<Earlier> "Greetings Captain, I am Gansukh Oyoma of the White Scars, and I shall be your Stormseer for time being," the Scarred One smiled and took Varuuk's hand, greeting him properly. "I hope that I'll fulfill your expectations and bring honor to the Khagan's name. And have no fear, we of Chogoris have never been much for glory, the different things drive us. Politics are not one of them," his smile widened a bit as he spoke, the scar on his face twisting it into a visage of friendliness despite what some might think. "I will follow your lead Captain and provide advices as is per my role as a...Librarian. As for the Inquisitor, I'm yet to meet him but when taking in account the company he's having, I'm sure he's quite an illustrious man." <Now> Gansukh stood alongside the others, leaning against his staff. He was somewhat tired, having to fight off all those yaksha attempts at gaining a foothold in the vessel during the trek through the Warp drained him a bit, for these attacks were unrelenting as if the gathering of the souls onboard was simply too much for the neverborn to ignore. Most likely of cases and the one that caused him most effort to stop, alongside the promising human psyker of formidable power. @Vulpas @Donairian "I'm knew among you, so I trust you to make that decision better than me," the Stormseer replied to the Crusader, not wanting to interfere with any pre-established proceedures this retinue might already have. Instead, he turned to the human psyker. "Sir Cooper, would you help me ennact a prognostication ritual?" Gansukh asked as he moved to the corner of the room where he knelt down on the ground and took out his items. He started drawing inticate symbols on the floor, markings of the old Chogorian tribesman that helped them peer through the mist in order to glimpse at the future. He also took out a small lether bag and spred its contents across the drawn symbols, bones and other grisly parts dropped out seemingly at random, but Gansukh knew better. However before using his psychic powers to start with the ritual, he waited on Cooper's reply. If the man was willing to lend a helping mind to matter, he would try to lead him through it the way he too learned how to do it properly. If not, he would do it himself and try to see if there were any hidden dangers waiting for them on the surface of Tyran.
With his red eyes lensed clicking audibly Lanius made a sort of garbled nose coming from his artificial voice as he was not entirely pleased by what he had seen on the map. The largest settlement was built over Mechanicus Facilities, it did not bode well in his mind. If it were Mechanicus they would have contacting the wider Imperium by now or at the very least would have contacted the ship. Perhaps their current status was severely limiting and they were unable to even use a vox. Considering the fact that Tyran was supposed to be utterly wiped clean of all life he could perhaps understand survivors being extremely limited in their options. Then again the Tyranids cleansed a planet of all biomass not technology. This truly troubled him as the mere thought of heresy against the machine on such a scale caused his very being to ache with disgust. He suppressed the emotion though as he was told of his being responsible for the xenos while they are on the ground. He supposed he should be honored but in truth he did not entirely enjoy the idea of pet sitting for the Inquisitor while on the ground. His experience with the Starlen aboard the station a few weeks ago did little to change his opinion of xenos. Petulant creatures thinking they had a choice in anything here, annoying at best when they speak he supposed. Though he was not a single-minded brute and saw that harming them needlessly would accomplish nothing. Perhaps that is why he was chosen to supervise them, or it could simply be the elecropriest trusted another adept of the Mechanicus more than the others here. Lanius could understand and respect such thought processes. Then there came the deciding of who among the group should lead the talks with the local humans. He personally did not see himself preforming well in such a role, he was aware that the glory of the machine can be unsettling for normal humans. It could not be helped, irrational base fears caused the majority of mankind to cling to their flesh. Back to the topic of who should lead he also felt an Astartes might be a poor choice. As awe inspiring as the space marines were he felt they may be poor diplomats, that was especially true considering the fact that they are deathwatch. So an unaltered human would be the best choice in his mind, he feared he did not know enough of the few that were here to make a choice of who would be best though.
