ELEVEN
Despite my eagerness to waltz with heretics in the bowels of the forgeworld, a growing sense of dread accompanied me as we descended down a narrow staircase. It wasn't just because the lack of power meant we had to go down a staircase that was too narrow for fire safety regulations (assuming they had any on Erebus) and it wasn't because the lack of lighting prevented us from barely seeing three feet ahead of us without the aid of our handheld luminators. It wasn't even because those two things in combination were rapidly pushing me towards full-scale hysteria due to my claustrophobia. No, no, no, no. It was the fact that we were so far below the surface that there was absolutely no chance anything short of a pinpoint orbital strike inflicting any damage to this facility. This facility was more like a bunker than a night club and if it did serve as a heretical hang-out, then it was a perfect spot for them to take refuge. There was absolutely no way of telling how many people could be lurking at the bottom of the stairwell.
Speaking of the bottom of the stairwell, if there was one then we weren't going to find it so much as it was going find us. Even with Heilmit's luminator lighting the way, we couldn't tell when or where this staircase ended. Now in case you're wondering why we're not being more cautious when descending the stairs, I was being accompanied by two fully armed and armoured Kriegan soldiers complete with full webbing and gasmask filtration systems. So unless the heretics were blasting death metal over vox amplifiers anything within a mile radius was going to hear us approaching; stealth was not an option. Inquisitor Hakim wasn't any more subtle either. While he wasn't clad in power armour, he was wearing some armour plating that made carapace armour seem flimsy. Throw in some bolt pistols and concealed lightning claws and Hakim was most certainly not a man I would want to run into in a dark alley or dark, narrow stairwell. Let's throw in 'on a brightly lit staircase' too if we're going to be honest.
In the front, Heilmit was clearly starting to grow impatient. He had been subtly speeding up his descent despite my instructions to proceed slowly. "This is ridiculous," he grumbled. "How far down does this bleeding stairwell g-oh shit!" I was just about to smack the smart-mouth on the back of his head when all of a sudden he suddenly vanished into the darkness. The long series of bangs, thumps, clangs, and cusses that followed suit as he tumbled down the stairs. If there was anybody down there waiting for us, I could guarantee they weren't expecting that kind of an entrance. On the bright side, we now knew how much further we had to go since the ruckus stopped after only a few seconds and we could see the faint glow of Heilmit's luminator at the bottom. The rest of us froze, expecting the next sound to be a hail of gunfire tearing our comrade apart. Instead, we heard, "I'm good; it's clear..."
"Spike, you frakking, clumsy, left-footed, spazoid idiot! Be more careful. You could've screwed the whole mission up," Watz shouted back with the usual Kriegan concern for his friend's well-being.
"Looks like he slipped on something," I remarked as I aimed my luminator down. The reason for Heilmit's tumble became obvious as the red smear of blood contrasted starkly with the white-tiled steps. "And that blood is definitely fresh."
"Probably Ziggy's," Heilmit shouted back. The obvious 'who?' didn't need to be verbalized so we simply continued down the stairs until we found Heilmit and who we assumed to be Ziggy. Ziggy just so happened to be a decapitated corpse. "Ziggy was nice enough to break my fall," he added.
Hakim paused briefly to examine Ziggy, but judging by his simplistic attire it wasn't the man we were looking for. It took a moment or two before Watz found the head laying several feet away but that yielded no extra information so he simply punted it into the corner. "It looks like Ziggy was fumbling about on the stairs when his assailant struck, taking his head off with one quick, clean strike from a chainsword. This is a very fresh kill; the assailant or assailants may still be inside."
Thankfully, even without that warning, Watz and Heilmit had already taken defensive positions in front of us, sweeping their luminators from side to side to cover the points of entry into the room. They were as calm as one could expect from Kriegan soldiers but the manner of Ziggy's death left me concerned. The corpse had a holstered pistol on his hip so whoever killed him did so without being seen, which given the dimensions of the stairwell would have been damn near impossible; for a human at least.
"We need to keep moving," Hakim said as he motioned for us to follow.
The main room of the facility had some power left in it as the overhead luminators provided a faint light. It wasn't bright by any stretch of the imagination but it was enough that we could douse our luminators. There was no telling how deep the structure went, but the maze like layout inside now gave us an outside chance of taking any heretics by surprise (or more specifically whoever took out Ziggy). Due to Heilmit's novel attempt of getting the drops on our quarry, Watz insisted on taking point and led us from what appeared to be the foyer and reception area into one of the back hallways. Despite the cold steel and gothic stone architecture of the stairwell, inside one could feel the decadence oozing from the deep burgundy walls, which were adorned with brass light fixtures, marble busts, and the occasional painting depicting people engaged in rather scandalous group activities. Even the floors cost more than I'd ever make in a lifetime - pure hardwood flooring polished to a shine. I had seen governor's palaces that didn't look this expensive. Were it not for the reminder of my gasmask, I would have completely forgotten that we were on a smoggy, rust-covered forgeworld.
The next room, a large open lounge, ruined the pristine atmosphere that I was beginning to enjoy. If I had to guess, we arrived in the cocktail lounge as there was a still-stocked bar on one side and an assortment of couches and high-tables. There was even a table for playing cards, though it had been broken apart along with most of the other pieces of furniture present.
