The Imperium of Man has stood for over ten thousand years. Beset by xenos without and traitors within. It is only through the sacrifice of brave heroes does it endure. For it is the 41st Millennium, and there is only war.
A million stars and a billion worlds make up the domain of the God Emperor, but time and warp storms have shrouded many systems from the light of the Golden Throne. A sacred charge has been given to a select few to reestablish contact and bring these savage worlds back into the fold. Rogue Traders traverse the void to trade, explore, and make war in the Emperor's name. The Boonchuy family line has long served the Throne and it's interests within the Eastern Fringe of the Imperium, located just outside the Ultima Segmentum. The latest of the family must now test herself against the harsh nature of the galaxy.
Overseeing the main bridge of the Endeavour-class light cruiser was Annelisa "Anne" Savisa Boonchuy, sitting on the command throne that dominated the center of the large room. Though small, the Stormheart was filled with a dedicated crew as they tirelessly worked at the various screens and cogitators. The large view ports for the bridge have been covered by blast shields, protecting the crew from having to gaze out into the Warp. Leaving the painfully dim lumens to try and fight away the darkness. The transition through the Immaterium was long, giving Anne plenty of time to contemplate. Anne was the youngest of the Boonchuy line, her various cousins already having years of experience exploring the Eastern Fringe. She had to make her mark or fall out of favor with her great grandmother, the current head of the family. Though she had studied under her parents for years, this is the first time she's charting an expedition solo. The pressure was staggering for the young woman, but the intrusive thoughts were chased away with her Ship Master's voice. "My Lady, transition back to realspace is now commencing." Ship Master Donavin was an older man with few grey hairs on his scarred head. The old veteran had been recommended by Anne's father, someone to balance out her youth and fire. "Thank you, Donavin. Switch all personnel to active stations as soon as we exit the Warp. We don't know what could be waiting for us."
With Anne's orders relayed, she grips the arms of her throne as the Stormheart is slowly dragged back from the hellscape through a tear. Once vacant space is soon filled as the light cruiser completes it's jump. Anne giving silent prayers to the Emperor for their Gellar Field staying strong through the journey. The once quiet ship was active and buzzing with activity, Ratings and other members of the crew scrambled to their stations. The internal workings of the Stormheart humming to life as the adamantium shielding slid away to shed light upon the many faces on the command bridge. In their view was a bright yellow sun, and a large planet with a small red moon orbiting it.
"My Lady, the Principle Navigator has confirmed our location, warp currents have pushed us back by a few days but we've reached our destination." Donavin addressed his master, dataslate in hand.
"Good, has the Chief Astropath manage to pick up any kind of communications from within the sector?" Anne replied back. At times the uncharted sections of space were homes to lost or hostile civilizations.
"No, my Lady. The choir has been silent and the augurs have not picked up any sort of vox chatter. We are completely alone out here." Donavin states.
"I wouldn't count on it, the enemies of man always seem to hide away just out of reach. Keep an eye out on anything else that might enter the system. And bring up the planet on the hololith." The round table in front of Anne's command throne lights up with a green glow. A close up hologram of the planet before them is displayed for the young Rogue Trader to examine. Various data picts letting her know that the atmosphere of the planet is breathable, the density of the local flora and life signals of various fauna. What caught Anne off guard the most was the dominant landmass of the planet being oddly shaped like a lily-pad. "I doubt there is anything too intelligent on this planet. But, it is our duty to the Emperor to investigate further. Pull us into the outer orbit of the planet, we don't want to alert the locals to our presence just yet. And gather up my entourage." Following his lady's orders, Donavin takes over the more menial tasks while Anne exits the bridge. Retreating to her private quarters to ready herself to make planet fall.
