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Karian Icefang     With all of the events going on in the Imperium, it was time for the Space Wolves to see first hand what exactly was going on. Slipping in quietly, Karian was making his way towards where he heard some very recent 'mysterious fires' were reported. "Hrm...Could be the Salamander..." He muses to himself.
Mortimer Balman      A few places in the Underhives are absolute messes these days, worse than usual, given that so many factions seem to be taking the Concord's invasion as an excuse to cause havoc. People will obviously given an Adeptus Astartes a wiiiide berth, for fear that he is here to purge, but there's plenty of Cadians laying around these planets and they know who Space Wolves are. Any of them can tell Karian what he wants to know, or at least try.

     The freakish mutant he's looking for has absolutely been seen on this world. The rumor mills are torn on whether or not it is actually a xenos but it claims not to be- though it's absolutely a bolt magnet, a psyker, and nobody knows what its agenda is. One man swore on the Throne he saw it carrying a bolt pistol and an Astartes-style combat knife under its robes. That'd be Karian's confirmation.

     A little more digging and one local- a bent old crone who looks like she ought not to be alive almost, much less able to walk about, will whisper that the bestial creature torched a 'club' that served as a place of worship for strange gods, and point him in the direction of a more.. Run down and forgotten part of the Underhive. A dark place full of ghosts and feral animals. People don't go there anymore, not even the juve gangs eager for a place to call their own turf. Too many creeping things that live there. Too polluted and, in more than a few places, radioactive.

     An ideal place to hide, though, if you want to be left alone.
Karian Icefang     Karian nods towards the crone and makes his way towards the the underhive. As he does, he looks around and grabs a cloak that should be big enough to wrap around himself and conceal his form. Best not to let the higher ups know that the Astartes were looking into things. Karian makes his way into the forgotten area, his helmet placed onto his hooded head. "Where are you, Salamander..."
Mortimer Balman      It's ugly down here. Pools of half-solidified toxic sludge are all over the place. Auspex equipment reports numerous sources of harmful radiation. Much of the metal, stone, and bone work hasn't been tended to in centuries- maybe longer. There are no sources of water that's even remotely safe for humanoid consumption. The smell isn't as bad as one might fear it would be, but it's still pretty unpleasant. Rust, rot, and corrosion are rampant here. And then there's the wildlife.

     Feral creatures that may, in some long forgotten past, once resembled Terran house pets but have long since mutated into grotesque abominations of flesh, teeth, and muscle walk about freely. Some of them stop to growl at Karian, before getting his scent, and fleeing. They know a larger predator when they smell it. A twisted mockery of a cat, that seems to have evolved bat-like wings on its now useless forelegs, swoops over Karian's head, hissing at him with a mouth full of jagged teeth. A whole flock of them swoop past a moment later, roosting in the doorway of what used to be a Servitor maintenance station. Hideous pseudo-reptiles with skins that bristle with rock-like spikes slither through pipes, hunting for something to eat. There are dozens of such bizarre mutations. Peculiarly, the only things that DON'T seem horribly mutated are the vermin.

     Small, common rats hop around Karian's feet- several larger predators stopping before they get to the Astartes. The little critters seem to be using him for mobile cover, huddling around him and moving as he moves. Some of them break off when they get near to specific boltholes and sewer openings. One sits on his foot, squeaking nervously.

     Then, Karian'll see signs- recent scorch marks and the skeletal remains of some unidentifiable local mutation. An open water butt that looks like it was brought in recently, filled with fresh, clean water, protected by a large cloth umbrella, sitting in front of a crumbling statue. The building the statue is attached to is difficult to identify, but was probably one of the many public good works of the Adepta Sororitas at one point. There is a feeling of serenity here.

