'We can start with the scene of the crime, and check out his workplace later,' Xavier said, looking eager to get started. @Tjf He looked to the Emperor, 'If there was nothing else on the agenda, my emperor. We would leave you to your other duties and see to this predicament.'
"Very well, then." She uncrosses her legs and stands. "I'll leave you alone, for now. Just know that I'm watching."
"Thank you, your majesty. We hope to bring good news." Vizelle bows, before turning to her partner for the day. "Shall we head out?" She asked with a smile.
'Thank you, your Imperial majesty. We will speak another time,' Xavier nodded to Carius and bowed, before turning to Vizelle. 'Yes, I have a shuttle waiting for me, we could use that one to get around,' Xavier bid Vizelle to walk with him out of the Imperial palace.
@Tjf "Let us go then. I take it whoever planned this has another move to make, since you succeeded in stopping him." Vizelle cooed, following him to his shuttle.
'Unless they were confident it would work the first time, I suspect you are right. We managed to not die to his or her schemes,' Xavier chuckled, walking to the pad where his shuttle had dropped him off, 'Really truly stopping them will be up to us now.'
Escorted by the Centauri marines, Vizelle and Xavier enter the military shuttle, which lifts off from its bay in the palace, headed out towards the city. The victim's home is in an upscale apartment building within a district reserved for the planet's elite. The shuttle lands on top of the building, and Xavier and Vizelle easily find their way down to the apartment. Military police troops stand aside to allow the councilors in. They see an elegant apartment, and in the office, the body of a middle aged man in military garb, his throat cut and dried blood all over his clothes and desk.
“Leaving already? Why the rush?” Eanne raised an eyebrow. “Why not stay a bit longer and chat? I am curious what kind of person you are. There's still a bit of time before dinner, and it doesn't look like either of us has anything urgent to do...”
@asddas193 'Well, let's take a look around, shall we?' Xavier said, once they had arrived at the apartment. He looked to one of the officers, 'Have you found anything we should be aware of? Did you have the chance to look through his files yet? Any suspicious transactions?' Looking around the apartment and at the man's corpse, Xavier activated his bionic eye to analyse things more closely.
The MP salutes as Xavier approaches. "No, sir. Command told us to hold off from investigating, just secure the crime scene and prevent anyone from tampering with any evidence. From what I saw, though, his terminal is encrypted, sir."
As they headed to their location, Vizelle remained silent as she looks through her new memories. Mostly for any hidden details, like what the ancient sorcerers used for their emblems, or any secret codes they used to greet each other. But once they arrived, discreetly she uses her abilities to find any traces of psionics in the area, or on the corpse. She also listens to Xavier's question, eager to hear the officer's reply.
'Thanks, I don't suppose you have someone with hacking skills among you to remedy that?' Xavier asked the MP.
“Why, you, of course!” Eanne smiled at the busty noblewoman. “Like I said, I am curious what kind of person you are, since you and Sitra are obviously quite different. Can you tell me a bit about yourself? I realize there must be a number of military-related stuff you can't talk about because they are classified, but there must be at least a little about yourself you can share...”