"Somebody had a party without us," Watz remarked sounding almost disappointed that the level of carnage we were observing had not been caused by us. There about a dozen bodies scattered across the broken furniture, almost all of them appeared to have died in the same manner as Ziggy and most of them still with weapons in their holsters.
"Quick, efficient, and ruthless," I commented as I surveyed the damage. From what I could discern, the nearest pile of bodies were killed by surprise, followed shortly by the people on the far side of the room, who barely had enough time to draw before being killed. The scorch marks on the walls beside me suggested that the body slumped over the bar managed to at least get a few shots off but there was no sign of anybody being injured where I stood. "You think maybe Vail and Cain got here first?"
"Not likely," Watz spoke up first. "These poor bastards were gunned down with shuriken fire. This was definitely the handiwork of the Eldar."
"Well frak," I grumbled. The likelihood of Eldar completely changed my outlook and enthusiasm for the mission. While heretics in close quarters were an easy challenge, with the Eldar I had to be extremely cautious or I would end up like Ziggy. Of course I had to pretend that this news was no big deal despite a growing urge to bolt for the nearest exit. Before we could complete a thorough search of the bodies, the once quiet confines of the club became unsettlingly loud. The rattle of gunfire echoed through the walls followed by the bang of a grenade. So much for the hardwood flooring. Even though a part of me wanted to go in the opposite direction and wait until the noise died down, we all knew that if we were to have any hope of finding Sinstre, we had to get to him before the Eldar did. Watz took point as we hurried into the next hallway, moving towards the source of the gunfire. The hallways did a good job of funnelling the noise, making it easier to tell which way we had to go. By my estimate, we were probably about a few rooms away when Watz rounded the corner to a nasty surprise.
"Contact!" he shouted as he quickly dove back behind cover as a hail of shuriken fire erupted from down the hall. "Four Eldar, guardians I think."
"Take the other side," I instructed as I pushed my way to the front. We were at a T-intersection so I quickly fired several shots blindly around the corner, allowing Watz and Heilmit to rush to the opposite corner. I managed to take a quick peek around the corner and saw a trio of Eldar soldiers at the far end of the hall. I felt a strange sense of relief when I saw they wore the green and white armour of the Biel-tan Eldar so I didn't need to feel bad about killing them (not that I could feel bad about killing xenos that were trying to kill me). "We have to push through them!" We were obviously fighting a rear-guard, which meant the Eldar at the front of the offensive were going to soon be aware of our arrival.
"Then stand aside," Hakim said firmly as he drew his pistol. I knew Inquisitors possessed a certain level of bravery that was uncommon in most humans but I had no idea what he was thinking as he pushed me aside. Four enemies in a narrow hallway with no cover was something only a space marine would take the direct approach. Hakim didn't even give me to time to call him crazy before he stepped into the hall. As expected, shuriken fire erupted immediately, followed by the four, sharp cracks of a bolt pistol...and then silence. "Time to keep moving."
"Uhh...why aren't you dead?" Heilmit remarked in awe as we continued forward, passing by four dead Eldar.
"The Emperor protects the faithful," he replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"So do energy shields," Watz added cynically as he moved to take point again. Realizing the simplest answer was likely the correct one, as well as an obvious one. Inquisitors were, after all, well equipped and always full of surprises. Unfortunately, the surprise of seeing Hakim walk through a hail of shurikens distracted me from realizing just how quiet it had suddenly become.
"Shit! The gunfire's stopped!" I exclaimed as we bolted down the hall. Thankfully, even without the noise to follow, there were plenty of dead bodies, human ones unfortunately, to guide our way. They led us to a large set of double-doors with a blood-splattered VIP sign. Judging by the voices on the other side of the door, we had little time to act in order to prevent this mission from being a complete failure.
"You will tell me what I want to know mon'keigh or I swear by Khaine's bloody hand I shall have it torn from your mind!" I wish I could that I recognized the voice but I paid little attention to how Eldar sounded with the exception of Kael. If I had I wouldn't have been so eager to bust down the door. I signaled for Watz and Heilmit to cover left of the door while Hakim and I would handle anything on the right. Hakim, protected by his conversion field, breeched the door with a round through the latch followed by an over-dramatic strike from his size twelve waffle-stompers. If there had been an opportunity for a 'drop your guns' Hakim didn't bother as he immediately opened fire at the nearest Eldar soldier. There had been about a half-dozen Eldar in the room but now there was one less as Hakim hit his target square in the chest. The remaining were caught in the open without cover and opted to try and make a desperate last stand. We were more than happy to ensure the 'last' part.
In the centre of the room was the only Eldar who avoided our barrage as he held onto a human shield - a snivelling whelp of a man who looked like he was ready to drop a brick into his trousers. I bet under normal circumstances Hakim would not have allowed a hostage to stand between him and a target but we needed the man alive, especially since he knew something the Eldar wanted. I was less concerned about the human shield than I was about the Eldar holding it. It was the Autarch Junayd himself and despite knowing he held a clear advantage he did not open with his shuriken pistol.
"Drop the weapon xeno!" I shouted. I doubt that the Eldar would even consider my ultimatum but it felt like the right thing to say nonetheless.