     The remaining rats immediately scurry for it to drink their fill, and wash themselves, apparently feeling safe enough to do so.
Karian Icefang     Karian walks over to the scortch marks and bodies, not at all minding or noticing the creature on his boot. The rest get the gaze from his wolf skull helm, the red optics glaring a challenge and a dare to attack. The old Wolf looks over the marks of his friend, checking for how old they may be. "Are you hiding down here, or was this a battle site...and why have I not seen any sign of the rest of your crew, old man..." He says to himself, keeping a free hand hovered over his bolt pistol.
Mortimer Balman      Auspex indicates life signs inside of the building. It's as good a place as any to set up. As Karian ventures inside he'll see the place has been cleaned up.. Sorrrrta. It's been dusted and much of the debris has been moved, but the stonework and metalworks within are all still utterly ruined. Collapsed in a number of areas, and those collapsed parts are probably what's holding the rest of the building up at this point.

     Then he'll see it. The old badger, sitting in a chair, while his butlerfree attends to his back- which is COATED in wounds. Hundreds, if not thousands, of stitches criss-cross over Morts back, and Switchbait is busy replacing them and cleaning out the old blood and pus. They don't notice him immediately.. Not until Reder is suddenly seen, letting out a warcry and leaping into Karian's face, claws digging around under the helmet. "<YOU WILL DIE A P-oh Karian it's you, hey man, how ya doin'?>" Puzzled blinking will ensue, before the wartortle hops off of the Jarl's helmet. "<Sarge, company!>" "I heard. You're a long ways from home, Icefang. I hope you told Grimnar about this little field trip.. Ghh." He doesn't look up at Karian, focused on a dataslate that is constantly streaming new information.
Karian Icefang     Karian's quick reflexes had his hand immidiately fly towards his dagger, but once he registered it was Reder, he left the blade sheathed. "Aye, he knows. He wanted to know why you've been so silent as of late." He says, walking over. Removing his helmet, he sets it on a nearby table and immidiately goes into a pouch on his belt, drawing a few berries and herbs. "Here switch...grind these up and they should help his wounds heal faster. Normally, it'll also help to ease pain, but I've never tried it on people with Mort's Physiology."
Mortimer Balman      Switchbait will tiredly flutter over and take the offered herbs and berries. "<My thanks, Lord Icefang. Anything that helps in this godsforsaken place.>" He'll immediately begin crushing them all with his mind and grinding them up into a salve he can use to add a protective layer of stuff to Morts back. Which, as the stitching gets done, bandages are applied atop it. "Nn.. Mild analgesic properties. Encourages platelette production. Low-grade but noticeable antiseptic properties. It'll help a little." Mort is still scrolling over his info packets. "I'm watching the Concord, of course. If they don't handle this situation with the utmost care- which I think we can both agree is going to be a trick for people like Staren, much as I love the boy- a war between the Imperium and Concord could happen. I don't want that to happen. So I've been.. Watching. Recording. *Everything.* Had to threaten an Inquisitor too, but that Majima fellow is a far more skilled negotiator than I realized, praise Mew for small mercies."

