Chương 68: Volume Two - Chapter Five - Chrysis

Alexis had never been in a big meeting like this one, but that was fine. She was going to handle it. All she had to do was not make a fool of herself! Easy! At least, she desperately hoped it was easy. She entered the room with only KYS at her side. Her other friends were waiting outside. She thought that maybe they were a little bit too hard and intimidating for such a space. This meeting was going to hinge on making a good impression.

Surprisingly, Octavia was already there sitting at one of the chairs, her feet up on the huge table that took up the center of the room, rubbing a cloth across the steel of her chainsword. The metal was already reflecting the glare of the holoprojector in the center of the table. Three seats over, sitting with a straight back, was another Sister of Battle, one who looked important. The Palatine Sister, maybe? Alexis didn't know their ranks well. There were three members of the Mechanicus as well.

Ordinator Velpexa Thame, the leader of the militant faction as well as two others. An Engineer she didn't recognize and Thale-66 Mirr, the Techseer Prime that she had only just briefly met a few days ago. Her attention shifted to the side where she noticed that there were several nobles gathered on the edges of the room. Clarice's cousin, Janus Caduceus, the new leader of the Voidsmen on board the ship was there, as well as a few of the higher-ranking members of that organization.

A single member of the Navigators was nearby as well. Standing there with three people around them, part of their retinue. They were staring at everybody rather blank-faced. Alexis did think that their robes looked very pretty and she kind of wanted to go over and say hi. Clarice had yet to arrive; the meeting would not be able to start without her. The ship's seneschal was also missing, as was Vena and any representatives of the Medicae. Alexis slipped to the side.

Finally noticing a couple of sisters of battle leaning against a wall not too far off. She gave them a little wave but they ignored her. More people entered and more seats were taken up. She wasn't sure of her exact location on the pecking order so she decided that her spot was just going to be on the fringes, somewhere where she could listen in on everything. Maybe make a comment if it came up but otherwise she would be out of sight and out of mind.

There was a commotion at the door, then two Voidsmen moved in and stationed themselves to the sides. The seneschal followed.

"Captain on deck!" he barked. Alexis stood taller even as everyone who'd been sitting--even Octavia--got to their feet and made the sign of the aquila or meshed their hands together in the sign of the cog. Clarice stepped into the room and scanned it at a glance.

"At ease," she said. Vena followed her in, eyes downcast as she was staring at a dataslate. Alexis hadn't seen her in almost a day! She looked... a little different? Her skin looked healthier, somehow. That was probably not too surprising, Vena was a medicae with access to Vyper.

"Please, be seated. Or stand if that is your prerogative," Clarice said as she circled the large table and came to stand at the front of the room. She nodded to Techseer Thale-66 Mirr.

"We're gathered here to go over some information. This is my first time in this system, and the first time The Broken Scale approached this world. I don't want to do so blindly. Seneschal Worth, can you remind us of the process for approaching a world like this?" She gestured to the side, and Thale-66 Mirr bowed slightly, then interacted with the controls for the holoprojector. An auspex reading was thrown up to float above the table.

It was of a surprisingly high quality, showing the entire system to one side, then highlighting several points of interest. Then a zoomed-in planet appeared on the other side in full colour.

"Of course! Lord captain," Worth said.

"Ladies and gentlemen, representatives of the Mechanicus and the Adeptus Sororitas, welcome to Chrysis. This is one of the closest knight worlds to Holy Terra itself and it has a long-standing relationship with the Mechanicus. It is also the home of House Krast. This is an Imperial world, though the reality of that might be different on the ground seeing as how this is a knightly world that houses several major knightly houses." Alexis listened attentively; this was all news to her.

"Fortunately, we're not here to tangle in local politics." Clarice gestured for Worth to continue.

"Indeed, Lord captain. As it stands, the world has several points of interest which may be of great utility to us, notably these." Worth gestured at the holoprojector and two points started to glow a faint red.

"Chrysis has a small but important orbital platform hovering above its only major hive city. The planetary defense fleet amounts to five smaller vessels as well as two destroyers of a tonnage similar to our own Broke Scale. House Krast very likely has additional warships, though our auspex have yet to pick anything up." Ordinator Velpexa Thame raised one hand mechanically. When given permission to speak, he did so, voice carrying across the room.

"Extremely high likelihood. Large Knightly Houses, especially those with the favour of the Mechanicus of Mars, will have barges and vehicles to transport their knights, as well as escorts for those. The lack of auspex findings is not indicative that they are not in-system. They may be hidden."

"Hiding a small fleet would be a chore," Clarice replied. He nodded, maybe a touch deeper than was necessary.

"Indeed. Though Lord Captain, House Krast has been in nominal control of this system for over ten thousand years. Creating a space for such a fleet would not be beyond them." Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Fair point," Clarice said. She pointed to the glowing red dot above the planet.

