Attelus, Tathe, Karmen and the Sons of Dispater leader, master Hadrel made sure they were on the bridge of The Xenocide before they exited warp space. Karmen wore her full power armour. Hadrel was a shaven-headed, dark-skinned man whose forever scowling face seemed like he was constantly smelling the foulest of farts. The Xenocide when they exited into material space. From what little Attelus understood of spacecraft, he'd been informed The Xenocide was a raider-class ship, one designed for speed and manoeuvrability over huge amounts of firepower and armour like the cruisers or the more balanced ships such at the frigate classes. The Xenocide was an incredibly well built and old ship made with high-quality archeotech and fitted with numerous stealth systems, horticultural gardens and an inbuilt barracks, making the ship almost entirely self-sufficient. As well as a newly installed piece of archeotech which somehow sped up their travel time in the warp the ship's Tech-Adept Attelus had already forgotten the name of had explained this to them after some convincing, but the technicalities of it went way over Attelus' head. It seemed they'd really hit the jackpot in taking this ship, all thanks to Kalakor.

Thanks to the Space Marine, it hadn't been hard to get the vast majority of the crew to work for them, especially after Delan Tathe went down and talked among them. They'd promised the lower decks crew better treatment and pay, and Attelus had meant it. It was sad how little they needed to change their allegiance; Attelus supposed it was true the Imperium over; it was one of the reasons why so many Chaos Cults could manipulate so many into their embrace and sell their souls to the depredations of Chaos. The bridge crew and the upper deck crew were less willing to co-operate, so even now as the bridge was still being patrolled by ten Sons of Dispater guarding them, while many were being held in the prison section. Attelus dreaded what they had to do with them once they reunited with Inquisitor Enandra.

Luckily, the Navigator had been so segregated and out of touch to almost all the going on in the ship he'd just calculated their course without question. The astropath, after regaining consciousness and being calmed down by Karmen, she'd managed to convince him to help them; it also helped he apparently wasn't a fan of Inquisitor Draven in the first place, but the poor bastard seemed shaken and traumatised by his encounter with Kalakor. Attelus hoped he'd be okay; there were already too many people victimised by their actions now.

'Exiting warp space in five minutes,' said the Navigator over the vox, bringing Attelus back into reality, and Attelus turned to give the ship's newly appointed Captain, a woman named Arete, a pointed glare. She met his eyes without a hint of fear and nodded.

'Yes, good work, thank you, Kellen,' she replied over the vox-link. Attelus had no idea how old Arete was; her long light brown hair could've been dyed, and her pale youthful, smooth skin could've been due to extensive rejuvenant treatments, but the matronly way she carried herself and the weariness in her bloodshot, blue eyes, and her old, worn but well maintained blue navy uniform suggested she was much older. She was quite gorgeous, in all honesty, despite the jagged scar running down the left side of her face. Attelus found himself crushing on her quite quickly, despite the withering looks from Karmen. Perhaps he had a thing for more mature women? Of course, Arete had been cold and prickly towards Attelus and everyone associated with him during the whole trip, only speaking to them when it was completely necessary. Which Attelus couldn't blame her for, in all honesty.

He just hoped that Arete wouldn't have to die, but if anyone could convince Arete and her crew to join their side, it'd be Inquisitor Enandra of the Ordo Hereticus.

Attelus sighed and began to pace the bridge, his arms folded and stole a glance at Hadrel. Attelus hadn't had much time to talk to the assassin master across the week, but Karmen had subtly slipped past his psy-block and gave his mind a good read. According to her, he seemed to have legitimately changed sides; he too had hated Draven, but he was still at war within himself, his loyalty to the Sons of Dispater had been strong, and he was terrified of the retribution they might bring down on him and his people's heads later. What'd really made him turn against Draven was his loyalty to the people he commanded; this had been reinforced after Attelus had slaughtered so many back in the Counting House. The contract with Draven had been for a year, and he didn't want to keep working for an employer who deemed them so expendable. A fact that he'd suspected since he'd first met Draven six weeks ago.

Attelus was sceptical; he didn't trust psychic mind reading; he believed that sitting and speaking to people was a better way to get to know someone. He wasn't terribly good at it and took much longer, but it was more real and reliable in the long run.

He'd watch his back with Hadrel.

'Exiting warp space...now,' said the helmsman as the now all too familiar shudder and slight bubbling nausea of entering real space swept through Attelus.

'Open shutters,' said Arete.

'Opening shutters,' said one of the officers and the windows slowly opened, revealing the black with white dots of the void beyond.

Arete looked to Attelus. 'Where to now?'

'Scintilla,' said Attelus.

'The signal you want us to transmit?' she said.

'Transmit the signal of Inquisitorial signal of The Xenocide,' said Karmen. 'But once we get further into the system, use a false one.'

'Understood,' said Arete, who then nodded to the vox officer.

'Transmitting...now,' said the vox officer.

'No one's transmitting anything?' said Attelus, as suspicion hit him.

'Nothing close to us,' said the vox officer. 'Nothing Inquisition either'.

'And nothing on the scanner...sir,' said the master of scanners.

Attelus exchanged a look with Karmen; Enandra's reply had claimed she would meet them on the system's border. So, where was she? Taking precautions or-

'Receiving a vox hail...sir,' said the vox officer. 'Visual feed. Although, I cannot trace it to its source.'

'Accept it,' sighed Attelus.

The black screen on the wall above the glasteel windows flickered into an image of Inquisitor Jelcine Enandra. She wore her elaborate gold and black power armour and wide-brimmed pointed hat with a white 'I' emblazoned on it, a mainstay icon of her Ordos almost as iconic as the Warhammer for those in the Ordo Malleus. She lounged in the Captain's chair of The Audacious Edge like she was the queen of the galaxy, and her ebony skin shone in the bright light of the bridge. Enandra, as usual, seemed to radiate sexiness, feminine power and unlimited authority. She might've been relaxed in her chair, her brow furrowed in an uncharacteristically open display of bemusement. Everyone on the bridge crew seemed hypnotised by her, even Arete.

