Zander Rise Outskirts

In the magnoculars the target looked like just another warehouse in a fairly derelict district. Run down and tatty, with rusting shutters over the main entrance and flacboard replacing the glass in several of the original windows. Kryn and the rest of her team waited in the alleyway and she scanned futilely trying to spot where Totiem had set up his position.

"Anything?"

Totiem's response came over the vox. "3 targets, sniper and two man anti-aircraft team on roof. Looks like military grade equipment. Can't see any evidence of vox links but assume when I take them down the occupants will know something is up."

"Understood, wait one." She flicked the channel of her caster. "Talon 2 are you in position?"

"Affirmative."

"Talon 3 are you in position?"

The response was heavy with distortion.

"Ackno... team in pos..."

"Say again."

"In position."

"Go on my mark. Mark!"

Three shots rang out and the Marshal led the charge towards the main doors. The flicker of a lasrifle stabbed out from a window and one of the arbitrators went down clutching a leg. Shotgun rounds smashed into the window frame, while out of killing range it was still enough to send the shooter ducking for cover.

Kryn slammed herself up against the frame of the main loading bay. She hammered the door release, and the great iron shutters began to slide up with a protesting groan as unoiled chains moved rusted cogs. Before it had lifted more than a handbreadth, the nearest two arbitrators dropped shock grenades and kicked them under the shutter. The glare from the explosion lit the street and the world took on an eerie silence as the baffles in the arbitrators' helmets shut out the deafening explosion. As the shutter rose to knee height an enforcer rolled under, followed quickly by a second, Kryn's audio feed kicked back in to the sound of multiple shotgun blasts and she ducked under the still rising door.

She took in the scene at a glance, the loading bay was long and about 4 stories high. Iron walkways crossed about halfway up while the ground level was cluttered with shelving, boxes and haulage equipment. The first two enforcers had taken cover behind some metal packing crates. Several gang members were lying insensible, dead or unconscious. But others were hurriedly moving into cover while a pair of PDF troops with glare shields, and presumably some sort of hearing protection laid down covering fire from the upper walkway. The arbitrators shotguns were very effective at close up engagements but the flack armoured troopers were professional enough to realise they were well out of lethal range. Kryn swore and dived behind a set of shelves, coming face to face with a Goblin thug who had obviously had the same idea. He opened his mouth to yell, but before he could make a sound Kryn's shock-maul thudded into his stomach and he spasmed into silence. A second blow behind his knees put him down and a swift kick to the back of his skull ensured he was not getting back up.

"Shields to the front, we need ranged weaponry." Kryn growled into her vox as she stalked along the shelves. A gang member was cowering the other end firing wildly at the arbitrators at the entrance and she rammed his head into the frame of the shelving before he even realised she was there. A touch from the shock maul ensuring he stayed down.

Four arbitrators ran through the door, the first 3 holding suppression shields the other giving covering fire. The thick ceremite shields shrugged off the las shots coming from the PDF troopers and they slammed them down forming an impenetrable wall. The fifth staggered in behind them a bulldog pattern heavy stubber attached to a gyro-mount at his waist. The huge cannon was as long as the trooper was tall and just the sight of it was enough to cause several of the gang members to run. As the two remaining troopers gave covering fire from the doorway the heavy weapon specialist dropped to one knee and using the edge of a shield as a makeshift gun support the trooper fired off a blistering barrage at the PDF troops. The walkway around them disintegrated and they fell lifeless, the storm of bullets having torn through their light flack armour and flesh with equal ease.

"On your knees or die." Kryn yelled, the vox amp in her helmet amplifying the command to an almost painful level. Those few gang members still fighting started throwing down their weapons and dropping, the handful of clubs and autopistols no match for the Arbitrators' firepower and armour. Those few who stood their ground saw bullets deflected harmlessly from sturdy carapace armour and were quickly hammered into submission with blazing shock mauls.

