Chương 45: Chapter 43: Rewarding good behavior.

POV: Nicole"Uhh… Silverwalker, why is Baldos here?" I ask.

"Venerable Baldos has been added to your security detail for this excursion, Princeps." Silverwalker replied.

"You know I'm going to meet with normal human guardsmen, right? Like unarmed, unaugmented normal humans?" I ask looking up at the Astartes.

"Indeed, would you prefer the entire second scale to accompany you in place of Venerable Baldos?" Silverwalker asks politely.

"What!? No! Why would… gah!" I sputter, there's no reason for that many Astartes to follow me around. Rubbing the bridge of my nose I shake my head, "Alright, come on Baldos, please try to avoid making the guardsmen wet themselves."

"No promises." Baldos replies with a pleased tone.

"We're taking my shiny shuttle. Do not enter the sealed compartment behind the cockpit." I tell everyone with a stern expression.

"We won't bother the monster on your leash." Baldos replies while everyone else dutifully nods.

"Great! Strap in! This Stormbird is fast!" I reply as I scamper to the cockpit and interface with the shuttle. A quick and relatively smooth flight later I've arrived at the Governor's spire. I'll be using one of the lower atriums to meet with the guardsmen. —-------------------------------------------------------------- POV: Guardsman Greg Greg had never felt so uncomfortable in a dress uniform as he did on the way up Halo Alphos's spire.

"Greg, stop tugging at your collar." Bill hissed as he reached over to straighten it out for what felt like the eighth time.

"I can't help it, I'm nervous. There weren't nearly so many security checks when we met her before." Greg said, glancing back as Clank, Feisty, and Double Down stood behind him. The only ones not interested in coming along and jumping through the various hoops were Doc, McStabby, and Hound. The elevator door opened, and a Power Armour-clad trio of the Governor's guards greeted them, "Do you have any weapons?"

"Well yes, but no, uh." Greg gestured to the case which had the guns they wanted to try and sell. Double Down stepped up and spoke courteously, "Sir! Only ceremonial weapons on our persons and some valuable weapons with the items we wish for the Princeps to appraise." The sergeant was practically serene since his current debts had been paid off with what they already pawned. Anything they got today and split was icing on the cake for him.

"Very well. Follow me." The guard led them down the ornate hall to a set of double doors. The doors opened silently, and the guard motioned for them to enter. Greg almost didn't when the first thing he noticed there was a fracking Dreadnought in the room! Most of the others weren't much better staring aghast with their mouths open. Feisty whispered and hissed, "Oh shit that's the Saint!" pointing at an attractive woman in power armour with her helmet off before she made the sign of the Aquila.

Greg glanced around, spotting a few Skitarii, two Sisters, another Astartes, and in the center sitting at the head of the table casually sipping from a teacup was the little silver-haired Princeps.

"My Lords and Ladies," Greg said with a deep bow. The other Guardsmen followed suit.

"Wait a minute… I know you two!" the Princeps called out looking at Greg and Bill.

"I hope your tank is still working properly?" She asked with a small smile.

"Yes, Ma'am! Like brand new after your blessing" Bill replied. Greg nodded his head sneaking a furtive glance upwards at the Princeps.

"You are all so stiff, please, at ease or whatever. Come sit. I was told you had an item for me to examine but given the multiple cases it looks like you have several?" She invited them to sit and present the items. Greg nodded as he slowly stood up and approached the table, laying out the first case.

"Yes! Uh, I heard a few rumors about you, My Lady, a friend of a friend of a member of the staff. Nothing bad! I simply heard you were a collector of sorts."

"Oh? I am. From what I see in those cases I'd say you chose well." She said leaning forward with interest. Greg hadn't opened the cases yet, he really should have assumed the Princeps could see through the materials, but he opened them anyway. Presenting the various firearms, Clank opened the box with the Archeotech item, Feisty set down the few bottles of valuable wine.

"Let's start with the big item, yes?" The Princeps used a dendrite to tug the case over and nodded after looking for just a moment.

"This is indeed an Archeotech Lifter device. A Lifter is a device which can manipulate gravity in a localized area. It can, for example, allow the operator to slowly float up or gently drop down from a great height without harm. I am certainly interested in this. Even if I wasn't the Mechanicus would be." the Princeps explained to the room. She moved to the weapons coffer next and flashed an affectionate smile as she picked up the old Dueling Las.

"Oh, this model might be older than I am!" She laughed and gave the weapon an affectionate pat.

"Let's see here, a Cadence 'Widower' Dart Caster, an assassin's weapon. Quite exotic and certainly something that would fit in my collection." She put down the small weapon and moved to the larger one adjacent to it.

"This chunky lad is a Westingkrup Carnodon Pattern Precision Hand Cannon, the mechanism in these is closer to that of a Bolter than a normal solid projectile weapon, it's known for being quite accurate and seems to be in great condition. Not quite as valuable or rare as the Widower." Nicole set the gun back into the case giving it a little affectionate pat before moving to the next weapon "This next one is a Khayer-Addin Forge 'Fate Bringer' Long Pistol, an elegant weapon.

It's a perfectly balanced stub revolver and a prime example of the kind of pistol commonly used to 'settle affairs of honour' among the nobles of Sibellus and their off-world imitators. The design is deceptively simple and exquisitely well-made from the finest materials, the Fate Bringer is perfectly suited to its role as a dueling piece. You can tell it's an original by the small faint stamp here on the bottom of the cylinder. Not to forget the old Dueling Las.

I would certainly purchase all four of these for my collection. Did you have a price point in mind?" she asked. Greg blinked, having lost himself in the Princep's examination.

