Chapter 9
Briar sighed for the umpteenth time as he waited for the Lady Inquisitor Kannu Escholan to show up. He was still angry at Marcella Snow; the obstinate little brat had embarrassed him to some degree with her antics. The fact that she had dumped ice water on him fairly recently still showed to an extent in his clothing; he was shivering, despite the heat of the room.
He looked down at the papers splayed out in his office; some of them were requests for potential assassinations. One paper was for one Melrigo Gingrichs, a notorious heretic cleric who had foiled various attempts to capture him for interrogation. The inquisitor pursuing him had put in a request for a Callidus to infiltrate his inner circle in a desperate, last-ditch attempt to halt the traitor's plans.
A second request was for an Eversor; the planetary governor of Vashabetius Secundus in the Scarus Sector had turned heretic, along with his entire family. The Ordos Malleus inquisitors suppressing the Chaotic uprising there had decided that the aforementioned assassin was their best option at weakening the insurgency, as cutting the head off the beast often disrupted orders from coming down the pipeline to the lower ranks.
He could still recall the time the High Lords of Terra had authorized the kill-order for the Prodeur family a little over two years ago; the fact was that the heretic fools were aiding and abetting an inquisitor corrupted by the minor Chaos god Malice. CIXIV had been sent on the mission there, but he vanished during the event there. When the Ordos Sicarious inquisitors investigated his disappearance, they discovered evidence of a warp rift but nothing more could be found. The aforementioned killer was written off as likely KIA.
"Briar, it is time we have a parley regarding Snow's fate," Escholan said as she entered Briar's office, "I want to train her as an acolyte. Some of my students were killed recently and I have been searching for replacements."
"I intend to turn her over to the care of the Culexus temple. She is a powerful psychic null, nearly Omega-level," Briar snapped back, aggravated by the woman.
"Snow is an excellent investigator, despite her condition. It is a clear fact that she was able to uncover several groups of traitors; it speaks a lot to her intelligence and dedication. You intend to waste this potential by making her into a killer, but I don't think it is going to happen," the woman sighed.
"She can be quite defiant and unruly at times. I've been on the receiving end of her antics at least twice. She drew on my face and splashed ice water on me. I've caned her for that behavior," Briar rubbed his temples.
"That fire can be redirected in the Inquisition," Escholan answered, "She wouldn't be content blindly following orders. When she talked to me, she told me something. It was her opinion that blind obedience is something that Tzeentch takes advantage of when he is planning his schemes. He often plants cultists disguised as Emperor-fearing cardinals and governors and use them as he pleases, be it sowing dissent among the populace or the people there blindly following the orders of their corrupted leaders."
"The fact that many of the radical & monodominant inquisitors have been deceived by the siren song of Tzeentch in recent years speaks to how deceptive the Architect of Fate really is," Briar agreed.
"I recall that Colby Rhasc had developed some kind of god-complex during his time in the Inquisition. He had eliminated two hundred thousand worth of Chaotic groups during his career. Some of his notable achievements included the first purging of Sarchoria. The archdeacon there turned to the Ruinous Powers, along with his fifty fellows. He ordered the brutal killings of more than half of the Ecclesiarchy there, and even went as far to request the aid of an Eversor assassin in order to contain the taint," Escholan reminisced, "But these achievements ended up swelling his ego, and he couldn't cope with the devastating defeats he was dealt in the years leading up to his corruption."
"I recall too many of the planetary governors that the Officio Assassinorum had to liquidate over the years were much the same mindset as the traitor. I recall that one governor, Annesh, was quite enamoured with his own cleverness. He had accounted for an assassin showing up to eliminate him and placed a bomb inside his own palace. But we knew that he would do that and had two assassins deployed. The Callidus succeeded where the Eversor didn't. His face was priceless when he found himself out maneuvered.
That incident, if I recall correctly occurred in M41.991. Ever since, many of the planetary governors who were contemplating secession plans were scared shitless for the next ten years," Briar noted as he leaned back in his car.
"I recall one governor who was much like Annesh. His name was Chester Boralvos. He booby-trapped his palace, put a decoy in his own place and even killed all of his bodyguards in a desperate attempt to evade the Callidus following him. The assassin just dispatched him while his guard was down. It goes to say that nearly no one can escape the Officio Assassinorum's notice," the female inquisitor replied.