'Mamzel, Enandra,' said Attelus allowing a smile to cross his face. 'It's good to-'

'Why you in the Emperor's name are you in the bridge of Draven's ship?' she said.

Attelus' eyebrows raised. 'How do you-'

'You are transmitting his code,' said Enandra. 'What the hell is going on?'

'That's a long and sordid story,' said Attelus. 'And it's good to see you too, Inquisitor.'

Enandra sighed. 'It's good to see you too, Attelus. My apologies; I didn't expect my old rival just suddenly to appear back out of nowhere. Where is he?'

'Down in the prison bay,' said Attelus. 'We have a new ship in our organisation, now.'

The Inquisitor gaped. 'And how did you manage that?'

'As I recall, you said that we could conquer a world,' said Karmen smoothly. 'Is it so unbelievable we managed to conquer a ship?'

'Hello, Karmen. I suppose I did say that, but I am still asking how.'

'Fair enough,' said Attelus as he drained away in his sentence, uncertain where to go from here.

Enandra sighed and rolled her eyes. 'Alright, you will come over to my ship for the de-briefing. I'll be there in about half an hour.'

The screen then turned black again.

Attelus sighed and slipped his hands into the pockets of his flak jacket, then looked at Karmen. 'What now?'

'We stick to the plan, Attelus,' Karmen sighed. 'Or at least we try to.'


Attelus, along with Karmen, Torris, Halsin, Darrance, Torris and Delathasi, stood in the void-craft. They were accompanied by ten Sons of Dispater and master Hadrel, and captain Arete. Kalakor stood in the corner, as still as a statue. All eyes were plastered forward, the stink of perspiration thick in the grim confines.

Attelus swallowed and tried to fight back the anxiety threatening to overtake him. He wished everything wasn't so damned complicated; Attelus wished he didn't need to come clean about his connection to the Eldar, and he hoped their lies about Kalakor would be believed. He hated that they were just replacing one lie with another. It was all well and good for the Space Marine to join them in their fight, but Attelus' wasn't sure if Kalakor truly appreciated how his presence truly made things harder.

'Landing now,' said the pilot over the vox-link and a second after, the ship began to slow. Come to a stop, then start to descend. He heard the subtle whirring, buzzing and felt it as the landing legs extended from the ship's belly, then the hard, skeleton shaking, crashing thud as they hit the deck.

'Boarding ramp lowering,' said the pilot as it began to descend, revealing the dull grey but well-lit adamantium floor beyond.

Attelus picked up the crate next to his feet, and they began walking.

Waiting for them was Inquisitor Jelcine Enandra in her full resplendent gold and black power armour and Witch Hunter's hat. Her ebony skin shining and flawless as usual, and her long, raven coloured hair sweeping around her shoulders as she smiled at them, a smile which quickly drained away when she saw Kalakor. Which was predicted, and Attelus more than empathised.

On her flanks were Interrogator Arlathan Karkin and Vex Carpompter. Behind them stood two ten-man squads of Enandra's Stormtroopers; one was the shit-head Kollath with his ceremonial power sword sheathed at his hip.

Attelus wanted to run forward and hug her, to shake Arlathan's and Vex's hands in his, but he fought the urge. But he met Arlathan's gaze; the ex-magistratum detective's dark eyes twinkled with amusement as he gave Attelus a slight nod. His pale, scarred face was boarded by a thick, black, immaculately maintained beard and slicked-back hair. He wore white carapace armour with a black leather coat and a storm bolter hung from his shoulder. Vex, well, Vex didn't meet Attelus' gaze because his bugged-out eyes were plastered on Delathasi. Everyone knew he had a massive crush on the assassin apprentice for a long time now.

'I see there are...a lot of new faces here,' said Enandra. 'One just so happens to be a Space Marine of the Raven Guard. But a few old ones are missing; where are Hayden, Vark, Verenth, Helma and Jelket?'

Attelus shared a glance with Karmen. 'Hayden is confined to his quarters, and Vark, Verenth, Helma and Jelket are all...are all...'

Enandra nodded, and her gaze fell to the floor. 'I...see. That is a shame; I am sorry. I hope their deaths weren't in vain.'

'I told you they weren't,' said Attelus.

Enandra's gaze shot to Attelus. 'I don't mean any offence, Attelus Kaltos, but I will be the judge of that.'

'Good,' said Enandra. 'Just you, Attelus, Karmen, Commissar Tathe, I would tell the Space Marine not to come, but I doubt it will make any difference, and whoever you are.'

She pointed at Hadrel.

'Y-you know who I am, mamzel Inquisitor?' said Tathe.

'Of course, I know who you are,' Enandra snapped. 'You are a famous hero of the Imperial Guard, and I really did not expect you to be here nor your soldiers, and...who are you?'

One of the Sovrithian soldiers looked shocked at being addressed. 'We are troopers of the Sovrithian 81st Rifles, ma'am.'

'Never heard of your regiment. Did you tell all of these people they could join us, Attelus? I might have recruited you and all the other survivors of Omnartus, but that was in...extreme circumstances.'

Attelus shrugged and shuffled his foot. 'Perhaps...'

'I did as well, mamzel,' said Karmen. 'All of them fought to hell and back for us, literally. They will make amazing fighters in the Emperor's name.'

'Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. What about all these mercs, Sons of Dispater? Where did you get them? If they betrayed a contract, I don't want the complication. Attelus. I know you gather people around you like a crazy old woman collects cats, but this is ridiculous. And a frigging Space Marine, too!'