"Varajan, Rankin, Seagers, Nicholls pair off and do a full sweep, we know there was a sniper in an upstairs office and 3 on the roof. I don't want any other surprises." The four officers set off at a run, heading for the nearest internal doors two carrying the heavy suppression shields. A quick blast from a shotgun smashed out the hinges, and the shield was used to knock down the remains. A technique practiced after the earlier injuries to reduce the chance of explosive damage.

Tarik and Cormack entered cautiously when the shooting had died down. Tarik nodded approvingly as arbitrators moved around putting wrist shackles on those who were merely unconscious. He moved over to the bodies of the two PDF troops, finding dog tags around their necks which he swiftly broke off and threw to Cormack.

"Get the idents to Sal see what she can find."

"Transmitting."

As the tech priest muttered to himself Tarik looked around with a slightly puzzled air. He then focussed on a pile of junk that appeared to have fallen from a nearby collapsed shelving unit.

"What is it?" Kryn asked.

"Clear run to the loading bay so cargo can be moved in and out, naturally you also keep all the sightlines clear, give yourself full access to all exits. Except for a great pile of junk in the middle of the main aisle. Junk which has a pattern of disturbed dust on this side. And trails of footprints which stop right where that junk starts." He indicated vaguely with a hand. "They rigged that shelving unit so they could collapse it and hide something right here." The pile was mostly scrap metal and he began hauling out the larger pieces and throwing them to one side. As he lifted one end of a particularly large piece Kryn grabbed the other and nearly staggered at the weight. Tarik was a lot stronger than he first appeared. As the last of the gang was cuffed the arbitrators moved over to help and in minutes they had revealed a solid steel hatch, built into the floor. Had it been open it would have been large enough to drive a small aircar through. As it was the sheer mass of something that size would probably prevent them forcing it even if there was no locking device.

Cormack moved over, clicking to himself. He touched one of the floor panels, not obviously different to any other and it slid aside. Underneath was a code pad and small single tasked cogitator.

"We have melta charges." Kryn offered. The tech priest looked a little pained and knelt by the cogitator.

"Ignore these heathens they lack appreciation. You are so diligent in your task, but I must ask you to set it aside for the good of the Omnissia." He crooned at the machine as his dendrites slid out and interfaced with a data port. A few moments later the great hatch slid soundlessly upright. Great pistons gleaming and thick with grease pushed up the massive slab, the steel simply a front for thick ceremite and adamatium cross bracing. Underneath was revealed a shallow ramp that led to a sub level.

Kryn activated her vox link "Talon 2, 3 any sign of movement?"

"Negative."

"-egati-.."

Kryn looked at the tech priest who shrugged.

"No active jamming, maybe some sort of structural interference. The walls are probably electrically shielded to keep whatever goes on in here secret. Or maybe just heavily reinforced. No point in a bulkhead like that if someone can just put a hole in the wall."

"Totiem, move in. I want cover and live, I repeat live prisoners." Kryn voxed.

"On way."

"Any idea what we are going to find Tarik?"

"No. That's what makes this job so interesting." The tone was so cheerful it came across as sarcastic. Kryn bit back her irritation and focused on the situation. What she could see of the sub level was an rockcrete tunnel, wide, but low enough that the taller arbitrators would have to duck to avoid the lights. Though the finishing was crude it seemed relatively new and well cared for. The lights were similarly unrefined heavy industrial units. But the metal cages that protected them were shiny lacking the patina of oxidation that would develop over the years.

Reluctantly Kryn concluded that the heavy stubber would be unwieldy in the confined space and the chance of ricochet far too high.

"Wen stay here, send the others after us when they return from their sweep. Ward, Vegalt take point. Ward stowed her combat shotgun at her back and slid a suppression shield onto her right arm. She took out a large autopistol and aimed over the top of the shield with it. Vegalt stepped in close behind her, slotting extra shells into his shotgun. They moved together without a word being spoken, well practiced at this routine though riot clearance, forced entries and a thousand practice drills. The Marshal and Tarik moved in behind them followed by the remaining two arbitrators Cormack trailing the rest a little more reluctantly. Tarik had taken out a ornate looking handgun, Kryn sneaked a look but it was not a model of weapon she recognised. The clip looked like a modified lasrifle power cell so she assumed it was a las-pistol of some type.

