Chương 52: Chapter Forty-Five - Recalibration

Vena had to hurry and adjust her expectations with regard to her allies. The Tech Acolyte, Alexis Lambda-3 (or 'just call me Alexis!') was bright-eyed and bubbly and quite friendly. Vena might have dismissed her capabilities except that she had three rather fearsome-looking servitors with her in the room at the moment. Her experience with the Adeptus Mechanicus as a group was limited mostly to run-ins with lower-ranked Biologis Adepts and Genetors.

She understood that they were important parts of the great whole of the Mechanicus, but her personal experience with them mostly amounted to bumping elbows with one while doing some implant surgery. Alexis Lambda-3 wasn't of that order, obviously. She painted herself as a would-be Servitor Underseer and Vena could see it. She wasn't sure how well Alexis' ambitions fit into her own plans, but that was a discussion for later. For now, at a glance, Alexis looked more like a young, maybe inexperienced Magos.

Certainly not a common Tech Adept. If she walked into any room on this ship devoid of Adeptus Mechanicus personnel familiar with her and moved with confidence, Vena was certain that others would assume her position within the Cult Mechanicus was far greater. Octavia Glass was a whole other set of problems. The woman stated, plainly, that she wasn't an Imperial Saint.

Vena had never been subjected to too much of the propaganda meant for menials, but she had witnessed some of it, and that cultural knowledge was screaming at her at the moment that Octavia was lying. The armour and regalia and the faint presence around Octavia all spoke of someone blessed by the God Emperor. The image folded over and died the moment Octavia grinned and looked like an unruly child who had just pulled a prank. Also, whenever she was standing next to someone, her height became more obvious.

Not that it was all that unique to Vena.

"Holy Emperor's shiny codpiece, you are fucking tall!" Octavia said as she walked over to Vena to shake her hand. She had to reach way up for it.

"Voidborn," Vena explained as she reached down to shake. She had to bend her back a little. There was a solid two feet of difference between them.

"A pleasure to meet you."

"Same here, oh tall one!" Vena perked one eyebrow, an expression she'd seen Clarice use just moments ago and which she decided to copy.

"And what if I have issues with my height?"

"Then that'd make two of us! Hah!" Octavia chuckled. Vena wasn't sure which way to interpret that, but chose to drop the subject entirely. Instead she gestured the other Vanguard to the table and they soon took seats around it, all except for Gabriel, Clarice's manservant who was also obviously some sort of psyker. She suspected that Octavia had dipped into either some anti-psyker items or was a psyker of some sort herself, perhaps with Vyper's assistance?

There would be time to explore each other's abilities later.

"First, before refreshments are served," Vena began as she sat.

"I'd like to thank both of you for coming, and to assure you that we won't be interrupted or spied upon... Vyper, do you have anything that would prevent outside listeners from overhearing our conversation?"

"Certainly! Though you don't currently have any catalogues that can assist you with that, Vena." Judging by the way the other two perked up, they were in on that conversation as well. Interesting. Clarice gave her a blank look, however.

"I could help?" Alexis asked.

"I think I have a good tool catalogue."

"No, no," Vena said.

"I appreciate the offer, but you're here on my behalf and on my request, it's only fair that I spend a few points myself. Vyper, a specialized catalogue and one device, please? If we can keep it below thirty or so points..."

"I can accommodate that." New Purchase: Short Range Anti-Listening Devices Catalogue New Point Total: 561 New Purchase: Single-use Anti-Spy Puck New Point Total: 551 There went her gains from the last two daily allotments. Clarice didn't jump in her seat, but she did start a little as a small box appeared on the table. Before Vena could reach for it, it was snatched away by a mechadendrite and Alexis was humming as she inspected it.

"Yours are a little different than mine," she said.

"I think... wait, is Vyper customizing them for each of us?"

"It only feels appropriate." An interesting detail. Vena made a mental note of it and thanked Alexis when she returned the box. The puck within was easy to use. A twist and it activated, creating a small amount of white noise.