"So...the humans have finally managed to open their eyes enough to notice a bigger threat is indeed stalking them," Junayd remarked defiantly. His pistol trained on Hakim at first but it switched between targets every few seconds. If he were a human, I would have felt perfectly confident putting a laser bolt square between his eyes but the Eldar had faster reflexes than humans. Ever since witnessing Kael's banshee friend run through a hail of gunfire, I was slightly less confident in my marksmanship when it came to the Eldar.
"Hand over the hostage and we may feel merciful enough to let you walk out of here," I replied, again doubtful that my words would be met with anything other than contempt. "We know the servants of Chaos are the real threat here and they will win if we keep fighting each other!" I wish I could say that my attempt at negotiating was a genuine call to reason but the truth was I was terrified at the thought of fighting the Autarch. He went toe-to-toe with Commissar Cain and held his own not to mention his ability to teleport meant he was more of a danger to us then we were to him.
"We do not negotiate with xenos, Commissar," Hakim reminded me in a scolding tone. In hindsight, my last remark could very easily have been interpreted as blasphemy and earn me a one-gun salute on the spot.
"Of course you wouldn't," Junayd replied mockingly. "The complexities of diplomacy are beyond that pitiful knot of neurons you call a brain."
"To bow to the demands of xenos is heresy. And why should we negotiate when we have you outnumbered and outgunned?"
Unfortunately, as it turned out the Autarch had merely been stalling for time while his reserve forces moved into position. No sooner had Hakim finished his rhetoric, several small flashes accompanied a half-dozen warp spiders teleporting in around us. The tables had turned quite spectacularly and I was regretted not taking the shot when I had the opportunity. I was able to quickly count six warp spiders, four ahead and two blocking our exit. But for some reason despite having the upper hand, Junayd did not have his men reduce us to a red mist. "Take this human back to the seer," the Autarch instructed as he shoved the cowering human to the nearest soldier. "Now...what to do with you lot..."
"Well if you're going to kill us, just get it over with. Listening to you talk is cruel punishment," Watz said in his usual defiant manner. Leave it to a Kriegan to complain that you're not killing him fast enough. I had far more sense than to encourage the Eldar to move it along.
Since I had no other option, an appeal to reason was the only real chance I had if I were to have any hope to survive the next five minutes. At that point I didn't care how blasphemous I might've sounded because if I didn't succeed I would be way too dead to care what the Inquisitor thought of my words. "Killing us is only going to make it easier for Chaos to succeed here," I insisted in a desperate plea. "We're better equipped to track down heretics than your people. Give us that man and we can find the source of the corruption."
Hakim, as expected, didn't approve of my methods. "What did I just say about negotiating with-"
"Be silent!" Junayd shouted. Since words would likely not be sufficient to keep an Inquisitor quiet, one of the warp spiders bashed Hakim on the head with his rifle. I must admit it was amusing to watch but I couldn't allow myself to get distracted. Given that Hakim was the only one with a protective shield, I wouldn't have put it past him to start shooting and take his chances. Obviously, the rest of us would've objected to such a stunt so I was partially relieved to see the Inquisitor knocked to the floor for a little while. "Now tell me Commissar, why should I even consider your words when you've been chasing ghosts," the Autarch mused.
"Because you're chasing the same ghosts too," I replied. "And I'm willing to bet my life you don't have a goddamn clue where that threat is either. That's why you're willing to personally lead a raid into a dingy, back-alley club in the middle of Imperial-controlled territory."
"I have some of the best seers of the craftworld Biel-tan advising me!" It appeared for all their vaunted superiority, a prideful Eldar reacted the same way as a human when their ego was challenged. If I goaded him further, he'd slip up and maybe I could extract some information from him. That plan, of course, hinged on me surviving.
"And yet all roads still keep leading to Merari - a man who doesn't exist," I said. Junayd's momentary pause told me that my guess was dead accurate. "You don't know who you're looking for any more than we were...except I have a name. I know who to look for." Attempting to bluff an Eldar wasn't the craziest plan I had ever concocted but it was a top-ten hit at the moment.
"Then I shall simply take you instead," Junayd said as he motioned for a guard to apprehend me.
Before they could make a move, however, I jammed my laspistol under my chin. "Not so fast xeno. One more step and that name gets splattered across the wall." I prayed to the Emperor that the Eldar didn't try to call my bluff since I had no desire to die nor would that death actually hinder their plans. At first it appeared as though they were going to call my bluff so I tightened my finger on the trigger, bringing it to a hair's breadth from firing. Or it would be if I didn't have the safety on, hidden from their view.
"And what exactly does this accomplish?" Junayd asked, skeptically.
"Because something on this planet scares the almighty Eldar enough for them to come in person," I said teasingly. "And it's something that you can't find. If killing myself fraks up your plans then by the Emperor I will frak you one last time. The way I see it, I have two routes available to me to the Emperor Throne and this way lets me arrive with a smile on my face"
"I can find the source of the corruption with or without your information!" Junayd challenged.
"No you won't! Your seers are fumbling in the dark and being fed lies by the Dark Gods."
"You've been talking to that damnable rogue haven't you?" Junayd asked, his voice growing more enraged at the thought of Kael. It seemed that I wasn't the only person that Kael drove mad with his antics. "That damn outcaste! How can you trust a person who has turned his back on his own people?"
"On the contrary, I think it's his dedication to his people that's led him to act in order to save you from yourself." If Kael really was intent on betraying his people, I had no doubt he could have led us straight to Junayd's base of operations. Instead, he was trying to protect us from each other and for the most part, both sides were too trigger-happy to entertain the more deadly but less obvious threat. "Now I have a deal for you."