"Aye. I remember him, too. Arrogant twat, that one. He even taunted the operative during his attempts to escape his fate," Briar agreed.
"Exactly. The agent on his case was understandably quite pissed off at him," Escholan nodded, "But let's get back on topic. The fact is I want to take Snow under my wing, but why are you resisting the idea?"
"She killed two psyker boys, Escholan. That was why I decided to take her in, so she could be taught the necessary control," the male inquisitor replied.
"I can arrange that kind of tutelage during the training as an acolyte," the woman replied.
"The Culexus Temple has the most expertise in training people like her. Even if you took her under your wing, there are numerous risks in leaving her as she currently is. The girl would likely end up unintentionally killing people around her," Briar sighed again as his hand met his face.
"The fact that she hasn't done so shows a high level of subconscious control, but even it can potentially fail," Escholan noted, "I concede, the Culexus temple may be the best place for her."
Marcella Snow looked upon the two inquisitors; she squirmed as the two looked at her, scrutinizing every part of her. She knew that they had news for her, but the fact wasn't lost upon the teenage pariah that they were about to decide her fate.
"Snow, we have discussed your fate, and we have decided that it would be best for you if we sent you to the Culexus temple for training," Escholan spoke as she crossed her arms.
"I don't give a—," the girl was about to spout off one of her profanities, but Briar wasn't having any of the girl's antics. He took the cane that he had used to administer discipline to the girl earlier and grabbed one of her hands. Briar then struck it again, causing Marcella to wince in pain.
"ENOUGH with the cussing!" he roared at her. Marcella blew a raspberry, clearly not enjoying what Briar was saying.
"The fact you have to face is that you inadvertently killed two psyker brothers with your presence. This is why we decided that the Culexus Temple would be the best place for you," He explained.
"Culexus my ass," Marcella rolled her eyes, "I'd rather be back home on Epsilon Regalis, or serving in Escholan's retinue."
"Don't insult the Temple, Snow. They have the expertise and experience in training people like you, and we stand by our decision," Escholan snapped back, clearly annoyed by the teen's antics.
Marcella rolled her eyes before she blew another raspberry.
SLAP! Briar stuck hard at her hand, causing it to bleed. The girl cried out loudly in pain again. She instantly understood what the man was insinuating with his words and actions. He wouldn't tolerate any more acts of defiance from her.
When the two Inquisitors left the cell she was in, Marcella looked at her bleeding hand. She stared at it for a moment before standing up and following after them.
Even after 22 years, her father's hands still shook when he recalled that day; Julores knew that whatever had happened to him had left him with irrecoverable mental scars. He had often woken up in a cold sweat, panting, and his posture was often defensive.
But he was a good father, and was strongly protective of his only remaining family member. When Julores was captured by some heretics, Dagon had gone on the warpath, ruthlessly killing anybody who was in the way. This was followed by the man torturing some of the members of this band he had located in a cold-blooded way that absolutely sent shivers down the rest of Briar's retinue. After the group had located the cult, Julores watched as her father coldly and silently walked up to the heretic leader and shot him in the head with his Exitus pistol.
"Don't. You. Dare. Lay. A. Hand. Upon. My. Daughter!" was the exact words he had uttered to the man before he killed him. Adding to the horror of the scene, Dagon's voice had an absolutely harsh undertone that was quite chilling to hear. Julores was only four years old at the time, and she had never seen this side of him before.
Ever since she turned eight, he had begun to teach her the arts of sniping, as a way to ensure that she had the needed skills to survive in harsh circumstances. Her first successful kill had been a heretic woman who had begun amassing a small cult around her, and Julores had been sent in to eliminate her. The fact that this place was gene-locked to the female gender didn't help matters, and Dagon had been unable to break it. She had snuck into it, clad in a trainee Vindicare synthskin suit, sniped the woman the way her father had taught her and pulled the trigger. The woman had dropped dead the moment the shieldbreaker round had hit her in her head, as the woman had carried a rosarius that she stole from a deceased Ecclesiarchy priest.
Her second kill had been a daemonically possessed man on the world of Eustis Major. He had dabbled in forbidden Warp energies and ended up with the dire consequences as a result. Briar had sent Julores to kill him as Dagon had been occupied with his duties for the moment. It was a successful kill as the objective had been liquidated before he could cause any more damage.
"Father?" she spoke up, "Any news on the new recruits?"
