[mcjomar]

Datestamp: 018M42
Location: Ilithyia
Thought for the day: It is better that a thousand innocents die, than a single traitor be allowed to live.
Report recorded by: Interrogator Jack Jomar

"It started simply. We arrived on Ilithyia due to the increasing tensions in the Cuir subsector, and the actions of Cardinal Tobias Kiedrow.
War. The citizens demand it, and so does the Cardinal. Indeed, it may be his actions and fervour that may have led to this place. It certainly garnered the attention of my mistress.

"We set down in a location suitably obscure and out of the way and made it secure for our purposes. Intel gathered suggested a downed craft, a traitor craft, one which our superiors needed investigating immediately. We secured transport to the area, an overgrown woodland location. Seeking to arrive unnoticed, we advanced from a reasonable distance on foot, myself, my mistress, and the operative we have come to name "Victoria". It may not be her real name, assuming she even still has one, but it serves to identify her to us.

"The craft had broken apart in the air, and scattered its innards across the landscape. Victoria advanced first, and scouted the area, while myself and my mistress advanced at a somewhat more measured pace. We knew the locations of the more survivable pieces of the craft, and Samantha and myself moved toward one collection of debris, while Victoria investigated another collection to our west.

"In so doing, she discovered another group of people had arrived, apparently for similar purposes. According to her helmet footage, one broke off immediately having collected one item, leaving behind a cyber-mutt to cover his tracks. His two minions shouted at our group to interrogate our purposes. Given that they were directly investigating the wreckage we had come to acquire under the auspices of the Inquisition, Victoria did not waste her breath and simply charged. My mistress and I followed behind, covering her as best we could with our weapons.

"Victoria successfully engaged one of the two opponents, bringing him low quite quickly with flurries of attacks from her poisoned blade. The other opened fire. The cyber-mutt, meanwhile, attacked Victoria in turn. I fired my shotgun with a solid hit, but not enough to stop it permanently. Enough, perhaps to throw off its targeting, as it failed to successfully engage our assassin. Given that it had reached melee range, though, I charged in to provide support, concerned by the loud explosion I had heard north of my position, but choosing to prioritise supporting Victoria over investigating the noise.

"The gunman, meanwhile, was distracted by the sound of a very large chainsword coming from our north, thankfully to attack him, rather than ourselves. Twice he brought his attacker low, before she charged in to deal with him. Unlike Victoria, however, this lady assassin did not succeed quite so thoroughly.




"Eventually she drove him off, but not before he pinned my mistress behind some trees. For my part I was busy charging into combat alongside Victoria, and using my shock maul to deter the cyber-mutt from paying her attention while she firmly dispatched the minion with the overly large helmet.



"While all this had been going on, another group had successfully made off with a suitably large chunk of the useful wreckage and intelligence.



"For our part, with enough of our opponents dispatched or in flight, we were able to begin investigating the remaining wreckage ourselves. We discovered a surviving heretic, but he escaped before we could capture him for interrogation.

"Further investigation showed a dearth of remaining useful intelligence. Our hands tied, we left. Later investigations of other operatives on the planet suggested that the intelligence had ben related to the Alykia sector, and thus vital to planning of any invasion. We had hoped to intercept it, or ensure delivery of such, but instead found ourselves sidetracked, as I will relate in a subsequent appended report."

[mcjomar]

Datestamp: 018M42
Location: Ilithyia
Thought for the day: There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt
Report recorded by: Interrogator Jack Jomar




"Our next assignment, provided by our superiors, was to provide bodyguard services to the Cardinal himself. A risky proposition, given the controversial nature of his statements in some quarters.




"The crowds, and even some guardsmen, had turned up to observe the speech of the Cardinal in person. Some Arbites were on duty also, and a number of other individuals had appeared to observe the proceedings.

"I and my mistress opened the doors of the chamber, and investigated the surrounding area. Initially appearing clear of anything other than the aforementioned crowds, we declared it clear for the Cardinal to proceed - we wanted him to successfully deliver his speech in any event, although on a private note we would have been happy if he had lived or died. A quiet martyr is just as useful, if not moreso, as any fervent preacher.