As the Inquisitors spoke Frederick kept quiet, his eyes closed, holding his force stave at a sideways slant across his chest he meditated on the glory of the Emperor as he purged the memory of the Daemons from his mind. Breathing softly he was mentally holding their very image over a burning candle and envisioned them melt into nothing pushing aside thoughts of catharsis which would allow the escape of the corruptions seed. outside of his thoughts he could hear the voice of the other Psyker present the White Scar Librarian Gansukh Oyoma, with a sigh he eased himself out of his meditation pushing away his thoughts, opening his eyes he looked at the Librarian quizzically. 'I may lend you my voice, but I am no choir, mine alone will not grant any discernible difference in the scrying.' Frederick watched as the Astartes moved into one corner of the room, kneeling down Cooper observed intently as the Librarian began writing glyphs onto the floor then scattering an array of offerings among them. He keeping his force stave slanted across his chest walked over and sat cross legged on the opposite side of the ritual to Gansukh not breathing a word as he did so, instead keeping a low but audible sound of soft breathing as he closed his eyes in meditation again. Even though the manner of ritual was unfamiliar there were rituals of purity he could undertake to compensate namely to tilt his head forward and grip at his Aquila charm with one hand he gingerly took off his force stave, thoughts of the Emperor would keep his uninitiated mind safe in this ritual. @Colapse
Phyrrus listened attentively to the briefing, although his concentration was often interrupted by an annyoing sensation on his face. The recent struggles had left scars, of which not all had healed perfectly. Far more than by any remnants of past battles, he was increasingly irritated. This amalgamation of humans atop a world that was for all intents and purposes supposed to a barren rock seemed perplexing. Moreover if they had come into contact with the alien menace that caused the planets demise an all out purge of the population might be in order. Onehundredthousand dead would be a small rounding error by Terran standarts. Phyrrus had taken part in the cleansing of terran hive towers housing millions and he would so again for these sacrifices kept the imperium alive. All of this was troubling indeed and would have to be reported to his superiors when possible. Humans where none should be, xenos aboard an inquisitorial vessel and now to add insult to injury, walking arround free of their remaining shackles. All of this came close to treason and heresy, but he would restrain hinself for now and be content with carefully observing what was to come. This did however not stop Phyrrus from voicing some objections. Deliberately, he raised both hands in a commanding gesture and spoke:"Whoever conducts the diplomacy is of little concern to me. What happens if peaceful contact fails concerns me a great deal. We should devise a well thought out backup plan for exfiltration and retribution in case we deem the population to be less than pure. Lastly I belive that it is callous to leave the Xenos to be held in check only by a shocker. The presence of aliens is already problematic enough. What if the locals break into panic at the sight of xenos?
@KorCharon @TuskatheDaemonKilla Looking to Phyruss Red could see and agree with the Sentinels concerns. "Agreed a fall back plan will need to be made incase things go wrong, For our xeno situation though...." Looking to Lanius Red looked to ask him a question. "Lanius would you mind having two others with you to help watch over yourself and the xenos in case worst comes to worst and they attempt to escape or attack you?" Red asked looking to the techpriest. after a answer would come he would put his chin up thinking of a way to help alievate the problem of possibly panic amoung the humans. "A idea comes to my mind possibly since we will be taking the thunder hawk and valkyries down is to possibly half ourselves into two groups one watching after our route of exit being the thunder hawk and the other to do reconnaissance and diplomacy with these humans on the world." Red suggested a plan coming into his mind.
Earlier, to Varuuk's back as he walked away when the device exchanged owners once more, Alnar scowled. "I'll believe it when I see it." He still didn't trust humans but there was still an inkling of hope. He spent the rest of the time locked inside his quarters. During the briefing the Corsair was standing out of the way of immediate attention."I guess you beat them into submission like you usually do." Alnar commented after Phyrrus under his breath. He produced a flask from his coat, taking a sip before it disappeared in his coat again.