"Most were good, but not the level of excellency that the Officio Assassinorum demands for recruits. Only five stood out in my mind. Benjya, the serial killer Clovinus Hygthoran, Seiji Motoji, Keira Tseniya and Marcella Snow.
Benjya is quite a loner, and an effective sniper at that. His aloofness helps him in that he can keep an emotional distance from his enemies. His accuracy is laudable, but it can be further refined under the Vindicare temple.
Clovinus Hygthoran in my opinion, is quite psychotic and sadistic. He has a level of cruelty that is paralleled only by these of the Ruinous Powers. When I saw him crush the head of two young children, I recognized that his talents for bloodshed was unparalleled among the group. He has a notable history of psychosis and anti-social personality disorder. The Eversor Temple will be excited to have this recruit.
Seiji Motoji's propensity for fabrication and impersonation is matched only by Keira Tseniya; These two have a history of mimicking others in order to frame them for crimes they didn't commit. Tseniya impersonated a servant in order to eliminate the rival of a prominent businessman, while Motoji did the same with a rival in order to kill off his betrothed and stir up conflict between two feuding families. This shows to me that these two have the necessary cunning needed to serve in the Callidus Temple.
Marcella Snow, although a pariah of significant power shows a strong subconscious control over her power, evidenced by the fact that she refuses to feed off any souls. However, she has some cunning and an excellent investigative mind, something that we saw when she uncovered two Chaos cults and a xenos artifact trading ring. That, combined with her knowledge of Imperium law, make for an invaluable asset, be it Officio Assassinorum operative or an Inquisitor," Dagon Lachirus replied.
"What about Dewark Cossach and Natalie de Ossman? I saw them, and they seem to have the right stuff for an assassin of your caliber," Julores asked as she laid back on her bed.
"From what I've observed of these two, Cossach's psychosis and sadism is a close parallel to Hygthoran. But Snow told me that he has an acute addiction to pornography, which compromises his suitability. From our experience, Briar often noted that such sexually explicit imagery often opened avenues to Slaaneshi corruption.
De Ossman seems to have warped ideas about sexuality; from what Bhullar sensed of her thoughts, she thinks touching will make thing 'better'. In reality I've noticed that she is quite addicted to sexual intercourse. There isn't a moment where she tries to seduce other people in order to get her daily fix; sometime it succeeds, and other times it doesn't. This trait is a potential vulnerability that the Ruinous powers will likely exploit," her father answered.
"Any negative traits about Snow?," her inquiry was answered.
"She can be quite impulsive and defiant at times. Her mother told me numerous stories of times that Snow defied her rules of not going out the house without her supervision. She is also fond of impulse buys of various sweets, apparently either vanilla or apple-flavored, as well as going on wild, reckless rides down various chutes all over her home district without any thought of the potential dangers lurking there," He replied.
Julores sighed; she instantly understood what Dagon meant. One time the girl had dragged her to a nearby chute on one of the taller buildings. The ride was quite terrifying, but also oddly exhilarating at the same time. It had ended near the street where her home was located, and Julores had to admit that Snow was one of the few who was crazy enough to pull this off.
The girl told that when she was a child she could feel fear, but as she grew up that feeling faded away, although she could express happiness and anger, as evidenced by the antics that transpired yesterday.
Julores could only wonder at Snow's fate.
The fighting pits had been cleaned of blood and detritus from the events that had transpired yesterday, and now the trainees were sitting behind the screens. Some of them had been marked as unworthy, after some of their antics had revealed their true nature. One boy had an obscura stash in his room; he had been dragged out of it, and branded with the High Gothic word "ADJECTIO" on his chest, while a girl who bore tattoos of Slaanesh on her wrists had the same done with the word "HERESTIO" on her head.
These two, along with eight other marked boys and girls were promptly tied to the poles set up in the fighting pits. They begged and screamed for mercy, but they received none, as masked men and women stepped into the rings.
"Subjects no. 13, 27, 36, 62, 75, 96, 128, 132, 137, and 155, step in the ring," The voxcaster blared to life. Five trainees of each gender entered the ring. They were handed a knife, and waited for their respective instructors to begin. This lesson was particularly focused on anatomy, and where to strike in order to most efficiently end the life of their victims.
Marcella watched silently, somewhat ill at the thought of ending the lives of these children. But she knew that it had to be done, it was necessary to cull the weak and the weak-willed ones.