'I am right here,' said Kalakor.

'Excuse me, mamzel,' said Hadrel. 'With respect, we have nowhere to go; please do not leave us out in the wind. We will serve you with everything we've got, and we understand the stakes-'

'You what?' Enandra blinked and shared a glance with Arlathan. 'Let's... let's just go to that meeting. What's in the crate, Attelus? Something special? Or are you showing off your enhanced strength again?'

Attelus grinned and raised the crate. 'Fine wine and amasec from the Ixaniad Sector, courtesy of good your defeated rival Inquisitor Draven.'

Enandra's eyes narrowed. 'I see, well, thank you, but I'm sure you know I must have my people check that stuff over before we can drink it.'

Still grinning, Attelus nodded. He did know, and he could more than appreciate such a level of paranoia. Enandra would want a clear head for the de-briefing and the subsequent "interview" to follow.

'Before starting, Attelus, I need you to that from now on could you not just recruit everyone,' said Enandra as she, Arlathan and Vex took their seats at the table. At the same time, Kalakor went to lurk in the corner. The twenty Stormtroopers stood behind Enandra, backs to the wall, half of them watching Kalakor; the rest had their visored gazes plastered on Karmen and Attelus.

'I...' said Attelus as he Tathe, Karmen, and Hadrel sat across from the Enandra and the others. Karmen next to Attelus. There was food already laid out for them, mostly snack foods, a large jug of caffeine and a bottle of high-quality amasec.

Enandra raised her hand. 'Attelus Xanthis Kaltos, I do not want an, "I..." or any excuses, I just want you to say, "yes, mamzel", or "yes, Inquisitor", or "yes, mamzel Enandra" or "yes Inquisitor Enandra", or even "yes, Enandra", and when you say it that you mean it. Do you understand me?'

Before Attelus could reply, Karmen said, 'I also-'

'Karmen, stop trying to take some of the responsibility, I know you and Attelus are close, but I had placed him in charge, not you. You should know that means he takes full responsibility, right?'

Karmen Kons, a beta-level psyker powerful enough and skilled enough to hold back a Bloodthirster, a greater daemon of the blood god and pull down the kine shield of a daemon of the god of change, nodded, her wide eyes filled with shining fear.

Kalakor's soft, throaty laugh reverberated the room. 'That is the truth; I am liking you more and more, mamzel Inquisitor.'

'Thank you, that is a special compliment from one of the Emperor's Angels of Death. Name and rank, please.'

Kalakor straightened and smoothly made the sign of the Aquila across his broad chest. 'Veteran-sergeant Kalakor 4th company, mamzel Inquisitor.'

Attelus poured himself a generous cup of caffeine and finally sat.

'It is good to meet you, veteran-sergeant Kalakor,' said Enandra. 'I must say seeing you among the people in the hangar bay was the very last thing I expected. Maybe beside the Emperor of Mankind himself.'

Kalakor chuckled and gave her a slight nod.

The Enandra looked back to Attelus, and he fought to keep from flinching from her gaze. 'Attelus...?'

'Yes, mamzel Enandra.'

Enandra studied Attelus for a few seconds, and he didn't look away from her large, intense brown eyes before she finally nodded and lounged back in her chair. 'Good. Now, onto another thing, Attelus Xanthis Kaltos, just how many people have learned of the true fate of Omnartus?'

She looked at Hadrel. 'A fact this man hinted at, what's your name?'

Hadrel straightened, but to his credit, didn't look away from her. 'I am master Korvin Hadrel formally of the Sons of Dispater, mamzel Inquisitor.'

'Formally? Maybe I could pull a few strings and change that.'

Hadrel shook his head. 'Please don't take offence, mamzel, but I doubt that, and as you have figured out, we know, or we know some, of what you are fighting against and my men and I wish to take part in that fight.'

Enandra smiled a thin smile. 'Of course, you do. Does this remind you of anything, Attelus?'

'Like me, three years ago, mamzel Enandra.'

Enandra nodded. 'We'll see, master Hadrel. What about you, Commissar Delan Tathe? Are you sure you should be here and not with your army?'

Tathe frowned. 'What you saw in the hangar bay was all that's left of the men and women of the Elbyran contingent, mamzel.'

Her eyes widened. 'I am...sorry, Tathe. The Imperium is a lesser place now, I am sure.'

'Mamzel Inquisitor, I truly mourn their loss, but it was...It was...'

'I...I understand, Commissar,' said Enandra. 'I should not be surprised I knew the circumstances of the warp storm that trapped you on Sarkeath. The fact that you are alive is amazing in itself.'

Her eyes narrowed. 'Or untainted.'

Tathe flinched. 'I... I'm not. Attelus and Karmen can vouch for my men and I.'

Enandra nodded, but she didn't seem convinced, and she looked back at Attelus. 'So, I'm guessing the good Commissar knows everything as well?'

Attelus nodded. 'We felt it imperative to tell them they deserved to know after all they sacrificed to complete our mission.'

Enandra's gaze turned hard as she seemed to see the corner Attelus had backed her into. In all honesty, she'd think the guardsmen and women of the Elbyran contingent were owed nothing; the Inquisition didn't owe anyone anything, ever. Technically, anyway, as the word of the Inquisition was second only the Emperor's himself, but Attelus called that Grox shit right from the start, no organisation and no one person deserved such power, especially the Inquisition. But Enandra could fall into such self-righteous arrogance from time to time. But she couldn't say that in front of Tathe. Then the hardness in her gaze disappeared, and she smiled and gave Attelus a slight nod of approval.

'I...see,' said Enandra. 'The truth of the Omnartus Incident is highly classified for a reason, a damn good reason, so please, from now on, do not just go telling people about it, even if they "deserved it" What about you Master Hadrel? How did you learn of it? I do not recall learning about a group of Sons of Dispater mercenaries taking part in the liberation of Sarkeath in...'

