Collus stood by the assault ramp of the thunderhawk waiting for the familiar shift in gravity to signify they had reached the strike cruiser. He had left a small reserve on planet to sweep the site of the Tau incursion for any survivors, but the majority of the Sanguine Dragons were on approach to the cruiser. He had also received word that the Inquisition Craft had recently returned as well and had instructed his serf to monitor their activity until he arrived.

He had his armour connected to the thunderhawk's cognitors and was currently reviewing the lists of casualties and wounded marines. The numbers were a little higher than he would have liked, but still within expected parameters so he could not complain. A sudden tremor followed by a groan of his power armours servos signified they had reached the strike cruiser, the artificial gravity took hold of him, his armour naturally adjusting to its sudden gain in weight. He reactivated his helmets autosenses and dismissed the report, he could look at it more closely later, and waited as the lenses opened up and he could see his battle brothers again. They had begun to relax now they knew they were nearly back on the strike cruiser and though a marine's life was one of constant war, they had learnt to enjoy the time in between battles, particularly when they didn't have the next assignment to concentrate on yet.

He had his command squad and 4 assault squads in his thunderhawk, the sergeants and his company champion, Franis, were stood resolutely discussing the overall campaign, while individual battle brothers compared kill counts and damaged armour plates, swapping stories of their own heroism in the face of the enemy and belittling the tales of others. Collus remained the silent observer, enjoying the scene before him as he waited for them to land. It would be only a few more moments and the craft would dock, giving him the task of organising the force back on to the vessel and reorganising squads, equipment and war machines to minimise the effects of any losses.

A pair of blue icons flashed up in quick succession to signal the first of the thunderhawks that had completed docking, a third appeared about a minute later as his own transport landed and the holding clamps moved into place. He slapped his palm against a panel on the wall and the cables linking him to the thunderhawk fell away. He paced to the centre of the ramp and began walking down it as it began to descend, taking his helmet off as he did so. He reached the end of the ramp as it touched the deck, handing his helmet and force weapon to the waiting serfs with a polite nod. Two of the serfs disappeared to tend to his war gear, the third remained with him and had to jog along next to him as he walked along the landing deck.

'I am pleased to see you return my lord.' The serf said, having to raise his voice to be heard over the landing vessels all over the deck.

'It is good to be back, how are things on the ship?' Collus voice boomed effortlessly over the cacophony going on around him.

'We are back up to ninety-eight per cent efficiency as of 30 minutes ago, following the interference from the destruction of the xeno vessel'

'How long until full efficiency?'

'Within the hour my lord.'

'Excellent, carry on.' Collus waved a hand to dismiss the man, but he continued to jog beside him.

'If I may my lord, I have another matter I wish to discuss with you.' The man was hesitant in his request, knowing the chief librarian would have lots to do, but he obviously felt that this matter was important. Collus stopped and turned to the man, looking down at him from over the collar of his bulky armour.

'What seems to be the problem?'

'It seems the Inquisition team has brought back additional personnel from the planet surface. I have checked our records and we have not been informed that they would be doing so, especially as our sensors indicate that xenos are amongst the new arrivals my lord.'

'WHAT!' Collus yelled, the serf flinched but stood firm. A number of nearby marines turned at the sound of their commanders raised voice. The serf offered up his data slate for his superior to see.

'I took the liberty of isolating the security footage, as you will see the evidence is quite conclusive my lord.'

Collus tapped on the screen and watched as the inquisitorial storm raven landed on the deck, the teams leader walked out, disappearing of the edge of the screen before 4 more figures appeared. Two of them evidently prisoners, being escorted from the vessel, the picture was grainy and unclear, but he could slight make out the smooth head and the blue skin of the prisoners.

'Where are they now?'

They returned to their designated unit. Other than the new arrivals they have followed procedure and logged their arrival my lord.' Collus did not acknowledge the man's final statement. He turned and began swiftly pacing towards the deck elevators, he called to the nearest squad as he did so.

'Sergeant, have your squad fall in and follow me.'

The Sergeant looked surprised, but followed his orders, quickly forming his squad up with their bolters ready whilst grabbing his own chain sword. The men fell in behind Collus in pairs, the sergeant pulling level with the veteran psyker.

'Trouble commander?'

'Yes Sergeant, it seems we have some uninvited guests. The inquisition has brought aliens aboard our vessel, and I want to know why.'

The group entered the elevator and disappeared, Collus brooding over the disrespect the Inquisition had displayed.

