Price of Hope Fleet 2 IC

[DrK]

The Astartes

Corlis makes some requests to his serfs and within 2 hours one of them returns to the quiet and dimly lit chamber where Corlis, Jezra, Orvar and Rikkard pass the time in quiet contemplation. The news is good. Lord Kilgannon has a factor aboard Footfall aboard one of the floating islands. And currently doked there is a destroyer Tay and an endeavour class light cruiser The Claymore.

[Toxic Mind]

Corlis Vahn

As the Serf returns after his meeting with the Lady-Captain, Corlis stands. "I will not deny any of you the right to come with me, but this will be a mission to find the truth, not to mete out retribution."

Jerza Gordian

Jerza stands. As Keeper, and as Witness, and as Chosen Representative of the Deathwatch, he will come. His status is absolute, the Clavis on his arm more than enough proof of his station. If diplomacy is needed, then the Apothecary will give his all.

[ChronicLunacy]

Chaplain Rikkard

Jerza is left with the Chaplain. "Is there aught of great importance in Footfall for you, brother? I suspect that Corlis will want our presence at any meeting, though seeing as how this is diplomacy, I imagine he will understand if you decline." Jerza smiles for a moment. "Shame we could not finish off the traitors before leaving the Transport. I fancied a turn at that tech-abomination you were so zealfully destroying." Jerza's tone is cordial enough, despite the Chaplain's ever grim countenance. Jerza was a Keeper, and thus unbowed before the fervor of the Chaplain, but unlike many of his brothers, he was far from stoic.

"I do not like this mortal's arrogance." the Chaplain commented. "He puts too much stock in his Warrant. Signed in the Emperor's own handwriting or not, it will not protect him from us if we find that he has been in congress with Chaos." he said, stating the obvious but sounding a little frustrated as he did so. In the Black Templars, even a Brother-Initiate was treated with a certain amount of respect by the chapter serfs and other humans they employed. Dealing with these Rogue Trader captains was a new and...taxing...experience. "I will go, if only to look so brazen a man in the eye and take his measure." he decided.

"Ah, but the daemon engine. I too regret not being able to personally mete out the Emperor's Mercy to that twisted abomination. It was righteous ecstasy to feel its armor plates crack like flimsy wooden boards under the blows of my sacred Crozius. One more...perhaps two...would have seen it smote asunder under my boots, but alas..." the Chaplain put a hand on Jerza's pauldron. "In the end, justice was done. Though we take due pride in doing our duty with blade and bolter, we must remember that the Emperor's other servants have their place on the firing line. Sometimes even we must be humble and allow someone else to deal the killing stroke." he sermoned. "Besides, I know that both of our weapons sizzled with daemon blood by the time we left. It was a good day...a GOOD day."

As the Serf returns after his meeting with the Lady-Captain, Corlis stands. "I will not deny any of you the right to come with me, but this will be a mission to find the truth, not to mete out retribution."

"Aye," the Chaplain intoned, "I will stay my fury until the truth presents itself." he promised.

[DrK]

The astartes

The Storm Raven zips across the void ducking and weaving through the heavy traffic around Footfall. The astartes sigils on the sides of the vessel meaning most of the islands don't even bother to challenge The Talon as the vessel approaches the Kilgannon manor atop on of the more exclusive chained islands the vox crackles into life, the vector of the Storm Raven clear that the light cruiser is the eventual destination. "Claymore to Astartes vessel. We are honoured by your presence. Please change approach vector to 38 by 330 and land in bay 4". The suggested co-ordinates landing in a shuttle bay on the chained footfall asteroid. "Lord Connaught Kilgannon will make himself available to you..."

Spoiler: Info

Show

Its a brother of the Lord Kilgannon
Are you obeying the instructions to land on the Footfall manor rather than in the light cruiser?

[Toxic Mind]

"Our destination is the flagship of The Lord Kigannon himself. Or do you mean to say that he does not wish to receive us? I can assure you that in this venture, we mean your master no harm and are simply attempting to ascertain the truth of a matter that is surely of great import to him. If your lord wishes to provide us an escort,meh is free to do so. " Corlis was no stranger to politics, even if he preferred to avoid them. There is no threat in his voice, but it has the tone of one who expects to be obeyed, and never questioned a second time. To attempt to divert them once could be excused, but to do so after his intentions were stated, well, if Kilgannon wanted them displeased, that was an easy way to do it.