One of the victims, a little boy of around nine years in age screamed as his thigh was slit open to reveal his femoral artery, while the same heretic girl that Marcella had glimpsed had her chest cut open to expose her brachiocephalic artery. Her eyes darted to every tied-down individual; they all had exposed arteries of some kind through their cuts.
"Arteries are oxygen-carrying vehicles inside the body that deliver the necessary supplies for cells to live and divide. Cutting off one of them often cuts off the oxygen supply to that limb or part. Some of them are more vital than others and cutting these will prove fatal to the unfortunate victim," One instructor explained. He signalled to the chosen subjects; They quickly cut the exposed veins of the unfortunate victims. The blood gushed from the bodies, with the cries of the victims soon stopping at various points of time as they choked, gagged or stopped breathing. A bunch of servitors then cut down the now-cold bodies from the pole and took them out of the room.
A second group, this time consists of three boys and four girls were dragged into the fight rings; they, like the original ones before them were tied to the vacated poles. They shivered in fear at what they knew would signal their demise.
"ANYBODY HELP ME? BY THE-,"
BANG! The unfortunate girl who spoke too soon found herself with a hole in her head, and her head lolled to one side as she took her last breath.
Marcella looked around the room; most of her fellow trainees had looks of shock as they were forced to witness this gruesome scene. The fact that the girl was shot in the head sent a clear message to the rest; They would not beg for help or mercy if they ever ended up in this position.
"Subjects no. 17, 33, 55, 121, 140, and 170, please step in the pit," Marcella meekly did as she was told, as she knew that if she defied, she would be shot, too.
As she approached the girl she knew she would be forced to kill, she noted the male instructor standing beside the tied up girl; he gave her the knife.
She could see the fear in the crying teen's eyes; Her red hair was braided in nine strands, and she was unusually developed for a teen her age. Marcella's body in comparison was still growing; she still had breast buds, despite the fact that her menses had came in when she was twelve.
Stepping up to the girl, she steeled her resolve and plunged the knife in the chest right where the brachiocephalic artery was situated. The blood begun to gush out with each beat, and it was in that moment that she realized that this girl was going to die and it was all by her own hand. Marcella felt a bit of regret in that moment, but she realized that the first girl, the one she had killed earlier was also a victim of her, and she felt even more regret for that one.
It was when the body was carried away that she found a paper with her victim's name written on it: Natalie De Ossman.It had obviously fallen out of the girl's pockets.
Briar watched the proceedings with an grim interest; Natalie De Ossman had been identified as one of the unworthy after it turned out that the girl was literally addicted to sex. He didn't want agents who could end up being liabilities to the Imperium; Asaid Virenus and LIIVI were two examples. It was a well-known fact in the Inquisition that addiction was firmly in the domain of the Prince of Pleasure. Many of his followers were often addicted to various substances, and often sought more depraved and forbidden pleasures in order to sate this condition.
Marcella Snow had done well in dispatching her, although the fact that she felt regret for doing such an act indicated to Briar that she wouldn't take any pleasure in killing. She clearly didn't understand that killing in the Emperor's service was viewed as an honor and a holy act.
But if there was one thing that Snow knew, she could separate what was mindless slaughter and what was not. The girl had told Briar and Foules a story about one of the platoons that her father had served in when he was a young man. They had forgot who they were killing in the name of, and as a result they had became corrupted by the Taker of Skulls. Angelos Engelbrecht, his commissar had to execute them as a result and he was the sole survivor of that group as he had objected to the mindless atrocities they committed against civilians. Her father had personally ratted the bunch out to the man after he had noticed hints of their corruption.
Briar's father, Egrel had an similar story; his tank squadron had been corrupted by the Prince of Pleasure after a lengthy stay on a pleasure world somewhere in the Ixniad Sector. They turned against their superiors and slaughtered them before going on a rampage, torturing, raping and murdering innocent civilians in their path. When the Inquisition was called in to address this problem they had no choice but to use the services of a local Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes to wipe out this problem.
Egrel had told the Inquisitor that he strongly objected to going to a particular club that he felt went against the norm of what was moral and decent; this place often trafficked young girls who were kidnapped from their homes or orphanages and sold them on to the depraved nobility of that world. To make it worse, he had harboured suspicions that the venue was hiding something dark. His worst fears were confirmed the day his group defected to the Ruinous Powers.