Though he made no threatening motions, Junayd took a few step towards me. Since he could've been making attempt to disarm, I kept my finger on the trigger and my thumb on the safety. At the slightest hint of a threat, I was ready to turn the pistol on him. The short range would hopefully negate his superior reflexes. I tried not to let his size intimidate me because by the Emperor was he tall. Junayd had to be at least a few inches taller than Cain which meant I'd need a step-ladder just to be face-to-face with the Autarch. I remained as steadfast as possible as I stared into his red-tinted lenses. His penetrating gaze was almost palpable though it was possible he had some psychic ability. "I'm listening," he said cautiously.
"Hand the prisoner over to us. We'll interrogate him, find the man we're looking for, and eliminate the source of the corruption."
"That doesn't sound like much of a deal to me," Junayd replied with understandable doubt.
"Why not? We handle all the leg work, all the fighting, and all the messy stuff that goes along with it. You get to sit back and let us humans do your work for you. I was under the impression that was something the Eldar enjoyed."
"I will not allow inferior beings such as you to deny me the glory of victory!" Junayd barked back. The sudden anger came as a surprise but I was able to handle it without missing a step.
"And which is more important to you? Your pride or the lives of those under your command?" Though every soldier is ready to lay their life down for a greater cause, no soldier wants to hear that the cause is to feed the ego of your commanding officer. The collective gaze of all his troops standing around him seemed to be enough to crack the Eldar's rampaging ego. "Just give us some time to solve this. If it looks like we're not making any progress then you can go right back to your usual plan. Hell, I'll even give you the name so you know who to hunt down."
The Autarch turned silent for the longest time, likely balancing the pros and cons in his mind a thousand times over. I do not doubt that a few times his mind lingered on the idea of just cutting me in half and taking his chances. But then the craziest thing happened - he agreed. "You have a deal mon'keigh," Junayd said as he motioned for his soldiers to bring the heretic over to Watz and Heilmit. "You have a week to produce results or I shall crush you and everything else that stands in my way."
"It'll be easier if you stopped trying to blow our stuff up in the meantime," I added, figuring I had nothing to lose by bargaining for a bit more.
"Done," Junayd agreed without hesitation. "Now give me the name."
"Let my people leave with the prisoner first," I replied. I wasn't dumb enough to give away my one advantage when there were still a half-dozen guns ready to perforate all of my organs.
"Fine...but you stay." If I didn't know any better, I'd swear he sounded a little disappointed I didn't fall for his little trick. The Autarch motioned for the two Eldar barring our exit to step aside then I signaled for my aides and the Inquisitor to leave. Watz was the only one who didn't hesitate to leave, dragging the prisoner along with him. I reassured Heilmit that I would be out momentarily and instructed him to return to base if he didn't hear from me in two minutes. Moments later I was now alone in a room surrounded by Eldar warriors who could still easily change their minds about this deal. An uneasy sense of dread was welling up inside me and I felt oddly flustered with so many eyes fixated on me. "It is curious that I find my sense of disgust for you waning slightly," he commented. I think that was something of a compliment or at least the closest proximity that one could receive from an Eldar.
"Thanks...I think..."
"I can see why Kyriese has become so enamoured with you."
"He's what with me?"
My confusion must have been amusing because the Autarch just let out a hearty chuckle. It was bizarre how Eldar could change moods faster than one could change magazines. "Perhaps 'enamoured' is a bit too strong. But I digress, the name if you'll please."
"Evandar Sinstre."
"Interesting," he murmured. "Now you best run along mon'keigh. I will be watching your movements closely. It will be interesting to see if you do survive." It was weird to see yet another Eldar possess some interest in my continued existence. What was it about me that seemed to garner their interest so frequently? Since a night club was no place to ponder such questions, I hastily made my way out. All that was on my mind at that point was putting as much distance as I could between me and those damnable Eldar. It turned out, however, that I had yet another surprise waiting for me outside.
Waiting outside were Watz and the others but parked beyond my centaur was the unmistakable chassis of scout salamander and standing amongst my people were Inquisitor Vail and Commissar Cain. I suddenly had a bad feeling about how the Ordo Xenos might react to my choice of tactics. "Commissar Abel," Cain called out when he saw me exiting the club. "What took you so long?"
At first I though he was just ribbing me but then I realized that it was entirely possible that Hakim hadn't yet explained what had transpired down below. "I had to use the little Commissar's room," I replied in jest, buying myself time until I knew what their story was. "How did you two wind up here?"
"We've been back-tracing the movements of Hakim's spy," Vail explained. "As it turned out, he apparently enjoyed spending a lot of his ill-gained money at this establishment. We also traced some of that money to the same Evandar Sinstre that Hakim has just mentioned."
"And as I was just telling Vail, the place was recently raided by the Eldar who are likely tracking the same target. This prisoner was the only survivor we managed to recover," Hakim explained, conveniently leaving out all mention of my conversation with them.
"The Eldar probably ran when they heard you coming. How very fortunate for us that the Eldar got sloppy in their haste," Vail said as she walked over to the heretic. "We'll be taking the prisoner back to base for interrogation now."
