A slightly smaller Mess

Charles: there are few that can't be.

the knight laughs at that

Noctis: that is all?

Hera: "And those can be solved with good men and lasguns."

He holds a straight face.

Raeven: "If there was anything else, it escapes me. What have you heard?"

OOC: So are they all just waiting for the invaders to start digging?

Ooc: Waiting for them to start hitting planetside. Laurence is just sat on a hill with the A team waiting for shit to go down.

OOC: Ahh

Charles: maybe something with more punch than a lasgun.

"Don't be so cynical lad. You'll make it through this I'll bet"

Noctis: nothing.

Hera: "You underestimate the guard."

"I appreciate the confidence sir, but i doubt any of us are getting out of this one."

Raeven: "He is the greatest of our enemies. That is all you should think of him."

Charles: you underestimate how hard an ork is to put down. They can survive headless for days.

Hektor: not with that attitude lad.

Noctis: were the universe that simple, sir. If we do not understand the path that lead to the betrayal of those such as him, how can we avoid it in the future?

Hera: "Killed plenty of them. You must be doing it wrong."

"I just plan on taking plenty of them with us, sir."

Raeven: "Loyalty. Be loyal to your emperor, and demand the same from others."

Charles: never underestimate ork resilience. the warlord ghazhkull survived a bolt shell detonating inside his skull.

Hehktor: been in tighter scrapes than this, we'll pull through. *chuckles* just got ta look out for yerself.

Noctis: you do not seem the type to preach blind loyalty, sir.

Hera: "Thats a warboss. Not a boy."

"And my men, sir."

Raeven: "Blind loyalty... An interesting way to describe loyalty to your species."

Charles: he was a boy when it happened.

Noctis: my emperor, and my species, are not the same thing sir.

Hera shrugs "Double tap."

Raeven: "Forward thinking, and wrong. The Emperor's goals for humanity are in its best interests."

Charles: point being... lasguns are often not enough. I would have thought you'd know that already.

Noctis: I have no doubt. But that does not mean I follow him blindly.

Hera: "Yeah, but you dont need anything fancy."

Raeven: "Did Robute tell you that?"

Charles: depends on the ork honestly.

Noctis: no sir. Do not misunderstand, I am a loyal servant of the emperor just as you are. But it is not through simple obligation or instruction that I am.

Hera: "Explosives. Lots of them."

Raeven: "So long as your loyalty is true, and will remain so... And i have said before, brother. Do not call me sir, or my lord, or any such nonsense."

Charles: anyway, moving on.

Noctis: My apologies, brother.

Hera: "Yeahhh... Aren't we heading out to kill heretic astartes again? Sure this is the best time for ork lectures?"

Raeven: "You would do well not to quote philosophies about faith and loyalty, it is easily seen in another light, to that i know you intended."

Charles: *rolls eyes* We'll go over heretic astartes later, okay? It'll take days to get there, we've got time.

Noctis: Blind faith and zealous devotion beyond all reason are too easily manipulated. they are what has caused mankind to stray from the emperor's vision.

Hera: "Whatever you say, 'boss'."

Raeven: "And what has held chaos back all these centuries."

Charles: *chuckles* anyway, moving on...

Noctis: Not blind faith. Not zealous idiocy.

Hera: "Another xenos race? necrons maybe. We seem to be friends with them now." *Quizzical eyebrow*

Raeven: "You have not fought alongside sisters of battle, have you?"

Charles: another time. There is a surprising amount to cover with the greenskin.

Noctis: Not yet.

Hera: "Other than how to kill them?"

Raeven: "Then you have not seen the power of faith. We in the astartes may not call the emperor a god, but it is hard to argue the results."

Charles: how to kill them is in there. If you know about an enemy, you can often figure out the how to kill them part by yourself, maybe even come up with new ones. 's how Yarrick does it.

Noctis: maybe.

Hera: *mild dreamy expression at the mention of yarrick* "Well fair enough."

Raeven: "Actual saints brother. Winged angels."

Charles: anyway... *chuckles*

Noctis: I have seen such. I doubt it is as simple as 'faith'

Hera: "What...? I like men who get shit done."

Raeven: "it is not quite so simple, but, at its core. It is faith."

Charles: I noticed. *winks* anyway. As i'm sure you're very aware, there are several types of ork that... to say the least, do not fit with the usual 'character' of the greenskin that we imagine.

Noctis: *pauses* if you say so, brother.

Hera: "They do have their... Vocations."

Raeven: "I would have to explain the warp to you brother... Not a topic of polite conversation."

Charles: this is, it seems, actually something almost....genetically programmed.

Noctis: as you say.

Hera: "We got an explanation on that one or just 'xenos'?"

Raeven: "Did robute tell you much of the warp?"

Charles: only theories, such as perhaps the orks being a genetically engineered race gone awry.

Noctis: I wasn't exactly his personal protege brother

Hera: "Really?... Eldar or Necrons?"

Raeven: "You seem to have been taught well by him."

Charles: *Shrugs* none can say.

Noctis: he told me some things. The rest is my own.

Hera: "I see..."

Raeven: "I see why you were granted your rank."

Charles: anyway, these orks are often referred to as 'oddboyz'. one example is, the mek, be it mekboy or big mek. I'm sure you can figure out what he does.

Noctis nods

Hera: "Seen one or two."

Raeven: "Independence of thought like yours is not expected."

Charles: from the moment he is born, a mek has an innate understanding of technology and its workings. From the instant he is first granted consciousness, he knows how to make an engine, how to make a gun, how to make all sorts of things.

Noctis:... It is not?

Hera: "Seems unlikely that came about naturally."

Raeven: "Not at all, you spent a good amount of time with ultramarines, didn't you?"

Charles: incredibly unlikely.

Noctis: In the unnumbered sons, we served in units comprised of brothers from many chapters, not unlike the deathwatch.

Hera: "I'd have money on the eldar. Sounds like their sort of meddling."

Raeven: "You all fought like ultramarines, brother. It is why our... less tempered brothers dislike you."

Charles: maybe. It's possible they may even outdate them. A few older eldar and necron records make reference to orks as a pre existing threat.

Noctis: We've hardly been operating like space wolves, brother.

Hera: "Older than necrons and eldar... Dead, we assume?"

Raeven: "And the primaris sent to the wolves, will be resented for just that."

Charles: presumably.

Noctis: well... the wolves did fight like wolves

Hera: "Good. One less thing to worry about."

Raeven: "Did they indeed?"

Charles: one way to look at it aye.

Noctis nods

Hera: "Necrons and eldar are bad enough"

Raeven: "And Guilliman allowed such? For the wolves to fight together?"

Charles: Agreed.

Noctis: not quite. They fought beside us, but in their.. more savage manner. Seems it's in their blood.

Hera: "I'm still not sure on that, yknow. Making peace with xenos."

Raeven: "The wolves have their own traditions of initiation. That they have the blood will not make them accepted, as your skin does not."