After this club was investigated, the Inquisition brutally killed every clubgoer in it, blew the building up and hunted down the owners of this unholy place. The poor fools were subjected to every known Action in the interrogation chambers of the Inquisitorial base that they were taken to, in an futile attempt to crack the case wide open. But when the psykers had used the Emperor's Tarot cards to divine the root of this little problem, it had all led to the Pistorius Family. This family was collaborating with the Emperor's Children, and had planned to set up a Slaaneshi uprising against the Imperial authorities on that planet. An Eversor assassin was dispatched to eliminate the whole family three months later, and the actual massacre had occurred during the engagement party of the youngest scion of the patriarch.
Briar rubbed the bridge of his nose; he had lost count of how many times he had dispatched agents of the various Temples to kill targets that had been determined to be corrupted by the Ruinous Powers. Some of the incidents that he had personally involved in had required the creation of Execution Forces.
One event in particular occurred on the world of Syndel's Gauntlet in the same sector; a Dark Apostle called Maloq Raythok had called upon the entire world to cast off the oppressive mantle of its Imperium overseers. This world had erupted in bloody rebellions all year and even with the Dark Angels, Vlka Fenryka and the Mortifactors suppressing it, it still wasn't enough. He had to send a team consisting of agents of all four main temples deep into Raythok's quarters in order to kill him. All members of this force perished during this attempt to kill their objective, although it was a success.
He signaled to Dagon to get his attention; the Vindicare turned to him, standing at attention.
"Your next assignment-," Briar began, but he was promptly interrupted when a clearly furious Ruhr Foules burst in the room, dragging a crying Snow into the room.
"She was trying to sneak into one of my shuttles in an attempt to escape the path we had set out for her. That was a foolhardy act. She could have potentially put psykers at risk, and that's something that I clearly don't approve of," he sighed in annoyance.
Briar steeled his eyes upon the girl; Snow had tried to disobey his orders again. He sighed again. She would have to learn the hard way that her powers made her a risk to the public.
"Snow, what you tried to do was very foolish. You are a powerful psychic null. What if you lose control of your powers? We would have a hell of a time cleaning up the mess that you caused with your antics," he told her.
Snow was about to blow yet another raspberry, but Briar's glare made her reconsider that line of thought. It was clear to the girl that she would be stuck under his stern and watchful eye for a long time.
Marcella squirmed as she found herself stuck in Briar's office for the afternoon. She resented the two for not giving her choices, and as she looked around the room she blew a raspberry loud enough to capture the other occupants's attention.
SLAP! She flinched as Briar struck her on the face; Foules and Dagon clearly disapproved of this immature behavior.
"I was once like you, Marcella. I had naïve ideas of defying the Officio and settling down, but I instantly realized the mistake I made years ago. It was a reckless act that left me with a daughter that I was forced to raise myself! When I broke one of the chief protocols of non-fraternity with the public my handlers lashed me over forty times for that offense.
The circumstances were mitigated by the fact that I was willing to raise the child I fathered, and that meant I had to register her under her mother's name to keep people from guessing at the true identity of her father. It was harsh, but I quickly understood that if I broke another protocol I would be instantly killed. This was why I continued in my career as an Imperial assassin, there is absolutely no escape from it except death," Dagon's cold monotone broke the silence.
"Lachirus has a valid point, Snow," Briar reminded Marcella, "Defying orders like that could get you killed."
It was in that moment that Marcella understood what had happened to the girl who screamed for anyone to help her; she had broken the rules of not speaking before she was spoken to. Others had violated numerous rules of abstaining from addictive substances while a few had openly worshipped forbidden gods. They all had been killed as a result, in order to keep liabilities at a minimum.
She recalled the stories her father had told her of many Imperial guardsmen being executed by their commissars for similar behaviors, while others had been sent to penal legions. It didn't matter in the Imperium as in their eyes, all crimes were equal.
Marcella found herself being escorted to her quarters by Briar and Foules, before they locked the door behind her. She could see her bed; it was a single slab of mattress that she found to be extremely uncomfortable, with gray bedsheets and a single brown blanket. In another corner was a desk; it seemed to had been through a lot of wear and tear, as judged by the nicks and marks on the surface. There was a combined sink and toilet in the corner.
She sat on the bed, and cried; she absolutely hated the direction her life was heading in. Even if she tried to defy her superiors she would end up dead, or worse, as a lobotomized servitor.