"Wait a second!" Hakim quickly stepped in, putting himself between Vail and the prisoner. "I captured this heretic. I shall be taking him back to base."
"In that tiny little cart?" Vail replied, most likely with a cocky smirk beneath her gasmask. I took some offence to her calling my centaur a 'little cart' but I wasn't about to step between two Inquisitors. "This area is likely still crawling with Eldar. The prisoner will be safer in the salamander. I'd offer you a ride too but...we're kinda full already. Now be a good boy and just follow us back to base. You wouldn't want to risk another set back due to security lapses, would you?" If anger had a temperature, Hakim's rage would've spontaneously ignited the entire city block. But there was nothing he could do while Vail still had his reputation, and family jewels, in a vice-like grip. She chuckled quietly as she pulled the heretic away from Watz and handed him over to some members of her retinue leaving us with not even our dignity to bring back to base. "Let's roll out people, we've still got a lot of work ahead of us," she shouted as we all returned to our respective vehicles.
"Rotten little Inquisitor bitch is driving off with all our hard work!" Watz grumbled quite vocally as we settled into the centaur.
"Complaining will solve nothing," Hakim said. He was surprising subdued given his usual temperament. "But...that is an apt description of the situation."
"We're still on the same side," I added. I tried to keep things in a positive perspective but I was just as annoyed by it as the others. We were being brushed aside and it came as no surprise when I eventually heard how 'Cain and the Inquisitor brought in a heretic prisoner.' I reminded myself that service to the Emperor was its own reward but it was hard to keep placated with that when you knew somebody else was claiming your service as their own. But there wasn't anything I could do about it since calling Cain or Vail out on it might bring to light the true details of what transpired. One Inquisitor knowing the truth was already one too many.
"Are we?" Hakim asked rhetorically with a harsh glare. "You toed a dangerous line in there Commissar. I suggest you take a moment to remember where your loyalties lie."
"I do what is necessary to serve the Emperor," I shot back angrily. "Unlike some people, I am not letting my pride dictate my actions!"
"How dare you accuse me of such!"
"Right...and you left out the whole deal with the Eldar thing purely to protect me and not because it'd make you look bad." I took Hakim suddenly silence as a sign of victory. I must have been a tad insane arguing with an Inquisitor but frustration and weariness had worn away my patience. The momentary pause, however, did give me a chance to cool down too and regain my composure. "Look on the bright side," I said with a tired sigh. "We've got a prisoner that should have good intel and if we're lucky we'll have the Eldar out of our hair for a few days."
"And what makes you so confident that you can find in a week what has gone hidden for years?" Hakim challenged in the hopes of taking my ego down a bit after his recent verbal beat-down. "We do not even know for certain if the heretic has vital information." He did have a valid point there but I was too stubborn to admit it. I had staked a lot on the heretic having something useful. He did not possess the look or demeanour of a heretical lackey. In fact, judging by how close the man looked to completely voiding his bowels, I was willing to guess he had never done anything more violent than carving a roast for dinner. But whatever he knew; we had to get it out of him.
Whether it was intentional or not, somewhere in our journey back to base we lost sight of the scout salamander. Hakim was convinced that Vail was trying to beat us back to base to ensure that all credit went to her but I was more inclined to attribute it to the dusty conditions and Jurgen's reckless driving. Whatever the reason, we did not see the scout salamander until we were back at base and by then it was empty and had likely been that way for some time. No doubt Vail was wasting no time in getting the heretic into an interrogation room so she could get the intel and claim all the glory for herself. Hakim was obviously more motivated than I to put a stop to this but he dragged me along for the ride nonetheless.
Thankfully, I knew exactly where the interrogation room was as a new, temporary one had been constructed using an old office just down the hall from mine. Unfortunately, when we caught up to Vail and the others we were already too late. They had the prisoner locked in the room and Vail and Cain were standing by the observation room. "Don't tell me you guys were waiting for us before getting the party started," I said half-jokingly as Hakim and I joined them.
"We were just letting him stew a bit," Vail explained, gazing at the prisoner like a cat hovering its prey.
"Any reason you haven't brought out your psyker yet?" Hakim asked.
"Oh...there's no need to wake up Rakel just yet," she replied. I didn't know Rakel personally but Cain had described her as a bit erratic. Psykers could be a bit unpredictable to begin with and apparently Rakel took that to another level. I thought that perhaps it was a good idea that we kept the head-cases out of things for the time being. "We'll start things off lightly first with some questioning. We'll break out the thumb screws if he gets uncooperative."
"Man looks terrified already," I commented as I peered through the observation window. He was a stout, portly fellow with a receding hairline and eyes that were darting around room. Judging by his pale complexion and his bionically-enhanced that were fidgeting constantly, he used to be part of the Administratum or did similar work. "If he snaps, we might lose any chance of getting good intel out of him without a psyker."
Suddenly, Vail gave me the most unsettling smile I had ever seen. On the surface it appeared no different than any other friendly gesture but when one sees an Inquisitor like Vail bearing such a look you cannot help but wonder what plots were forming behind her eyes. "You know what? I am dreadfully tired from all that running about. I think I shall take a short nap," she said, stretching her arms with an exaggerated yawn. "Commissars Cain and Abel, please see to the interrogation in the meantime. I expect results when I return."