[DrK]

The vox channel changes as a new speaker comes. Online. Astartes. Land on the bay please. I'm lord Kilgannon but my ship us grubby and not suitable fer the likes of you.
I shall meet you in the great hall in a standard hour. Till then please follow my mans landing vector".

The vox clicks off as the same voice as earlier again offers vectors to bay 4 on the Footfall asteroid. The holding a large sprawling complex with several small craft bay, defensive emplacements and what appears to be several arboretums under thick armourglass observation domes.

[Toxic Mind]

"Your understanding does your dynasty credit." Corlis says as he clicks off the vox and changes his vector to bay 4. Corlis can play politics too. Yet he turns to his brothers in the Talon. "It seems as though he has a healthy desire to keep us off his ship, does it not?" Not damning proof, but certainly a dark portent. Still, Corlis and Jerza were locked into their course to meet with the Rogue Trader. The Chaplain, of course, was free to do as he wished, provided his activity took place before they reached the bay...

[DrK]

An hour later the Storm raven having docked and the Astartes met by a trio of pipers and a well dressed quartet of servants and guards arrive in the great hall. Whether by chance or design most the holding sd been closed off the route they had taken. Only a series of closed bulkheads and empty corridors to greet them as the walked towards the hall. The walls of the holding filled with tapestries and murals of what must be ages of Kilgannon Lords in various heroic poses on a great series of unknown worlds.

THe great hall is rustic. Great walls of wooden logs imported at great expense dominate the room as a pair of massive gothic chandeliers filled with burning incense and glo lamps fill the vaulted space with a smoky illumination. A trio of great long trestle tables fill the central space, the table of honour atop a raise dais at the far end behind which a fire rages in a stone hearth. The walls are adorned with banners of victorious conquests and the stuffed heads of a range of strange xeno beasts and great fans of primitive weapons such as swords or polearms.

The hall is filled with ~50 or so people. Retainers, guests from Footfall and a dozen servants in neat tartan smocks serving roasted meat and glasses of something that the astartes nose picks out as fermented honey. At the top table the junior Lord Kilgannon sits at ease in a great stone throne, a hand gently resting on the hackles of massive wolf like xeno. The lord looks to be middle aged - though with rejuv treatments he could be anywhere up to mid 100's - with a great mane of brown hair and a long plaited beard. Dressed in a traditional gear with a green and black kilt and highland style he smiles and rises. A massive claymore as long as the man is tall resting on a stand behind the throne. "I bid ye welcome honoured guests. Though poorly met with yer armour and weapons aye?" His eyes coolly apprasiing the power armour and weaponry draped off the astartes. The man notably has maybe 2-3 armed guards visible, and those that you can see seem to be bearing ceremonial blades rather than heavy weapons. "What can we do fer ye? Is this about the rogue Lady Solanum eh? My brother contacted me to begin a formal complaint to the High Lords about her out of control piracy."

[Toxic Mind]

Jerza steps forward. Though Corlis is the team leader, Jerza is Keeper, and the silvered Clavis on his arm bears mute witness to the fact that he, above almost all other Space Marines, even those of the Deathwatch, has been tested and not found wanting. To meet one of the Astartes would have guardsmen singing the Emperor's praises. A Keeper would have them on their knees in awe that their salvation had come from such an honored quarter. Jerza had stood before Commanders and Generals, demanded aid and received it, and on his order, worlds had perished. His face betrays nothing, though his helmet is secured at his side. Yet Jerza is annoyed somewhat. He had intended to deal directly with the man they encountered, not his brother, no matter the man's station. "We have come to ascertain the truth about such activities, and to settle this matter now, before those to whom we report become involved." The threat of the Inquisition's involvement was obvious. Jerza knew that Rogue Traders were fiercely independent, but before the Holy Ordos, even they could not stand. "Tell us the story as your brother told it to you. If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear from us." The skull-faced Chaplain behind Jerza made the implicit threat of what would happen if they did have something to hide very real.

[ChronicLunacy]

Chaplain Rikkard

++If he did not remember to rise and bid us welcome in his own arrogant, ill-mannered way, I would cut his tongue out for the disrespect. I pray we do not have to linger here. It offends me.++ the Chaplain privately voxxed to his battle brothers over earbeads or armor feeds as he turned his ever-present helmet's rictus grin upon the Junior Kilgannon. He preferred to allow Jerza or Corlis to answer, as they were slightly more tactful with these mortals. If left to his own devices, Rikkard might have slaughtered the entire room. As it was, he simply glowered, not yet having just cause to begin the cleansing. This level of paltry opulence, the worship of one's own wealth, the fact that he had yet to see a single devotional to the God-Emperor...it all made him want to raze it to the ground and burn everyone and everything in it.

