The War of Shadows

[Zephon]

Under a table, Bernard shook his ringing head. What was going on? An artillery bombardment? Would it be safer to run, or to stay in cover? In the semi-darkness, he couldn't see the exit, and the ground was still shaking.  He grabbed at Daath, lying beside him, and tugged his shoulder. The savant moved slightly, and then twisted to face his master, his small reading-lamp shedding pale light on Wyebold's relieved expression.

Taking the lamp, Bernard directed the beam down the length of the table, checking if any others had ducked under it with him.

[MarcoSkoll]

A brick flew through the air, arcing towards Lyra. With a crunch, it splintered into fragments in mid air as her energy field countered its momentum.
She glanced at the small panel strapped to the inside of her left wrist, checking the readouts from the field. In spite of a couple of impacts from debris, it was holding solid and reading green across the board.

Looking up from this, her eyes swept the room. As she took in the various walls, columns and remaining parts of the building, she spoke almost under her breath:
   "Oh, shaft me."

She was no architect or engineer, but she could see when a building was barely holding together as it was, even without what appeared to be an earthquake.
How many floors had there been above this one? Three, four, a dozen? She hadn't counted, but it was easily more than enough masonry to squash a human body completely flat if it came down.

She guessed they had mere moments to get out, if that. She didn't much like some of the Inquisitors there that day, but they didn't deserve to die for it. Raising her voice so loud it hurt, she yelled an order she hoped they wouldn't stop to question:
   "OUT! GET OUT!"

Raw fear giving her strength, she heaved Maya as fully into an over-shoulder lift as she could, snatched up the psyker's staff and charged for the destroyed wall.

[Swarbie]

Kai ran through the darkened hall, dodging bricks and other debris falling from the ceiling. There wasn't much time.

He saw Lyra running towards a destroyed wall. He could help others escape. He nearly tripped over a body.
It was an inquisitor, dressed in a grey trench-coat with a heart tattooed on his pale cheek. He was unconscious, but still breathing.

Kai hoisted him over his shoulder and kept running.

[Necris]

Jeremiah coughed spitting up a glob of crimson blood and pushing the upturned table from himself and rolling onto his knees he wiped his face which was slick with blood. Coloured light played across the dinning hall and it took him a while to realise that it was not from the stained glass of the windows which lay across the floor. Looking up through the shattered window the sky was a riot of swirling colour. Turning from the window he looked over the room, chandeliers had fallen from their fittings crushing several of the tables and one of the internal walls had collapsed his eyes moved over the room as it was being evacuated by his peers, landing on one of the chandeliers which lay atop the table his party had been occupying. Still unsteady on his feet he staggered over to the table looking at those caught under it.

Gar struggled under weight one of the spars from the chandelier had punched through his shoulder and he leaked blood across the floor, Jonathan the next in line after himself was dead his chest crushed an the youngest Edward was dying from a multitude of cuts from the crystals of the chandelier the worst of them had opened his throat, fortunately he'd been knocked out from the blow and his death would be without pain as he bled out. Belhast himself was completely under the heavy chandelier the full weight of it crushing his body, the bionics twitched in the death throws of the old man,

"Help the wounded, you sergeant come here."

The men moved into the room checking on the wounded the sergeant came to his side, they went to Gar kneeling down beside him.

"This is going to hurt like hell."

He gripped the spar that had punched through his shoulder the psi dampening had all but vanished more than likely due to the damage wrought upon the palace, as such he reached out with his mind touching the swirling power of the warp, it was turmoil out there the power of the warp throbbed around the world threatening to overload him again, thankfully he only needed a fraction of his power, infusing himself his body tightened and he felt his muscles react, pulling he spar snapping the metal from the chandelier, Gar cried out in pain as he was freed. Jeremiah turned his attention to the chandelier full and lifted it straining against the weight.

"Pull him out."

The Sergeant jumped moving to Gar and dragging him from under the metal frame before it crashed back down, Gar safe he turned his attention to the greater room.

"Silv!"

