Black Crusade: Heralds of Damnation [IC]

[Rising Chaos]

Time passes strangely in the warp...

It feels like only a day has gone by, a day since you watched in awe and horror as the flagship of your armada the Dreams of Agony ruptured under the withering hail of the Imperial battlefleet and ripped itself apart as it's shipboard munitions cooked and detonated. You all felt the shockwave rattle your frigate as the Grand Cruiser's plasma drives detonated, heard the screams of tens of thousands of souls dragged shrieking into the oblivion of the warp. A day since your 'Captain' Calyx Umbolt, fell out of formation and dragged you and every soul aboard the Voice of Pain away from void combat and fleeing into the warp with your tail between your legs. The good Captain had the foresight to lock down the bridge to prevent anyone from interfering with his plans, and so you've waited. Waited for what seemed like such a trivial amount of time.

An hour ago your ship finally plunged out of the warp, out of the seething world of the immaterium. However scant moments after your ship arrived warning klaxons began to blare and minutes later the lights across the ship powered down and the air temperature lowered several degrees, the telltale signs of a ship going into silent running.
During this time you've made a surprising discovery, what felt like a day has been closer to fifteen months. Whether it was the thick veil of death polluting the symphony of the warp as you jumped or the foul Imperial sorcery that pulled you so far across time is unclear, what is clear is the fact that you've lost over a year's worth of time in the span of what felt like a day.

Whatever you feel about this news is interrupted by the hiss of the ship's vox systems. Captain Umbolt calls for each of you by name, to assemble before him on the command bridge. It's time to get some answers...

[Brox]

"The tools are set, they just need to be put into motion and the truth will (once again) be revealed" thought Argus, finally placing the last bone-scraper delicately in place.

Each piece lovingly placed on the tray, each positioned to compliment the next, an artful display of agony inducing implements. A sudden wave of nausea washed over Argus, a shadow and a thought passing through his corrupted mind.

">sigh< So soon to the dull tedium of reality..."

The ship shuddered imperceptibly as it slipped out of the Warp.

"At least I have my music..right my darlings?"

Turning to a bank of cogitators he whispered thanks to his Lord and turned a dial, causing a neuro-toxic cocktail of chemicals and natural poisons to be pumped into a row of bound prisoners, setting up howls of pain through hoarse throats. The sounds were fed into the inducers strapped over their mouths, amplifying the pain and synchronizing their individual voices into a melodious whole.

"Confessor[crackle] Second-Class Voct to the bri[hisssssssss]dge"

"Ugh...can't a body have a moment of luxury?

I'll get into my armor, equip my weapons and head to the bridge.

[ArcturusV]

Roll up and roll out

Things had seemed fairly normal when the ship dropped out of the warp. Between carving up his own fief, and their earlier work as Arbiters across the Imperium, there wasn't a man among Talan's crew that hadn't gotten their void legs a long time ago. Walker seemed at ease with it as well, the horrors of the warp being more of a candy coated wonderland for his people, and never having had issues with the Xenos on a ship.

Silias napped easily, Walker was fiddling in the room with his shotgun, adjusting the sights and double checking it, Rankle was napping in Talan's pocket, like normal, Duke Talbot curled up at the foot of the bed, clinging to his shock maul, and Helki was sitting a the edge of Talan's bunk, staring at him, massaging his back. The Boss himself was laying down on his stomach, letting Helki help him relax on the trip, drifting in and out of sleep when he heard the Captain's summons.

... he grumbled something not quite fit for young ears, which brought a giggle from Helki, and started to rouse Silias from his rest. "Okay okay... seems our Captain Fathead finally wants the glory of my presence. Everyone arm up, suit up. Lets make a good show of this, eh?" He flashed a smile to his crew, and they hopped to it, well used to the drill. Helki and Silias helped Talan into his armor, while Walker made sure that Duke was good to go. About 6 minutes, and everyone was suited up in their armor, fitted out with their weapons. Duke shambling along aside Talan, Helki and Silias tucked into Wingman Position to his flanks, and Walker bringing up the rear. They looked like a regular, highly disciplined patrol, ready to roll out and just slaughter the enemy in good order as they made their way to the bridge.

