Inquisitorial Operation Report
Segment: 1A Operation: [CLASSIFIED: PRIMARIS]
Operating Inquisitor: Ordo Hericus Pauline Athena Metheris of Holy Terra
I have served many years as one of the primary Inquisitors on the eastern fringe. Though many trials have befallen me, I have served the Imperium flawlessly as the rights of the Holy Inquisition have demanded.
It has taken to this incident for me to lose a world to the powers of Chaos. The results of which has me most concerned for the fate of the Malar Sector and in turn, the Imperium itself.
It is best that I start this report at the beginning. At the start of this assignment, I was located on the Damning of Guilt, an Inquisitorial cruiser located in the nearby sector of Alphis Prior. Lord Inquisitor Methrac informed me of the latest threat to Malar's purity.
The situation relating to my last visit having been unresolved last I was aware, leading me to believe that it would be related to them. However, the whispers were far, far worse. Apparently, whispers were circling in the underground and dredges of Malar IV's populace. The Dark Gods, through some form of unknown devilry, would send forth a champion, ripping the world into war in an attempt to claim the vast reservoir of the Ministorium's armaments and tanks located in the many warehouses that dotted the Munition World's storage.
Naturally, this could not be allowed. By the Lord Inquisitor, I was to find this 'Chosen One' before he or she could gather the full might of the planet's heretics behind him or her.
My cell members were optimistic as well, having only fought lesser cultists and hiver scum before, some of them relished the challenge of facing a proper, dangerous foe of the Imperium.
How this operation could have gone so wrong, I still question the Emperor to this day.
Thought for the Day: The zealous martyr is praised for his valor: the craven and the unready are justly abhorred.
Dry, dusty wastes spread between the miles separating the small, broken down settlement of Ramshackle, and the glistening spires of cold steel that came from the established settlement of Hanthruan. Hundreds of miles of empty space, occasionally broken up with rocky spires and attempts of rough hills stood quiet vigil, protesting the barren terrain's stubborn attempts to stay a flat wasteland. The only sign of civilization would be a slightly-lowered line in the ground, marked with hundreds of thousands of vehicle tracks, ranging from rickety vehicles owned by the civilians to the faint outlines of great battle tanks.
A rumble rose in the dead, heated air as a mechanized convoy pulls forth from borders of Ramshackle, driving Chimera after Chimera onward from the village in a great line of grey-toned metal. Each one bore the markings of the Malar 4077th PDF Artillery, moving through the town after another try at pressing the green menace from another location of the planet. Scattered in the troop transport crafts came multiple Basilisks, Medusas, and other heavy ordinance vehicles, each flanked with the imposing form of a Leman Russ as the convoy rolled towards the main facilities located safe in Hanthruan's walls.
Inside the lead Chimera, several soldiers rested inside of the behemoth, the commander resting just inside of the pintle hatch in order to escape the planet's terrible heat.
"Well, that'll scare most the Greenskins off for a mo... though still got no idea why we're being sent on extra patrols right now," drawled out one of the soldiers, field-stripping his lasgun to blow the dust out of it.
Another soldier gave him a withering gaze. "And what of those renegades who have been sulking around? We can't be caught idle next time they pop out and take a warehouse from us!"
The first soldier gave a bit of a huff. "Maybe, but you'd think it'd be the Inquisition's job to sniff out the scum," he grumbled.
The commander gave a whack at the side of the Chimera's ladder with the butt of his laspistol, causing the two talking soldiers to grow silent. "Quiet you two. We got a civvie wandering around out here. Driver, pull us over!"
As the commander of the vehicle stepped up the ladder of the pintle hatch and pressed it open, he caught his first good sight of the figure, and as the Chimera slowed towards a stop behind her, he gave a quick whistle to get her attention.
The young woman before him was tall, just between the ages of 19 and 20, slowed upon realizing the man was motioning for her to halt, causing her to turn to face the vehicle while he slid down to the fender, the rest of the convoy moving around the stopping vehicle. Under the ragged shawl she was using to keep the heat at bay, he could see bright violet eyes and flaming red hair, apparently streaked with purple and green shades occasionally. Teenagers, he thought disdainfully to himself. Also of notice was the autopistol holstered on the woman's hip and the large rucksack she had slung on her back.
