You nod to Jace, "aft enginseering spaces I think, as the sensor array is going to need power. Once we have that turned on, perhaps we can use the Terra Incarnadine's sensors and perhaps 'see' deeper into Gibli."

Jace nods, "a logical course of action. I will, of course, continue to monitor the CATs to attempt to develop more intelligence on both Gibli and the Terra Incarnadine."

Olaf stands, "If that is everything, then we can begin as soon as preparations are complete."

A few hours later...

You re-board the Terra Incarnadine within sight of one of Gibli's main docking arms. The Deathwatch Marines head down it, following the CATs released hours before. They promptly vanish from sight in the gloom.

You wave for Jace to lead the way. He nods and heads off, trailed by Adam, Leroy, and Jenkins. Olaf, Yasha, and yourself occupy the middle of the party, with Elena and your five remaining armsmen bringing up the rear. Everyone is slightly on edge, unsure of what the Space Marines might disturb on the station.

Several hours and long hallways later…

Your party emerges into the aft Enginseering spaces, and you look down upon the Terra Incarnadine’s main plasma reactor chamber. something promptly strikes you as distinctly unusual, "Jace, why is everything slightly too large for a human?"

Jace blinks, startled by your question, and looks about the chamber, "curious. In addition to the anomalies that you mentioned, the iconography is all wrong for an Adeptus Mechanicus ship. It is not Imperial Navy, either. Scanning..."

Stolen novel; please report.

Olaf slowly turns around, taking in the chamber, "I'm seeing Space Marine iconography here, but the colors are all wrong." He points to one insignia, a set of red angel wings flanking a silver sword atop a black circle, "That is the Dark Angels Chapter device, but theirs is white wings on a green circle, not red and black."

Jace cocks his head, "scan complete. Matches found. Iconography is Dark Angels Space Marine Legion iconography. The insignia Inquisitor Olaf is indicating is in original Legion colors. This is consistent with the scale of the control stations and other equipment: they are thirty percent taller than Adeptus Mechanicus standards to accommodate use by Space Marines."

Jace cocks his head in the other direction, "comparing to external imagery of the Terra Incarnadine. Additional anomalies detected: sensors and weapon fits, as evidenced by their profiles, are a mixture of Adeptus Mechanicus, Space Marine, and standard Imperial Navy components. Hypothesis: the Terra Incarnadine was being constructed from the salvaged remains of two or more destroyed ships."

You nod slowly, "just getting merchant standard parts to repair the Aegis was expensive enough, so using salvaged parts would make sense. Get the plasma drive back online Jace. We need more information from Gibli, and the Terra Incarnadine’s sensors and logs may be the safest way to get it. Yasha, are you picking up anything that we are missing?"

Yasha slowly turns in place with her eyes closed, "nothing new. Just silence and stillness, almost like a tomb."

Jace drags a box over to what you presume to be the main control console for the plasma drive. He stands on it, like a child peering over the kitchen table, and stops cold. "Unexpected. The reactor is at tick-over levels according to all of the readouts here. Beginning reactivation sequence."

Olaf grabs at his microbead, "say again Direwolf." He frowns, "proceed with the mission. Cautiously, of course."

You cock an eyebrow at him, though you have to shout over the rising hum of the plasma drive, "problems Inquisitor?"

Olaf shakes his head and shouts back "I hope not."

The hum builds to an unholy whine before dropping into the familiar background thrum of a ship under power. The lights flicker on, banishing the shadows lurking in the corners. Jace steps down from the box, "main plasma drive online. The prow sensor array will need re-calibrated after being neglected for so long. I suggest the party head back for the Aegis to rest and restock while I had forward to begin this process."