[Col.Straken]

As the Voice of Pain broke out of warp Mordechai breathed a sigh of relief that was briefly crossed with regret. Somehow the Warp always heightened his Soul Sight, so that he almost sees the colours the world contains, but it also brings around the dreams. At least he thinks they are dreams, voices whispering into his ears about the corruption of humanity, revealing strands of fate, and clouding others, he was glad when the quietened and his vision returned to the simple shades of grey that his mind saw the world in.

When he heard his name called for attendance to the bridge he sighed again, having to sit in with a group of people all eager for blood made him nervous. As long as they didn't want his blood he was happy for them to stand toe to toe with the ones that were trying to kill him. Strapping his Chain Spear to his back, blades sticking up over his shoulder, underneath sat a cloak of magnificent colours, shimmering blues and purples, to reds and yellows, and other colours which defy explination. His hair was a greasy mess of black curls, covering the sigil branded into his forehead, he tied a royal blue ribbon across his colourless eyes as he knew how the disturbed so many people. Once he was ready, he set off making straight for the bridge eager to see what the Captain was after.

[Emperor Ing]

At this point, his patience was wearing thin.

Sevanix is a patient, calm fellow, always attempting to see a problem from almost every angle. If anyone would have been able to understand the fear and despair that wracked through the Captain's and everyone else's mind upon the destruction of the Dreams of Agony it was Sevanix. An adept of the Warp such as Sevanix could have further understood how it was that a day passed inside the ship yet 15 months passed in real-space, it was Sevanix. Yet, he understood nothing. Everything about what had happened spoke of intense cowardice. He came upon this fleet to strike at the fist of the Tyrant Corpse. Instead he was forced to sit and gain control of his mind as within hours of each other, his mind was forced to endure two warp-transitions.

At this point he could not justify his patience for much longer. When his name was called to the bridge, he eagerly sat up and made his way to it, expecting answers. He wore a suit of Terminator Armor, the scratched black paint with brass details and the various sigils to Chaos Undivided and of the Eye of Horus would cause one to easily make the mistake of assuming this was a sorcerer of the Black Legion. Certainly his staff and stylized Psychic Hood betrayed such. However the fact that he wore a blue and gold un-Black Legion helmet brought his true legion allegiance into doubt.

[BananaPhone]

When the call was sent out for a congregation to gather upon the bridge, the xenos of the ship did not have to travel far. Originally deposited on the bridge when the activity had started, Amara had been forced from its proximity under the captains orders and so, in the intermission, had deposited herself just outside in the antechamber. Relatively quiet and keeping to herself, the sunglasses-wearing alien stood before one of the windows that allowed her to peer outside into the star-studded void of space. Whatever thoughts that were congregating inside her head were as unknowable to those around her as the reason for her presence.

Amidst the human-derived occupants of the bridge, Amara couldn't help but stand out. Her long, lithe figure clung to the shadows like a wisp of smoke. Her left hand, a long and elegant appendage, was covered with a single black glove, while its wrist was tethered by a small piece of cloth to the belt around her waist. Meanwhile, her right hand endured no such apprehension and instead dainlty held a slim, smoking cylindrical confectionery between her index and middle finger. Periodically the alien would raise the butt of this object to her lips to inhale its scent.

When the doors to the bridge opened, Amara lazily glanced over her shoulder to peer inside at the hive of activity. Human machines were such an...interesting affair. The noise. The lighting. The odiferous residues of oil and grease that permeated the air and clogged ones nostrils were becoming almost comforting. The Eldars ears, far sharper than most, could detect the vicissitude of the ships engines that thrummed softly through the metal frame of the beast they rode in, each alteration indicating to her a change in the engineering crews activity. The cacophony of sensations could be distracting, but finding focus within the maelstrom was a never-ending lesson.

Wearing no armor and garbed in what appeared to be trim-fitting, well-pressed garments of xenos origins, Amara pulled herself away from the window and entered upon the bridge. Her teal hair fell around her shoulders in soft formations, the distinct color helming the alien that towered over all but the hulking marines of the traitor legions.

[Brox]

Argus arrives at the Command Bridge bulkhead doors, encased in his stylized light power armor. The armor is an eye-searing clash of bright electric pink and moody black angled tiger stripes, with gold piping. The solid black helm is customized with a crown of six short horns and a frill of zebra-striped hair forming a mohawk crest that drips languidly in a braided tail down to his mid back. An angry gold and onyx rod forms the handle of a neural whip coiled on his left hip, while an archaic khopesh sword buzzes audibly from his right.

