Dark Heresy: Illumination

[Uzume]

2128 day two

"Whats going on? What has happened to you guys that would make you question an official seal?" she asked.

[Sionnach Glic]

2129

"Seals aren't something mysterious and pure." Karibi replied, somewhat smugly. "They can be copied in a number of ways. We've nothing to go on but your word that it's real."

[Lighthawk]

2129, day 2

" Such thinking will get us nowhere," Haxta said to Karibi. " At that point, nothing can be trusted. You may well suspect me then, or any of the rest of us."

[Tsukiyumi]

2129

Pahr angrily snatched the papers from Lot, and read them himself.

After a few moments, he snarled, "Orders look real."

After a few more, he sighed, then wrote furiously on his data slate, before handing it to Trask. On it, in childishly scribbled letters was: "The Seer's signature... She's been tricked."

Waving the others off, he grabbed Lot's arm before leading her off toward the rocks. They sat together and talked in quiet whispers for a few moments, as he filled her in on what had happened. The others noticed that he seemed to have little trouble conversing with her.

[Uzume]

2134 day two

Lot walks back to the grumbling group standing around the fire. "H*ly sh*t!" She exclaims, "Ordos Malleus, what the hell were they doing here? Well I know we got off to a piss poor start, but I'd like to extend my deepest gratitude for not leaving Pahr to an unknown fate. Lets start anew; I'm Lot. Pahr and I were fellow apprentices for 10 years, we used to be inseparable til the assignments started to roll in. And that's about it, I've been an assassin for as long as i can remember seems like. Pahr's the only family i have, has been since i was nine. What's the story with you guys?"She asked eying the huge guardsman, then she studied each of the others in the group warily.

[Lighthawk]

2134, day two

" Haxta," the tech-priestess introduces herself in return. " Our story is fairly simple, we're stuck on this dust ball until we figure out what's going on with a shrine being built out in the middle of nowhere."

[Uzume]

2134 day 2

"Yeah, i get that. Pahr seems to thinks the Seer who grouped us together is corrupted, are all of you in agreement? Whats the deal? You all have these "theories" about what's going on, I just got here. Is there anything that we have in common that would put us in this so called setup?" Lot urged. "If not lets get some sleep, and head out just before day break."

[Mikey]

2135, Day Two

After holding his tongue for a while, Trask finally commented. "First: I'm Milo Trask, sanctioned Psyker of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. Charmed, I'm sure. Second: we are in a particular line of work which makes implicit trust an unavailable commodity. Finally: we don't know that the Seer is corrupt, or why the Ordo Malleus is here seemingly without the knowledge of the Calixis Conclave. I mistrust their appearance here as much as I mistrust Aristarchus." Milo sighed and rubbed his forehead before continuing, "What we know is circumstantial. Aristarchus would have been able to set us up for the attack which befell us on arrival. He has been obsessing over a particular set of the Emperor's Tarot, which was interestingly enough gifted to him by the very same missionary who is the prime mover in the construction of the cathedral at Stern Hope - a missionary who, it appears, has taken to forced servitude to build a cathedral amidst some very unusual occurences."

Trask glanced around at the faces of the gathered party and concluded, "And that's the story so far. Make no mistake - I believe firmly in the old adage of the Inquisition that 'there is no innocence, only degrees of guilt.' We will take to task everyone who has guilt in this matter, but we can only do so by determining the root... which, I believe, lies close to the missionary. Now, I suggest we get some rest - dawn will be breaking in about six hours, and I feel that we should be moving before then. If it will make our astute Adept happy, we can pair off for watches. I'll take any shift, if you will all allow me to meditate briefly first. The Emperor protects." Taking up his muttered stream of litanies, Milo moved off to sit against one of the tread skirts of the half-track.

[Sionnach Glic]

2136

"Scrivener Marco Karibi." The Adept introduced himself, finaly holstering his revolver. "Scholar of the Colleges Hetaireia Lexis. To fill you in a bit more, there are rumours of strange happenings at the cathedral. Statues weeping, walls bleeding, the usual fare. That's what we're here to investigate, though I believe that there may be other forces at work on this planet." Karibi walked back to the fire to retrieve his backpack, returning to continue the story as he rumaged through it.

