Chapter 7
Two days later
St. Bekendictos District, the Snow Estate
Marcella Snow sat at her desk in her bedroom; on her desk was the book of psykic law that she had found, as well as several volumes of hardboiled detective novels. She had always enjoyed a good mystery novel; something she had shared with her mother.
At this moment she was absorbed in another one of these; her teacher had given her an assignment to write a review of a book she was reading. This particular volume was about a team of Arbites who must investigate a series of mysterious disappearances of high-ranking officials of the planet they are stationed on. However one of the main characters was concealing a dangerous secret; he once was a governmental assassin, but the man defected from his organization because of the rampant corruption in his agency.
This novel was written by one Lonny Garced, a renowned author in the Gehenna sector who had sold million of copies of his books. Marcella had six books written by him in her collection and she was in the process of acquiring another 4. She just couldn't get enough of the twists and turns that he had put in his books, as well as the action.
A knock sounded on the door of her bedroom; she stood up and opened the door. Seeing her mother, she signaled the woman to come in.
"Mother, the fact that Aballen Erkan was declared Excommunicate Traitoris after we found his cache of heretic books reminds me too much of these traitorous families from the New Year's Massacre," she said.
"I agree. Chaos isn't a toy; the Inquisition have lost count of how many time someone tried to mess around with the warp and got burned. Inquisitor Eisenhorn once told me that no matter how much someone think they can use demons to fight demons, they are mistaken; the demon usually turns on them the moment they show signs of weakness," Mother agreed.
"And the fact that he tried to establish a coven of sorcerers here shows how little the frakker cares for the safety of the planet. From what I've heard from Taremann, Foules is interrogating the worshippers," Marcella tugged her front strand, "When we found the collection, it became all too clear to me that he was a greasy Tze-worshipping frakker. I absolutely hate corrupt officials, and that is because they will do anything to get ahead in the hierarchy."
The two had recalled when Judge Chatham had placed the blasted statue in the niche, it had slid out of the way to reveal a bookshelf filled with books and scrolls devoted to the Architect of Fate.
One of them, The Many Eyed God by one Fahjoud Al-Rashid was a notorious book that had been written in the early thirty-seventh millennium by the author before he was assassinated by a Culexus operative. The gifted apostate had led his pursuer across three systems and seven planets before finally meeting his demise on the Unspoken Torments, a Horus Heresy-era battlecruiser that now served the traitorous Emperor's Children legion, from what the group had heard from Briar.
This assassin had snuck on a shuttle that was bringing another load of Chaos cultists from the daemon worldof Fulikkos II. He killed the cultists on that particular vessel, piloted it toward the ship and through his own cunning and stealth, he killed much of the high-ranked Astartes while they slept in terrified stupor. After the man had left a trail of bodies to lure out Al-Rashid, he had strangled the rogue psyker to death while using his potent life-draining abilities to heal his own wounds from his previous struggles.
Another book, Selos's Musings on the Architect of Fate, was written by Tarsimee Selos, a well-known heretic poet from the world of Gororan III. It was published in M41.986; when the book had reached nearly 600,000 copies sold, it was when the Inquisition took notice. They had sent an entire legion of stormtroopers to destroy the publishing press that was producing several heretic books, including this volume. Selos fled her homeworld days later, the Inquisition on her trail. She had moved from system to system for six years, before arriving on Malfi. The woman had just ingrained herself in the Masque when the notorious Eversor assassin CIXIV had completely slaughtered her cadre. It was said that the killer had laughed, taking joy in the bloodletting as he had ripped Selos's heart out of her chest and used it to paint the words BEWARE, HERETICS in her blood on the walls of the eating establishment where this particular group was meeting.
"Denton Briar is interested in your potential, Marcella," the teenage pariah was broken out of her thoughts by her mother's words.
"I know! I told him that there are much worthier candidates than me. Dewark Cossach would make an excellent assassin. He's a serial killer in the making, and would enjoy watching the light go out in his victims's eyes. If I become one of these killers, I would regret every killing and remember the face of every life I take," Marcella answered, curling up in a fetal position.
