Ghosts of Scintilla

[Academia Nut]

Barriel said nothing as the rest of the group left. At Sebastian's greeting though, he just smiled acidly before he replied, "Ah Sebastian, always with the jesting. To suffer in the heat here away from the blessed frigid realms of the the noble districts is merely payment to the Emperor for his continued shepherding of humanity. And it is not always the desert heat of this place, for this is merely where my troops are stationed, ready to deploy should the need arise. You see, unlike other noble families, the Rennats do not believe in skipping ahead, but rather that glory and honour must be earned by deeds as well as blood. So while you studied the glories of the Emperor and the Saints, I was here quelling heretics and other scum."

Barriel then glances at the ragged band at the table and asks, "Speaking of suffering, it would appear that discipline in your retinue is rather... lax. Frankly I would have most of that lot whipped for their churlish behaviour. Alas, the commissar has made it clear that all complaints must go through him before action will be considered. A pity. I do believe that when discipline and decorum are lacking, that reflects poorly upon the commanding officer. Don't you, Sebastian?"

[fgalkin]

Sebastian smiled cheerfully at the man's words. Unlike the captain, his smile exuded only good-natured amusement. "Barriel, my friend, it seems that the glories of the Emperor are not the only things you have not studied. Must we stand here, haggling like hab-wives at at a marketplace whose House is better? We all have our duty and our part to play in the grand scheme of things. So, perhaps, we should get to it?"

He turned, as if to leave, then turned back, remembering something. "And I really do apologize for my companions here. They're feral worlders, you see, they have never seen an Imperial Noble before and have no inkling as to how to address one properly. So, they merely reacted in a way appropriate to the situation. I do apologize on their behalf, and I promise to teach them proper manners." He smiled again and bowed slightly.

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Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Academia Nut]

"Quite. Well, I will let you return to your meal here in the mess Sebastian, my duties here are completed and I have other pressing matters to attend to, as I am sure you do as well. Farewell," Barriel returned the small bow and then proceeded to storm out as quietly and politely as was possible to do so while still technically qualifying as 'storming out'.

[fgalkin]

Sebastian waited until the man was out of sight and turned to his companions.
"Friends, I would appreciate it if in the future, you would leave the talking to me. We nobles are a notoriously thin-skinned and easily offended lot, and we know how to hold a grudge. Just now, for example, we gained an enemy for life."

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Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Soontir948]

"I'll keep that in mind. Though I doubt we'll meet anymore nobles where we are going. Speaking of which, I think we've spent enough time here."

[Cynical Cat]

Nihilous finished what was left of his meal and disposed of his tray.

[Cpl Kendall]

Atellus shrugs, "as you wish. Now lets go kill things and break stuff." He tosses the remnants of his meal into the waste bin, and heads out the door.

[fgalkin]

"It appears that there is something I need to do before we head out," Sebastian says, "be with you in a few minutes."

With that, he left the mess hall and headed towards the base communications centre.

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Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Cynical Cat]

Nihilous headed for transport. He wasn't impressed. Not with the time wasting, the cooperation of the PDF, the supply issue, the way the commissar was treating this matter, in fact just about everything failed to impress him. Terminations were in order.

[Cynical Cat]

No chain of command had been established, which was puzzling. Whatever the reason for this obvious failure, the logical step was that he should step into the breach since no one else was. He cleared his throat as they neared the transport.

"It seems we have two immediate objectives: primus, obtain data on the drug and detection equipment from the Arbites. Secondus, obtain gang data from the Arbites. I propose that we split into two sections to maximize effectiveness. I will be part of the team that acquires the drug data and equipment."

He waited for responses.

[Soontir948]

Arl figured the noble would give orders once he arrived or the guardsman at least, but he wasn't going to question a psyker if he didn't have to. "Seems we'll be going to the same place anyway but I'll obtain the gang data."

