Operation Sagittarius

The tactica center was a medium sized room adjacent to the bridge. Just like most parts of the vessel, it was decorated in imperial gothic fashion, its high ceiling held by dull black columns stretching into each other.

The rooms main piece was a large tactica table. At one of its endings sat a pair of servitors, forever tasked with updating the greenish lights of the tactica table. Their legs had been amputated and their bodily trunks refitted on augmentation devices connecting their spinal cords anatomically with the ships information network, which was fed by the vast sensor arrays on the hull and the immense data clusters inside the ships machine spirit.

One of the servitors had clearly once been a female, although that was barely recognizable now, as large parts of both servitors faces had been resected to make room for high end cortical processing units. Her chest was caved in from decades of servitude but in direct comparison to her partner on her right side, you were able to spot two characteristic convexities.

Both are idly chatting with each other in binary, as they recently had been woken for this briefing.

You stand at the other head of the tactica display, clad in a black leather stormcoat. At your right side stands your senior Interrogator Khiron Ri'ven, at your left your techical advisor Magos Marika Talahan.

Around the table sit most commanding officers of the 242. Vostroyan, Colonel Namib, his second in command, the pro forma regimental comissar Viktoria Naban and 4 Captains you do not recognize. On the other side sit Shipmistress Crick, together with Iason Lund, her first officer. Lund is nervously eyeing the camaraderie of six uniquely styled moustaches in front of him. The Vostroyans, as usually, had insisted on arriving in full combat dress, one Captain even absently polishing what looked like a dagger.

Next to Lund Alene Ricci is seated, the Ships Navigator. Coming from one of the higher Navis Nobilite houses, she is an arrogant aristrocratic bitch in your opinion. Where Lund is barely able to conceal his fear of the Vostroyans, Alene does not even attempt to hide her certainly long cultivated despise for the hive bred Vostroyans, curling her lips in disgust.

You briefly clear your throat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen" you call out to the meeting. "10 Minutes ago, the Martyrs Blood sucessfully jumped to warp speed. Captain Crick furthermore has insured me, that we will arrive the designated Coordinates in 3 days to come. As for now i'm finally able to fill you in about the mission designated to us by the elders of the inquisition. Magos Talahan?"

Your Techpriest hovers forward, plugging herself into the tactica display with one of her mechandrites. A few seconds after, a green, detailed image of a space station comes into view.

"This is a detailed image of the Crimson Heart Space station at the outer Fringe of Star System Gamma-36.", you go on, " it is mostly used by rogue traders as an opportunity ro refuel and resupply, as well as to meet and sell goods. It is, in fact, a major location for the blackmarket of forbidden goods in this sector."

"That is nothing new, Inquisitor. Why do the holy ordos care now?" ever attentive Captain Crick asks.

You nod approvingly. "A good Question. Marika?"

A picture of a thin man with a shaven head pops up. On his forehead is a penal legion tattoo, identifying him as Subject 725738.

"Imperial Intelligence has found evidence that the infamous Xenophile and heretic Marius Kirchner is currently hiding at the Crimson Heart space station. Kirchner is known for trading with Xeno artifacts of various origins, although he lately has seemed to focus on chaos tainted ones.

We would have waited to uncover his network, but two rogue trader ships have been spotted by astropaths to be on way to the Space station. If they pick up Kirchner, he will vanish again. Our operation window is about 12 hours after arrival.

The mission will be to board the space station, secure any Xenos artifacts for later destruction, destroy both rogue traders, capture Kirchner and to terminate evyerone else aboard the Station with **** prejudice. For security reasons this undertaking has been termed with the codename Operation Sagittarius. Anyone who leaks even farts of information from this meeting to anyone who does not clearly take part in this operation will be subject to extended interrogation and summary execution. Colonel Namib, Captain Crick?" you nod to both officers " I will expect your plan of attack in 8 hours. Any questions?"

Iason Lund hesitantly raises his hand. "So we kill all heretics, sir. But ehm... what do we do with the innocent ones?"

You eye him briefly, the junior officer sweating under your unyielding gaze.

"There is no such thing as innocence, Lund. Only degrees of guilt."