"But you have begun to show a certain amount of ruthlessness in your work. Remember that mutant bunch you gave a ferocious beatdown to the previous week? They are on their way to the work camps on Braahman XI," Mother wrapped her arm around her, "the fact that you have begun to become numb to the suffering of other people just proves in my eyes that you're awakening to the harsh reality that is the Imperium."
"I'd rather follow in your footsteps than become one of these killers," she protested.
Inquisitoral Facility
Dewark Cossach sat in the gray observational chamber; he looked around; in one corner was a table displaying a variety of weapons. Another one held a caged puppy, clearly plucked up from the streets of his hive.
The window on one side of this particular was shatterproof; behind it he could see a tall man with slicked back hair and ruddy skin, as well as two tech-priests and a Medicae Adeptus.
When the cage had been opened by an automatic mechanism, the puppy had bounded out of it; approaching the boy, the creature sniffed him.
Dewark had picked up the dog by the scruff; grabbing one of the animal's hind legs, he had pulled at it so hard, the hip had dislocated. He then repeatedly kicked the dog against the wall, all while ignoring the poor creature's yowls of pain.
Taking a knife from the table the boy then dragged the dog toward him. He begun the process of beheading the puppy, all while these people had watched him dispassionately.
Little did this boy knew that the rest of his waking life would be spent in a bloody drug-fuelled berserk rage, eviscerating various enemies of the Imperium on various worlds.
Denton Briar had watched the boy vivisect the puppy in the room; he had read the extensive psychological report that the Medicae had wrote up on Cossach.
Psychopathic and sadistic tendencies is noted. Borderline psychosis is also present, although it is becoming stronger.
Childhood abuse noted; welts on back and stomach as well as cigarette burns on legs. Father is a known domestic abuser; mother is currently alive.
Admission into the Eversor Temple is recommended.
"Next," he nodded toward the tech-priests as they moved to sedate the boy.
The next subject was Natalie de Ossman; she had been abused physically and sexually since she was eight by her stepfather. This had resulted in a cold, sociopathic personality. The girl, although pretty, had absolutely no friends and often spent her time seducing men and killing them.
She had proved to be a perfect match for the Callidus Temple, as evidenced by the hidden vid-cam of her seducing a competitor from the fighting rings in the underhive and then killing him during sexual intercourse.
When he had watched the girl dispassionately slit the throat of the cat that she had been given with the kama sickle she carried around, Denton Briar had decided to take her aboard the Officio Assassinorum ship.
After watching another 32 subjects, some disappointing, and yet others was lost in mediocrity he saw Benjya. He had coldly ignored the kitten, even going as far to keep his hands to himself. When he had been given a knife he had quickly beheaded the animal. This had earned a nod of approval from Briar.
Another child, a young boy of around age seven had tortured the miniature grox he had been given by painfully vivisecting the creature while it cried out in pain. This Briar had noted and he was quickly turned over to the Medicae for a more through psychological assessment.
He could see Lachirus doing maintenance work on his Exitus pistol while Julores happily chattered to him about a mystery book that Snow had recommended to her. The man was grudgingly listening; it was clear to Briar that he had little to no idea of what a normal life in the Imperium really was like.
Julores's upbringing was also unusually abnormal; having an assassin for a parent had meant that she was virtually rootless. She had much more in common with the voidborn that populated the various ships of the Imperium, as she only went planet-side when her father had a vital mission, or to aid Briar in his investigation in various heretic and illicit activities across the Emperor's domain.
She had also learnt some of his own techniques, although the fact that she wasn't an orphan impeded her entrance into the Schola Progenium. But nevertheless, the girl was diligent in her studies under her father.
