I felt refreshed from the sleep, but still a little groggy from being put under by the medicae staff, and I would have to wait until the surgeon had been by to check out my status screen. I didn't mind, I needed a cup of recaf and a lho-stick this morning. For a moment, I wondered if smoking so shortly after surgery would have any ill effects, but beyond increasing my healing time due to the limitation in carrying oxygen around by the blood, I could think of nothing, so I went ahead and indulged myself. I also had to check up on Trokk, though I doubted there were any issues with attaching a bionic arm to an Ogryn. They probably had bigger issues with his excitement about having a stronger arm than before. A scary thought when you pondered it for a bit.
Eventually, the medicae came and went after injecting me with a painkiller, and I was left alone again. We would leave later today, as soon as I took to the bridge and gave the orders, but everything in due time. I had a system to get reacquainted with and a deep dive into how it worked and what it could do for me. I steeled myself and opened the menu.
*Achievement unlocked: Imperial duty. You have gone through the proper channels to inform the Imperium of an unknown species of xenos, ensuring they will now be hunted openly for their heretical existence. Word will spread through private networks that you, at least, are an Imperial rogue trader in more than name alone. Imperial reputation increased.
Achievement unlocked: Successful commander. However minuscule, you have started, fought, and successfully finished a military campaign as its effective commander. While slightly unorthodox with an emphasis on keeping your troops alive, your results speak for themselves. Reputation among the common Imperial Guard improved, +3 will.
Achievement unlocked: Leading from the front. As a commander who leads from the frontline, your men draw inspiration and courage from your presence, as you draw strength from their numbers. Experience link ability unlocked. (Every soldier under the user's command, within 100 ft of the skill user, shares 1% of experience gained through combat alongside the skill user.)
HUMAN. LEVEL 8.
STAT POINTS REMAINING: 5
ALIGNMENT: FAITHFUL IMPERIAL+
LITANIES: 72
AUGMENTATIONS: Cybernetic lung(upgrade lvl1, Toxins/environment), vocal implant (lvl 3, vocal range, volume, and intensity manipulation available.)
LEVEL:39256/77080
STRENGTH: 17
AGILITY: 18
PERCEPTION: 17
WILL: 30
LUCK: 33
PSYCHE: 503/1000 (lvl 1)
SKILLS
FEATS
ABILITIES
RETINUE
PSYCHICS
Not bad at all. A level, some new achievements, one of which granted me perhaps the most invaluable skill I could have imagined. Sure, 1% of experience gained did not sound like much. But in a firing line, pitted against enemies that kept coming, it would accumulate. Like small trickles of water from a thousand holes turning into a river when they all converge. Unlocking psychic abilities beyond witch-sight was a mixed bag of fun. Sure, a Telekine dome could come in handy, as well as any other telekinetic abilities I could get my hands on, especially the ability to create my own warp rifts for travel, making ships technically obsolete for me. But that was so far into the future that I could not even grasp it, if it was even something I really wanted.
Psychic abilities brought attention from the warp, something I already had more of than I cared to think about. 3 of the 4 chaos gods have already extended their hand, and I had slapped it away each time. I knew the truth. The chaos gods only cared for me as far as they could use me. The Emperor, when he was alive, had felt a genuine love for humanity as a whole. That alone made the Imperium the better option, even if it had declined in its humanity. We were still humans, and 99% of humanity still only wished for a simple life, where they could work, have children, and grow old with a sense of security. So with a heavy sigh of frustration, I immediately assigned the new points to the Will stat, putting it up to a respectable 35, and for the first time, I had a stat higher than Luck. I will have to make it a habit to use at least 2 points every level-up from this point forward, to increase will. Which meant I had to lean back into the class I was originally assigned by the system. Battle priest. Or in this case, battle psyker.
That meant I would need my troops to be retrained under new combat doctrines that allowed me to join together with smaller groups of highly trained units, equipped better than the standard voidsman or guardsman. But first, they had to be trained, and for that to happen, my commanders would need to design training exercises and devise strategies for it to work. The troops needed to work more like special forces from back home than rank-and-file soldiers of the Imperium. It would be nice if I could get a drill abbot from the Schole Progenium to train them like Tempestus Scions, turning my entire army into a well-oiled machine of special forces soldiers by Imperial standards. With my orders to open a branch on planet Slud, it was not unthinkable that an extra requisition for a teacher would get put into the paperwork...
But I would have to return to that later, for now, there was still the issue of the system. I had not checked up on the different sub-sections in quite a while, and to be honest, I was dreading the flood of notifications and changes, but it had to be done. With trepidation, I opened the first tab, Skills.
LASWEAPON PROFICIENCY, LIGHT: TIER 3, LEVEL 7.
