Chương 74: Volume Two - Chapter Eleven - A Matter of Appearance

Vena watched the readings on the bridge's auspex projection as Task Force Snakebite made it to Chrysis and started to plunge into the planet's atmosphere. There was not much she could do, now. Though hopefully the presents she had left for the others would come in handy. Vyper had warned her that the number of points she earned would be greatly reduced. Only between three and five points per ork killed. That was fine, however. Vena was more than happy to wait and stockpile points slowly.

Her next set of personal improvements were just around the corner. She wanted to wait for the overall situation to be calmer, however. To properly secure her position and that of the other Vanguard first. At that point, walking into a room with an extra twenty pounds of muscle on her would be strange and noteworthy, but not something that anyone onboard The Broken Scale would be able to do anything about. In the meantime, her slower-acting genetic modifications were doing their job.

A scan through a medical auspex had confirmed that her bones were about twelve percent denser than usual. Her skin was thicker, and a microscope revealed the snake-like pattern growing through it, and her sleep-regulatory gene was allowing her to operate with a little less sleep. She wasn't superhuman yet, but she had taken a long step in the right direction. Next up, self-healing and improved reflexes. Octavia had beaten her on that latter one and the change seemed harmless enough.

Vena was brought back to the moment when Clarice walked over to the sensors and eyed them for a moment.

"So, they're landbound," she said.

"We should be getting reports every hour or so. Hopefully, they will provide us some amount of respite."

"Respite?" Vena asked.

"Entertainment," Clarice clarified.

"We're docked now, and several teams have left the ship already, but the station's master is waiting for me. I can only put off meeting him for so long. I hope you're ready for a few very long, tedious meetings?"

"Ah, yes, politics," Vena said.

"Noble politics. It's distinctly different," Clarice said. Vena nodded and added some sort of poison-resistance ability to her list of near-future modifications. Perhaps something to resist or foil psykers as well? Clarice had one in her personal employ, so it wasn't impossible that other nobles did the same.

"What can we look forward to?" Vena asked.

"For today? Not too much. The station master will wine and dine us, offer some local delicacies, possibly try to negotiate some minor deals. Mostly he'll want to know what we need, how long we're staying here for, and how much trouble we bring with us. He'll also want to know how much he can make off of us, but I haven't received any indications that the station is particularly corrupt."

"Corrupt as in, bribes and internal factions, or corrupt as in the locals have given up on the God Emperor?" Vena asked.

"The less nefarious sort," Clarice said.

"We haven't been asked for any bribes yet, and the locals don't seem too concerned with filling every form and filing every page that the administratum would want them to." Vena nodded along. The locals being less corrupt than they could be was a good sign. Them not being obsessed with the systems of the Administratum was even better.

The Byzantine administrative arm of the Imperium kept the wheels turning and managed to feed a trillion souls, but if given too much sway they could cause more problems than they solved. Medicae were especially susceptible to administrative oversight and all of its perils, most of all because they needed robust logistics to do their work.

"We're meeting with the station master in... just under an hour. Are you going to change?" Vena paused, then nodded.

"I will, if you want me to attend."

"You're the last member of my retinue on the ship. It may be a sign of weakness if I don't bring you along. Though--meaning no offence--you're not quite as imposing as Octavia or as noteworthy as Alexis."

"No offence taken," Vena replied. Clarice nodded.

"I'm going to get changed. Meet me by my rooms in no more than twenty minutes. Dress appropriately. You do have something appropriate to wear?"

"Of course," Vena replied. She was wearing a rather nice medicae outfit, something an accredited member of the medicae might wear between their more dirty work, but it wasn't anything too pretty, and it certainly wasn't overly formal. The outfit she had purchased from Vyper was far nicer, but she kept it in her rooms. Clarice left, and Vena hastened to do the same. Her open suite wasn't too far away. She had elected to take over one of the rooms dedicated to the Rogue Trader's retinue.

It had been unoccupied previously. The suite was small, but well-appointed. A tiny living space, a washroom, and a bedroom, as well as a cozy office space. She hadn't spent much time here. There was too much to do. She stripped and moved into her washroom for a quick shower. In the meantime, her thoughts churned. The respect that she now had felt tainted. Those not of the medicae saw her as a potential liability, especially when so many directors and upper-ranked members had to be purged.