So far he waited, but his patience was not endless.

[Wyndeward]

Victor finished the conversation, exchanging pleasantries and gracefully exiting.

A second Astronomicon?? The very notion felt heretical. Something that equaled the power and the majesty of the God-Emperor of Mankind? Victor shook his head, filing that bit of information away for later consideration.

Victor returned to his duty post, still somewhat unsettled by the conversation. He returned to the Command deck to oversee some of the repairs to the flagship.

[DrK]

Lord Kilgannon gestures to the chairs around his high table. "Sit, remove your helms. Eat, drink. I assure you, there is no risk here." Regardless of whether the Astartes sit or not he continues to chew on a massive hunk of fire roasted meat. "What I know you say... What I know is that my brother came out of the dammned warp looking fer an Imperial transport that had been attacked in our system and had a load of our men and cargo aboard her. No-one steals from the Kilgannon.

And what did he find eh? A pretty looking fleet of Solanum vessels all about to pirate the wee transport and loot her and kill our men. When he asked her to back off she refused eh! Cheeky wench. Then she had the affront to launch an atomic bomber at the transport and move into attack formation against my brother.


he pauses to take a great gulp of mead before continuing getting angry slightly. "she attacked pirating the transport, launching atomics and moving tae attack. We will complain to Lord Hax and see what he has to say eh? Now... a more interesting one, what are the astartes doing aboard her fleet?"

[Hyrule]

Orvar was ill at ease. This man's brother had fired on them and now he claimed that Solanum was a pirate. And by saying that he implied that a son of Russ had become a pirate. He had the urge to leap at him and cut him down along with his so-called guards. But the Keeper was speaking. Orvar didn't know him very well yet but he did know that Gordian would do well. The bulkheads were closed and they had been herded to this place. There were more guards, that much was clear. But he was confident that the Astartes would fight their way out. He growled over the secure channel: "This is a trap. He will have his warriors hidden around here to beset us. Do not trust him and remain wary."

Spoiler

Show

Smell TN 95 (1d100)[74], re-roll if failed, (1d100)[27]
Hearing TN 95 (1d100)[50], re-roll if failed, (1d100)[28]
Sight TN 95 (1d100)[51], re-roll if failed, (1d100)[58]
All use the Awareness skill.

[Toxic Mind]

"It would interest you to know then, that the transport itself, along with all the armor and troops that it carried had fallen to the corruption of the warp. Lady Sollanum sacrificed her own men to attempt to retake it, an effort which proved to be both costly and ultimately futile. To prevent the transport from re-entering the warp, the decision was made to destroy it. Mounting a full assault against such fortifications would have been far too costly. It was not Lady Sollanum who made that decision, Lord Kilgannon. We did. Her methods, our choice. Your brother fired on the Lady's ships first, and given that her men as well as our squad were neck deep in heretics and daemons, she rightfully assumed, as did we all, that your brother was willfully in league with them. A claim I am sure he vehemently denies. Such as it is, we did manage to rescue some surviving members of the crew at the Lady's behest. Not prisoners, but honored guests."

Jerza and Corlis sat, though the food remained untouched. Corlis listened, and then spoke for the first time.

"Have you ever fought a daemon, Lord Kilgannon? Have you ever seen men whose minds are so broken by the Ruinous Powers that they lose all reason and turn their weapons on themselves, their brothers, and even the true servants of the Emperor?" The Raptor does not wait for a reply. "I have. And the only mercy to give such men is death so that their body and soul may be cleansed of the taint of the Warp. Our duty was done. Surely you do not mean to question OUR service to the Emperor?" The Space Marine's expression was cold and distant, and death shown in his eyes, a death seen for the long years of his service, ever present to the scions of the Raven Guard. "Brother-Chaplain Rikkard fought by my side and faced down a tank so corrupted by daemonic energy that all our weapons barely pierced its hide. And that was just one of the tanks, of which the manifest noted far more beneath the hold. Brother-Chaplain, if those tanks had reached an unwarare Imperial World, what would have been the outcome?"

Sub-vox messages crackled in both the marine's ears. Corlis was the first to respond. ++Stay your hands, but be prepared. If this is indeed a trap, we will render the Emperor's judgment on these heretics, but we must not make the first blow, no matter his provocations.++

[DrK]

The hall is fairly quiet as the astartes speak but Kilgannon still lounges in an arrogant manner. "I have fought demons lord astartes. They fell to my blade as easy as the heretic and the traitor and the xeno that I have faced as we have carved out systems for the Lord Emperor. He smiles, "Can any of you make that claim eh?"