"Yes?" She asked, her voice even as she took a second to brush some of her bangs away from her face.
"Spot check, Ma'am. We've been having some reports of suspicious activity in the area, and well, we just need to be sure. If you could show us your identification, we'll be on our way before ya know it."
"Right... I got a cognomen on me somewhere..." she muttered, smacking along her pockets until she located the device, quickly and quietly sliding it out of a pocket next to her autopistol. Out here in the waste slums, it wasn't uncommon for civilians to have a weapon, so again he didn't bring up much thought to it.
After taking the device from her, he flicked the identification slate open and gave it a look-over. The picture inside seemed to be a bit younger, but the rest of the information seemed to mesh well enough for his quick inspection. Taking a small scanner, he gave a quick brush over it, holding the information for a more in-depth check later as needed.
"There we go, seems to be all cleared Ma'am Soulstorm. Sorry to bother, just procedure," he stated quickly, handing the device back to the woman.
She gave a light smile and a nod of her head. "Right, right... Thank you for your diligence, sir," she replied, causing the soldier to give a slight smile at the kindness. Perhaps this trip had been worth it after all.
Climbing back up to the pintle mount, he hollered back into the vehicle as he retreated into the mercifully air-conditioned cabin. "Roll it off! We have to catch up with the front now!"
Kelinas stood there and watched the armored transport rev up and rush to catch up with the convoy, trying her best to keep her breath even and her emotions neutral. Waiting for the vehicle to retreat several miles down the road, she quickly rushed across that stretch of dusty road and towards a nearby outcropping of rock and dying scrubland. The short mile or two sprint felt invigorating, like having been able to free her energy from her limbs for the first time in the long five years since her last time since she had touched this world's surface.
Only after she had made into the dead trees scattered at the rock's base did she finally allow herself to stop, collapsing against one of the trees with a rough sigh. Clattering next to her came the worn rucksack, the sound of several autogun clips stolen from an ammo dump in Ramshackle rattling like an angry waste serpent. Her heart hammered harder in her chest as she remembered the words of Kurthroth- one of his specific 'gifts' would not only trigger at will, but when her emotions would get the better of her. She was sure if she had panicked near the Guardsman, they would have had a very good reason to be suspicious beyond her out-of-date identification.
Letting out a deep sigh, Kel focused quietly to herself, feeling her changed, modified body tingle slightly as she pulled for her gift. Holding her left arm out, she watched as the near-flawless skin began to ripple and bulge, a sickening green shade covering her arm rapidly to shortly above her elbow. Faster and faster, it grew thicker and more grotesque, her fingers growing large, deadly-sharp talons, all drooling with a unspeakable ichor that sizzled when it struck the dry earth underneath the transformed appendage.
Kelinas hung her head, a deep sigh leaving her head as she focused again, her arm swiftly changing from its monstrous claw to that of flawless perfection again. "No going back now, I'm afraid..." she muttered to herself, mind full of the many stories and warnings she had heard of Chaos and it's demons and followers. All the tales of madness, indulgence, and the failures to their own hubris and convoluted plans and lust for even greater power and favoritism from the Dark Gods rushed back into her head, echoed from the various research her parents had done along with the other legends and tales they had gathered for the records of the Imperium's scribes.
If she was to survive, she thought dryly to herself, she would have to resist something that even felled Primarchs. The gnawing in her stomach that had accompanied her ever since learning her benefactor's true identities resurged again at the thought.
And yet, the fact she was gifted opened so many opportunities...
Her musings were interrupted at the loud roaring of several angry engines drew rapidly for her position. Taking a look around her resting place, she gave a loud curse, quickly shifting to hide behind the largest of the trees she could find.
Around a half a dozen or more Orkish warbikes were rapidly racing towards the small grove she had hidden herself in.