The automated infirmary was state of the art. It was also, as far the mechanium would be concerned if they knew it existed, completely prohibited. It had been seized from a heretek by the team some years ago, the man had disappeared from an exploratory fleet 7 years ago and had been suspected kidnapped by pirates. The team had gone in and found he had taken a number of servitors and built himself a lab in an abandoned space station the fleet had passed in order continue his research without the limits that the Mechanium placed on him. This was complete heresy of course, despite the fact that his inventions all pertained to medical care and were actually very effective, and he was incinerated as was befitting such a criminal. Thankfully Inquisitor Vigilem saw enough merit in keeping a number of his constructs in his own custody rather than give them over to the tech-priests to be destroyed. Wynor had questioned the machines validity when he joined the team, but the falsified records presented to him regarding the matter had stopped him from questioning it any further.

Jadden lay in the off white machine completely numb as it repaired his body, the rapid moving mechandrites re-joining broken bones and torn muscles tissues rapidly and painlessly. The tissue sample retained by the inquisition was taken from him when he was much younger and the machine restored his damaged cells to the state they were in at the time the sample was taken, keeping him in his physical prime for the last seven years, despite him being well past that now. Only Batty remembered him before the miracle machine, and even then he had received a number of rejuvanat treatments during his service.

Jadden reflected on how old he felt as he was operated on. The years of service, the horrors he had endured and the friends he had lost. Every time he vowed not to get close to new team members, he remembered promising himself that with both Malcolm and Stark. He actually laughed slightly at the thought, and what good friends he had been with both of them in the end, despite their differences.

He dreaded having to report their loss to Vigilem. Not because he would react badly, or because it was hard to say out loud, but because the Inquisitor wouldn't care. He would justify it as acceptable losses, or not justify it at all, and he would have to just accept it and prepare for the next mission. He was told it would get easier as the years went by, to separate himself from the loss and the hardship but he still felt for everyone he had lost. And it was constant. No such thing as compassionate leave, or leave of any kind for that matter in inquisitorial service.

The sound of the unit door snapped him from his melancholy, he look through the thick, curved glass to see the warped shape of Bartos standing in the doorway, Josla approached the unit and her voiced crackled through the unit internal speakers.

'How you feeling sir?'

'Nothing at the moment. It's excellent.' He replied whistfully

'Well we have an armed group of marines heading our way, and they don't look friendly.' She raised an eyebrow as she said this, giving him a worried look.

'Of course we do. What's the problem?' He rolled his eyes as he prepared for the worst.

'No idea, but I reckon you have about 5 minutes before they start banging on that glass.'

'All right, how is the procedure looking?' She gave a quick look down, but the machinery obscured his view of what was going on.

'Looks like your being closed up, only stitching, sealing and review left on the checklist.' The woman flicked through some different pages of information, though it made very little sense to her, she finally found what she was looking for. '15 minutes to complete, and 12 hours of recovery afterwards.'

'I doubt the marines are gonna care about that somehow.'

'What do want us to do?' Bartos said flatly from the doorway.

'Hide the prisoners, act natural and put the recaff on.' Jadden lay back again and closed his eyes.

'I don't think Collus is gonna want to have a chat over a hot beverage?' Josla said objectionally

'I know, the recaff is for me. I've not had a good brew in days. I'll be out soon'.

'Right away.' The woman said in a worried tone, turning away and leaving the room, Batty closed the door behind him. Despite his calm reaction, Jadden was panicking. If the marines knew about the Ethereal, or found out, he would be hard pressed to stop them taking action to exterminate him, and he had nowhere to run to.

He had no chance of winning a conflict, but Vigilem wouldn't tolerate failure. If the marines learned of their captive, that was a big enough failure, but to allow them threaten the assignments success that was unacceptable.

Collus pushed his gauntlet firmly against the access panel attached to the door frame of the unit he had provided for the inquisition, expecting the usual hiss click of the door unlocking but nothing happened. He tried against, growing impatient as the men behind him looked at each other. He should have had access to every door on the vessel, he was overall commander and nothing was off limits. He growled to himself before slamming his fist into the armour door, before turning away. Finally he heard the door unlock and creak open.

He looked back to see a hooded figure, rust red robes obscuring metal and pipes. A monotone voice came from within the robes.

'May I help you Chief Librarian Collus.'

He said nothing, spinning on the spot and pushing his way past, the Tech-priest falling against the wall as he did so. He stopped in the open square chamber before him, taking in the changes the visitors had made, stacks of 'I' marked boxes stood against one wall and a small seating area was in the far corner, but by and large the cargo hold was empty. Two figures were stood by the seats, their attention drawn by the unexpected visitors. The tech priest had managed to regain his composure, and was sliding the last few loose cables back inside his robes. A tall thin woman approached Collus, she stood tall and approached him confidently.

'What is the meaning of this?' She demanded of him.