"Back to the fleets, well My brother was not offered the chance to sort his own ship out. I'm sure you fine astartes made an effort to find all the men that could be saved before Solanum annihilated the vessel. You say we fired first eh? Well why not after she launched fighters, atomics and activated targeting arrays scanning my brother's entire fleet.

We seek no grievance with astartes, especially not those of the Ordos Xenos." his eyes flickering towards the deathwatch markings, "We have always had good relations with Iron Knights amongst your kind. But mark me. And tell Lady solanum. This is not the end of this, she has cost a pair of vessels. We will have revenge for that insult."

[Hyrule]

Orvar listened to the words and spoke to the others: "He wishes to take our secret words. He wishes to rended us speechless like pups. Without helmets we are vulnerable. We must refuse."

He then turned on the vox-grille of his helmet: "The wolf does not feast with those who speak ill of him. You say that Solanum is a pirate. But she is not. By saying that she is a pirate you say that we are pirates. That is an insult. You say that we have not carved out systems. I am of the Rout, we have carved out sector afer sector building the Imperium. My brothers are of the Raven Guard, the Black Templars, the Marines Errant. All of their chapters have fought wars beyond your understanding. All of us have fought more battles than your whole dynasty has seen. You will take back your words or I will force them back into your mouth so deep that your entrails will be filled with them."

[Toxic Mind]

Jerza is Marine Errant, and no stranger to space battle. He has fought in space hulks, on death worlds, and stood before entire orkish hordes as the bore down on his position. To stain the honor of one contracted with the Deathwatch, no matter the history of her dynasty was one thing, but to do so to Astartes, and Deathwatch Veterans no less... Jerza smiles, but their is no warmth, only cold fury. He places his helmet on his head once more, the autosenses replacing his own. "I can see that we are done here. We have been spilling blood on worlds since before your father's father was a mewling babe, yet you question our experience. But rest assured, I will inform the Lady Sollanum of your words." Jerza bows, but there is no respect, only mockery in the gesture.

Corlis, his helmet never removed, simply stands. He draws his Stalker Pattern Bolter and holds it out. "This gun once took off the head of a Tyranid Hive Tyrant from 250 Meters. My Chapter Master told me that he only knew of 5 others in existence who could have made that shot. They say the shot is so quiet that the target never even hears their death coming. They simply... cease to exist." Corlis looks around the room at those assembled, some of which shy away from his gaze, as if to meet it would invite the death he so casually spoke of. "Honored guests. Good day." He turns to leave, and as he does, his auspex sweeps the room for threats. The idea that the Rogue Trader would dare seems ludicrous in itself, but Corlis has seen desperate men do far stupider things.

Spoiler: Awareness

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(1d100)[72] vs 98 [auspex +auto senses]

[Raunchel]

Livilla unfortunately wasn't present when the Space Marine came to visit, she was busy with making her confessions to her personal priest. She prayed for the Emperor's forgiveness for any errors that she might have made and for the strenght to utterly destroy the renegade Kilgannon. And of course to take his holdings, she believes in doing His work, but prefers it if there are profits involved, her profits, and they should be rising. Always rising.

After the prayers she is visited by her architects and shipwrights to discuss the repairs of the fleet. Things are going well, for the captured cruiser no new launch bays could be found, and if the negotiations go as planned, the ships will soon be fitted out to make war on the Emperor's enemies. All the important parts of the Demeter have survived the battle, the protective systems surrounding the monuments of her family have done their work well.

Spoiler: Acquisitions

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Depending on the commerce skill of the local traders The Restoration(Dictator) will have found all components except the new launch bays. The repairs will last for (6d5+14)[33] days. Then the ship will have been sufficiently repaired to be moved to a better port to finish the whole repairs thing. The repairs are made on the Repulse.

The Redoubtable(Destroyer) will gain all the needed parts, and depending on the commerce skill of the local traders she will be fully repaired in (6d5+24)[40] days. Then she will also be ready for action.

The Revenge (Lomond) will be fully repaired in 40 days. Then she will also have a crew and all that.

The Demeter has had five hull points repaired and her crew now consists of 3 elite and 99 veterans, bringing the crew rating to 60,29412.

