Occultus Confessio, Viper-class scout sloop; Profile, Crew etc.

The Crack crew of the Occultus Confessio have a 40% base chance to perform actions in combat. Notable members of the sloops crew are listed below: Commander Samus Sapientia, the captain of the Occultus Confessio, has prominent political connections including Good Reputation/Peer (Administratum, Imperial Navy, Nobility, and Schola Progenium), was promoted from the ranks of Naval Intelligence. As a free action once per Strategic Turn Commander Sapientia may inspire any member of the bridge crew to give them +10 bonus to a single test. Lieutenant Urbanus von Karlack is the sloop's first officer and the third son of a major noble House from the Jericho Reach, and possesses Peer (Ecclesiarchy, Imperial Navy, and Nobility). While on the bridge of the Occultus Confessio, as a free action once per Strategic Turn Lt. Karlack may grant one re-roll of all failed tests involving Detection aboard the voidship. Ship's Master is Laval de Nuptialem, a void born member of the one of the ship families that have run the sloop for generations. As a free action the Ship Master Nuptialem may grant grant one re-roll of all failed tests involving Maneuver tests during the Strategic Turn. Additionally, Master de Nuptialem also has a 70% chance to perform any Operate (Voidship) tests thanks in part to his familiarity with the Occultus's systems. Engsinseer Prime Theremin, is notably different than most Tech priests in that he has no visible augmentations or bionics, and is apparently conversant in the Imperial Creed, and willing to politely discuss the tenants of the Omnissian faith. One per day, Theremin can double the Detection bonus of the Occultus Confessio for three Strategic Turns, however doing so overloads and depowers the Detection Array and the ships Auspex for 1d5+3 Strategic Turns. Fleet Commissar Cassia Bronte, is currently inspecting the Occultus Confessio on a circuit of the ships of Battlefleet Jericho. However, Inquisitor Gan's interference have effectively short circuited her duties and stranded her aboard the scout sloop for the foreseen future. Once per week, the Fleet Commissar Bronte may execute 1 Crew Population to restore 1d5 Morale. Principal Navigator Crustacious Ortellius, is never actually seen as he never leaves his quarters and rumor has it that he is horribly mutated, like a mass of tentacles surrounding a massive eye or some other horrid form, the stories vary. He counts as a good quality Navigator. Ship's Confessor Decima Horvath, is an obese and elderly confessor that is attached to a four legged augmentic life support frame. She who works tirelessly to promote the Imperial Creed amongst the crew and weed out heretics. Once per week, the Confessor can give a sermon to restore 1 Morale. The Viper is the smallest warp-capable vessel used in Achilus Crusade. The Viper is a fast scout ship, with immensely powerful real space engines. It is used for short-term spy missions aimed at specific hostile regions: unlike, for example, a Dauntless light cruiser, which will conduct broad patrols over a wide area, the Viper charges into hostile territory at high speed. There it uses powerful auspex and augur scanners to collate as much information as possible, before retreating to a safe warp jump point while usually pursued by enemy ships. Given its specialist role, the Viper is unsurprisingly limited in many ways. It is a tiny ship, with very restricted space for additional Components. Furthermore, it is not armed, as weapon batteries would draw vital power from the sensor arrays and engines. Instead, the vessel is loaded with attack craft. Speed: 11 Void Units Maneuverability +30 Detection: +25 Hull Integrity: 25 Armor: 14 Turret Rating: 1 Space: 19 left/of 29 No weapons Arrester Manifold : With this Component installed, any time that the vessel decelerates, such as when its crew makes an Adjust Speed, Adjust Speed & Bearing, or an Evasive Maneuver action. the helmsman gains a +10 bonus to the Operate (Voidship) test. However, these manifolds require careful upkeep. If the Operate (Voidship) test is failed by 3 or more degrees, the Arrestor Manifolds have become damaged and the vessel loses 1 Speed until repairs are made. Dampened Drive Baffle : This Component grants a +10 bonus to the Silent Running Maneuver. Any attempts to detect the vessel (any actions that use a ship’s Detection, such as the Active Augury Extended Action) suffer a –20 penalty. Defensive Countermeasures : Single Use : When deployed, the countermeasures apply a –20 penalty to all Ballistic Skill Tests made to attack the ship for the next 1d5+1 Strategic Turns. Torpedoes suffer a –30 penalty instead. Once used, the countermeasures must be refilled and refurbished with a successful Upkeep Test outside of combat (and at a technological system with void yards) before it can be used again. Empyrean Mantle : When traveling on Silent Running, all Tests to detect this vessel have their Difficulty increased by two degrees. Espionage Bridge : This ship gains +5 Detection when using Active Augury. Extensive Stores : Double the time a ship may remain at void without suffering Crew Population or Morale loss. When making Extended Repairs, repair 1 additional Hull Integrity. Graviton Flare : When triggered, all vessels in the star system suffer a –30 to their Detection for 2 Strategic Rounds. However the archeotech relic requires 24 hours to recharge after each use. Further it damages the sensors of whatever ship its attached to, requiring extensive repairs to restore functionality. Hydraphurian KL-247 Jamming System : While this Component is active, this ship may not perform Silent Running, but any Focused Augury Tests made to scan it suffer a –20 penalty. Librarium Vault : An ancient collection of writings and manuscripts has been collected aboard this vessel. Accumulated Data: Any Investigation Skill Tests made aboard this ship gains +10. Medicae Deck : The Medicae Deck adds a +20 bonus to all Medicae Skill Tests performed within this Component. The number of patients that may be treated without penalty is increased to three times the character’s Intelligence Bonus. Munitorium : As part of its new role as an Inquisitorial support ship, the Occultus also needed a store of weapons for acolytes and Inquisitors, either to aid them in personal missions or to arm populations against uprisings, and as such a large, well-secured munitorum was installed on board by order of Dragur Gan. As an added security measure only the Ordo Hereticus cell aboard the Occultus were given the clearance to open to the gene-locked munitorum. Well Armed : The munitorum lets the Throne Agents aboard the Occultus re-roll the first failed Influence test to acquire weapons of the following classes (Bolt, Chain, Flame, Heavy, Las, Plasma, Low-Tech, or Solid Projectile). It also gives them a +20 bonus when requisitioning either Flame or Las weaponry as well as requisitioning ammunition or grenades. Volatile : If this Component is damaged, it explodes. The ship takes 2d5 damage to Hull Integrity, and a Component of the GM’s choice is set on fire (most likely the voidship's Extensive Stores or its Launch Bay as both are adjacent). Perinetus-pattern Launch Bay (Dorsal): Craft attempting to land in a Hold Landing Bay must pass an Ordinary (+10) Operate (Aeronautica) +Maneuverability test to land safely (squadrons should make one test per squadron). Success means they land safely. Three degrees of failure or less means they veered off to make another attempt. Failure by four or more degrees indicates that the craft has crashed into the bay (or one craft for every degree of failure, in the case of squadrons). The Component is immediately considered Damaged. Outside of combat, craft can spend more time landing. In this case, there is no a Test, but it takes a half hour for each squadron to land. A Perinetus-pattern Launch Bay can hold up to two squadrons of attack craft. The Occultus Confessio is equipped with one squadron of Fury interceptors, half a squadron of Starhawk bombers, and two Aquila landers, as well as an unarmed Chariot-pattern Jetbike and a Penitent Engine. Temple-shrine to the God Emperor : A section of this ship has been set aside to offer prayer and praises to the Master of Mankind. Inspiration : Increase Morale permanently by 3. W-240 Passive detection Array : When on silent running this vessel may perform any Detection actions without penalty.

