"Well, I believe I should start with who I am," Makima began. Her ringed eyes never leaving the inquisitor's face. "As you have most likely deduced already I am no ordinary human."
Amadeus watched her intently, wariness and apprehension clear on his face. Makima would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy every moment of it. She had a special fondness for putting people in their place.
She could have taken control of the man in front of her but decided against it. First of all, controlling psykers was not quite the same as regular people. She could feel it with Caellum, her first pup in this new world. She could sense her control over him slowly waning whenever he was separated from her. Makima wasn't sure how exactly psyker powers interacted with her own but that was a question for another time.
In any case, the mind control option was off the table but that didn't concern the devil in the slightest. The man in front of her was human, after all. And humans were almost laughably easy to manipulate. A few honeyed words and promises, as well as some show of force to back it all up would be enough to gain his trust, at least for the time being.
She needed new servants and contracts to establish herself in this unfamiliar and brutal society. And an inquisitor with the authority to do basically anything would be the perfect place to start.
Of course there was the matter of how Makima should introduce herself. Claiming to be a regular human was of no use, she saw Amodeus eyeing the holes made by laser fire on her shirt. He had probably deduced already that she was no mere mortal.
And, naturally, telling him about her devil nature was also not the the brightest idea. So using the knowledge she had gained from Caellum she came up with a convincing backstory.
"I am a psyker, as you have probably already guessed. My psychic powers were also the reason that cult has tried to use me as a sacrifice."
The man remained silent for a moment before speaking up.
"That does answer some questions but I still have more. It's clear that your psychic powers allow you to influence other people's minds. So how come the cult managed to capture you in the first place?"
"Simple, I allowed them to do so."
A raised eyebrow from an inquisitor urged her to explain.
"You see, as I've said before I want to fight the forces of Chaos and I thought to start with a cult that I had discovered. I would let myself be captured and try to find out as much I could about demon summoning. Of course I never intended to let them finish their ritual but your apprentice's timely intervention saved me the trouble. After that I figured that perhaps talking with a man whose entire career is hunting demons would bring new opportunities for me."
Amadeus remained sceptical. No wonder, Makima thought, anyone who wouldn't be suspicious of a person like herself suddenly appearing and offering to help would be a fool.
"Very well. Another question. During the operation the local Arbites suffered heavy losses, far heavier than expected. And judging by your appearance," he pointed to her ruined and bloody clothes. "You had a hand in it. So what do you say in your defence?"
A thought of denying any and all accusations crossed Makima's mind but she discarded the idea as unviable. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together and arrive at the conclusion that she was responsible for all those deaths. Instead, she decided to use it to her advantage.
"It's true, I did kill them."
The inquisitor's expression didn't change. If he was surprised by the sudden confession he did not show it.
"I assure you I had my reasons. You see, while I do respect the efforts of our brave arbitrators to keep law and order, they can be a bit overzealous in their approach. Once the shooting started I freed myself using my powers but your men must have mistaken me for the cult's sorcerer. Naturally, they would not listen to anything I had to say so I had to dispose of them. Fortunately, the rest of them saw reason and disengaged which allowed me to clear things up with them."
"You mean 'to mind control' them." The man interrupted.
"Yes, they would not be willing to have a peaceful discussion any other way," Makima seemed unbothered at Amadeus's outburst.
"Then why, pray tell, did you not put those powers of yours to use in order to avoid bloodshed in the first place?"
"Regrettably, my abilities are limited and I would not have been able to stop all of them at once. I'm afraid I was left no choice."
That was a lie, taking control of a few dozen people was not hard in the slightest, even without taking her newly enhanced abilities into account, but her interrogator did not need to know that.
Even still, his scepticism was almost palpable.
"Limited you say? Apparently the physical strength necessary to defeat the Arbites strike team is still within those limits?"
"What can I say? Strength is not something that I lack. And I'd say you could use such strength in your war, don't you think so?"
"And yet I'm still not sure what you gain out of this. You said that you had your own reason to oppose the the forces of Chaos and I'd like to know more about them as I do not see how serving under us would help you."
A soft chuckle escaped Makima's lips as she looked at Amadeus not unlike one would look at a naive child.
"It seems there's a misunderstanding. I have no desire to be subservient to you or anyone in your organisation. What I offered was more akin to a cooperation between equals, as I believe both of us would benefit greatly from such an arrangement."
Calling herself an equal to a man before her left a sour taste in her mouth but she swallowed her pride for a moment and focused on what was important.
"As for my reasons to oppose the Dark Gods, well, it's simple really. I only wish for humanity's survival and the only way to achieve it is to have absolute control over our species. Order and stability is something that has helped humanity through many crises. Naturally, the beings that threaten that order must be eliminated for the survival of our race."
Amadeus's face remained impassive but Makima could tell that her little speech had an effect on him. He still did not trust her but hopefully her words planted a seed of trust in his mind. What was left now was to cultivate it.
"Fine words," the man began. "But that's all they are, just words. If you really are serious about this 'partnership' it'll take more than that to convince me."
"That is reasonable. I'll be more than happy to prove myself in action. The next time you find yourself with another task to complete, just take me with you and I'll show you what our cooperation can achieve."
For a few moments the pair remained silent, their eyes never leaving each other. Finally the inquisitor sighed heavily.
"In that case I suppose we have an agreement. Don't make a mistake by thinking you have earned my trust. I'll be keeping my eye on you, but as long as your goals are what you claim them to be we should not have a problem."
