Stukov was silent once Smiles walked out, having declared him her apprentice and started giving him orders. Sleep, while he agreed with it, was something he would get to when he got to it. Secondly, food would also wait until he was ready to eat. Probably closer to the mission, so he would have longer before hunger set in, especially if it happened during the mission. The cold was receeding as he calmed down, thankfully, and he closed his eyes after laying back down. Sleep could happen now, as he put up a mental blockade around his mind as sleep overtook him, to protect himself and hopefully prevent sub conscious lapses into the warp. Just because the power was there, did not mean he would let it run rampant in his life. It would be a tool, nothing more, and with that determined resolution sleep took him completely. His dreams, if you wanted to call them that, were a series of nightmarish flashbacks to various points in his life. Some linked to his past, some had no relation to anything he had ever dealt with, some were just amalgamation of what he had seen and done period. It was not restful, not mentally, even if he was physically resting. It would be a long few hours.

[center][b][Several Hours Later][/b][/center]

Stukov opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling and groaning as he tried to sit up. The crack of ice made him fall backwards, noticing the encroaching ice and frost had returned while he was asleep. Great, he had to spend time defrosting or breaking the ice away. As soon as he had come to, however, the temperature immediately started rising and thawing the room. He seemed to have stabilized and he was able to break free in a decent amount of time. Looking over his now frozen uniform, he glanced out the door, once he was able to open it, to find a clean copy of his clothes laying outside. Grabbing the bag and closing the door, he went about changing. The full carapace was thrown on over his uniform, and the coat over that, and he slung the rifle after checking that it was undamaged. It was good, and he loaded it and switched the safety on. Next was his sidearm, also undamaged, and the same checks were made. Loaded, chambered, but safe. After that, he realized he did not have his knife anymore, it had been lost when hitting the heretics the prior day. Damnation, he needed a new weapon for hand to hand combat now.

Might need one of those psyker melee weapons now that he was cursed with these powers. Not a staff though, he would prefer a sword or axe or something simple. Nothing two handed, no need for some phallic symbol to make up for the fact that most of all humanity loathe psykers. A sword would suffice, something sturdy, simple, and a working man's blade. Pair it with his pistol and save the rifle for high value, long range targets. Or give it to Sis, replace that bolter of hers with something more dangerous. He might do that rather than carry around way too many weapons. But he finally came out of the room, just about the same time the Sisters were scrambling for their Cannoness as she walked in, and a yawn could be heard from the Armsman as he walked down the stairs. If someone didn't know better, he would have obviously been waiting for that moment to come out just to come across the way he did. But Stukov was no seer of the future, that was more Smiles deal, so he had just gotten lucky, or unlucky, with his timing.

[b][color=9e0b0f]"I suppose I should thank you for the expedient care after the last mission, ma'am?"[/color][/b] Stukov was standing his ground, and most of the people present would see nothing abnormal in his stance or the way he carried himself. Smiles would, but she knew the power sitting inside him that now kicked on, which left him far more visible in that regard. Regardless of the Cannoness' answer, he turned and walked over to sit opposite of Smiles, grunting as he sat down. The full carapace would protect him better, no doubt, but was still probably the weakest armor here, compared to everyone else. But hell, he was mobile still and carried some good gear otherwise, so it was a moot point. There was some food, which he poked and nibbled at, waiting for the briefing to kick off and so he could figure out what his role would be during the mission.