40K Dark Heresy: The Danse Macabre

[Hotfoot]

The man looked up and squinted at Cyrine. "Hellforged Legion? Hold on, hold on, let me look at the Imperial Codices," He grumbled and dug out another book from his pile. "Had someone else mention that in the mad panic of activity we have here, figured I might as well have a copy on hand in case some nosy sort like you came in."

He flipped through a few pages and focused on the text, grunting as he glared back at Cyrine. "Young woman, do I look like a psyker to you, much less one that can send messages between the stars? The Hellforged Legion isn't on this planet! Are you sure you don't mean something else? The 139th Hephaestus Regiment, or something similar?"

[Imperial Overlord]

"There is a small detachment posted to the base," said Varnius. "Our master is with that detachment."

[Hotfoot]

The older man squinted at Varnius and grunted. "Ah, right. That's the one everyone is fussing about lately. Well, I suppose I could get you access to a Vox, but I doubt it will do you much good. The Adeptus Arbites have already notified the public that many communications channels will be blocked, especially around the local Guard base. Needless to say, they didn't fill out the appropriate paperwork in advance, not that anyone ever does, of course, even though the statutes clearly state that protocol must be met each and every time such actions are undertaken, which requires the proper forms be filled out, in triplicate at least three days in advance, and that's only if it's expedited!"

He took in a deep breath and fixed his gaze firmly on Varnius. "Naturally, I suppose you don't have any paperwork either, do you?" His tone was one of a mixing of annoyance and resignation.

[Imperial Overlord]

"No, we don't," said Varnius. "If it wasn't an emergency, I wouldn't need to be asking. I am adeptus and I am on the Emperor's business."

[Raj Ahten]

Now at the Spaceport, it was time for Lazarus to get down to business. Only problem was he'd never really done this sort of thing before.

Guess we better try to figure out where the shipment is coming in. All we know is that Grim is bringing in his shipment tomorrow. Figure I could also be on the look out for any of his crew.

Motioning Camilla to follow him, Lazarus headed over to the freight office at the port. On the way over he said to the Pysker,

"Figure I'll ask some questions; see if we can figure where the shipment is coming in."

Once inside Lazarus went up to the desk and demanded,

"I need q list of incoming flights. My boss has a shipm,ent coming in and he needs to know if it’s coming in on time."

Lazarus kept a sharp eye out for other suspicious sorts like himself.

[Hawkwings]

Camillia followed Lazarus in, and also followed his lead. She distanced herself from him a bit, to appear as if she was not associated with him in any way. She occupied herself by investigating the surroundings, looking for any informational postings or otherwise useful details.

[Hotfoot]

Spaceport

The clerk at the desk raised an eyebrow at Lazarus and shook his head. "Look, mate, even if I had that list in front of me, which of the thousands of ships are you looking for? In case you haven't noticed, this is a spaceport. We've got ships coming and going every few damn minutes."

Administratum

He looked at Varnius and narrowed his eyes. "Right, well, I'll let you in this once, but mostly because I don't think you'll be able to get through and that will spare someone else the headache of dealing with you later. Come with me," He spoke in a resigned tone and led the pair of acolytes to a room with a considerable set of vox equipment.

[Imperial Overlord]

"Thank you," said Varnius, marveling at meeting a public servant who was actually serving the public, an entity that simply did not exist on the world of his origin.

[Raj Ahten]

Spaceport

The clerk at the desk raised an eyebrow at Lazarus and shook his head. "Look, mate, even if I had that list in front of me, which of the thousands of ships are you looking for? In case you haven't noticed, this is a spaceport. We've got ships coming and going every few damn minutes."

This is where Lazarus's total lack of training as an investigator was a liability.

Shit. Guess I can try and narrow the list down once I get it.

Addressing the clerk Lazarus said,
"Look, you got a list of incomings or don't you?"

Making a stab at when the shipment would come in he continued,
"Look this isn’t coming in for a few hours at least so if you can just give me the schedule from this evening on I'll sort it out."

Leaning in Lazarus continued in a low voice,
"Besides I don't want just any of the rest of the chummers around here to know which shipment I'm checking on. We've had problem with thefts before, which is why I got to check on it."

[Hotfoot]

Administratum

"Well, here we are. Now, do you want me to stay and help you flip switches, or can I get back to work? This paperwork isn't going to fill itself out, even with my autoscribes...."


Spaceport

The man sighed, shaking his head. "Fine, but I don't know how much good it's going to do. It can get pretty random some days. Here's a list of what's currently scheduled to come in tomorrow, can't vouch for any of the random ones that might slip in at the last moment, but don't take too long, I need to get back to work."

[Raj Ahten]

It was a damn big list Lazarus was looking at, and he barely knew where to begin.

This is why the Inquisition should have recruited somebody who knew what the fuck they were doing. Or do they want someone who will mess it up? They never operate with out a plan.

