“Why do you look so pleased with yourselves?” Rogue Trader Emberlyn asked her First-Mate and resident Inquisitor as they clinked cups in the Command Sanctum.

Her First-mate Vera, and Inquisitor Stella looked at each other and put down their drinks. “Lord Captain, we were not expecting you,” Vera said, looking uncomfortable.

“Lord Captain… with the utmost respect – have you heard of knocking, first?” Stella added.

“Have I heard of- ?!” Emberlyn mocked. “Have you heard that this is my ship and I am legally allowed to go wherever I want, whenever I want? Now tell me what’s going on.”

“We’ve fixed the core machine spirit. We wanted to wait until the testing phase was over, but all systems aboard the Illustrious Vexation appear to be fully operational again. You can thank Vera for locating a new machine spirit,” Stella answered.

“Well, that’s fantastic news!” Emberlyn clapped. “Now I need you both to gear up. We’re going on an asset recovery mission.”

“Really? No questions on how we did it?” Vera said, with a silent protest from Stella.

“That’s why you’re my number one, Vera Von Vista. You get the job done and I don’t need to ask how,” Emberlyn replied.

A blue blinking light appeared near the door. Emberlyn walked over to it and switched on the Vox-box.

“Lord captain,” the Vox-captain said. “The Starhowl Kinband are arriving with your shipment.”

Inquisitor Stella perked up. ”Shipment? I didn’t realise you’d hired those Kroot mercenaries again. Tell me you haven’t stolen more tea shipments?”

“Oh you know, the Kroot seemed good at tracking, so I had them retrieve some things – spare parts and such,” Emberlyn replied. “Not tea, I promise.”

“A wise choice, Lord Captain,” Vera said.

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. Inquisitor Stella left no stone unturned, deciding to investigate what sort of curiosity-tech Emberlyn had requested. When the Kroot arrived with their haul, Stella was immediately there with a scanner. Spare fuel canisters, datachips, ration-crates, Auspex parts. An odd collection, but all useful considering the ship’s current state. Stella cracked open a crate which refused to let her scanner see very far into.

Blood drained from her face. Transparent canisters with some sort of petrified organs – what were these? Stella started digging through the cargo. Then she saw the claw. Unmistakable, as she’d narrowly avoided getting disembowelled by such a fearsome bioweapon a couple of months ago. These were Tyranid parts and spare biomass.

The Kroot were trying to infect the ship with Tyranids. Stella pulled herself away, sweating, hyperventilating, trying to be brave but failing. This required drastic action. Since the Genestealer incident a few weeks ago, she was always worried and now she knew – she knew.

The Inquisitor called it in. Orders: burn the biomass, take out the Kroot aggressors. Voidsmen threw themselves at the Kroot, in a surprise attack. There were casualties on both sides. Half-way through the bloody battle, The Rogue Trader herself showed up, physically restraining the Inquisitor.

“They’re trying to destroy us, Emberlyn!” Stella screamed.

“You found the trophies I ordered. This is a misunderstanding, Inquisitor, stand down or be spaced,” Emberlyn replied.

“What?!”

“I requested those bio-samples for study and taxidermy. The Kroot are not our enemy! Stand down.”

“By the Emperor!” Stella dropped her sword and relinquished command of the boarding forces.

*

Later that day, the Rogue Trader offered her sincerest apologies to the Starhowl Kinband. Payment in ship supplies and the strongest traitorous men from the Deck 31, uprising helped smooth things over. Along with an invitation to a leisurely hunt on the nearest planetoid, with the promise that if the Kroot won, they would get twice as much payment for the genetic samples they delivered.

“Let the games begin!” Emberlyn exclaimed, raising her sword towards the Kroot.

It turned out that the Kroot were MUCH fitter than any of her voidsmen, taking out the weakest of her flock with relative ease. The hunt was short and brutal. Afterwards, Emberlyn, exhausted from the fight, raised her white flag and bowed to the leader of the hunt.

“To the victor, goes the spoils. I must admire the supremacy of your tactics, Rak’Thar Starhowl,” Emberlyn said, before clearing her throat and attempting the next sentence in kroot-ish clicks and whistles (and overpowering perfume rather than pheromones), “K’Ras jKhv’h-Hunt-feKL.”

The sentence was absolute nonsense, although nobody dared take aim at Emberlyn’s clumsy attempt to say ‘good hunting’ in Kroot.

*

Upon their return, Inquisitor Stella stood next to Emberlyn, the Rogue Trader produced a small Kroot pup from her voidcoat as she waved the Kroot shuttle away. Had she…? She hadn’t.

Inquisitor Stella breathed heavily. “Emberlyn.”

The Rogue Trader hugged a perplexed xeno puppy. “Yes?”

Inquisitor Stella leaned in. “What is that?”

“This is a Kroot pup,” Emberlyn answered.

“Yes, I gathered, but why are you holding it?”

“I wanted a Kroot puppy. And soon you’ll learn, Stella, what I want, I get.”

Stella huffed. “You vex me.”

“You’re just jealous.”

Stella looked at the rest of Emberlyn’s entourage to get some sort of vindication. “Can you believe this?!” Stella growled.

Hethellana, the Aeldari assassin, Blim the medic and Greg the Servitor nodded in unison. This was their Lord Captain – they believed it. There was no vindication to be had here. Although… something in Greg’s soulless green servitor eyes sympathised with her – an unsaid feeling that Stella was not the only being in the galaxy who had been completely swept up in Emberlyns wake.