     He'll pick up a compressed bar of soylens viridians and begin munching on it. "There was a Slaaneshi cult on planet. I burnt it up but Staren rescued a few people, and the Sorceress in charge fucked me up pretty badly before getting away. I held back too much, wanted to gift her to the Malleus as a gesture of good will. S'what I get. Some sort of Tzeentchian artefact may also be on planet but I have no idea where. One of my contacts on the world Priscilla gave to Gilgamesh is reporting to me right now. I've been trying to spread out a nice little info network but it's slow going, what with me being a mutant and/or xenos wych, depending on who you ask."
Karian Icefang     Karian nods, taking a knee next to mort as he listens to his brief. "Foolish...Staren still doesn't understand..." He says. He also looks at Mort when he says not one but two cults were apparently active, and that an Inquisitor was on site. "That's not good. If an Inquisitor is active, things are already dire. We both know they have no issues ordering the Exterminatus of the planet, or the whole sector if they deem it needed." He says, grimmacing lightly.
Mortimer Balman      Mort shakes his head. "Strategic value absolute- the worlds of Agripinaa are too valuable to the Cadian effort. They're not going to exterminatus this place. They'll launch crusades to retake it, resettle it if need be I imagine, but Exterminatus is not on the table. The Inquisitor is one of the more puritanical members of the Malleus, but she's also got her head on straight." He looks up at Karian. "I did let her know though, if I think for a minute that she's going to start a war with the Concord, I will beat her unconscious and mail her back to her Ordo- with a bronzed arse, if I must." A small chuckle. "No matter what happens though, it's all going to come to a head.. There will be *staggering* amounts of death in this sector, if nothing is done. So.. ..I'm trying to see what I can do, to minimize those losses. ....I don't have the manpower or resources to do much about this, though. This part of the Imperium's too conservative for me to find purchase with the right people to *get* those resources.."
Karian Icefang     Karian nods. "I can see if we have any contacts here. They'll likely be more open to working with an Astartes." He says, thinking some more, but quickly grins. "Do be sure to let me know if the inquisitor needs her hide tanned. I'll be glad to help." He says, his chapter's long standing 'disagreement' with the Inquisition showing itself.
Mortimer Balman      The old man nods a bit, looking at his dataslate again. Endless math floats across it. "The Concord is swearing that they'll turn this place into something worthwhile, then engage the Imperium in fair trade, but honestly? I don't anticipate they'll be able to half as much as they think they can with it. I don't know what Gilgamesh is planning for Narsine.. But knowing how dimly he views the worth of a human life that isn't trying to live up to his stupid expectations, I expect populations to plummet rapidly when he's ready. Goddesses only know what Valeth is going to do here. Priscilla's choices for planetary governance strike me as odd.. I would ask her if I wasn't about ready to punch her in the face over all this."
Karian Icefang     "Aye. I half expect her to want a Liberation fleet to come so she can flex her might. Little does she truely understand what such a fleet really brings." Karian says, looking over the Dataslate with Mort. "As for Gil...I don't like him at all. Too pompous, arrogant. He's one mistake away from a bruised ego and falling to Slaneesh or Tzeench. About the only one I trust is Staren, but lately...I worry for him."
Mortimer Balman      Mort nods. "Staren is under immense pressure. He's trying so hard to fill his role as Hand of the Concord. He's trying so hard to embody those heroic ideals he so fervently believes in. I fear the stress is starting to get to him. As for Gilgamesh.. ...I told Priscilla a long time back I wouldn't act against her little pet king unless he pushed the issue. He sure loves jumping up and down on those buttons." A pause. "A liberation fleet.. That might not be a bad thing, if it could be.. Diverted for other uses than conquest. A fleet of that size could be used to evacuate people, but.. Ugh. Hive worlds. The hive worlds, there's no evacuating those.." Mort pinches the bridge of his short muzzle. "...This is frustrating."
Karian Icefang     "Liberation fleets serve only one purpose...to retake worlds. Often they'll send a smaller force to act as a Vanguard, but I dread which of my brothers will answer the call." Karian says, though he looks off for a moment. "The Hive Worlds...they will prove an issue, aye. Evacuating them is nigh impossible, and it could take weeks to root out an enemy." He then sighs, and looks to mort. "So, what's our next move?"