After the fight: "Well it dident go exactly as planned," Tyr said with a half shrug as he accepted the captains hand to stay diplomatic, "Though orks are as complex as they are simple" Briefing room After not just one or two, but five incursions during the travel, Tyr could not exactly say that his general comfidence in the inquisition had been in any way strenghened, the Allfarthers protection surely vaning for those of consort with xenos, one ironpriest could have held the gellerfield more stable alone, Though Ofcause it was allways a worthy challenge to fight the worst of mankinds foes. So to say Tyr was in a light mood during the briefing would be a great overstatement, especially when hearing that the xenos where not even to wear the least failsafe equipment, Though he would swear No oath to their safety if they pushed their new found boundries, But Tyr kept his silence with a cold face, there where foes of man to slay, and maybe even unlikely survivors to save.
Lanius looked to Red and nodded. "I would not mind additional support." More trustworthy individuals to assist him in managing the xenos would be appreciated. If the creatures did try to escape on their own there would be no escape off the planet as far as he understood at the moment so that wouldn't be an issue. He did however value his life and recognized xenos ganging up on him while alone with them was a possibility and for all the blessings of the machine he still wasn't a particularly talented warrior. Or at least in his own opinion, he was unsure what others would think of him when it came to that. @Vulpas
@Uriel1339 Goreparan's finger twitched stubbly upon hearing that any of the foul xenos that were a hindrance were not to be killed. This entire diplomacy thing was not something he was suited for , at least not one where he would have to abide xeno's he counted kill if they were to hinder the objective. The new additions to their motley band hadn't improved the minotaur's impressions either. Aside from the moment of action when the gellar field had been breached and the minotaur had finanly had some decent opponents to fight the rest had been dull, boring and as far as he was concerned a waste of time. Having the most of the questions he wanted to ask be asked by another the Minotaur mostly kept his silence. Goreparan only briefly asked "How much do you want us to reveal when asked about our selves?" before shutting up. The whole situation of finding an inhabited planet instead of a dead one only reinforced his views. At this point the sooner they go this mission done the sooner he would either be told parts of the truth or piece it together himself if for no other reason then to alleviate his boredom and test his theories.
~~ The Darkest Night - Narrator - Orbit of Tyran ~~ @Wata - Alnar, Eldar (M) Corsair Reaver @Maleth - Felthernia Nar'Therena, Starlen (F) Assassin @Taec - Laeris, Dark Eldar (M) Trueborn ----- @Colapse - Gansukh Oyoma, White Scar (SM) Stormseer @Tamu - Goreparan, Minotaur (SM) Apothecary @Grall_Stonefist - Tyr Nosebreaker, Space Wolf (SM) Grey Hunter ----- @Vulpas - Red Tarsinis, Human (M) Crusader @TuskatheDaemonKilla - Lanius Skyruss, Human (M) Tech Priest @BadDo9 - Denton 'Longfang' Reach, Catachan (M) Jungle Fighter @KorCharon - Phyrrus Ataraxus, Terran (M) Palantine Sentinel @Donairian - Frederick Cooper, Human (M) Primaris Psyker "As much as you like." Marcella said decisive. "If they accept or know the way of the Imperium, we shall evacuate them into more central core worlds and have each individual properly tested. If they defy us or even wish to fight, then your sole priority will be to retrieve whichever data you can from them, and the facilities below. Feel free to evacuate if necessary, we would just bombard them from orbit, as it seems there are no vessels in the system that could threaten us. Scans also indicate an absence of macro cannons or similar." She added with a nod towards Goreparan, letting the group now head off. ~~ The Darkest Night - Narrator - Prognostication ~~ @Colapse - Gansukh Oyoma, White Scar (SM) Stormseer @Donairian - Frederick Cooper, Human (M) Primaris Psyker Gansukh and Frederick found a corner spot with as little corruption as possible from the warp assailants they suffered previously from. Although divination was not of the Primaris' Psykers primary talent, he could aid the Stormseer in sheltering himself from dangers and keeping him close to the light of the Emperor. And as Gansukh finished his mental preparations, both had been seated across one another, their two regular eyes closed to open their inner third eye and take their minds to another plane of existence, through the warp into a potential tomorrow. Visions were known to not be very revealing, but