Not an aid organization
Ricardo eyed Kay as the woman argued quietly with Sister Karne. The much older sister was firmly set against taking any kind of power at all. In the deepest recesses of his soul, Ricardo was glad for that. Kay had a charisma that he could not deny. He knew without a doubt that the Sisters and many others would follow her gladly if she chose to lead. That she was refusing to spoke very highly of her own spiritual fortitude.
Then again, if one was immortal, one had likely had lots of time to develop strong walls around one's psyche.
He had to admire the fact that Kay knew her own limits and-
He snarled at himself. He was falling into the same trap! He would not let her take control of him! He was an Inquisitor for the Emperor's sake! He started a series of exercises in his mind intended to keep himself focused as he looked around the room. Little had changed. The sisters were still grim shadows against the walls, their weapons ready for any treachery on his part. He wasn't stupid. He wouldn't do anything here. If he tried, his life would be measured in seconds and Kay could likely take control of any of the room's defenses as easily as she took control of other tech.
Hospitallar Georgia had stepped back when Kay and Karne had started their 'discussion'. Wise of her. Mace was at her side again. Ricardo made his eyes slide away from the young sister, aware of just how sharp eyed Kay was. The elder sister was very protective of the younger. That might be an avenue for leverage, or a fast trip to hell, depending on how Kay reacted. The other sisters were almost as protective of the Hospitallar as Kay was, so tampering with the Hospitallar, while potentially feasible, was a very bad idea here and now.
"For the last time: No." Kay snapped and stood up, drawing every eye as Karne stepped back. "No, I will not don golden armor and lead a Crusade across the system and beyond. I am not the Emperor!" She actually snarled that and Karne retreated a step. "I have a duty to the Emperor and I will fulfill my duty. I will keep these war machines from falling into the hands of the Ruinous Powers or the Mechanicus. If that means working with the Inquisition or others of their ilk, so be it. I will not start a Crusade simply because I can, Karne!" She stepped right up the recoiling sister and glared full into the taller sister's face. "I don't care what happens anywhere else, Karne! My duty is all that matters!"
"The Imperium needs you." Karen sounded shaken now, almost lost.
"And I cannot save it." Kay said sadly. She took a deep breath and slowly laid a hand on Karne's shoulder. "Alicia was a far better woman than I am and she couldn't save it. Karne..." She begged. "This is all I can do. All I am good for. I treasure my time with you sisters, but that is not my duty. You of all people should not try to get between me and my duty."
"What if you fall?" That came from the side where Lornan had entered the room quietly. The Sisters jerked and aimed, but Kay just nodded and they relaxed.
"The Ruinous Power do not like touching me." Kay said with a shrug. "Either how I was made or who made me makes touching me painful to them. They can kill me. They have several times. But in the end? They cannot corrupt me. I would have to do that myself and I refuse to let that happen. My life and soul are the Emperor's. No one else's." Lornan bowed to her.
"Problem, Lornan?" Ricardo asked when the agent didn't move to go.
"The documents you asked for, Boss." Lornan held out a scroll to Ricardo who took it carefully.
He hadn't asked for any documents, but his subordinates were very good at reading his wishes. A quick perusal showed a plan to separate Georgia from the group for several minutes. Enough time for Mary to inject her with a series of controlling mechanisms. Not a bad plan all told, but if Kay could detect as well as control tech, doomed. That was why this was on a scroll! To see if she could detect the plan as he read it on his augmentation! He loved capable subordinates.
"Problem, Inquisitor?" Kay asked as Ricardo mulled the pros and cons.
"Not really." Ricardo shook his head and handed the scroll back to Lornan who took it. "Lets hold off on that option for now, Lornan. We have a lot going on and the last thing we need is to add more complications into the mix." Lornan nodded and left without another word. Ricardo turned back to Kay and shook his head. "Capable subordinates are both a blessing and a curse."
"So I have heard." Kay's face was blank. It was impossible to tell if she knew or not. He would have to assume she did. Safer that way. "I need to get onto that planet, Inquisitor. I deem the threat to be significant there."
"Putting it very mildly." Ricardo said sourly. "That whole world is a seething mass of madness and war. The Imperial lines are holding for now." He held up a hand when Kay opened her mouth. "Said lines could be very badly destabilized if a superheavy enemy tank were to appear behind Imperial lines."
He glared at her and she nodded. Karne stared from one to the other.
"What?" The sister asked, still reeling from Kay's dismissal of her wishes.
"He is wondering whose side I am on." Kay was calm and quiet. Georgia gave a squeak, but Kay wasn't finished. "Understandably so. He doesn't know me except as a liar and possible assassin with non-quantifiable powers."
"I see." Georgia said slowly. "And what would be required to gain your aid, Inquisitor?"
"Georgia!" Kay snapped as the Inquisitor eyed the Hospitallar whose eyes were scared over her mask, but her voice was still firm.
