Hi there. A fic centering on a major character from another of my 40K fics "Irony" I thought I would explore his character a little more, as I haven't written much about him except for his bio and his part in that story. This will be a multi-chapter fic, so stay tuned.
Major rewrite, based on suggestions given by RobbieBuckshotLaFunk. Thanks man, you were a ton of help.
Just for the heck of it, here's a short "credits sequence" as in a movie.
I've always wanted to try something like this. I'll add to the roster as I go along. (note, many of the characters are extras, or have no real life counterpart.)
It's set to 'Superpredators" by Massive Attack.
(Wavy, distorted shots of a castle, surrounding marshland, and hands tinkering with delicate machines, akin to the opening of Se7en.)
Hugo Weaving as Detective Matthias Gould…………….Hugh Jackman as Jack Constantine………….Alan Rickman as Inquisitor Harklond………………Elijah Wood as Lawrence Sorenson………..Brad Pitt as Detective Kyle Heywood…………. David Wenham as Inquisitor Roland………….. Daniel Craig as Inquisitor Obscura……….
…………..directed, written, and produced by Cyber 14………..
Iron Without Souls………………………………………………………………………………
It had been a long day.
The thick coniferous forests of planet Halxion IV were, in a word, hot. No, they were boiling. As the transport he was riding in zipped down a paved road through the endless forests, Detective Matthias Gould wished beyond measure to be anywhere else, The windswept plains of Perspektywa, the cool tropical islands of New Vista, even the dank marshes of his home planet of Darkgrove seemed more appealing then the hot, sweltering hell that they were whistling through now. After docking at high anchor, Gould had ridden a lander down to the planet's surface and disembarked for the local capital city.
He had made the five-day trip to this agri-world to meet with a senior member of the planet's government. He was en-route to the capitol building to meet with him. The man had said that he wished to procure the Shadow Front's services.
The Shadow Front was a paramilitary, Administratum-funded spying agency. They undertook various types of contracts for the Imperial government and private groups alike. Their skill was unmatched, making members of the organization highly respected and, to their enemies, greatly feared. To Gould, this contract seemed routine enough: a senior official needing an investigation, arrest, or some such job done, and done quietly. This contract seemed no different then the hundreds of others undertaken by the Shadow Front every year.
The transporter pulled up to the front of the building and Matthias got out. He was ushered into a private conference room and told to wait. After about ten minutes of sitting in the high ceilinged room, studying the ornate carvings lacing the high arches, the door opened and a man stepped in.
"Ahh, Detective," said the senator in a squeaky, wheezing voice. He was short and round, with a tuft of graying hair jutting from the top of his head like a bush. He was wearing a smart blue suit and had a file of papers in his hand, "a pleasure to meet you, shall we get started? Now, I would like you…"
Gould never found out what he was asked to do. Just then, another figure strode into the room.
It was a man Gould knew all too well. His name was Inquisitor Viktor Harklond.
He was a tall man in his late one-fifties, his hair graying at the temples. He had a long, drawn, lined face, which exuded an air of calm, intimidating power.
"Ahh, Mr. Sorrow," the man said, extending his hand and using Gould's nickname, "I'm glad I caught you," he turned to the senator, "You, out, now" he said, snapping his fingers and gesturing towards the door, "Detective Gould and I have some more important things to discuss right now."
The man quickly nodded, gathered up his papers, and hastily scampered out of the room, like a rat scurrying for cover in a storehouse after the owner opens the door.
"What was that for, Inquisitor?" said Gould, more than a little annoyed, "You just kicked out a paying…"
"That can wait," interrupted Harklond curtly, "Something more urgent has come up, something that requires our immediate attention," He set a file of papers down on the table and motioned for Gould to sit. The Inquisitor opened the file and sifted through the numerous papers in it thoughtfully before speaking.
"Last week, we came into possession of some…information. Startling information," he said cautiously, "We don't know how reliable it is at present."
"Go on…" Gould replied.
"Well, last week we received, from a Darkgrove PDF listening post in the Death Marshes, this vox broadcast," he walked over to the vista-screen on the far wall and inserted a small disk. The screen flashed the audio recording symbol and the recording started. A man with a thick Darkgrovian accent cut through the distortion, sounding hysterical.
"Hello? Hello? Is anyone listening? This is a message to any military forces in the area. I am transmitting from castle Tannhauser. We need help! Adept Jahlson, damn his soul! He won't listen to reason! He let them loose in the castle! They've taken over! We can't get out. Can anyone hear me? Tell Colonel Jurganson to send anything we've got. Wipe this place from existence! I will transmit for as long as I can. This message will be repeated at regular intervals. Tannhauser out."
The recording ended. A ringing silence hung in the air, until Gould broke it.
"What, was, that?" he said slowly.
"Precisely what we wanted to know. We have some theories, but you won't like them,"
"What are they?" asked Gould warily.
The Inquisitor sighed before continuing. "We have reason to believe that a faction of the Adeptus Mechanicus has found a working STC."
"What? That's great! This will be a…"
"No."
"What?"
"You don't understand. There's more. We believe that this particular STC is designed to create the…the Men of Iron," he said. "The mechanical men of old that turned on us and…"
"I am quite familiar with the legends, Inquisitor," said Gould, "That's serious. You're saying it could be in this castle?"
"We don't know. We lost track of it and those frakking Mechanicus boys won't tell us where they've taken it. Something about "sacred secrets" or some such nonsense," the Inquisitor said, disgusted, "It might be there, though. We simply don't know."
"If you're right, then we do have a problem." Gould said, "You want my advice; take his," he gestured to the vista-screen, "Flatten this castle. Wipe it from the face of Darkgrove before these things get loose."
"It's not that simple. You know as well as I do that after the war, the Death Marshes area became a dead zone. No one knows how, but fliers malfunction and die the minute they enter the airspace. We can't bomb the place or we would have already," the Inquisitor replied.
"So why did you come to me with this?" Gould asked, knowing and dreading the answer.
"Simple, we want you to go in and investigate," Inquisitor Harklond replied, "You know the terrain, and your…skills more than qualify you for the job. Besides, it's probably nothing." he replied.
"Why can't you just send a SpecOps team in? Surely there are many more then capable units planetside already…"
"None that can navigate the Death Marshes as well as you can. You know this," The Inquisitor interrupted, "Men get lost in there. It may seem hard to believe, but every team we've sent in there over the past year, for any reason, ended up lost for days. There's something wrong with that place, Gould. The topography is all screwy. You're the only man I know who can navigate through the marshes without losing your way. So, will you do it?"
Gould thought for a moment, "Well, It's better then being stuck here in this heat filing papers for some overpaid senator," he answered him, shrugging.
"Amen to that," the Inquisitor replied, and they both left the room.
Little did they know that they would be stumbling onto something far, far bigger hidden in the marshes then either of them could have feared.
………………………………………………………………………………...
Well, that's the first chapter. Cliffys rock.
All of the mentioned planets (Darkgrove, Halxion IV, New Vista, Perspektywa, ect.) and all characters are my own creations. Ask me if you would like to use them, and give me credit.
Trivia Fun Fact of the day: The name of the castle (Tannhauser) is a reference to the old German legend of Tannhauser Gate, a symbol for unobtainable and unreachable goals. (It is also the name of a battle in the Blade Runner universe.)
The next chapter should be up soon. Stay tuned.