She came from over by the fallen wall caked in dirt and with blood down one side of her face she looked over the bodies and gasped.

"Get a grip Silv, I need you focussed, follow Gar out of here and make sure he is seen too."

She was in shock but nodded slowly looking at him her eyes pleading with his asking the questions she could not

"I don't know, but we're going to find out, go I'll come find you."

Jeremiah watched as Gar was carried away Silv following behind the sergeant lingered at his side looking at the blood that caked him.

"Give me your side arm."

He hesitated then passed his las pistol over watching as Jeremiah checked the weapon with skilled precision.

"Get out of here."

Alone he looked at Belhast and sighed as a sadness gripped him over the old mans death, he was after all everything he knew and despite the animosity they felt towards one another he was as close a thing to a father as he'd ever known, when his eyes snapped open he started then frowned as the rattled words issued from his mentors mouth.

"You flinched, not becoming of and Inquisitor."

"I thought you were dead lord, relax try to conserve your strength we'll get you out."

"No."

"What, but lord?"

"I said no, I've lived too long and I'll not have any more of these dammed bionics put in me."

"But my lord."

"I said no!"

His face softened as he saw the pistol.

"Is that for me?"

Jeremiah looked at the weapon.

"No it was for Edward he is dying, I was going to end his suffering."

"Do the same for me lad."

He hesitated at the request but nodded resolutely turning the gun towards Belhast.

"I grant you the Emperor's Peace, thank you old man."

Belhast nodded once his body jerking as the las round punched into his chest, turning he took aim at Edward.

"I'm sorry Edward."

He put a round into Edward's chest as well before tossing the weapon aside and offering a prayer to the Emperor for the both of them, when he looked up his eyes were hard orbs crackling with power, there would be a reckoning he would see too it. 

His eyes scanned the room again coming on a power armoured inquisitor, several soldiers were trying to help him up but he'd been struck by something that had dazed him, striding over he spoke his voice full of the power his body contained.

"Move, help the others."

They scattered as he reached down his muscles swelling as he reached out and pulled the inquisitor to his feet, thankfully he was only dazed from the blow he'd receive and could almost stand, supported he led him from the hall into the wider expanse of the Palace gasping as he saw the damage wrought to the building.

"We have to get out, this way."

He guided the heavy man from the building struggling under the weight as they exited onto the courtyard before the palace.

"Somebody come help me support his weight!"

[Koval]

I don't remember what happened too clearly. The last thing I remember was chatting away to Gideon and then suddenly there was this giant explosion. I didn't know where it had come from.

I obviously know this now to be false, but I suppose I'd initially thought a thermonuke had gone off, or something in orbit was targeting us with lance fire. Whatever the case, something had hit me on the head, and then the tremors had set in, knocking me to the floor. I'm told there was rather a lot of fire, but I don't remember that part, so it must have been one hell of a solid lump of masonry that got me.

The next thing I knew was that I was being helped up by another Inquisitor that I didn't recognise. My head was still absolutely pounding by this stage but it wasn't so bad as to be totally incapacitating. I could just about walk, albeit assisted by this other Inquisitor. He definitely didn't look strong enough to lift me, though, so he must either have possessed some seriously advanced augmetics, or psychic powers to increase his strength.

Even he wasn't strong enough to support me alone, though, so it was hardly a surprise when he'd called for help. We were outside in a large courtyard, and although I was fully coherent by this point, I still needed the extra measure of support, else I'd have been staggering about like a drunkard, and risked falling over.

"Somebody, come help me support his weight!" the other Inquisitor shouted, a little too loudly. Some of the others were taking some faltering steps forward, curiously intimidated by my size. Now, I'm not the tallest Inquisitor to ever walk across the galaxy, and indeed I'm closer in stature to a Squat than to a normal human; helping me along was therefore something of a challenge should my minder not wish to inflict a crippling back injury upon themselves. I'm rather impressed that this other Inquisitor made it as far as he did.

