The War of Shadows

[Necris]

"We were to disrupt the local forces in case something was discovered, If an inquisitor found out what was going on they could be removed before they could gather enough force to challenge it."

Jeremiah sighed, Gerhan was talking without much forcing the slight applications of pain had loosened his tongue enough.

"What of Hess?"

He turned at Gideon's question.

"Was he involved?"

"No."

"Explain."

"He was dead when he arrived, I oversaw the security detail when he arrived, I've seen enough dead bodies to recognise them."

Jeremiah turned back to Gerhan.

"Who's pulling the strings?"

"I don't know."

"Silv?"

"He's telling the truth."

He looked back at Gideon.

"He doesn't know anything useful, he's more a pawn than Brant, wait, what is the beacon for?"

"I don't know."

"He's lying."

Jeremiah's fist snapped Gerhan's head to one side.

"I swear I don't know."

"Lies."

Jeremiah touched him electrical charge passing from his hand into Gerhan the scream echoed in the office, Gerhan sagged forward.

"It's a fail safe, should we be undone it's a means of escape, a dropship, it summons a dropship."

Jeremiah stood upright, looking at Gideon.

"So finally we know what it does."

[Swarbie]

Fabio narrowed his eyes at Lyra's question. "Someone . . . expendable. No offense meant to any staff members here, but I would suggest one of them, unless Czernarvok has a trooper he's willing to spare. I'll go second."

[Zephon]

"Allow me, Lord"

The voice of the Skitarii rumbled up from somewhere within his armoured chest. Stepping around Fabio with surprising delicacy for such a bulky figure, he pushed through the opening with a scrape and his rifle ahead. Lit from behind, by both the luminator and bunker lights, his shadow slid past him along the passageway, though the shade posed no object to his augmented eyes. As he walked cautiously forward, and Fabio slipped silently through the opening to cover his advance, the soldier's silhouette merged with the darkness of the stairwell, seeming to flow downwards to meet it. At the corner, the Skitarii paused briefly, checked Fabio's position and swung around it. For a fraction of a second, there was silence, before training overruled confusion, and the word echoed back up to the assembled Inquisitors.

"Clear."

The staircase was shallow and short, the end barely out of sight from the passage. Resting there was a large power unit, a metallic blocky thing. A power cord lead to the side of a cup or cradle formed of wiring, cogitator parts and several data plugs, dangling loose. From the rear, like the stem of the bizarre goblet, a thick twisted cable looped into the ceiling.


Bernard tucked the laspistol away into a pocket. He felt a mild pang of guilt as he did so, keeping a weapon that could be put to good use outside. To conserve ammunition, he had ordered field executions to be carried out with blades. His thoughts on orders, he found he had to give. The tanks were ready, the mortars were firing and nothing he could to would help Czenarvok work faster. He resolved to check on Rhodes' noisy hole in the wall and Gerhan's interrogation. He made to head away from holo-table, and found Oliver, his adjutant, accompanied by Warton and Nefile. They all had matching backpacks, and slung autopistols, giving them the appearance of some kind of paramilitary group. Oliver spoke first,

"We've got the newer files, and whatever else we could grab."

"Casualties?"

"FLAX was wiped out. HEIGHT is dead. SWINDLE and TALLOW are helping our wounded, which is the rest, none critical."

Oliver spoke in codenames. Perhaps it helped him maintain detachment. Bernard gestured the others over to Daath, and led Oliver away from the table.

"We have time, tell me what happened."

Away from the others, Oliver allowed himself a long sigh, and a grimace.

"They were outside before the quake. They got back just as we were coming out, so I sent them ahead while we fixed up Skye's leg. A pair of cackling things flew out of the sky. Daemons, all teeth and barbs. We got one, the other left. A bit later, Dioneo sat down and shot himself."

The narration continued, as Oliver explained how they had found the Enforcers, helped them marshal the refugee column. How Elissa had been trampled by a panicking mob and left dazed and bleeding. Raimond had been getting a group of stragglers moving when they had heard screaming and gunfire from behind, and when they looked back, they'd seen some kind of multicoloured fire flare out of ground. Everyone caught in the flame had been dead when it cleared, except Raimond, who wasn't even singed, but when they'd reached him, he was mute, seemed deaf, and had to be led into a half-track. Artell had seemed fine, even optimistic, until he started shaking and cursing himself for weakness and the tremors got worse, and so had the curses until they gave him Morphia and put him on a makeshift stretcher because all the vehicles were full.

