From Kaerls to Huscarls.

[aleifr]

Aleifr's fingers flexed a little as the shuttle began to rumble with the thrum of it's engines, digging into his harness as he felt the thing lift off the ground. He still wasn't used to this. Even after months of serving the Rout and seeing the wonders that they had at their disposal, riding in the belly of one of their flying ships still made him vaguely uneasy - at least until they'd hit the point where they were flying smoothly.

Once they were, he unbuckled the harness strapping him into his seat and made his way to the viewport at the back of the ship. Thick, white clouds filled up most of the view, but he could see little scraps of Fenris through the gaps. Mountains, ice, braces of pine trees and the endless expanse of Asaheim. As they climbed, the details grew harder to make out and his perpetual scowl deepened.

He was grateful to Jarl Ironwolf for the honor he'd given him - him and Aila both. He'd be a fucking idiot not to considering he's to be serving one of the Allfather's agents directly ... but it was strange to think that he might not see this place again. Their world. Their home. He didn't like that thought.

But his jarl had given him a task, and he'd see it through.

Comments

[aleifr]

He doesn't know what the fuck she's expecting him to do about it other than stare with equally wide-eyed shock. He actually takes an instinctive step back from the control panel as the elevator begins to move and fires a brief look in the direction of the Inquisitor's chambers.

He doesn't say anything, but the look on his face gets the message across clear enough: What in the fuck have they gotten themselves into?

It's got him on edge enough that he nearly grabs his axe when the doors to the lift open to reveal McCoy, waiting for them.

[letitallout]

Waiting though he may be, McCoy does not seem to have expected his charges to be quite so jumpy, and he takes an involuntary step back at Aleifr's reaction, looking back and forth between them.

"Emperor on Earth, what did she do?" he asks, pursing his lips.

Once it registers that McCoy's exasperation comes from his disapproval of whatever he's imagining, Aila leans in and hisses at him. "Be respectful."

Is he trying to get killed?

[aleifr]

Either he's got a death wish or he knows the Inquisitor better than they do and knows that what he's saying or thinking won't anger her. Considering he seems to have been with her a long time, Aleifr's inclined to think the latter.

The hand that's currently hovering about halfway to the hilt of his axe lowers onto Aila's shoulder to give her a reassuring squeeze - a gesture that's equal parts a reassurance and an urging to calm herself.

"The Inquisitor said you had more to show us." Aleifr says, regaining some of his own composure. "The armory, our quarters ..."

[letitallout]

Aila takes a deep breath and tries to relax. Nobody's dead, from accident, intruder control, or Inquisitorial wrath. Everything is fine.

"Of course the armory comes first," McCoy says dryly, recovering from his alarm once it's clear Aleifr isn't going to overreact and kill him. "But I'm afraid I have to alter the itinerary--we need to get you into the systems first."

"Biometrics," she says, the unfamiliar word even more awkward on her lips than the rest of Gothic.

"Biometrics," McCoy says with a nod. He gestures down the hallway and heads in that direction. "From 'biological,' of or relating to living organisms, and 'metric,' a system or standard of measurements."

[aleifr]

Aleifr's only response is a noncommittal grunt as he begins to follow McCoy. Doesn't much care where the word comes from, he'll follow the savant's lead.

He does give Aila one more little look as they walk. You alright?

[letitallout]

Aila glances at him with a twist of her lips that can't honestly be described as a smile. She's regaining her equilibrium but still walking a little too close, taking comfort from Aleifr's sheer physical presence even though her unease has an intangible source.

McCoy's on about retinas, whatever those are. Apparently they can be measured.

[aleifr]

It isn't a smile, but it's good enough that he'll take it for now. If they were alone - someplace where they weren't acting in their newly official capacity - he'd put an arm around her, but they need to stand tall now.

He quickly glances forward to see if McCoy's saying anything important, but he's still on about retinas - something about patterns in blood vessels and matching eye color - so it's a brief look.

Then his attention is back on Aila and he offers her a small smile. Small, but genuine. Hopefully reassuring too. When they're at their quarters he'll see to her, but she's getting her feet back under her and, for the moment, that's what matters.

[letitallout]

Neither of them are bleeding. They'll be fine. Aila takes a deep breath and returns Aleifr's smile properly, if not with her usual wattage. She knows how rare his are.

