Zachariah, a mere Enginseer of the Adeptus Mechanicus, sat uncomfortably on the bulk transport descending towards the surface. Several other individuals were also on the shuttle, but he stood out because he was the only one who did not appear to be a mercenary. The others, though, ran the gamut from tribal warrior all the way to apparent ex-military.
But it was not the other people riding on the shuttle that made him uncomfortable. He was still dealing with the loss of the force he had been assigned to, and their destruction. So this new mission, immediatly after, came as a shock. But he was a good soldier and enginseer, and obeyed the orders given to him to the best of his ability.
While he attempted to relax, it appeared that the others were idly chatting or attempting to cause trouble. As the bulk transport/shuttle descended towards Emperor's Island on the surface below, he closed his eyes and went over the terms of his mission once more.
--
The shuttle that Zachariah rode was not the only one heading towards the surface at that very moment. Though there were many others, only one of them carried a person who was on a mission similar to his own.
The mercenaries and warriors on the ship were just as eclectic as Zachariah's, if not more so. One of them in particular, a woman dressed in leathers that barely concealed her, was attempting to both intimidate and hit on every man around her.
She repeated the same two lines almost exactly to every man around her. "Come on, big boy, can't you take a real woman?" and "Why don't you show me what you can do?"
This shuttle, however, landed on Emperor's Island before the shuttle carrying Zachariah. It was quick to land and open the boarding hatch, then hurriedly rush the passengers out and on their way. It was expected that those on the landing field would find their own way, so no care was given to direct them other than to get off the landing pad itself.
The woman in leathers was busy trying to pick a fight with the larger males descending the ramp at this time. Most of them saw through her antics, and were just as quick to dismiss her with a laugh and walk away. One of them made the mistake of accepting her offer, and whirled around while aiming his rifle at her.
She drew one of the pair of swords from her back and quickly slashed at them. As he fired off a shot, her blade cut the end off his las rifle. The bolt went wide into the ship, smacking into a storage compartment and starting a fire. He fell backwards away from her, attempting to draw a pistol, as she drew the other sort of pursued him.
It was at this time that a friend of his saw what was going on and attempted to intervene. He shouldered his rifle and aimed at the woman in leathers. Before he could fire off a shot, though, she ran her blade through his companion and dove into a roll. His shot naturally missed and he tracked her, attempting to get another shot off as she ran towards him.
Like a blur of animal hides rushing towards him, the woman surged ahead with her single remaining blade held in both hands. She raised it to her shoulder and brought it down upon the last remaining man with his weapon. Surprised, he fell backwards with the crimson line across his chest.
"Guess they couldn't take a real woman?" She mused to herself with a laugh.
As she turned to look for any more challenges, the next shuttle was preparing to land. She was quickly grabbed and ushered the hell off the landing pad much to her protest.
--
As Zachariah descended the ramp of his shuttle, he saw the mess that had just been left behind by the woman in leathers. But what really caught his attention was the emergency crew rushing towards the shuttle. His tech-priest mentality quickly demanded to know what was going on. So, naturally, he rushed over to see just that.
Arriving, he could smell the fire's damage. The burning conduit shrouding, seat foam, and paint as well as every other smell quickly told the tech-priest exactly what he needed to know. Without another thought he rushed inside to see what he could do.
The emergency crews attempted to stop him, until they saw his mechanic is markings. Before he even had to tell them to get out of his way and allow him to work, the emergency crews left the shuttle. The Zachariah surveyed the damage caused by the fire and deduce that it was started by energy weapons fire.
Ignoring the captain who was now rushing into the ship and demanding to know what was going on, Zachariah went right to work. His mechadendrites were already cutting, sawing, or hacking away the ruined sections of conduit so that he could replace them.
"What is going on inside my ship?" The captain demanded.
"This ship is property of the Adeptus Mechanics, you are merely using it for the duration of your short life." Zachariah reprimanded.
The captain frowned harshly. "The hell it is, who do you think you are?"
"Enginseer Zachariah of the Adeptus Mechanicus."
The captain scowled even more fiercely. He had no response now that a member of the Mechanicus was inside his ship, and working on it at the moment. No matter what his feelings were on the matter, there was nothing he could do to dissuade the tech-priest's mind. After staring at Zachariah while he worked for a long moment, the captain finally turned around and stormed out of the ship.
Even after the captain left in his huff, Zachariah continued to work diligently. His mechadendrites had removed all of the damage conduits. By the time the captain had left, he was already beginning to replace the burned wiring. In moments flat he'd already replaced the conduits in unpainted form and was busy reciting the Litanies of Purification.
As soon as he finished working, Zachariah left the ship and nonchalantly. To him it was nothing more than an injured machine that had to be fixed. There had been no doubt in his mind that he would do it, so he had done it. But the men outside, it had been something interesting. So they had gathered around to watch.
"Is there something else amiss?" Zechariah asked to a man who appeared to be the master of the landing pad.
The man looked at Zachariah was surprise in his eyes. "No, no there is no problem here. Thank you for taking care of the problem with the ship. Now I can get on its way and we can continue ferrying men down from the station."
"Excellent." Zacharias said, more to himself, as he started to walk away. "Then I shall continue on my way."
--
It took him several hours to get from the landing pad to a ferry, and then off of Emperor's Island. Once he finally arrived at the mainland, Zachariah found himself a dark corner to stay out of the way and signaled with his wrist vox unit.
"I have arrived as per my instructions. Awaiting further orders. Please advise."
Zachariah waited for several long minutes until a response finally came. "Excellent. Now that you are on the planet's surface, you are to make contact with another agent of mine already there."
"How will I know whom I am looking for?" He asked the voice on the other end of the line.
"You will know her when you see her, believe me she sticks out." The voice, a female one, replied. "Continue with your investigation, and you will undoubtedly encounter her."
"And is there some way that I will know it is her? There are a lot of people here who 'stick-out' as it were." Zachariah asked.
"Look for something that she has, that no one else should." The voice demurred.
"Order acknowledged." Zachariah replied.
The voice spoke almost as if the owner was smiling. "Welcome to Acreage."