'Don't question me!' the librarian boomed as he pointed a large finger at the woman 'You have alien captives on this vessel and will not have this vessel desecrated by their presence. Where is Jadden Ledo! I demand to know!'

The woman was unmoved by the massive marines bellowed commands, she lightly brushed his hand to one side and stepped up to him.

'I am afraid that Mr Ledo is currently undergoing a procedure, but he should be available shortly. You are welcome to wait, of course.' While her statement was polite, her tone and expression was completely emotionless.

'I am commander of this force and the Inquisition has been allowed by my authority. I will not have my generosity disrespected by a pathetic woman like you!'

'I think you will find, Chief Librarian Collus, that we would have had access to your ship and resources regardless of your generosity, and it was only out of respect for your chapter that we notified you at all. Respect which you are very quickly showing to be misplaced.' There was venom in her eyes as she spoke, which infuriated the marine captain. Without warning he lashed out and grabbed her by the throat, lifted her from the ground, holding her face very close to his.

'Do not think to question me or my chapter. You have abused your right to be on this ship, and disgraced my chapter with your deceit.' The woman was trying to hold together her tough visage, but he could sense the fear radiating from her. 'Sergeant, take everyone prisoner and find the xeno infestation. Execute anyone who attempts to stop you!'

'ENOUGH!' Came a booming voice suddenly as the marines spread through the cargo hold. Collus turned to face the source. Jadden stood in an archway leading to the personal quarter put aside for the team. He had a large amount of his torso bandaged up. He wore only heavy black combat trouser and knee high jackboots. He slid a black, plain long sleeve shirt over his head as he looked out into the room.

'Put her down Collus.' The librarian glance at the small figure he held momentarily before releasing her. He let her fall to the floor, she coughed and wheezed as she lay slumped on the cold metal.

'Care to explain why you brought aliens onto a Space Marine Vessel?'

'Not really. Care to explain why you are attacking Inquisitorial Agents? You are aware that is tantamount to heresy.' Jadden smiled as he said knowing it would provoke a reaction.

'Never!' Screamed the Sergeant, his chain sword revving loudly as he charged.

Jad's movement was almost invisible as he struck his attacker. Charging his body with warp energy, he jumped and placed a single kick square on the marine faceplate, the immaterium increasing the force massively causing the armoured behemoth to fly backwards and crash into the stacked boxes. The marine squirmed and groaned beneath his mashed face plate, the injury superficial but the message clear.

'Chief Librarian Collus, you are commanded, by order of the emperor and his holy Inquisition to instruct your men to leave and we can discuss this properly.' Jadden folded his arms and looked straight into the marine's eyes from across the wide hold.

'Everybody out.' Collus ordered, his gaze still fixed on Jadden. 'Take the sergeant to the infirmary for treatment.'

'Wyn. Get Josla, Alishia and Grant out of here.'

Very slowly the room cleared, leaving the two men stood alone in the empty hall. 'What seems to be the problem Collus?'

'You have brought aliens aboard my vessel. Why?'

'It was my mission to capture the Ethereal.'

'You have the Ethereal! Why are you keeping him alive! He is a threat to this ships security! Not to mention his presence here is the real Heresy.'

'I was ordered to bring him in alive. So that is what I have done.'

'And why was I not told! You could have brought the entire Tau fleet down on this vessel!'

'The orders were top secret, I was instructed not to inform you!'

'Why? Because I wouldn't agree to it? Or because the orders are heretical!' The librarian had a condescending smile as he threw this allegation at the man.

'You know, The Inquisitor didn't actually say.' Jadden began walking around the room, while Collus stood his ground and kept his gaze fixed on the smaller psyker. 'It doesn't matter either way. My mission is complete and I will be off this vessel soon enough, and you can forget about it.'

'Oh No, I will be bringing this to the Chapter Master's attention, and he will question the Inquisition as to why they are conducting such activities. I suspect the high lords will be very interest to hear about it.'

'Not my problem, I followed the orders I was given.'

'Unfortunately I will be taking you in now, to answer for your crimes.' The librarian unleashed a lance of warp energy at his foe, the beam flashed across the cargo hold hitting nothing but air until it struck the hold wall. Collus stared in confusion at the empty space where his target once stood. At the last moment he saw the movement to his left, just raising his arm in time to protect against the blow. The ceramite groaned as the warp hardened fist slammed into it, Collus swinging his weight around to bring his right knee up into his target damaged torso. With impossible grace and speed, Jadden stepped onto the armoured knee joint, using the momentum to lift him over the marine and landed a jolting blow to his temple as he flew over him. Collus' head swam but his enhanced physique quickly recovered, he dodged a rapid kick aimed at his waist, a powerful wave of displaced air dissipating across the room from the attack. He responded with a flurry of quick jabs but his own attacks met only air as the agile psyker flipped away from his attacks.