Miss Vail had a knack for throwing the unexpected onto people's laps, which was probably an asset within the Inquisition. It kept people on their toes when around her. I expected Hakim to raise a holy fury over her decision but he said nothing at first. After a few moments of letting his anger simmer visibly beneath the surface, he rushed off in pursuit of Inquisitor Vail, grumbling bitterly under his breath in the process.
"What just happened?" I asked bemused.
"Inquisitor Vail must believe that we will be able to extract information more effectively than her," Cain answered with a hint of surprise at this turn of events.
"She thinks we'll be more effective than the Inquisition?" I remarked. I had trouble understanding that logic given that few things in the Imperium could scare the pants off of me as effectively as the Inquisition.
"Well correct me if I'm wrong but nobody has actually identified themselves as Inquisitors around the prisoner," Cain explained. "If he thinks cooperation will keep him out of their hands, he may be more forthcoming. Plus, the Commissariat is a more widely recognized arm of the Emperor's authority."
"Least of all you," I added jokingly. "So how shall we approach this?"
Cain smiled mischievously as he motioned me to follow. "I think it's time for a little 'good commissar, bad commissar' don't you think? You go in first and butter him up a little bit."
Every commissar cadet from their first day of tutoring would know what game Cain was referring to. The simple tactic was as effective as it was enjoyable. The only problem that usually arose from it was fighting over who got to play the bad commissar. I would have liked to have been the bad commissar but everyone always said my diminutive stature made it difficult for me to be considered intimidating. But I believe that the scores of people I've interrogated throughout my career would whole-heartedly disagree with that assumption. Granted after a prolonged interrogation I could get people to sign off on almost anything I suggest to them but that's beside the point.
I took a few more minutes to study the fidgeting prisoner before grabbing a random dataslate and heading into the interrogation room. As Cain had hoped for, the man's tension seemed to ease slightly when I stepped into the room. He was still nervous as a man with a daemon breathing down his neck but I was only just beginning. "Boy, what a day, huh?" I remarked casually as I took across the table from him. "I mean, those damn Eldar can just pop up when you least expect it. It's a good thing me and my boys came along when we did."
"Uh...y-yes. It was," he answered meekly. He was definitely nervous but he was also avoiding making any eye contact, instead keeping his gaze fixed on a tiny divot on the table between his hands. Whatever he did in life, he wasn't accustomed to be addressed directly.
"Mind if I take my hat off? There's no need to keep things formal if you're just a civilian." The man only shook his head but I did catch him casting a brief glance up as I set my hat aside. Just to add to the air of informality I let my hair down and undid the top buttons of my coat. Hopefully the man would be more relaxed if he got the impression I wasn't a hardline commissar but that counted on him knowing much about the Commissariat. "Now I am Commissar Ariel Abel of the Valhallan 597th Ice Warriors," I introduced myself as I pretended to work on my dataslate, opening up a file detailing the mess hall's weekly menu. "Now we already know who you are but for the record could you just state your name. And clearly please."
"V-Vespasian Flavius, ma'am," he answered meekly.
"And your profession Mr. Flavius?"
"I am a financial asset logistician."
"So...an accountant basically?" I remarked to which he nodded somberly. "You must be quite the talented individual managing all of Mr. Sinstre's assets. The man has a small fortune after all. And you say you look after all that money on your own?" Again, a silent nod but I could see a hint of pride swell in his eyes. He clearly wasn't accustomed to interrogations or he wouldn't be volunteering information quite so readily. He assumed that I had all these details already rather than just making some educated guesses. "Now I'm going to be honest with you Mr. Flavius...you are in a bit of a precarious situation right now. Things do not look good for you."
"I...I am? What? How?" he repeated in complete shock.
"Well, it's the man you work for. It seems the His Majesty's Inquisition is very keen on talking to him but they aren't having much luck finding him. And as you may have noticed, the Eldar are trying to do the same."
"The...the Inquisition?" As to be expected, the mention of the Inquisition threw him into a panic. "I haven't done anything wrong."
"Well hopefully we will be able to convince the Inquisitors of that," I said. "Listen, I want to help you. I really do. But your boss has gotten himself caught up in some nasty business and anyone associated with him is being tainted with the presumption of guilt. Unfortunately, he doesn't care who gets dragged down with him but that is what's likely to happen. But you're just an accountant. It's not like he tells you much other than asking if he's got enough money to buy a new yacht, right? You'll need to distance yourself from your boss as much as you can and give us something we can use to keep the Inquisitors happy. If you do then-" The interruption came so suddenly even I was caught by surprise when the door slammed opened and Commissar Cain strolled in. I bolted up from my seat, snapping a quick salute and putting on my best 'intimidated underling' expression. "C-Commissar Cain...I was told you wouldn't be-"
"I go where the Emperor guides me Commissar!" Cain snapped. "Now put your damn hat back on before you disgrace the entire Commissariat." I hastily heeded the instructions while Cain took my seat, hitting Flavius with an intimidating glare that would make even hardened veterans squirm in their boots. "Vespasian Flavius you stand accused of heresy against His Majesty, the Immortal God-Emperor. You have aided a known enemy of the Imperium in subverting an entire planet in service to the Ruinous Powers. Do you have anything to say in your defence heretic?"
"H-heresy? This has to be some kind of a mistake!" Whatever comfort I might have given him earlier was knocked aside by Cain, keeping our prisoner off-balance (not that it appeared he had any to begin with).
