Day 18
"This is not a rebellion. I would like to make that clear to all. We four are the duly appointed governors of the God-Emperor's most blessed cities of Ate, Dolus, Janus, and Eris. Not only are we invested with His most sacred and holy will, but also authority granted to us by our most glorious and righteous Imperium of Man.
"The actions we take here today, some will call treachery, but nothing could be farther from the truth! We are not the traitors. We are not the ones who have brought calamity to this world. But we are the ones who will save our beloved world from the madness of the real traitor.
"The so-called 'Inquisitor' Catherine Ellen has stolen away badly needed soldiers for her own protection and to try to ensure we could not rise up to stand against her oppression. She claims to wield her authority in defense of the Imperium, yet she has failed at every turn to protect us.
"The eastern cities are enwrapped by chaos, cults commits atrocities against the innocent while eight regiments of Imperial Guard waits in Whiro, doing… nothing. Another twelve regiments of Guard stand at the ready in Deimos, doing… nothing. The Inquisitor even seems to have ensnared the minds of the blessed Sisterhood of the Cleansing Rains, who do nothing but act as guards and enforcers of the Inquisitor's will in the capital, beating down any who have the strength of faith and will to resist the false claims of this Inquisitor.
"The Orks that assail our world, the brutish greenskin xenos, are yet more proof of the Inquisitor's incompetence and illegitimacy. Millions lie dead, slaughtered by the foul xenos, yet just as will the cults of the east, she has not deployed the guard, nor even deigned to provide badly needed reinforcements to any other settlement. The south is ravaged, while the Inquisitor and the Planetary Governor, whose mind she has ensnared with foul technologies and witchcraft, remain inside their palace, unwilling to even look out upon the horrors they have caused.
"We are not so weak. We are not so frail.
"We declare ourselves the true servants of the Imperium of Man and of the God-Emperor of Mankind. We declare a righteous crusade against the madmen that have overtaken this world and we invite all of strong faith and mind to join us!
"For the Emperor! For Mankind!"
"…"
"This is not a rebellion. I would like to-."
"ENOUGH!" Ellen spat viciously and the projection, containing the four, stoic-looking figures of the city governors of Ate, Dolus, Janus, and Eris was cut off a moment later by Vidriov. "HERETICAL SCUM!"
"I calculate a high likelihood of a third party hiding behind these four," Vidriov stated. "Their coordination in this matter and their ability to hide it from all prior investigations indicates-."
"Thank you, Vidriov," Ellen said and the tech-priest fell silent. "This isn't genestealers, that much is obvious. Given how strongly they claimed support for the God-Emperor, I suspect Chaos to be involved."
Vidriov nodded, clearly having been going to say that before.
"I don't suppose we can stop this message from spreading?" Purilla asked, a deep frown on her face.
"Message was first received two hours, forty-five minutes and fifty-two seconds ago. Cessation of message at the receiving ends of all loyal hive cities by cleared tech-priests took one hour, twenty-two minutes, and thirty-three seconds." Vidriov replied. "The number of uncleared people who likely have seen or know of the message has already surpassed the thousands. The chances that individuals of influence that will not be easily purged or otherwise silenced have not already heard the message is… astronomically unlikely."
Ellen spat another curse. Genestealers, Orks, and now a rebellion, most likely of Chaotic origins. Not to mention…
"What of Malum?" Purilla asked. "They remain our only uncontested bastion in the south now. Really, they're our only uncontested bastion anywhere, given the ork problem."
"Malum tech-priests, untouched by Organism-04," Vidriov paused, glancing at Ellen in a way that bordered on insubordinate, before continuing, "Report no unusual activity by the hive's governor or cohorts."
"That's hardly clearing of their name," Ellen stated, icily. "Given that the tech-priests in these rebellious cities reported no such unusual activity either prior to the blackout."
Vidriov looked like he was about to reply, when someone spoke into Ellen's commsbead. It was Adrian Lensk, the lieutenant in charge of Ellen's Tempestus Scions that were guarding the door to the very chambers she now stood in.