Mortimer Balman      Mort pulls out his pipe to light it up. The pleasant smell of apple tobacco filling the room, the sparks illuminating the broken faces of Imperial saints that line the walls. "...I don't know. I've just been keeping records, so far. There's too much ground to cover, not enough Me to do anything else. I've had some small successes but I would need at the very least a full regiment of the Militarum to actually have any *power.* And even if I did-" He turns in his seat to look at Karian, "I would be challenging the Concord *AND* the Imperium's puritans if I did that Short of finding, and taking control of, a particularly liberal world myself, the problem is simply scaled up too high at the moment."
Karian Icefang     KArian is silent for a moment, though from another pouch he takes out a pipe similar to Morts, and motions for a light. "So, a guerilla war, so to speak. Reminds me of a few engagements of legend. But keep in mind, You've got my Company at your back...and we all do want the best for the Imperium. Whatever you decide to do, We've got your back."
Mortimer Balman      A deep breath full of smoke. "That's comforting old boy, but Astartes are not really an ideal candidate for a prolonged conflict. You having my back is all fine, well, and wonderful! But if you actually carried through with it, all the things you've told people you fear happening to your Company- to your Chapter- could happen. Only so many people will acknowledge me as a mutant, to many I am a xenos and therefore completely unacceptable." His ear perks as he listens to some radio chatter. "I don't want this to be a guerilla war, either. The same issue as before presents itself."
Karian Icefang     "Hrm...Your right. But at the same time, we can't just sit by and let everything go to shite." Karian says, taking in some of the smoke himself. "My brothers in my chapter have often told me that if they had to pick a side, they would take my side...But I also think the wolves have to act...before we are dragged into this conflict."
Mortimer Balman      "Yeah. ...Sorry that I have no real answers just yet, my friend. I'm still calculating the potential damages, much less the threat to Cadia. If Agripinaa does not start providing tithes again and soon, then Cadia will be rendered vulnerable. You aren't wrong about the need to act- but a broom cannot hold back an ocean, and if we do so now that is what we will be trying to do.."
Karian Icefang     Karian nods, grimmacing. "This makes me long for the simpler times...when the enemy wasn't those that we knew and befriended." He says, taking a draw from his pipe. "You know...I've heard that Guilliman has revived, and can potentially unite the Imperium. But the only one who has seen him is Gil." He looks over to his old friend, and gone was the expression of the stern marine, but rather an old man stuck at an impasse.
Mortimer Balman      "No shit?" Mort looks surprised, taking in more smoke. "Damn. Wish there was some way I could talk to him.. Or the High Lords for that matter. But I might as well ask your Emperor for a handy as likely as it is for me to even *get* on Terra, much less all the way to the Palace for a chat." Sigh.
Karian Icefang     Karian laughs at that. "Well, Terra isn't too far out of your reach, friend. You've earned a visit. But if it is true, then things can begin to change. But for now...I think we focus on the Cults. Rooting them out and dismantling them. We understand the real threat chaos contains. Our friends may not understand us, even hate us...but we do what we must. Because we are marines, old friend."
Mortimer Balman      A nod. "We'll see about that. I'm not going to risk massive political upheaval or pissing off too many ranking goons unless I absolutely have to." Mortimer exhales a huge cloud. "...The sorceress will probably return soon. I pissed her off pretty badly. Should have snapped her neck like a chicken bone, but I was trying to be diplomatic like a good little fool. That won't happen again. I don't know if there's any other cults like hers on planet, but we should definitely look into the Tzeentchian artefact. That, perhaps, will make the Ordo Malleus back off a bit if we can deliver it to them safely.."
Karian Icefang     Karian nods. "A good plan...and if you don't want to cause an issue, I'll put the bolt shell in her skull." He says, reaching over to lightly squeeze his friends shoulder. He also reaches into yet another pouch and pulls out a VERY intricately made flask, with runic engravings and on the back the image of a roaring dragon. "I HAD planned on giving this to you as a christmas gift...but if things go south we'll likely both be dead or executed. So...Let's have a fine round of Fenrisian ale before we embark on this."
Mortimer Balman      "Ooh, fancy. Switch, glasses if you please? One for yourself and Reder as well." "<Coming up, sah.>" From behind a ruined pew, Switch pulls a cooler and some locally made goblets. Reder will hop up and begin pulling some cheeses and breads out. "<Bitchin', got ourselves a mother fuckin' picnic goin' on right here.>"

     Once he's been poured a cupful, Mort will raise it to Karian. "When we drink, we get drunk! When we are drunk, we sleep! And whilst we sleep, we cannot sin against the will of the Gods. So let us all become drunken, and awake in the Heavens with those we've lost!" And then he'll slam it all back.