by Kelne » Sat Nov 05, 2011 6:32 am
Progress was slower exiting the wreck than it had been entering it, but not by a hugely significant amount. Once the dead and wounded had been hauled back up to the elevator shaft, hand trolleys were assembled from amongst the armsmens' gear. They'd been intended to haul any bulky equipment salvaged. Instead, they were being used to haul trophies, the dead and one badly wounded arch-militant. No further threats emerged from the dead ship to trouble them, though some of the men looked a bit jumpy. There was nothing like a pitched battle with orks to concentrate one's mind on what might yet lurk within the shadows.
Even given their slower pace, the explorers lifted from the wreck well ahead of the deadly 'sunrise', ascending to meet the Satisfaction in orbit. Race was handed directly into medicae care on arrival, the white-robed adepts firmly brushing aside any attempts to meddle in their duties. The man was still alive, which was a hopeful sign. However, he had not regained consciousness, and his soul yet hovered between this world and the Emperor's Judgement in the next. Vipsanius' subordinates met them in the landing bay and silently took charge of the group's orkish trophies, bearng the xenos corpses away to his laboratory where he might dissect them and learn their secrets at his leisure. The bodies of the dead were transferred to more proper stretchers and borne by their comrades to whatever funerary rites awaited them. No doubt they would be honoured, having fallen in battle against the Emperor's enemies.
Which left three men to make their way back to the bridge, the whisper of rumour running ahead of them and no doubt changing in the telling. Vipsanius and Dauphin separated briefly, the one checking on the work which had been done in his absense, the other running down a battery for the orkish dataslate, and then a translator for its contents. The three of them reconvened in a conference room off the bridge, joined by Orbest Dray, who was scrolling through the slate's contents with surprising speed, and by an augur officer, folder in hand, to report on his section's findings.
"There can be no doubt, sirs," the officer opened, placing a series of picts of seemingly identical starscapes on the table, "Guided by Magos Vipsanius' insights, the long-range scopes have isolated our mystery contact. Whatever she may be, she is under power." His finger pointed to a diffuse bluish glow, visible in a slightly different location in each pict. Clearly the plasma cone of a vessel making way. "We calculate her course to be a least-time passage from the second planet to the first. Unfortunately, at this range, we have few insights to offer as to her class or capabilities, but spectral emissions are consistent with a plasma drive of Imperial manufacture." The gist of his report delivered, the man stood ready for questions.
Last edited by
Kelne on Sat Nov 05, 2011 5:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.