Prologue

IT WAS FUNNY. Oskar had always found the way that others reacted under different circumstances amusing, or at least as amusing as a scribe-servitor could do so.

Oskar was in a room full of high ranking officials of the Imperium. Men and women from the Administratum, Ecclesiarchy, Adeptus Mechanicus and, perhaps most importantly, an Imperial general and an Inquisitor of the Ordos Xenos, both seated at the center of the review board. The Explorator fleet captain they were questioning was the source of Oskar's amusement.

"Now, tell us the facts captain. The truth. What caused your fleet, however small it may be, to discontinue further explorations of the Pelanor system, right here in the beautiful Ultima Segmentum?" the sarcasm in the Inquisitor's voice was heavier than the ornate armor he wore, and Jeramiah Fullhorn, captain of the Canis Imperialis, shifted his weight uneasily at the sound of the man's tone.

"Well…erm," the captain looked nervously at the others seated before him. "After the warp storms that have been plaguing that, er, region for almost four hundred years now ended, we began to move into the system in order to investigate-"

The Imperial general, Hower, slammed his fist into the table.

"We asked for what caused the delay not the entire mission's operational record! Be specific! Why weren't the system's planetary bodies surveyed fully?"

Again the captain shifted uneasily, to the delight of Oskar, who found the exchange hilarious. He worked furiously to expunge that from his notes as he realized he shouldn't have written it down.

Jeramiah began again.

"As I was just about to say, sirs, we entered the system and were setting up our fleet's scanners when my own ship picked up radar signals moving between LRP-23 and its moon," he stood straighter, growing in confidence. "Simply put, LRP-23 and several of the other planets in system were already inhabited."

The Inquisitor sat straighter in his chair and leaned forward slightly.

"Inhabited by what, precisely?" he asked.

"Well, my lord, they weren't xenos, however they certainly weren't Imperial either."

Now Hower was getting interested.

"Did you attempt communications?"

"No sir. That wasn't within our operational parameters, and I personally deemed it was not the best course of action. We were still concealed from their scanners, or at least we believed we were at that point and instead I ordered my men to send out a small spy drone in order to gain a better understanding of them."

This time a female clerk spoke up. "How technologically advanced were they? You mentioned they were travelling between planets."

"For a newly discovered population they were very advanced. From what we observed they had stable and efficient starships and they were capable of warp jumps which gave off some odd radiological readings. But…" Jeramiah trailed off, as though lost about what to say.

"What is it? Spit it out, man!" Hower was practically fuming under his thick coat.

"Uh, well, to tell the truth, I don't think they were indigenous to the Pelanor system."

The board members looked and murmured to each other in shock and confusion at this statement. The thought of a new, already inhabited human system was fantastic news. If the inhabitants already followed or could be converted to the Imperial cult then the Imperium gained a whole new solar system to control, and if not they could take the planets by force and add to the local slave numbers. But an interstellar empire was too much of a potential threat.

"And what makes you think that, captain?" the Inquisitor asked, cutting through the chatter around him.

"Well sir, although they appeared to be quite advanced, the population was nowhere near what one would expect. Apart from some relatively small mining colonies and outposts, the only major population center was a city on LRP-23."

"How many are there estimated to be living on LRP-23?" That same female clerk again. Oskar couldn't remember her name.

No.

She hadn't identified herself as she came in.

Oskar was about to ask her what it was when his sensors registered a sharp pain in his skull. He stopped, and couldn't remember what he had been about to do, so he simply continued to write.

"Ma'am, the initial estimates put their strength at around fifty million on LRP-23 alone with a further twenty to thirty million living in outposts and mining settlements."

Jeramiah Fullhorn walked through the waiting lobby of the spaceport towards his private shuttle. His aid Ark Fisk walked beside him.

"Ark," he said. "Remind me the next time we have to go through that to shoot myself beforehand."

"Oh, come on Miah," she replied. "It wasn't that bad."

"Really? Were you actually in the room?"

Jeramiah turned to look at her. She had been his friend longer than anyone else would have tolerated him and he had always thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever known. She was only twenty seven standard years old to his forty three, and had joined his crew at sixteen. While all of his other crew had served him for longer, his relationship with them was entirely professional. Ark was different. She was beautiful, witty and cunning. She wasn't his lover, but she was a friend. That until recently was all he had ever wanted.

"I was. And I'd say it was pretty brutal in there."

Jeramiah and Ark were startled by the voice close behind them. They turned to see the Inquisitor from beforehand, flanked oddly closely by the female clerk and General Hower standing further away and looking as furious as ever.

"Jeramiah Fullhorn, born on Talassar, aged forty three, current captain of the Canis Imperialis. Am I correct?" the Inquisitor asked.

"Yes sir," Jeramiah was in awe of the man before him. He hadn't realized how tall he was earlier and his heavy, silver armor made him even more imposing.

"I am Inquisitor Petro Macador of the Ordos Xenos," he placed his hand on the shoulder of the young clerk. "This is my aid, Breska Kalken, and I believe you've already met General Hower."

"A pleasure to meet you, sir," Jeramiah said this even though he wasn't sure if he meant it.

"The pleasure is all mine I'm sure," the Macador replied. "Now, captain, how would you like to become very rich?"

That was it. He had decided. Jeramiah was going to hate this man.

"What, would you have me do, my lord?"

"Well," a sickening smile split the Inquisitor's face. "As it happens, I, and a few, oh, hundred thousand men or so need to be going somewhere. And, I hear, you have a few spare ships around."