"Mistake? We found you hiding amongst heretics in a facility that is a known heretical hideout! Now the Eldar wanted you pretty badly so it's obvious you're high up enough in Sinstre's little cult to make the xenos pissed with you."
"I'm just a financial asset logistician! I look after money!"
"I don't care if all you do is wipe Mr. Sinstre's arse! You are aiding in his insurrection and that makes you as guilty as he is," Cain shouted, slamming a fist into the table to rattle Flavius further. "The only reason I haven't shot you like the miserable sack of shit you are is because you have an opportunity to be a useful sack of shit!"
"I don't know anything about...about an insurrection!" Flavius pleaded. "I move money around, monitor assets...that's it. Mr. Sinstre just tells me to put money into a location or account and I do that."
Suddenly, Cain reached across the table and grabbed the man by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him half-way across the tabletop. "Spare me your pleas of innocence heretic! All they are doing is wasting my time and I am the last man on this miserable Emperor-forsaken planet you want to piss off! Do you know who I am? I am Commissar Ciaphas Cain! The Liberator of Perlia, the scourge of heretics, and right now I am the one thing standing between you and an eternity of suffering at the hands of the Inquisition! The only reason I haven't thrown you to them already is because my associate here is certain we can get more use out of you this way."
Though I wasn't sure how terrified Cain wanted the prisoner, I saw an opening to continue building my half of the performance. "We're not going to get information from him if you scare him into cardiac arrest," I insisted as I stepped in and tried to pry Cain off of the prisoner. Cain was, however, strong enough to easily brush me aside but he reluctantly released the prisoner anyways.
"We want names and locations Flavius! Give us Sinstre or somebody who can do it better than you!" Cain continued, not as loud as earlier but still just as forceful. Flavius tried to get an answer out but his words came out as a jumble, prompting Cain to shout at him more. After about cursing up a storm for about a minute without even so much as taking a breath, a sudden knocking on the window drew his attention. "Oh good, hopefully that'll be the Inquisitors," he said with a hint of relief. "I can just hand you over to them and then I can actually do some real work for the Emperor." With one more glare of contempt, Cain rose from his seat and marched out of the room.
No sooner did Cain step out did Flavius collapse onto the table, burying his face into his palms and muttering every prayer he knew under his breath. I had to work quickly before he fell completely into despair. "Like I said Flavius, you are in a spot of trouble thanks to your boss. Now do you think Sinstre gives a damn what happens to you? We hand you over to the Inquisition and he'll just find himself a new number-jockey. You don't owe that man your life and soul."
"But...but what can I do?" he whimpered.
"Work with me here," I said reassuringly. "The Inquisition just wants Sinstre...they don't waste their time on the little guys like you. Help us find Sinstre and the Inquisition will be so busy they'll forget you even exist."
"They...they will?"
"Who do you think they are going to be more interested in? A Chaos-worshipping heretic who's trying to overthrow a planet or the guy who handles his taxes?"
"Well...o-okay," Flavius said reluctantly. And just like that the nut cracked open. Most people would think that an accountant wouldn't be of much danger but when it came to tracking down heretics, following the money was always a sure-fire solution, especially rich heretics. After enduring twenty minutes of the most anti-climactic ending to an interrogation, I left the interrogation room and met a very pleased-looking Commissar Cain by the observation window.
"Excellent work Commissar Abel," he congratulated. "So what did the little miscreant have to say?"
"Mr. Sinstre apparently knew a great deal about the impending war as he moved a lot of his assets off-world just before it broke out," I began, although what I said was stuff we were already aware of. "However, even before all that, he dumped a significant amount of money into the renovations of a large piece of property in the Nysa district. Money which Flavius apparently spent a great deal of time concealing from everyone from the Administratum to Sinstre's ex-wife. According to Flavius, the property and all the renovations leave a paper trail leading to a man that exists only on paper, hence why the Arbites had no knowledge of it. Now Flavius doesn't know for certain if Sinstre is there but the Nysa district was only lightly damaged in the war and he apparently sunk enough money into the property to turn it into a fortress." And everybody knows that greedy, rich bastards don't walk from things they invest that amount of cash into. It seemed as good a place to hide as anywhere.
When Inquisitor Vail said she was going to take a nap, I had assumed it was just an excuse to leave and give Commissar Cain the room he needed to work. As it turned out, she was actually taking a nap so Cain and I were forced to wait a few hours before we could deliver a final report on the success of our interrogation. Since we had the time, we decided to do a bit of extra digging into this property in the Nysa district. Once again, the Adeptus Arbites proved to be the model of efficiency on a planet otherwise full of monosyllabic, knuckle-draggers. In less than an hour after Cain contacted them, we had all the information they had on the property in question. Unfortunately, the reason it didn't take much time likely had to do with the fact that there was little information available other than the old schematics of the original structure when it was last rebuilt roughly a thousand years ago. Suffice to say it was about as accurate as a topographic map of an artillery range and equally depressing. What we could take from the map, however, was how big the overall facility was and a general impression of how defendable it was. The answers to both of those questions were 'extremely.'