"Hopefully they've sent over your medical records by now," McCoy says. "I assume you've had your immunizations?"

Aila's about to say no, but her brain catches up with her tongue and she remembers the whirlwind of testing around their recruitment. One of the medicae had said something about that...right before pressing a device up against her arm, injecting something, and almost getting punched for his trouble. "Are those the things that make your arms sore for days?"

"Not the intent of vaccinations, but I'll take that as a yes." McCoy turns a corner into a part of the ship that is identical to the rest of the ship as far as Aila can tell. They're going to have to navigate by runes rather than something sensible like landmarks.

[aleifr]

He was thinking the same. Fortunately they've got runes carved into little plates alongside most of the doors, but it isn't going to make navigating this ship any easier for the first few days.

"The medicae at the Aett looked at us." Aleifr adds with in his uncomfortable, heavily accented gothic. He'd nearly called it 'The Fang' as all offworlders seem to, but he figured McCoy knew enough to understand what the place's proper name is. "They said that we were ... good. Clean?"

He glances to Aila, looking for confirmation that he'd used the right word at the end there.

[letitallout]

She nods at Aleifr. Idioms are the hardest part, but that sounds right.

"You're both obnoxiously healthy, I'm sure." McCoy stops at a door bearing the same crest as his robes and leads them into an infirmary. It's smaller than the one they'd used at the Aett, but has the same antiseptic smell to it. "Welcome to my domain. I'm suspect you'll become quite familiar with my services."

"If a warrior goes unscathed, they're not fighting hard enough battles," Aila agrees.

McCoy doesn't concur, if his raised eyebrow is anything to go by. "Yes, well, do try to keep the scathing to a minimum."

[aleifr]

"We don't plan on getting injured, McCoy." Aleifr grunts.

Yes, only cowards and the extremely lucky come through a battle completely untouched, but only the stupid, the vengeful, and the desperate try not to look after themselves. A warrior who's crippled or dead isn't any good to anyone.

"What do you need us to do?"

Aleifr's assuming it has something to do with one of the half-dozen pieces of bulky equipment scattered around the room.

[letitallout]

"Step over here." McCoy beckons them to follow him to padded table with all manner of equipment suspended over it...and what Aila recognizes as restraints attached.

"Hop on up." He pats the tabletop. "It's technically for diagnostics, but it can do the necessary scanning."

To prove to Aleifr and maybe to herself that she's calmed down, Aila steps forward before he can volunteer. She has to unfasten her weapons harness to do it, handing the lot to Aleifr with a half-smile. See? She's fine. She slides onto the table, gazing up at the incomprehensible equipment of McCoy's profession. "It hurts enough for restraints?"

"Ah. That." McCoy shakes his head. "It's painless. Those are there because not all my patients are in their right minds...or are and yet not inclined to cooperate."

Oh, of course they take prisoners sometimes. It makes sense, and Aila nods, hearing her hair move against the padded headrest.

"This won't take long." McCoy touches one of the runes on the machinery--and his screen immediately flashes red, a loud, piecing beeping filling the room. Startled, Aila sits halfway up on her elbows as a servitor comes striding over, presumably in response to the alarm.

"Ah, stop it." McCoy sounds faintly embarrassed, and taps a few more runes. The beeping cuts off and he waves the servitor away. "Sorry about that. Your resting heart rate is so low the machine spirits thought you were in medical distress. They're a understandably jumpy, given their jobs."

McCoy does something else at his control panel, and more of the equipment attached to the bed comes to life. "Look straight up and keep your eyes open," he says, as Aila gets blinded by a red light for the second time today. "Retinas, EEG...flip your hands palms up, please...good. Say your name."

Aila can't imagine what that's for, but complies. "Aila Steady-Hand."

"Good clean voiceprint," McCoy says. "All right, you're all set."

The padding makes the table as comfortable as a bed, but Aila's happy to vacate and give Aleifr his turn.

[aleifr]

He takes her harness, but he doesn't return the little half-smile. She's known him long enough to read the concern in that deep-seated scowl of his as she steps forward, because despite the brave face she's put on, he is concerned. Unnecessarily, more than likely, but she'd been white as fresh snow a minute ago and he doesn't know what this entails.

