The sound of heavy footsteps filled the halls outside the briefing room. A few moments later the Sister of Battle appeared within the briefing room. She was silent, pausing for a moment as she entered. Her hair hung freely in the usual shag style that she seemed to prefer. A single scar adorned her face in a cross like shape, starting just above each eye and ending just below each. The hilt of a power sword could be seen from behind her right shoulder, a bolter at her side. The markings upon her armor indicating she was one from the Order of Our Martyred Lady. She gave a quick glance in the Kroot's direction. The next thing that caught her air was what she could only describe as a stench that hung in the air. An abundance of scents all vying for control over the airspace within the room. She shook her head before moving to take a seat.
Sedric Mons gets up and puts on his ceremonial garb and puts on his hat last pushing his hat backward slightly so everyone could see his face clear as day and he walks out of his room and lights a nice fat cigar and puffs it on the way to the meeting Sedric entering the room takes off his hat and puffs out the smoke in his cheast then Sedric takes another big puff of his cigar and looks around showing interest in the kroot and gives a sideways glance at the assassin and rubs his bald head Sedrics bionic eye darts around analyzing the room in greater detail but stays focused on astra @Casavay "aye their lass, I can see your excited eh?" Sedric stuffs a pendent behind his garb
Standing at Inquisitor Alicia's side was Boris ever cloaked in shaggy crimson great coat lined with burnt brown trimming, a tall fur cap sat crookedly on his head while at his side a heavy stubber was sat up with its boxy housing anchored to the floor and an elbow draped over open barrel. A lunatic's grin was flashed toward every member of their band, even to the more exotic sorts among them. "Goooooooood mornin' miss Astra! Doin' quite fine me self, lovin' the Emperor an all his domain aye aye! An what about the rest of ye indeed! Firecrotch? Big Sis? Silvy? Lightnin'? Beak Face? Pierce? Sedric? Cog Crotch? " Head sputtered from face to face like a sprinkler addressing each and every one of his fellow Acolytes starting with Firebat and ending with Zeth. Normally for some guard lookin' mook like himself calling an astartes anything other than Lord or Most Holy Angel of Death was tantamount to a heresy sentence but Boris had found Ogedei 'Lightnin' Khan to be a significantly more laid back soul compared to a great many of his super-human kin and took to treating him not much different than the rest of their crew; few others ever bothered to have a good laugh with him when the bullets started flying anyways. "And of course our lovely Madam Alicia, I do believe you might have something of import to share this fine, fine space mornin'? "
"That I do Boris." Alicia responded, a little more perky than she was thanks to Astra's mood, even if she felt slightly nauseous from Astra's sensory overload, and not the fact the noble was a blank as she tapped a few commands into the Hololith's control panel. The projectors whirred into life and projected an image of Verdan Prime above the briefing room table, in all its glory with the planet's red, diseased sky and its polluted surface covered with Hives of various sizes. A small note appeared beside the hologram to explain that the land outside the Hives was so radioactive that a normal human would dead within minutes, even if they were wearing the proper equipment, along with many other smaller notes detailing information that were of a more trivial nature, such as population numbers (Approx. 72,000,000,000 ). "We've arrived at the Hive World of Verdan Prime, a world which has a considerable history of rebellion and less than loyal leadership, having five of them in as many centuries and a high turnover rate (One of the notes flashed up with a 53.4% turnover rate) for Planetary Governors whenever they've had their affairs closely inspected under the watchful eye of the Inquisition. Needless to say, we are here to root out any corruption present after we've managed to get thought a damned formal banquet the current Governor, Narthen Larqence has insisted in throwing in our honour." The Inquisitor said, not exactly happy at the Governor's somewhat ill-judged gesture of good faith. Nearly done with the briefing, she concluded with "So, I'd like you to be on your best.... behaviour for the formalities, but once that's out of the way I'll be able to displace you to where your skills might be more appropriately utilized. And try not to bring all your weapons to the banquet, it would go a lot smoother when you're all not armed to the teeth and intimidating everyone there." The last part was more for her benefit than an actual instruction, as Theanon did not expect some of them, such as Pierce and Firebat to not keep their weapons on them at all times. @High_Adept_Zeth @GoreWrencha @torque @Casavay @Uriel1339 @TechCaptain @Vulpas @Colapse @DeranVendar @Shadhunter
Flashing a wide grin towards Boris, the blank finally decided to take a seat when Theanon started talking. But even as she made sure not to seem too startled by the Kroot's reaction towards her, Astra did consciously move away from him slowly, and picked the furthest chair from him. "A formal banquet?", the Reman asked, keeping her eyes trained on the xenos. "That actually sounds like fun, or is it some kind of Inquisition code I'm not getting?" Astra had always wanted to take part in a large feast, but her parents had never let her for some reason. From the stories and fiction and reports she'd read and seen, it had always felt dreamy to her, especially with all the nobles around. "And be assured! I'm a font of best behaviour."
"Best behavior and best dress it shall be M'am! Lemme ask ye, what are the rules on fraternizing with all those pretty noble gals? All for good investigative purposes of course an what nae! A dashing war hero like me self will obviously go over swell and it would be a waste to ignore such a completely viable an chaste approach to information gathering! " Boris was currently using the closest level of shout he had to an inside voice which thankfully was tolerable for most and despite blatantly suspicious wording their was an honest to Empra good chance he was being entirely genuine, if not terribly clever with his explanation.
