Chương 32: Chapter Twenty-Eight - Planning

"Well, there go any plans to upgrade you guys," Alexis muttered to her friends. Of them all, only KYS and CS-3-2/11 looked over to her as she spoke. Soon after her rather abrupt meeting with Ordinator Velpexa Thame, she was ushered off to one side and made to hurry up and wait. Alexis didn't take too well to that. Her blood still felt warm, her mouth tasted like sugar, and her heart was beating fast. Sitting still didn't feel like the thing to do at that moment, it was unnatural.

And yet, she didn't have much of a choice, did she? After a solid half-hour of nothing, she started to check on her friends. That meant pulling out an old cloth and grabbing some bottled water from a small table set up not too far into the large gathering room. It wasn't much, but it was enough to wash the blood off. Soon, she had a small oiling can out and was squirting some non-sacred oils into some joints and testing them out, to make sure they were fully mobile.

K84-321 had ended up with some fleshy bits jammed in the ball-joint at the tops of his legs and it was limiting his range of motion. The legs were strong, but not exactly what she'd call dextrous.

"I think... for you, we might go with a fully-armoured carapace," Alexis told him.

"Maybe something like a Castellax Class? I mean, those aren't servitors at all, and I've only ever seen picts of them, but I think the general vibe is very much like you, you know?" She felt an affirmative from K84 through her MIU, but it was more like he was just going 'uh-huh,' and agreeing with her without really understanding. Alexis grinned and licked her fleshy thumb, using it to rub some soot off of the servitor's face.

"You'll have to trust me," she said. That would be a big upgrade, and an expensive one, but it would make her little killclade a lot tougher. She couldn't decide if that would be her next project, or if she'd focus on 054-648 first. For him, she was thinking something similar to the rigs that Kataphron Battle servitors used. It wouldn't be all that different than the tracked wheels he had now, though she suspected that Kataphrons were a bit larger? She hadn't ever been allowed to interact with one, of course.

She jumped when there was a loud clap. Someone was calling for attention. Looking over to the side, she made eye contact with Ordinator Velpexa Thame for just a split second before carefully standing and bringing her attention forward to the centre of the room. A man in a nicer voidsman uniform was about to speak.

"Everyone, listen up! The ship is in no condition to be dealing with lower deck rabble. We need men up above to quell the rebellion on the upper decks. And so, it falls onto those of you here to handle this matter with these... genestealers," he said the last with obvious disgust. Alexis was caught on something else, though. What rebellion on the upper decks?

"The Sisters of the Order of the Shattered Glass have been assisting us above, and yet they were kind enough to lend some assistance. A group of them is already leading the way to the heart of the enemy's stronghold," he said before turning his attention to one of those same sisters. The woman stepped forwards, and Alexis shied back. Even from across the room, she could feel the sternness of her. The woman was in black plate over a blood-stained turquoise outfit.

She reached up and lifted the visor of her helmet, revealing a face made for glaring.

"Indeed. The... wayward sisters below have been taken with the enthusiasm of the Emperor for purging the unclean. We, however, will do things more... by the book." The voidsman nodded sharply.

"Rightly so, Sister Daydris," he said.

"Platoons 41, 42, 57, and 64, you will be scouring these sections." He turned, then gestured to a Tech Adept standing not too far behind him. The young man jumped, then incanted a quick binharic hymn to the machine next to him, which soon sputtered and projected a hologram of the ship's interior, specifically the lower decks. The room they were in was highlighted. As was a passage deeper into the vessel. The paths forked outwards, with the logos and numbers for each platoon written out.

"Once we have secured this area here, called the Glow Room by locals, we will establish a second beachhead from which to push down and into our final destination." Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. The 'Glow Room' wasn't labelled that on the diagram. It was instead Subsidiary Plasma Generation Site Tau-B.

Alexis supposed that it was a bit of a mouthful for some lower deckers who had probably never been taught how to read, so she didn't raise a fuss, though judging by the pinched looks of the few other Mechanicus personnel in the room, she wasn't the only one that disliked the name. The next phase of the plan seemed simple enough. They more or less knew where the bulk of the genestealers were hiding, in a large space just above the bottom-most bulkheads of the ship.

Judging by the diagrams, it had once been a warehouse with exterior access next to a large secondary plasma conduit, but the space had been modified for... something? She wasn't sure. It didn't look like it was used anymore, in any case. Not by the appropriate people. By the looks of it, the genestealers had made that area their home.

"This space is a warehousing area, originally used for the storage of hot-chemicals," the voidsman said.

"The area will be warm, humid, and poorly lit. We will be issuing additional equipment, courtesy of our damage control teams and the Master Infernus. Platoons 4, 14, 45, and the entirety of Ceti Company will be securing this part of the vessel and removing the threat once and for all." He took a deep breath, then scanned the room.

"We need this solved within the next six hours. We will be pushing hard. The Adeptus Mechanicus are here to assist us in keeping the ship functional and potentially in averting any mechanical issues, for which we are thankful. Sister Daydris, any last words?" The sister cleared her throat.

"Remember, soldiers. Today you fight not only for your home among the stars, but for the Emperor. Purge the heretic, the mutant and the xeno. With Faith and Fire!"

"With Faith and Fire!" the other sisters in the room shouted, and even some of the soldiers joined in, though they were a half-second off. Then the waiting was over. The voidsmen seemed to know what was going on, and soldiers rushed across the room. Helmets were slapped on, power packs slid into place, and sergeants started to shout for attention and order. Alexis froze for a moment, then glanced at her friends.

A quick mental command had them moving closer together while KYS picked up her tools before someone tripped on them. She rushed over to Ordinator Velpexa Thame and gave him a quick bow while her hands flew into the sign of the cog. The man was chatting in quick binharic to several others, so she waited, head bowed and wishing her robes had a nicer hood on them to hide her face. Then he turned towards her and spoke in the same cant.

"Ah, sorry, sir, can you repeat that?" she asked while suppressing a cringe. He stared for only a moment.

"We are to guard the ship, first and foremost. Find the 4th... no, the 14th platoon. They will be reaching Subsidiary Plasma Generation Site Tau-B first. Clear the way with them. Once that is done, secure the space, ensure that the machines are functional, log any issues, and continue on your way to the lower decks. We must end this rapidly." Alexis licked her lips.

"Yes, sir!" she said.

"Um, what was that about the rebellion above?" He glared.

"Not your concern. The Adeptus Mechanicus is not here to meddle in matters of succession, even if some of the other magi aboard this ship would disagree. While you are under my command, such things do not concern you. You are an extension of the weapons whose functions you serve." She bowed again, then skedaddled before she could anger her new boss any more.

"Okay, team," she said.

"Time to move out! Have you seen the 14th platoon anywhere?" She looked around, then started when KYS raised one tool-tipped hand and pointed. There was a group of voidsmen, maybe twenty of them with an ogryn in their midst. He had a large pauldron with 'XIV' painted onto it.

"Good eye," she said. So, those were the ones she'd be following? Great! Now all she had to do was stay alive, collect a few more points, stay alive, look good for the Ordinator so that he'd continue to extend his protection over her, and most importantly, stay alive.