She glanced at Arlathan, which he met with a sidelong look of his own and a smile that was distinct even behind his beard. 'In Interrogator Arlathan Karkin's research.'

'I have never heard of a world called Sarkeath until today, mamzel Inquisitor. I wasn't there, but Attelus Kaltos here told it because he was forced to tell it by our employer, Inquisitor Draven.'

'He did, did he?' said Enandra. 'As you are fond of saying, Attelus Xanthis Kaltos, 'Hmm, interesting, yes."'

Attelus sighed. 'Mamzel, can we just tell you what happened, please?'

Enandra sighed. 'Yet again, your impatience gets the better of you, Attelus. Didn't Glaitis teach you how important patience was?'

Hadrel's eyes widened, and he looked at Attelus. 'Glaitis? Does she mean master Glaitis of the Blades of Vengeance?'

'Yes, she does,' said Attelus. 'But that's not important right now, and, in all honesty, mamzel Enandra, you're reminding me of that old bitch right now.'

There was a long silence as everyone in the room, excluding Kalakor and Enandra, looked at Attelus, shocked. Enandra just smiled a strangely amused smile.

So Attelus took advantage of the silence and quickly began to recount their misadventures right from when they left Scintilla. He ignored the shocked looks from Arlathan, Vex and Hadrel when he admitted to their trip through the webway in Autarch Raloth Arlyandor's ship.

Their arrival to Sarkeath emphasised how the planet seemed like an ordinary desert world before they landed upon the blood sands, how the world itself seemed to suppress Karmen's psychic might and their first encounter and successful ambush of cultists during their journey to the city of Kelitia. How Attelus, now on hindsight, idiotically separated the group, getting him, Adelana, Delathasi and Hayden to go scout ahead.

Of how they found the city almost utterly engulfed in blood sands, damaged and seemingly abandoned. Then how Karmen and the other team were attacked by more cultists in the desert, which led to the destruction of their All-Terrain Vehicle, but how they managed to escape in the Guncutter before being overwhelmed.

Attelus then reeled back to his team; he neglected to tell them about the vision he received of the burning tower and the voice of what he now knew belonged to the daemon sword, the sword of Kalncerak—telling him how it needed protection from enemies. These enemies turned out to be his father and his agents. So instead, he described how they heard a skirmish battle going on in a nearby commercia building and that he and Delathasi went to check it out. Inside they found a group of guardsmen engaged with a group of cultists.

After Attelus helped one of the squads kill the cultists, the guardsmen turned on him, and the cultists joined forces with the guardsmen to try and kill Attelus and Delathasi.

'What?' said Enandra, interrupting Attelus' flow much to his annoyance. 'Why in the Emperor's name did they join forces to attack you?'

'It turned out later,' said Karmen. 'That they were what Tathe and his men called "The Resurrected." All of them had once killed, had their souls claimed by the blood god and brought to life to either fight amongst themselves or kill anyone who wasn't a part of them so they too would join their ranks.'

Enandra furrowed her brow and looked at Tathe. 'This is true?'

'Indeed,' said the Commissar. 'It was confirmed by Attelus Kaltos later, and my thought was they were being "trained" to become an incredibly experienced army that would serve their master by later going out into the stars to devastate the Imperium.'

'That makes sense,' said Enandra. 'So many loyal Imperial souls enslaved into Chaos, utterly, utterly horrific. Anyway, please continue, Attelus.'

Attelus nodded and started on again. Of how he and Delathasi would've been overwhelmed if it wasn't for the help of Adelana and Hayden and their subsequent escape from the collapsing building by the barest of margins. Hayden had thrown a krak grenade that damaged to wall enough to let in the blood sands that surrounded the building.

Then their capture by Captain Dantian and the 81st Sovrithian Rifles.

Kalakor butted in then, which made Attelus frown.

'I had adopted Captain Dantian and his company during the war as my squad had to sacrifice themselves to kill a Bloodthirster. We had received a distress call from the Commissar here, so I led the company to aid them.'

'A distress call I didn't send,' said Tathe. 'I figured that the other invasion forces were either destroyed or were busy with their own problems.'

Enandra nodded. 'Did you ever find out who sent the distress signal?'

Attelus exchanged looks with Tathe, Karmen and Kalakor. 'No,' said Attelus. 'In all honesty, so much then happened after that we didn't even consider asking Tathe about it. I had my suspicions about the signal, but that became the least of my problems.'

'Who do you think sent it?' said Enandra. 'Now with hindsight?'

Attelus shrugged. 'Well, we now know that the blood god wasn't the only Chaos influence on Sarkeath, but it turned out there was an alliance of sorts between the blood god and the god of change. So it could've been it, or...'

'Or what?' said Arlathan.

'Or my father and his lackeys.'

Enandra almost choked on her drink of caffeine. 'Your father was there?'

'Wait!' said Hadrel. 'Is your father Serghar Kaltos? The Serghar Kaltos.'

Attelus rolled his eyes. 'Yes,' he sighed. 'Yes, he is.'

Hadrel gaped. 'I thought your name was just a coincidence, no wonder you killed so many of my people. By the Emperor, he's the greatest assassin of the sector.'

'I know, I know. Please, just stop,' said Attelus as he placed his face into his hands. 'And really, mamzel Inquisitor? You're surprised of my father's involvement?'

Enandra shrugged. 'Maybe you're right; he is our enemy's chief lieutenant. But why was he there?'

'You will find out soon, anyway! Back on the subject,' said Karmen. 'Attelus?'