"The station here is on the smaller scale, isn't that right?"

"Indeed, Lord Captain," Seneschal Worth said.

"It is an Angel-class orbital rendezvous station. It is likely armed and carries void shielding, as well as berths for smaller visiting vessels, but it is far from being an orbital shipyard. Nonetheless, for lighter repairs, we may be lucky and find the materials and expertise we require here."

"It'll also be a good place to meet some of the nobility of Chrysis," Clarice said.

"Our medicae deck is... currently undergoing some restructuring, so offering those services will be limited, but we do have some trade goods aboard that were ultimately destined for sale around Holy Terra. I see no reason we can't see whether they would offer a better price here. Are there any goods in particular that a knightly house would be interested in?"

"I have run the calculations/predictions, Lord Captain," Thale-66 Mirr said.

"Under normal circumstances, a Knightly House away from such proximity to Mars may be in need of certain materials and manufactured goods. Seeing as how House Krast is a long-time ally of Mars, and in relatively close proximity, that is less likely here." Seneschal Worth hummed.

"My Lord Captain, we may be better served peddling court luxuries. We have a selection of fine amasec and wines, as well as exotic pelts, some tapestries, and other ceremonial goods." Vena raised a hand, and Clarice glanced over to her.

"Yes, Medicae Venin?"

"I've been poring over the auspex readings of the planet. Radiation levels on the surface are still quite high, especially in some areas. The biosphere was said to have been completely demolished by traitors several millennia ago, but it does look like it is recovering. We currently have several magi biologis and genetors aboard. Ecosystems are perhaps not their area of expertise, but the knowledge they have may well be worth something.

So would some of our medical supplies for the treatment of long-term radiation exposure and cancers."

"A fair point, thank you," Clarice said.

"Let's set aside the discussion of trade for the moment. What do we know of the surface?"

"There are three cities, Lord Captain," Seneschal Worth said.

"Or at least, three settlements worthy of any attention. The first of these is The Redoubt Primus of the Ironclad Faith. It is a complex operated by the Adeptus Mechanicus in the northern hemisphere, and by one of the more irradiated locations on the planet." He highlighted the space and Alexis felt her tummy do a flip. That could be bad. There would be some high-ranking people there.

"Second is here, along the southern hemisphere. A mass agricultural enclave in what was formerly an ocean-side basin. I imagine that the area was still arable." A second area was highlighted. It covered a large swath of land. So, Chrysis was probably at least somewhat self-sufficient?

"And finally, Death Bane, the planet's only hive city," Worth said. The final area was almost directly beneath the orbital station they had been speaking of. It was a city that was visible from space. Several massive towers, each one growing larger the closer to the centre they came. The outer area sprawled out for hundreds of kilometres. Alexis had seen bigger, of course, but she was still impressed, at least a little. The Sister Palatine raised a hand.

"I may wish to communicate with any of my sisters on the surface, Lord Captain, as well as the local ecclesiarchy."

"About?" Clarice asked.

"Internal issues," she said, very pointedly without looking at Octavia. Janus Caduceus chuckled.

"Beware. They might call on you." Clarice turned to him, eyes narrowing. She stared for a long moment.

"What do you know that I don't, Janus?" she asked.

"I know only a little. But, within that little, is a more recent history of Chrysis, and I can read long-ranged auspex. Or my men can, at least. The hive city is under siege. They have an ork problem," Janus said.

"A moment, please," Ordinator Velpexa Thame said. He leaned forwards, touching the controls of the holoprojector, then stared off into space for a moment.

"He may be correct. There are defensive structures around the hive city. Some of these are active. I am not seeing signs of wide-scale battle, but there are strange structures and encampments surrounding the city on all sides. Thale-66 Mirr, your predictive capabilities would be appreciated here." Thale-66 Mirr looked over the data, then he started to make a bunch of clicking noises, like two dozen abaci tapping together.

"Based on/according to camp-sizes, number of active heat-signatures, and cross-referencing with historical/past data, the camps can hold approximately 785 million active combatants."

"Uh-oh," Alexis muttered. She'd only heard of those, and had fortunately never run into an ork, but everything she had heard said that they were deeply frustrating to the plans of the Omnissiah. Octavia jumped to her feet.

"Fantastic! I've always wanted to see if they burn well. Lord Captain, permission to leave the ship?"

"It's a bit of a walk," Clarice replied.

"We're three days from the orbital station."

"Oh... right. Well, once we're close enough to take a shuttle down, maybe?" Octavia said. She was also not looking at the Sister Palatine. Alexis could understand. If Octavia was out there fighting xenos, there were few better excuses to avoid an inquisition from the Ecclesiarchy. Maybe she'd be going down to the surface as well? She didn't know how many points an ork gave, but there were a lot of them down there... and she really wanted a nicer workspace and maybe a few more friends!