'You're good, I'll give you that. Not many humans would even try and go up against a marine, but you have held your own.'

Collus attacked again, charging in with a fierce right hook Jadden dodging the main blow before swinging beneath the attack to unleash an uppercut, but Collus was ready, ducking to the side and wrapping his arms around him. He squeezed hard on the Inquisition agents injured ribcage, enjoying the yelp of pain. A flash of electrical energy blinded him and Jadden was no longer in his grasp. He blinked rapidly, letting his vision clear as he found himself staring at his empty hands. He span searching the room, his target had got behind him. Collus had done some damage though, Jadden was forced down to a knee, arm wrapped around himself pain flushing his face. Jadden grunted and stared at Collus who's eyes glowed scarlet with power, unleashing an onslaught on the man mind. Through gritted teeth he screamed under the powerful librarians mental barrage. Lances of pain filled his head as the marine paced up to him, ready to end the conflict.

Jadden moved suddenly, a black blur which broke the marines focus. A rapid strike hit the armoured chest plate, but did little more than stagger the warrior. Another blow came at his head, so fast he could barely see it, just bringing a gauntlet up in time to block the strike that never landed as the soft flexible joint at the back of his knee shook suddenly following the surprise attack, the joint groaned and gave way beneath the unbalanced marines weight. Collus fell backwards, arms flailing as Jadden's next blow hit home. He had taken in a huge amount of energy and put it all into this attack, a powerful flying kick hitting from the side. Energy burst from the point of impact, cracking ceramite as it propelled the librarian into the far wall.

Collus tried to stand, but was too badly dazed and he fell from the crater he had left in the metal wall of the hanger and hit floor with a thud. He looked at Jadden, stood silently in the centre of the hall, warp energy still discharging all around him. A deep breath cleared his mind as he unclipped his bolt pistol from his belt. He brought his arm up and fired, the shot passed over the man's right shoulder but he didn't even flinch. He started walking towards him, the marine regaining his composure properly, fired again. This shot flew straight and true at his foe's chest, but met only ionised air as he blinked to the side, another bolt passed by as the agile psyker dodged under it, diving left to avoid another two shots. Collus roared in frustration as he fired faster and faster, shots bursting all around the hold, Jadden finally stopped before him as he squeezed the trigger, a dull click telling him the weapon was empty.

'I think that's enough Collus.' Jadden said calmly. He reached out and put his hand on the librarians buckled chest plate and closed his eyes. The librarian felt his body vibrate for a moment as his vision went white, squinting as his vision cleared again and he took in the armoured forms before him, the marines raising their bolters at the new arrivals. 'Chief Librarian Collus and I have agreed that myself and the Inquisitorial team, including any captives will remain in this cargo hold until we reach the rendezvous with our collection vessel. We will then leave this vessel unhindered and the Sanguine Dragons will receive thanks for their assistance in this campaign and be reimbursed for any equipment lost or damaged.'

With that he disappeared again, leaving Collus slumped against a wall as the marines tentatively approached him.

Batty levelled his shotgun and span the face the door, it creaked open and the black clad form of his leader walked in clutching his side. He gave his gunman a friendly wave as he walked in.

'Evening' he gave slight nod to Batty and slumped down into a chair across from him.

'What the frak just happened?'

'I gave us a bit of peace until we reach the rendezvous.' Jadden sounded weary as he slid open the stainless steel cabinet beside him and browsed the liquor selection.

'You call that peace?' Batty exclaimed pointing his shotgun at the large dent in the wall, the other side of the marine's impact zone.

'Storm before the calm?' His leader shrugged as he slid a large decanter of valhallan amesac and two glasses from the cabinet. 'How is everyone?'

The stout man leant his shotgun against the wall and sat down, taking the glass of amber coloured liquid. I secured the holding cells, currently under full lockdown. You'll need to tell the Inquisitor that only he can unlock that now.' Jadden just nodded and took a drink, his face twisting slightly as the strong liquid burnt his senses. 'Josla took Alishia and Grant into the back, set them up in temporary quarters.'

'Excellent.'

'Any idea what the boss will want to do?' Batty looked across the table, noticing how tired Jadden looked now.

'I have no idea. But we have a few spaces on the team now. I might be able to convince Vigilem that they are up to the challenge.' Another door swung open and Josla and Wyn walked in. Neither spoke, Josla accepted the glass that slid her way, Wynor wave a hand in dismissal.

After filling the glasses and taking a few thoughtful sips Jadden spoke. 'Well we have had worse results than this.'