The Astartes have left again, and she reads Belkewi's report. Apparently the Lomond's crew believed that they were well withing their rights to engage her, probable deceived by their dark masters. These rumours about chaos raiders however are troubling, and they might be allies of the Kilgannon's. They probably are. The renegades just are a front for the vile darkness that broods in the warp. Why else would they employ vile sorcery and open fire without provocation. She has made up her mind about the matter, she will not show restraint, she will not show mercy. She will hunt down their fleet and sweep every last ship from the void, and when that is done she will destroy their monuments, light their worlds like giant pyres to purge all the heresies that linger there and to free the poor slaves. If it is a war that they want, it is a war that they will get. A war without mercy, a war without respite. She has the support of His Angels after all.

Much works remains to be done however. The negotiations are tedious. She expects a trap when she leaves, there are two enemy ships here in port, but she can't yet afford to destroy them at anchor, even though the longing is there. The pilots are maintaining strong patrols around the resting fleet, and all the ships are kept at a state of readiness. She knows that the enemy ships were harmed, but she doesn't know how many more they have. They will now be prepared to fight her, and the losses will be great.

Which reminds her of another duty, a more joyous one. Promotions. Lieutenant Tibbet has proven herself during the last operations and will be made flight marshal of the Demeter bomber wings because the old flight marshal went missing in action. The Demeter's First Lieutenant, Claudia Pulcher, would be promoted to captain of the Redoubtable, Serdynage Hastur would gain command of the Revenge in recognition of her services as commander of the bomber wings of the Demeter, captain Irono Falsetti of the Renown would be promoted to captain of the Restoration with his former command going to his first officer, Reamon Thalsin. She loves the ceremony, it makes her feel important, and of course, it shows her growing power. The refits are expensive, but in the end they will pay out, especially when the Kilgannon's have finally been utterly destroyed.

After the promotions there is the dinner that she promised to her ranking officers. All the captains are present, along with several other senior staff. It takes place in one of her dining rooms which was designed to show her family's great wealth. The roof that is formed by a dome is held up by columns of columns of lapis lazuly. The dome is decorated with a mosaic of gold and gemstones, showing the Emperor being worshipped by great saints. Between the columns there are statues standing over the arches of the doors. There are five of them, each showing one of the Grand Virtues: Zeal, Faith, Obedience, Purity and Duty. Between them there are finely carved statues of cherubim and lesser saints. Each of the doors is solid bronze, showing scenes of the lifes of the saints.

Livilla sits at the round agate table which was inlaid with the white five-leaved Solanum flower in larimar. Her chair is like a throne, carved from the tusk of a Remarian Mangler. The detailing is of the finest kind and shows symbols of death and servitude to the Emperor. The other chairs are slighly simpler, ivory like her own and with similar designs. Along the walls servants in white liveries stand ready to attend to her guests.

[Breadstick]

Septimus Solanum walked across his mighty ship. It was damaged but that could be fixed. Magos Delwar was supervising all the work while he headed to the bays. To come to the dinner.

Spoiler

Show

Repulse needs four tests at TN 95 to make full repairs. (1d100)[99], (1d100)[37], (1d100)[63], (1d100)[64]

Resistance also needs four tests at TN 95 to make full repairs. (1d100)[68]

After arriving in the hall Septimus bows to the lady: "Milady, may I congratulate you on another grand victory?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Chaplain Rikkard

The Chaplain never sat. Many Space Marines didn't unless they were forced to out of some decorum in such a place as this. Your standard Astartes could fall asleep on his feet, eyes open, if he ever slept in the first place. More than that, sitting down with these wretches and fools would be a stain upon his honor. He didn't know how Corlis and Jerza bore it. Likewise, his skull-faced helm remained on as it always did, even amongst the company of his Deathwatch brothers. He was an instrument of the Emperor's divine glory. He had given up a face for that purpose. To ask him to remove the skull helm was ridiculous.

"Brother-Chaplain Rikkard fought by my side and faced down a tank so corrupted by daemonic energy that all our weapons barely pierced its hide. And that was just one of the tanks, of which the manifest noted far more beneath the hold. Brother-Chaplain, if those tanks had reached an unaware Imperial World, what would have been the outcome?"

"Death by the thousands, if not millions." the Chaplain estimated. "Massed firepower could have even destroyed a hive city if they managed to get in range of one." he said dispassionately. "And those paltry machines are nothing compared to the other foul creatures that serve the powers of Chaos. Who knows what else might have lain dormant in that ship's hold...?" he trailed off.