"Yes, your grace. We were hoping for… two thousand thrones for the lot of pistols." The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The Princeps frowned at him and Greg stiffened in his seat. She leaned over to question one of the sisters of battle and then one of the Governor's guards.

"That's barely over the standard market value for these pieces." Greg nodded but the Princeps looked displeased.

"Greg, I am unsure if I should be flattered that the amount you asked for was so reasonable or offended that you see so little value in these pieces." Greg sputtered his eyes widening, "I… meant no offense, Your Grace! I wasn't sure if someone of your stature would be amenable to haggling. We also cannot properly value the Lifter, and I was hoping you would be generous." Greg admitted bowing his head. The Princeps tapped her finger on the table, "I see, I don't know much about wine, tell me about these bottles.

After that, you can tell me the story of how you acquired all these items. I can tell all of you are healing off injuries. I imagine it was at least somewhat exciting." Feisty stepped up, "I can tell ya about the wine, Princeps. So these two are some of the best red vintages from the Governor's vineyard in the past century. Along with them, we have a rare white from one of the little-known pleasure worlds in the neighboring sector. This fourth bottle is a brandy. I think it's marked M39.

These four are far too rich for us, better in the hands of people who can appreciate them." Feisty said with a shrug. The Princeps nodded, "I would buy them as good gifts for Lord Drakios or other nobles if nothing else." She motioned for Greg to go on with the story. Greg explained their adventure letting the others chime in and add context. The Princeps and her party seemed highly amused by the end of it all. She even gave them a polite clap.

"That was quite entertaining. You all saved these items from being lost in the fire and prevented anyone else from being harmed by the traps left by the cultists. You said there were eight of you in total?" Greg nodded and the Princeps leaned over to speak with the Saint about something.

"Alright, I am prepared to offer you five thousand thrones." the Princeps said, and Greg slumped. It was a lot but not quite the amount he hoped for, but it was well within the acceptable range.

"Thank you, My Lady. We would be honored to accept." The Princeps smiled, "Great! Five thousand thrones each it is." she clapped her hands. Greg had been about to bow again and froze as he thought he misheard. The others were also staring at the Princeps with looks of incomprehension.

"Your Grace?" he squeaked out.

"Yes?" She asked, turning back towards him.

"You said … each?" Greg asked in a quiet tone.

"Yes, five thousand each, for eight individuals the total of forty thousand thrones." She said as she closed the cases and passed them to some of her automata.

"Greg, I am aware that is a life-changing amount of money for you all." She stood and walked towards one of the windows and pointed, "Do you know what that dot up there is?"

"That's the Xenos ship." Feisty muttered as she squinted up at it.

"It was the Xenos ship. It's mine now. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. But no one has contested my salvage claim. That shuttle over there? Mine and that shuttle alone is worth more to the Mechanicus than this tower." The Princeps sighed, "What I'm saying is… the amount I'm paying you is barely a rounding error for me. For you, it's life-altering and I think it's worth it. You provided me items of value, a good story, and aided the Imperium. I help you because I can.

You've reminded me that good deeds need to be rewarded." She turned and looked at them all before chuckling, her eyes twinkling playfully, "You know there's a famous space pirate quote, while his name has been lost to time it still pertains to situations like this. I think you should all take it to heart. He said: 'Take the money and run.'" Greg and the guardsman looked at each other for a moment before they all bowed at the waist, "Thank you for your wisdom. Please excuse us, Your Grace."

Then they all piled out of the room but not before letting out a cheer before the door closed behind them. —------------------------------------------------------------------ POV: Nicole"Right. Now we need to figure out what I can give to reward a clan of lower deck feral ship crew. Gronk needs a reward for his service too. Any ideas?" I ask my retinue.

"Perhaps cutlery? A few well-made knives for cooking and fighting the rats, some blankets, and some rations?" Someone suggests.

"We could get him an actual hat. Wasn't he wearing a boot on his head last time?" Silverwalker reminds me.

"A nice leather hat, steel knives, blankets and clothes, and a box of military rations. Let's give them a military-grade plug-in vox unit so they can listen to the ship-wide announcements. A picture book manual of how to properly flip the breakers back on or replace the fuses when they trip. And a box of soap. That's like three hundred thrones at most. Is that enough?" I ask furrowing my brow.

"Yes." Came the unanimous reply from everyone.

"You cannot offer them too much Princeps. Doing so would make them wary or worse cause disruption in their simple way of living. One does not give a feral worlder a plasma cannon." Delta-A3 tells me politely.

"Alright." I agree, chuckling softly as I pack up my new loot.

"Let's get out of here." —---------------------------------------------------------- Location: The bowels of the Argent Drake A group of armsmen banged their wrenches along a pipe before they called out, "Gronk! Come forth!" It had taken a while, but they eventually tracked down the general area which the elusive lower deck denizen called home.

"Gronk is here!" The figure of Gronk scuttled out, warily looking at the shipmen.

"Gronk, for your valiant service on the ship the Princeps… err the Overlords have seen fit to reward you and your clan! Come and receive their gifts!" The man put down the box of rations and then returned to get the box of clothes, a small case of cutlery, a whole box of soap, and the vox unit. Finally, they handed Gronk himself the hat and manual. Gronk looked inside the boxes and their bounties, and his eyes teared up, "All hail the Great Overlords!"

"Yeah, you're welcome, uhh hail the Overlords. Enjoy." The shipmen slowly backed away as Gronk sobbed and howled, summoning more of his clansmen to come collect the 'precious' wares.