[Caralinus]

Molovich ran a bionic hand over the steel flank of the Chimera, like a rider stroking a faithful steed before a charge. This was no mere horse however, it was a glorious work of the Omnisiah, a blessed machine and Molocih already mourned for the staunch vehicle that accepted its death so nobly and awaited the final command with grace and dignity. When first roused the Chimera, crudely named Furious by its human crew, but designated 11201/B, had shaken as if sickly but as Molovich installed the explosives and communed with the Machine Spirit its pumping ceramite heart had calmed.

He was unaware of how close the daemons were but 11201/B was ready to meet them and blast them back to their hellspawned pit.

[Necris]

Gerhans skin was scorched his face bloody he'd released everything to the three of them, Jeremiah had taken a step back from the interrogation exhausted as he was from his exertions with his psyche, his breathing was strained and difficult and he was having trouble focusing his mind, he knew he needed time to meditate gather his focus and his strength.

Gerhan had told them of Brant's plan, to manipulate the astropathic choir to expose them to the perils of the warp and the resultant explosion which should have claimed the world, destroying it entirely and creating a warp storm to blind eyes from witnessing events that were to unfold over the Nexus Belt Worlds, Brant had been a willing sacrifice as had they all for they'd known it was for the greater plan, the masters through Brant had honoured them and lorded gifts on them for their fates, it had been a glamour and now that they had questioned Gerhan and forced him to speak his secrets that had been shattered he sat sobbing at his foolishness, Jeremiah felt almost sorry for him and his mind thought of others in his Order, Kyriaciou would condemn the man to a life time of penance, Altus and Vepres would end him killing him for his weakness, Necris would see him spend his life in a penal legion, though his actions had been darker of late though he could expect as much he had been Altus' student.

Silv looked ashen at the depth of the conspiracy, the revelation that Brant had given himself wholly to this was beyond her understanding, the very nation that he would willingly submit to suicide was anathema to her, maybe he had been under a glamour himself duped into submission and suicide by a more powerful force than himself if that had been the case then the players still to be uncovered were perhaps a greater threat.

The beacon was their best lead, a powerful transmitter it was installed in case their plan was uncovered it would allow them to escape and deliver an exterminatus shell, which meant their time was limited their deaths could come at any time delivered from orbit by one of their own ships.

"We have to tell everyone about this."

"What about him?"

His eyes slid to Silv.

"Leave him under guard for now, we'll have to deal with him at a later time."

Gideon nodded in agreement.

"Silv could you gather the Inquisitors, and only the inquisitors clear the command centre."

She nodded and stepped from the room, he turned his attention to Gideon.

"Still think I have something to do this? That I can't be trusted."

His tone was in all seriousness as he pushed himself to his feet.

++

Silv strode into the command centre her voice raising up high full of authority.

"Everyone not with the Inquisition out!"

The whole room turned to regard her.

"I mean it! if your not attached to the Inquisition get out now!"

She moved to a vox intercomm and activated it.

"All Inquisitors are required in the command centre Immediately, this is at the Request of Inquisitor Gideon Antal. I repeat All Inquisitors are required."

Her voice echoed round the base transmitted through vox units so all could hear her, she stood and looked at the staff still in the centre.

"Well?"

They started to move out giving the acolyte space, she watched as they departed and sighed leaning against the central console with the display of the city.

[MarcoSkoll]

As Lyra stepped into the room, Fabio turned to her.
  "Lyra... tell me what you smell."
  "Smell?" She stopped, slightly confused, before carefully sniffing the air, "Nothing really."
  "Neither could I. And that worries me. A sealed room should develop an odour."
  "So, it's not been sealed long,"
  "...or there's another entrance.", he finished the sentence, raising a laspistol Lyra hadn't seen him take out.

She mirrored him, drawing her revolver. She had left the lasrifle in the bunker above - it was a weapon for open spaces, not tight corridors, but she was sure she would need it again before the day was out.

Carefully moving across the chamber, she panned the handgun to face a gap in the shelving that housed the cogitator, when a voice came from her left.

