RT! Cain stumbles into Caves of Ice
Taken from the captain's log of Mars-Class Battlecruiser 'Hero's Journey' - flagship of Cainite Protectorate, written by Commissar-Captain Ciaphas Cain, edited by Amberley Veil, Ordo Xenos.
If there is one most important thing I've learned over a century of running around the Eastern Fringe, first as a Commissar and then as Commissar-Captain[1], it would be the simple truth: whenever Emperor gives you something freely, it always comes with a potentially deadly caveat.
Aside from my initial false reputation as a dutiful frontline Commissar, which opened me to many benefits and far more numerous threats, The Warrant of Trade that's been forced on me after Jurgen fried that grotesque Chaos parody of an Astartes, came with many freedoms but also with duties and conditions.
The main condition stated that I must support whichever Imperial interests in the Eastern Fringe I encounter if it is deemed advantageous enough by Administratum throne-counters assigned to 'assist' me and my recently formed little Protectorate. I did not doubt this condition being a courtesy of Amberley, who was more than happy to get one more Rogue Trader to use as cover in her own endeavors[2].
And while one would think this pretty much left me capable of declining majority of the dangerous requests that came my way, as it was unlikely that any Organization in the whole Segmentum, aside from the Inquisition, would be willing to cough up money to do something the Guard, the Navy and Exporators are required to do for free as part of their duties, the actual truth was far more disappointing for me.
It seemed that the universe, or the Emperor was not done with sending me into suicide missions left and right on behalf of one Imperial organization or the other - in a year and a half or so, Hero's Journey, because of course it would be named that, with me onboard was contracted to hunt down pirates, bomb rebellious PDF regiments, sift through ancient ruins full of traps and bypass Tau patrols to bring Inquisitorial agents to long ago occupied human planets.
I was almost suspecting that Jafar, my appointed Administrative clerk, was subtly trying to off me and 597th by accepting those tasks, but as Gravalax was looking richer by the month and my own Quarters started to look like a warehouse of gaudy decorations and expensive alcohol, I could not exactly call into question the income our risky activities brought us.[3]
This was why when I was contracted by Mechanicus to make a quick cargo run on a somewhat recently attacked world, I felt a naive sense of relief. According to the Cogboy, that planet's only important feature was a Prometheum refinery that was already being protected by a Guard regiment, deployed there soon after the whole Gravalax escapade was ended decisively by Jurgen's melta and Ambereley's bolt-pistol.
Our only job was to take as much remaining Prometheum as possible and maybe pickup a few Magi and their Relics for the additional fee. It seemed fairly simple, straightforward and so of course I would've found any excuse to decline the contract if I was a wise then as I am now. A rarely used commissar rank/title with vague authority, that Cain received along with his Warrant of Trade when Ultima Conclave decided on the solution me and my allies proposed after the Gravalax Debacle. Commissariat likely used it to keep Cain under their influence even after he became Rogue Trader. Or to have an excuse to keep making posters with him, internal politics are fickle like that. Actually the courtesy of Orelius, who has several times been roped in the official Imperial affairs with loss in his ledgers, it seems that Cain impressed him more than he let on so he added that when initial draft was written. I, like no doubt many of our colleagues, rarely need financial incentives. As I've noticed over the decades of our acquaintanceship, Cain here is largely unaware of the relationship his reputation had with his effectiveness. Countless Admirals, Generals, Magi, not to mention Inquisitors would prefer to solve a pressing issue quickly, even if expensively, rather than deal with Imperial bureaucracy.
"What happened here?" Broklaw muttered, staring at the hololith display in the middle of Journey's bridge. The whole star system looked suspended midair, surrounded by various readings our auspex picked up as we finished our exit from the Warp at its edge.
Among these readings was a husk of a voidship that drifted away from our destination ice-ball so slowly, it almost seemed static. From what few runes I actually understood, it could have been doing that for months with the speed it currently had and would take decades if not centuries to leave the border of the system.
"Based on Auspex reading, this is Pure Of Heart, charter freighter, last known departure: Coronus Prime, destination: Simia Orichalcae, cargo: Valhallan 425th regiment. Much of the interior is intact and pressurized" Announced Hubert Visiter, former Navy voidsman, who now acted as Journey's first officer and commander if I was off board or if I had no idea what to do and ordered him to take command, while I sneaked off the bridge to do something else and look busy.
