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The Aquitaine Sector: A Tale of Troubles, Trickery and Treachery.

Started by SpanielBear, May 05, 2012, 06:00:00 PM

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SpanielBear

Chapter 1

Like all good stories, it begins with a death. An execution in fact. When the Explorator Fleet Magellan left the Shipyards of Mars in 527. M41, it took only a single warp-jump for the Admiral's eyes to begin to spin whilst blood trickled from his ears, and he began to babble insanely about new worlds and strange civilizations. In short, presenting all the signs of incipient chaotic possession. The ships Commissar, Octavius Pilgrim, reacted with commendable swiftness and mercy by shooting the Admiral in the face.

After a suitable period of mourning, Pilgrim assumed control of the fleet in The Emperor's name, and began to blaze a trail of discovery and conquest through hitherto unexplored sectors of the Ultramar Segmentum. The fleet survived pirates and warp storms, Xenos subversion and treacherous mutiny, and carved new territory for the Imperium.

At last, after almost a hundred years of constant travel, the fleet found themselves adrift amongst a sea of dead stars in what is now called the Aquitaine Sector. Here, Pilgrim's medicae informed him that he would be lucky to survive even one more trip through the warp, that indeed it was a miracle that he had kept his faith an sanity after so long a voyage. He could return with his fleet to the Imperium heartlands, receiving the medical aid and adulation he surely had earned. Pilgrim's choice was instead to have the medicae flung from the nearest airlock, and to press on to the next star; The Emperor would guide his path.

Pilgrim died on transit, yet on arrival the fleet found living worlds lying pristine before them. His loyal followers felt it no presumption to give Pilgrim's name to one of these new worlds he had lead them to, and in recognition of his service the Ministorium eventually concurred, though there were some mutterings that perhaps consulting the Emperor's Tarot first might have been wise.

Centuries passed. Colony fleets arrived, and Imperial settlements began to flourish upon the worlds and moons of the Aquitaine Sector. This area of space was truly a jewel in the Emperor's crown, with no less than nine habitable worlds, five of which fell under "Garden World" classification: Caliope, Euterpe, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Pilgrim's Choice. These, alongside several gas giants, mineral rich moons and asteroid belts, made The Sector intensely desirable for the families of settlers competing for the title of system administrator.

Such good fortune is rare in the dark millennium, and all too often what seems to be a blessing comes with a hidden cost. Aquitaine sector was no exception. On the fringes of Imperial space, local power became more decentralised, a crisis that grew into a near catastrophe when the paperwork instructing the formation of Arbiter Outposts within the sector became lost within the Imperial bureaucracy. With no force of the Imperium's might to keep them loyal, the planetary governors began to reduce tithes and gather more power to themselves. Imperial guard forces in the sector began to resemble little more than dregs of well funded and armed PDF forces. It was becoming clear that those that controlled Aquitaine, controlled a kingdom.

This was the situation discovered by Inquisitor Kallith. His investigation into a weakening of faith throughout the fringes of the Ultramar Segmentum uncovered a cancer- The Emperor's grasp exceeded that of his servants. His Name was not forgotten, but the Imperium was regarded by the inhabitants as a distant force at best, at worst, a myth. The trappings of Imperial control remained, but it was clear that it was a force on paper only. And for Kallith, all the evidence suggested that Aquitaine Sector was the source of the rot. Investigating further, Kallith discovered the sector engulfed in a 'game of thrones', with noble families struggling for overall control. Like all such games, to list all the players would be tedious, but Kallith soon realised that the strongest contenders were four wealthy dynasties.

Firstly, House Selaachi,  rulers of Euterpe, now a productive Agri-world and the food source for the sector.

Secondly, House Gorbia, Rulers of Pilgrim's Choice with close ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus. After almost a century of trade, and piracy, the family held a near monopoly on the sectors mining industry.

Thirdly, House Le Fay, rulers of Terpsichore, cunning diplomats with ties to Imperial servants, Treacherous governors and Xeno ambassadors.

Finally, House De Coppola, rulers of Thalia; the family owned the vast majority of merchant shipping that plied the local space-lanes.

Inquisitor Kallith was determined to restore Imperial control to the sector. Furthermore, he determined that by doing so he could solve several other crises brewing in the Imperium. Over many years, he began to plant agents and fuel unrest, bringing the already chaotic sector to a state of near anarchy.

Inquisitor Valentine (one-time Imperial scribe, one-time Ecclesiarch, one-time Tithe-Deacon, briefly Brigadier General and full time con-man) had been recruited by Kallith some years before. Having spent the intervening years developing a reputation as a puritan (while secretly honing skills as a recongregator), he was somewhat surprised receive a message from his old master.

It requested that Valentine and his warband come to the Aquitaine sector to lend Kallith some assistance. The old inquisitor described his goal to de-stabilise the sector, and described some his tactics- the rebel cells formed, the false saints martyred, the famines painstakingly engineered. There was a problem however, Kallith explained, which was that things were going too well. Assassinations were proceeding without a hitch. Cells were receiving anonymous tip offs of PDF raids well before they occurred. Mysterious equipment failures crippled installation defences moments before his rebels struck.

In short, it was becoming obvious that there was another force at work in the system, equally eager to see the worlds plunged into chaos and war. There had been almost no clues as to the nature of this force, Kallith told Valentine, until now. The rebel cells on Euterpe had been provided with new technology that allowed them to speak with insurgents on other planets almost instantaneously- FTL communication, or close to it. Such technology was well beyond anything that Kallith had provided for them, and indeed such a device was almost certainly of Xeno origin. The inquisitors had a lead.
Have Fun, Stay Sane, Enjoy the Madness