Anne's quarters was perfectly grand to fit the style of the young noble. A large spanning view port of stained glass that bathes the room in multicolored light. The bed dominating most of the room, it's backboard marked with the crest of the family. A skull blooming into a lotus. Next to it was Anne, facing her full sized mirror with her wardrobe opened. A pair of servo skulls lofting a blue great coat over her shoulders. Golden buttons and trim along with various emblems of her station dotting it, insulated to help protect the young woman from the elements or fight that she might encounter. Added protection to the carapace breastplate she wore just under it which has been polished to a gleaming brass. The servo skulls float around Anne with their tiny pincers to fix any sort of crease or fabric out of place. Fixing the laspistol and saber that remained holstered on her belt so they flanked each of her leather bound legs. She was grateful for their assistance in tightening the laces to her boots, giving her a chance to run fingers through her messy hair. Something no amount of fussing from the servo skulls could fix. The floating helpers slip away through an opened shutter after Anne shoos them away, their task complete. Taking a deep breath, Anne pushes down the anxiety and excitement over her first exploration without either parent. Tucking her vox-caster and data slate into the pockets of her great coat, Anne makes her way to the hangar bay of the Stormheart. Eager to greet the colleagues she trusts her very life to.
Sasha Waybright was a Sergeant-At-Arms aboard the mighty Stormheart. She was proud to serve the noble line of House Boonchuy after all they've done for her. Sasha had once been an orphan of some backwater planet with no wealth to her name after her parents passed. Rather than suffer the cruel fate of working to death within the underhive of the city she was offered up to the Rogue Traders as a tithe for new recruits for their growing forces. Some of the armsmen in the barracks were in the same tithe. Thanks to their orders, said barracks was filled with men and women donning their flak armor and sprinting off to the weapon lockers to arm themselves. Sasha had been armored and ready, and it was her duty to make sure the rest of her squad made themselves ready in a timely manner. The dark grey helmet under her arm, showing off her buzzed blonde hair as she watched one of her armsmen struggle to get his blue fatigues on. "Hurry up, Tirador, before I throw you out of an airlock myself!" Sasha shouted at the man. "Yes ma'am!" That did the trick as his flak armor was soon pulled over before jogging out the door.
With the last man dealt with, Sasha made her way back to the weapons lockers to make sure everyone's gear had been checked over. The various combat knives strapped to her belt and legs clinking together along with M-G Short Pattern Lasgun slung over her shoulder. She had to be hard on her squad, the Emperor won't protect them if they're too slow for a boarding action or the machine spirit of their lasguns were neglected. Especially now of all days where Sasha and her squad have to escort the mistress of the ship herself to the surface. Though the Stormheart has repelled a few pirates, this would be the first ever surface mission Sasha has participated in. Rules of engagement were different, and they all had to follow the orders of Rogue Trader Boonchuy to the letter. Sasha had seen 'Anne' various times during her career. From the young girl standing with her parents overlooking the latest addition to her family's troops to participating in various combat exercise with them. Emperor only knows why Anne had decided to bring Sasha with her on her first ever exploration, or why she was in charge of the planet fall operation. A train of thought that had to wait, Sasha's squad were now fully armed and standing at attention. With an order and stomp, she marches the men and women to the hangar bay.
The hangar bay was daunting in size, much like everything else aboard the light cruiser. A modification to aid the Stormheart in it's mission to spread the Imperium's influence among the lost stars. Currently three arvus lighters were being fueled up and looked over by various voidsmen and servitors. The backbone carrier of the Imperium, the boxy spacecraft would serve as the transports for the away team. Sasha had just funneled the last of her armsmen into the arvus lighter, making sure they were strapped in and secured. Only to be startled by the Rogue Trader herself tapping on the blonde's shoulder.
Sasha quickly whips around with a salute and a "Ma'am." Before Anne waves off the formalities.
"Don't be like that, Sash. We've known each other since we were kids." A hand resting on Sasha's shoulder pad in a friendly gesture. "How are the men?"
"A bit anxious, but ready for whatever the planet can throw at us." Despite the familiarity between them, Sasha keeps up her professionalism. "Are you ready to take off?"
Anne shakes her head. "Not yet, we have one more person I want to bring with me. Though you know how late they can be." She replies, the stoic mask that Sasha wore showing a feint crack that's gone before it's noticed. "You don't mean..."
"I have arrived!" A metallic voice cries out from across the hangar, putting an even bigger smile on Anne's face.