Attelus carried on with a nod. He told then of how he was taken to Kalakor, which was a frigging shock to him at the time, then his one-sided sparring match against he won against Dantian in a bid to get his precious sword back. Then his seventeen-minute long, exhausting sparring match against Kalakor, which Attelus lost. Attelus didn't say he regretted trying to win against Kalakor as it gave away his abilities and skill, which Kalakor and the Sovrithians didn't need to know. He just really wanted his sword back. He'd made many mistakes on Sarkeath, but luck seemed to be on his side until he went toe to toe with his father.

'Nice work, Attelus,' said Enandra as Vex gaped and Arlathan looked at Attelus with wide eyes.

'You managed to last seventeen minutes against that Space Marine?' said Arlathan.

'I am here,' said Kalakor.

Attelus pursed his lips and shrugged. 'Y-you know I've managed to kill a few before, Arlathan.'

'A few?' said Hadrel. 'How many are a few?'

'Four,' said Vex. 'Three as we escaped Omnartus, although all three were killed at Attelus' hand because he'd cheated or caught them off guard in one way or another. The fourth was a Traitor Marine named Erdaku, the self-proclaimed "Everchosen of Chaos" on the world of Terrascara. But that one is debatable.'

'Hey! Frig you, Vex,' said Attelus. 'Hayden might've blown Erdaku's head off with a hot-shot round, but I was the one who fought to get that idiot Erdaku into the right position, so that counts as my kill. I was the one with his frigging arse on the line. Then I almost broke my foot on Erdaku's corpse.'

Vex shrugged. 'Yes, but you were the person dumb enough to kick power armour, and you would have been killed if Hayden had not intervened, so...'

'Yes, yes,' said Enandra. 'Let's just say it was both yours and Hayden's kill, Attelus. It was a team effort; after all, just get over it already. By the Emperor, I swear you can be such a child. Almost like a man who's more a child than an adult. A child-man might be a good term to describe you.'

'So,' said Hadrel. 'Let me just get this understood, you are not just Serghar Kaltos' son, but you have managed to kill not one, not two, but three-'

'Four,' said Attelus through clenched teeth.

'Yes, sorry, four Space Marines. If we'd been told of this by Draven, we wouldn't have accepted this contract.'

'That is why it is always, always important to know your enemy, Hadrel,' said Enandra. 'And that would have been the reason why he didn't tell you.'

'Indeed,' said the assassin master.

Arlathan looked at Attelus. 'Sorry for the interruption, Attelus. Please continue.'

Attelus frowned and spoke on that Kalakor had exploited a loophole in his agreement to keep Attelus' sword, and Attelus couldn't help fix the Space Marine a withering glare as he recounted this. Then of how they saw their guncutter arrive, and Kalakor decided to take Attelus and some men to take a look.

Karmen took over then, explaining that they'd decided to fly down from orbit, but the landing had drawn hundreds of Resurrected to their LZ. They'd quickly been separated as the enemy were wielding RPGs forcing Darrance to leave or else be shot down. They were almost overwhelmed but managed to escape by the skin of their teeth. They'd come down because of a vox communication sent by Attelus asking for them to help. Attelus had never sent a communication that now seemed to be from Serghar or one of his agents using a voice modulator, having somehow hacked into their vox network.

Then Attelus said of Kalakor going on to scout ahead, then of Etuarq's masked agents ambushing Attelus and the guardsmen escorting him. He went into detail about how he well managed to fight them off despite him at first being unarmed and that their reflexes and strength rivalled his own, then he looked at Tathe.

Tathe sighed. 'Those agents they were with us. We thought they were Inquisition, their master was holding the rosette and said his name was Tolbik, but he was Attelus'...father in disguise. What a complete arsehole we hated him right from when he and his idiot sycophants showed up. But he held the rosette.'

Enandra nodded. 'What happened next?'

Tathe told of how they managed to capture Attelus despite him trying to escape and how he had many of his men simultaneously attack the Sovrithian camp, a fact he wasn't proud of despite him ordering it on behalf of Serghar "frigging" Kaltos. But behind Serghar's back, he'd told the attackers to hold back and for another squad to use the distraction to infiltrate the camp and investigate on Tathe's behalf.

'Hmm, clever,' said Enandra.

Tathe smiled. 'Thank you, mamzel.'

The two of them held their gazes for a good few seconds, which Arlathan didn't appreciate.

'Anyway,' said Karmen, which caused them to look at her. 'We retreated to the top floor of a building and there holed up. Helma and Torris were badly injured in the fight and-'

'And I showed myself to them, literally,' said Kalakor.

'Almost gave poor Jelket the worst heart attack of the century,' said Karmen.

'Excuse me, what do you mean by "showed myself, literally"?' said Enandra.

Kalakor's red eyes swept toward her like he was making a target lock, but Enandra didn't flinch. 'It is not well known, but the Space Marines of the Raven Guard chapter, a few of us have the ability to turn invisible, even without the gift of psychic power. It is said to be inherited from our primarch, Corvus Corax.'

Enandra looked at Kalakor, her eyebrows raised, a reaction Attelus' hoped she'd have, and he had to fight back a smile. Enandra was damn good at reading people and lies; she was the best Attelus had seen until his encounter with Draven, who seemed inhumanly good at it. But a Space Marine was an entirely different creature to read, especially when in full power armour and especially when they were Kalakor.

'I'm...surprised that you would share that with me, sergeant,' she said. 'I am guessing you won't tell me how you can do this exactly?'

'I am afraid not, mamzel Inquisitor.'

She nodded. 'I understand; I am honoured you would tell me so much, anyway.'

Kalakor shrugged. 'I only do so because it is an important facet to the mission report.'

She smiled thinly. 'Even so. Please keep going, Karmen.'

Karmen then told of how Kalakor gave them a rundown of the situation; he knew of Attelus' capture by the Velrosian 1st regiment and their attack on the Sovrithians and proposed an alliance between them to rescue Attelus, Adelana, Hayden and Delathasi, which Karmen hesitantly accepted. Then Kalakor slipped off to meet back with the Sovrithian 81st.