Sub-vox messages crackled in both the marine's ears. Corlis was the first to respond. ++Stay your hands, but be prepared. If this is indeed a trap, we will render the Emperor's judgment on these heretics, but we must not make the first blow, no matter his provocations.++

The Chaplain replied to the private message with a single click of his helmet vox, indicating assent and readiness.

The hall is fairly quiet as the astartes speak but Kilgannon still lounges in an arrogant manner. "I have fought demons lord astartes. They fell to my blade as easy as the heretic and the traitor and the xeno that I have faced as we have carved out systems for the Lord Emperor. He smiles, "Can any of you make that claim eh?"

"Back to the fleets, well My brother was not offered the chance to sort his own ship out. I'm sure you fine astartes made an effort to find all the men that could be saved before Solanum annihilated the vessel. You say we fired first eh? Well why not after she launched fighters, atomics and activated targeting arrays scanning my brother's entire fleet.

We seek no grievance with astartes, especially not those of the Ordos Xenos." his eyes flickering towards the deathwatch markings, "We have always had good relations with Iron Knights amongst your kind. But mark me. And tell Lady solanum. This is not the end of this, she has cost a pair of vessels. We will have revenge for that insult."

That was almost too much for the Chaplain. The only thing keeping him from removing the "lord's" head and crushing it under his boot was the fact that he was too well-disciplined to act without his Team Leader's order. That didn't stop him from speaking, however. As the others went to leave, the Chaplain approached the junior Kilgannon with silent menace. As he approached, the full extent of the difference between an Astartes' seven to eight foot height and a even a tall human's was put into stark contrast. The red lenses of his skull helm glared down at the man. "You may have fought lesser daemon spawn, or mutants you mistook for them, but I promise you, child, you have never fought anything like a greater daemon. Or, for that matter, like us. If you had, you would not be alive to boast about it." he rumbled. "You speak to warriors who have been crusading across the void for millenia, to whom your arrogant claims are but the crying of an infant with no inkling of his proper place."

"You will do two things now." the Chaplain continued. "You will remove these blasphemous icons to your family's own vanity and replace them with statues, prayer scrolls, and proper items of devotion to the God-Emperor. This place is distressingly bare of good and honest worship." he growled. "I do not even see the blessed aquila upon your person, displayed openly with love and fealty as it should be."

"Second, you will call your brother. You will advise him to make contact with the Lady Solanum. He will go aboard her command ship, get on his knees, and offer her his sword in abject apology for his actions. If he does so, all can be forgiven and your two dynasties can go forward in peace, working together for the greater glory of the Imperium instead of useless personal pride or awards or another...piece of fabric to add to your collection."

Then, the Chaplain removed his combat knife from the sheath on his waist. He looked over its pure, untarnished silver for a moment, but did not brandish it threateningly yet. "You, boy, will bring this back to me when all of this is done." he instructed. "If you do not..." he paused to ram the blade straight through the thick, wooden table that the lordling sat at, putting it all the way through so that the shining point of it appeared out of the bottom. "...I will come back to retrieve it."

Instructions clear, the Chaplain turned his back on Kilgannon the Younger and stomped out with his brothers.

[DrK]

The Astartes

The man listens to the Chaplin's rant with a slight smile. Perhaps one tinged with a hint of worry but if he is he controls it well. The men beside him doing less well as they quail before the skull face chaplin.*

As the chaplin leaves the young Lord rises, a sharp metallic sound banging on the stone as he throws the knife across the floor of the chamber to stop by Rikkard's feet. "Chaplin. You should take it with you. The next time my Brother sets eyes upon the Lady Solanum it will be her on her knees... or her back" the last with a leer "This a matter between our dynasties. I shall leave you to continue you *millenia long crusade.."., the emphasis on millenia clearly where doubts your age and experience. As he finishes he gives a slight bow, before throwing back his horn of drink and striding towards an exit at the back of the chamber. One of his assistants gathering up the long blade from its rest to follow his master.*

The chamber is silent, eerily so. As the guests are frozen in fear, waiting to see how the astartes would react. The clash of wills between the Astartes and a Warrant Holder from an ancient and powerful House a terrifying thing to witness.*

-------------------------------------------------

Footfall. The fleet lies in orbit save for the battered hulks of the destroyer and the Dictator that lie in the cradles at the docks surrounded by a fleet of small craft. The negotiations are long and protracted and Livillia quickly realises that that if she remains to quibble with the thieves and disreputable scum here she will be here for weeks. As it is the initial negotiations still take more than a*week.*The scrapyards and merchants grow fat and rich as the Solanum finances are rapidly stretched to breaking by the frantic shipbuilding.

