ACTIVE Plot Thread- Hab 11-817 "Hall of Virtue"

[TheRedauthar]

[blinddeadmcjones]

[[so...after this tribunal is the attempted one man mutiny going to be subjected to scrutiny as well? doesn't feel right to simply leave that hanging]]

[Commissar Cat]

((That's ultimately gonna be a far smaller thing, more like an office discussion, but yeah it's not forgotten either.
It just really doesn't tack onto the Krieger Kangaroo Court, tbh ))

[DeMarchese]

[blinddeadmcjones]

[Johannes Wyss von Krieg]

Does that meant that Aestaban will be recuited to the Death Korps?

[Aishachan]

[blinddeadmcjones]

[[heh, just realised i made an unintentional pun with the leave that hanging part
...
...geddit? cos y'know punishment for mutiny..or any form of treason....was usually death by hanging...back then...
...
>_>
...
<_<
...i'll show myself out.]]

[Nevaraon]

[TheRedauthar]

[[OOC: So I think it’s been finished long enough.]]

++Epilogue

Hera chews on her thumbnail as she waits. She doesn’t know how long she’s been waiting, but it has felt like hours.

She looks up, finally. It appears she has her opportunity. She approaches Holt again.

“Commissar Holt, sir!” she manages to choke out, “If possible, I’d like to speak with you now.”

[Commissar Holt]

[TheRedauthar]

Hera smiles as she enters the room, mostly to keep herself calm than anything else, “Thank you, Commissar Holt, sir. I’ll see if I can make the machine cooperate.”

She approaches and gently taps the top of the recaf machine, before sliding a cup under the nozzle.

“I know perhaps I’ve made a mistake in not trusting Commissar Yorke with this information, but after everything that has happened a the Hab Block and the Administratum official, Dimitri?” she scratches the back of her neck before turning to face Holt, “Dimitrio? Dean Meter? I don’t remember his name. Anywyays…”

She sighs, “He called the Commissar out for being a traitor, and I couldn’t risk it.”

“I found something at the Hab,” her hand jumps into her pocket, “And I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I pretty sure this is bad news.”

Hera takes a deep breath, before pulling the lens out and showing it to the Commissar.

[Commissar Holt]

Holt is very still. He eyes the lens carefully, then looks to you.

"That is quite a find," he says. He stands up and walks briskly to his door, and locks it. He then returns to his desk and reaches into a drawer. He removes a device, something akin to an auspex, and activates it. You hear a thrum and feel a pulse of static go through the room. For a moment, your hearing is muted.

"A stummer," Holt explains. "It is best that we are the only ones who hear this conversation, and on this base, one can never be too sure. Please, elaborate on your find and tell me exactly how you came upon this. Provide as many details as you can." Holt leans forward, and listens attentively.

[TheRedauthar]

As Commissar Holt closes and locks the door, Hera inhales slightly. Oh Emperor, he’s going to execute me isn’t he!?

He pulls a device from the drawer. It isn’t something she recognizes, yet she’s fairly sure it’s not a weapon. Still, when he activates it she winces slightly.

There’s a brief moment of silence though it feels like an eternity. Am I dead?

Suddenly the silence is cut by Holt explaining what just happened. Hera tries her best to hide her embarrassment, though mild redness on her cheeks does give it away.

She stammers a bit trying to regain her cool, “Y-yes, of course, C-commissar Holt.”

“As stated in my report, just as we entered the room to capture the traitors, one of the xenos battlesuits broke into the room. As far as I could tell it had no pilot. I tried to provide a distraction by gaining the ….thing’s attention. I was successful, however I was quite outmatched, and during my struggle I lost my lasgun. I didn’t see what happened. After the battle I went to search for through the rubble.”

She pauses to think back about it, “The ferrocrete dust and debris was pretty thick after the conflict and I had to move a lot of the displaced chucks of pillars and walls. I ended up over by the first hole the monstrosity had made when we first saw the lens. Miraculously it had survived the chaos and no one else seemed to have noticed it. I saw a small reflection of light and thought it might have been the emblem on my lasgun so I moved the debris around it and dusted it off.”

She nervously looks around the room, “It reminds me of the equipment the stormtroopers from Lord Captain Merovech’s forces. I wouldn’t want to cast doubt on his loyalty normally, but… I served with the Narisian PDF before their betrayal, it doesn’t remind me of any of the equipment we had access to.”