The Inquisitors weren't too thrilled to see the schematics either. Any elation provided by our report of the interrogation, of which Cain received all the credit for those of you who are curious, was immediately dampened when I pulled out the schematics. Rather than having our report in the usual briefing room, we sat around a breakfast table in Miss Vail's chamber, which happened to be a penthouse suite belonging to a former nobleman. I felt decadent just sitting on the padded chair and strangely out of place despite everyone else being dressed in a similar fashion. With the exception of Miss Vail, we huddled around a paper map that was sprawled across the table. Vail, having looked as though she had just finished her nap, sat on the furthest couch.
"I've seen palaces of lesser magnitude," Hakim remarked after taking a quick look over the map. "Finding this Sinstre character will be challenging...assuming your information is accurate."
"It is and it will be," Cain insisted as he took the Inquisitors on a tour of the property. "And it's safe to assume that Sinstre will be on the look-out for you two. These spires on the perimeter are probably serving as watch towers and since there's no sunlight to let in, I doubt he's removed the perimeter walls or installed any large windows we could use to breach the building. This garage in the east courtyard could house any number of vehicles, military or otherwise, and there's enough interior space to garrison at least two companies of militia. Underground, things just get more complicated as the buildings several stories down and spreads across at least twice as much area as the surface structures...assuming he hasn't had engineers build new tunnels connecting it to the adjacent undercity network. A direct assault would be ill-advised."
"Tough it may be, it is will only a civilian structure defended by heretical rabble. They would not be able to withstand a massed assault," Hakim insisted. There were no prizes in guessing how he wanted to handle the situation and his unoriginality was poorly received by the rest of us. For an Inquisitor I was disappointed in his...limited ingenuity. I suppose the old adage 'when the only tool you've got is a thunderhammer...' is particularly true for him. At any point I was expecting Inquisitor Vail to intercede and point out the critical flaws in Hakim but she seemed too preoccupied by the dataslate she had been reading since we started our report. Normally, I would have been bothered by such apparent inattentiveness but Vail was smart enough to handle both tasks at once. She only looked up briefly whenever Cain spoke, which she correctly assumed were the only parts of the conversation worth listening to.
"If this were simply a mission to lay waste to this building and every heretical soul within then I would already be out there with the 597th knocking the front door down," Cain replied as though his loyalty and devotion had just been insulted. "But we cannot be certain that a direct assault will cripple the heretic's plans. Sinstre could be another middleman for all we know, which means we have to take him alive."
"Then we surround the facility both above and below and storm the facility - give him no place to run," was Hakim's next brilliant suggestion. Were I less disciplined I might have had trouble resisting the urge to laugh. He should've tried suggesting battle plans more often - it would've been great for officer morale.
"The 597th is stretched thin enough as it is, the manpower needed to cordon would compromise all of our other objectives, including defending our headquarters. And that's even assuming we are able to find and secure every underground passage," Cain explained, talking notably slower as to avoid any confusion on the larger words. "This man is aware of the Inquisitions presence and will be on the look-out for any potential threats. A direct assault of any kind will drive Sinstre even further underground and we'll lose our only lead. We are, for the first time, one step ahead of this man who thinks he's one step ahead of us. We're only going to have one shot at this so we need to make it count."
"If you've got a better suggestion I'm willing to hear it," Hakim challenged having been talked back to by Cain one too many times. I don't think Cain had an actual suggestion but he knew full-well who would.
Cain simply directed Hakim's attention over to Vail, who immediately chimed, "I'll go undercover, infiltrate his organization, and get the necessary intel." Her tone was so matter-of-factly that I would not have been surprised if this plan had been devised the moment we said 'we found him.' "Once we know the full extent of his plans and how he fits into it then we can decide whether we still need him alive." Needless to say, I liked the sound of Vail's plan a lot more than Hakim's. For starters it didn't involve me being in the line of fire for a change, which was always a plus in my opinion.
Unfortunately, then came Hakim's turn to point out critical flaws in people's plans. "Except that because of the security breech, Sinstre would recognize you or myself if we attempted to infiltrate his organization."
"Hm...you have a point there," Vail admitted though with far less reluctance than I had expected. In fact, it almost sounded as if she saw that coming as well. That thought left me with a terrible sense of dread. "Very well, then Commissar Cain will take my place."
"With all due respect Inquisitor Vail, this is a delicate undercover operation at a crucial point in our campaign. I must question the wisdom of tasking a single Commissar with no undercover training," Cain spoke, voicing doubt that I had not expected. I would have expected Cain to be all in favour of taking charge in such an important operation but I realized that even a Hero of the Imperium had limits. This would be far from the 'leading the charge' style of operation he was famous for.
His words, however, failed to change the Inquisitor's mind. In fact, she seemed to take a slight hint of amusement from it for some bizarre reason. "Nonsense Commissar, I think a commissar is sufficiently experienced in making people believe in things that aren't true," she mused. As much as I would have liked to disagree, she did have a point with that. How often do commissars tell their troops that the Emperor protected the faithful just before sending the company charging headlong into an artillery barrage? "But you are right about one thing – it would be foolish to send you in alone." Then Vail stared at me for a moment with a look that sent every 'fight or flight' instinct I had into overdrive. "Commissar Abel…you're Cain's wife now. You'll accompany him on the mission."
Since shouting 'hell no' was obviously not an appropriate response, I simply nodded in agreement. Who knew marriage could be so simple? Of course, had I known what I was getting into they would have needed a shotgun wedding to get to go along with their plan.