LASWEAPON PROFICIENCY, HEAVY: TIER 1, LEVEL 5.
STUBBER WEAPONS, LIGHT: TIER 1, LEVEL 6.
STUBBER WEAPONS, HEAVY: TIER 1, LEVEL 4.
MELEE WEAPONS, CHAIN: TIER 1, LEVEL 1.
MELEE WEAPONS, POWER: TIER 1, LEVEL 0.
MELEE WEAPONS, REGULAR: TIER 3, LEVEL 2.
MELEE WEAPONS, SHOVEL: TIER 1, LEVEL 0.
UNARMED COMBAT: TIER 1, LEVEL 2.
ARMOR PROFICIENCY, REGULAR: TIER 3, LEVEL 3.
ARMOR PROFICIENCY, POWER: TIER 1, LEVEL 0
Well, well, well, some nice updates without it being overwhelming. I was curious what I got at tier 3 of melee mastery and armor mastery, and opened the sections one after another.
Melee weapons, regular, tier 3, level 2.
Tier 1: Knowledge of how to use basic melee weapons in combat.
Tier 2: Knowledge of how to inflict the most damage with every hit. Cause targets to bleed violently with every cut and stab.
Tier 3: Crushing blows delivered from blunt weapons now damage regular weapons and shields used to block, and hits break bones on impact.
Tier ?: Keep leveling to unlock the next tier.
Armor proficiency, regular, tier 3, level 3.
Tier 1: Knowledge of how to make proper use of basic personal combat armor.
Tier 2: Knowledge of how to maximize the limited potential in basic armor. Vastly increased chance for anything but a direct hit to be glancing rather than wounding.
Tier 3: Familiarity with wearing armor in and out of combat has made it feel like a second set of skin. You no longer feel hindered or limited in your movement when wearing armor.
Tier ?: Keep leveling to unlock the next tier.
Not bad at all. But it did raise the question of whether I had to open messages with skills before they came into effect, because I had felt pretty limited by my carapace armor during the Slud campaign. Next came the Feats.
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ENDURANCE: TIER 3, LEVEL 4 (NOTE: PLANETARY BONUS APPLIED)
DANGER INSTINCT: LIVING ON A WORLD WHERE DANGER IS RELATIVE AND DEATH WAITS AROUND THE CORNER OF EVERY NEW DAY HAVE GRANTED YOU THE ABILITY TO SENSE MALICIOUS INTENT TOWARDS YOU.
NATURAL BLUFFING: SINCE YOUR ARRIVAL, YOU HAVE SPENT A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF TIME DURING CONVERSATION LYING AND TWISTING THE TRUTH. YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED THE NATURAL BLUFFING FEAT.
TRADERS' CHARM: LIKEABLE AND FRIENDLY WHENEVER GIVEN THE CHANCE, THE ROGUE TRADER BEGINS ANY FIRST SOCIAL INTERACTION WITH ANY INDIVIDUAL, WITH A MINOR INCREASE IN CHANCE FOR A POSITIVE OUTCOME, REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION
FRONTLINE SAVANT: CONTINUOUSLY SEEKING OUT BATTLE ON THE FRONTLINES, EVEN AFTER REACHING A LEVEL OF POWER THAT LETS YOU AVOID IT IF DESIRED, HAS GRANTED YOU UNPRECEDENTED AWARENESS AND ATTENTION TO CHANGE ON THE BATTLEFIELD. EVEN IN THE THICKEST OF COMBAT, YOU WILL NEVER BE IN DOUBT ABOUT HOW THE SITUATION ON THE REST OF THE BATTLEFIELD LOOKS, AS WELL AS GRANTING YOU A CALM DEMEANOR EVEN IN THE MOST SUICIDAL OF ASSAULTS.
CONFIDENT ATTACKER: WHEN LEADING MEN INTO BATTLE, YOU DO SO WITH DETERMINATION AND CONFIDENCE, INSPIRING THE MEN AROUND YOU TO DEEDS OF GLORY. AS A RESULT, THE TROOPS AROUND YOU WILL BE MORE RESISTANT TO MORALE SHOCKS DURING CHARGES.
Nice, I got a new feat, and one that would be useful for more than specific situations or general knowledge. And considering what possibly lay ahead of me, it was not the worst feat to acquire. Onwards, to my abilities.
PRAYER OF ABSOLUTION: WHILE CHANTING THE PRAYER OF ABSOLUTION, ALLIES IN A 100 FT RADIUS AROUND YOU WILL BE CLEANSED OF FEAR AND DOUBT, WILLING THEMSELVES TO FIGHT TO THE BITTER END WITHOUT HESITATION IN THE NAME OF THE GLORIOUS EMPEROR.
