It has been a week since you awoke in the Medical bay of the Aegis. During that time, you have caught up on all of the paperwork, which really only required signing off on all of Zheeves' and Mu'randa's work. Yasha is awake as well, and the two of you have been eating ravenously and going through therapy to deal with the muscle atrophy.

You are back at full strength, but Yasha has changed. She doesn't have nearly as much brute strength as she once did, but is incredibly fast and flexible, to a disturbing degree. You are lifting nearly twice as much weight as she is, but she has you dead to rights in sprints by the same margin over any distance.

After once such workout session, you decide to head to the firing range instead of studying some new and interesting texts, while Yasha heads to her quarters to rest and meditate.

On entering the range, you are confronted by the sight of Mu'randa firing a boxy rifle down range. After studying it for a moment, you recognize it as a Tau pulse rifle, though without the bayonets at muzzle and butt that Monat favored. You politely wait for her to finish the magazine, as is common range courtesy, before drawing her attention.

Mu'randa safes her weapon before waving you over. "I know its not Imperial tech, but I've always respected its hitting power."

You study the rifle, "walk me through the upsides and downsides compared to your old kit?"

Mu'randa thinks for a moment, clearly looking for points of comparison, before unlocking a pair of pistol cases. In one is her hellpistol, in the second is a Tau Pulse pistol, a boxy thing that looks like a pistol grip with the last ten centimeters of a pulse rifle attached. "The best comparison as to the upsides and downsides is probably these two here. The hellpistol holds more ammunition, and has better penetration, but has a shorter effective range, shorter maximum range, and an abysmal reload time. Tau pulse-class weapons still have enough penetration to get through all but the best carapace, and can hit twice as hard with their plasma bolts. Care to try it out?"

You nod, and Mu'randa starts to show you how the weapon works. You have been looking for a pistol to replace your Foehammer for a while now. Despite its impressive appearance and hitting power, you have to fire it with both hands and practically shove the barrel into your target's belly to hit reliably.

For a side-by side comparison, you run two power packs back-to-back with the hellpistol. It rips clean through the steel plate targets, though you struggle to hit the ones further away, and the reload takes you almost twelve seconds due to the mechanics of releasing one power pack and seating the next one.

The Tau pulse pistol, despite your unfamiliarity with the weapon, performs admirably. The bolts leave impressive craters in the targets, and you manage to knock two of the targets clean off their mounts. The reload in particular is what most impresses you, taking only three seconds despite having to stare at you hands and go slow to get it right.

You exchange some more small talk about the upsides and downside of the two pistols before prodding Mu'randa about the rifle again.

"The pulse rifle actually has more magazine capacity than the Hellgun, but empties it quicker at maximum rate of fire. The range discrepancy is much greater, but the hitting power, penetration power, and reload rates hold the same from pistol to rifle."

You nod slowly, "the glaring downside is that Pulse weapons are not Imperial tech, recognizably so. That's going to draw ire in the wrong quarters. I'd like you to keep your hellpistol for formal, weapons-included, occasions."

Mu'randa considers this as she slowly secures all three weapons for transport. "You are right, of course. I'll have your pistol delivered to your quarters. Perhaps Jace can modify them somewhat to be less instantly recognizable?"

You blink, "Wait, my pistol?"

Mu'randa shrugs, "I got a second one as an apology from the trader, to make up for the fact that he couldn't get more ammunition for them. I've no use for it, but you clearly need a replacement for that shotgun-pistol. That has to be one of the most useless weapons I've ever seen!"

You raise one eyebrow, "It's a situational weapon, intended for close-quarters use aboard ships. It’s far less likely to punch through bulkheads or damage equipment than other slug-throwers. Any chance of securing more of these weapons, to equip the armsmen?"

Mu'randa shakes her head, "no such luck. I was lucky to get these three, and the Fire Cast certainly isn't going to hand over hundreds of the things. Besides, as you pointed out, that would mark our armsmen out as non-Imperial forces. Which would cause them to draw the irate attention of Imperial authorities. Better to leave them with their lasguns and slug-throwers."

"Alright. I'll be in my quarters anyway, dealing with another crop of paperwork before we head back to Dagda."

You are scarcely able to sit down before your microbead chimes with the signal that Kudo has a message from Inquisitor Ironside for you.

You know better than to ask for it to be couriered down. Vir would do it himself, due to the classification of the documents, but Kudo is blind as well as old. You leave a note on your desk in case Mu'randa stops in and head for the Astropath's quarters to pick up your mail.

Half an hour later, you are back in your office. Mu'randa has left a pistol case on your desk, along with a reminder about the Officer's meeting tomorrow afternoon. You store your new pulse pistol in your armory before opening the archaic letter. Moments later, you are scratching your chin. Inquisitor Ironsides wants you to pick up him and Lord Pyrus' team from Viking to further investigate the Terra Incarnadine. As you start to weigh the upsides and downsides, you notice the short postscript:

'Wanderer, Dark Angels Space Marines are showing interest as well. - Flamebearer'

Your breath catches in your throat. This could be a complication you really didn't need. Picking up Inquisitor Iornsides, and Lord Pyrus, is now a must. The real question is do you try to draw in more Mechanicus support, both to complete the work on the Terra Incarnadine faster and also to get in the way of the Dark Angels?