"Victoria provided escort to the Cardinal himself, and he began to speak to the crowds. Alas, while his opening was strong, it was not long before someone disagreed. My mistress had already recognised the individual who had shot at her in our previous mission, and had informed me to set off one of our pre-prepared smoke charges on his location. He was aiming at the cardinal, as was another individual in the crowd!

"Victoria barged past the Cardinal, interrupting him, and vaulted down into the crowd and proceeded to interrogate and threaten the individual there. My mistress took aim at the hostile target, and fired her plasma pistol, executing him like a dog with a bright blue bolt to the head. Alas, she fired too late as he was able to get a lasbolt shot off directly into the chest of the Cardinal.

"The preacher dived back towards me. He vociferously derided our abilities - a fair accusation given he had just been shot - and made demands. I was less than convinced, given his rather overblown delivery and attitude. However, we had a mission, and while his life or death was irrelevant to me, I felt that the political choice of keeping him alive would look rather better to our superiors. So I elected to go along with his request, while suggesting (it wasn't a suggestion, but I was being polite) that he might wish to take cover within the chamber while we cleared the area until such time as he could return to finish his speech.

"It was around this time that I detected a failed psychic bloom. In hindsight, with the Cardinal inside, I should have dealt with it immediately, but I was concerned about the larger crowds, and shouting individuals out near the balcony where the Cardinal was supposed to be delivering his speech. A regrettable decision, as it turned out. But even so, all might not have been lost.



"My mistress, having executed her target, dropped down into the crowds, and began barging her way through. Victoria had begun to assault her target when a lot of shouting occurred. The individual broke and ran, while she dived for cover from a potential threat. Seeing none, she leapt up and took chase, bringing her target down with aimed sword strikes to the head. The cyber-mutt which had accompanied the individual remained in position, apparently broken in some fashion, failing to support its master.

"Having informed Victoria of the location of her target a few seconds before, my mistress moved towards the rhino, intending to secure our escape route should Victoria fail to deal with her target, or other interlopers appear. She sighted an individual standing near the doors of our escape route via the elevator. However, the fact of the rhino starting up before it was meant to distracted her, and instead of simply executing the waif out of hand as she should have done, she charged the rhino first to deal with the individual there.

"A second psychic bloom warned me too late of this individual's location, as she psyker distracted my mistress as she began to remove the invader within the rhino - had she had time, she would have executed both the rhino thief, and the malign waif with extreme prejudice. Alas, she did not, and the Cardinal chose that moment to leave the elevator. The explosion of the waif - destroying both herself and her target - removed the Cardinal from the equation. It also nearly killed my mistress.

"Shielded by the rhinos armour, and the indcidental presence of my mistress, the thief made his escape. We are unsure as to what happened to Victoria's target, but it appeared he may have made his escape while she was distracted a second time by another set of interlopers. As to the body of the heretic my mistress executed, there was no sign.

"We are investigating the target Victoria nearly captured, in the hopes of tracking this potential threat further. However, the entire situation turned out to be a massive debacle, and a black mark in my mistress public career in the eyes of her superiors. Privately, of course, the outcome is the same. War. One which we are quite pleased by, and one which is very much in our favour regarding our private affairs. However, the displeasure of my mistress superiors is not to be ignored. I fear we will be assigned penitent duties for some months, or even years. Important work, if it requires the attention of an Inquisitor and her personal staff - we will offload our more personal investigations to other, trusted cells - but still time consuming. Necessary politics, though, if we are to retain any form of network for the foreseeable future in the Carthax sector as a whole, and the Cuir subsector in particular.

"From my personal perspective, this event would prove to be a blip on the radar compared to subsequent events affecting the planet. Events which I would have hoped might have redeemed us, at least a little, in the eyes of those above us."

[mcjomar]

Datestamp: 018M42
Location: Ilithyia
Thought for the day: Only in death does duty end
Report recorded by: Interrogator Jack Jomar



"Our next assignment was light duty, or should have been. I would hardly call it such, given the object of our intentions, but even so, it should have been simple. Where the warp is concerned, nothing is simple. In my lowly experience, nothing ever is.

"Our objective was to maintain the security of the warp obelisk that had been contained at the facility. As such we would have to search for and identify any individuals that might attempt to breach the security provided by the defending guard regiment, and additionally attempt to ascertain their intentions for the information of our superiors.