His worries are abated somewhat once the purpose of the restraints are clarified and, despite the brief start he'd gotten from the alarm that prompted him to reach for his axe for the second time today, it was over quickly and painlessly. Aila slides off the table and Aleifr gives her back her things, and his own weapon harness as well.

The table is decidedly less comfortable for Aleifr. The thing was clearly made with smaller men in mind. Contours in the padding that might have been comfortable for others poked awkwardly into his bulkier frame and he had to tuck his shoulders forward slightly so that his arms didn't start to slide off the side.

"Same thing," McCoy says, "Just look straight up for me and keep your eyes open. Wide as you can, please."

Aleifr stares into another irritatingly bright red light. McCoy asks him to flip his palms up and he does so. When prompted, he repeats his name as well.

"Excellent. You're both good to go." McCoy says, flashing them a polite little smile as Aleifr gets up off of the exam table and goes to collect his things.

"It'll take a second to update, but basically, the ship will recognize you now." McCoy gets to his feet and adjusts his robes. "If you see a little pad like the one on the elevator next to a door, all you have to do is put your hand on it - palm flat. If you've got the proper clearance, the door will unlock and open for you."

"And if we don't have the proper clearance?" Aleifr asks. He stumbles a little on the unfamiliar word at the end.

McCoy simply shrugs. "The door won't open. Now that you're in our system you won't set off an alarm or anything - at least not unless you're trying to do something you really shouldn't be."

Aleifr nods and looks over to Aila. He looks impressed.

[letitallout]

Beats stationing a guard at every door, that's for sure. Aila misses the glance from Aleifr because she's busy looking down at the wrinkles on her palms. If the machine spirits can memorize that, good for them.

McCoy claps his hands, rubbing them together. "Now, I believe you were promised a tour."

"The Inquisitor said there was an armory." Aila sounds like a child inquiring about the possibility of sweets.

"You know, most people ask about the mess," McCoy says dryly.

[aleifr]

If McCoy looks at Aleifr at just the right moment, he might see the barest flicker of something resembling a smile at Aila's enthusiasm.

"In due time." He says, clipping his harness back on. "But we were brought here to fight. It'd be good to know what we're working with."

A practical answer, but truth be told? He's as excited as she is, he's just better at hiding it.

[letitallout]

"Of course," McCoy says with an amused undercurrent that suggests he suspects Aila isn't alone in her enthusiasm.

He leads them back into the corridor. "The Arbiter's a small ship, around a kilometer. Main hallways run fore to aft, with connecting hallways abeam," he says, gesturing to illustrate as he speaks. "It's more or less a grid, and you can navigate by the intersections." He reaches up to tap a large set of runes inset on the wall above his head. "The armory and barracks are off the main elevator bank, which is where we just came from."

McCoy's retracing their steps as he talks, leading them past a woman headed the other way in a naval uniform marked with the Inquisition's I and skull. She glances up from her dataslate, sees a pair of Fenrisians, and does a double-take, which McCoy ignores, so Aila follows suit.

"What other fighters are aboard?" she asks, since McCoy mentioned the barracks.

"Besides Logan and now you two, we have a detachment of Storm Troopers," he says. "Good soldiers but not scintillating conversationalists."

[aleifr]

"Experienced, I take it?" Aleifr grunts. He suspects he'll get on better with them, but he doesn't much care how fun they are to talk to as long as they're good at their jobs.

He is listening, McCoy. Ignore his wandering eyes as he tries to memorize the layout.

[letitallout]

"Very," McCoy says with a nod. "The Inquisitor will use them rather than the Adeptus Sororitas when she has a choice in the matter."

"Are they much better?" Aila has recovered enough to realize that his talkativeness is an asset at the moment, and since Aleifr's memorizing the route, she feels safe focusing on McCoy.

"That's...a matter of perspective," he replies as they reach the elevators. "They're certainly less likely to offer their opinions unsolicited."

[aleifr]

"And they shouldn't."

Advising your thane is one thing, but you do it in the proper way. Unless they're the Allfather's perfect idiot - something he's firmly convinced isn't true of Frost - you give them the respect they're owed.

[letitallout]

Aila nods in agreement and McCoy glances over his shoulder at them as he enters the lift. "I'm sure the Inquisitor will appreciate that opinion."

