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]

"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."

[letitallout]

"That they can," McCoy says from the doorway where he's watching them with amusement.

Aila goes back to perusing the selection, pulling a long-las from its brackets. Hardly as impressive as Aleifr's find, but she hasn't touched one since she'd qualified on it during training. "Do they make stalker bolters sized for mortals?"

"Probably," McCoy replies. "I'm sure the Arbites have sharpshooters."

"Add that to the list," Aila says with another laugh. If Aleifr's getting a power axe, she doubts the Mechanicus will balk at a bolter.

[aleifr]

"We've a list, do we?" Aleifr asks, a glimmer of amused faux-surprise in his eye.

Considering the armies the Mechanicus have to equip? He'd be surprise if they didn't churn out axes, bolters, and more by the hour. They'll have no trouble getting what they need.

[letitallout]

"I'd rather have it and not need it than the other way around," Aila points out, unabashed, more of her attention on the labels of the ammunition crates than on Aleifr. She still finds offworlder runes tricky to read.

[aleifr]

He'd drink to that if he had a tankard handy, though that little smirk she finds so infuriating is playing across his lips. She makes a good point, but he knows her well enough to know that she'd amass a dragon's horde of weaponry for no other reason than her own pleasure.

"They're bullets." He says, indicating the crates she's examining. "Left are boltgun variants, right are autoguns."

[letitallout]

"I know what an ammo crate looks like," Aila grumbles under her breath. She fully intends to trade her autogun for a more accurate lasgun on the way out, so she leaves the ammunition where it sits.

"You said no krak grenades. What about antipersonnel?" she asks McCoy, grinning over her shoulder.

"Planning to repel some boarders in the near future?" he replies, not taking the bait.

"You never know," Aila says, hefting a concussion grenade.

"That might represent an excessive degree of preparedness," McCoy says, but he doesn't tell her to put it back, which as far as she's concerned is permission.

[aleifr]

"Our thane mentioned that we know that ignorance can be as lethal as a bolter round." Aleifr says from across the room without looking away from a velvet-lined box of golden rings that seems bafflingly out of place among the weapons that lined every other inch of the room.

"We tend to feel the same way about not having the right tools for a job."

[letitallout]

McCoy sighs while Aila helps herself to a grenade belt, but again doesn't outright tell her she can't take grenades if she wants them. She's even mostly sticking to flash grenades. Don't want to damage anything important in a spaceship if you can help it.

"Aleifr," he says instead, "the right tools for the job notwithstanding, if you're planning on taking one of the digi-weapons, I'm going to insist on clearing that directly with the Inquisitor first."

[aleifr]

And once again, Aleifr's response is non-verbal. Just a silent glance over his shoulder that asks for clarification. He just thought they looked like they belonged in someone's strongbox instead of their armory.

[letitallout]

"Digital weapons." McCoy expands the term. "Each one of those rings is the equivalent of a pistol, and not some backwater world's slug-thrower, either. That one in the middle with the diamond skull is more or less a miniaturized inferno pistol."

Aila's head snaps up and she frowns at McCoy in disbelief for a moment before she abandons her grenade requisitioning to go peer around Aleifr's arm at the innocuous-looking jewelry. She doesn't like rings herself--you can hurt yourself punching someone--but she might make an exception for an inferno pistol.

[aleifr]

Aleifr, for his part, simply looks back towards McCoy, eyes narrowing slightly in an effort to determine whether the good doctor is fucking with him.

When he's fairly certain that's not the case ... his eyes go wider and he just looks down at Aila and shakes his head in plainfaced awe. What a fucking world they've come to.