"You taught me to make up my own mind. He wants leverage over you and thinks I am it?" Georgia's eyes calmed. Her tone was calm and reflective now. "You are needed, I am not."
"If you touch her, I will kill you." Kay warned as the Inquisitor took a step towards Georgia. This was more than a student-teacher relationship. Much more.
"Do not move, inquisitor." Georgia said firmly. "I assume you have a plan to suborn me?" The Inquisitor looked at her and she scoffed. "Do not make the mistake of assuming I am a fool because of my lack of experience, Inquisitor."
"Noted." Ricardo said with a nod. "I cannot install a Mindshackle myself, but I have staff who can."
"How long will it take?" Georgia said with a nod as Kay growled something vile. Kay moved to try and grab Georgia, but the Hospitallar lithely evaded her. "We need you, Lady Kay. We need him and his resources. We need you both working together. I accept, Inquisitor. If my servitude is the price for your aid? I will serve you, Inquisitor."
"NO!" Kay screamed and lunged for Georgia who retreated towards the door. Mace was there and had it open long enough for them to flee though. The portal slammed in Kay's face and physically latched with a click. She spun with murder in her eyes. All of the other sisters were aiming at Ricardo who hadn't moved. When Kay spoke, it was as if all the fires of hell spoke through her. "You are a dead man."
"We will not harm her." Ricardo tried hard not to show how shaken he was by the sheer power in the woman's voice. That was no idle threat. Whatever Georgia was to Kay, the elder sister was totally willing to kill to protect her.
"YOU CANNOT PROMISE THAT!" Ricardo's eyes went huge as a mass of metal simply appeared in Kay's hands. A long blade similar to the power swords used by Death Cult assassins, she held it with the familiarity of long practice. He had seen Death Cult assassins work. He had no chance at this range if Kay was anywhere close to their level of skill. He didn't bother to go for his pistols, he just glared at Kay who met his glare.
"Sister…." Karne spoke up. "As you said, we need him. He needs you. He won't hurt her."
"Hurting people is what he does." Kay was still using that awful voice, taking a slow, measured step forward, the blade in her hand singing in the air. Ricardo's thoughts took a sudden leap to the side. Why would this immortal, ancient woman be reacting like an enraged…
"You are her mother."
He hit the wall with a clang, his armor readouts showing red all across his displays. Before he could even realize that Kay had hit him hard enough to knock him the entire length of the compartment, she was on him, holding him off the ground by the collar of his power armor with one hand! Words crawled across his optic readout.
If you ever speak or write those words again, I will find you and I will make you death last for weeks.
How was she overriding his ocular processor? How was she holding him up so easily? He felt fear like he had never felt in his life as her eyes flared golden. This wasn't the calm and assured woman he had just been discussing things with. No. This was the Emperor's daughter! The Emperor of Mankind's wrath made manifest.
"Kay!" Karne actually sounded shaken now. "Stay with us, Sister." A quick look showed all five of the sisters kneeling with bowed heads. "The Emperor, our sword and protector. From the Lightning and the Tempest,..."
"...Emperor deliver us." Kay quoted the holy words absently, her fiery eyes slowly returning to normal. She lowered the Inquisitor to the ground and then released his collar. She stepped back and the blade that hadn't left her other hand vanished as if it had never been. Then she went to her own knees and started to pray.
"There are certain people you should not anger, Inquisitor." Karne rose and moved to stand beside Kay as the elder sister prayed. "My Order has seen such happen twice. Both times, she swore the sisters who witnessed it to silence. They kept silence but they left records that were sealed as per her wishes. When we were sent to seek her, we were allowed access to all the records. You are very lucky to be alive, Inquisitor. Georgia cannot be Kay's daughter." Karne laid a hand on Kay's shoulder. "She cannot reproduce."
"How can you be sure-?" Ricardo started, only to freeze as Kay's eyes caught his and they were glowing again.
"Do you really want to know?" Kay asked in a sickly sweet voice. Karne's hand clenched on her shoulder.
"Kay!" Karne warned and Kay went back to her prayers. "You do not want to know, Inquisitor. You do not." The veteran sister warned. "Drop that line of inquiry before it kills you and everyone else on this ship!"
"I see." Ricardo was many things. He had been many things over the course of his varied career. 'Stupid' had never one of them. "As I said, we will not harm her and if she does serve me? I will protect her."
"Until she becomes inconvenient or you do not need her anymore." Kay had finished her prayers and rise, shaking off Karne's hand as if the power armored fingers were inconsequential. Maybe they were if she was really that strong. "Then if she is lucky, you will put a bolt round through her skull."
"There are worse fates." Ricardo said quietly. "You won't believe any oath I swear."
"No." Kay's tone spoke volumes into that short negative.
"Then all I can do is show action." Ricardo turned to the side and spoke into empty air. "Com room? Put me through to General Sentars of the 743rd Elysian."
"Inquisitor Illusmar?" A hologram appeared in midair. The woman wore Imperial Guard uniform, but it was odd in a hard way to define. Were those wings on her chest? "What can the drop troops do for you?"
