Chapter 3
Sir Achilles Venator, Lord General of the Urban Tigers
Night was falling over Fort Helios. Sir Achilles Venator was alone in his office, his feet up on his massive desk. A crystal glass of harsh amber liquid was in his hand, and a fat cigar in his mouth. He was content, for the first time in weeks. The day had gone smoothly. There were no riots to quell, no disastrous reports from the front, and someone had even cheered for him as he drove through Ivy City. Even the poor excuse for a mayor hadn't bothered him all day. It seemed as though things were finally turning around.
And then, a knock on his door.
The faint smile behind Achilles' moustache dropped. Sighing, he drained his glass in one gulp.
"Enter," he called. Trigger stepped through the door, his rifle slung over his back and his helmet by his side. His long golden hair was swept back. Normally Achilles wouldn't tolerate long hair on his men, but Jesse Koda was more a friend than an insubordinate to the General. "You're lucky I've had five of these," Achilles said, waving the empty glass towards the Sergeant. "Give me the good news."
"You may need another glass," Jesse grimaced, placing his helmet on the desk and helping himself to a glass of the liquor. He pulled up a chair while Achilles waited patiently. Jesse liked to stall while he prepared to break bad news to the General. "A call came over the radio fifteen minutes ago," Jesse said before draining his glass. "The Ordo Xenos are in orbit."
The glass in Achilles' hand shattered as it closed into a fist. The room was silent as he stared beyond Jesse. Slowly, Achilles' expression turned from shock to rage. He thudded his fist onto his desk.
"Damn him!" He roared. "That incompetent, pathetic, coward will be the death of this whole sector!" He smashed both fists into his desk. The impressive furniture didn't sway underneath Achilles' onslaught, but its contents were all knocked over.
Achilles took a deep breath, reigning in his anger. He strode over to his armoured mannequin and began arming himself.
"I think we should pay him a visit," he said to Trigger as he barrelled towards the door. "Rally the troupes to rendezvous at the Chimera in 5 minutes, I want-"
"We're meeting the mayor, Achilles," Trigger cut in, stoping Achilles at the door. "Not a daemon. I'll get the squad, that's all we need. We don't want to make a scene."
The General relaxed and sighed.
"You're right. We leave as soon as possible."
The Chimera's cabin was silent as the vehicle drove through Ivy City. Achilles and his bodyguard were fully armed and sat in silence. The Lord General sat at the head of the group, planning what he was going to say to the mayor. He hoped that his quick response to the news of the Inquisition's arrival meant that they would still be in orbit, or perhaps at the airfield. He planned on confronting the mayor before the fool had a chance to alert the Ordo Xenos of the Tigers' alliance, even though all the man had heard were stories and rumours.
Achilles was meditating on the impending confrontation when the transport slowed to a halt. He heard raised voices outside the cabin.
We must have arrived, he thought to himself. He stood up in the cabin, having to hunch over thanks to his massive frame. He opened the tank's turret hatch and stood into the light.
What he saw enraged him.
They had indeed arrived. They were at the mayor's manor towards the centre of Ivy City. A large, dense, green parkland surrounded the house where the mayor supposedly ran the city and surrounding towns. Atop the large hill in the centre of the property was the mayor's manor. A large fence encircled the property. The only way through the fence was by the gate through which the driveway passed. It was this gate that the Chimera had stopped at.
A roadblock had been set up at the gate. Several of the mayor's militia stood motionless in front of the Chimera, autoguns aimed at Achilles. A thin metal wall had been erected across the gate, preventing vehicles from going in or out without the soldier's permission.
"What in the Emperor's name is the meaning of this?" Achilles shouted.
"The mayor denies anyone entry to these premises," came the reply.
"I don't give a damn what the mayor denies," Achilles roared. "Move out of the way!"
"If you proceed you will be detained!"
"You can't detain the Imperial Guard, now move or be crushed."
"Sir," the driver's voice piped up on the intercom in Achilles' ear. "They've set up a barricade, we-"
"By the Emperor, you're driving a damned tank, man" Achilles bellowed, loud enough for the driver to hear him without the intercom. "Drive over it."
The Generals rage must have frightened the driver into action, for as soon as Achilles finished speaking the tank surged forward. The defending soldiers stood their ground until the tank crushed their barricade with ease. Most ran at that point, but several remained with their sights trained on the General. All save one dashed away moments before the Chimera was upon them. The one that didn't died valiantly with a scream as he was crushed by the tank's dozer blade. Achilles didn't flinch an inch as the man's death cries reached his ears, and the tank didn't slow its progress. He heard a man shout "After them!" as the tank drove towards the manor.
The tank stopped in front of the manor's double doors. The Chimera's rear door lowered and the Achilles' men ran out of it. They came under fire as soon as they ran out of the tank. The men from the barricade were running up the hill, wildly shooting in the general direction of the tank. Instinctively the stormtroopers put the Chimera between themselves and their attackers. Achilles joined them.