"That's good to hear. Now that we're on the same page I'd like to talk about more mundane things. My accommodation, for example."
High up in the spires of Acervus Prime, so far removed from whatever took place on the lower levels of the hive that it felt like a different planet altogether the atmosphere of usually silent and peaceful tranquility had been replaced by uneasy trepidation. Instead of dignified and professional aura the servants exuded most of the time, that day thinly veiled terror made their steps that much quicker than required by the etiquette and their voices that much quieter and more hesitant.
Such a conduct was unbecoming of the servants of a planet governor, especially one as obsessed with his prestigious position as Oberon Xensor. That was a man whose scope of ambitions could only be rivaled by his delusions of grandeur. He took great pains to maintain his appearance of an efficient ruler, who always had everything under control. Naturally, such a person would never allow any of his servants tarnish his reputation by the conduct he saw as inappropriate.
For this purpose he had a select number of individuals who would mete out harsh punishment to those whose actions or words did not please Oberon. But on that day even these overseers found themselves unnerved.
The reason for such a drastic shift in the atmosphere of the governor's entire palace at the top of the central spire was Oberon Xensor himself.
Ever since the arrival of the inquisitior and his retinue on Acervus Prime he had been on edge. Naturally, none of his servants knew of that fact, and even if they did they would not be foolish enough to discuss it even in hushed whispers.
It was no secret that even the most loyal and zealous imperial governors had little love for the Inquisition. Governors were usually the highest form of authority on their planets, able to do whatever they wanted, as long as they kept paying the Imperial Tithe. So for such individuals to meet a person who, in theory, had the authority to remove the governor at a moment's notice was not an occasion to look forward to.
Doubly so if said governors had a few secrets they'd rather the Imperium remained unaware of, be it corruption, smuggling, any dealings with xenos or, in Oberon's case, heresy and practice of dark arts.
Oberon's boundless ambitions, deranged as they were, inevitably drew the attention of entities from the warp, eager to use the mortal's foolishness to further either their own or their god's designs.
And now that Oberon saw a definite threat to his own ambitions he sought counsel from his demonic associate.
Making his way to his quarters he made sure that no one was around before locking the door behind him.
"What has got you so anxious, my friend?"
The voice did not sound quite human, not that Oberon expected it to. The governor wasn't sure if all demons spoke in similar manner or if the one he'd summoned reveled in making Oberon as uncomfortable as possible. Though the two possibilities weren't mutually exclusive.
After the man was done with making sure that no one would intrude on their conversation he turned to face his 'associate'.
Instead of more traditional renditions of a demon that could be found across the Imperium, the one in front of Oberon had taken on a form of an ordinary raven, sitting on his private three-person bed. The governor didn't quite understand it but the creature had said that it was a way for a demon to stay in realspace for longer periods of time.
Not that Oberon had any objections, the form he had seen the first time they'd met was one he didn't look forward to seeing again.
"Spare me your mockery, Varag," he said tiredly. "Instead, I'd like to know why someone who claims to see the future neglected to mention the arrival of an inquisitior on my planet!"
Varag, completely unbothered by the governor's sudden outburst, stared at him with his empty avian eyes.
"Are you forgetting our agreement, my friend? I never promised to be your personal crier. You already have more than enough slaves to deliver news to you. I was generous enough to offer you help to reach higher status, all you need do is trust me and listen to my words. It has worked out for you so far, hasn't it?"
As much as Oberon didn't want to admit it, the demon was right. In the short time they've been working together his influence has grown beyond his expectations. And if it continued to grow that rapidly more powerful positions would be open to him. Maybe even the position of a sub-sector commander.
But there were still things that didn't sit right with him about their current arrangement. So far the demon had not asked for a single thing of him, only providing help to the governor.
Such displays of generosity were rare enough among humans, but demons? Oberon was surprised that his otherworldly associate was even familiar with such a word as 'generosity'.
"The longer we work together, the more difficult it becomes for me to trust someone whose goals are completely unknown to me."
The raven-thing let out a series of brief screeches. If Oberon was to guess, that was the creature's laughter.
"Wise but unnecessary caution on your part. As I have previously mentioned your success benefits us both. That is all you need to concern yourself with."
The governor was not convinced but decided to drop the subject all the same. It's not like the demon would tell him anything anyway.
"Well, nevermind then," he said rubbing his face. "But what about the Inquisition? We need to get rid of them."
"No we do not."
"What are you talking about?"
For a moment the raven was silent, watching the governor in silence, as if appraising him.
"Do you know why they have come to your planet?"
Oberon shook his head and reached out for a glass and a bottle of wine on top of his cabinet. Meanwhile the demon continued.
"They came here to deal with an insignificant cult of demon worshippers. And it just so happens that they have been successful in their pursuit."
"So they will be leaving soon then?" Oberon asked with a hopeful tone in his voice that Varag found amusing.
"No, they'll be staying here for the time being. We'll make sure of that."
"What? Are you out of your mind? The longer they stay here the more likely it is that they'll find out about you!"
Once again Varag let out his repulsive laughter.
"Fear not, human. All we need to do is direct their attention to someone else. Many nobles of this world have secrets that, were they uncovered, would surely not escape an inquisitor's attention."
Oberon drank wine in silence for a few moments.
"Alright, say we do that, what do we get out of this? Why not send them off my planet?"
"All shall be revealed, Oberon. Trust me, you will not regret my advice."