"Victoria advanced at a rapid pace, and though she did not initially detect anyone, she soon spotted a potential target. For our part, my mistress and myself advanced. I was intending on investigating the facility directly, while my mistress would observe the exterior defences for herself, for the simple reason that my psychic powers would - even passively - give me a good chance of assessing the containment procedures, while my mistress - lacking any real power (her wyrd does not truly count) - would use her greater experience to ensure the security of the artefact. Victoria would be focusing on reconnaissance.



"Our first observed interloper was the individual known as Isabella. She is considered to be an extreme threat, a witch of the most concerning order, displaying heretical powers above and beyond my own, chaotic in nature. Capturing her would be fruitless - better to exterminate her rather than allow her witchery to run wild.

"Alas the guardsman protecting the area did little to deter her, and instead challenged the presence of my mistress. Identifying herself, my mistress was met with derogatory comments, so she was forced to use a sterner measure to bring the soldier into compliance. Directing the soldier to challenge Isabella, she followed behind him, and arrived to observe Isabella using warp powers, and vanishing into (later proven to be through the walls of) a building.

"For my part, I was challenged by another guardsman when I called the elevator to enter the facility. I chose to use my credentials to force my path, rather than waiting around. Suitably chastened, the guardsman moved off, leaving me to enter the elevator. Imperial elevator music has not changed. Comforting and irritating in equal measure, I was treated to a rather tinny version of "Praise the Emperor". I would have preferred the Catechisms of Purity, personally, especially given the object contained within the facility.



"Other individuals were present, but outside of shaky picts, and questionable quality security footage, we have little hard evidence outside of my personal experiences, of their presence on site, none of which has proved to be of much use in identifying them. For now, anyway. They did provide assistance in defending the site - although to what end I cannot identify - so there might have been hope of common cause. The presence of a sizeable melta charge - used to blow a hole in the floor and threaten Isabella (although I'm getting a little ahead of myself here) suggests otherwise, however.

"Victoria advanced along the walkways, failing to note, much less report, the presence of Isabella on the other side of the building. However, she discovered two more heretics behind the last building in the set she ran across. Identifying one successfully, and reporting the presence of the other - later proven to be Daniel, a relation of Isabella, and as heretical as his sibling - she leapt into combat with the first, after first diving out of the way of an attack from Daniel's sword. Dropping down , she used her poisoned blade to bring the target down, but was then set upon by Daniel, and was unable to give concrete identification to the rest of us.

"Seeing that Isabella had vanished, my mistress ran around the northern end of the buildings to discover her sheltering behind the building, and observing the danger that Victoria was now in. Alas, Isabella teleported away before my mistress could do anything. Isabella, as I discovered to my personal dismay, had teleported into the containment room itself! I strode out of the elevator to find her defiling the facility with her presence. Screaming imprecations, I charged, ignoring the other individual in the doorway, as a lesser threat than the heretic, Isabella.



"As we had entered the room, the artefact fired off a wave of power. It sickened me to my stomach, sensitive as I am to such warp-related emanations, and I believe it is this which threw off my ability to smash the witch in the face with my shock maul. The sensation was similar to a foul pool of oil splashing out to soil my soul, and yet at the same time like a foul toxic wind, poisonous and toxic. I can only credit the witch's ability to defend herself against me to her chaotic nature and powers, as she shimmered and vanished through the wall during my initial charge, leaving me screaming in fury for her blood.

"It was around this time that my mistress discovered the truth - the guardsmen had been mere shells, so thoroughly corrupted by the artefact that they had been little more than facsimiles of their previous selves. The wave that pulsed out rendered them into little more than zombies, controlled by the artefact!




"Attacked by one such example, my mistress defended herself, initially with plasma, and then with judicious use of her suppression shield. the individual who had been present at the opposite side of the room from Isabella was herself (we know the individual was female) set upon by a horde of zombies.



"Somehow she defended herself against the threat. For my part I was otherwise distracted. Isabella returned once more - a plague upon that woman's soul! We engaged in a duel, but she had become more powerful and dangerous, and I was reduced to dodging her blows as best I could, able to do little to counter her attacks with my shock maul.