"We have a situation, General." Ricardo said without preamble. "Lacoan VI is enough of a mess as it is, but we just learned of a large cache of military gear left over from the Great Crusade." The general's eyes widened. "The last thing we need is the enemy getting their hands on such."
"What are the odds such gear is functional after so long, Inquisitor?" The general was waving to the side and movement shone behind her as she looked from him to other things that were outside of the holo's pickups. "My regiment is available, but as you say, that planet is a mess. What is held now may not be in an hour."
"I know." Ricardo said heavily. "I hope and pray it isn't functional, but we have word of a possible superheavy tank in that cache. A similar one was opened and the gear worked. I don't have to explain how bad things may get if the traitors get their hands on a Baneblade or something like one."
"Emperor!" General Sentars scowled and then nodded. "My regiment can be in the air within the hour, sir. Orders?"
"We may need to secure the area around the cache for some time to access the vehicle to extract or destroy. The rest of the gear may or may not be recoverable. That tank must be denied to the enemy at all costs." Ricardo said with a nod. "I will have precise coordinates sent shortly on a secure link but presume the worst. A hot drop and enemy territory."
"Yes, sir!" The general snapped a salute and Ricardo returned it. The holo vanished and he spun to look at Kay who was eyeing him warily.
"I need the coordinates." The Inquisitor said firmly. Kay did not move. "A regiment of Elysian Drop Troops will be able to secure the depot long enough to get you to the tank."
"Kay." Karne said quietly when Kay still didn't move. "Duty first."
Kay growled, a low and dangerous sound. Then she gave herself a shake and rose to her full height. She handed something to Karne who took it and stared at it. A dataslate. It showed a set of coordinates on a planet marked Lacaon VI. Karne looked at Kay and then stepped to the Inquisitor and handed the dataslate to him. He took it and fed it into a nearby receptacle for such then he started perusing the data. It was fairly complete, showing an area in the middle of the largest continent, away from any major population centers and… He paused.
"There is an interdiction area around those coordinates." Ricardo said slowly as he turned to look at Kay. "The Adeptus Mechanicus have claimed that area."
"If you want them to get it and have it self destruct,..." Kay still wasn't happy. "Feel free."
"And you knew." Ricardo said flatly. "You would have had us drop in on them and probably start a firefight."
"A bunch of cogs do not concern me." Kay could have been discussing solar weather now. "The fact that the last time they stole one of those it blew up in their faces when they tried to start it and they took half a continent with them does."
"How many times?" Ricardo asked slowly. Kay just glared at him. "How many times have you done this?"
"Those subhuman scum stole the Emperor's property once, they will never do so again." Kay declared. "Either I reach the tank and evacuate it or it blows itself and anyone else in proximity to hell. The last time, it was a Stormhammer. This time? I dunno how big it will be. Probably not smaller."
"What happened?" Ricardo asked.
"What do you care?" Kay snapped. "Do it or don't do it. Either way, my duty will be done."
"Lady Kay." Georgia's voice preceded the Hospitallar into the room. Her helmet was gone and her head had been shaved. She didn't seem different otherwise. Her eyes were subdued as she looked at Kay. "He wishes to act, but needs information."
"And I should trust you now." Kay snapped at Georgia who looked hurt.
"She has done nothing to deserve your ire." The Inquisitor said quietly. "She is trying to help you accomplish your mission."
"By letting you enslave her. Stop!" Kay growled dangerously as Georgia took a step forward. The Hospitallar stopped. "Fine. Yes, I knew. I even know who is in charge of the scum and yes, I would dearly love to see them all as particulate vapor after all the pain they have caused me. My duty to the Emperor will be done even if I have to do it over your corpse, Georgia's and every one else on this ship's. They will not get that tank."
"His will be done." Karne said flatly, her sisters echoing her. All had their weapons readied.
"There is no need for that." Ricardo fought hard for calm. Kay like this was terrifying. "I agree that the Mechanicus cannot be trusted any more than the bulk of the Inquisition can be."
"You can be trusted to act in your own self interest." Kay grated that out. "The Mechanicus? They act out of whim. Oh, they say it is in service of their Machine God, but it is whim. They see cool tech and they say 'ooo, mine!' Who cares how many die in the process? Not important. Who cares how many Imperial worlds are lost as result? Not important. The last time they stole the Emperor's property it took me three centuries to find and destroy it to keep the morons from wiping out an entire planetary system with their idiocy. They are not taking it again."
"Can they reproduce it?" Ricardo asked slowly.
"Those quacks?" Kay demanded. Then she laughed derisively. "Replicate the Emperor's personal work? No. Can they break it with catastrophic results? Sure. Reproduce it? Not a chance in hell." Her smile held grim promise or madness. Maybe a bit of both.
"Good." Ricardo's smile matched Kay's. "Then I only have one further question for you." Kay made a 'get on with it' gesture and he nodded.
"Have you ever used a grav chute?"
