Early 36th Millennium, dawn of the Plague of Unbelief
High orbit over Cassius 6
Librarium onboard the Black Fauchard, Inquisitorial cruiser
After the swelling of the Chimaera's Breath collapsed the Abalatian Pass and cut off contact with the Imperium at large, both by voidship and Astropathic communications, the inhabitants of the Reach became restless. With tensions already high from the recently ended battles of the Reign of Blood, this restlessness grew into bloodshed as one settlement after another, on planet after planet within the Reach, erupted in violence. Some locales restored order quickly, while others such as Maxell and the three hive worlds just inside the Reach- Abalus, Ryazan, and Voron- continued to face one event after another, too many for the weak authorities to contain, much less eradicate.
And such things were the purview of the Ordo Hereticus.
The Librarium of the Black Fauchard was an enormous chamber with attached datavaults. The air was cool and dry with the climate controlled to prevent decay. In the back, three separate doors led to the datavaults where arrays of information were stored on ancient cogitators, their machine spirits armed to prevent intrusion and corruption as well as immeasurable datamodules similarly protected. Between the front and back, row after row of cases stretched across from bulkhead to bulkhead, filled with ancient tomes, books clad in leather of all types, books with simple paper covers, and countless rolled scrolls. Many of the cases were protected by psychic wards.
And in the front was a small table with two individuals sitting and facing each other.
Sirsay glanced through her cybernetic eyes across the table at her counterpart, Inquisitor Draegoth. His face has more lines than the first time I met him, she realized, then laughed at her silliness. Imagine that, he looked younger when he was younger. His black bladed force sword was on his hip as well as a bolt pistol. He's always ready for war, she concluded. "Have you received word regarding the results of Moneka Joku's attempts to quell the disturbances on Parm?" she asked.
"Yes, I have," Draegoth responded. "Most people shy away from Astropaths due to them being psykers and their physical presence with eyes burned from their heads, but I do not need to explain that to you," he said. "She does have an uncanny ability to use the fact she has stood in the Emperor's presence and been touched by His brilliance as a virtue without sounding arrogant or condescending. She simply has a gift for words that convinces people to believe her. That she practically preaches Basil is the Emperor's hand in the Reach all by himself is a little troublesome, especially since we place him publicly into that role, but I have not detected any adverse developments from it. At least not yet. It wouldn't surprise me if people eventually begin to preach he is the Emperor's heir. When that happens, we will be forced to act."
"Her preaching is very useful for convincing the populace to behave," Sirsay added. "I find it surprising that the Preachers who did tend to the Frateris Templar take to her so well. But they not only do so, they fully support her. I honestly believe she will be able to quell the entire Cassian Cluster all by herself without bloodshed," Sirsay laughed. "I just hope we can do the same for the planets closer to the Pass, the ones under the purview of Inquisitor Masina. Specifically, Abalus, Maxell, Ryazan, and Voron. Their disturbances are just beginning but intelligence indicates they will become quite severe."
"Bringing up Inquisitor Masina leads us to this Gideon you brought to me," Draegoth said. "The one who assassinated Matthias. Why did Basil spare him?"
"The 'Why?' is the simple matter. Basil said he wishes to unite the factions of Humanity, if possible, instead of killing them."
"And the rest of the story?" asked Draegoth.
"He is a Null who hails from the planet Tanais in the Dacian Cluster," Sirsay answered. "From what Basil guessed and I have confirmed, there appears to be several scattered enclaves of them on the planet. I found no records of the Sisters of Silence having an enclave this far out, so their origin is a bit of a mystery. The Void Clans occasionally trade with them and say that they began to appear amongst the population perhaps a score generations ago."
"And how did the Mechanicus of the Omnissiah's Blessing convince him that Matthias was a threat to their settlements?" Draegoth asked.
"He and those of his settlement were appreciative that the Tech-Priests appeared to be far less susceptible to the antipathy caused by the Pariah Gene," Sirsay answered. "Gideon said that Ipabog once visited there and that, with him being a psychic Inquisitor, the interactions between them were less than cordial. The Tech-Priests of the Omnissiah's Blessing informed them that Matthias studied under Ipabog and from there convinced their elders that he had already indicated he would cause them trouble," Sirsay said. "But that was before. For some reason he took well to Basil willingly suffering his touch and treating him as a human being. As a result, he was willing to hear me out. After showing him a taste of what Chaos truly is, and how that if it wins, even his kind will suffer, he has been willing to follow my lead."
Draegoth stared at his fingertips for a moment before continuing. "I do not know of any in the Mechanicus of Vichka who knew Matthias studied under Ipabog…but Masina knew," Draegoth interjected. "Which brings us to the real reason you are here, and it isn't the planetary disturbances," Draegoth said, changing the subject. "The degree to which we can trust Masina is in question and that is if we can trust her at all. I long believed she was bitter. She believed that Ipabog favoured Matthias and I over her since he arranged for her to receive an appointment within the Astra Telepathica far away from him and then arranged for a new Inquisitor to take over her mentorship. Inquisitor Ipabog had an enormous reservoir of knowledge that he held tightly to, and only parsed out pieces at a time to one or the other of me and Matthias. He taught me much that I never had the opportunity to share with Matthias and I assume the same could have been said of what he taught Matthias. I believe she envied us for that."
How many more secrets did Ipabog keep? Sirsay asked herself. He personally delivered Basil to the Scholastica Psykana on Holy Terra after the toddler was given to him in the Reach and Basil appears to remember nothing of that. What else did he keep from you and Matthias, not to mention me and Basil?
Draegoth stopped and tapped his fingers for a long moment, staring at them as he did so. Finally, he looked back up at Sirsay.
"What I'm getting to is that I don't know what Masina is striving for," he said. "Is she striving for the Imperium but guilty of holding a grudge she couldn't release…or is there something worse behind her motivations? Perhaps the machinations of Chaos itself."
"How will we proceed from here?" Sirsay asked. "I am ready and willing to follow your lead on this."
"We will need to investigate before we bring her down," Draegoth answered. "Look for signs of corruption by the Ruinous Powers. Then we will strike. You have been serving in the Ordo Hereticus. So, for now, you will begin by traveling to Abalus and offering your assistance in bringing the rabble back under control. I will keep my distance and search for clues that she may be targeting me too."
A/N I've now started back to work on second shift where I work with one other person and have no visitors. This should only last for a couple of weeks but, as of right now, I'm scheduled to start working twelve hours per day, seven days per week, for an undetermined period of time. I hope to write one more installment before then but I'm not too hopeful on that.