The corridor was long and featureless running to a T junction at its end. While it prevented any sort of ambush it also left the group with nowhere to retreat to and no cover besides the suppression shield they carried with them. They naturally spread out not wanting to run the risk of a single grenade ending their entire mission. They reached the junction without incident, pausing at the edge. Vegalt held up 3 fingers, then dropped them one at a time. As his fist clenched Vegalt and Ward surged to the right and Tarik went left.

"Contact." Vegalt fired a shot as he spoke, the roar of the shotgun echoing down the corridor.

"Multiple." Tarik fired twice. The shots from his laspistol seeming more akin to full power lasrifle blasts. Kryn stepped out behind him, taking in the two bodies on Tarik's side and spinning to see the same on Vergalt's. There was a clatter of running footsteps, but fortunately it was Totiem leading two of the other troopers. Multiple shots rang out and Ward staggered as the shield she held took the brunt of it. Tarik ducked back into the initial corridor.

"Go where the resistance is?" He asked.

Totiem edged to the corner and used a small optical fibre pulled from his targeter to get a view of the corridor beyond without exposing himself to fire: "Crude barricade, they are moving up some sort of heavy lascannon. 8 effectives, 6 in PDF uniforms, lasguns and a couple of stubbers. Hit them before they get set up or forget it."

"Totiem take the heavy weapon crew – Nicholls, Seagers, hold this junction, I don't want reinforcements behind us. Ward we're all on you, in 3,2,1, Mark!"

As Kryn ran into the junction it all seemed like slow motion. The barricade was 100 metres away with Ward sprinting forward blindly behind her shield, the arbitrators taking wedge formation behind her Tarik falling in as though he had trained with them for years rather than having met them for the first time in the APC on the way. Totiem dropping to a knee and firing shots that somehow seemed to slide between the arbitrator formation, each one sending an opponent to the floor. Nicholls stepping behind him and covering the empty corridor behind them. Tarik fired twice, a PDF trooper dropping his rifle as one shot took him in the left shoulder and the second in his right bicep. Kryn charged with the rest, the shield taking multiple las-rounds. Replies from the arbitrators' shotguns echoed and re-echoed, the deafening attack causing the remaining defenders to keep their heads down. The barricade was loosely stacked crates, blocking the corridor to near chest height. In a practiced move Ward dropped the edge of the shield and let go running up the ramp it made as it fell forward and jumping feet first into one of the few remaining defenders. Vegalt followed racking his shotgun and discharging it into the legs of another opponent. Kryn slithered up to the barricade, checked her ammo counter then jumped up, her height giving her a clear view of the last man standing. As the PDF trooper tried to line up a shot on Ward he felt the gun barrel on the back of his neck. He carefully let the rifle drop and put his hands on his head. Kryn took a breath, the entire assault had lasted less than 15 seconds. Only 3 of the men looked like they would survive long enough to be questioned.

"OK let's get the survivors cuffed. Ward you owe me." She shivered in a sudden cold draft. Her breath steamed and misted up her visor. Blind she waited a moment until her vision cleared. Ward was covering the prisoners. Vegalt moved up behind her reaching one handed for the manacles at his belt to cuff the PDF trooper. It seemed he had momentarily forgotten his weapon discipline his shotgun swung putting Ward in the line of fire. Then havoc broke loose as the gun went off hitting Ward in the back. Her carapace armour was tough but not tough enough to survive a shotgun blast at point blank range and she flew forward in a spray of blood crashing into the PDF prisoner.

"Medic!" Kryn screamed into the vox even as Vergalt swung his weapon round executing the 3 prisoners with close range head shots.

"Vergalt stand down!" another arbitrator dived over the barricade and grabbed Vergalt. It initially looked like he was trying to wrestle the weapon off the rogue trooper, but as Kryn dragged a box out of her way so she could assist she realised that Vergalt was trying to bring the weapon under his own chin.