The Guardsman took a few steps to the side where he could consult a map of the spaceport and the list at the same time.

Sub vocalizing over his earpiece he said,

"Well Camilla, any ideas on what the hell I should be looking for? I personally doubt that they'll be using an ecclesiarchy shuttle."

Lazarus had a hunch that they'd be bringing in the shipment at a more secluded part of the spaceport where the arbites weren't as thick and checked the outer landing pads first.

[Hawkwings]

Camillia quickly voxed back, "This would be a perfect task for Nixios to solve. If we can get a copy of that list, then we can send it to him and let him take a look at it. Or we could try to call Grim and ask him what freighter the shipment is coming on."

[Imperial Overlord]

"Your assistance with the equipment would be greatly appreciated," said Varnius.

[Raj Ahten]

Camillia quickly voxed back, "This would be a perfect task for Nixios to solve. If we can get a copy of that list, then we can send it to him and let him take a look at it. Or we could try to call Grim and ask him what freighter the shipment is coming on."

"I've got othing that can do a copy job? Do you have a pict recorder or anything?"

It also figures the tech preist won't be around.

[Hawkwings]

"I can go look for a cheap dataslate, but I probably don't have enough money to buy it. How much do you have?"

[Raj Ahten]

"I can go look for a cheap dataslate, but I probably don't have enough money to buy it. How much do you have?"

By the Emperor, if we get ambushed for want of a few thrones to but a dataslate, how pathetic would that be?

"I think I've got two thrones. This office might be a bust for us two."

[Hawkwings]

Camillia was pondering their current situation, and decided to do an inventory of her belongings. While going through her pockets, she discovered that she still had the pict-recorder and had not, in fact, handed it off to someone else as she thought she had.

Over the vox-bead, she told Lazarus, "I still have the pict recorder, let me take pictures of the manifest, and we can examine it at our leisure later."

[Hawkwings]

Camillia went over to where Lazarus was, took out her pict-recorder, and snapped pictures of each page of the manifest. After it was finished, she smiled and said "Well, now that we've finished that, let's go take a look at the offloading facilities."

[Raj Ahten]

Camillia went over to where Lazarus was, took out her pict-recorder, and snapped pictures of each page of the manifest. After it was finished, she smiled and said "Well, now that we've finished that, let's go take a look at the offloading facilities."

"Right."

Lazarus let Camilla take the lead and scouting the offloading facilities because he really didn't know what he was looking for. Though he did offer up his rudimentary opinions on fields of fire and so forth when asked.

[Hotfoot]

Administratum

"Of course..." the older man grumbled as he went to go set the proper frequency. When he was done, he motioned to the microphone and pointed a set of buttons near it. "Right, when you want to talk, hit the the green one. Don't know if you're going to get through though..."

Space Port

The man who had handed over the list sighed as the acolytes took images of the schedule. "Oi, whenever yer done with that, I'd like it back. I have things to do around here myself, and I ain't gettin' docked 'cause of you."

The list itself was large, and would likely take at least an hour to get a good idea of what went where, assuming one was already familiar with the spaceport. However, it was conveniently coded to specific areas, and signs were common enough along the spaceport itself.

[Imperial Overlord]

Varnius nerved himself up to speak. This could get him killed. Not doing this could lead to his death. "Emperor Above, guide me," he prayed softly. Then he tried the vox.

"This is an urgent communique for Captain Greis of the Hellforged Legion. I must speak with him immediately."

[Hotfoot]

Varnius nerved himself up to speak. This could get him killed. Not doing this could lead to his death. "Emperor Above, guide me," he prayed softly. Then he tried the vox.

"This is an urgent communique for Captain Greis of the Hellforged Legion. I must speak with him immediately."

Through the hiss of the radio came a reply. "Switch to contingency frequency iota, repeat, switch to contingency fre-"

Static blasted through the channel as the jamming signal cut off the transmission.

[Imperial Overlord]

Varnius snarled and turned to the adept. "Can you get this thing on contingency frequency iota?" he asked. The impulse to brutally beat or kill something and relieve his frustration was strong.

[Hotfoot]

Varnius snarled and turned to the adept. "Can you get this thing on contingency frequency iota?" he asked. The impulse to brutally beat or kill something and relieve his frustration was strong.

The adept raised an eyebrow and began to think. "Hmm, one would imagine that I could, this is a device built to exacting Imperial specifications. However, I would need to know what frequency iota was. No doubt some military designation, and despite numerous requests, the base has been notoriously recalcitrant to share those codes with us, despite the numerous procedures that clearly outline such a process with us. I don't suppose you know what frequency iota was supposed to be, do you?"

[Imperial Overlord]

"No," said Varnius slamming his fist into the wall in frustration and then wincing in pain. "Throne take them all!" he cursed.