[color=ed145b][i]Is the cloak still up? Yes, good, very good.[/i]

Valius needed the cloak to stay up. Not a physical cloak, mind; the cloak was one over his soul, disguising it from the daemons and such of the Warp, though as things were, he was still working on ensuring it remained active passively on a constant basis. He was quite sure he'd rather be able to manage it himself, and not have some upstart Lexicanium assigned to him all the time, getting in the way of his work as Forge-Adept.

Unfortunately, there are many reasons becoming a librarian is such a tough ordeal, not least of which is the sheer amount of time and effort involved in mastering one's mind and soul, moreso for someone of Rooke's particular inclinations. Whilst he had received a certain amount of focus from the chapter librarians to ensure he was not utterly eliminated by the Warp, and had even installed a psychic hood into the metal of his own head to maximise his own safety and enhance his flowering powers (against Codex regulations, mind, though this was an afterthought when he had full access to every relevant component anyway), the cloak was ultimately what mattered, and it was unreliable at best for the time being. Reliable enough by now, at least, that a permanent escort was not deemed necessary, but far too often for his liking had he gotten drawn into his mechanical work, only to feel the Empyrean begin pressing against his mind until he set up the cloak once again. He needed to focus on it quite a bit for the time being, as described to him by his psychic superiors, and that had taken his focus away from what would always be his primary passion, the blessed circuitry and metallics of the Omnissiah.

Like now, for instance. He'd not had much time for actual innovation in the few years since his psychic abilities had abruptly come into being, but even his routine maintenance and blessing of chapter machinery was taking longer than it had in the past. Once again, he confirmed that the cloak remained active- [i]yes, very well[/i]- and continued to bless the components of the heavy bolter sitting before him as he reassembled it, examining their partial machine spirits to ensure each was fully functional before attaching it in the appropriate location and moving on to the next.[/color]


[color=ed1c24]Constantine hissed as his servitors once again removed the flesh that had begun to grow over his servo-arms. With that out of the way, Consantine Drustos, Master of the Forge of the Warp Skulls, went to look for his Forge-Adept, Valius Rooke. As he walked through the halls of the Bastion of Arrogance, letting out a sigh as he looked at the various mutations sported by some of the marines that were present. [i]"We do need to find a way to stop these mutations, or at least be able to control them somehow,"[/i] he mused to himself, letting out a sigh as he entered the room where the Forge-Adept was.

"Working on a new project Valius?" He asked to the Space Marine, placing a hand on his shoulder and turning him around so that the Forge-Adept would focus on him and not on whatever it was that had been taking his mind for the last few moments. "Regardless of that, Chapter Master Rokurou has summoned a gathering of the chapter's veteran marines, and I'd like you to come with me Valius," said the Forge Master, waiting for his Forge-Adept to process the information that he had been given.

Once the Forge Master had recieved an answer, he turned around and began making his way towards where the Chapter's leadership was to meet. Even though he didn't look it, his face set in a neutral stance, Constantine felt some aprehension and anxiety at the coming meeting; if they couldn't find a solution to the coming mutations problem, their fate would be to be branded as renegades, and no matter how close their ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus were, the Martian Priesthood wouldn't help them if an Inquisitor declared them Excommunicate Traitoris.[/color]


[color=ed145b]Valius did not appreciate being interrupted in his work, ever. This was true prior to the onset of madness, and it was especially true even after it had been cured. However, since it was his direct superior interrupting him, he was forced to make an exception for the time being. He half-listened, half-focused on his psychic cloak- [i]still up, all is well-[/i] and then considered whether his own input was necessary or relevant for this meeting. After all, he could be working on more heavy bolters in the time the meeting took. Still, he figured, he should probably oblige the Forge Master, since Constantine seemed to be one of the few who considered Valius to be more than just a tool to be pointed at whatever needed it.

'No projects, merely maintenance, sir,' came a burst of sound from the vox emitter that had replaced Valius' real voicebox long ago. 'Give me a few moments to finalise the blessings on this weapon.' He turned back to the heavy bolter, finished the maintenance and blessings, confirmed the full recalibration of the weapon's spirit, checked his cloak again- [i]still up, good-[/i] then stood and followed Constantine out of the room and through the corridors of the Bastion. As they walked, Valius belatedly realised that he hadn't even been told what the meeting was about; thus, to ensure that the few lesser Marines they passed did not overhear, he began to communicate with Constantine in Techna-Lingua, the noise incoherent static to any who were not blessed by the Machine God as the Techmarines were: [i]What is the purpose of this meeting?[/i][/color]


[color=ed1c24]"Ah, understood Valius, and my apologies for interrupting you Brother. My mind was on other matters," said Constantine, having remembered that Valius always had a tendency to detest being interrupted, something that the onset of his psyker powers hadn't changed. He nodded when Valius asked for a few moments to finish putting the Omnissiah's blessing on a heavy bolter. He waited for Valius to be done before he began to make his way towards the meeting. He let out a sigh at Valius' question and switched his voicebox to Techna-Lingua so the other Warp Skulls wouldn't be privy to their conversation.

