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!"