Tarik hurdled the barricade, jumping impossibly high one hand on the top crate giving himself extra lift, the other making a complex motion with the collar at his neck. He grabbed the gun directing it harmlessly up as it fired off the last couple of rounds in its clip.

"Vergalt it's a psychic assault. Are you back with us?" Tarik put a controlling hand on the man's shoulder. "Are you with us Vergalt?"

Vergalt shuddered, and yanked his helmet off. Blood ran from his nose, from his ears and eyes and he dropped to his knees retching. Tarik wrenched the shotgun away from him and handed it to the nearest trooper.

"You and Vergalt get Ward back to the fallback point and get her medical attention. Do not let Vergalt get his hands on any weapon or be alone for a moment until he's been fully checked out."

Enraged Kryn pulled another crate out of her way, marched to Tarik and spun him to face her. His cold dead eyes stared back, she raised a fist ready to break his jaw before he could utter another word in his supercilious pompous tone.

"Marshal. Psyker. Stop. Think." Four words and those lifeless eyes. But still enough to stop her. She looked at the case she had thrown aside. A light frost covered it, melted where her gloves had shoved it aside. She shoved him away, the distaste she felt for him lessening slightly as the distance increased. " We've got to get after that psyker before they try again."

A flicker of movement further down the corridor settled it. She nodded and looked at her men who were still all frozen in place.

"Zalo, Vergalt – you heard him, why are you three still here. Totiem with me. Keep your vox open, I want to hear the canticle of hate for the witch then a chorus of 'The Throne Above.' Our faith is our shield from the heretic, the mutant and the witch." Kryn was running even before she had finished giving her orders, she heard two sets of footsteps close behind over the vox the remaining arbitrators of Talon one were reciting in unison

"Smite now the scions of the Witch!"

Ahead a pair of gangers were dragging a third man between them. Hearing the pursuit they dropped him and turned raising autopistols.

"Grant us the strength to pierce their unclean flesh!"

Kryn fired her shotgun from the hip almost simultaneously as the others fired. Both went down hard. Kryn slowed not wishing to get too close to the psyker.

"To cover their fields with the pale form of the blasphemous dead!"

Tarik showed no such reluctance striding closer to the fallen figure who now seemed to be undergoing some sort of fit. With the sudden fading of adrenaline she felt her loathing for the man rise up again.

"To send them into the waste of their desolate land in rags and hunger, broken in spirit, worn with travail and begging for the refuge of the grave."

She watched as he pulled one of the long blades from a wrist scabbard, a powered weapon somewhere between a short sword and large machete, then with a quick motion beheaded the psyker. He holstered his pistol and fiddled again with his collar. Almost instantly the distaste Kryn had for him faded, leaving just the residual mistrust she had of anyone she suspected was not telling her the whole truth.

"We ask it, in the spirit of wrath, O Master of Mankind" The chant ended with a snarl.

"Sorry Marshal. I know you wanted prisoners but this one was rather too dangerous to live."

She walked over. The psyker seemed rather pathetic now, small and scrawny. His mouth open in shock and the eyes wide and bloodshot.

"You killed him easily enough."

Tarik touched his collar vaguely. "I had an advantage. Controlling anyone at that range is hard, and arbitrators are well trained and strong willed. To take Vegalt this witch must have been at least a high gamma, possibly beta level psyker. Not what I would expect for a street gang, no matter what their level of resources are."

"Can we expect anymore?"

"Assume the worst."

Ahead muffled shots sounded. Before they could react the vox briefly went live. The muffled sounds now overlaid with a second set of gunfire.

"...coming through the walls, can't stop..."

The signal broke off as abruptly as it had started.

"Warren! Report!" Kryn changed to squad broadcast "Talon 3! Report! Anyone?"

There was just silence.

"Talon 2 Get down there find out what is going on."