A week later the command crew assembled in the beautiful chambers on the Demeter can enjoy the promotions and ceremonies organised by the Lady Captain...

Spoiler: ships

Show

Negotiations...
For the ~30 repair checks that will require Livillia to be there for them. It part of the requirement for making commerce checks. So she'd have to stay in port for all those weeks. Or she can just default to the crew rating making checks after 3-4 weeks.

The repairs on the Dictator after 5 weeks i.e. 25 hull integrity (and in the interest of being fair parallel repairs on Lomond and Destroyer) drain Footfall of all their supplies to hand. You will have to either find a new planet to complete repairs or wait for a long time until they get more supplies in.

Acquisition tests....
Typically I allow ~3 tests before the multiple acquisition rules kick in.
And on the components you've forgotten to include the "component type" modifiers. (-30 for war, -20 for aethrics, -10 for power).
- that makes for example the Bombardment cannon a base -80 test, then the cumulative penalties for multiple acquisitions have to be factored in. Your dynasty just doesn't have the resources to outfit multiple warships at the same time.*

For some, particularly the rarer ones there is also the time element to source the object, which can be significant for very rare items

Have a think and we can sort it out in the OOC thread

[Toxic Mind]

Corlis puts a hand on Rikkard's shoulder, obstinately a show of support, but to restrain the Chaplain from doing anything rash all the same. They came here under promise of peace, and would leave under the same. Yet this Lordling refused to leave well enough alone. "I assume you keep your Warrant close by, so that all may know the truth of your claim, my Lord." The title is more mockery than honorific. "Yet the universe is a fickle place, and anyone could claim to be part of your dynasty. Without such proof, how would we determine the legitimacy of their claim?" Corlis shrugs. "No matter. I'm sure it won't be a problem. Yet I can't help but wonder. After all, the Void is such a dangerous place. A Rogue Trader without proof of his right is little more than a pirate as you say. But where are my manners? We were just leaving, and I'm sure you care little for the idle thoughts of a warrior."

The threat was clear enough for anyone with the brain to see it. Whatever their claims towards Livila Solanum, she at least always had her warrant with her. Between the two brothers, there was only one warrant, which meant one or the other had no proof of his claim. And without such proof, what could stay the Astartes from ending him there and then?

[Raunchel]

Around the dome above Livilla there is an inscription, saying: "Collaudere Imperatoris Divinum Solae Advectio Divitiae Est" She extends her hand to Septimus to be kissed and replies: :"Thank you, but I must congratulate you on the superb handling of your ships, and wish to express my great gratitude for your bravery in action."

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For those who are wondering, it means: The only purpose of wealth is to praise the divine Emperor.

At the same time Simangele is busy looking for information about the Kilgannons. She has disguised herself as a minor trader, to prevent being fed false information by any agents they might have around this place. She will use this to verify the information she got from her captives. And to find any rumour she could use of course.

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Interrogation of the prisoners: (1d100)[31] TN 93. She wants to know about the ships that Kilgannon has, the defenses of the worlds he controls, their locations, basically all the strategic information. She will do this on several prisoners in a row, she has the time after all. So I can do more rolls as well.
Inquiry to find out about the Kilgannons: (1d100)[14] TN 115
Common Lore(Koronus Expanse) on the Kilgannons: (1d100)[4] TN 70
Disguise: (1d100)[62] TN 135

[Hyrule]

Orvar's blood was boiling. To be insulted like this while under truce was terrible. But he would follow orders: "There is no such thing as a truce with a traitor. I am sworn to destroy any of those I meet, and this certainly is one. I am not one for sophistry and fine words but my saga will contain this man's death along with that of his brother. They are traitors and I will see them dead. They have their throats bared believing that we are too weak to bite. But we are not. Give the order and their souls will flee their bodies."

Outwardly nothing was visible of this emotion as it was hidden by the blank face of the helmet. Orvar no longer spoke out loud. He couldn't bring himself to retain a hint of pleasantry. The next thing this man would hear from him would be his howl as he charged.

[DrK]

Kilgannon Estate

Despite Corlis's words the young Lord strides out of the back of the room leaving the Astartes with the rest of the minor functionaries and various nobilities of Footfall who cower in fear from the astartes...

