Ailourious gazed out at the fleet in front of him, twenty-six ships glinted in the reflected sunlight from the nearby star. Battleships, cruisers, support ships even some colonists secluded safely in the midst of the fleet. There was of course one ship that he couldn't see, his own flagship the Emperor's Claws the largest and most powerful ship of the fleet.
How many souls were there in this fleet, a million? More? It troubled him that he did not know, as commander he should know such things. The fighting below had been fierce and even now, two weeks later, the fleet was still licking its wounds somewhat.
Lv-42 shuffled into the room. Ailourious looked at it with mostly undisguised contempt. He (it?) would be able to tell Ailourous all of the figures down perhaps to the last round yet every time Ailourious say the cyborg he was filled with a desire to strike the half machine thing to the ground. Ailourious was certain that the brain was still intact (probably) but the man's eyes had long been replaced with three shimmering eye crystals giving a totally alien appearance.
"MY LORD"
Lv-42's voice was oddly synthetic. Human enough to almost pass for a living being, synthetic enough to cause the back of the hairs on his neck to rise.
"How are the preparations going for the jump to warp going?"
"|THEY ARE PROGRESSING> WE EXPECT TO JUMP IN TEN HOURS AND THIRTY-TWO MINUTES MY LORD"
"Thank you" Ailourious was about to call it Thron however the human element inside whatever was in front of him no longer responded to that designation.
The machine thing stood in front of him, a slight wheezing came from the pipes inside it.
"You are dismissed. Notify me if there are any problems?"
"YES. MY. LORD"
The thing shuffled off again and as it did so Ailourious felt a slight return to normality.
A ships officer (thankfully fully organic) appeared in the corner of his eye, there was something about the way that the man was standing that suggested he had been here a long time.
"Praetor" there was a clear nervousness about the man "the captain's of the "Blessed Dawn" and the "Talon's of Night" are here to see you.
Well THIS should be interesting he thought to himself, then with a slight smirk said the aide
"Send them through"
"Certaintly My Lord, which one shall I send first?"
Ailourous smiled fully
"Send them both..."
The aide waited for his lord's ruling as to which captain would be granted priority
"...at the same time"
The aide paused, just for a fraction of a second. Someone with less refined scences would have missed the pause, and the fleeting look of apprehention on the aide's face.
"a JOINT audience my Lord"
Ailourious had to admire the aide's skill, the underling had somehow managed to make their reply both a question and a statement AT THE SAME TIME.
"Very well my Lord"
The aide departed and if they had any qualms about explaining the joint meeting to the captain's they hid it very, very well.
Ailouroious turned back to the view of the fleet. He was getting bored, it was the only reason he could think of for winding up the captains this way. Captain Woddish was an assault commander, in charge on the second most powerful ship in the fleet. Captain Penkman was, well a logistics field commander through and through. The two of them couldn't be any more different and their mutual annimosity was well known by most.
The two captains strolled onto the bridge, looking to all the world as if they were happy to see each other, a fact that was about as far from the truth as the fleet was from Terra. Their difference in temperant was as stark as their difference in appearance. One was a small, lean man with a habbit of perpetually looking over his shoulder. Many captains, in private, often linked the shoter one to a man sized rodent. The other figure was taller, maybe eighteen inches taller, then his companion and even in the androgonous uniforms of the Imperial Navy it was clear that he were muscular even by the standards of the Marines. Oddly it was short, rat looking captain that was happiest boltgun in hand leading the charge into some forgotten hell hole.
Ailourious welcomed them with a warm smile
"Captains, welcome to the bridge"
Both captains bowed low in reply
"Praetor"
"What brings you to the bridge my friends?"
The taller one, Penkman, spoke first.
"It is my understanding that the fleet is due to depart within the next forty-eight cycles"
Woddish looked up which, given the height difference, was about all he could do
"You seem remarkably well informed on the Praetor's plans"
"Thank you"
Ailourious looked at the two captains
"The Void Tigers have broken the back of the planetary defence forces, the Imperial Guard can deal with the remaining resistence which is without leadership and direction. No point in bluting one's claws by cutting wheat."
Penkman bowed again
"Indeed my lord however there is still strong resistance in the metropolis of Burmungun and we have not taken control of the sanitation and filtration works"
Woddish was dismissive
"Your point being? We have taken control of another system and you are worried about the drains on the planet"
There was something about the word drains that amplified the thought of Woddish running through sewers on ancient terra.
"Yes"
Woddish rolls his eyes in frustrtion
"Burmunghun is totally surrounded, on everyside. Not even a rat could get in or out of the city without being spotted. The guard can take that city, house by house, pile of rubble by rubble if they need to."
"Your point Captain Penkman?"
"The Krapoor refinery works is the only facility on the whole of this planet that is capable of producing, and has stocks of, class 5 effluent filters. The fleet has been in space for nearly two years and following the extended stay in the Windoeloo system the effluent flitration system is down to an average of forty-nine percent efficiency across the fleet and" he paused "twenty-eight percent on the Blessed Dawn"
Ailourious was only half listening, there was something about Penkman's voice that could send a waeker mind to sleep.
"It is not well appreciated but a jump through the warp places significant strain on all parts of the system, in particular the waste water and sewage treatment systems. I cannot be certain that a jump into the warp, with our current capacities, would not reputure the systems in numerous ships of the fleet"
Woddish interupted
"so you're saying that if they reptured in the warp we'd all be in deep..."
Penkman glared at him
Woddish grinned
"..I was intending to say "trouble. I've no idea what you were thinking"
If Ailourious was humoured he did show it, already his mind was working out the issues. Filtration was not something that Legion leaders tended to learn about yet even he knew that the idea of several million souls without clean water, or flushing loos, would be a problem.
It was at this point that Queintinicus walked into view. Walked was the wrong word, prowled was a better word. The marine traversed the space in the command bridge with the authority and elegance of a tiger.
"ah, Queintinicus, I have a very important mission for you.