OOC: lulz! Hey! Reminder on this chars. appearance: -not your biomechanical horror that has a penchant for kleptomania. His only augmentation is his dendrites! <Before> Nine of the canisters lay secured,suspended by three laser-trip wires.Looking away from his microscope,Adept Zoran adjusted his glasses as he sank in the leather chair behind him,wincing in pain as he forgot he has six dendrites on his back. Another night...another failed experiment...by the Omnissiah...-thought young Techpriest his fingers steepled on his forehead,shaking his head disappointed.With a deep sight he looked again at the canisters,taking away his glasses and cleaning them with the trim of his robe. Canisters held red vitae liquids of all nine advisors,enforcers and retinue members of the Inquisitor.Of course...there was a tenth canister hold Inquisitor Alicia`s vitae liquids...but that one was sealed and hidden,her gene-seed being too precious to be exposed to possible danger.Young Techpriest`s dendrites twitched as he remembered when he took samples from each and every member.Most of them were fine with it or to scared to decline... Most. His medicae dendrite still pained him,when he tried to take samples from Sister Miria and Lady Astra.In vain was his elaboration...excuses as they said.Only on Inquisitor`s personal behest they complied. They will be grateful later.Oh...yes they will! Suddenly,someone shook him by the shoulder,breaking his reverie.Zeth snapped backwards,his exploration dendrite ready to pounce,augur drill ready. With a sigh,Zeth looked at the aide...he remembered her...one of the runners for the Inquisitor.He smile,happy that it was not an intruder...or Lord Ogedei trying to give him an encouraging pat on the back.From the later,he still reeled from ghost-pain at the amount of force employed by the Astartes was traumatizing. Suddenly,his demenour shifted as he looked at the aide,his expression changing to one of worry and panic: "What...it is the Inquisitor?Again?She is ..."but aide cut him short with a palm of her hand,her expression turning to a shamed smile: "No..no.That is...err...you are summoned.Entire retinue."she spoke,her posture changing to that of stoic,dutiful aide.Tossing a glance of annoyance,Zeth merely nodded as he stood up,corrected his robe and picked up his data-slate set,making his way to the designated chamber. <Now> Tripping three times,forced to take the stairway,the elevator being packed with personnel and grim faced Stormtroopers,Zeth panted as he gripped the railing of the last few staircases,his dendrites dragging behind him,they too giving up due to exertion. He was late.That wont look good.He was always late! With a cough,Zeth entered the chamber,not looking anyone in the eye quickly bowing to the Inquisitor who was hard to miss.He noticed nothing unusual until he sat in the first available seat.An exotic mixture of vapor hit him like a hammer,and he had to take off his glasses to ensure if it wasnt his heated breath or broken air-conditioning.Next to the Inquisitor Sar Boris eyed everyone and Zeth merely smirked at his mocking,never hearing that nickname before! At another side of the table Sar Sadric smoked a big fat cigar that Zeth only imagined how it destroyed the small amount of penumonic capability that Guardsman had.Mamzel Astra was grinning,always at the center of attention,while Kroot was in another corner,his quills sticking out as he eyed everyone nervously,brandishing his weapons. This is madness...yet nothing unusual. Zeth lowered his dendrites beneath the table being silent between gazing at the hololitic projection,listening intently to the Inquisitor and taking notes with his stylus upon the plastek surface of his data-slate.
"Yes, Astra it's an actual banquet, not Inquisitorial shorthand for say, enacting Actions upon the Govenor. " Alicia replied to the Reman(@Casavay ), who's naivety was pleasant, if even if she found it somewhat grating at times. And with Boris (@DeranVendar ) asking about rules regarding fraternization with the locals, she responded "Well, I would prefer if it didn't get as far as say.... You and said noble lass hiding together in a conveniently empty bedroom, but if it goes that far I don't want to hear about it." Zoran's note taking came as something of a relief to the Inquisitor, as it meant he probably was the only one there who cared to try and keep a record of what she had said, considering that having a scribe in the room would only result in having one more potential leak of what was discussed in this room.
"Are we all required to attend to this meeting?" the Khan spoke, his lips twisting in a distasteful grin, "I understand the situation, I don't see much use of me standing there and talking about current levels of crime in the lower hives with bunch of nobles. Not to mention how would their reaction be to seeing a Space Marine or even a Xenos like our Kroot."
"Well, considering the Chief Judge and Chief Arbitrator of the planet's local Arbite precinct are likely to attend said meeting... It would be ill-advised to skip it entirely, as they might take your absence the wrong way and conveniently 'forget' that you're working under Inquisitorial authority. Yet as for you and K'tikathat, there would be no point in staying longer than necessary, so both of you can just say your greetings and then head off." Alicia said, not willing to waste Ogedei's(@Colapse ) and K'tikathat's(@GoreWrencha ) talents on idle talk, considering that Ogedei was the only member of the retinue that could go outside the Hives of Verdan Prime without succumbing to the radiation, and the Kroot, being a Xeno would likely cause problems at the banquet.
