Author's Note: Thanks again for the reviews! Work is busy currently, but I have the outlines of the next chapter ready (which will involve a lot of shooting). In the meantime, here's some character dossiers for Inquisitor Kassidan and her oddball retinue.
Edboy4926: More than that, actually. You'll have to wait and see, but needless to say, no functioning warships will be going through with the team-it would make the entire XCOM 2 campaign a cakewalk. But the Inquisitor, her retinue, the Deathwatch Marines, and perhaps some other bits and pieces. It'll be interesting.
Guest: … that'll be an idea for a one-off that I'll write sometime, where the full fury of an Astartes chapter and an Imperial Battlefleet arrives in orbit above occupied Earth. But not for this story.
Name: Tyvoria Kassidan, "Tyke"
Position: Inquisitor (Ordo Xenos), Gamma-Level Psyker
Age: 63 (w/juvenat treatment)
Height: 179cm
Weight: 61kg
Homeworld: Herodor
Wargear: Relic Auxilia Heavy Laspistol, throwing knives, Sanctified Eldar Witchblade, frag grenades, armored bodyglove, Inquisitorial light carapace armor.
Description: Orphaned after her mother's destroyer were lost in action to Dark Eldar raiders, Kassidan was raised in the Schola Progenium on Herodor after being sponsored by the late Lord Inquisitor Marion Singh. Unusually for a schola student, her mind was not wiped during induction, as Inquisitor Singh argued that her desire for revenge against her mother's killers and her previous memories of her father (Major Adrien Kassidan, 15th Hyrkan Mechanized Infantry, KIA M41.940 in defense of Hadenar Primaris against Tyranids) would serve as powerful motivators. She graduated close to the top of her class at the Schola Herodor, earning exceptional marks in xeneology and CQC training along the way. After a stint as the Schola's assistant marksmenship training adjunct, she was selected by Inquisitor Habeas Ceris to join his retinue as an Acolyte/junior Interrogator. Over the 15 years between M41.956 to 971, she steadily rose in his retinue and was eventually sponsored to be become a full Inquisitor in 971.
She first discovered her latent psyker gifts during an investigation into Eldar schemes at Nova Terra, in which she became engaged in a fierce firefight against the Eldar Spiritseer known as Kesithgar and his warhost. During the engagement, the Spiritseer utilized continuous bolts of warpfire to suppress Kassidan and her retinue, but when one bolt struck her directly, she was surprised to find that she was able to project a psy-shield that deflected the bolt elsewhere. She then engaged the Spiritseer in close combat and killed him, taking his Witchblade as her own channeling object after sanctification by the Order of the Golden Aegis Sororitas. Her gifts have been sanctioned, though with some reservation, by the Ordo Malleus, and she is capable of projecting psy-shields, mild psykinesis, and performing mild psychic interrogation, though nowhere close to the degree that other inquisitors such as Ravenor have been able to do.
Following the loss of nearly half of her retinue at Balhaut during the cleansing of a genestealer cult, she has become somewhat withdrawn and weary, keenly aware of the state of the Segmentum and the Imperium as a whole.
Name: Adria Nihlos, "Null"
Position: Savant/Techpriest
Age: 49
Height: 183cm
Weight: 75kg (w/augmetics)
Homeworld: Perlia
Wargear: Tactical cogitator implant, bio-las implant, bio-augur implant, internal databank, cerebral matrix vox impant, bolt pistol, Skitarii armored robes, carapace vest.
Description: Nihlos served as adjunct Magos for the planetary forge in Perlia's Schola Progenium prior to undergoing savant training within the Adeptus Mechanicum and then subsequent assignment to the newly promoted Kassidan's retinue. She has been with Tyvoria the longest of the entire remaining retinue, with nearly 23 years of shared experience and trust between the two. Though she serves mainly as the technical and intelligence expert in the warband, her numerous tactical analysis packages, built-in wrist-mounted lasweapons, and enhanced strength from ceramite ossification implants make her a potent force in the field as well. Inexplicably cheerful and sympathetic for an ex-Mechanicus member, she serves as the yang to Kassidan's ying.
Name: XI-LV (Ketera)
Position: Vindicaire Assassin
Age: (REDACTED)
Height: ~186cm
Weight: (REDACTED)
Homeworld: (REDACTED)
Wargear: Exitus Rifle w/Omni-Scope + Pistol, Volkite Serpenta, Exitus ammunition types, Light Power Blade, Reinforced Vindicare Stealth Suit, Vindicare Spy Mask
Description: 185 missions assigned, 185 missions completed, 1,000+ high value targets eliminated. Acquired a Volkite Serpenta following an assignment to (DATA EXPUNGED) in the Noctis Labyrinth of Mars. Ketera has worked with Inquisitor Kassidan numerous times in the past. Normally aloof and emotionless, she has developed a rapport with some members of the team and has a friendly (though decidedly lopsided) competition with MkClen on marksmanship.