"GET UP GUARDSMAN!!" : THIS ABILITY GRANTS THE USER THE ABILITY TO PUSH THROUGH WHAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE INCAPACITATING DAMAGE, AND KEEP ON FIGHTING. ONE USE PER WEEK.
So there was nothing new there, but no news was also good news. Next, Retinue.
RETINUE:
Trokk, the Ogryn. Bodyguard. Strength, 600. Agility, 6. Perception, 8. Will, 5. Luck, 5.
Archimedes, the Tech-Magos. Strength, 45. Agility, 27. Perception, 82. Will, 28. Luck, 5.
Wait, Archimedes was part of my retinue?? But I had not spoken with the tech-priest since I met him on Slud. Did that mean he was on one of my ships? And if so, what was he doing?? The mechanicus never sat still, never procrastinated. So if he was part of my retinue and onboard one of my ships, he was almost certainly doing something to better suit the mechanicus' needs than the ship's actual role. By the throne, what a headache that could turn out to be... unless I gave him an outlet that served me more than his mechanical masters. And there was a stray thought I had entertained a few times since I 'acquired' those armed freighters. I would have to have him found and summoned when I took to the bridge.
Now, all I was left with was the newest, and to me, the most interesting tab. The psychics tab. If thoughts could shake like hands, mine did so when I opened it.
PSYCHICS:
Telekine dome: Erects a barrier of shimmering mental energy around himself that can deflect bullets and blows. (difficulty factor, 15)
Witch sight: Enables you to see the inner psyche of any unshielded sapient being, laying their true intentions bare for you to see. (Difficulty factor, 1)
Difficulty factor?? The only thing that could be relating to would be the chance of something going wrong and attracting unwanted attention from the warp. But how high did the scale go? A logical guess would be 100, and despite the illogical and sassy messages of the system, the system itself seemed to work off a logic-based structure. And considering that a protective dome was a fairly standard discipline among battle psykers, and one that was utilized almost carelessly because of its low potential for catastrophic failure, a maximum difficulty rating of 100 also made sense when a telekine dome only had a factor of 15.
I leaned back in my chair and finished my recaf while I pondered what to do going forward, in regards to the system. I had barely finished the cup before my personal cogitator beeped from the corner of the room. When I opened it, there was a petition from Farsyn for an audience with the Lord Captain, with a small message attached, only 4 words long.
"We need to talk."
It was a disturbing message, to say the least. I sent a reply myself, inviting him to my quarters immediately. It was a gamble, he might very well refuse, hiding behind the need to prepare his sanctum for the warp travel ahead. I would not blame him if he did, in my quarters, we would be far away from the astropathic choir and attendants that were used to the presence of a navigator mutant. The entirety of the rest of the crew viewed him with suspicion and slight intolerance, only keeping from killing him on sight due to his status as a sanctioned navigator. Should any altercation between us happen in my quarters, he would be surrounded by soldiers, officers, and regular crew that would love nothing more than to tear him limb from limb in response to an attack on me. I hoped he would come through, I needed him to be my ally, not my enemy.
Thankfully, he showed up less than 15 minutes later, He must have really been shaken up by whatever he sensed, because he forgot all about formalities the moment the door to the lift closed behind him.
"We have an unsanctioned psyker on board!" He hissed as he began pacing back and forth. "I sensed their awakening!"
I was conflicted. Did I tell him? Did I keep quiet and try to play it off? Find a scapegoat? No, honesty would take me the furthest when it came to this specific individual. He was from a shrouded house himself, so he would not be likely to do anything that could attract the black ships. They might get overzealous while performing their duties.
"It is I, Farsyn. I am the unsanctioned psyker." I said after a moment's hesitation, and my revelation made him whirl around on the spot. I also noticed his hand slipping towards one of the folds in his hooded robe, but when I was just standing there, he made no move to withdraw the sidearm I was certain he had hidden there.
"How it came to be, I cannot explain to you, but for reasons we are both aware, it would be best if we kept this between ourselves. There is no telling who they would decide to take with them, should they be called." My only chance was appealing to his sense of self-preservation, his knowledge of what would happen if a man of his diminished status was found in the company of an unsanctioned psyker.
For a long moment, Farsyn said nothing. I could see the turmoil inside of him, the obligation to duty fighting with the logic of survival. When he spoke, there was a distant quality to his voice, as if he was detaching himself from the situation, emotionally. "If you get caught, Lord Captain, I will deny and denounce any knowledge of you being the unsanctioned psyker and claim ignorance. But out of respect for the man that have given me a chance to redeem my family name, I will keep your secret. However, should I begin to see signs that the boundaries between the immaterium and realspace are compromised by your... situation? I will not hesitate to levy the full might of the astropathic choir against you!":
I didn't get time to reply before he left again, and I was left to my thoughts. It didn't go as I wanted, but it went better than it had any right to. At least he wouldn't rat me out unless his hand was forced. I sighed deeply and moved to put on my carapace armor. There was no reason for this, other than it felt reassuring to put on the armor. As if it could shield me from more than physical threats. The oath of moment was still pinned to the chest of it, and I had to be careful when putting on the chest plate so I didn't mess it up. When I entered the bridge, I summoned one of the junior officers with a hand motion, and he hurried over and presented the aquila.