Karmen turned to Attelus, their eyes meeting, and she smiled. Attelus returned her smile and took over. He described their trip to the Elbyran contingent's base, emphasising the professional capability of Dellenger, the scouts and the Velrosian troops at dodging the enemy skirmishes on the way; he wanted Enandra to know how good they were, how valuable they would be to the organisation. He hoped he didn't come off too over the top. Then his subsequent meeting and beating by his bastard of a father and how he needed Attelus to retrieve the daemon sword of Kalncerak.

Enandra furrowed her brow. 'Why did he need you to get the sword?'

This was one of the dos or die lies in their story, one which they'd prepped for; in truth, his father needed him as only a perpetual was able to enter the pocket dimension which the sword was imprisoned and take it. Kalakor as well. Serghar needed the blade as it ate souls, even those of a perpetual, so he could kill Attelus with it and use Attelus' corpse for a reason they still didn't know, but he could hazard countless guesses as to why.

'He didn't tell me,' said Attelus as he lied; he tried to replicate the tone and everything that'd made him accidentally fool Draven back on Iocanthos.

'He didn't tell you?' said Enandra.

'He didn't; he said he didn't think I deserved the explanation. He said something vague about my destiny or some shit. One of the reasons he and Etuarq bent fate so I could be born. But nothing of any substance.'

That was all true, in the most technical of senses, of course.

Enandra studied him for a few seconds before finally nodding. 'From your description of who Serghar is before, that makes sense. He seems to embody the very worst aspects of the Imperium of Mankind. The belief that human life is truly a commodity for him to sacrifice for his gains. All the more reason to stop him and his master.'

Attelus gulped down a relieved sigh but still tried to search for some clue in Enandra's symmetrical face that she hadn't been fooled. But she showed nothing but what seemed to be genuine belief.

'So, what happened next?' said Arlathan, who seemed the most engulfed by their story than anyone, as he leaned his elbows on the table, hunching forwards.

Attelus then informed her that Serghar claimed he "wished for the death of Chaos and all the Xenos races," which really seemed to make Arlathan, Vex, and Enandra perk up.

'I thought that he was aligned to the Chaos gods,' said Arlathan. 'That's what his agent, the triple agent...Feuilt had said back on Omnartus before you killed him.'

'That's what Feuilt claimed, but I think that was a feint, whether Feuilt believed it or not,' said Attelus. 'Although, I'm not sure why. But I could hazard many guesses. The evidence that Etuarq and Serghar aren't just not working with Chaos but actively against it is seriously strong now. I also believe the agents working under my father two of them were Feuilt and Rodyille. And one is confirmed to be...to once been...Elandria.'

'Confirmed?' said Vex, his wide eyes seemed to dominate his face from behind his glasses. 'We know her body was taken by Feuilt after she...she died in your arms. Then he claimed she was sent off-world, but-'

'Yes, I know, Vex,' hissed Attelus. 'I'm skipping way ahead here; you'll find out why soon.'

Attelus looked sidelong at Tathe.

The Commissar cleared his throat. He told about the squad he'd secretly sent to infiltrate the Sovrithian camp, how they brought him Attelus' power sword they'd stolen from the weapons confiscated from Attelus and his group and that one of the troopers recognised it as a sword once owned by the family which ruled her province in north Velrosia. Enandra already knew Karmen had given Attelus the sword on Omnartus, and it was a family heirloom of Karmen's lineage, the Erith line, so she didn't need that explained to her.

He then went and talked to Attelus for answers, and Attelus had tried to convince Tathe to change sides but failed. But he did succeed in making Tathe consider the possibility. This was also reinforced when Tathe went to meet Serghar in his tent and found Serghar brutally beating the shit out of one of his agents just because she'd gone and talked to Attelus and company without his permission. That thanks to Attelus, Tathe had finally gained the courage to confront Serghar. And that their talk was interrupted by Tathe's father, the traitorous general Tathe using the city's public vox-speaker system, which was somehow still working to address the Elbyran Contingent and the Sovrithian 81st. Telling them to surrender and give into Chaos, but never informed them how to do it, which Tathe still found amusing for a reason Attelus couldn't comprehend.

Perhaps the general didn't tell them because the part of him that was still loyal, and human prevented him. The side which Attelus had first found when he'd finally managed to get to the top of the tower.

After the call, Serghar demanded that Tathe get his men to go toward the tower, but before they could move out, the Elbyran contingent came under attack by the Sovrithians.

It was the insanity of two loyal Imperial Guard regiments being forced to fight each other which finally made Tathe turn against "Inquisitor Tolbik."

Attelus stepped in to explain that while the Sovrithians attacked his father and his three agents decided to take him and the others away. But before they could, Commissar Tathe intercepted them, and all of the Elbyran troops around were quick to back Tathe up when the situation quickly escalated.

Then the Guncutter arrived, hovering overhead.

A fight broke out, leaving the Stormtroopers working for Serghar dead and dozens of Elbyran troopers slaughtered in an utter bloodbath as Serghar, and his lackeys made their desperate escape.

And Tathe finally gave Attelus back his sword.

Attelus then made sure to tell how angry Hayden was at him, and rightfully so, it was because of Attelus' mistakes the mission had gone awry, to say the least.

He looked at Enandra with wide eyes. 'With-with all due respect, mamzel. In all honesty, I don't think I should've been placed in charge of the team.'

'Oh?' said Enandra. 'Why do you figure that?'

'I...I thought it'd be obvious by now after what we've told you, Inquisitor,' said Attelus.