  "And what the hell is this?"

Lyra whipped around, aiming for the speaker. Her eyes came to rest on Maya, who looked more amused than alarmed at having a pistol pointed at her. The Inquisitor cursed under her breath, and lowered the pistol. It was all too easy to forget the psyker was in the room.

  "What is what?"

Maya gestured at the goblet like part of the contraption that the room was housing. Lyra hadn't really looked at the machinery yet, having focused more on the who, than the what. Trusting that Fabio and the Skitarii were capable of searching the room on their own, she holstered her pistol, and moved in to have a better look.

Whatever the "cup" was, it was nearly empty, but for a tiny amount of fluid in the base. Pulling a pencil from the inside pocket of her jacket, she prodded at it, drawing out a long dribble as she lifted it back out.

  "Pretty viscous stuff. Although it might just have dried out."

Putting the pencil down, she carefully probed the surface of one of the clusters of wires with her gloved hands, noting a number of deliberately cut connections. Was this modification, or sabotage?
She had scarcely started looking over the device when her vox squawked. Listening to the transmission, she muttered a number of particularly colourful profanities, before turning back to Maya.

  "We've got to go back. And you're going to have to come upstairs as well.", she pointed at Maya, "Sorry, but it's just not safe being down here alone."

[Swarbie]

Fabio turned to the skitarii. "Can you stay here and guard the area? It would seem that I am needed upstairs."

"Yes, lord," replied the skitarii, his voice harsh and electronic.

"Good man. Just stay near the stairs. There should be another exit in this room. Make sure nothing gets in." Fabio handed the skitarii a small comms-link. "Just call if you need help."

He walked off up the stairs. The skitarii backed up until his foot brushed against the lowest step, then crouched, letting his weapon scan across the room. 

[Zephon]

"I expect this is important, acolyte, to empty the command centre."

Bernard spoke without rancour: he was annoyed by the breach of sense and protocol involved in ordering command staff away from their stations during a battle, but in truth they had done little but collect reports since Czernarvok had outlined his plan. The suspense had begun to build, and Bernard welcomed whatever information had been wrung out of Gerhan. However, as the drawn face of Antal's (or did this one belong to Crowe?) acolyte swung towards him, he feared his words could have been taken as a challenge, or rebuke. He attempted a thin smile, and tried to adopt his most reasonable tone.

"You have until Czernarvok's Chimera detonates, around eight minutes. At that point, we may be required to further coordinate our counterattack. The commander knows to what to do after the explosion, but should anything unexpected occur..."

[Necris]

Silv looked at Bernard with scorn she hated being referred to as acolyte without any other notation she had a name and she would rather people used that than her rank, especially when it was spoken with such contempt.

"Orders from Inquisitors Crowe and Antal, they have information they need to pass on, and I think they should be the ones to do it."

She took a seat and waited for them all to gather.

++

Inside the office Jeremiah looked at Gerhan with cold eyes before turning and leaving him in the company of two guards, as they left he turned to Gideon.

"Would you mind relaying the information gathered to the others, I need to gather myself before I face others, these past hours have been nothing short of a drain on me."

He gestured at an empty office before heading off in the rooms direction, entering he cleared space on the floor before folding his legs under himself and sitting on the floor he rested his hands on his knees and closed his eyes.

"Blessed Emperor, grant me the calm and clarity of your holiness."

His breathing slowed as he brought himself back in line, restructured his psyche and gathered his powers mind.

Even in this state of meditation he could feel the maelstrom outside, the unremitting hatred for the living the fear and the desperation it flooded into him threatening to overwhelm him to swallow his resolve and pull him down into his own pit of desperation, in this darkest thoughts he contemplated taking his las pistol and putting bolt through his temple to end the potential suffering to come.

He forced himself to think of better times and happier days he remembered his childhood and his life as an enforcer, his training to be an Inquisitor while it was hard and almost broke him had been the best days of his life. He focussed on the happy thoughts the best parts of his life and he returned himself to balance.

His eyes snapped open and he let out a long slow breath.

"Now lets get to the matter at hand."

