The mood as we made shift from Null was dark as the void itself, for though the machinations of Eynoch had been denied in the final accounting of it, the undertaking had cost the Argyntum Stellae and our allies so dearly as to render any notions of victory more bitter than unmatured sacra. Under such a pall it was inevitable that talk of retreat circulated in some quarters, though as I understand it, such baseless rumours were quashed by Canticle and his agents before they could become too widespread.
The passage of time while embarked upon voidcraft can become distorted, for whatever diurnal cycles one might be possessed of at embarkation are quickly rendered moot, but it had been many months since our departure from Null when I received a wholly unexpected invitation to attend the Vox Volnoscere upon the Tithonus. We had been meeting somewhat regularly by this time, though only as often as his duties allowed.
Naturally, one does not want to keep as august a figure as the Equerry waiting, and while the invitation included all the necessary warrants for a priority transfer from the Hikialani there were of course excursionary protocols to be followed which meant that close to another two days had passed before I found myself waiting amid a group of perhaps thirty other men and women before the doors of one of the consilio locus that adjoined the strategium of the Tithonus.
Casting my eyes about the assemblage I saw no one I recognised, though I noted that most among the crowd wore the uniform of the Sector Morqub fleet though a handful wore the shades of midnight I had come to associate with the houses of the Navis Nobilite or were clad in kind of ceremonial brocade and finery that could only mean they hailed from regiments of the Exercitus Imperialis.
At length, a pair of finely wrought servitors materialised from somewhere, bearing ewers of water and wine as well as platters of gaanjel re’l upon salvers of stannum and I made towards one with haste lest the opportunity for refreshment be lost. Welcome as the food was, the wine was unfortunately rather uninspiring in comparison to the kyndhiwæsi I had grown to favour, but as the auld saying goes: beggers should be not choosers.
Almost as suddenly as they had appeared, the servitors began to withdraw and as a soft chime drew my attention back towards the doors that I now noted were inlaid with delicate bas reliefs of lacquered chelon shell and kohl I saw why, for moments later they were drawn open and from the starkly lit room strode the Vox Volnoscere. Halting a few paces into the room and glancing around at us all, he half raised his hands in supplication. “My friends” he began “I am sorry to have kept you waiting, but if you will indulge me I would begin briefing you upon the undertaking that lies before us in Heliopolis…
Illiatariu. C., Rememberancier Documantist Minoris. To Walk Among Demigods. A Treatise Upon The Nature of The Argyntum Stellae., Published 863.M33, Sector Heliopolis, Segmentum Pacificus.