[Commissar Holt]

Holt nods. "It is certainly Merovech equipment. No doubt in my mind. The question is, was it stolen? Sold? Or were Merovechs there?"

He examines the lens. "I'd heard reports of their exchanges, overheard by scouts before the combat began. Someone was trying to acquire that Battlesuit. And the entire hab had to be cleared for the exchange. Very odd. Very unlike the rebels. Would you say that they were acting strangely, throughout the conflict? The rebels, their buyers, local civilians, anyone?"

[TheRedauthar]

Hera thinks back to the claims of the refugees when they first arrived, “The refugees definitely claimed it was us who had forced them out of their hab. Someone went out of their way to convince them that the Guard wanted the hab.”

She snaps her finger, “River cockles! The old lady selling river cockles said something about the men who showed up that morning. I didn’t catch the whole conversation, Commissar Yorke was the one who talked to her directly, but she mentioned something about them having ‘black armor’, lots of…,” she pauses to remember, “...I believe she used the term ‘toys’, and ‘orange eyes’. She mentioned they would say things like, ‘in the name of the emperor,’ but weren’t wearing aquilas.”

[Commissar Holt]

Holt nods, with a smile. "They might be irradiated, as the reports all say, but I do enjoy those river mollusks. With a squeeze of rad-lem, if there's any at hand."

Holt's smile goes quickly as he thinks. "It's odd. A great deal of secrecy, and yet, overall, a sloppy operation. They hinged much on the populace's willingness to keep quiet, and their ignorance of the Merovech and how they operate. There were individuals with Merovech equipment on that site, and likely, Merovech personnel. The question before us now is, who ordered this?"

Holt clears his throat. "I am speculating aloud. Lance Corporal, have you shared this intelligence with anyone else?"

[TheRedauthar]

Hera tries desperately not to make a face, "I've never tried them before. My schola must have just decided not to serve them. Of course the cooks during my training days mixed whatever with whatever so..."

She snaps back to the present, at Holt's question, "No sir! I mean, I probably could have told Commissar Yorke, but when the pencil...er... Official accused him of treachery, and the confusion with Kriegers, I didn't know who to I could directly trust. I figured, when in doubt, go to the top."

She blushes when she realizes she is rambling, "Long story short, no. You're the only one I shared the information with."

[Commissar Holt]

Holt nods. "That is well. Your discretion is appreciated, and necessary. I will ask you to remain silent on this matter, and discuss it only with me."

Holt regards Hera, his eye boring into her. He is quiet for a while.

"Tell me about yourself, Lance Corporal Donovan." He sits back, and watches you carefully as you respond.

[TheRedauthar]

“O-of Course sir,” Hera stammers again, “I’ll keep my lips sealed on this subject.”

Despite her the stammer in her voice, she actually almost beams with pride. The Commissar is trusting you to keep this secret! Not only is that something you can easily do, it makes you more valuable! Maybe more expendable, but you take what you can get!

She sits quietly until Holt speaks again.

“About me?” the question startles her. Why does he want to know? Small talk? Or is delving deeper?

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to talk about her past, would it? Could Alya be mentioned?

“Well, my service in the PDF was a fairly brief one. My immediate commander felt they needed a personal driver, and ‘volunteered’ me for the position. They felt they were more important though than a typical driver, so they immediately had me promoted to Lance Corporal. Many of my squadmates felt this was unfair. I was often accused of...well...sleeping my way up the pay grade. I wasn’t liked much.”

She clears her throat before continuing, “Being an officers personal driver did allow access to some privy information. When my superior and most of my squad defected, I had access to all the documents and orders, as well as the officer’s personal vehicle. After dropping them off for a meeting with their superior, I loaded the documents up and fled to the Imperial Lines. Barely made it too. I’m pretty sure some of the guardsmen took shots at me thinking I was an officer. I was lucky someone was listening on the Vox, as I tried explaining who I was and what I had.”

“The Tech Priest I turned the vehicle into wasn’t impressed with the condition it was in to say the least,” Hera concludes, “From there I was told I’d be integrated into a squad, but never was. Being the highest rank out of the remaining loyal members of my PDF Squad, aka me, I basically volunteered to watch the gate until further instructions came along. I also occasionally help clean and polish the vehicles.”

As she says this she pulls out the can of polish she has in her pocket, “Besides my uniform and a broken pocket chrono, I don’t have much to my name.”

There’s a pause before she sighs, “Actually, I don’t even really have my name, if I’m honest.”