Thankfully someone approached from behind me, and I didn't have to even look around to know that it was Gideon. Surprisingly, the worst that had happened to him was that his jacket was slightly torn.

"I'll take over from here, Jerry," Gideon grunted, taking over and leading me out toward the other side of the courtyard. In spite of being an old man, Gideon was probably better suited to the job. Among other things, he had a highly advanced augmetic spine, so it wasn't as much of a challenge for him to help me along.

"My thanks, Gideon," I grinned weakly. "What happened in there?"

"Buggered if I know," he answered. "One minute I was chatting to you, the next I was on the floor and the place was a wreck. It looked like a bomb had gone off. We've got dead, you know."

"I saw," I replied solemnly. "I passed someone on the way out that had been crushed under a chandelier."

"Old Belhast," Gideon noted. "Cantankerous old git at the best of times, but even he deserved better than that. You still bleeding?"

I paused, and Gideon went behind me, apparently examining the back of my head.

"It's stopped," he concluded. "When ... whatever it was wrecked the place, this giant lump of ceiling fell on your head. Thought you were a goner, Ottakar, it damn near caved in your skull."

"I've survived worse," I reminded him. "I've been run over before."

"That thing with the power-trike doesn't count," Gideon chuckled. "For a start, it was one wheel, and for another, it bounced."

"Now now, you know exactly what I meant, and it wasn't the power trike."

"Oh, hush," Gideon sighed. "We'll have to argue some other time. First order of the day is getting to safety."

"Agreed. I think I can walk now."

"No, no, don't risk it, Otto. Better safe than sorry," Gideon chided me, leading me away from what had once been the Imperial Palace as it blazed behind us.

[MarcoSkoll]

Having retreated to what she judged would be a safe distance from the falling debris, Lyra set down the unconscious Maya. Falling to her knees from physical exhaustion, she watched the general flux of people trying to escape the imminent collapse of the hall.
In amongst the Inquisitors, she could make out Kai hauling two unconscious bodies from amongst the wreckage. One seemed to be the narcotic smoking Inquisitor from earlier - the other she didn't know. But even laden under with that weight, he was still making serious pace.

Coming back to her feet, she turned away from that in an attempt to try and avoid thinking about her dead peers, only for the driving desire all Inquisitors had for answers to take hold. Scanning the skyline, the devastation lead out from a large blast site centred... well, she didn't know for certain, but she could guess.
This was no mere mundane blast. Maya's reaction and the persistent tectonic effects, coupled with the fact they were under an eclipse... this was sorcery. That likely meant what she was looking at was the remains of the Astropath's sector - the souls of hundreds of psykers sold as the first sacrifice.

Lyra was snapped out of her train of thought by Maya's sharp scream. Pulling herself up to rest on her elbows, the psyker's breathing was audibly heavy.
Slowly and with ill-disguised anger, she asked the one question on everyone's mind, spitting each word out in turn.
   "What - the - hell - is - going - on."

The powerful undertone was back in her voice. Presumably, the psy-damping on the fortress must have disintegrated as a result of the damage caused to it. That was a good sign for Maya, but it could mean that all sorts of other threats could present themselves instead.

Staring into the distance, Lyra finally responded to the question.

   "I don't know. But I'm going to find out."

[Swarbie]

Fabio's eyes flickered, and then opened. He was lying in the court outside the now blazing Imperial Palace. Other inquisitors, either unconscious, badly wounded or dead, were laid out in a similar manner. Some were standing. Fabio saw the armoured inquisitor staggering about, supported by a far older, frailer-looking inquisitor. Fabio assumed he had heavy augmentation to be able to support such a weight. He looked up, and saw the bodyguard of the female inquisitor, the disapproving one, looking down at him.

"I'm Sergeant Kai Gillimore, currently in service to Inquisitor Lyra Rhodes," he said.

"Thank you for your assistance," answered Fabio. "I am Inquisitor Fabio Glosche. I assumed you pulled me out of . . . that?" Fabio asked, gesturing at the Imperial Palace.

"Yes," said Kai.