[MarcoSkoll]

Gideon looked around at the collected Inquisitors. As it looked like most of them were there, he

   "As most of you are probably aware, Lord Gerhan has been detained as a traitor to the Imperium, based on evidence Inquisitor Crowe recovered from the residence of Inquisitor Brant. With the urgency of our current situation..."

He hesitated slightly, staring down at the dataslate he held for a moment. He blinked a couple of times, composed himself again and continued.

   "... we pushed ahead with interrogation. With that scarcity of time in mind, are there any objections to me summarising?"

There was a general murmur of agreement.

   "Under Fifth Action interrogation, Lord Gerhan has confessed to his part in these events. Although he cannot name any other conspirators or explain the limited scale of the psychic event at the Astropathic choir, his confession agrees with the basic details Inquisitor Brant 'provided'. Possibly most importantly, he has identified the purpose of the beacon we have recovered."

He paused for a moment to ensure he had everyone's attention, but it was rather unnecessary, as the mere mention of an answer had been enough.

   "Lord Gerhan's testimony is that the device in question is intended for summoning a dropship - an escape craft."

A hubbub rose up, between those arguing for summoning the craft, and those that thought such a thing was a huge risk.

Unseen in the chair she had set herself out of the way, Lyra mustered yet another frustrated look, and tried to avoid contemplating the merits of giving herself a concussion on the nearby table.
This was why she didn't really like working with quite so many other Inquisitors. Everyone with their own view and the expectation that their way was the only way.

   "QUIET!"

Pushing herself out of her chair, although she was still a head shorter than most of the others, she continued.
   "No. I've said it before - truth and belief are not the same thing. I know I'm not the most experienced here, but I've seen enough to know that if someone is behind this kind of thing, you destroy any evidence that could lead the Inquisition to you. Underlings you might have count as evidence - so you don't leave them a way out. "

   "It's doubtful it would even work at all.", Bernard muttered, clearly irritated that attention had shifted back to the device. He gestured to the holodesk that was displaying the tactical maps, pointing at a marker someway separate from the others.
   "We've not heard from anyone further out than here, which is only a few clicks. The transmitters we have here should be capable of over a hundred times that. Based on what Inquisitor Czernarvok said about the transmitter's range, and accounting for how much the distortion and interference will affect things, this claimed dropship is going to have to be within..."

He manipulated the controls, with the map zooming out, and a large red ring creeping in from the edges.

   "... about this twelve kilometre radius, even allowing for the greater efficiency of a coded signal. If they've accounted for the distortion, they'd be inside this circle."

Ottakar looked over the map for a moment.
   "And if they haven't accounted for the distortion?"
   "Then we have to assume the craft is out of range and unable to play any part in events."
   "But 12 K - that's well within the exclusion zone around the fortress, so... ah.", Lyra trailed off as she realised her mistake.
   "Inquisitor Brant was involved in this, and he had a lot of power here. If he needed to smuggle a craft in, he could.", Fabio finished for her.
    "Yes, but we can assume that they wouldn't be able to land too close to the Fortress because of the risk of being physically seen. The same could be said of the PDF barracks, the Arbites precinct... that's a major residential area..."

Bernard tapped at the map, smaller circles appearing centred around various zones, the map fading to grey inside them, leaving coloured patches remaining.

   "That's still a lot of potential hiding places."
   "Less than before. We can categorise them by likelihood, then try and direct forces to search the areas. It's not good, but it's marginally safer than trying the beacon."

There was a heavy pounding on one of the doors. Without waiting for a reply, Kai pushed into the room.
   "How dare..." began someone behind Lyra. She couldn't be bothered to turn to work out who it was.
   "Oh, go boil your head." she snapped, before turning to the sergeant. "Kai?."
   "Ma'am. Sirs. The 'creature' has been sighted. I'd guess there's three minutes before it's at the defences. If you'll accept my advice, it would do a lot for morale if the men up top didn't feel you were all hiding down here."
   "Of course."

Picking up her lasrifle from the table, she primed it, then turned to the other Inquisitors.

   "Who's with me?"

[Caralinus]

Molovich squawked a burst of binaric and his remaining skitarius spoke for him, "The Chimera is prepared, it waits only for the final order." Molovich directed his forces to exit the building and he followed them out, the Praetorians accompanying the Inquisitor to the furthest edge of the compund, ready to receive the enemy.