"Talon 2. Belay that order. This is an inquisitorial override. Stay where you are." Tarik's voice cut over both the Marshal and the objections of Talon 2. "Watch the building and each other. If anyone acts out of character disarm them and prevent them from self harming."

"What the hell do you think you're doing Tarik?"

"My job." He turned, face like stone and eyes hard. His knife was still unsheathed and blood dripped slowly from the tip. Intellectually Kryn knew that her visor hid her face completely yet he seemed to be staring directly into her eyes. She had faced down officials, murderers and gang members. Few things scared her but the depth of resolve on Tarik's face sent a shiver down her spine. "Marshal, Talon 3 are dead. It wasn't a bunch of gangers, your men are too well trained for that. If it was a well drilled PDF squad with the advantage of numbers maybe that might have been enough to take them down. But Warren was smart and would have got a message to us. He would not have sounded so terrified if he was just facing men. Something killed them and without knowing more sending Talon 2 is just signing their death warrants."

Kryn looked to the Mortiurge who was standing with his weapon deliberately pointing at the floor between her and Tarik, but she knew he would be able to drop either or both of them before they could think of shooting each other.

"So Totiem who's side are you on?"

"Marshal , I hope you are not asking whether I would disobey inquisitorial authority. We both know the answer to that. And what your answer would be to the same question."

Kryn ground her teeth before nodding. Tarik watched her for a moment then relaxed.

"Confirm Tarik's orders. Hold fast for now." She spat into the vox and then stalked down the corridor to see where the psyker and his supporters had been trying to run to. There was a large armoured door, twin to the hatchway they had descended through, this time set into the wall. Not entirely dulled by the thickness of armour plate were a last few desultory gunshots and a mercifully cut off scream of agony.

"Search the rest of this level, then we need this door open." Kryn ordered, and this time Tarik simply nodded. Cormack approached warily, the tension between the three obvious. This time the door access control was visible, but there did not seem to be any power going to it.

"Sorry. This must be a safe room, with the primary access on the inside. This terminal has had power and access cut, probably physically, on the other side."

"Melta charges." Kryn ordered and two arbitrators ran up carrying several of the powerful thermal detonators. Cormack indicated several apparently unremarkable spots on the door and the charges were placed using contact adhesive and rigged to a vox operated detonator.

Seagers joined the group at the door.

"Level cleared. Couple of gang members hiding in a store room. Nichols is taking them up and putting them with the rest. There was a half empty armoury with a lot of power packs and solid shot ammunition but not many guns. They are likely to be well tooled up in there."

"Noted. Bring up those crates, we may as well have a barricade of our own for a change."

It took a few minutes to haul half a dozen of the heavy metal crates into a makeshift firewall. Far enough away to be safe from the heat of the melta's. Close enough that their fire would be maximised when the door came down. Kryn gave a nod and her visor polarized almost to black to protect her eyes from the actinic glare of the melta charges. There was a moment of anti-climax, then ponderously the door began to topple forward, speeding up as it passed a critical point of no return and crashing into the floor with enough force to shatter the rockcrete and send dust and powered fragments flying.

Inside was a scene from a slaughterhouse. The stark lighting that lit the hanger sized room spared no detail. Between crates of supplies and curious mechanical devices of no certain purpose, gang members and PDF troopers were torn apart. In the centre of the room was a bloody pile of bodies. Two other smaller groups of corpses lay at the edges. Kryn and Tarik advanced cautiously with Totiem giving them cover from the doorway, but nothing seemed to still be alive. Kryn advanced to the central pile first, she dropped to one knee and used the barrel of her shotgun to flip the nearest corpse onto its back.

"Looks like something ripped his throat out. There's claw marks on the body and bites through the ribs and guts." She stood, grateful for the filters on her helmet's air supply that kept her from having to smell anything. "I'd guess the throat was the fatal wound, the bites look post-mortem."

"Over here we have a last stand." Tarik gestured to one corner where half a dozen PDF bodies were surrounded by discarded las cells.

"There's a few power cells here, so they formed a firing line, reloaded, dropped back. No burns in the opposite wall so they hit something. " He shifted a stricken trooper with his boot. "Not that it did them any good."