Several of the assassins under the Inquisitor's care were voidborn; One was N'Ijiashi Thaddea, a Callidus who was born on the Astra Militarium ship Fists of Absolution. During the 18-years- long conflict on the now dead world of Hallourn XV, her parents had been killed. The girl had been sent to the Schola Progenium on a nearby world as a result. She was brought to the Officio Assassinorum's attention after she had killed a drill abbot that had tried to molest her and she had completed the training at her alma mater before being set loose on the Chartist vessel HMMS Everlasting Honour; her objective was to kill the heretic captain of this ship. She had used polymorphine in order to assume the identity of his lover before she had seamlessly dispatched the traitor during a sexual tryst.
The second was Chrystall Zhau; She was the youngest niece of the now deceased Viktor Zhau. During a mission on Necromunda Zhau's biological relatives had tracked him down and entrusted him with the care of the infant girl. It turns out that his younger sister, who had disappeared from the Schola on the world of their birth had been kidnapped by pirates while she was exploring the area around the educational instuition.
The girl was then sold to a ship-bound brothel where she endured years of rapes by various customers on it. During her years there she gave birth to five children, two of them boys, who were then turned over to the Astral Knives once they turned five years old. The two elder girls had begun the "training" to become joygirls, but once she had became pregnant with her youngest daughter, the woman had escaped her captors. The woman had hidden herself among the crowds on her ship, giving birth to this baby during the journey to Necromunda.
Once she had arrived on the world, she had made her way toward four cousins living together in an apartment in the middle hive; before her death she begged to have the girl placed in the care of her brother. Coincidentally, Viktor Zhau had been assigned the task of killing the heretic cardinal Mosiel Vaschomes on this world; he had begun spreading dangerous heresies to the populace of his district with the intent to foster dissent.
He had just begun his climb up the building overlooking the Ecclesiarchy cloister where his objective had been stationed in when he was located. The cousins handed the squalling baby over to him, much to Viktor Zhau's chagrin. He left baby Chrystall at a Officio Assassinorum waypoint station and returned to his objective.
Chrystall had begun her training in the Vindicare Temple when she was five; her first mission after her graduation was to eliminate the Mekboy warboss Ritgrog Skarkraka. It was an unabashed success as the ork was killed by a precise head-shot.
"What do you think of Marcella Snow?" Julores's question had broke Briar out of his musings.
"The girl is an excellent candidate; The only problem she have is her legalistic mindset. She believes in doing things within the confines of Imperium law, and is willing to hand it off to us when it fails to address the threat," he replied, "This mindset will have to be challenged during her training."
"I agree, She is an intelligent young woman. There is a reason why the Officio Assassinorum doesn't tolerate mediocrity; they drag down the rest with them," Lachirus had noted.
"I fully agree, many of the candidates that we had hoped would be standouts disappointed us greatly," Briar had sighed.
He had the feeling it would be a long day of scrutinizing various Schola Progenium orphans and street urchins.
Main Precinct-Fortress of Epsilon Regalis
Marcella stood in a fighting ring; her current instructor, Baltir Chatham was facing her. She raised her tonfas to strike at her mentor, but he blocked it with his suppressor shield. The girl the lashed out with a low kick which temporarily staggered her mentor before she followed with a series of precise tonfa strikes at his upper chest.
He responded by blocking the aforementioned strikes with his shield, before swinging his shock maul in a wide arc. She ducked, before flipping over Chatham; another series of strikes aimed at his back soon followed before he turned around and blocked them.
As he struck out at her, Marcella blocked his shock maul with her tonfa, before she pulled off a high kick that her mentor was able to block, only marginally. Using the levarage of the earlier kick she flipped before she made another low kick; this one had managed to knock Chatham off his feet.
"Good job. You're definitely improving in combat. Your mother must taught you well this week," he nodded toward the teen.
Marcella perked up at the praise; today was a good day. Most of her days were often spent alone as many of her schoolmates feared her because her presence was unusually disorientating to them. Some of the bullies, including Dewark Cossach, had tried to pick on her but after she had given them a fierce beatdown, it was clear to the school that it was better to leave her alone.