He nods amiably in salutation to the rest assembled then casts his gaze archly to the bridge.

[Elurindel]

Slathissin makes his way as close as he can through the air ducts, before appearing near-silently within the bridge. His armour was done in various dark shades to become one with the night, rather than a silhouette against it. His skin, however was marble-white and his hair draped down his shoulders like a mantle.

"Ah, to be free of the Warp...but what is the cause for silent running? Larger ships nearby, perchance? A smaller prey ship for us?"

[Rising Chaos]

As you enter the bridge the first thing your eyes (or mind) fall upon is the image outside the view-port. Dominating your view is a huge orange-brown planetoid, roiling black-grey clouds shift across it's surface and blueish green bolts of lightning play havoc across the atmosphere. The hazy palate beneath this suggests it to be a gas giant. Even in the warp it's presence thunders before you and as you watch a massive bolt of lightning leaps up from the atmosphere to slam against the Voice, causing the void shields to squeal and spark in alarm.

Captain Umbolt sits in his command chair. He is a bull of a man, a squat, broad shouldered man who seems to be as fat as he is fit. His greased back brown-red hair seems frazzled and unkempt and his golden eyes are alert with anxiety. There are traces of sweat on his forehead and though his jet black captains uniform screams confidence and prestige with it's many fastenings, rank pins and heralds to the dark gods there is an unmistakable air of fear to him. As you enter the bridge he nods or gives a curt greeting to you before turning back to consult his devices and monitors.

His First Officer, Akardus Hellstrom moves from Umbolts side as you gather, bowing deeply to you. Akardus is a tall, lean human with a mane of white, flowing hair. His red eyes are lean and cat-like and a vox-unit of some kind is stitched his face, covering his nose and mouth. Like Umbolt he is dressed in his crisp black officer's uniform, resplendent with rank pins and rich embroidery hailing the power of the Eight. As he straightens he clasps his hands behind his back and his vox-unit hisses.
"Greeting, lords and masters. It honors us to have you alert and ready to serve on such short notice. I humbly apologize for the debacle we went through before but unfortunately the worst is not behind us. If you'll step this way".
He gestures with a sweep of his hand to the main tactical console situated in the center of the bridge, the large cylindrical device is bolted to the floor and hisses menacingly. As Akardus approaches it he presses the glowing runes and the image screen flashes before throwing a holographic map into the air. The map displays a small system, with a single sun and three planets: One inhabits the inner cauldron and two orbit the 'planetary biosphere' beyond it. Of these two planets you note that the indicator for the Voice is situated by the larger of the two. The Voice also seems to be situated in such a fashion that the gas giant blocks your ship from the other planet.

"From what our auspex and navigators tell us we are currently situated in the Nisor sector, a small zone located near Iniquity and Rephon. While it would be possible to proceed back into the warp and towards Iniquity the second planet in this biosphere, classified as Nisor Prime, currently has both an Imperial Defense station in orbit and an Imperial colony on the planet's surface. By the blessings of the eight the Defense station did not pick up our presence when we translated out of warp space. However Captain Umbolt worries that a second jump could alert the Imperials to our presence and bring unwanted attention to us.
We have currently deployed scanner vessels to chart out as much of Nisor Prime as possible, to find out for certain what odds are stacked against us"

[Emperor Ing]

The fear radiating from the captain was palpable. Certainly it was not improper to expect the lack of fear with them, Sevanix knows even that whole "and they shall know no fear" thing with the Astartes was just propaganda, however it seemed that among the crew of the bridge, it was only Umbolt who seemed certain he was going to be killed. At least the first mate (shame on you Umbolt, hiding behind your first mate) seemed to have his head on straight. Just from these impressions, Sevanix has the impression that Hellstrom should be captain of the vessel. While we wait for the scans to yield results, you want us to prepare to deploy against the Imperial station and sabotage their defenses before they can detect us or prepare a proper response. Including but not limited to summoning an Imperial Battlefleet. The Sorcerer says this with cool understanding. Occasionally glancing to the good Captain.

[ArcturusV]

Aaah. Situationals.