He beckons for the two of them to look at the buttons on the panel inside the elevator, and Aila peeks around his shoulder. "These are the crew decks. You'll spend most of your time here, unless you find cargo holds absolutely fascinating. Restricted decks are the usual--bridge, navigation, officer country, Inquisitor's quarters, detention block." He presses one of the crew deck buttons and the lift starts to move. "Technically the Mechanicus sections aren't fully off-limits, but they'll chase you out if you go poking around."

"Anyone can get to the armory?" Aila doesn't like that, and looks at Aleifr with a frown. That seems sloppy.

"If they can cut their way through the guards, the gun servitors, and the blast doors, yes, I suppose they can," McCoy says mildly.

[aleifr]

Aleifr shrugs. McCoy's explanation seems to satisfy him for the moment, the armory isn't defenseless and he doubts the Inquisitor would have someone on her crew that isn't trustworthy - especially when their minds are an open book to her. If there are enemies on the ship ... well, he suspects they'll have bigger problems than security clearance at that point.

"Anything else we should know?" Aleifr asks, cocking his head to the side.

[letitallout]

"If she didn't give you a specific assignment, there's not much for you to worry about beyond keeping that Fenrisian edge sharp," McCoy says, rocking back on his heels. "The mess is open 24 hours, Brother Kurt holds services in the chapel daily, and the gymnasium has all the training equipment you'll need."

The door slides open in front of them, revealing a deck indistinguishable from the one they'd just departed except that the stripe along the wall at waist height is a different color. Aila's shoulder brushes against Aleifr as they follow McCoy into the hallway, something easily dismissed as crowding in the tight quarters of the elevator car if one didn't know how rare it is for her to misjudge space like that. She can't take his arm in public, after all.

"Everyone knew you were coming, so the worst you should expect is some curiosity." McCoy pauses at a closed set of doors to scan his palm print again. The runes above the door say 'Armory,' she thinks, only getting about halfway through sounding them out before McCoy's leading them into a room with a man in armor sitting at a desk. His hands are invisible in his lap, and the look he's giving the two of them makes Aila tense up. Only force of will keeps her hand off her bolt pistol.

"Corporal, these are the Inquisitor's new retainers," McCoy says as though he doesn't notice them scoping each other out, and given how far out of his way he went to disclaim any martial competence, maybe he doesn't. "As discussed," he adds, words clipped. Maybe he did notice.

The man glances down at a display on his desk, nods, and Aila no longer feels like she might have to shoot him. McCoy indicates the door on the other side of the anteroom. "Go ahead. You'll need to sign anything out, and I think we'd all prefer if you weren't wandering around with krak grenades, but you know your business."

She's through the door before he finishes talking. The Kaerls' armory back on Fenris had been bigger, but the Inquisitor's has more variety, and Aila sees things she only recognizes because she'd paid attention during training. This is better than a feast day.

[aleifr]

Aleifr offers McCoy a small shrug as an explanation of sorts. They know their business and she loves their job. Though, when he walks into the armory behind Aila ...

There is a certain twinkle in his eye. He'll even flash her a small smile as he moves past her to inspect the rows of weaponry.

He sees boltguns - not astartes pattern, but sized for human hands. He sees the fat-barreled lascannons the Long Fangs sometimes carried, grenades of a dozen varieties, mines for blowing off limbs or tank treads ...

And then he finds what he's been looking for.

He pulls a power sword off the rack, and holds it up to the light to inspect the blade. The craftsmanship's incredible. It's the sort of weapon that a varangyr or a Jarl would carry among the Rout, and if he wanted it, it was his.

His thumb shifts and brushes against the activator on the hilt. A firmer press of the button and suddenly a sheath of glowing, blue energy crackles into being around the blade.

His smile's a little broader, now, and his apprehensions about their new duty, his healthy fear of their new thane ... that's all gone for the moment.

Today's a good day.

[letitallout]

Aila tears her eyes off the bolter ammunition--she doesn't even know what half of those shells do--when she hears the sound of a power blade switching on.

"Shame it's not an axe," she says with a laugh. Aleifr can use a sword just fine, but she doubts seeing one in his hands will ever strike her as normal.

[aleifr]

"The Inquisitor said that she'd pick up anything else we needed from the Mechanicus." Aleifr glances at her over his shoulder.

"I think they can manage an axe."