But it didn't deter some from trying. It was a good thing that her mother had trained her constantly in combat even since she was six. This had bolstered her self-confidence, and helped her prepare for her future career choice as an Adepta Arbites.
"It's definitely a good thing that Aballen Erkan and his progeny is dead, Chatham. I've seen the books in his stash. Some of them were heretical, but nothing compared to that one demonic tome," Marcella reminisced on the previous night's events.
"It was a good thing that Ruhr Foules had the idea to hand it over to the Ordos Malleus' own care," her mentor had agreed.
This particular book, called The Great Tome of Neme'duk was a book that had a Greater Lord of Change sealed in it. It had been created by the same apostate psyker that had authored the Many-eyed God. He had intended on using the book as a weapon to unleash massive demonic incursions on many Imperial worlds, but his assassination had ended his malevolent plans. It then passed to the Thousand Sons' own archives before the sorcerer Atum Sum had presented Colby Rhasc with it during the 13th Black Crusade. The traitorous Inquisitor had it smuggled beyond Epsilon Regalis's security with the intention that Erkan would summon Neme'duk there, from what Bhullar Vijay had divined from the Emperor's Tarot Cards.
The two Inquisitors agreed that this book had to be locked up, and they had placed it into a stasis box specially designed to hold demonic artifacts like it. Marcella had suspected that this book would be sent to some Inquisitorial bastion somewhere in the galaxy, where it would go under further scrutiny.
"Taremann told me that he plans to send me to the Chastener training facility on Scintilla. He told me that my unusual presence is a somewhat effective tool of torture, and he want to refine that gift further there. While there he told me that I may learn many non-lethal ways to capture dissidents there," She crossed her arms in contemplation, "I agree with him, I want to go there for further training. There are many seditious elements on Epsilion Regalis who would stop at nothing to see it free."
"Agreed. From what I recall from this world's history there was two secession attempts. The first attempt involved the frakked Hygthoran family. Their patriarch turned traitor and was slain during his coronation. The second attempt ended in the purging of much of the nobility," Chatham sighed, sitting down on a nearby bench.
"And the countless planetary governors that had attempted to secede from the Imperium paid the price with their lives," Foules's voice had intruded into the two individuals's conversation, "The fact that they would willingly play Vahallan roulette with the lives of innocent civilians shows how much disregard they have for the people under their rule."
"I've heard rumors that Severus XIII was killed by someone posing as his bride six years ago," Marcella turned to Foules, "It seems the Severan Dominate folded after his death. Some of the conversations I've recorded mentioned that his troops and former supporters hated him so much, they let him die."
"Agreed. The man had became paranoid and tyrannical in his last years; he once tried to harness the power of an Alpha-plus psyker to serve as his personal attack dog, but the Ordos Malleus dispatched an agent to kill this person," Ruhr nodded.
"My mother told me this morning that Briar is seriously interested in me. I don't understand why he would want me; I already told him that there are other, worthier candidates for his hounds," the teen crossed her arms.
"It is because your presence is a weapon that can be harnessed against rogue psykers and Warp entities, Marcella Snow. The chances of this gene appearing is one in a billion; many of your kind often don't survive past infancy or even childhood. The fact that your mother raised you well despite the fact that you radiate this chilling presence is a testament to her strength of character," Foules replied, "I understand that you want to become an arbitrator, but if Briar has his way he will conscript you for training at the Culexus Temple."
"But I already finalized plans to go to the Chastener training facility on Scintilla with Taremann this morning," She protested, "He told me that my aura is quite effective at squeezing out the necessary information from some of the most difficult to break individuals in his tender care."
"He won't relent on that one, Snow. Even if you have evidence proving that fact, he'll dismiss it and take you in anyways. You are far more valuable to him as a weapon," Ruhr sighed, his annoyance with Marcella clear on his face.
"I'd rather continue my studies with Chatham then go with that motherfrakking yutz," the teenage pariah snapped back, her arms crossed across her pubescent chest.
"Trying to convince him is like reasoning with a brick wall," Foules responded.
