Chapter 11 - Flirting with Heresy

Heated glances and angry whispers would do nothing to phase Valoris MacVicar. He had called for the extermination of a planet twice before and was always met with the same pleas for sympathy. However, these cries fell upon deaf ears- Inquisitor MacVicar was on a mission for utility; he would do what was best for the Imperium regardless of the desires of the individual. Any lesser man would be deterred by the heartfelt request of this planet's Captain McThraby, but the Inquisitor knew that Achilles VII was practically a lost cause. There was not much good a small Planetary Defense Force could do against this oversized invasion of daemons. The planet would be overrun before his request for reinforcements would even be processed by Segmentum Command.

But what of Commissar Garth? His "recommendation" seemed more of a mockery than actual advice. What hope could he possibly see in this situation? Or had the man fallen prey to the sob story given by the Captain? Just as the Inquisitor was reassuring himself that the Commissar was a devoted man, he noticed an uncomfortable silence had fallen across the room. MacVicar could feel the veins in his temple bulge as he furiously beheld the heretical scene that was unfolding. Garth was entering the room with the Xeno they had been holding in the interrogation room. Bad enough as it was to free a prisoner without obtaining proper permissions, Bellaire was actually carrying the filth in his arms as the wretch looked too pale and weak to support herself. Had Valoris not worked with Garth before and known of his zealous loyalty to the Emperor, the Inquisitor would have simply shot him for heresy right then and there. He would have then killed the Xeno too for brainwashing the Commissar. Instead, he gave Garth a dangerously quiet warning, "Bellaire, you had better start explaining why you are clutching on to that alien."

Once they got within conversational distance to the Inquisitor, Bellaire gently let the Xeno down and let her lean on him as she stood. Most men would crack or at least begin to sweat under the abominable look Valoris was giving Bellaire, but the Commissar predictably maintained his composure. Valoris made a mental note of Garth's collectiveness; brainwashing was beginning to seem less likely.

"Inquisitor," Garth began to speak at such a volume to keep the conversation private regardless of the other men in the room, "even though the Planetary Defense Force here contains exceptional fighters, you and I both know that the situation is dire. We found this Harlequin amongst others fighting off the daemons out in the badlands earlier today. Her army clearly has experience fighting this type of enemy and this one suggested that our two armies fend off the daemons together."

Valoris grabbed the nearest fragile item and broke it to show his rage at the audacity of this suggestion. A shame, it was quite a nice chair. Still, he needed to show Bellaire and anyone else who might have heard that the idea of working with the Eldar was out of the question.

Apparently unimpressed by Macvicar's show, the Commissar continued, "The Harlequin army is notorious for rapid response and excels at melee combat. Our men could stay at a distance and shoot the daemons before they even close into charging range and the Harlequins could smash into the rear which would further halt the daemon advance upon the city. That way, we could minimize casualties on both sides which would keep the Harlequin attitude friendly enough towards us that we could perhaps persuade them to leave the planet without further loss of life."

This was where Valoris drew the line. Eyes bulging, he rounded upon the heretical Commissar. "Minimize harlequin casualties? Peaceful negotiations afterward? Allying with the Eldar? Bellaire, I once knew you to be a respectable servant of the Emperor, but every word you have just spoken is heresy through and through. I hereby deem this planet beyond hope and unprofitable for the Imperium to maintain. Commissar, you are welcome- no - ordered to stay behind with the rest of the Planetary Defense Force and cover my cabal's withdrawal. May the Emperor forgive you."

The Inquisitor turned acutely on his heel to move towards the hangar so he could depart when an unrecognized hand appeared on his shoulder. This would not do! This planet had already taken considerable time and now a friend from him. Valoris tightly curled his fingers into a fist and wheeled about to punch away whomever was trying to stop him. Unexpectedly, his swing was deflected by a quick jab to his wrist. Another small blow made his arm go numb, rendering it practically useless. Wishing he had his power armor and bolt gun, the Inquisitor instead used his non-dominant arm as a bulldozer and tackled his assailant. He was surprised and further enraged when he realized that nobody was beneath him as he was sailing towards the ground so he tucked and rolled to get back on his feet. By then, he recognized his attacker as the Xeno who was swaying as she stood in her freakish Eldar fighting stance. Valoris let out a roar as he charged at her again and watched her attempt to slide to the side. He felt her sharply kick his knees which would have caused him to fall on his face but instead he shifted his momentum so he could roll and land next to her. Somehow, he managed to pin the bitch's bad leg to the ground with his body weight. The pain kept her from reacting to his next move, which was to grab her neck with his one working hand.