Talan cracked a smile as he was fed the Sit Rep by the crew, and tossed back his head, chuckling silently as his wings flexed, shaking his head slowly as he looked back down to the read out on the terminal.

"Ooh, what are you thinking?" Silias asked softly as he saw that something was on the boss's mind.

"The Savior 16 job," he said, and at that moment the eyes of both Helki and Silias seemed to shine bright with gleeful excitement. He nodded to his minions, already plotting out the old case and how it might be modified for them.

"Ever hear about the incident at Savior 16 about 30 years back?" he asked, knowing at least that Walker likely didn't know, if not the other heretics gathered around. "Old case that I worked the aftermath of."

"Had a system quite like this. Prospectors out in the system, mining asteroid clusters and what not. Defense station was Imperial Navy, ran security, search and rescue, traffic control, all that crap."

"Well one day this pirate comes up with a plan to take down the station for a big raid on the planet. Takes this industrial lighter, big cargo model like those mining crews used, loaded it's hold full of munitions. Like giant feth off Melta Torps and crap. Had a servitor pilot it in, sendin' out over the vox some message about severe damage and disabled crew, etc, etc, etc. Station goes and lets the thing dock for Medicae response and, more importantly, salvaging the cargo."

"... it lands on board, torps detonate. BOOM! Just like that. Big station like that, all the armor's on the outside, an explosion inside it like that? Nearly gutted the damned thing."

Talan nodded as he finished the tale, "We could modify it, same plan, but in the wake of the explosion, just hammer in with the ship and board the station. Mop up the left over Navy Dogs... we take our time clearin' it and the planet of anythin' valuable, and jam out before anyone even knows what hit 'em."

[Col.Straken]

Mordechai watched the planet flare as he listened to the report, lacking the tactical mind he wasn't really sure why he had been called here. I guess I am going to be the eyes of the operation, as usual. he thinks to himself.

As Talan outlines his plan Mordechai feels himself nodding along, "Clever plan, we can't jump as it's too easy to track." thinking for a moment he turns to Akardus. "Is there any way we can change our Ident Codes? I might be able to send a distress Astropathic message, though it has been quite some time since I last tried."

[Brox]

Gesturing to the terminator-armored Astartes

"I agree with your preliminary estimation."

Rotating slightly, Argus extends his right hand towards the First Officer lazily,

"Tell us Lieutenant, why were we drawn from the Warp so far afield? I can scarcely believe our translation was so poorly plotted..."

Argus shifts his weight from right to left languidly, his left hand absently caressing the handle of his whip before curling into a fist to rest on his hip.

"And while you're fielding that query, perhaps you can tell us what resources are to be found in this system. Beyond simply completing our journey, what is to be gained?"

[BananaPhone]

Amara listened quietly to the mon'keighs chatter, her eyes drawn towards the available windows. She liked listening to them talk, the humans. Their voices, so choppy and halting...remiss of the grace in which she had developed. Hearing the harsh tongue brought out the curious within her.

"Effort on our behalf would not be necessary, and could sabotage our services to silence the station," she chimed in once the others had finished speaking. Even though Amara spoke the human language, her words seemed woven together and lined with the melody of her natural voice.

"Were we able to inject ourselves aboard the mon'keighs station we would be...excuse me, aboard the Imperials station, time would be against us as we would have to fight our way to the bridge to halt any attempt to alert the broader Imperial navy of our presence. "

Amara brought the confectionery in her right hand up close to her angular face - the smoke was jolted out of its lazy swirl as the eldar inhaled its particles. At her waist, her left-handed fingers twitched slightly inside their glove.

"The primitive nature of the engines affixed to our vessels could be our hidden dagger. We could tamper with them, and stuff several members of the lower orders upon the ship to provide any meddlesome Imperial scanners with life-forms to confirm their story. Then, when aboard, the engines are detonated to flood the station with virulent radiation - slaying all aboard in a matter of seconds. The electronics too would suffer damage to buffer against the tenacity of any survivors. We could then board, repair the deterioration to their computer systems and retrieve further information upon the local Imperial presence. The deleterious fun we could have wearing the mon'keighs skin makes one...giddy with excitement."

