@jbeil@Andreyich@BCTheEntity@KratesisInquisitor Kliment looked at the assembled figures before him, his eyes scrutinising them from their heads to their toes, from the glistening trim of their pauldrons to the finally crafted weapons which each Sister bore; needless to say he was thoroughly impressed, the sight of the Amazonian-like giantess that was Sister Alexa causing an especial swell of his breast as it filled with pride in both the Order and the Imperium which he served. Each of the gathered Sisters were splendid servants of the Emperor in their own right, a worthy force to protect him as he went about his mission, yet there was no denying that more than a few of them seemed wet behind the ears - such things caused him little concern, but were never the less worthy of note.
Confessor Horacio another matter entirely, whilst he was a valued member of the blessed Ecclesiarchy - and indeed the only member that had answered the Inquisitors call for aid - he assuredly seemed somewhat out of shape for one of his elevated position. It was not uncommon for members of the holy church to become somewhat lax in their habits, some eating themselves into a more rotund form as Horacio appeared to have done whilst the worst of them slid deeper and deeper into excesses which no doubt lead to their inevitable fall to the heretical powers of Chaos. The look with which he studied The Inquisitor, although it would be more accurate to perceive it as a gaze into his very soul, told Kliment all he needed to know about the man below the surface.
"Sisters, and welcome brother of the Ecclesiarchy, it is with great regret that I could not have arrived here with more positive news! However since we are gathered here now, on the dawn of an endeavour that could see the very foundations of our faith shaken to the core, I believe that some explanation may be required - something not commonly done by The Emperor's Inquisition."
Rotating his head to the left, the Inquisitor allowed a crack of his vertebrae before fixing them all once more with his sturdy gaze.
"There is a rot within this sector, one that has been gnawing at the roots for quite some time, one that could involve organisations of the Imperium that would better be left alone. I cannot guarantee that all of you shall return alive, but you have my word that I shall do my utmost to make it so. We leave for Athega Tertius now, prepare thyself and follow me."
Just as they had been guided into the chamber by Victorine, they were now guided back out the way they had come and taken once more into the bowels of the Aquila Lander; one-by-one the some twenty-five warriors of the God-Emperor were strapped snugly back into their thrones, secured for take off and landing and any injury caused by either.
Kliment only realised that he had not really told them anything about their mission, having done so inadvertently but giving a mental shrug when he thought about it; there were some things which
should be kept to oneself, even from those most loyal to the Throne. As an alternative he allowed himself to relax somewhat, his leather-tough face taking on a rather serene look as he enjoyed the hum of the void-crafts engines, his lids closing over piercing green eyes, and both hands resting in his lap.
It was not long though before the craft came to a juddering halt, a rush of thruster fire allowing it to hover and then gently hit the surface of the landing deck in a couple of smooth motions, swallowed into one of the various docking bays of the Firestorm-class Frigate
Imperator Gracili Ferro - the
Ferro was a black-painted and unmarked vessel of some twenty-five thousand crew and weighing at roughly six megatonnes, a potent weapon of the Imperium nearly two kilometres long from prow to stern that would see Kliment and his escort where they wished to go.
“Welcome aboard,” announced the Inquisitor with an opening of his arms, “I believe you were confined to the Lander the last time you were here.” It was not a question but a statement, “that is unfortunate, and we shall seek to remedy that immediately.”
As it turned out, chambers had been provided within the ships innards for every one of them, each containing a rough-but-usable bed, enough storage for ones weapons and armour, and a safe-like box in which one may place their most valuable possessions for the journeys ahead. Each Sister (and Mazzini) were shown to these chambers by personnel wearing uniforms as black as the outer skin of the ship, only a red '=][=' showing that they served the Inquisition and by connection Kliment himself. The portly Confessor was also shown the ships primary chapel, a place of contemplation and veneration to the God-Emperor where Ecclesiastic servants roamed with flaming braziers of incense and fire to bless the ship and the servants onboard.
The journey from Taniea Primus to Athega Tertius took nearly three weeks of travel, plenty of time for reflection, training and conversation between the Sisters and for the crew to get used to their overwhelming presence. Indentured into the Inquisition they may have been, but even they revered each one of the Sororitas as walking avatars of the Emperor's faith, bowing their heads as the female warriors passed and muttering prayers under their breath.
Once the ship tore from the empyrean and back into realspace, the Navigator of the vessel having made their calculations as accurately as possible and achieving them with extreme precision, Athega could be seen like a giant blackened orb hovering in the depths of space from any of the view-ports dotting the ship.
Athega Tertius was one of seven planets but was only one of three inhabited or habitable at all, it would be considered a 'Hive World' by Imperial cartographers, but under the leadership of Governor Heidric Von Behner it had also taken on many aspects of a Forge World as well, producing materials and vessels required by the Imperium, as well as sending the worst of its population out into space to be massacred among the ranks of the Guard. The atmosphere was almost entirely made up of a thick smog, filtration systems in the main Hive spires allowing the worst of it to be filtered from the upper levels, but many under-dwellers dying by the thousands due to the greed and disregard of their
betters.
Inquisitor Kliment selected half of the Sisters and Confessor Mazzini, taking them down to the planets surface in full armour and equipped with their entire armament, with Alexandra, Vitruvia and Lisbeth among them. During the interim between launching from his Frigate and landing atop the uppermost landing platform of the largest, highest, spire on the planets main continent – so high that the tip actually pierced the atmosphere! - he made certain to instruct them all on what to expect.
Dressed as he was in a suit of golden-inscribed Ignatus-pattern power armour of his own, making him seem broader and taller by far, the grey-haired Inquisitor flexing his gauntlets and tapping his fingers against the helmet in his lap, he assured them that he did not expect them to encounter violence but that one could never be too prepared.
“Von Behner is a rather frightened old man,” he confided in them all as they moved through space, “not only because he fears the other members of his family aim to usurp him, which may well be true, but because he has no idea what it happening in the lower levels of his domain. When one loses control of ones territories, well, it is correct to fear such things as rebellion or insurrection from the lower depths.”
He paused to eye each of the twelve Sororitas and the Confessor before continuing, as if weighing them each in some unfathomable and unseen way.
“I am here, as are you, because I have received reports of Chaotic activity...rumours mostly, but worth investigation none the less. The Governor believes we are simply visiting for a state visit, to see his Hive and to see to the purity of his people, and in this we must indulge him. If you have anything to voice, I suggest you do it now, we land in minutes.”
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