"Good. Now, please tell me, what in the name of all that's holy just happened here?"

[Kallidor]

There was a long burst of static before a voice piped up, "There was a significant psychic event in the proximity of the Astrapothic Choir."

Inquisitor Glosche turned and then did a double take. The voice had clearly come from the small child looking at him sweetly. Behind her stood a giant of a man almost entirely augmetic, his face hidden behind an ornate helmet although looking more closely it seemed to be less an item of armour and more a part of his head.

"What?"

There was a short burst of binaric from the giant and then the girl repeated what she had just stated, frowning a little. "Protocol: Allow me to introduce myself, I am Inquisitor Molovich Czernarvok. This is my Interrogator Arisha Dolan." The little girl spoke but it was the giant who gestured to the nervous looking young woman stood beside them that Fabio had only just noticed.

"I'm sorry," He frowned, confused, "You're an Inquisitor? You can't be more than twelve!"

"Correction: This bio-unit is merely an instrument of communication, I am Inquisitor Czernarvok." The giant tapped his chest lightly with a bionic paw. He rolled his jaw and coughed before forcing out a few words, his voice sounded like a recording of two lumps of rusty iron grating together washed with static interference. "It is more convenient. For me. To use. The flesh-voice. Of this unit."

"Ah, I see. I think. You said something about the Astropathic Choir?"

"I detected." Molovich continued using the 'flesh-voice', "Massive amounts of psionic power centred above the vicinity of the Astropathic Choir. A considerable event took place, reaching Beta-Mu force levels. Something serious has occured. There could be a possible breach."

[Swarbie]

"Dammit," said Fabio. "And here I go, leaving my daemon-hunting equipment on my ship because I thought this was going to be a simple discussion over certain matters. Goes to show you what happens around our kind, doesn't it?"

He took a slightly crushed lho-stick from his pocket, looked at it, shrugged and lit it, placing it in his mouth. He inhaled deeply, then looked around at the other inquisitors and the various members of their entourages.

"Sorry, where are my manners? Anyone for a smoke?"

[Kallidor]

The tiny, delicate fingers of the 'bio-unit' reached out and took a lho-stick. She touched the end to Fabio's own smoke and then took a long drag, the thick smoke curling from her mouth before she snatched it away with here nostrils, inhaling deeply. Molovich reached down with an augmetic paw and fixed the lho-stick to a cylindrical tube that snaked out from beneath his tongue. The Inquisitor did not breathe in but the lho-stick burnt down to the filter in moments before smoke curled out of a grille on Molovich's shoulder, the tiny louvres moving slightly to direct the smoke away. Molovich had no expression to read but the fleshless synthetic muscle of his jaw flexed and twitched and he augmitted a sigh of binary.

"Recollection: Telum 111001:1001 gamma oblique addition 1001 always used to tell the joke that one day these things would kill us." Molovich barked a few bursts of binaric and the little girl tittered. "He was always most amusing, Omnisiah rest him."

[Zephon]

"Personally, I would prefer a functioning vox-set."

Bernard Wyebold stood, leaving Daath to check Robert's injuries.

"The extent of these phenomena must be assessed. The city is burning around us. Without an organised effort, we may become trapped by fire. Spontaneous psychic events could begin to occur. The place to respond to disaster is not here."

Bernard turned to address the tattooed daemon-hunter directly. He meshed his fingers, and blinked upwards at the taller Inquisitor.

"In your opinion, are we in immediate danger from manifestations of the Ruinous Powers?"

[Necris]

"No."

Jeremiah pulled his ruined over coat from his shoulders tossing it to one side as he strode across to the smoking Inquisitor.

"I'll take one of those."

His face grim he took a ilo-stick and placed it in his mouth from his fingers an electrical discharge ignited it, looking at the rest he took a slow drag savouring the bitterness of it before letting it out of his lungs and discarding the remains.

"There was a massive disturbance in the warp a build up of psychic power, if we were in any risk of Daemonic incursion we'd know about it by now, it's still present now raging overhead in the sky."