"We arrived here two days ago, and were promptly attacked by a group of locals, belonging to a local cult. Somehow, they knew we were off-worlders. They also knew which route through the city we would be taking. Needless to say, that had us worried. We met up with the Seer as planned, though he revealed little information to us. We then decided to look out for gossip at the local taverns. It was there that we learned about the Seer's obsession with his cards, as Trask explained." After a bit of rummaging, he finaly managed to locate his pict-recorder and began fiddling with the controls.

"We then ran into agents of the Ordo Malleus. All we learned from that encounter was that this whole situation had gotten a whole lot murkier than we'd initialy expected. We decided that the Seer may indeed be a threat, so we comandeered the vehicle he had left for us and set out for the cathedral without him. Since then," Marco said, walking over to the remains of the xenos. "We've been persued by strange birds, haunted by a character out of an old campfire tale, and attacked by Xenos. And that's pretty much where we are now."

The Adept bent over the hole in the ground that the xenos' remains had burned. Careful not to get too close, Karibi aimed his pict-recorder at the remains and begin photographing the holes from various angles. He studied the crystaline needles and studs that remained, not too eager to pick the things up in case they were toxic...or worse.
Wordlessly, Marco hurried to the bed of the half-track, returning with his rucksack. After some more rummaging, he withrdrew the poncho from within. Carefully, using the poncho to protect his hands, the Adept picked up one of the needles, bringing it up to where he could look at it better. After a moment or two Karibi began wrapping the needles and studs up in the poncho, making sure to wrap the poncho so that they could not slip out.

[Uzume]

2140 2nd day

Acknowledging them with a nod each she countered, "My appreciations to you both, Trask , Karibi. I'm sorry for my paranoia this time, but your tales are interesting none the least. I know nothing but orders, and I execute them with stealth, and efficiency. How ever this is my order, and I shall stay true to the group to which I've been assigned."

Lot was tired, it had been a successful day, yet a trying one. She needed to chew on the information fed to her by the Psyker, and the Adept. Excusing herself she walked over to the huge rock-face closest to the fire; the warmth the rocks held was comforting. She knelt down and started rummaging through her pack. While she was yanking out her fur coat (obviously to big for her), her eyes locked with Pahr's. He eyed the aging mass of fur and cracked a half smile, no words necessary. Lot spread out the only memory she had of a different life, lying on top she whispered her thanks to The Emperor. With His guidance and protection alone, Lot drifted off to sleep.

[Mikey]

2141, Day Two

Trask opened his eyes fully, but remained seated where he had been. "Hey, Sister," he called to Phebia. "Have you heard from your Malleus friends? I'd be very curious to see what they might have expected us to run into if you perhaps told them that we were en route but didn't mention our position or what we've encountered. It would be very telling, indeed, if they somehow knew we'd run into to Lot here, or if they'd have expected us to see these xenos."

[Tyyr]

2141 Day 2

Phebia nodded slowly. "That it might." Walking to where one of the xenos creatures had dissolved Phebia examined the puddle, comparing it to the one they'd seen on the rock outcropping. Pulling the vox out along with the scrap of paper that had the contact info on it she switched the communicator over to the right frequency and signaled their Malleus benefactors. "No guarantee they'll answer," she said. "They weren't terribly forthcoming or helpful the last time."

[Sionnach Glic]

2141

"Well, here's hoping we'll get lucky for once." Karibi commented, walking over to the remnants of the xenos. "You know, this acidic stuff seems quite similar to the residue left by that....apparition." He said to no one in particular, wondering how he could test them with what little equipment he had available. "Do you suppose they may have been somehow related?"

[Tyyr]

2142

"Coincidences are for the simple minded," Phebia said as she returned. She waved her vox. "Our location doesn't seem to be hidden from anyone. Our Malleus comrade seems to have jumped the gun. He'll be out here in the morning."

[Mikey]

2143, Day Two - "That's fine, we'll e elsewhere by morning," Trask said. "But did he know anything... did he have expectations of what we might have encountered? By the throne, why would you have him join us out here?"