Session 6: A Dark Revelation

After discovering that everyone was frightened of a doll, I decided my time was better spent praying for the poor souls of Luggnum. I was uneasy without Goldie, but praying gave me solace. I then decided to pray for each of my compatriots as well. Then I heard an odd burring sound coming from the servitor piloting the shuttle. I didn't think anything of it and continued my prayers.
 
Once I had asked for forgiveness and penitence for the souls sentenced to death by Lady Rathbone, I gazed out the window to witness the havoc myself. To my surprise, I noticed that our course seemed to be leading into the fleet above. I walked out into the passenger area to discover that Braxton was unconscious and Yarn was looking uneasy. He looked to me and I asked if anyone else thought we were heading towards the fleet. He agreed and we realized that our journey took an unexpected twist.
 
Informing Rat and Veck of the situation, we decided that it was important that we wake Braxton before boarding whatever ship we were heading towards. However, that task would take some time. Veck communed with the machine spirits to see if we could buy some time before docking. We didn't think it worked, but then someone came across the speakers and asked if we were suffering from a radiation leak. I didn't understand and thought that perhaps Veck had angered the machine spirit in some way, but Rat picked up on what was happening right away. The machine spirits reported a radiation leak to buy us some time to wake up Braxton.
 
This task was a bit monumental as he was drugged quite well. I asked Veck to try to shock him awake, but that only resulted in him loosing control of his bladder. There was another option. Veck had some drug that they used in the field on Skitarii called Rainbow. It was a cure-all of some sort, but I wasn't familiar with it. Rat again came to our aid and explained how it was used in a human capacity. With the side effects in mind, we decided that we would take our chances and let Braxton sleep. This decision would later be one we all regretted.
 
Veck asked the machine spirts to send the all clear and we were asked to dock on the Flame of Purity , the command ship of the exterminatus fleet. I felt the name was a bit on the nose, but then again, the Imperium isn't known for it's subtlety. We landed and were greeted by stormtroopers in hazmat suits. Then it hit me. They believed we were contaminated by a radiation leak so we were going to have to be, well decontaminated. This meant leaving all of our belongings behind and stripping down to nothing to be hosed off. This was uncomfortable for me as I had to assist Yarn in removing Braxton's clothing and getting him dressed and I was forced to bare myself in front of my comrades, something I wasn't ready to do at this moment, or ever most likely. The worst part for me was leaving Goldie behind as I was already uneasy with this situation.
 
We were given fatigues, well not Veck as he was mainly metal and his robes apparently are a part of his body, and ushered into the Lady Rathbone's office. Zavros entered shortly after us to retrieve his scanner from Veck. I requested some medical aid from him but Lady Rathbone said it could wait. She sat behind the desk and began to try and question us, but I asked her questions first. How long did she know about LuggCity? Why had she sent us there to die? And more questions with each answer.
 
She revealed she new about the situation in LuggCity for about 8 years and that she had sent us there to test us. When asked why she condemned everyone on the planet to die, she stated the planet was more useful as a training ground for future acolytes of the inquisition than it was as a mining world. I then asked why Jarvis wasn't spared as he had discovered the conspiracy. She said he was a dime a dozen. Then I pointed out his investigation had uncovered that the cults were around over 200 years ago, at that she regretted her decision not to spare him the fate of the rest of those on Luggnam. She was cold and calculated in her words, and the more she spoke, the angrier I became. The realization that she had most likely started the exterminatus fleet on their way to Luggnum before we had left crept into my mind as well as the fact that she gave us less than two days to uncover the mysteries in Lugg City. During my questioning, Goldie returned to me and I was immediately calmed.
 
Lady Rathbone confirmed that Goldie had returned to me. Again Yarn was startled by this and wore his unease squarely on his face and asked what was going on. Lady Rathbone then revealed that the source of my connection to Goldie was not one of a Psychic nature and that both Goldie and I had been thoroughly tested and that there were no warp magics involved. This didn't seem to ease Yarn but it did placate him at that moment.
 
She stopped my questions and asked Veck for a report of the situation. He recapped our investigation not mentioning Inquisitor Christoff as in reality, we had proof of the gene stealer cult in hand before he showed up thanks to Veck analyzing the "mutant" from the day before. His report was brief but through and I hoped it was enough to convince her. She then asked rat how we discovered the gene stealers. Funny part is that she used his name Thaddeus rather than Rat. I will say that Arath/Rat has grown leaps and bounds from that person cowering in the corner. Amazing what one and a half days in a hell hole filled with monsters trying to kill you can do for your motivation to step up. Without hesitation, he told her that we used the information gathered from Jarvis to make the connection of the mines to the gene stealer cult. Brilliant work that had documented proof.
 
Remember that we had discussed and agreed that we would not mention Inquisitor Christoff unless directly asked about him by Lady Rathbone. Well I believed that was the case but I had a sinking feeling in my gut that someone would break that unwritten agreement. After Arath/Rat deftly answered her question, Lady Rathbone noticed Braxton slumped in a chair and asked why. Yarn, thinking quickly on his feet, stated that he had a bit of a fright, passed out and pissed himself. All of these were in fact true statements, just not necessarily related. Lady Rathbone, displeased with his sleeping, requested that Zavros wake him by any means necessary. He decided to jab the needle , a very large needle mind you, attached to a syringe of some sort filled with an iridescent liquid directly into Braxton's chest. I don't know what was in the syringe, but he came to immediately.
 
Lady Rathbone began to question him and he told her about Inquisitor Christoff. Of course he did, his decision making skills have proven poor over the last couple of days, but I'd hoped he would have listened to the fact that both Yarn and Arath/Rat were in agreement that we shouldn't mention his name unless directly asked as he was not part of our mission objectives. But he told her so many things that we had left out such as the fact that he tried to retrieve a dagger from the nobles. He left out the fact that we had tried to properly and safely dispose of the previous daggers and discovered it wasn't something that could be done safely. This put Veck in an awkward position, he now had to explain that he left the other Inquisitor's involvement out because it wasn't relative to our investigation.
 
I'm guessing Braxton saw that Veck was uncomfortable and thus tried to switch the focus to me. He began to spout his opinions of what he thought I had said or insinuated in the shuttle in regards to my relationship to Lady Rathbone. Given that he was unconscious during the explanation that I was not a witch I was willing to forgive his ignorance in this part, but his spin on what I said was, well just ludicrous. Lady Rathbone of course asked for clarification and I gave it and that was that. She explained ONCE AGAIN that I am not imbued with warp powers and neither is Goldie.
 
She then went on to explain her relationship to Inquisitor Christoff. Apparently his full name is Tyler Christoff and he's a purist as she put it. He's obsessed with catching a Magos biologis by the name of Perdix. They were once cohorts and their relationship ended badly. This crusade had been going on for about a decade and we fell into the middle of it. We then asked what Ordo Lady Rathbone worked and the answer was, well vague to be honest. She apparently works for all of them or in her words, where ever she is needed. When asked about Perdix and his involvement with Synford, she stated that he was "building a better Skitarii" and only Emperor knows what that means. With all of this new information, Lady Rathbone decided that our group debriefing was concluded and sent us all to our quarters to await our individual debriefings.
 
This situation seems grim as Lady Rathbone was unhappy to hear about Inquisitor Christoff's presence on Luggnum and that we interacted with him. She also apparently wanted us to bring back a dagger, which was obviously not safe for us to do. But for now I am going to retire to my assigned quarters and begin to pray. Only the Emperor knows what the future hold for me so I will trust in him and his guidance.