Upon arrival in a new system, the first task that Commander Samus Sapientia undertakes, after ordering the voidship to go to silent running, is a long range sweep of the system with her vessel’s passive augers. This is not merely a matter of prudence or caution. Neglecting it means not only operating blind to any potential dangers deeper in the system, but also lacking more than the faintest chance of locating the planets and other resources of the system that prompted the ship’s journey in the first place. As such, it should be assumed that such a scan is performed shortly after leaving the Warp, unless there is a reason not to do so. Long range scans are more intensive than most such efforts, requiring the gathering and processing of enormous amounts of input and data. They typically take 1d5 hours to complete, and any sudden course changes or collisions require the process to begin again. As such, a sudden attack is among the circumstances that might prevent the scan from being carried out immediately. Pirates and raiders often make use of their targets’ blindness to their surroundings in planning ambushes. A completed long range scan automatically provides the following information: the System’s Star, the presence and identity of any dominant or weak Solar Zones, the presence (but not details) of any active vox traffic in the System, and the presence and location of Planets, Gas Giants, and similarly sized System Elements. A Challenging (+0) Scrutiny+Detection Test can refine the results further, providing one of the following pieces of information per Degree of Success: the presence and location of a single further System Element (selected at the GM’s discretion), the presence of life on one or more Planets within the System, or the origin(s) of active vox traffic within the System. Further details can only be gained by close range sweeps (such as the Active Augury Extended action) or directed scans (such as the Focused Augury Extended Action).

IN-SYSTEM TRAVEL While voidships travel at almost unimaginable speeds even without entering the Warp, the vastness of space means that crossing a system can take a considerable amount of time. A typical trip from the safe jump points at a System’s edge to a world in the Primary Biosphere can take weeks. As a general rule, crossing the entirety of a Solar Zone in a straight line from its outer rim to the inner edge takes a ship two weeks. The trip through a dominant Solar Zone might take up to three weeks of travel, and even a weak Solar Zone rarely takes less than ten days to cross. System Elements are usually spread out within a Solar Zone, so that it takes a minimum of two days to travel between them. All of this assumes that the journey passes along a straight line through the system, but there is no guarantee that the orbit of a given System Element places it along such a line, which could add days or weeks to the trip. Though a swift ship can cut down on travel time somewhat, the sustained engine output and momentum of more ponderous vessels often matches the advantage of smaller vessels over a long trip. Determining and modifying travel times is done at the GM’s discretion.