[Emperor Ing]

The terminator turns, his gaze affixed to the alien whom, by all rights, should have the hand of Slaanesh itself reaching through a warp-portal to snatch at any moment. Even though that had not happened yet, it was clear that Sevanix was not pleased. That station is filled with humans whose only crime was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I will not endorse any plans that put the innocent at-risk when we know there could be a better way. He looks away. That, and the damage you propose to this ship's engines would cripple us.

[Col.Straken]

Mordechai stares at the Alien, not that anyone could see his eyes behind his bandana, "Are, you, INSANE?". He turns around on the spot his arms outstretched almost asking for everyone else support, "You think we should blow up our own ship to destroy an Imperial Listening Post. I always Knew Xeno were crazy, but I didn't think they were that Insane!"

[Rising Chaos]

As Sevanix speaks Akardus nods, pressing a button on the console the holo-projector zooms in on Nisor Prime, highlighting both the orbital station and the Imperial colony.
"Unfortunately my lord, the plan may be more complicated than a simple station boarding. From what our navigator tells us he felt a vague psychic presence from the Imperial colony. At the moment both Captain Umbolt and myself believe this indicated the presence of an astropathic choir on planet, if this is the case it would also be prudent to assume that the orbital station and the colony have some form of vox-comminucation with each other. We'll confirm when our scouts return we may be looking at a situation requiring either a simultaneous striking of the targets or two strikes in rapid response".

As Argus questions the First Officer Akardus turns smoothly to address him.
"Apologies my lord, at this moment we are unsure of what caused such a drastic time-space malfunction during our transit. There are multiple factors to consider: The destruction of the Dreams of Agony could have soured the warp with the destruction of so many crew as well as it's warp drive. It's also possible that the Imperial Navy skewed the veil and forced us off course.
Aside from the natural gasses contained within the gas giant before us, the planet closest to the systems sun appears to be completely made of a variety of liquid metals. Further inspection of both planets could entail how we could best harvest their resources, but will have to wait until we have silenced the Imperial presence in the system"

[Brox]

@Sevanix:
"While I agree with the later, the former is base sentimentality and detrimental to our needs. I never knew the Astartes could be so....easily moved..."

It should be clear that Argus intended to say something other than "easily moved" but changed his mind at the last moment.

@all:

"We should jam their long range vox capabilities from here while infiltrating the sub-station to silence the potential presence of astropathic communication. If any here know of a method to silence a Warp-sending they should speak up now and be recognized. And for the record...(@Amara) destroying the sub-station outright would be akin to painting a giant target on ourselves for all Imperial scum in the sector. The psychic resonance from so many dying immediately (while delicious...mmmm...) would be deleterious to our cause.

@First Officer Arkadus

"Perhaps you could deploy a brace of probes to the planet nearest the sun...the metals on that planet are useful. Keep us in near orbit to the gas giant...it may mask our presence. And provide us with a meeting room to work out details to pull us out of this catastrophe Lieutenant. We need to be kept abreast (caressing my chestpiece) of any findings you may have as well."

[BananaPhone]

"That station is filled with humans whose only crime was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I will not endorse any plans that put the innocent at-risk when we know there could be a better way."

Amara's alien features were difficult to decipher, but she seemed to look at the terminator-clad Thousand Son as if he had asked whether two plus two equaled four.

"You mean...life's not fair?"

Then the other objections arrived. The eldar rose a slender, black eyebrow, as her face remained impassive.

"Let us play a game of Discern Your Meaning..." she said, her tone slow and sarcastic, as if she were speaking to children.

"I presented two phases of boarding. Not one, but two," she said, holding up two long fingers on her right hand for emphasis. "The first was the initial deception. The second featured our arrival. So this would imply that we not use the ship upon which our current survival rests and instead deploy something more disposable, yes? One such craft could possibly be found in the hanger bay, where they typically see use to transport soldiers and materials. The second could be another such vehicle, as to allow the Voice of Pain to remain at a safe distance to be called upon if necessary."

The alien then issued a dismissive wave, "But this new revelation requires an alteration, the astropath will require silencing to buffer against its meddling. Hmmm...." she stroked her slender jaw, eyes peering about as she thought, "One could adhere to the prior plan...assuming the astropath is not in constant communication with someone aboard the station - the silence of which would alert it to danger...then we could quietly seize the station, prang its energy reactors and the devices that retain it in orbit to send it crashing down to the human city upon the planet surface. I think its detonation would irradiate the municipal area, ensuring total silence, just to be sure."