[Academia Nut]

The comms room was a clustered little place where the cooling went first to appease the irritable machine spirits and if there was any left for the operators it was a blessing from the Emperor, or possibly the Omnissiah depending on your theological leanings. A few bored yet harassed looking PDF operators and a single rust robed tech priest shuffled about the large amounts of routine vox traffic a base generated and recieved. Looking over at Sebastian as he approaches the room, the priest glides rather eerily over to him and says, "Yes... your image fits the profile described to us to within a tolerable degree. The commissar ordered us to give your group senior officer grade clearance to here, although we still request you not tie up our lines with pointless chatter. What is the nature of your transmission?"

[Cpl Kendall]

Atellus shrugs, "I'll go along with the gang team, seems the one most likely to need the firepower."

[fgalkin]

"The nature of my transmission is classified," Sebastian shrugged. "Do you ask all your senior officers who they're calling and why?"

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Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Academia Nut]

Glaring at Sebastian, the tech priest moves over to a lectern and pulls off a large tome. Opening it up, he runs a mechanical hand down a well thumbed page and reads off, "Regulation 77-1-3/Aleph. 'Senior officers and others with equivalent communication priviledges are to declare the purpose of their message, business or personal, so that an appropriate level of encryption and bandwidth may be assigned, and to prevent abuse of communications priviledges. Misdeclaration of personal communication as official business will be met with punishment detail under guidelines 587-TT/Primaris'."

Closing the book with a loud snap, the tech priest replies, "So yes, yes I do ask that question. Would you like to answer it, or should I read out 587-TT/Primaris?"

[fgalkin]

"Very well, then, I stand corrected," Sebastian nodded. "I wish to send a confidential message to the House Kerne estate in Tarsus. "

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Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Academia Nut]

"There is a private recorder over there, I will prepare an appropriate encryption protocol to ensure confidentiality. Your message will have Tertius bandwidth status, which will put it on the top of the stack for the current batch of communication," the tech priest states, gesturing to a small booth with a privacy screen and sound nullifiers.

[fgalkin]

"Thank you," Sebastian said heading for the booth.

--------------------------
Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Cynical Cat]

Nihilous headed toward the transport. Sooner they got moving, the better.

[fgalkin]

Sebastian emerged from the communications center and spotted the group heading towards the transport.

"So, where are we headed?" he asked

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Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[LadyTevar]

"we are going to the Arbites," Kyona answered Sebastian, her metallic eyes seeming to stare through him. "It is hoped they will have information."

[Academia Nut]

Outside the heat is still terrible, but with the sun now almost below the horizon it is only punishing rather than near-lethally dessicating. A sturdy looking Munitorum transport sits beneath a shade shelter, the driver slouching in the seat, his feet up on the opened window and a data-slate being quietly reviewed in his hands. At the approach of the acolytes he looks them over before straightening up, hopping out of the cab and saluting.

"Greetings sirs and madam, I am Trooper Garius Vakrian of the Scintilla PDF, Tarsus 43rd. I have been assigned to you by Commissar Yalt to act as your transport driver. I have already been informed of your confidentiality needs. Where can I take you today?" He says with much more crispness than his general appearance would suggest, as it looks like he has been out in the field on campaign for a week or two by the crinkles in his uniform.

[Cpl Kendall]

Atellus eyes up the PDf trooper.

Is there no end to these trolls? he thinks to himself before answering the soldier, "Arbites precinct Trooper, and make it quick."

He climbs into the cabs passenger seat and settles his lasgun across his knees.

[Academia Nut]

Once the rest of the team has boarded the transport, Garius climbs into the driver's side of the cab and grins broadly at Atellus.

"Now this machine's spirit is a bit cantankerous and tempermental at times, but the old beast always pulls through when it counts, isn't that right old girl?" Garius says while affectionately patting the console of the vehicle while turning the ignition, the transport rumbling loudly if a tad slowly to life. Looking back into the rear of the transport, he states, "You're all going to want to make sure to be secured tight for this."

Buckling his own restraints, he then gives the vehicle a second before releasing the clutch and depressing the accelerator, sending the vehicle surging forward at the rather unexpected acceleration.

Glancing back into the cab, he shouts over the roar of the engine, "Arbites eh? Want to go to the local precinct or the big one downhive?"

[Cynical Cat]

"Both," Nihilous replied.