"Inquisitor, the Planetary Governor is here. He's 'demanding' an audience."
Ellen resisted the urge to both roll her eyes and narrow them in anger. She could guess what the governor wanted to speak to her about, but for him to demand to speak with her was nearing the same levels of disobedience as the four newest traitors to the Imperium. She was sorely tempted to tell Lensk to escort the governor back to his bedchambers and lock him in there until all this was over… But she was also swiftly running out of allies.
"Escort him in," Ellen ordered, before turning to her two advisers. "Leave us. And Vidriov, inform the Canoness that I wish to speak with her as soon as the governor has deigned to depart."
"Yes, Inquisitor," Lensk replied and it was echoed by Vidriov. Both the tech-priest and the psyker quickly departed and Ellen took a deep breath as she turned towards the heavy doors swinging open.
Of the dozen or so Planetary Governors Catherine Ellen had had the displeasure to meet, few had stuck in her mind like Selvik. He was tall and scrawny to the point of looking malnourished, though she knew well from the number of feasts he held that such was not the case. His face was drawn and almost bat-like in its proportions.
The man was so thin and wiry that Ellen had suspected him of being some kind of eldar hybrid. A thorough investigation by Vidriov into the man's blood had proven this was not the case, though the Governor was shown to be the product of generations of debilitating incest. Still, he was within the acceptable range of genetic deviation from the God-Emperor's design. She could not claim mutation as a reason for removing him from office. Assuming his family's trend continued, however, future generations of Monstrum governors would not be so lucky.
He came to a stop in front of her desk, seeming like a stiff breeze might snap him like a twig. "I require a report."
She could admire the audacity in the man, at the very least, not to mention the sheer, suicidal bravery it took to face down an inquisitor, let alone one wearing a full suit of power armor. Ellen was not a small woman by any means. Even outside of her armor, though she would not have stood higher than him, she'd easily have outbulked him in terms of muscle mass. And in her armor, she stood half a head above him and could have tossed him across the chambers with the same ease as a child might throw a doll that had fallen out of favor.
"You 'require' one?" Ellen asked, a challenging look on her face. "Governor Monstrum, I believe you're forgetting yourself."
Selvik, for as genetically weak as he was, could not be said to lack strength of mind or will. There was a reason he had remained in power. He paused but did not wilt under her gaze as a lesser man might have. "Inquisitor Ellen, I do not forget myself. You are a guest of this world and all we possess is at your disposal, of course. However, this planet has been the responsibility of my family since the days of the Great Crusade led by Him on Terra. I must be kept appraised of the situation or I cannot fulfill my duty as is my privilege and obligation."
The truth in that statement was dubious, to say the least. Oh, Selvik was loyal to the Throne, of that Ellen was reasonably certain, but his claims regarding his heritage were backed up by less than substantial evidence. There was more fiction than fact in his family tree and more than a few signs of a past civil war in Monstrum's history. One that had since been conveniently forgotten by history.
"You are sent reports, regularly," Ellen stated, giving away nothing. "Have you not received them?"
"I have," Selvik stated. "However, they are not sufficient. They do not tell me what is being planned to save my world."
"The God-Emperor's world," Ellen corrected sharply. Selvik swallowed.
"Of course," He agreed swiftly. "So, might I inquire what is to be done to defend the God-Emperor's domain from these xenos and rebels?"
"Very well," Ellen said, as though she were bestowing a favor. She turned to the ancient display and activated its controls. Soon, an image of the northern half of the habitable zone of Monstrum appeared. The hive cities were surrounded on all sides by massive Ork Roks and the rest of their largest craft. Mobs of Orks were represented by bright green dots that glowed, while Imperial defenders were red. The numbers were roughly even, but Ellen knew how those whose only familiarity with Orks came from the Imperium's propaganda might be misled by such things.
"Ah, that is not so bad as the reports made it seem," Selvik said, seemingly relieved and even smiling. "With the Hammer of the Imperium at our disposal, there is very little chance of the greenskins doing much harm, no? A few weeks, months at most, I'd wager."
