Lots and lots of infiltration training, a ship like this must have ample opportunities for spying. Haxtes will map the ship and find access to all areas loke bride, engines, security and whats in the cargo holds. Employ help from Venus too get past locks and sensors. Let's see how many dark and dirty secrets the ship holds :) When not doing that Haxtes will spend time with Venus and Xerza playing and doing close combat training.

The layout of the vessel is fairly basic; a central spine through which most of the primary systems run - utility tubing, power conduits, datastreams, lifts, etc. The spine extends from the engineering section at the rear of the vessel, just forward of the engine chambers, and stetchs all the way to the primary bridge located in the forward part of the ship. Linked to the spine are six gaping circular holes in the ships outer skin; the docking rings for the cargo spheres. Each sphere is about 100 meters across, and accessible through one primary and several secondary accesses. Other than that the ship has the usual support systems and secondary areas; ranging from crew quarters, the workshops and small-craft launch bays. A few are not in use; there are no navigators on board for example, so the Navigarium remains closed, though seeming in good repair. You spend a few hours a day roaming the great vessel. Security isn't that tight, and apparently they have little to hide from you (or otherwise its very well hidden indeed). The only thing of real interest is the ships Security Officer; he can be none other than your long lost brother. Its not something you think of very often, but you can recall the day the militia came and took him away. How he ended up here is anyone's guess.

Meanwhile Max is having a comparatively good time. Living aboard a starship isn't so different from living in a hive; surrounded my metal and machines. And, more importantly perhaps, is the fact that Max feels at ease, even when under warp drive. The others, especially the untrained psykers, are feeling restless, tempers flare for no reason, and dreams are generally unpleasant - when sleep comes at all.

How he (my brother) ended up here is anyone's guess; after me going through his 'opulent' rooms and the ships files/captain's personnel files if need be, I hope I don't need too resort to the orkish art of guesswork...

Good for you that you have Venus with you; she's a tad bit better at breaking coded systems than Haxtes is...your sneaking skills and her computer skills - very useful combination. Turns out your brother Jax has been aboard for years. Apparently he started out as a stowaway (apparently the ship has called upon Protasia on occasion), but managed to convince the former captain (Corben's father) that he'd be more useful alive than he'd be if shoved out an airlock... Captain Corben, by the way, has only run the ship for two years. By all accounts he's inexperienced, but more interestingly VERY law-abiding (his father was not). Much more so than you'd expect from a man that actually has a ROGUE TRADER charter! So rather than utilize said charter, the good Captain is just plying the trade-lanes, making no money at all. Which explains his lack of a Navigator and Astropath - he can no longer afford any. Do you approach you brother?

I will approch him, but the maner of the approach depend on having more info, on him, hes history and that of the ship before I make that decision.

Well, from conversations that you've overheard he's a well-respected member of the crew. Seems he was something of a favorite with the old captain. And he seems to have a great deal of clout with the crew, well what remains of it anyway. As you've gathered the ship isn't exactly making money, and many crew-members have left already, and there is quite a bit of resentment towards the current captain - but you brother continues to speak for him. It's a bit awkward at first. He does recognize you, but is then overcome by emotion. Guilt? Relief? Probably a mix of both. There is even some hugging - not something which you normally encourage! You get his story though. As it turned out the Protasian militia wasn't so bad at first, but as time went on reality caught up with - and then strangled - the purity of the Cause(i.e. fighting the Imperials). Eventually the militia was, according to your brother, little more than a criminal band. At least the Imperials had a goal, had discipline, had Commissars to keep the worst excesses under control. Not so the militia. So when the chance presented itself - in the form of the Maiden - Jax hid away on a heavy lift shuttle and left Protasia. The crew found him and nearly booted him out the airlock, but old Captain Simeon took pity in your brother and allowed him a place among the crew. His Portasian background meant he had some useful skills and his loyalty to the Captain ensured that he was eventually promoted to lead the security detachment aboard. When the old man died the command passed to his son, Corben, and Jax transferred his loyalty to him. Now, he'd be most interested in hearing YOUR story as well!