He gestured at the sky as it shifted through colours his fingers falling from the sky point at the mountains in the distance where a cloud of dust hung in the air.

"but this was not a summoning it was an attack, the source was from there, but that's immaterial it won't be there any more, Eternity it gone."

He looked round at the gathered Inquisitors and staff of the palace.

"We nee to know who we've lost, and then we need to find out how this was allowed to happen."

He dusted off his clothing cut in the style of a naval uniform the double breasted tunic was black with black piping which held the dust despite his hands brushing them, his cold gaze turned towards one of the Palace guards.

"Inquisitor Crowe by the way."

He looked over the group then back at the palace.

"Has anyone tried to contact their ships in orbit?"

[Swarbie]

"Wait."

Fabio pondered for a moment.

"I do not have the most wide-ranging experience, but I believe there is a distinct possibility. A psychic event of such magnitude was either caused by an incredibly powerful rogue psyker, or the Astropathic Choir here succumbed to the warp. Given the security sweep before we arrived here, I doubt any rogue psykers are present on the entire continent, let alone this city.

"Therefore, we must assume that the Choir has been destroyed, giving off a psychic event of a cataclysmic magnitude in the process. Whether this was a most unfortunate accident or deliberate sabotage can be uncovered later. For now, we must focus on survival. An event such as this will act as a beacon for every daemonic entity in nearby warp-space. And for the destruction of the Choir to unleash such disaster, they must have been unprotected at the very last moment, after the psychic force had built itself up.

"I am afraid, my colleagues, that we are almost certainly going to face the daemonic . . . the Daemon . . .Daemon" He trailed off unexpectedly.

"Query: What is wrong?" asked Molovich.

Fabio fell to his knees and clutched his head. He groaned and his face spasmed.

"He's being possessed!!!" shouted an inquisitor. "Shoot him!"

"Not . . . possessed . . ." groaned Fabio. "Memories . . . best left  . . . hidden . . . psychic event . . . get . . .me a . . . psy-dampener . . . or an untouchable. Hurry!" He roared the last word, pain filling his head.    

[Koval]

"Or we could simply do this."

By this point I'd recovered my wits sufficiently to walk again. Miners are inherently a tough breed, and even though I've not been near a mine for years now, I'm no exception; the power armour helps, of course, but sometimes there's just no substitute for a good old-fashioned hard head.

And if I could walk, I could certainly swing a punch, and a hell of a punch at that. I had to be careful, though, because the thing about power armour is that it amplifies one's physical strength to patently Herculean levels. I've seen a Space Marine punch straight through the side of a bunker before, and although there was no danger of me imitating such a feat any time soon, I was still more accustomed to holding back than actually making use of my enhanced strength.

It therefore came as no surprise, to me at least, that when I marched up to my stricken comrade and clocked him round the head, I knocked him out cold. It wasn't difficult. He was on his knees, which brought him down to my level, so I didn't need to reach up to strike him. One half-hearted knock to the back of the skull later and he was on the floor, no longer suffering from whatever psychic strain was afflicting him. In fact, I don't think anything was afflicting him any more.

"That was a bit extreme," Gideon sighed from behind me. "You really didn't have to knock him out."

"Statement: How very crude your methods are, Inquisitor," added a taller man who struck me as more of a Mechanicus adept than a member of the Inquisition. Disturbingly, he seemed to be speaking through a twelve-year-old girl who came up to my shoulder, seemingly linked to her master by a MIU or something similar.

"But they certainly suffice," I countered. "Now then. Change of plan. Get this man some medical attention; that's going to be one hell of a bruise."

Noticing that everyone else seemed to be smoking, I pulled a lighter and a box of lho-sticks from a pouch on my belt, drawing one out and putting it to my lips. I could hear Gideon very audibly sighing behind me as I lit it, stowing the lighter away with practised ease.

"I'm Ottakar Grant, by the way. Ordo Xenos Norikian. Nice to meet you all."

