StarDestroyer.Net BBS

She raised an eyebrow at that. "Where to start? There's efficient, and there's thorough. This is thorough. I'm projecting that we're going to take a week to be fully operational and combat effective when this is done. To be fair, there isn't a place or item on a vessel that can't be used for smuggling. A single vial of D'eschian secretion can bring a king's ransom on some worlds, and it can be concealed within a round of ammunition. The only way to be certain is to engage in this type of a search. The reason these sort of searches are so rarely conducted are fairly obvious." She paused. "There are a variety of methods to streamline a search, but I'm certain that lieutenant Severa knows them better than I do."

"Perhaps I'm talking to the wrong person. Good day."
He turned to leave.

She watched him go, uncertain of anything further to say. Severa was quite intent on taking the ship apart in a thorough sweep, and unless her orders were changed, there wasn't anything to be done for it.

"These efficiency reports from your division, Commander-Judge... very impressive. Very good," Prius said.

"Thank you, colonel-commissar," the Commander-Judge said. Prius sat in the former Chief Judge's office, his finger on the dataslate.

"Too good, and showing a surprising uniformity in the results. Bad enough that you glossed the reports, downright insulting that you didn't even bother to create any form of respectable fraud. Of course, that mattered little to the man who used to occupy this chair, I assume. But I assure you, it does matter to me."

He fixed his unblinking gaze on the Commander-Judge, stilling the man's reply before it began. "Tell me, Commander-Judge, are you an Emperor-fearing man?"

"Of course, colonel-commissar!" the Commander-Judge answered indignantly. "I would challenge any man who dared say otherwise!"

"Good. Then offer your most sincere praise and prayers as you await the Final Absolution. Now get out of my sight and send your deputy in. We have business to discuss."

Faith alone is not enough; it is through our actions that we demonstrate our devotion to the God-Emperor. Let every movement, every word, every thought be directed toward perfection in His name. The writings of Minister Tattla. A favored writer of his, and he resolved to take in some of her works during his upcoming 'vacation'.

Pater finally located Severa talking to the security chief in one of the hangers. He direceted her aside with a raised eyebrow.
"Lieutenant. How goes the search?"

Severa turned in exhasperation. "Fine inquisitor. I should be finished by the end of the day."

Nathan wandered onto the ship to see what was happening...he spotted Severa and Pater talking.He noted a woman ,who might be the ships captain looking at them forlornly.

He quietly walked over twoards the three of them .

"Could you get it done faster if I managed to get more troops for you?
Oh, hello, Nathan. Just making a pest of myself."

Emperor above, another inquisitor. Severa sighed. If they would just let her do her job, then she could get this over with. She put on a mask of polite indeference and waited for Inquisitor Talstrem to start making her life difficult.

"Pater " he nodded to the fellow Inquisitor.

Smiled at Severa "greetings .Don`t mind me I`m...rubbernecking"

Synnove carefully concealed her mild amusement with Severa's displeasure, and stood waiting for the inquisitors to stop browbeating Gix's flunky/girl admirer.

Pater muttered to Nathan, "It's obvious I'm not an administrator. I just hope I can get out of here with my dignity."

"Of course," she replied. As if that were even remotely possible. I could kill all the traders. That would solve the problem, she mused. No wonder Jolan bugged out and passed the job over to her. Not that he wasn't going to pay for that. Where was he, anyway?



------------------------------------------------------

Jolan Gix unpacked the case carrying the Emperor's Tarot carefully. The cards were ancient, a gift from Kyra after the Illizar Affair. The case was a a heretic's skin, died night black. He reverentially opend the case and passed his hands over all the plaques, attuning them to himself to each card. Daemonology was a difficult art and subtlety was not Jolan's strong point. But he had a slight talent for foretelling and he lay the cards out before him as the air crew fueled the Valkyrie.

"Fine Pater you bug out and I`ll handle this.... I have an idea on how to motivate people"

Pater nodded gratefully and stepped out of the way.

"Ready! Aim! Fire!"

Behind Prius, the firing squad blasted another judge, who slumped to the ground, only to be quickly dragged off so another one could be moved into place. He strode across the line of newly appointed commanders, carefully winnowed out from the previous administration to be the ones he judged as possessed of some merit and possible competence. Only fire and blood would truly determine this, but he would find an excuse to send them into some battle or another soon enough to winnow out the rest of the weak.

The decimation was nearly finished, and he had brought the new senior staff out to witness this while he worked to instill a superior degree of virtue in them.

"It is not sufficient to say the words and mouth the litanies!" he thundered.

"Ready! Aim! Fire!" The crack of lasguns, the thud of a body hitting the floor.

"It is not enough to merely follow the form of the law without strict adherence to its spirit! What is the Law of the Imperium?" he asked.

"The Word of the Emperor!" the senior judges yelled back at him.

"The Word of the Emperor!" he replied. "Who gives us life, light, and direction! We owe him no less than our very best in all things!"

"Ready! Aim! Fire!" Another judge died against the wall.

"You were lost, and now you are found! You can return to the Emperor's Grace, by faith and by fury! You will strive until the last breath to honor him with your words and your acts!"

Well, that was one less inquisitor to deal with. Now that left Nathan and that bitch who was enjoying this whole situation far too much. Severa should have shot them both.

"Severa ....I`ll only say this once...I do not want progress reports. Whaty I want is for you to do your job if a major problem arises come to me otheer than that. Get to work get it done and if you need more help tell me and I`ll shanghai some more workers for you."


Nathan chuckled" You know what the Emperor you are doing ,I dont so I`ll help by staying out of your hair.If you need me I`ll be looking at this ships cargo and seeing if there is anything here I want to buy"

Pater walked over to one of the weapons racks and examined it. Hrm. AP/HE ammo on a starship? They must do some heavy fighting. Not surprising for a Trader.

Oh, merciful Emperor, what a relief. "Thank you inquisitor. I have everything under control." She handed him a data slate. "Cargo list. Accounted for. You might find this easier than searching several large bays crate by crate."


---------------------------------------------

Jolan spread the cards out before him, briefly touching each one and focusing on the PsyKing. Then he began to arrange them in the standard pattern.

"Thank you Severa"

Nathan takes the slate and sits don on a deck chair looking it over.

Synnove watched them all cautiously, noting the inquisitor eyeing the ammo. It was the premium stuff, but then Engelier was in the habit of pouring his profits back into equipment. Unlike a lot of traders, he lived a reasonably unextravagant lifestyle- at least by comparison to the hundred-member-harem/platinum-laced uniforms extravagance of many traders.

Nathan looked at the list ,checked his financial resources and nodded.

"Pater do you know whom I would see about buying some things from ? On this ship"

"Hmm. The Captain's buried under a pile of Dataslates in her office, for a start. I don't really know, sorry.
He picked up a Lasgun.
"Is this Excelsior Pattern? Very rare."

Synnove looked at the rifle. "Excelsior pattern two, Dantales Forgeworld, pre-ork invasion."