Briar sighed as he looked over the one-hundred and sixty-nine candidates he had procured for the Officio Assassinorum; the youngest was only three years old, while the eldest was a 21-years-old serial killer he had wrung out of the underhive of Holibanus after hearing legends of a serial killer hunting people there. The one-hundred and seventieth candidate, Marcella Snow was on her way here, being delivered to the facility they were in by Ruhr Foules, over her adamant objections that she was going with Taremann to the world of Scintilla in the Calixis Sector.
He was beyond irritated with the sub-par offerings that the Schola Progenium on Epsilon Regalis had provided him; many of the children were bed-wetters or just plain cowards. To send a strong message to the rest of the drill abbots there he had two-thirds of them executed after finding that the quality of their education was significantly below the demanding standards of the various organizations that depended on them for their new recruits.
"YOU FRAKKING FRAKTARD, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS FRAKKING SHIT TO ME?! I TOLD YOU I HAD FINALIZED PLANS TO GO TO MOTHERFRAKKING SCINTILLA! YOU SHOULD GO STICK YOUR DUMB HEAD UP SOME HERETIC SCUM'S ASSHOLE!" The aforementioned subject was swearing Foules' ear off, and he was not clearly pleased with what the girl was saying.
SLAP!
Snow burst in tears; the right cheek of her face was clearly red, a result of Foules striking her in the face. She tried to head toward one of the doors of the large room, but Briar tackled her, and dragged her back toward the throng of candidates.
"As much as you hate it, we want you, Snow. Your rare trait make you a valuable asset to the Imperium, and we are authorized to take any measures to take in people like you," he scolded the teenage pariah harshly.
"Frak you," Snow snapped back, flipping the double birds at Briar. This was something he was not particularly pleased with. He had to restrain himself from slapping Snow for her act of defiance.
On the Unwavering Resolver
Dagon Lachirus stood in Briar's office; the Vindicare was waiting for his next assigment. He was leaning against the wall when the aforementioned inquisitor came in. His face had been scribbled over with permanent markers; there was a monocle around his left eyes, a drawing of a third eye on his forehead, a moustache and goatee around his lips and the word "LOSER" on his right cheek.
The assassin bit back a snicker as he appreciated the handiwork, and Briar was baffled why his servant was laughing at him.
"Look in the mirror," he pointed out; the man promptly headed for the mirror in the adjoining bathroom.
To say that Denton Briar was embarrassed was an understatement; he was furious that someone would willingly do this act of disrespect to him. But taking in deep breaths, he realized the most likely person was Marcella Snow.
The girl was an infuriating spitfire, always mouthing off at every opportunity. When the Medicae had ordered her to strip down to nudity, she had snarked, "So I'm a joygirl? How erudite."
The fact that she was being medically examined for any physical anomalies that may impede her development as an assassin was clearly lost upon the girl. It wasn't until one of the servitors had forcibly cut through the school uniform she wore that Snow realized what they intended to do to her.
Once the examination was complete, she was given a sombre gray jumpsuit with the number #170 on the right chest pocket.
Briar was still waiting for the results of the examinations of his latest batch of assassin candidates. After he scrubbed off the ink with soap and water (twice) he returned to the office, examining the papers.
"We're still waiting for confirmation on the kill-order for Evangelion's traitorous governor, Dagon. The fact that he has a large contingent of guardsmen fanatically loyal to him, and fortified his palace with defenses in anticipation of Imperial retribution speaks a lot to his character," the man noted, "Secondly, I've heard rumors that the new governor of Borthaman XII is an unsanctioned psyker; The Ordo Hereticus is investigating him, as I speak."
"Snow told me that she'd overheard rumours that there are some factions of the Administrium who have begun to bribe various organizations to overlook their ineptitude. She told me that she believed that Aballen Erkan was a member of one such group," Dagon replied.