[Necris]

He moved from the group of Inquisitor heading for the guards that stood off to one side looking lost and disorganised.

"You men should have trained for this, get a grip of yourselves and get to work helping the wounded and defending the palace, where is the governor?"

"We don't know."

"And your captain?"

"Dead sir, he was killed when the explosion tore through the lower levels."

He looked over them his eyes falling on a junior watch officer.

"Then you are in charge, you know the protocol?"

He nodded nervously, as he pointed at another man.

"Good, you come with me."

He stalked off towards the palace's shattered grand doors, pausing on the threshold he looked inside, the building creaked and groaned as the damage settled in, this was the most dangerous time as the building settled it could mean the difference between standing and falling and it was impossible to tell while the noises of the stresses the building was now under echoed, only in silence would the building be safe. He took a breath and stepped over the threshold into the crumbling building.

"Sir it is not safe."

"Safety be dammed we need to know the names of every Inquisitor present, we need to have a list of the dead."

"The lists will be in the archiver, it's a level down but the lifts won't work."

"Then we'll walk."

"We?"

"I need a guide."

"But the palace, it could collapse."

"If it was going to do that it would have done so already, relax take a deep breath and get ready to run like hell."

He set off running into the building the guard hesitated more than willing to let the young inquisitor head off too his death but the fear that he could survive and come back forced him to follow weaving through the fires and piles of masonry they moved through the grand hall to the security offices close to the entrance the heavy door gave Jeremiah little pause as he kicked it from it's hinges inside the security room the guard led him down the winding stairwell which was more or less in tact, a fire ball had forced it's way up the stairwell and scorched the walls black with superheated air which left the space with a suffocating heat, the guard rested his hand on the handrail a cried out as the hot metal seared his skin.

Yelping but more alert the pair of them made their way down and into the archive room the archiver sat dead in the centre the terminal black.

"There is no power to it, we can't pull the records up."

"Hook up that data-slate and stand back."

Jeremiah moved round the terminal his stretched his hand out hovering it a few feet from the ground.

"I can't give it much power enough to transfer the data so when this happens be quick."

Lightning leapt from his fingers striking the terminal it danced over the metal surface as he stepped closer he moved round the rear grabbing the power coil, the guard leapt forward as the screens came alive his fingers worked quickly setting the machine to task to transferring the data files to the slate, the noise of the powers Jeremiah was using was deafening and was forced to shout over the din.

"How long?"

"A few more seconds!"

He released his grip and stepped back flexing his fingers as he did, electrical discharge danced up his arm as his power dissipated but the terminal lived on.

"Got it."

"Good lets go."

The two of them retraced their steps being forced to press up against the warm wall of the stairwell as the roof far above crumble and collapsed in, when they' reached the security office he paused again.

"Whats in there?"

"It's the armoury."

"Open it."

The guard obeyed without question cycling the security code he opened the heavy reinforced door.

"Get what ever you can carry and head outside."

The guard collected up half a dozen las guns slinging them over his shoulders he picked up half a dozen more including a sack stuffed with power cells and headed out, Jeremiah kicked open a ammo crate and poured the solid slugs from it over the floor before filling it with las pistols and a few more las guns, he paused looking at a locked case containing ceremonial swords shooting it open he claimed one for himself and noted that five bolt pistols also lay in the case, he tossed them into the crate followed by the few spare clips of bolt rounds and shut the lid locking it in place he picked it up by one end struggling with the weight he drew power to himself and headed from the office moving carefully across the hall he stopped his eyes falling on a figure with a tattooed head, he was trying to free himself from under some rubble.

"Someone get in here now!"

Two guards looked up from helping their friend unload his lasguns and came running over to him to help him.

"Not me, him over there get him from under the rubble."

The two men nodded went to the trapped man, with their help he was freed in moments and was being dragged from the palace Jeremiah followed them out moving to the group of Inquisitors.

"These may prove of some use."

He dumped the crate on the ground opening and claiming the sword he'd chosen for himself and a pair of pistols both las pistols.