"The Guard will not be deployed outside of Deimos and the regiments already in Whiro," Ellen stated calmly, but firmly. Selvik's eyes widened slightly and a bit of his confidence left him.
"A-ah, I suppose you want to keep them close to protect the capital. An understandable strategy, of course. And Whiro… To bottle in those cultists in the south, yes?" Selvik asked.
"Yes," Ellen nodded, but said nothing more.
"Well, then I think the PDF can be relied upon to handle the xenos…" Selvik continued to study the display for a moment, when his brow furrowed and he frowned. "This is only the north? What of the south? Those filthy rebels in Janus and the rest?"
Ellen was not surprised that Selvik knew of the rebellion, nor that he spoke about it as though it were common knowledge. By this point, it likely was, at least in the governor's court. She suppressed her frown and maintained the mask.
"We have little means of striking at our enemies there while besieged here, governor," Ellen said.
"Ah, but what of Malum?" Selvik asked and Ellen felt a slight tensing in her jaw. "I have seen the reports say they repelled their attacks quite capably."
Ellen wanted to curse. She had slipped up, altering those reports. In order to hide the fact that there was a plague that was seemingly harmless to humans and also anathema to xenos, she had intercepted the communications between the capital and Malum and changed them to simply show that the hive had fought off the Orks.
"Some leaders are prone to exaggeration, Governor," Ellen said coolly, not allowing her frustration to show. "I am currently investigating the veracity of those reports. When something seems too good to be true, it often is."
"Perhaps," Selvik said noncommittally, and Ellen could have shot him then and there. "Though sometimes one shouldn't look too closely at a blessing from the God-Emperor when that is all it is."
"It is my duty as an Inquisitor not to have such a mindset, governor." Ellen spoke with an icy tone and Selvik wisely shut his mouth and pretended to study the display. "Malum is also under quarantine for an outbreak of an unknown plague. I would not wish to spread that across the planet you rule."
"It hardly matters if a few traitors get sick," Selvik said with a look in his eye that told Ellen he knew she was trying to play to his ego. "The faithful will always be protected by His Light."
"Indeed, but we cannot walk blindly into darkness just because we have His Light," Ellen replied. "We must be cautious."
"I imagine that didn't work on Canoness Praxiah when she told you?" Selvik asked, as though making a joke, but Ellen's face turned stone-like.
"Told me?" Ellen repeated, as though she misheard.
"Yes, told you-," Selvik paused, glancing at her in confusion, before realization dawned and the color drained from his thin face. "She didn't tell you."
"Tell. Me. What?"
"I-, uh, I-…" Selvik's confidence was gone, replaced by barely contained terror at the intense look in Ellen's eyes. "She-, she's left! She told me this morning after we first heard about the rebels! She's going to the south to purge the faithless! I thought you knew!"
"Left? Left the city? That's impossible," Ellen said, in utter disbelief. Not only were they under siege, the tunnels and other exits through the city were all watched by sentinels she had placed there. There was no physical way for anyone to even try to get out without her being alerted.
"The Sisters, their chapel has an old service tunnel!" Selvik explained quickly. His nervousness was palpable. "It is used by their trainees during their initiation ceremony. They have to walk under the Barren Lands and back, just under the surface. The-the heat is supposed to cleanse them of their sins, bring them closer to the fire of the God-Emper-!"
Ellen shoved past the governor, who squawked in surprise and fear, falling onto his side. He might have cracked his skull open for all she cared as she stormed out of the chambers. "LENSK!"
"MA'AM!" The Tempestus Scion in question snapped to attention, as did all five of the other Scions left to guard the chamber.
"Get me onto a Thunderhawk, NOW!"
Hundreds of kilometers away from Deimos, if one placed their ear on the ground along a certain, unseen path, and ignored the noise of countless Orks roaring and baying for bloodshed and battle, the sound of vehicles trundling along could be heard. The wheels of troop transports, the treads of tanks, and the mechanical gait of constructs.
If one was blessed with exceptional hearing, one might have heard something else as well, beneath the clanking and grinding of machinery. It was the sound of a hymn, one modulated by the sound of sealed helmets and filtration devices.