"I want four of you to remain here, the rest come with me," Achilles ordered. "There will probably be more men inside. These boys are green and have no idea what they're dealing with, and more importantly they're citizens of the Imperium. Don't kill them unless you absolutely have to. I'm going to sort things out with the mayor before this situation with the Inquisition gets any worse."
The General then walked briskly to the manor's entrance, six stormtroopers including Trigger running in front of him. They kicked in the door and shot at the legs of the ten soldiers they caught unawares in the lobby within seconds of breaching the room. The group then made a dash for the grand staircase at the end of the room. They all knew the layout of the building; the General had been here several times before to make negotiations with the mayor.
They rounded a corner into the hallway that the mayor's office was in. Two men stood guard on either side of the door. Before they could react, two stormtroopers had shouldered them into the wall behind them, knocking the wind out of them and sending them to the floor. Achilles' stormtroopers stacked up on either side of the office's doors. The Lord General kicked the door in himself and strode into the room, while his stormtroopers poured in on either side behind him, scanning the room.
The mayor's office was much smaller than Achilles. It had a delicate wooden desk in the middle of the room and was lined with wooden shelving. Two narrow windows were on the wall behind the desk. One was open, making some loose papers float around the room. The mayor's high-backed chair was facing away from the men, and Achilles could see the mayor's arm casually dangling over the armrest.
"You know why I'm here," Achilles began calmly, placing the head of his hammer on the floor with a dull thud, and leaning on its tip. "You've done more damage than you realise by calling the Inquisition."
The mayor didn't answer. Achilles' temper flared but he restrained it.
"You know, getting to you was easier than I anticipated," he continued. "Then again, you're not part of the military. You don't know how to fight."
The General smacked his hand on the mayor's desk, frightening the various objects on it. The mayor didn't react.
"You're starting more fights than you know what to do with! The Inquisition should still be a few minutes away, we need to resolve this before they get involved and make an already dire situation even worse."
Achilles' only reply was silence.
"Answer me!" the General shouted, hitting the back of the mayor's chair with enough force to knock it over. The mayor fell out of the chair and lay on the ground motionless.
It took Achilles a moment to notice the thin red line across the man's throat. He was dead. A shockwave of unease shot its way throughout the room.
Holy Throne, he thought with a pang of dread. He could sense the restlessness of his stormtroopers. His mind went reeling. What was he going to do now? How could he explain this to the Ordo Xenos? His thoughts were interrupted by a scream at the door. He looked over his shoulder to see a maid at the door, looking at the body of her former master. Her eyes were wide with fear.
Just what I need, Achilles thought as he turned his head back to examine the body. "Somebody shut her up," he said.
He heard heavy footfalls approaching the room. The screaming maid must have alerted some of the mayor's militia. Achilles remained where he was; he was surrounded by some of the most competent warriors in the whole sector. They could dispatch a group of militia three times their size without breaking a sweat. There was little he need fear.
However, as soon as he heard the massive crash behind him, he knew that no ordinary men had entered the room. He whirled around to see four giants clad in black power armour in the room. The wall where the door once stood had been virtually destroyed where the intruders had barged in.
The four Deathwatch Marines had detained Achilles' stormtroopers. One had pinned a man against the wall, two more Marines had men pinned under their boots, and the fourth Marine had two men in a headlock. After a quick head count, Achilles realised that one of his men was missing. Trigger must have escaped in all the commotion.
Sly bastard, he thought to himself with a faint smile. Three bolters were aimed at his head. He dropped his thunder hammer to the floor and uncuffed his wrist mounted storm bolter.
"Wise move, General," a man said as he approached Achilles. He was not an Astartes, but rather a regular man. He wore a dark green greatcoat that had golden patterns all over it. Achilles could see heavy carapace beneath the greatcoat, and the symbol of the Inquisition on the massive pendant that hung from the man's neck. There was a boltpistol holstered at the man's hip, and he walked on a cane that Achilles had no doubt doubled as a power weapon.
"You're no doubt aware that I've been called in to investigate claims that you and your regiment have been colluding with xenos," the young Inquisitor said with a faint smile. His condescending manner complimented his slicked back, black hair and youthful clean shaven face. Stark green eyes that complimented the man's greatcoat stared at Achilles. "We arrived in orbit several minutes ago and the mayor welcomed us with open arms, calling us to meet with him…"
He gestured towards the mayor's dead body with open arms.
"…and look at what we're met with. A fire fight at the door, and our host murdered. I'm sure you can appreciate how this looks to me, Lord General."
"All is not how it appears," Achilles said through gritted teeth.
"It never is," the Inquisitor replied calmly. He spun on his heel and made for the door, or what was left of it. "Arrest him."
A Space Marine stepped towards the general and raised his bolter.
By the Emperor, you better make it, Koda. He thought to himself moments before being knocked unconscious by the butt of the gun.