Von Ryke stood by the barred window, looking aimlessly into the wasted horizon. The more the Inquisitor looked at the desolated land, the more frustrated she became. Even though she knew it was a necessary sacrifice, she despised how the once-green worlds became all but barren husks. The Inquisitor sometimes wondered what these planets had looked like before the ever-consuming Imperium claimed them, mercilessly exploiting them. But sadly, it was neither time nor place for such considerations.

The woman sighed heavily, visibly allowing her growing frustration to manifest. At least the enormous highways connecting the cluster's segments partially obscured the scorched terrain, she concluded, desperately trying to find some positives. But unfortunately, it was too little to balance her mood.

Nonetheless, the situation looked grim, no matter how von Ryke approached it. Yet, what irritated her the most was the Governor. The person undoubtedly responsible for this mess was inconveniently out of her reach. To make the matter worse, von Ryke could not decipher the man. He was like a puzzle for her, a riddle too complex to make sense of. Still, she did not believe in coincidence; something must have connected these seemingly random events. But von Ryke found herself too blind or too stupid to spot it.

"That's all, Inquisitor," the Lieutenant finally concluded his report. It had been hours since the officer led them into the spire's shelter.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," von Ryke hollowly responded, sighing beforehand. "How many guardsmen do you still have?" she inquired, not averting her gaze off the deserted dunes to the south.

"10 thousand, give or take," the officer responded after a brief pause. "Though we can always conscript this hive's citizens," he hummed.

"Organise me some transport, then," the Inquisitor demanded, finally backing off the barred window. "I want the storage hub to be thoroughly investigated," she added, her tone cold as ice. "Todd, contact the Capitan; I want two Cadian's squads."

"As you command, Inquisitor," Ruff immediately said, visibly happy to move after these long hours of listening.

Rith remained silent, considering the situation for the next minute. Then, as if something snapped in him, the man saluted, exiting the room shortly after. With her assistant leaving as well, von Ryke was left alone. A few moments passed before the woman allowed herself to sigh loudly. She did not believe in superstition, yet her guts constantly shouted at her, warning her about something indescribable. After a slight pause, she concluded it would be fruitless to fight the feeling, so she looked around. Even though von Ryke had spent the last couple of hours here, she did not pay any mind to the room itself. If she were to describe it, the only thing she could name would be the barred window.

Nevertheless, Eleanor did not miss much. The room was quite spacious but mostly unfurnished, aside from a round table cluttered with multiple paper sheets. Averting her gaze off the mess, she glanced over the walls. These boundaries were plain and simple, hardly distinguished from a metal plate.

Soon enough, von Ryke headed out as the room was too dull and still. The woman needed something livelier to battle her demons, not a place resembling her inevitable resting place, which reeked of death.

Still, it did not mean the Inquisitor dealt with her confused mind. In fact, the truth was quite the opposite. The Emperor's agent wandered through the hideout, driven by a trance.

Author's notes section:

[2023-06-28]: Hey, here is a preview of the story's next chapter. Please, bear in mind that it is, as mentioned, a preview. Some parts of it might not be included in the final release. I will try to finish this chapter as soon as possible. I would like to clean up some of the tasks in my schedule, and right now, there are many chapters queued there.

Don't forget to comment. I really appreciate your feedback.

Note that the dialogues written in italic are thoughts.

As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)

Changelog:
[2023-06-28]: A preview has been released.

Info: I have included more stories in the schedule as I'm not 100% certain what I want to write next. Please, keep in mind that I might add or remove positions from the list. I might rewrite some of the older stories or extract some of the longer stories from `The story of one lost soul`.

Schedule:
- Exiled you say? (finish the WIP)
- The broken heart (finish the WIP)
- Life is full of surprises (finish the WIP)
- Lifetime of war (finish the WIP)
- The shadows can be deceiving (new chapter)
- Until my last breath (new chapter)
- Hidden in the mountain's shadow (new chapter)
- The war call (new chapter)
- The rise of the Blood Moons' servants (new chapter)
- Black Diamond (new chapter)
- When the clock is ticking (Warhammer 40k new story)
- Sometimes it's just better not to know (new chapter)
- My home is where my heart lies (rewrite chapter 4)
- The heart not so cold (rewrite chapter 2)
- The family tree (revisit the previous chapters and apply adjustments)
- Will you look past my mistakes? (new chapter)
- The silence of the shackles (new chapter)

Bonuses' section:
A new story taking place in the Warhammer 40k universe.
Story of one lost soul: The war call: rewrite.
An entirely new story (possibly Akali x [Irelia, Syndra, Katarina]).
A new short story (Vi x Cait).
An entirely original story (possibly even two stories, one taking place in medieval times, the other in the far future)
Bleach story. (Byakuya x Yoruichi / ?)
Naruto story. (Neji x Hinata / Neji x TenTen / Nagato x Konan)
Fairy Tail story. (most likely Erza x Mira)
Maybe some Star Wars?

References:

*bonuses will be worked on when I don't feel like writing the chapters pointed out in the schedule :D

End of the author's notes section.