After they reached the barracks Yannika turned to the sergeant and asked him to secure the perimeter before she and the commander headed inside. She removed her cloak and hung it upon a rack, then Gamba led her onto the stage. She let her eyes fall over every soldier gathered, just as she had done with her escort before. She knew from the looks on some of their faces this would take some work. "Gentlemen!" she began "many of you look upon me today with distrust, suspicion, and perhaps even hatred." She paused and gave the gathering another quick scan, "When I look at you I see loyal soldiers of the Emperor. I am a sworn sister of the Sect of the Sapphire Hearth, this is true, but I stand before you today also as a servant of the Emperor. All of you, undoubtedly, know of the events that have transpired on your world. A corrupt bishop, trusted by you, betrayed that trust and murdered a priestess of the Church. My sister! She who attended to you, cared for you, healed you, and prayed for you. She was a servant of the gods. I say again, She was a servant of the gods. The true gods, the ones that the bishop betrayed just as he betrayed you!" She stopped again to scan the crowd. "In your righteous fury the people of this world deposed of the treasonous and unholy bishop! For this the Holy Mother Church does not condemn you for our failure, your leaders failed you and I am here to tell you that The Emperor, beloved by all, applauds the loyal citizens of this world and pardons everyone who brought the corrupt bishop to justice! Further, I tell you now that the Church makes a solemn pledge to you that we will not fail again, I am here to help mend the wounds that you and the people of this world have suffered. Much like my sister, your fallen priestess." 'Now for the tough part.' Yannika thought. "But like a miracle your beloved priestess rose! She was returned to you, and every one of you rejoiced. How could you not? But I ask you to think upon the nature of her resurrection. The sorcerer, Xenephon, proclaimed her a goddess. But he is a mage; what does he know of the gods?" She let the gathered men think on that for a moment. "Again I say what you already know. He is a mage, about whom almost nothing is known. He appeared a year ago and now directs the operations of this world. This world is not his to command. You are not his to command. You are the Emperor's men. And your risen priestess... such is not the work of the gods. But it is the work of dark sorcerers who wish to unleash the ruinous powers of the warp upon the Empire and humanity. You are each and every one a part of the bulwark that protects humanity from all threats. Use your reason men, what has happened here is a threat. It might not appear it, but true villains are very hard to spot." Yannika let out a sigh and let her voice turn sympathetic. "Your priestess was a good woman and a faithful servant of the gods. But in all likelihood her body is now possessed by a creature from the warp. It is my intention to exorcise this demon from her. And I ask you now for your help. I seek not the destruction of your beloved priestess, my sister, I seek to save her, you, and this world from the terrible destruction that will inevitably befall you should we not act now. "I, Yannika of House Wulfkin, Lady of the Holy Mother Church, Sworn Sister of the Sapphire Hearth, and Envoy of the Emperor ask all of you now to help me in this task. Let us do The Gods' work together, you were all raised with the faith in your hearts. What you go through now, what you feel now, is a test of that faith. If you need me and if you let me, I shall bolster that faith, I'll gladly remind you of the love of the gods. The True Gods. That is why I'm here, to help this world see their light and love, and welcome you all back into their warm embrace. "Will you let me?"
Looking back through the memories, Vizelle fails to find much of any relevance or use, beyond the powers she saw. Spoiler: Psionic Roll D100: 55+15 (Order of Sorcerers)=70 (Pass) Using her abilities to sense the room, she feels faint traces of psionic energy, as if a power was used not too long ago. The energy is spread out in a line from the window at the back of the room, to right behind the chair where the corpse now sits, indicating that whatever power was used, it was probably effecting the killer, rather than one used on the victim. There's also power currently emanating from an object on the desk, a spherical paperweight made of silver. To the naked eye, it seems utterly mundane, but it's alight with psionic energy. "We'll call in a specialist, sir." The MP nods. Spoiler: Awareness Roll D100: 100+15 (Bionic Eye)= 115 (Crit) Using his augmented eye to look at the fine details of the crime scene, Xavier immediately spots several things about the crime scene. Firstly, he spots indentations on the carpet, leading from the window behind the desk, leading right up behind the victim. Secondly, using the magnification function, he spots several trace fibres mixed into the hairs of the carpet. Blue fibres. The same blue, in fact, of an Imperial navy officer's uniform. Thirdly, he spots the silver paperweight. It seems normal at first, but as it passes by his vision Xavier notices it shimmering and distorting slightly, just for a fraction of a second. Finally, looking away from the crime scene, he sees a painting on the wall, a portrait of some old noble, probably an ancestor of the victim. What catches his eye is a glint, and looking into the eyes of the portrait, he realises that behind the painting is a camera, pointed directly at him, Vizelle and the victim.
"Hmm?" Vizelle cooed, Interesting. Was he a psionic? Or was he affected by one? She pondered to herself, before spotting the paperweight. "Oh?" She looks at it, though makes no move to approach it as she uses her powers to tap into the psionic energies infused within, eager to see what purpose it had.
Amara looks at Eanne with a neutral expression. "Well, you already know that I'm military, specifically navy." She moves to hold up a decanter filled with some kind of liqour. "Drink?"