Abruptly, a mask of self-awareness flashed across Amara's face as if she'd just realised a flaw in her reasoning. "Oh, no that could be crazy..." she trailed off, stroking her chin again. "The time it would take for the station to plummet to the planets surface could be employed by the astropath to warn the greater Imperial body of our presence. Heh, yes...how troublesome, it must be eliminated swiftly. Yes...a two-pronged approach might, unfortunately, be a necessity."

[Brox]

I'll feel for psychic resonances from the rest of the group...(Psyinscience 33)

(1d100)[97]

lol oh well...

[Emperor Ing]

"While I agree with the later, the former is base sentimentality and detrimental to our needs. I never knew the Astartes could be so....easily moved..."

Those are humans, sir. Sevanix turns to face the Slaaneshi, pointing to the station. In each man holds the potential for greatness, to create and build in the glory of our Gods. They require only freedom, from the shackles of the Corpse Tyrant or from the shackles of those who would deny glory to the Gods in the name of the Gods.

He looks over at the Eldar. He didn't want to outright dismiss her for being born in the wrong species so Sevanix thought to at least offer her a modicum of respect, but from what he has seen thus far he's not entirely sure if she could earn it. Quite frankly he's not entirely sure if her respect for him is even worth the trouble. Amidst your rambling tirade, you eventually made a fair point about a two-pronged approach. I would support such an endeavor if only to ensure total silence and our presence remain masked. However the destruction of the station itself serves no practical purpose, and as said before, its absence may be missed.

Nevertheless, the neutralization of any and all Astropaths, excluding you of course- He nods to Mordechai -should be our top priority.

[BananaPhone]

"Thank you, human." Amara smiled, seemingly pleased that her input was appreciated by the hulking Thousand Sons sorcerer.

"Your praise is gratifying, as such comraderie will be needed. Neither you or I blend particularly well into Imperial society, so I dare to predict that any mission to the planet surface will require our absence."

[ArcturusV]

... Astropaths now, eh?

"... you know I heard once that the death scream of an Astropathic Choir can drown out all other messages." It was just an odd rumor he had heard somewhere, about some place else in the Galaxy where someone had done that for some reason. Talan didn't really remember, or think much of it at the time. Seemed like it was too much of a scorched earth policy. He didn't favor scorched earth policies in general.

"Anyway," he turned to Mordecai, "Any truth in that? Say even if they get some little missive out, we go and pop all their heads, is the scream gonna drown out the message? Seems like if it would, just a simple mission for us, go in, smash some blind men to pieces, get out, nice and quick, probably won't even know what we're up to until we're already coasting on out of there."

[Rising Chaos]

Mordechai
You wrack your brain trying to remember if what Talan says is true. You've heard rumors of astropathic torture souring and bleating out the warp, but as far as you can remember you've never seen such a thing or heard such from a first hand source. Imperial code indents is another thing, by replacing your ship identity codes with one's taken or remembered from another Imperial ship and mixed with a healthy dose of scrapcode you could most likely fool anyone not looking out a port window.

Sevanix
You expand your mind, searching for traces of psychic power. As you do you realize that as well as blocking auspex and vox-signals the massive electromagnetic discharge's from the gas giant are also interfering with your mind's telepathic abilities. However you can still sense something, a faint, harmonious buzzing distantly from the planet's surface. You can't tell where it is, but it feels like a faint whisper in the back of your skull.

Akardus listens to Argus's proposition with no change in emotion.
"A wise plan sir. Once we begin our plans to transport you down to the surface I'll see about setting up probes to inspect the inner cauldron. With any luck it may distract the Imperial forces and allow you easier access".

He soaks in the idea's that Amara, Sevanix and Talan bounce back and forth.
"My lords, if it pleases you I have prepared the amphitheater for you all. It is past the bridge, the second door to your right. You are free to compile and prepare your compact from there, the room also contains a vox-link to the bridge if you have any other questions. By the time you have set up our preliminary probes should have returned and I will update you on the situation".
He presses the control stud, powering down the holoprojector before bowing deeply towards the PC's.