He was very young, his cheeks still had the soft roundness of an adolescent boy, and he seemed overly eager to present himself as a competent individual. Youtful exuberance mixed with an immense sense of duty and pride. I gave him orders ot track down and summon the tech magos, warning him that he might be on one of the armed freighters, so he should make use of whatever men he had under his command to find him as quickly as possible. After he left, I took my place in the command throne and began the slow process of preparing the ship for warp travel. A message was delivered that Archimedes had been found on one of the armed freighters and was en route back to my ship. I had a message sent to the shuttle to take him to me as soon as they landed.
20 minutes later, the sound of his omnisian axe clinking against the metal grating of the ship announced his arrival, and I made myself comfortable while I waited for him to get into view. When he turned the corner, He did not look like the tech priest that had saved my ass back on Slud. He was looking proper, his mechadendrites hidden, his imnisian axe held steadily in his hand, and his bright red robe flowing around him, the hood pulled well over his face.
He presented himself before me and bowed slightly before speaking in his half-robotic voice. "You have summoned me, Lord Captain?" But before he waited for an answer, I heard faint whirring and saw the lenses he had instead of eyes rotate. Most likely zooming in or some other feature. "Praise the Omnissiah. You have replaced the weakness of the flesh with the blessed machine." He exclaimed with more emotion than I had ever heard from a mechanicus member.
"A sacrifice of necessity, I need to be able to project my voice on the battlefield. And yes, I summoned you, Magos. Am I to understand you wish to stay in my fleet, as part of my personal retinue?" I dismissed his proclamations, they were not the reason for me bringing him here. I wanted to know and understand his reasoning for staying.
"This statement is true. This unit has decided that the quest for knowledge is easier to continue aboard the vessel of a rogue trader. This unit also noticed the lack of a senior mechanicus member to appease the machine spirit, and has decided that this magnificent vessel be afforded the reverence the Omnissiah demands." He finished his explanation with another small bow and turned his gaze toward me.
"Your reasons are valid and your logic impeccable, Magos. But if you are to stay as a part of my retinue, I need to hear your opinion on a matter I have yet to deal with." When Archimedes said nothing, I continued. "Would it be possible to refit one of the armed freighters to function as a Salvator Ark? It would not be the worst thing to bring with us where we are going."
For a long moment, Archimedes said nothing, instead, I could hear wirring and clicking from under his robes. He was undoubtedly running calculations and projections in his head, at a speed that would make a computer from my own time look like an outdated calculator.
"It can be done. Reinforcements must be made to the superstructure, the storage compartments will be repurposed, the coils and wiring strengthened, and the proper rites and rituals." He began, but I cut him off.
"As long as it is possible, that is all I need to know. Magos Archimedes, you are hereby placed in charge of the refitting of an armed freighter. Should the task be successful, which I have no doubt it will be when the honored mechanicus is in charge of the project, I am certain your expertise could be used to refit another of my freighters into a cathedral ship." As I mentioned, the possibility of a cathedral ship, the newly promoted high confessor, chosen from amongst his brethren in one of their ceremonies, could barely contain his excitement
"Yes, high confessor, you can begin planning the layout, but work will not begin until the task I have already given to the honored Magos, is finished," I interjected and waved him back as I did so. He was smart enough to understand that he should not press the issue and instead be happy with the future prospect of being chosen to design the cathedral ship. I had no doubt he would levy this work to also secure a place at the top of the hierarchy within the Ecclesiarchy representatives in my small fleet. A sudden afterthought hit me. "And I plan to invite a cardinal once a cathedral ship has been built, to see it consecrated properly. I trust you will be able to take care of the details of such a visit?"
"Yes, Lord Captain, it would be my utmost pleasure!" He answered eagerly, but restrained himself from further commentary. It would seem as if he was getting to know my mood. I was not one for lofty speeches or eloquent sermons, and he seemed to have accepted that, settling for preaching all the more fervently to the rest of my ship's crew.
"It will be as you wish, Lord Captain." Archimedes butted in, and he bowed deeply before turning his attention to the cogitators on the bridge for a moment before he turned around and walked off the bridge. I was left with a bustling bridge and a small fleet that needed preparation for departure. So, I did the only thing left to do and got to work.