tricky to interpret and understand. As such both prepared for the unpreparable, after all they could not gauge what they would encounter. As their defense was at its peak, the darkness of uncertainty cleared into an image of possibility. The visions were fast and hard to maintain for longer than a mere second. Gansukh traversed careful in the trance, yet attempted to manifest stronger to slow down the passing moments. Life. This world is flourishing, yet it was supposed to be devoured by the Tyranids. Technology. The image of a single active stasis capsule popped in mind within a room of thousands that were not occupied. Frozen. This time Gansukh stood closer to it, his hand about to wipe the condensation away to look at the individual inside. Fire. An entire city blazing, women grabbing their children running with no goal, their men painting the streets with their corpses. He could feel it. Mortal fear of death. But he knew it was not his. And then as the next image was about to come to life, he felt something staring at him. Frederick noticed that feeling too and his physical body started shaking when both mental forms turned to gaze upon it. It was an unspeakable form that faced them, being a billion times greater than either one of them. It must had been similar to a child looking up to the Emperor after liberating a world in the Great Crusade. Yet instead of inspiring and putting one in awe, this was rather fear inducing. "Careful where you walk." The voice came out of the creature. A voice that bore the voice of thousands. "Or else..." It seemed like teeth in the size to devour an entire planet were flashed. And the creature started suddenly rushing forwards to eat them both. As fast as possible their souls returned to their physical bodies. Both drenched in cold sweat and shudders through their limbs. The psykers escaped death barely, and they could only do so much as assume that they stood against a psyker of the Hive Mind of the Tyranids, a mighty Zoanthrope maybe? Or a very hive ship that was in a nearby system? Maybe it was part of their vision to announce the return of the Tyranids to this system. ~~ The Darkest Night - Narrator - Thunderhawk ~~ After everyone grabbed their weapons, ammunition, grenades, other accessories such as a Vox-caster, pict-recorder, electro whip and other useful wargear, the group got together in their designated thunderhawk. The two Valkyrie escorts were armed to the teeth and already good to take flight. Once everyone found a suitable seat and strapped themselves in, the Thunderhawk took off. It would be a good fifteen minutes for the Thunderhawk to arrive as they were not traversing at combat speed. No need to alert the new involuntary hosts with a possible invasion. It was yet to be seen who would take the lead in the conversations to come, or if it was going to be a shared responsibility. One thing was clear for sure, the Inquisitors cared little about the how and much more about the results. ~~ The Darkest Night - Narrator - Landing on Tyran~~ As the thunderhawk pierced orbit with it's Valkyrie escorts, the humans and aliens that spew forth from The Darkest Night could see the flourishing nature in person. Plain fields wide and populated with wild creatures, forests on the other side, leaving one to wonder what they could house. But it only spread in a certain radius around the walled city of Tyran. Everything else was complete dead wastes. And not like the ash or acid wastes of a hive city. There was simply nothing. One who knew the Tyranids could easily imagine that this was a simple rock after they were done with this world. The fact anyone managed to rebuild something in itself after their assault is impressive. The city from the distance might not look impressive to your typical Imperial soldier, but it had to be given some credit. It lacked the typical gothic structure, and reminded one of more ancient and foreign cultures. The walls erected were out of solid metals, straight and high. The city itself was protected by a single wall in a square. It seemed that expansion was not a long term goal, or maybe there was still plenty of space. Most buildings were more or less on equal height, but the districts could even be told from here. Living districts were just rows and rows of high reaching living units, akin to hives, while on the opposite side of the city were factories and administration offices, or so they looked either way. Some of said offices appeared as if they had no solid wall, all being made out of glass. The Thunderhawk was heading for no such construction, but instead for the biggest building that had a landing pad big enough for the vessel to land. It looked much like the other buildings with the stark non-gothic