If anyone enters the amphitheater they see a large rectangular room painted with what looks like dried human blood. Spiked chains hang from the ceiling and the occasional dark iron barb sprouts from the walls. In the center of the room is a holoprojector, smaller than the one in the bridge. Unlike that device this one contains multiple flat copper tables jutting from the device. Their surfaces have piles of parchment, ink and quill.
(The holoprojector contains the same information the bridge had. So you can inspect the system based on the current information the command crew has)

[Brox]

As the last breath passes from Arkadus' lips Argus spins on him...

@Arkadus

"You sycophantic WRETCH! Do not think you can free yourself from servitude to your Captain by currying favor with us! Luck will have no part in OUR plan! Just be sure that shuttle is placed in our discretion and the probes are released. You may have thought that closet you've prepared is adequate, but I see no refreshment to ease our hunger, nor drink to slake our thirst. Get to it and see that you perform better!

With each sentence Argus seems to get angrier and seems to noticeably grow. He leans in threateningly at Arkadus taking a half-step towards the First Officer. Almost unbidden, the handle of his whip rises off its hitch to his hand (but does not otherwise uncoil).(Precision TK (1d100)[38] god I hope I make this roll...)

At his last word Argus spins away from Arkadus, gently waves the rest of the group into the meeting room, stalks in and takes a seat at one of the tables.

[BananaPhone]

Amara

Having quietened since her last foray into near-giggling anticipation, Amara lingered upon the periphery of the group and listened to their ideas for the coming violence.

Argus' little outburst was...unexpected. Not that she had known the mon'keigh for long, but his prior eloquence had hinted at a patient man. Now it would seem to be composure with a jagged lining.

Eyes alert, the eldar sauntered into the amphitheatre. Once inside, her alien features remained undecipherable at the exposure to the grisly decorum, but inside she was curious. Must everything be so dramatic Amara wondered inside her own head.

[Col.Straken]

Mordechai followed the others into the offered room, and shuddered he always wondered why people began abasing themselves once free of the Imperium's Lies. "I suppose if we tortured the Astropaths we could create a disturbance in the warp. Though I'd rather we didn't attempt that." thinking for a moment he ponders about if he could change the ships Ident Codes.

"I could possibly disguise a small vessels Ident Code, I'm not sure about the Voice. I would need an Imperial Code though, if anyone knows one?"

[Emperor Ing]

There is no need to shout down the good Lieutenant, Brother. He defends Arkadus. I am certain he is doing the best he can considering the circumstances.

He was, however, less impressed with the "ampitheater" himself. In response to the...paint job, Sevanix can taste the sweet metallic taste of blood on his lips. Perhaps it was a mercy he was wearing his helmet, blocking out the delectible scent. For the moment he focused his mind on trying to recall imperial codes. He didn't know any in particular, but using his keen mind and knowledge of mathematics he thought he could write his own code that may or may not follow the coding conventions one would expect from an Imperial vessel. The best he could do is make up a code, but then there's the possibility of accidentally writing a code for a known destroyed vessel, a known high-priority vessel such as an Emperor class Battleship or a Space Marine Battle Barge, or writing a code for a known Chaos ship. Still, it should work for long enough.

Logic check target 43
(1d100)[22]

[Elurindel]

Slathissin chuckles as he listens to the chatter. "What nonsense babble is this of 'innocence'? A rather amusing concept...As for the code of an Imperial ship, we could likely find one aboard that station. If this ship possesses boarding torpedoes or landing craft, we could fire one at the station with the engines cut, and sneak aboard once we reach a collision, though such a course would require a very skilled gunner and pilot, and plenty of time and patience." the former Night Lord suggests.
"After that, it is merely a matter of misdirection. If we could seize the station's bridge, then we could supplant its command staff with people of our own."

[Emperor Ing]

I...have difficulty imagining even one of your skill could maintain some level of stealth after crashing into the station with a boarding torpedo. He replies to the Marine.

Perhaps we could make use of any shuttles this ship may have. Dock on the station, lure Customs into a trap, then make our way to the command bridge without alerting whatever meager security measures they may take. The longer we can manage the Station and the Colony not talking about us, the easier it will be to silence them forever.

By the way, if you would like to discuss the concept of innocence, I would be happy to enlighten you.