The Adeptus Mechanicus is dedicated to the pursuit and protection of knowledge. None embodied those ideals than Marcine W-00α, or as Anne has dubbed her "Marcy." A tech-priest at a young age she had managed to impress her current teacher, Magos Errent Janaritaz Zullin, with her tenacity to learn. When the Rogue Traders called upon her teacher to serve aboard their fleets, Marcy was of course brought with. Assisting in cataloging anything from a new rare mineral to xenobiology. With Janaritaz's close connection with the Boonchuys, Marcy spent many months in the presence of Anne aboard different ships and planets. The duo gaining a new member in Sasha as they grew up together. Marcy didn't need to fear the lose of her new friends as Janaritaz was assigned to the Stormheart to lend their extensive knowledge to the young Rogue Trader. Now Marcy was assigned to the same team with Anne and Sasha as they prepare to explore the surface of the planet.
Briskly walking across the plasteel floor was a rather short woman dressed in a red robe, showing off her affiliation with the Machine Cult of Mars. The hood pulled down to reveal the ebony hair held out of her face with a hair clip courtesy of Anne. A rebreather pulled over her mouth, filling Marcy's lungs with sacred incense to appease the Omnissiah. She didn't have many outward augmentations, Marcy's olive skin only marred with a few lines of electoos and connectors to whatever hid under the breastplate she wore. The only hint that she's equipped with two legs under her robes is the constant rhythmic thumping of her boots. Typical of most tech-priests, Marcy had various mechadendrites coming from her back to help aid in the pursuit of knowledge. A few sporting tools that could easily double as defensive weapons should the need arise.
"I apologize, the machine spirits were a bit hard to rouse after our exit from the Immaterium. The one for my magboots is-" Before Marcy could finish, her stride comes to a halt and falls forward onto her front. Anne and Sasha wincing at the hard drop before the short tech-priest shoots back up. "Acting up, as you can see. Worry not, I shall tend to it on the journey."
The quirky antics of their tech-priest put a smile on Anne's face. "See that you do. We don't need you tripping everywhere."
Though hard to tell with the rebreather over her face, Marcy smiled up at her friend as the mag locks in her boot finally let go. "Which one of these fine machines of the Omnissiah shall spirit us away to the surface?" Eyes shifting between the Rogue Trader and her Sergeant.
"Pick one. Better chances one of us survives to reach the surface in case they shoot us down." Sasha had replied, the blonde fixing a rebreather mask to cover the entirety of her face.
"Augur never picked up on anything remotely resembling any sort of orbital defenses or warning systems. If the Emperor deems it, it'll just be an abandoned garden world or future agri world." Though Anne wished to show off her diplomatic skills, the chances of anything sentient living on the planet was low.
"If not, it'll be the perfect opportunity to collect some data!" The excited Marcy sprinted off to her arvus lighter, leaving Anne and Sasha alone again.
"She's going to get killed." Eyes rolling behind Sasha visor. "We leave on your mark, ma'am."
Anne nods and boards the arvus lighter with the armsmen of Sasha's squad. The door closing and leaving them in darkness before the lumens kick on. Anne takes out her vox-caster, linked to the helmets of the armsmen and the pilots, to speak. "You have your orders, stay close and do not stray. The landing zone should be clear, but be prepared for anything."
The cranking of plasteel signaled to the occupants that their transport was being moved to the launch bay. Anne holding onto the restraints of her seat as the engines kick in and launch the arvus lighter into the void. Accompanied by two others, the spacecraft lazily make their way to the planet. Unbeknown to them, their trajectory was being closely monitored by someone. The red moon, dormant and dead, starts to vibrate to life. Sending all sorts of warning signals to those stationed on the Stormheart.
"Unknown energy spike coming from the moon!"
"How did we not pick that up?"
"Call back the arvus lighters!"
"It's too late, reroute power to the void shields!"
A wave of red dances it's way to the Imperial vessel and the transports, crashing into them within the vaccum of space. The void shield of the Stormheart took the brunt of the wave, somehow able to drain the generator before causing blackouts among the light cruiser. The arvus lighters fared no better. The controls going haywire as they start to free fall to the surface of the planet. The bridge of the Stormheart could only watch and leave it to the Emperor's hands.