"For Victoria's part, she was able to temporarily down Daniel with a blow to the head, giving her the chance to extract herself to support my mistress with the zombie. Between them they were able to eradicate the threat and return to deal with the problem that Daniel's presence presented. However, before they could set about subduing him, he recovered enough to escape. My mistress gave chase, but was not fast enough to catch up. Even Victoria was eluded. A most dangerous quarry indeed.



"In my case the situation was somewhat more dire. The witch finally landed a blow that was so excruciating that I blacked out. I maintain that given more time I might have recovered to threaten her again, but I do not know for sure. I believe that it was Victoria who dragged me from the room before Isabella and her brother could properly secure it. Likely I was dragged out via the elevator, as the zombies were ringing the building by that point. The other individual, as previously mentioned, appears to have blown a hole in the floor to remove Isabella from the fight, but it looks as if that was only a temporary measure at best, as Isabella and Daniel firmly took control of the facility. For our part, the obelisk was not destroyed, so we technically succeeded in our mission, not least as we now knew that Isabella and Daniel had intended to take control of the obelisk for their own chaotic purposes, to use it to corrupt the entire planet. They had become an extreme threat - one which we had to remove!"

[mcjomar]

Datestamp: 018M42
Location: Ilithyia
Thought for the day: An open mind is like a fortress, with its gates unbarred and unguarded
Report recorded by: Interrogator Jack Jomar

"Left unconscious near the obelisk, my mind was subjected to horrific images, and sensations, as if the oily black sump of the warp had reached up with filthy tentacles to assault my mind. Nauseous pressure as it attempted to assert dominance over my mind. I am lucky in two respects. First, I have been trained sufficiently to protect myself against such things, and second I was extracted before it could get much worse. My experiences with the daemon that tried to claim my soul have armoured me against such things. Even so, I will be experiencing nightmares outside the experience of most, and terrible visions for months to come. I will be praying night and day, between penitent missions for our superiors, and I do not expect to spend much time outside of chapel observances for months more. I hope that the Emperor will see fit to cleanse my soul with his guiding light.

"In the meantime, my mistress has commanded that I compile this final report on the events that occurred on Ilithyia. As previously noted, Isabella and Daniel had gained control of the Chaos obelisk. This could not go unpunished.




"My mistress had reached out to her superiors for assistance in dealing with this threat. With my psychic powers unavilable in the short term, she was forced to use alternative measures. This took the form of a pair of haywire grenades, acquired at some cost from the Adeptus Mechanicus, to deal with Daniel, and allow Victoria and my mistress to focus on the threat presented by Isabella - preferably at the point of a plasmapistol. However, acquisition of these items delayed the arrival of my mistress, giving Isabella time to fortify her position.





"By the time my mistress had arrived with Victoria, some of the security forces (zombies) guarding the facility had been drawn off. The two were able to use this to quietly move west, avoiding the worst of it. Apparently some large amount of banging from the east had gathered significant attention, drawing off the corrupted individuals. So much the better.




"Once they ascertained the disposition of the forces guarding the northern side of the facility, Victoria advanced in engage the hated foes. My mistress provided covering fire with her plasma pistol - unnecessarily as it turned out, as the zombie threat was further reduced by other forces arriving from the north-west. Forces which proved to be highly focused on the individuals gaining attention in the west, which proved to be highly advantageous for my mistress.




"Dodging extensively, Victoria appears to have had difficulty with one zombie in particular. Daniel, meanwhile, appears to have appeared on the balcony above her, but been sidetracked by the presence of other threats to his sister in the vicinity, being knocked down by counter fire, and by a plasma pistol shot to the head from my mistress.



"I do not know what sort of havoc the individuals in the east got up to, but they certainly did a fantastic job of drawing the attention of the majority of the zombie forces.



"Certainly enough to allow the sainted Aderyn Aeslin to arrive in the facility in person to resolve the chaotic threat. How she survived her second death is unclear, but after action reports suggest that she was secured within a Sororitas facility.



"As the situation unfolded, however, Isabella gained more power - even unconscious within the Arvus many miles distant I felt the horrors she unleashed as a plague upon my mind. Apparently the obelisk spawned yet more warp-borne zombies into the facility, thinning the walls between reality.