To Attelus' surprise, Enandra blew a raspberry. 'Maybe you messed up a here and there, but you have seemed to have learned from your mistakes. Attelus. That is a trait more important than anything; that alone shows me that I did not make a mistake in placing you in the lead. And beside that, if you weren't in charge, you wouldn't have been able to travel to the Gothic Sector and back so fast. I don't think if I had, say, placed Darrance in the lead, that wouldn't have happened.'

Attelus shrugged, unconvinced. 'If you'd placed Karmen in charge, she would've agreed to travel through the webway.'

'Yes, but from what I understand when she found herself almost unable to use her psychic power when you arrived on Sarkeath,' said Enandra, 'She had what could be described as an existential crisis, am I correct, Karmen?'

'Yes, mamzel, Inquisitor,' said Karmen as her brow knotted and her eyes fell to the floor.

'So, it might've been worse if she was in charge.'

'But-'

Enandra raised a hand. 'Stop your damned whining, Attelus. I made the right decision, and that is that. Now, stop wasting my time and keep going with your report.'

Attelus shot to his feet. 'No.'

There was a pause.

Enandra sneered. 'What do you mean by "no"?'

'No means no, frig you, mamzel. My father manipulated me as easily as if I was a string puppet. If it wasn't for the interference of Kalakor, there. He and Etuarq would've got exactly what they wanted. If I wasn't in charge, that wouldn't have happened.'

Enandra raised an eyebrow. 'As I recall, they manipulated you "like a string puppet" back on Omnartus, and you weren't in charge back then.'

Attelus grimaced, and tears welled in his eyes. 'Y-yes, but that just proved I was susceptible to it. Hayden had warned me; he'd frigging warned me, and I didn't listen and-'

'Attelus, please,' said Karmen as she placed a hand on his shoulder. 'That's enough for now. Please, just let the Inquisitor hear the rest of it, and she might understand you more after that.'

He turned to her, and she met his gaze again, smiling. Attelus nodded and turned back to Enandra. Both Arlathan and Vex were both nodding in approval; they both thought Attelus and Karmen were finally in a relationship, it seemed. Well, they were wrong even if Attelus hadn't frigged up what they'd had.

'Karmen Kons, ever the diplomat,' said Enandra.

With a scowl, Attelus continued on to tell of how he finally reunited with the rest of the team. And Hayden's anger at Darrance for not opening fire on Serghar and his people when they escaped. Despite the fact, it would've killed many Elbyran soldiers if Darrance even managed to at all.

'I see you're building up to the reason why Hayden is confined to his quarters?' said Arlathan.

'Yes, indeed,' said Karmen. She then told that she'd left Jelket as a liaison between them and the Sovrithians due to his experience as a guardsman and because she could tell he was struggling with self-esteem issues.

Karmen blue eyes glistened with tears, but she seemed to quickly gain control of herself. 'Jelket did an excellent job; he was a good man and an excellent soldier who deserves the highest of honours for his service to the Golden Throne.'

'Of course,' said Enandra. 'He was a good man, and I mourn his loss.'

Everyone nodded, even Hadrel, who had no idea who Jelket was. Karmen then looked at Tathe and said how she and Attelus had explained to him why they were here.

'You did, did you?' said Enandra. 'I thought you said you did it because he had "earned it"'

'Correction,' said Attelus. 'We had told because "they" had earned it, meaning all of the survivors of the battle through Kelitia, in all honesty.'

He neglected to mention he and Karmen had told Dellenger and Adreen as well as Tathe, but frig it.

'Semantics,' said Enandra.

Attelus shrugged again. 'In all honesty, semantics are kind of my thing; you know me well enough to know that, right?'

Enandra grinned. 'Indeed so.'

'Anyway, they didn't tell me a lot,' said Tathe. 'Not how they managed to bypass the warpstorm and the events in any real detail. We had "earned" that honour much later, and by the frigging Emperor, I say we did, damn it. I lost so many good men and women in that battle who then I had to kill over and over again. Men and women I'd know for decades, we'd earned to known the truth, frig it!'

Attelus watched on; that outburst wasn't rehearsed as Attelus' earlier one wasn't either, but Tathe meant it, and he was right.

Enandra sat back in her chair and raised her hands as Arlathan and Vex exchanged bemused glances. 'I understand, Commissar, and my apologies. I didn't mean offence secrets are an Inquisitor's stock and trade and-'

'You put me in charge, mamzel Enandra,' said Attelus. 'When you did, you showed me that you believed that I would know when to share secrets. Secrets are our "stock and trade," aren't they? I traded secrets, so Tathe would be more likely to help us push to the tower so we could get to general Tathe, so we could get the "secrets" of the Exterminatus we were investigating into. Which we damn well did.'

Everyone, even Karmen and Tathe, gaped at Attelus in abstract shock.

The shocked silence hung in the air for a good few seconds, and it was Kalakor who broke it with a bark of a laugh. 'The boy's logic is flawless; I must say that I am impressed.'

'Uhm, thanks, Kalakor,' said Attelus, blushing.

'Yes, I...see,' said Enandra through gritted teeth. 'Do continue, please, Attelus Xanthis Kaltos.'

Attelus swallowed, seeing he was pushing it too far now. It reminded him of when he reported to Glaitis back on Omnartus about his misadventures. But the consequences of his questioning of her wasn't as subtle as Enandra gritting her teeth.

Attelus had told the truth about how Enandra reminded him of Glaitis sometimes. They were both intelligent, intense, seductive and charismatic women. Both were skilled warriors and intimidating as hell when they wanted to be. But Glaitis was a dictatorial and manipulative bitch who only did what she did for her selfish gains and petty revenge against Attelus' father for frigging her then abandoning her. Enandra wasn't like that, but at times Attelus couldn't help fear she too might fall into that way one day.

Tathe cleared his throat, which caused all attention to turn to him. 'I suppose I'll take it from here.'