[i]This meeting is to decide our future, Valius. As I am sure you have noticed, mutations run rampant through our brothers in the Chapter,[/i] said Constantine, the noise sounding like incoherent static to the other marines around them. [i]This has, of course, degraded the quality of our geneseed; were a member of the Emperor's Inquisition to see us in our current state, they'd suspect the taint of the Ruinous Powers,[/i] said the Master of the Forge to Valius. [i]If such accusations were made, they would surely mean that we would be branded as Renegades, and no matter our ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus, there would be nothing that'd protect us against such a claim. So, as I said in the beginning, this is to decide the fate, and future, of the Warp Skulls,[/i] said Constantine as they reached the chamber where Rokurou Caras held the meeting.[/color]


[color=ed145b]Valius nodded at this revelation, then sat and listened as the Chapter Master of the Warp Skulls made this point once over in his speech, in turn revealing the wings that had seemingly sprouted from his back. Intriguing, but not entirely unexpected when even the pre-Founding Veterans had begun to mutate; regardless of how pure the quality of the geneseed held back for chapter purposes, it seemed little to no difference would have been made to the number of mutants currently present in the chapter, when half the chapter was apparently untainted beforehand anyway. Valius checked his cloak- [i]it is active, all is well[/i]- then continued to listened for a few moments, enhanced hearing straining to catch the Chief Librarian's quiet words to Rokurou from his position beside Constantine, and less-so to hear the low, near-blasphemous voice of the Vanguard Company Captain say his piece. Formulating the argument in his mind, and making absolutely sure the cloak was still up so that he could dedicate maximum focus to his speech- [i]the cloak is up, excellent, very well[/i]- he finally began to speak the obvious, vox noticably louder and more monotonal than the voices of any other speaker before him.

'We can say we will fight for our lives as much as we please. Indeed, with unlimited resources, the staying power of an entire Astartes chapter within the Bastion of Arrogance would be nigh-infinite, even if the entirety of the Ordo Hereticus were brought to bear against them. However, we physically cannot possess unlimited resources in the inevitable siege situation that would occur, even if the Bastion avoided orbital bombardment as a potential fate. We cannot produce an unlimited number of bullets; we cannot perform an unlimited number of repairs; and we do not have unlimited food supplies. The end result if we were to fight back directly would be the chapter's destruction, even if it took a century or more to occur. If we are to survive, we must either flee whilst we can, or ensure the Inquisition as an organisation never discovers what has become of us.'

He once again checked his cloak- [i]no, do not fall, stay up[/i]- then fell silent, observing through artificial eyes how each leader figure reacted to this blunt statement. Incidentally, he noted upon his helmet's communicator the arrival of a notification, from one of the attached Adeptus Mechanicus Magoses to himself and the other leaders, of an unidentified ship approaching the Bastion. This drew his interest for but a moment before it returned to what was being said, and to his cloak- [i]it remains in place, all is well.[/i][/color]


[color=ed1c24]Constantine let out a soft sigh as he listened to the speech made by the Chief Librarian and of one of the Vanguard Company Captain who was, surprisingly, one of the few unmutated marines. Refocusing his mind on the discussion at hand, he was abou to speak when he was surprised by Valius himself giving his own opinion on the situation. For as long as he had known the Forge-Adept he hadn't been very adept at communicating with other marines, and the fact that he was speaking to those gathered for the meeting surprised Constantine considerably.

He was silent for a few minutes, considering what had been said so far. The words of Medeis worried him, for while the Master of the Forge held no love for the Inquisition he knew that they held considerable power, and the fact that -as much as it pained him to admit it- counting too much on the support of the Explorator's Fleet wouldn't amount to much in the long run, especially if they were to be declared renegades. 

On the other hand, Skyrax's words were foolish. No Inquisitor would stand for a chapter with so many mutations such as those present in the rest of their brothers, declaring them heretics on the spot. Furhtermore, his suggestion of taking out the Inquisitor alarmed Constantine. [i]It's one thing to have a dislike for an organization such as theirs, but to outright murder another servant of the Emperor...[/i] he mused, his thoughts interrupted when he noticed a communication sent by one of the Magos of the approach of an unknown vessel.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he turned his thoughts towards Valius's suggestion and, as much as it pained him to admit it, the Forge-Adept was right: in their current situation, it was impossible for them to not be branded as renegades or as tainted by the powers of the Warp and yet, fighting was impossible. As such, escape was their only option left.

Clearing his throat so that the gathered marines would listen to him, Constantine turned to look at each one before he settled down on the Chapter Master. "Chapter Master, as much as it pains me to admit it, Valius is right," he said before he turned to look at Medeis and Skyrax. "While I mean no disrespect towards the honored Chief Librarian and the Captain of the Vanguard company, I think that, if we are to survive, our course of action shouldn't lead us to a direct confrontation with the Inquisition," he said clearly for all to hear. "Fighting them would get us regarded as traitors, and that would rob us of our allies in the Explorator Fleet, while letting the Inquisitor stand judgement over us all would surely lead to the same fate," said the Forge Master, setting his hands down on the table. "As such, I propose that we flee as Valius has suggested. It would give us time to try and look for a possible cure for the rampant mutations within the Chapter, and were that to fail it would give us precious time to evade whatever forces the Inquisition would send towards us," he finished, waiting for the reaction fo thsoe present in the room to his words.[/color]