They walked over to the last group together. Tarik had returned his knife to its scabbard and his hands hovered as if unsure whether to grab for pistol or blade.

In the wall was a standard sized door, but the reinforcing around the hinges suggested that while it was standard size, it was as least as thick and heavily armoured as the main entrance. Another smaller cluster of bodies was gathered here blocking the bottom of the door. Tarik picked up the first and examined it quickly before throwing it out of the way.

"Nails torn, probably from tearing at the door. Claw marks to the back of the neck, the spine's severed. At least the troopers tried to fight back."

"What could do this?"

Tarik beckoned Cormack over who stopped his investigation of one of the unidentified devices and started gingerly making his way through the pools of blood and viscera apparently concerned more for the state of his robe than preserving forensic evidence. Another odd trait in a servant of the mechanicus. As he set to work opening the side door Tarik sighed, then answered Kryn's question.

"Bites don't look human."

"Daemon?"

"Maybe. There was a psyker present, there may have been another who tried to call on something they could not control. But..."

Kryn waited. Years of drawing information out of suspects left her more than willing to let someone talk.

"...I've seen that before and this just looks, off. I can't think why. Alternatives: Tyranid... claw and bite marks fit. They often drag off their dead to eat, but why leave the bodies. They are never wasteful of useful protein." He looked around the plain room with the overturned consoles and smashed crates that had born some of the brunt of the fighting that had taken place. "Whatever they were I don't see how they got in or out, we were watching one door, and this one seems to have been sealed during the conflict. I suppose there might be a vent or something I'm missing somewhere. Can't rule out a genestealer cult. Eldar reavers, they get in and out, and sometimes bring things that will... well." He shuddered as if from a bad memory. "But the only recent confirmed xenos presences near this system are ork and they tend to be more... detectable."

Kryn nodded. She had seen the aftermath of cleansing operations on several nearby void stations after ork assaults. "This much firepower they would have taken down a couple of grunts and orks don't generally recover bodies. And again, how did they get in and out?"

There was a hiss and the door opened a fraction before wedging on one of the remaining bodies. After a moment's pause to ensure nothing was about to leap out Tarik grabbed the handle and pulled, shoving the blockage aside with brute force. Kryn stepped to his right, shotgun levelled at the opening. inside just a narrow tunnel leading down into darkness. She turned on the stab light that was built into her gun and advanced. Tarik drew his pistol and followed closely. Given she was taller and, in full carapace armour, broader than he was the odds of him actually getting an angle to take a shot at anything was remote.

The tunnel was relatively short but as they descended lower the walls took on a damp sheen, weakly reflecting the stab light. The passage ended in a door that was still ajar. Kryn kicked it open and jumped out. The passage had led them to a large open sewer. Turgid water slowly drained down the centre while on either side was a walkway large enough for two to walk abreast. Tarik gave a small exclamation of surprise, she turned to see the other side of the door they had come through was apparently brick lined like the rest of the sewer. When closed it must have been near invisible. She turned back and seeing something glinting moved towards it.

There was not much question that they had found what was left of Talon 3. Arbites' issue carapace armour was recognisable even when large chunks had been blasted out of it. Tarik squatted by the nearest, testing the edge of an armour panel that had a fist sized hole put straight through it and the body it encased.

"What sort of weapon can do that?" Kryn asked.

"Several, Cormack will have a better idea."

"You know what did this."

Tarik, tested the edge of the blast hole for a moment without apparently having heard. Then he shrugged his shoulders and stood. "I strongly suspect what did this. I could be wrong. You're the Marshal here, you have almost as much access to records as I do, I will not risk your investigation by prematurely directing it. You tell me what did this. Cormack will give your techpriests access to his findings and will receive the same courtesy in turn." He looked for a moment at what remained of the ten man squad put his gun back in its holster and made the sign of the Aquila. "I am genuinely sorry for your losses. Whatever did this they died in service to the Throne fighting its enemies."