He then explained his call with Captain Dantian, how he managed to get the Captain to help them. Then, they left their makeshift base and began what would be the final battle. Tathe's eyes swirled with tears as he described the heroism of every soldier under his command. How they knew they were on a suicide mission and that when they died, they would join the enemy ranks, but none hesitated or even baulked in their duty.

How every single small step was a war in itself to take. How despite none of the Elbyran troops being dedicated to line-infantry, they performed line-infantry drills to a professional degree. How for every one of his troopers would fall, dozens of the enemy would be killed. Then the sacrifice of the men and women who advanced on the north and southern flank sacrificed themselves fought for as long and as hard as they could to protect the main advance.

All the while, Attelus stole glances at Arlathan, Enandra and Vex, who were all utterly engrossed in Tathe's passionate retelling of the battle. Tathe then told of how well Attelus, Hayden, Verenth, Helma and Delathasi fought. Attelus looked at Karmen during that time, and she was blushing like a schola girl. But he praised Karmen the most; her kine-shield was instrumental in saving countless guardsmen, countless times despite how hard she found it to summon it and how brief the time she could keep it up. Tathe was right, though, Attelus might've killed more of the enemy than anyone else, but her power made more of a difference than even if Attelus managed to slay a thousand of the Resurrected.

Then he looked at Attelus, and it took Attelus a while to realise it was his turn to continue to the story. After shaking himself back to reality, Attelus explained they reprogrammed the Elbran vox network to eject any hackers, and so they used it instead of theirs because of this. Attelus got a call from Vark, who was acting as vox officer for Tathe's makeshift command squad, telling him the southern advance needed his help. So Attelus sliced a hole in the wall of a building and began south. He then realised the call had been over the Elbyran network, but by then, it was too late-

'It was a trap,' interrupted Vex smugly, as he leaned back in his chair, an equally smug smile on his chinless face.

Attelus treated the hacker with his best withering glare, which made the young man's attention flinch away in a most satisfactory way.

'You're such a frigging genius you managed to figure that out,' said Attelus, 'it's not like you have the benefit of hindsight or anything. I was high on adrenaline and...'

Attelus stopped himself when he realised the next word was going to be "blood-lust."

Vex shrugged, pursing his lips like a sulking child, his gaze on the floor.

'Yes, yes,' said Enandra as she whipped out her gauntleted hand dismissively. 'We don't need your excuses. You frigged up. What happened next?

'Hmm, yes of course, mamzel,' said Attelus. 'Yes, the ambush my father and his agents laid for me and...'

Attelus trailed off, then sighed as he realised how much Vex was going to enjoy this next part and how much he suddenly wanted a smoke. They'd never got along, even more so after Attelus had lost his shit with Vex when they were working for Taryst back on Omnartus and strangled Vex.

Attelus had secretly hired Vex to check into Taryst's past, but Taryst found out about it. Attelus had believed at first that Vex had sold him out, but it'd turned out Karmen had taken it from his mind without Vex's knowledge or consent. Just another shitty thing she'd done out of a very, very long list. Later, Attelus let Vex punch him in the face as that was what Vex wanted. Despite being a tiny, skinny little bastard, Vex had hit Attelus so hard; it'd taken him so off guard it'd knocked Attelus off his feet. It'd turned out Garrakson had been teaching Vex how to punch for a good month just for that occasion. It'd been one of the most humiliating moments of Attelus' life.

'I...I tried to fight my father and-and that went as well as you might've expected.'

Enandra raised her eyebrows. 'Not well?'

'Not well, really, really not well. He frigging slaughtered me. With his eyes closed, literally.'

That made Arlathan, Enandra exchange surprised glances, and Vex smiled.

'He impaled me, gutted me, but as I was on the sword, I punched him in the frigging face with one of my throwing knives. I have to emphasise this my father is a pure psychopath; he's a complete sadist.'

Enandra nodded; she seemed like she wanted to say something along the lines of "I had thought so," but stopped herself.

Attelus frowned but carried on. Telling them how Adelana had figured out something was wrong and came to help. She managed to delay Serghar for long enough to allow the Resurrected to move forwards far enough to enter the building behind the advancing Elbyran Contingent. He praised Adelana for how she managed to figure out it was a trap and didn't hesitate to put herself in incredible danger by confronting enemies who physically outclassed her by light-years. Attelus ignored the glare from Karmen as he did.

With the Resurrected pouring through the hole Serghar and the two male agents stayed to hold them back as the female agent, Adelana and Attelus, escaped.

'When she'd figured out the trap, Adelana had called in Darrance to pick us up,' said Attelus, 'we barely managed to reach the roof where he was waiting for us. And...and the agent, she took off her mask, and it was Elandria. I have no doubt. Darrance can corroborate.'

'How?' said Enandra.

'She said...she told us she was no longer Elandria but her body reanimated and enhanced by a "gestalt of souls" but-but I pointed out she still had still had her mind...she still had her mind...literally.'

'I'm surprised you were still conscious after being impaled through,' said Arlathan.

'I was only barely conscious,' said Attelus. 'It took all of my will to stay awake.'

'I'm sorry, Attelus,' said Enandra. 'I know what she meant to you, and after mourning her death, for her to come back, it must've been painful.'

Attelus shrugged. 'In all honesty, mamzel, I was pretty much convinced it was her and that her "friends" were Feuilt and Rodyille by recognising their fighting styles. I should've been more mentally prepared for it. She'd revealed her face at my insistence.'

'To be fair,' said Arlathan, with an encouraging smile. 'You were suffering from a gut-wound, then.'

Attelus folded his arms across his chest and looked at the floor. 'Yes, I guess...'

Silence took over again, and it lasted a good while before Enandra looked at Tathe and Karmen and said, 'What happened next?'