Name: Hariic MkClen, "Ghost"
Position: Scout/Marksmen and Infiltration Expert
Age: 36
Height: 192cm
Weight: 89kg
Homeworld: Tanith Secundus
Wargear: Modified Tanith Mk. III Lascarbine w/Preysense Scope, Sternacht Type 16 "Folly" autopistol w/silencer, Inquisitorial light carapace armor, Tanith camo-cloak, Tanith "Straight Silver" warknife, frag + krak grenades, light tube charges.
Description: Born on Tanith Secundus to a Guard family, Sergeant MkClen counts his lineage from Oan Mkoll, one of the original Ghosts of Tanith who served under Ibram Gaunt during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Tall, pale, and wry to just below the point of insubordination, MkClen served six years in the Tanith 1st as a scout trooper and sergeant, eventually joining Kassidan's retinue after a legendary hunt through Hive Jardine on Xyquine infested with Dark Eldar and loxatl mercenaries in which he trumped Brother Sergeant Randgaard of the Space Wolf Astartes on total kills over a three-day period. He is an expert at infiltration and stealth tactics, and delights in both silently taking down targets as well as scaring the living feth out of the rest of the retinue as often as possible. Responsible for introducing the secrets and headaches of sacra to the team.
Name: Sabbatine Rains, "Saint"
Position: Mercenary Gunslinger/Pilot
Age: 28
Height: 172cm
Weight: 58kg
Homeworld: N/A (Voidborn, Taussen Rogue Trader Dynasty)
Wargear: Ryza M-19 Combat Shotgun, Needler Pistol, Bolt Pistol, Light Power Blade, Glavian Armored Bodyglove, carapace vest.
Description: Formerly Head Armswoman for the Battlefleet Rajarius Emperor-class Battleship Malleus, Sabbatine Rains has spent nearly her entire life in the void, first as part of the onboard guard of the Rogue Trader vessel Saint Martell, then as assistant naval boarding action instructor at the Hydraphur Fleet Academy onboard Pacificus Imperialis and mercenary Valkyrie pilot before returning to action onboard multiple ships. Her marksmen ship abilities are unmatched in void combat, and she wears a purity seal from the Black Templars Astartes chapter after a joint effort with them in clearing the Space Hulk Sigil of Terror. She came to the retinue when the Malleus was heavily damaged in the Battle of 92-Hespex by Ork Kroozers, at which point the Voidfire defended the crippled battlewagon for four Terran hours before a detachment of the Segmentum's Own was able to break through the blockade and tow the Malleus out of the combat zone.
She is currently the pilot for Kassidan's gun-cutter, and delights in the thrill of Inquisitorial work, often partnering with MkClen to serve as the groundside investigative team for Tyvoria when subtlety is needed over the roar of a heavy stubber. While attractive and fair-haired, many individuals have underestimated her abilities to their eternal and terminal detriment.
Name: Jon Strachan, "Toad"
Position: Heavy Support
Age: 30
Height: 203cm
Weight: 127kg
Homeworld: Catachan
Wargear: Catachan C-41 "Devil" squad support heavy stubber, Light Ryza-pattern MARS (Multipurpose Antiarmor Rocket System), Catachan C-3 Shotgun Revolver, Catachan warblade, Tempestus Carapace Armor, frag + krak grenades, tube charges.
Description: To this day, Jon "Toad" Strachan is the only trooper in Imperial Guard history to survive two separate tours of duty with Colonel Schaeffer's 13th Penal Legion, the Last Chancers. He joined the Guard at 16 after surviving a childhood on Catachan and made corporal within two years, demonstrating remarkable leadership and tactical skills including the use of hibernating Lesser Catachan Barking Toads as short-ranged artillery during the siege of Hive Arthlax. Subsequently, after a command issue wiped out half of his regiment in the vicious street fighting on Demeter IV, he's had a problem with taking orders from official Imperial commands, leading to multiple court martials and two separate tours with the 13th that still remain classified to this day.
He was due for another court martial for some questionable activities with the twin daughters of the Governor of Selemista prior to Kassidan yanking him out of the brig and adding him to the retinue. Despite his misgivings about command, he has formed a solid rapport with the rest of the retinue and serves as the heavy backstop to any investigation. His appetite is legendary, and his massive, near-ogryn form belies a keen intelligence and eye for combat. It also belies a relative weakness to sacra, which MkClen and Rains exploit to no small end.