Those within the medicae saw her as an up-jumped junior who had manipulated her way into a position of power she had no business being in. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. She wasn't exactly surrounded by friends. It didn't matter, as long as people followed orders. Which mostly meant that the orders she gave had to be logical, sound, and entirely free of corruption and favouritism.

Basically, she had to be a hardass, forcing hard choices on people, but the correct hard choices. Respect, she hoped, would follow on the coattails of success.

"Vyper," she said while warm water splashed down onto her head.

"Yes, Vena?"

"I need a few things. First, what's my point total at the moment?" Point Total: 410 That wasn't too bad. The cumulative gains from a few days of travel, reduced by the purchase of a few weapons for her friends and some high-quality decontamination facilities. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to buy everything she wanted. She would have to focus on short-term gains.

"I need two things," she said.

"First, I need something protective. I noticed that Alexis has body gloves. Can I get something like that from my existing catalogue?"

"Yes. Though it won't be quite as armoured as what you'd get from an armour-specific catalogue. It will still be somewhat puncture-resistant and comfortable." Good enough.

"Cost?"

"Twenty points."

"Do it," she said. New Purchase: Fitted Body Glove Points Reduced to: 390 The box appeared on the counter just outside of her shower. She turned off the tap, then dried herself before stepping out. She took some time trying to fix her hair. It was due for a trim, but that could wait. She tied it into a neat ponytail after brushing out some of the curls. Then she squeezed herself into the bodysuit. It was comfortable enough.

"Okay," she said.

"Next, genetic modifications."

"What are you thinking of?" She considered her shortlist, then nodded as she confirmed her two choices to herself.

"First, what's the price for a muscle enhancement? Something that'll help me grow stronger, faster?"

"Relatively low, depending on the projected timeframe. I can give you steroids for as low as ten points, or a full suit of muscle enhancers for over a thousand."

"Let's aim a little lower than that," she said.

"For a hundred points, say?"

"Around that price point, I'd suggest a two-pronged approach. The first purchase, for eighty points, would be a genetic modification. Optimal Muscular Systems. That modification will take approximately six years to complete itself, but by the end, your muscles will be denser, faster, and heal themselves faster, as well as grow faster from even basic exercise. That will come with an uptick in your caloric needs, however." That sounded good. Not so much the timeframe, but she was playing the long game here.

Perfect musculature in six years sounded a little rough, but she would likely have better musculature in one, and average in two, then above average in three to four years.

"And the other purchase?" she asked.

"Optimized Muscle Enhancer Steroid. Taken orally once a day for a month. It will improve your current muscles' growth. You're going to have an eventual curve with a strange dip as your steroid-enhanced muscles degrade and your newly grown musculature starts to replace it over time."

"No, that makes sense," she replied.

"A good way to spend a hundred points." She'd have to see if Octavia would be interested in something similar.

"Let's do it." New Purchase: Optimized Muscle Enhancer Steroid Points Reduced to: 370 New Purchase: Optimal Muscular Systems Points Reduced to: 290 Both came in pill bottles, though one only contained a single pill the size of her thumb-joint. She ran the tap, took some water into a cup, and took two pills. Once she cleared her throat, she looked at herself in the mirror again. No change. Obviously.

"Next... I think it's time to invest into some of those Psyker abilities you mentioned to me once. You said that they were subsidised?"

"To an extent. As I am trying to learn more about such things, I see a great value in seeing experimental devices and procedures at work. Obviously, I won't give you access to anything overtly dangerous without you insisting upon it, and without warning you sufficiently beforehand."

"Right. So, what should we start with?"

"I believe that an Experimental Psyker Catalogue, for fifty points, would be a good opening. Afterwards... I see two broad starting options. The first is a set of glands in the brain that will act as what will hopefully be extrasensory organs to notice other psykers and warp-based activity in your vicinity. The other is a nodule that will grow in your chest and which acts as a small, localised null field. Not dissimilar to what Vanguard Octavia uses, though organic and using your body as a battery to function."

So, either an extra sense, or the ability to shut down psykers around her?

"The latter," she said.

"We can explore the first option later, but for now, I'm more interested in preventing enemies from taking advantage of me."

"Fantastic!" New Purchase: Tier One - Experimental Psyker Catalogue Points Reduced to: 240 New Purchase: Null Gland Growth Pill Points Reduced to: 190"Give yourself seventy-two hours before the gland is fully grown and operational!"

"Sure," Vena said.

"Now... I suppose next is politics."