"If these rumors were confirmed, it would end up doing a large amount of damage to the Imperium's overall functioning. I shudder to think what would happen if the confirmation of that kill-order was lost by these incompetent officials," Briar frowned in distaste, "I may need to do a further investigation of the political corruption in the Adeptus Administrium."
Dagon sighed; his thoughts had began to wander toward his daughter. When he took the newborn girl in, he had accepted the consequences of his oversight and strove to atone for this mistake by raising her. The fact that he understood that he would likely face painful reconditioning for his reckless acts had drove him to do this in order to protect his own secrecy, as well as his daughter's own existence. It wasn't lost upon Thrawn Eisenhorn and Denton Briar that he had accepted the responsibility of raising Julores after her mother's death as a way to make things right after his little escapade with the woman.
The many years that he had spent raising her had taught him that even if he could atone for his mistake, it would stay with him for a long time; it was a stain on his otherwise spotless record. But the fact that Julores was a well-adjusted individual spoke a lot of his devotion to his child.
He still missed Edith Ronneherig, the mother of his child and his first and only lover he had ever had. Both had found that they both had a lot in common, being born on Malfi, and went to the same Schola when they were younger. They had both hated the headmaster of this particular facility, as it was a commonly known fact among the student body that the man had sold a few children to Dark Eldar pirates every year.
However, during Dagon's third year there the man had fallen under the scrutiny of Ordos Xenos investigators and was taken away. He was replaced by a reasonable drill abbot who was in opposition to the man's own greedy policies, and it was something that Dagon was particularly thankful for, because he knew that he didn't want to be taken to Comorragh for endless years of torture.
He had heard the stories, many who survived these raids were reduced to babbling husks of their original selves. Even his fellow assassins weren't safe; some of them were so broken by the years of prolonged torture they weren't even fit to serve. They were promptly given the Emperor's mercy. It was little wonder that Dagon hated and feared the damned xenos.
Sighing again, he watched Briar endlessly pace the room, muttering profanities about corrupt officials and stupid idiots, something that he had seen Snow, Chatham and Taremann doing earlier.
Marcella Snow sighed for the umpteenth time as she stood along the other children who had been taken from Epsilon Regalis. She had noticed that some of the children didn't even have parents to teach them the proper way to behave in front of others. One boy had just urinated on his neighbour; that particular boy had ended up punching the idiot. This had ended up initiating a fistfight between the two children, which a third and forth had quickly joined in. She marched up to the four children; pulling them apart, she bonked them all in the head.
"If you want to stay alive during this frakking time, just. Don't. DO. STUPID. SHIT. Like. That," she spat at the four boys.
Meanwhile Briar, Lachirus and Foules had entered the room. Using a megaphone to attract the attention of the entire crowd, he ordered the groups to stand in line. The subjects quickly complied, fearful of a flogging or being turned into servitors.
Inspecting each face in the room, he then called out, "Subjects no. 35, 45, 87, 98, 116, 123 and 127, you are to report to the tech-priests immediately; you have existing physical anomalies that have been deemed too severe for continued duty in the Emperor's most Holy Service."
Four boys and three girls were ushered off into a side entrance. Marcella had a sneaking suspicion that they would be turned into servitors.
"Subject No. 170, you are to report to Ruhr Foules' office after the first training session. A Ordo Xenos Inquisitor have requested more information on the xeno artifacts trading ring that you uncovered on your homeworld. She will be arriving shortly, as well as Chastener Taremann and Judge Chatham," he gestured to her.
She perked up; she hoped that this would be a reprieve from her situation. The fact that both of her mentors were arriving on this ship to help this particular investigator resolve the illegal trading ring meant an opportunity to sneak off this damnable ship, or even join the retinue of this particular person.
But it seems that Briar had figured out what she was thinking, as he approached her.
"Going to Scintilla and studying up on capture and torture techniques is a waste of your potential. The fact that you are a powerful psychic null is why we took you in order to refine this gift to it most lethal potential," he reminded the teen.
The credit for CIXIV goes to Banterhorse; the writer's story Death Stare of the Emperor is quite funny.
