You mark off the warp drive as your objective, assemble your team, and head out. The path is short and well-mapped, having been scouted out before, but your instincts are poking at you like an itch you can't quite scratch as you enter the ship-section that houses the warp drive. So you call rest breaks slightly more often than needed, just to look around a bit more. The details start to add up, but you still can't quite pin down what's bothering you. The floor is the expected heavy-duty mesh raised above ducting. The overhead is smooth plating, the paint worn away down the middle. The lights tend to either be mounted in the floor or low in the walls facing upwards.

Entering the compartment containing the warp drive in question, you and your team out to survey and secure the area. The floor is largely clear of obstructions, aside from thick cables and conduits reaching up and connecting to the floor-to-ceiling hulk of the warp drive.

As you glance about, Mu'randa speaks up. "I'm not seeing any control consoles. Anyone have eyes on them?"

Your instincts prod you again, and you decide to look up. And up and up. All the way to the top of the tree-deck-tall compartment to stare at the overhead.

which you realize isn't an overhead at all, but rather the floor, were the compartment right-side-up. Your eyes quickly locate the command and control consoles. "I do. On the ceiling."

Yasha and Mu'randa take a moment to process what you are saying, piecing it all together.

Jace takes even less time to start cursing is some dialect of enginseer. "Kludge. MegaKludge to the MotherFrakiking Max."

You give him a moment to vent before venturing you opinion. "Best way to cut power to this thing is going to be severing these cables, right?"

Jace sucks air through his teeth for a long moment before replying. "Probably. Yasha, I'm going to need your assistance. Some of these cables may be psi-actives linked into the navigator controls or the warp core. And for damn sure nothing is labeled, and we're going to have to trace them all to figure out what we need to sever and in what order."

Yasha moves to assist him. "Any idea what I should be looking for, because..."

You leave them to it and gesture for Mu'randa to accompany you in a check of the local perimeter.

Safely out of earshot of Jace and Yasha, you start asking some questions. "You have any familiarity with the Tau's medical sciences?"

"Nothing besides basic primary care. Why the sudden interest?"

"Well, House Von Sebastion is without an heir..." You walk her through the basic situation and your thoughts that, just perhaps, the Tau might have better medical science than the Imperium in some areas.

Mu'randa pauses in her check of yet another empty hallway to think hard for a moment. "Nothing I can think of, though there were some vague rumors about some of the experimental medical teams vivisecting or dissecting psykers to try and learn how they worked. The Tau don't have psykers of Navigators, and some of them really wanted to know more."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Your blood runs cold at the word 'vivisection'. The thought of Yasha falling into the hands of an unscrupulous Tau medic and being experimented on fills you with dread. "That sounds rather not good. Could we make discreet inquiries..."

Mu'randa cuts you off. "Not discreet enough. We would have to let at least the Tau medic in question know what was needed, and he would keep notes at least, and disseminate them along with his findings. They really want to know what makes psykers and how they function. That would put us in a strong bargaining position, but at least some of them would be tempted to make you or Yasha vanish, or keep extra 'samples', or..."

You let her speculate for a bit, mulling some things over. "Well, that leaves the 'harem' option..."

Mu'randa blurts out ‘‘harem?’’

You shake, realizing that you had spoken aloud. "Well, producing an heir to House Von Sebastion would require..." You explain the legal mechanics of what would need to be done, leaving any salacious details unsaid.

It is clear that Mu'randa is thinking about them anyway. You make a mental note to point Yasha in her direction, as she may be able to ferret out more information, as well as needing to make up her own mind on that particular matter.

A shout from the direction of the warp drive draws your attention. Jace has apparently cut into one of the power cables without injuring himself, and something in the drive has decided to give out. You and Mu'randa move back to see what is going on, bout you throw your left arm across her chest to hold her back as you feel the hairs on the back of your neck rise. There is definitely psychic energy in the air, probably from one of the containment fields shutting down after its power was cut.

Your eyes go wide as Jace dashes towards another cable with his Omnisian-pattern Combi-tool raised high, its cutting edge rippling with the power of its disruptor field. He brings it slashing down, cleaving deep into the cable and you hear an audible POP just behind your left ear as the warp drive shuts down.

You raise an eyebrow as the hairs on the back of your neck slowly settle back down and you become aware of where your left hand is. And of Mu'randa's racing heartbeat. You quickly withdraw your hand with a muttered apology. Mu'randa just shakes it off. With the Warp Drive shut down for good, you reassemble your team and head back to the beachhead.

After marking the warp drive as disabled on the secondary objectives list, you stand your team down for another rest period. You exchange some quick words with Yasha, passing on your earlier observations, and head for your bunk.

You check the survey maps when you wake. The boundaries have been pushed a little further, and you note the markers of several Armsmen positions further forward, blocking off key routes towards the Beachhead. Clearly Mabis and the Force Commander are thinking of pushing the perimeter outwards as more of the hulk is surveyed.

You sigh and check the secondary objectives list.

1) Reconnaissance: Check the contents of a trio of fuel silos.

Scout's notes: all three silos are stable, but their contents are unknown at this time. Biosigns negative at this time. Bypassing to continue sweep.

Addendum: possible Ghilliam / Hullghast nest in the area. Eliminate if encountered.

2) Recovery: Secure a possible archeotech cache.

Scout's notes: Objective bypassed due to medical conditions and ammunition shortage. Area not investigated thoroughly.