look. It was even hard to imagine such building for all except the Starlen maybe who has seen similar structures from few encounters with foreign species. The Thunderhawk finally made it's landing approach, the Valkyries taking back to the sky but remaining close enough for a swift swoop. And if any of the present alien hunters would have been forced to make a guess, one could as the closest example take a mix of the Tau with the simplicity of the Orks. As the greenskins built most in rectangular shapes, but instead this architecture had some finesse to it. Also the absence of the Imperial Eagle or other heraldry of the Imperium of Mankind was disturbing. When the ramp was lowered and the group disembarked, they stood on an empty landing pad for a while, facing a closed blast door at the opposite ending that slowly started to open. Then a group of big vehicles, akin to the Taurox drove forth. They were five in total, moving in an arrow formation. The middle one stopped just before the group, while the others took a position on each corner of the platform with soldiers disembarking to surround the Thunderhawk. They were clad in uniform similar to that of the Imperial Guard and clearly human, yet, completely different. Their weapons had clear signs of laser technology, yet again - looked vastly different to imperial or even alien technology, this was their complete own design. Some came prepared with heavier equipment, soldiers taking position on the 5 barrelled gatling guns of their vehicles. There were at least two who wielded missile launcher like weapons, but much more compact and capable of being handled by a single individual. Then finally, the last vehicles occupants disembarked. Three individuals came out, the driver remaining inside. The first was a middle-aged man with short black hair, combed to the side and wearing a black suit with red tie, he was about 6'2". To his right was a man slightly older, first signs of greying hair already making their coming. He wore a white coat that covered most of his body and with some sort of id fitted on his left chest that read 'Dr. Leonard-Pierre Giraudoux'. This rather frail appearing man was standing at maybe 5'7", also the abbreviation of 'Dr' would be known to the Imperials clearly as 'doctor' which usually refers to medical staff, although it is usually an older term. Although this established that these humans do know low gothic or had some ties to the Imperium at some point. On the other side was a woman dressed in uniform, but not battle-ready like the other soldiers. She also wore a red beret along with red trims around the insignia on her shoulder pads, which one could only guess should depict her rank. The woman had an auto-pistol looking gun in her holster at her hip, hands folded behind her back and each step of hers was taken with purpose. Clearly disciplined and trained as a soldier. Her authority was without question as she suddenly brought her fist up, then stretched her fingers out and pulled the hand down. In unison all soldiers lowered their weapons, pointing away from the Inquisitorial delegation. The three kept a good twenty feet between themselves and their guests. The man in the suit would speak up first. "Welcome to Tyrannus." He started swift, speaking with a clear and strong voice in fluent low gothic, although there was an accent there. "My name is Seymour la Fontaine, Commander and Prime Minister of our operations here. And let us get the problematic matters right out of the way. We have three problems with your presence and delegation here. Number one, two of your alien companions belong to the enemy and they must be restrained immediately." He pointed at Laeris and Alnar. The beret-wearing woman gestured one of the soldiers over who hurried at her side, two crude metal shackles for the wrists ready to be used. "Number two, you seem to have mutated humans amongst your kin, which we strongly are against, based on Terran laws and encounters with Xenos-worshipping renegades." He pointed at the group of Astartes, Gansukh, Goreparan and Tyr. "We would appreciate if doctor Giradoux here could perform basic screening of their genetics to make sure that these mutations do not contain alien DNA. And if they do, then they must leave this world immediately." "Number three, your knowledge of this planet and unknown origin, I admit that makes it more or less four problems we have with your delegation. How do you know of Tyrannus and where do you come from?" The bureaucrat looking individual did not seem to be as bureaucratic as he looked, but definitely wanted some quick and straight answers. Could anyone blame him? How would the very delegation in question react when suddenly a foreign human craft landed at their doorstep?
