The strange visions seemed to come less and less although still occuring. Perhaps it was all just the anxiety of going into the Warp again. The days were quiet and uneventful and nothing important, except for our care for the psykers, was taking up my time. I decided to divide my daily routine up into three major parts: checking on the prisoners, praying in the chapel and trying to improve my military tactics, strategy and art of war. I started to focus on the different skills and personalities within our little unit trying to figure out how they could all be deployed or used to the best of their abilities. Progress was slow and I really resented that access to the ships library hadn't been granted yet.
Calvin alone (Only known to him)
Calvin wanting to get some more upgrades for his body payed a visit to the Magos Biologis of the ship: Lazaks Pradesh. The Magos had been told by Enginseer Malekkus that Calvin had been performing some excellent work in the engine room before and immediately took an interest in the young techpriest. Calvin asked the Magos about the strange behavior of the machine spirit of the ship but after a short while changed the subject to what he really came here for. Calvin wanted to have some mechadandrites installed. With Calvin's consent, the Magos instantly strapped him on the operating chair and started with the preliminary research and tested the techpriests anatomy.
Calvin wanting to get some more upgrades for his body payed a visit to the Magos Biologis of the ship: Lazaks Pradesh. The Magos had been told by Enginseer Malekkus that Calvin had been performing some excellent work in the engine room before and immediately took an interest in the young techpriest. Calvin asked the Magos about the strange behavior of the machine spirit of the ship but after a short while changed the subject to what he really came here for. Calvin wanted to have some mechadandrites installed. With Calvin's consent, the Magos instantly strapped him on the operating chair and started with the preliminary research and tested the techpriests anatomy.
The quiet and peace didn't last. During one of my contemplations on military arts, my thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an abrupt jolt, immediately followed by the sound of klaxons and the rhythmic pulsing of red lights. An alarm was raised. Not long after, a voice sounded over the ships vox-channel: "This is the captain. Red alert! Red alert! All hands to battle stations!"
There was another shock. I could hear a massive buildup followed by a brusque discharge of energy. The ship had just fired its main weapons! Everyone rushed to obey the order that was just given. As we charged into the hallway to check up on the prisoners, Calvin stated that he would make himself useful elsewhere and rushed off to the gun decks of of on of the macro lasers battery. In the prisoner holding area everything seemed to be in order. I was glad to see that it was not an escape attempt or an attempt to free the prisoners.
Meanwhile on the gun decks, everything was in overdrive. Giant bullets were loaded in the broadside macro cannons. As soon as Calvin walked in, he had a clear view on what was happening outside. An aliens vessel was in close orbit around the local sun. As he inquired on what had just happened, the techpriest working there informed him that a Xenos weapon had just hit us while we were in the Warp and shot us out of the immaterium. This is highly impossible. Statistically speaking the odds of something like that happening are infinite small. In human terms, not possible at all. Calvin called me on the vox channel: "We have just been attacked by an enemy vessel and were shot out of the immaterium. We are in real space again and have engaged the threat."
A broadside macro cannon salvo hit the Xenos ship and did some serious damage although some of it was absorbed by their shields. As the the macro cannons were being reloaded and the Vengeful Wrath being maneuvered to launch another volley of blasts on the attacking vessel, it just disappeared. Not that it jumped into the warp, no, it just vanished from sight. It must have been some kind of a trick, cloaking tech, jamming or something. For sure teleporting a whole vessel is impossible. The reloading and the maneuvering continued but nothing happened in the aftermath of the encounter. After some minutes without any sign of the enemy, the captain revoked the red alert.
Inquisitor Vindixus came on the vox channel and summoned us to the command deck. Entering onto the deck, everyone of the core crew was there along with Rafael's acolytes.
Apparently, the ships long range auger array picked up a signal from a long lost imperial ship, the "Rubicon", that was due to arrive at Scintilla some two years ago. There was reason to believe that the Xenos who attacked us had left some species there and we were ordered to join the boarding crew to investigate the "Rubicon" and destroy whatever Xenos we would find there. We couldn't destroy the ship so a boarding mission was prepared to find out what happened to "the Rubicon". The rest of the teams would be boarding the ship as well, Rafael's team, the Deathwatch and there would be even support from the Scions. The inquisitors would head immediately for the bridge and our specific task was to secure and hold section 55 alpha zeta on deck 16, the entry and extraction point for the mission.
Apparently, the ships long range auger array picked up a signal from a long lost imperial ship, the "Rubicon", that was due to arrive at Scintilla some two years ago. There was reason to believe that the Xenos who attacked us had left some species there and we were ordered to join the boarding crew to investigate the "Rubicon" and destroy whatever Xenos we would find there. We couldn't destroy the ship so a boarding mission was prepared to find out what happened to "the Rubicon". The rest of the teams would be boarding the ship as well, Rafael's team, the Deathwatch and there would be even support from the Scions. The inquisitors would head immediately for the bridge and our specific task was to secure and hold section 55 alpha zeta on deck 16, the entry and extraction point for the mission.
We all found it a little bit too coincidental that we were shot out of the immaterium, highly improbable, only to be briefly attacked by a Xenos vessel, and found ourselves, by accident, within auger array range for picking up the automated distress signal form a lost imperial ship. This whole endeavor smelled like a trap. The inquisitor acknowledged this but still stressed that it had to be investigated, trap or not. The alien would soon rue the day they encountered and engaged us! We entered into the hanger for the preflight check. There were a lot of special forces and the other acolytes as well as the inquisitors. An array of fighter jets were being launched to escort the boarding vessels. As soon as the Astartes entered the room, everyone went silent. It still amazed me what an impact it has on everyone to be in the presence of those magnificent warriors. One of them, Brother Razius of the Ravenguard, did not board the assault boat. With his full power armor on, including his jump pack, he would stay on the outside. As soon as everyone was strapped in, the Shark Assaults took of and we could feel the g's as the power of their massive engines kicked in. Once we were outside in the blackness of space, we could see the derelict Rubicon floating around in space, its rear and side heavily damaged. The fast boarding vessels and their escorts crossed the gap between the two ships in no time. |
As we neared the Rubicon, Brother Razius detached himself from the Shark Assault and used his jump pack to dash towards the Rubicon, using his gigantic claws to breach the hull. Debris and air being slung into the vacuum from decompression as he teared a hole big enough for the Shark Assault to attach itself to the hull and allowing the boarding crew to enter into the belly of the Rubicon.