Demeter

The young interrogator's inquiries and small torture manage to extract some additional information although the junior ranking of many of them limits the amount of the secret information she is able to obtain.
- Kilgannon Dynasty- Ancient Dynasty descended from the some of the 1st colonies on Europa and Ganamyede
- Its rich, powerful and influential
- Lord Kilgannon, the current Holder of the Warrant is arrogant and powerful and in his mid 300's. He has spent fortunes outfitting ships to explore and tame the Expanse seeking to become the next Winterscale.
- He had a military background serving for 65 years in Battlefleet Calixis
- One of his titles is Governer of the Serpentis system where he is slowly opening up a major trade route with the super dense metals produced by the binary star system. Exports however have almost ceased however 12 years ago, save for the tithes to the Imperium that are paid in full.
- He has strong links to both the Imperial Navy and the Ecclesiarchy
- The Serpentis system is a large system with a binary star system and 5 habitable planets, several lunar colonies although details are sketchy as most trade vessel are met at Serpentis IV the main planet and not allowed further into the system.
- Rumours are that he possesses a sizeable army spread amongst the dominion planets
- His fleet comprises some 5 capital ships (lt.cruiser and above), about ten escorts of various size and a dozen or so transports although many of these will be busy carrying out his orders at one time.

[Toxic Mind]

"We must meet with our contact. There is nothing more for us here. This human will receive the reward for his arrogance soon enough." Corlis turns and heads back to the Talon to find the Deathwatch contact in Footfall and report his findings.

[ChronicLunacy]

Chaplain Rikkard

A brave servant returned the Chaplain's combat knife to him and he left without another word. Kilgannon the Younger would need a tombstone, he ruminated. But what to write on it? "Please Kill Me, Black Templar!" seemed a bit too vulgar, if not inaccurate. Maybe if he carved it into the stone in High Gothic it might sound better.

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Captain Solomon Graves

Meanwhile, Captain Graves and Captain Harcourt were on their way to their dinner with the high-level fleet personalities, hosted by Sol's triumphant cousin, the Lady Solanum herself. Sol was dressed appropriately in his dress uniform, rather than his combat armor, but as was only expected he kept several "active deterrents" hidden on his person. The only obvious weapon was the masterfully crafted, gilded power sword displayed prominently on his hip as a sign of his office as ship captain. His comrade Captain wore a similar dress uniform and chainsword, though she'd made the effort to pin her hair up rather than allow it to remain free and unruly as she usually did on the bridge of Fearful Symmetry. They arrived arm in arm, having no more reason to hide their occasional dalliances as they were no longer part of the regular battlefleet and could not be punished for fraternization. The gold and silver servitor at the grand entrance to the audience hall announced their arrival to all in attendance in a bass monotone.

"Captains Solomon Graves and Lucrezia Harcourt, of His Divine Majesty's Ships Scathing Retort and Fearful Symmetry, most recently of Battlefleet Obscurus, honored veterans of the Calixis Campaign, defenders of the Cadian Gate, destroyers of the hated Space Pirates of Minos Corva..."

It went on like that for some time.

[Hyrule]

Orvar
"Brothers, we shall return here soon, and we will feast to celebrate our victory afterwards. These traitors deserve nothing, only death and the last they will ever see will be our helmets and the last they hear their own screams of terror. We will destroy them and we will not honour their dead. They don't deserve such a thing. Let us armour ourselves for war and tell the Rogue Trader to help us as well as she can."

[Toxic Mind]

Corlis Vahn

Corlis looks to Orvar. "Go with Jerza, and report to the Lady-Captain what has transpired here. I will take the Chaplain with me to meet our contact. Maintain vox contact. As of now, Footfall is hostile territory." Corlis returns to the Stormraven, and quickly enough has deposited Orvar and the Apothecary back on the Sollanum flagship. He then goes quickly to the arranged meeting point with the Chaplain, taking the Stormraven with him.

Jerza Gordian

Jerza says little, simply voxing the Lady-Captain as they board the flagship. "Lady-Captain, we have returned from our meeting with the Kilgannon." The omission of the title is surely not lost on Livila. "The outcome is likely of some interest to you. Where shall we meet?"

[Raunchel]

Livilla awaits the Deathwatch in the gardens reserved for her family. She sits at a black marble construction, on top of which a statue of a praying girl is surrounded by hooded figures, each of whom holds a plate bearing a name. They read: "Black Celebration, Goeben Helix, Antivari, Sarych, Dogger Bank, Skagger, Thiol and Duran." Each of the plates bears one of these names in golden script. The construction is a tomb, belonging to Impereraphilia Solanum, who reigned for just seven years more than two thousand years ago. When the Astartes approach the lady Solanum bows, "Greetings, I welcome you, honoured warriors of the Emperor. I am curious to hear what you found in the traitor's nest."