I couldn't help but notice how Kasteen and Broklaw subtly glared at the voidsman, it was likely unpleasant for them to hear their former Guard[1] comrades, not to mention compatriots being referred to as Cargo. Even more so when the condition of the ship pointed to the a decent possibility of them all being dead.
"We're also picking up a lot smoke from the area where refinery is supposed to be located" Visiter continued, using his decades of experience at ignoring 'ground pounders' to look as professional as possible "Chances are, there is still combat happening planetside."
This caused many of the Guard officers nearby to perk up while Colonel and Major looked at me, no doubt hoping I'll order us into the orbit of the ice-world and rescue the 425th as soon as possible.
By that point however my palms were already itching and I could not help but wonder:
"What could've possibly gutted the Heart?" - while I did not care for all the technical data our sensors picked up from the drifting ship, I could make out obvious neatly cut holes in the 'side' and 'bottom' of its hull in the holo projection, no matter how shaky it was.
If something managed to strike a ship in the orbit, even if unarmored one, it bode ill for at best, the Clerk's mental health and at worst my own physical one.
"Orks are known for being surprisingly lucky when using orbital defense firepower, especially if the vessel is close to atmosphere" Visitor said, but I could hear doubt in his voice. After all, Greenskins are not known for being conservative or precise with the firepower they tried to use.[2]
"Let's review the current situation" I started, forming a plan and attracting the attention of everyone of the bridge "we potentially have Imperial subjects fighting for their lives in the remnants and surroundings of the refinery, but we also have a disabled voidship the crew of which might require rescue." All the faces staring at me nodded to one point or to the other.
"Both of them are probably living on the borrowed time" I stated the obvious just to impress on my audience the time-sensitive nature of the tasks ahead. "Which makes me believe the best approach would be for the small groups of Infantry to board the Pure of Heart and look for survivors while another group would use the remaining shuttles and do the same on the planet. This way we could also prevent whatever weapons the Orks used to take out the freighter from damaging our ship" I said smiling internally as former Guard and Navy officers continued nodding through my explanation.
"Colonel, Major, Commander, I believe you have more than enough experience to prepare the troops and pilots for landing." I addressed Kasteen and Visiter, while standing up from vessel's command throne.
That was not flattery or lies either, they were better suited for it after serving as officers of their respective branches in general and as leaders to the groups of lesser ranks aboard the Journey, before their sudden change in position through Segmentum Command decree.
"You're planning to join one of the groups aren't you?" Major asked me with a wry smile on his face, after all my reputation still kept up and it would be to suspicious if I were to stay in my chair, requesting Jurgen to bring me Tanna or Amasec while the rest of the crewmen and soldiers were out there risking life on my orders[3].
"The rescue group, you might have experience of fighting in freezing conditions, but I have plenty of experience in crawling through confined spaces" I replied earning a small smile from everyone who paid attention to us, either for my little quip or believing that I took the well being of the stranded crew as important enough to oversee personally.
Of course, had I known what I'll find aboard that rust bucket and who I'll face after that, I would have ordered both the ship and the surface to be hit with macro cannons and fled back straight to Gravalax. While technically the 597th was still a recognized Imperial Guard regiment, simply given to Cain to serve under his personal command as a representative of the Imperium, instead of greater Guard command structure, it is not unusual for units given to Rogue Traders to pretty much become their personal armies if enough time passed. Some were even known for wearing Traders' colors over their old uniforms. It is true, ship shot down by Orks is likely to be covered in holes of various sizes and shapes and the area surrounding it would have a lot of undetonated ordinance that somehow never managed to hit kilometers long hull floating around it. As a Rogue Trader he actually can and many would send their subordinates to die while never leaving their comfortable quarters. But many of them also face mutiny and conspiracy, something that Cain never seemed to deal with.
Why did I make Cain Comissar-Captain?
-Well the main reason: I really love alliteration in his name and rank. Another reason: I looked at the list of Commissar Ranks in the warhammer wiki, hoping to see if there is Commissar-Admiral or something naval like that, similar to Gaunt's Colonel-Commisar and found none. Then I looked up famous Rogue Traders on the same wiki and saw no consistency in their titles, so I though why the hell not?
Why did I pick Caves of Ice?
-Ever since I started reading this story I wondered how Cain and 597th not being there would doom various planets they fought on. A Necron force is something you can apparently face in the Rogue Trader game, so I decided to pick the story where he faces them too.
Why Hero's Journey?
-I could not put HERO OF THE IMPERIUM anywhere here, so I had to put HERO somewhere.