Breathing heavily, Valoris smiled as he watched the color drain from the Eldar's already pale face. He stood up and lifted her into the air as she struggled to pry his fingers from her throat. Bellaire and the other men who had run to help protect the Inquisitor from the attack backed off and watched as the man slowly strangled the alien.

"Inquisitor, please!" some brazen trooper shouted, running up to the scene. "This Harlequin is the only chance our planet has of finding out the source of the Eldar incursion!" The guardsman was immediately silenced and pulled back by his sergeant who Valoris recognized as Sergeant Belthor Limanowitz from that damn patrol that started this all. The Sergeant gave the Inquisitor an apologetic look before stating "Kade here is right… Even if we do fight off the daemons after you leave, we still have to worry about a rogue Harlequin army that's somewhere in the desert. If you kill this Xeno, we will have no way of knowing where they are which could jeopardize not only this planet but potentially others in the sector as well."

As much as Valoris hated to admit it, Limanowitz had a point. The Imperium had no intel on any Eldar in the area so the unexpected Harlequin army was a cause for concern, especially if there were more Eldar to follow. He felt a rattling coming from the alien's throat and then heard a gurgling noise as if she were trying to waste her last bit of breath to say something to him. Apparently, his grip had not been tight enough for the Xeno managed to hoarsely gasp out the words "alliance" and "Gothic war." He clenched his fingers tighter and was pleased to see her eyes bulge out in panic as she realized he was collapsing her trachea.

"The Gothic War! Inquisitor, Eldar and Imperials have allied before when Abaddon threatened to take out the Schindlegeist System using his Blackstone Fortresses! We beg you, the Commissar's proposition may not be as heretical as you clearly consider it to be! The Angels of Redemption Space Marines were there, and much of the Chaos was forced to flee and were even destroyed before they could reach the Eye of Terror!" Captain McThraby apparently knew the history of the 12th Black Crusade very well. Embarrassingly, McThraby bested the Inquisitor in this knowledge as MacVicar was not familiar with the specific details of the Schindlegeist System's defense. However, if an entire Space Marine chapter was willing to support the events that transpired, perhaps such an alliance actually was within reason.

Reluctantly, the Inquisitor threw the alien to the ground. He gained some satisfaction upon noticing a bruise had developed on her throat in a perfect outline of his fingers. As she lay unconscious, the outspoken trooper hurried to her side and checked her pulse. Not caring to see the results, Valoris turned to face McThraby. "Even if I do permit such an alliance, how do you intend to establish communication?"

McThraby looked puzzled by this, but this time Bellaire spoke up. "Once that Harlequin regains consciousness, she can take us wherever her army is residing so we can negotiate a deal. An added bonus to this plan is that we will learn the location of the Eldar threat so we can more easily address that problem after the daemon issue is resolved."

Valoris almost laughed in relief; good old Garth hadn't lost his mind after all! He must have been planning to use this temporary alliance to extract information about the Eldar army, but he couldn't say that in front of the Xeno in case she warned her comrades! How could Valoris ever have doubted his friend? With a knowing smile, Valoris MacVicar agreed "Very well. Who will be traveling out to meet with these Harlequins? And how can they most efficiently reach that destination?"

Instantly, Sergeant Limanowitz stepped forward. "My platoon would be honored to go back out into the desert to face these Eldar. We saw the general direction they escaped off to so we would know if the Harlequin would try to lead us astray."

After the Inquisitor nodded his approval, McThraby offered up one of the Tauroxes from his limited armory to carry the soldiers quickly and safely into the desert past the daemonette hordes. When all was said and done, it was agreed that 9 men would accompany the Harlequin out into the desert. Commissar Bellaire, Sergeant Limanowitz, the outspoken guardsman Kade Gallustian, their Vox caster Uriel Baff, and five others of the platoon gathered their gear in a rush to get going.