Fellowship of the Dice

Haxtes walks along with the others, silent, but keenly aware of the surroundings.

The psyker keeps his head down, saying nothing at this juncture. As has been pointed out, this is Rego's quest. They're just their to assist the priest.

Rego offers up his best imitation of a smile before addressing the soldier. "We are here to tend to the needs of pilgrims who walk the path of righteousness. I carry supplies that must be protected from those desperate souls who would take advantage of the kindness of the church. So though you are not an inn as you so kindly pointed out, room and protection is what we seek none the less. Of course your loyalty to the church would be compensated"...

The solider isn't impressed with anything Rego has to say. "Look Father the Church already...." then Rego mention compensation. "...hmm let me get my Sgt. he's always willing to listen to a good offer." The goes into the tower, which can't be but a few rooms large. He returns with a grizzly looking Sgt who is missing one eye and walks with a limp. "So you looking to bribe us for a place to park this rust bucket and spent the night? We get a dozen bribes a day. What do you have? Make it quick, and one offer, I don't have time to play around."

Rego offers up a pleasant smile this time, "Do you have a fork truck?"...

The Sgt chews on the stub of a cigar, "I don't care for riddles, speak plainly Father or sleep outside."

"No riddle I just thought you wouldn't want to lift a crate of edible prayers by hand. It weighs about 250 pounds", Rego quips. "As I am in charge of distribution I could see a crate falling off the truck as we journeyed here. So what do you say my son?"...

The man smiles, "Now that's speaking plainly." He whistles for a soldier to come over, they have no forktrucks or unloaders here, its simple watch tower, and so he puts his men to work. In the hour things are settled, you are parked inside the barricade, a crate is unloaded for the men, and you spend the knight in the safety of the military structure. There is some action that night, wild beasts, nothing serious and you are on the road the next morning heading through the dust bowl like wasteland ahead of the pilgrim parade of worshipers that set out at first light along the same road.

The truck bounces along the pitted road as you drive through the signs of a camp. Tents and shacks are destroyed, burned, blown up and torn down. Scorch marks litter the area. It seems perhaps a week or more ago this small pit stop was attacked. Today there is no one present, and you don't slow down to search it. Solaria shakes her head, "Poor sods."

The ground turns from open wasteland to rising hills to steep mountains up ahead. The road becomes rocky and pitted, and Solaria starts having to pay attention to it. Going up tips the truck little by little making those in the back have to hold on. After two hours of this the sun is starting to set and you can see up ahead a bridge that spans a great canyon. Planted around the bridge is a Heavy Stubber and a dozen PDF forces. They have a Rhino parked across the road as a barricade and shelter. As you get closer you notice carrion birds circling over the ravine just behind them.

Haxtes has been thinking about something on the trip and suddenly shakes his head. "Where are we going again?" he croaks.

"Some holy Shrine or another." The psyker shrugs. After having his soul branded by the presence of the God-Emperor, maintaining his life and sanity intact, minor ecclesiastical sites no longer hold much awe for him. If it were a Shrine interring the remains of a Primarch or something, that would get his interest peaked, but that doesn't seem to be the case on this planet.

He stands up in the truck as they get closer. "Maybe they just were in a fight, and the vultures are picking through the remains? Or are the PDF soldiers dead, and we're pulling up to an undefended post?" When he gets within range, he pulls on his mastery of the Immaterium, sensing for life.