[Swarbie]

Fabio stood. "I agree with the sergeant," he said. "I should have enough time to prepare one last surprise for that hell-fiend. Maybe to ward some of the soldiers too, if luck is on our side."

He turned. "Jeremiah, would you join me?"
"Of course," the other inquisitor replied.

They strode out of the room and out into the courtyard. Fabio stopped a guardsman carrying a missile launcher.

"Soldier, is your aim true? Are you stout of heart in the face of our enemies?"
"Yes, lord inquisitor!"
  Fabio nodded, satisfied by the precision of the man's answering salute. He was in control of himself.

"Give me one of your krak missiles, soldier." The guardsman beckoned to one of his companions, who proffered the tank-busting missile to Fabio. He took it, then, without asking, took the guardsman's knife. He paused.

"Jeremiah, do you specialize in protective wards or offensive wards?"

[Necris]

"I am stronger in the offensive, Silv is strong with defensive ward."

He looked to the walls gesturing with one of his fingers.

"That will be the main focus of the attack."

He checked his side and cursed.

"I left my side arm in the office inside, To hell with it I won't need it."

He strode off towards the wall section he'd indicated it was just off to one side of the main gates, as he strode over he summoned soldiers to him gathering them round him in an defensive formation, he turned to them talking.

"Any of you show any signs of turning from this battle and I'll show you there are worse things than a commissars bullet."

He flashed them a wicked grin

"And when you make it through this I'll make sure there is a round of drinks waiting for you."

He turned his attention back to Fabio

"Offensive ward?"

[Swarbie]

Fabio looked meaningfully at the krak missile held in his arms.

"For this," he said. "One final surprise."

He set the missile down on the ground and then ran his hands over its outer casing.

"If you can carve some hexagrammic or pentagrammic wards on this thing's casing, it'll hurt the daemon a lot more. I'll go ward some of the other defenders if you'll take care of this for me. If you know any other simple wards that'll burn a daemon, they'll make a good addition."

[MarcoSkoll]

Standing atop the perimeter wall, Lyra could see the daemon prince for the first time. It was still fortunately a few hundred metres away, seemingly delayed by the perverse hacking apart of bodies.

It made a sudden movement, hurling something several dozen yards vaguely towards them. It was only when the terrified screams reached Lyra that she realised that it wasn't a something, it was a someone. The sound stopped abruptly with a solid crack as the body smashed into a tree.

   "Emperor's teeth. We're fethed.", Maya's exclamation was hardly morale boosting, but it summed up the fear that saturated the atmosphere.
   "Lighten up...", Lyra gestured to the cluster of other Inquisitors down behind them, "...it's far from a lost cause. "
   "Forgive me no longer treating the Inquisition as invincible. I've been around you a little too long."
Lyra smirked.
   "Insubordination? Am I not supposed to shoot you for..."

Lyra's energy field shorted out with a loud crack and a heavy lead bullet whipped past, so close to her head that her hair twitched in the shockwave, embedding itself in a concrete barricade behind her. Instantly reacting, she dived for the cover of the parapet, screaming a warning.

   "SNIPER! FIND COVER!"

The defences descended into mayhem, with troops, Inquisitors and support staff trying to get behind what cover was available. As Lyra shifted into a slightly more dignified position, a soft beep indicated that her energy field had reset itself.

Her vox chirped, and while the voice that came over the transmission was slightly distorted, Lyra still recognised Fabio's slightly world weary tone.
   "What's happening?"
   "A sniper just missed me by about two centimetres."
   "Then Gerhan must have alerted allies to interfere with our defences. We don't have time for this."
   "It's more than time that's threatened. We've got a Chimera packed with several tonnes of Fyceline in the courtyard. If they've got a missile launcher... well, we'd be shafted."

She turned to Maya:
   "Any chance of you tracking them psychically?"
   "Not at that kind of range. If they're any good, they're probably too far out for auspexes too.", the psyker looked apologetic.
   " Don't worry about it. I think I've got an idea."

She activated her vox.
   "Inquisitor Czernarvok, are you there?"

There was an agonising few seconds before the reply came through. Presumably the Inquisitor had needed to reconnect his 'voice'.
   "Affirmative."
   "Is there any chance you might be equipped with auditory assayers?"