Day 221, 813M41
Log of Events
Ferral Wolf, commissioned 389M34
Captain H. Tiberius Odysean Holocene
Warrant of Trade # RV-426-G7-96-BFN4Y2
Granted to Rogue Trader Hester Nathaniel Holocene 623M35.
Given leave to spread the light of the God Emperor to places unknown within Segmentum Obscurus.
Now I know why they use the word infested when it comes to Orks. The Angvein's Blade, the ghost ship I have claimed was more than teeming with them. Hellacious fighters born with a knowledge of warfare that staggers the mind. The fighting on board nearly broke the men. But in the end, the ship belonged to me. Every inch of the vessel was scoured in cleansing Prometheum, yet still I fear that we did not kill them all; there are still ghosts on that ship, of this I am certain; and I do not believe that all of them are human.
Locked away in her chambers, we managed to find the Navigator of that ship alive, if not unscathed from the encounter with the alien. Her name is Incabula, and while Malificent assures me that her abilities as a Navigator remain intact, I have ensured that Severus keep a close eye on her, lest her fears get the better of her, and my new prize. Speaking of, I have named Severus captain of the Angvein's Blade; though he is rather militaristic and overly formal in my opinion, I trust that he will keep the ship in good order, and I trust none more in case the Ork menace is not truly over. Besides, there is a part of me that wishes to keep my captains within the family, at least for now. Perhaps it is archaic, but as the Successor to the Holocene dynasty, I believe it is my prerogative.
Our return to Footfall was none less than I expected: a greeting of celebration and much pomp and circumstance. Of course I do not mind being heralded as a hero every now and again, it bolsters the ego, and it is good for my crew to see me so highly exalted, it reminds them that they are following a man of destiny. While on Footfall, I encounter Zephyr Ontiveros once again, who cautions me on "deal" which was made between my dynasty and that of the Naraghast. I am beginning to realize that the letter of the law and its spirit are two distinct things, and that understandings of a particular point can be skewed between different parties. As I said before, there is more to Chorda than meets the eye, and she is up to something, of that I am certain.
We also met Ishi, an astounding explorer of good repute, as well as her associate, Rook. She agreed to accompany us to Vedic, as long as she could formally join the Holocene dynasty. In honesty, this seemed to be almost too good a deal. She brings understanding and expertise that I would gladly have within my line, and am certain that whatever share of the profits she might earn will be trivial compared to the wonders she could unlock.
With our affairs in order, we set sail for Vedic. Along the way we passed by the Cauldron; it seems to have a presence both here in our Universe and in the Warp, and I am not entirely sure which is the image and which the reflection. On our journey, we received a distress call from an astropath. Evidently another ship had skirted too closely to the massive black hole, and was being slowly pulled in. Part of me was of a mind to leave them; it was, after all, either stupidity or fate which landed them in their situation, and I try to avoid interfering with either when possible. But as always I had a duty to my crew (which I was in need of more in any regard, now that I had two vessels), so we left the Angvein's Blade at anchor and traveled into the empyrean to effect what rescue we could.
After a brief deliberation, we hatch a plan to save as many lives as we can. The crew of the other ship loaded into shuttlecraft while the Ferral Wolf moved in close. We then overboosted our Gellar field, and the small craft ran the distance in a desperate attempt to flee the Lucien's Folly. In the end, we managed to save just over 8'000 souls. Unfortunately most of the command crew was dead or presumed so. Ergan Wright is the highest ranking member I could find, and is currently unofficially in charge of those troops. I decided to keep them all together, since I presume they will work better together than separate, and I do not wish to appear tyrannical. Still, if something major ever does go wrong, I fear they may revolt sooner than the rest of the crew. But I cannot let my mind fixate on suppositions and maybes, I must work with what I have.
While on the way to Vedic, two other things worth mentioning occurred. Firstly, I was appraised of an idea to build military training facilities on board the Ferral Wolf to better train our troops, especially in close quarters fighting. I do not feel that our men are anywhere near woefully inadequate, but the battle aboard the Angvein's Blade does have me looking into a number of ideas should we face Orks again. Second, Kai found something that still makes me smile when I think about it: a landing shuttle designed so long ago it makes the rest of the ship look new by comparison. I have no idea what wonders it holds, but I have ordered it pulled out of the storage bay it was in and put into active duty as my personal craft as soon as possible.
I wonder what treasures the planet Vedic will hold. There is a part of me that tries to imagine it, but already I have beheld things my imagination would never have fathomed. What more could a man want from the Universe than this? My wildest dreams are still less than the things I have seen. Every crisis I face is both a challenge and an opportunity, and I will overcome the former and seize the latter every chance I get.
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