"OOC: My e-mail account showed no update post form this blog this weekend, even when I checked it this morning it was empty. (Except the usual junk mail.)" Maxi, is reading about our destination. Crime level, civilization level, nobs, mobs and maps are some areas that interest him.

"OOC: The comment before was written before I read the other comments, this post is a response to the upper notes." Maxi haven't travelled extensively in warp so he takes comfort in his ease. And his esteem for some of the others is so low already that he thinks their temperaments is just another "colourful" trait he has to live with. He even questions Xerza judgement (telling her) for thinking that the acolytes could function as a team outside her leash. Note: This post was the one I tried to write, please delete the other same one.

I wanted the info before i made contact, but OK Nothing much too tell, the planet went too shit and I went on too better things. Its water under the bridge and the bridge is burnt. Seeing as we are family brother I will let you call on me ones, the favor will be free, just name the name and the name will go beyond the veil. Spend it with care.

Max studies: Sepheris Secundus is a cold and forlorn world that would be completely unimportant save for two things; it is fantastically rich in mineral resources AND strong and stable warp currents between Sepheris and Scintilla means that travel between the two worlds is both fast and safe. And Scintilla is a world raped for natural resources for thousands of years, making mineral imports a necessity to keep its manufactories churning. So since the early days of the Calixis sector, the two worlds have had an almost symbiotic relationship. SS is a feudal world. During the Age of Strife its slipped into barbarism, and by the time the Imperium reclaimed SS, it was a sparsely populated world ruled along feudal lines, with a technology level reminiscent of pre-industrial Terra. Since Compliance (a term used to denote a world that has surrendered to Imperial forces and included into Imperial society) SS's population has swelled immensely to meet the ever-rising demands for ore. A King (or Queen) rules the world as Imperial Governor, with vassal nobles (Dukes, Barons etc.) controlling hordes of serfs that do the actual mining work. The world is still primitive though, with most of the mining done using pre-industrial methods. But hey, 2 billion men with picks and shovels can mine a lot of ore, especially when there is so much of it and when said ore is chocked with rare minerals and metals. Only the upper elite has access to Imperial technology; technology they use for their own amusement and to keep the serfs in their place. No matter how much you hate your masters its hard to rebel when you've got sticks and stones, and the oppressor have carapace and autoguns! SS has a significant mutant population according to reports, and by extension a somewhat higher number of psykers then is the norm. The mutants keep to the deep mines or live in abandoned tunnels and sections. Dealing with them is highly impractical - i.e. not worth the effort. That is, as long as they hand over obviously dangerous psykers they are mostly left alone. Because the psyker harvest is quite good, the Inquisition used to have a secret holding station on SS, where the bulk of high-power psykers were held pending Black Ship arrival. Normally this is an Arbites task, but in the case of SS it was deemed too dangerous, and the Ordo Herticus took a personal hand in the running of things. A few years ago, back in 993.M41, mercenaries staged a well-coordinated attack on the facility, freeing hundreds of psykers (the report is highly classified - but Xerza has released it to you). The most potent ones were taken away by the attackers, but the rest we loosed upon SS. Many perished in the cold wilderness or were hunted down by Inquisition kill-teams, but some got away. Over the past three years there have been numerous instances where such psykers have caused trouble, often by allying with mutant populations. Nothing really new there. Max has hunted rogue psykers before. What is disturbing is the fact that parts of the report have been censored and several attachments seem to be missing...

Haxtes and Jax: Jax is obviously curious as to how his baby brother made ito into the Holy Ordos, but being a wise man he knows that asking too many questions isn't something the Inquisition encourages. Before you part ways you get the impression that your brother is concerned about the future of the Maiden. He doesn't say anything directly - he's much too loyal to the captain for that - but he tells a few tales of the old days; nothing like now, with the ship plying the backwaters of the Golgenna sub with only a skeleton crew.