"Eventually Victoria was able to put paid to the zombie threat, and she vaulted up onto the balcony to deal with Daniel, pausing only for my mistress to disable his armour with the haywire grenade that she had acquired. It may have been limited by the presence of the warp field generated by the obelisk, but it was still successful at shutting him down.



This gave Victoria the opening she needed to charge into the facility proper, just in time to see the witch fling the saint through reality, teleporting her from the room. Most of the zombies in the facility had been removed by another Inquisitor at this point, or by the saint, but there were still some present to cause a threat. Victoria would have attempted to charge, but the witch turned and used the force of her mind to fling Victoria back out of the entrance.



"My mistress advanced around to a nearby ladder, stowed her gear, and began to climb. At the top of the ladded was a zombie, which she attempted to yank off the edge. She failed, but it did not matter, as nearby forces executed the zombie out of hand, giving her the opening she needed to advance to the top to face down Daniel. However, another nearby group executed him (apparently) before she could finish the job herself.



"The saint, who had found an alternative route, followed my mistress up the ladder. For her part, my mistress advanced into the facility proper, while Victoria clambered up the outside once more. The Inquisitor moved aside to allow the saint entry. The other Inquisitor had brought Isabella low, but the corrupt influence of the witch could still be felt, as the warp artefact continued to gain in power. The last action she took before using the artefacts power to escape was to charge it further, almost to the breaking point which would destroy us all. Almost. But not quite.




"The saint ordered everyone from the room, to save their souls, and even the entire planet. My mistress, feeling the heat from her own psychic wards, obeyed without question. But the other Inquisitor did not. Indeed, that Inquisitor used their force rod to try to "earth" the warp power and help the saint instead. Arguably that Inquisitor may have helped to save the planet, if not the entire sub-sector. Equally arguably, that Inquisitor may be involved with, or even responsible for the third death of the saint Aderyn Aeslin. Once more the saint has vanished, without a trace, leaving nought behind but questions.

"We believe Daniel to be dead, but we are not sure. His pacts with the dark powers make any such assessment tentative at best. Isabella has not been located. We are unsure as to the disposition of her minions or other assets. We now consider her and any who follow her to be our primary threat, and our goal is her death, and the capture and death or interrogation of any of her followers. We will be pursuing this as we proceed upon the penitent duties assigned to us.

"Regarding the Cuir sub-sector, we have a success, albeit one we are not entirely responsible for. We are at war, and this will allow for many openings for the structure of the sector to change and, hopefully, be made stronger. We will be agitating for certain individuals to rise to power. The loss of the Cardinal is minimal - he appears to have been useful in preventing civil war, but otherwise a complete threat in all other regards. His martyrdom is to the benefit of the Imperium. A pity it had to come at the expense of some of our political clout. We will have months, if not years, of work to do to recover that level of connection. But we will. One way, or another. And we will ensure the success of this war by any means necessary."

[mcjomar]

Datestamp: 018M42
Location: Ilithyia
Thought for the day: Only the insane my prosper, only those who prosper may judge what is truly sane
Addendum Report recorded by: Interrogator Jack Jomar

"It should be noted that there were other actions across this period. My own investigation have brought to light occurrences surrounding the power generator that powered the guns which brought down the traitor aircraft that we initially were assigned to investigate.



"Other individuals were present to either threaten, control, or defend the plasma reactor from Chaos counter-attack. In the aftermath, it was discovered that one group of individuals who shut down the reactor successfully infected it with a techno-virus of some sort that would have caused it to explode, terminally, had it been reactivated. Thankfully it was not, and this was discovered in time to prevent such an occurrence.



"This includes the heretic Daniel, who apparently "died" to a headshot several times across the period. This may have occurred after the above pict was taken.




"The defending guardsmen could apparently do little to deal with the threats some individuals presented.



"Isabella too appears to have been injured in the course of events. The dark pacts these two have with the foul gods are terrifying in the extreme if they are able to recover from such debilitating wounds so easily! Their presence in attempting to deal with the reactor shows the lengths such corrupt individuals are willing to go to. Their existence is an affront to the Emperor, and they cannot be allowed to live!