"Good! Now, onto business before we have a meal?" Vena asked. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Alexis shifted in her plush seat so that she was sitting on the palms of her hands. Octavia leaned up, elbows on the table.

"Sure thing, big gal, go ahead." Vena took a deep breath to begin.

"A recap, first. The situation as it stands, and Miss Caduceus, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, is as follows: The Broken Scale ran into an unknown object while traversing the warp and-- ah, yes?" Alexis had hurriedly raised an all-black hand.

"That was Vyper. The thing we bumped into? Uh... she's kinda big? Like, a small moon, big?"

"I... see," Vena said. She hadn't known that.

"In any case, the impact damaged the vessel, though not substantially. Two things did occur on account of that, however. Three, really. First, we became Vanguard. Second, a large group of Genestealers rose in the lower decks of the vessel. Third, Rogue Trader Solm Caduceus, Clarice's uncle, passed away on the ship's bridge due to the impact. Currently we are nearing sixty hours since impact. The genestealer cult is mostly eliminated according to last reports, and critical infrastructure repair has been done."

"Busy few days, huh?" Octavia asked.

"I'm sure you didn't call us here for a recap."

"No, of course not," Vena said.

"I called you here to discuss our next steps. I see three paths ahead of us. First, we keep our heads relatively low, don't work together very much, and try to do what we can within our individual organizations." Octavia shrugged at that.

"Not a terrible move?"

"It's not," Vena said.

"And the second option, which is open to each of us, is to run. We have the ability to fight back, break away from any attempt to capture us, and hide. A cheap 'fake' bulkhead placed across an entryway in a deep corner of the ship would be enough, I think. We can purchase food off of our daily allotment, and survive until The Broken Scale makes it to a safe port. From there, a new identity wouldn't be too difficult to obtain, I think."

"Cowardly, though," Octavia said. Vena didn't say it, but she agreed.

"And finally, the option that's open to us thanks to Miss Caduceus here." Clarice straightened.

"I feel like I'm very much in the dark with regard to who, exactly, the three of you are, and what your connections to each other are."

"We're Vanguard," Vena said.

"As to what that means, just assume that we have a wide range of abilities and capabilities that surpass the norm."

"How frustratingly vague," Clarice replied.

"Your third option, would it have anything to do with my family's writ?"

"Yes," Vena conceded. She turned to the others.

"Clarice here is one of the prospective heirs of a Rogue Trader's writ of trade. That gives her immense political power. Enough to keep any of us away from the prying hands of... nearly any organization, onboard this vessel and within the Imperium at large. In exchange for that protection, we'd be offering her the services of... well, a not-Saint of the Imperium, an Adeptus Mechanicus Vanguard, and a Medicae Vanguard. I don't think even we know the value of that, but I suspect it's quite high."

Alexis seemed to like the idea.

"I've never even thought about being part of a Rogue Trader's retinue! That's really neat!"

"Are you not getting ahead of yourselves?" Clarice asked.

"I haven't accepted. For that matter, even if I did, I am not the direct heir to the dynasty. At best, if we can maneuver rapidly, I may be the temporary holder of the writ by dint of proximity to it, but the true heir is not even onboard this vessel."

"A temporary Rogue Trader is better than none," Vena said.

"And it may be years before we reach that true heir. We merely have to help you into that temporary position, and once there, assist you in finding ways of increasing your family's wealth to such a degree that your position as true Rogue Trader is undeniable." Unspoken was Vena's willingness to... expedite the process with the real heir. Any position earned via succession could be secured with a few accidents. Clarice harrumphed.

"So, what is your plan, then? The debate for rulership of The Broken Scale won't last forever. There is a meeting tomorrow at first bell that ought to seal the entire affair once and for all."

"Then we make sure that when you arrive at that meeting, it's in such a way that your position is unassailable," Vena said. Alexis raised a hand again.

"Question," she said. When the others gestured to her, she continued.

"I was wondering... earlier, you mentioned a few things like the Genestealers and such, but you never mentioned the daemon cult? Are we planning on doing something about that?" Vena blinked.

"Pardon me, the what?"