosses his path, but this is not why we seek him. He is known to have a information regarding an artifact of terrible power that could unhinge the restrictions Daemons have upon entering the material plane, returning ancient princes and other legendarily foul creatures from the warp, under its wielders control. This cannot be allowed in the hands of the Chaos forces here, who I suspect are chasing the very same man as we. While it is easy to think of his as a psyker, he is more a window into the Immaterium, and should be treated with more caution than a renagade psyker. I suspect your Blank field, Interrogator, will still work wonders, even more so, it might be lethal to him, so only employ it if he will otherwise escape out of our reach, should you be the one to corner him."[/b] The vid and picts changed to recent ones, obviously taken in orbit of this planet, laying out a blasted landscape and hive that was being fought over, and it was clear this was current and up to date.

[b]"He has been tracked down to this Hive, where reports of renegade pyskers have been made. The remains match those left in the past by this renegade Navigator, and rumors of a three eyed monster in the guise of a man by Imperial Guardsmen are also noted to have originated from this front, so we are going here. This is a warzone, and we will be traveling in a series of underground tunnels, dug large enough for transports to run through safely, much safer than surface travel. From the forward command post you see about a mile outside the hive outskirts, we will continue on the surface, and from there, we work through the Hive, looking for this renegade. Questions?"[/b] He folded his arms behind his back, looking from each person to the next in the Retinue, looking for any questions they might have before undergoing the trip to this Emperor forsaken hive.