Excellent chapter as always, thank you for posting!
Knowing Cain's misunderstanding field (second only to Tanya von Degurechaff's), I don't believe Inquisitor Vail's debriefing will lead to an era of unprecedented advancement and prosperity of the Imperium Of Mankind.
I kind of imagine the next inquisitorial conclave like this:
"Inquisitor Vail's findings have been corroborated."
A gathering of inquisitors was seldom held in a jovial atmosphere, but this time the average powersword couldn't have cut the tension.
"Three teams of seasoned throne agents, and no one but my most experienced interrogator returned." Kaliad Shayn continued, "and even she will require extensive purification and re-indoctrination to salvage. Most of the others had to be terminated after being infected by blasphemous ideas. We have gravely underestimated the siren call of this newest heretical creed."
"Indeed," Inquisitor Tannenburg spat, "this thrice-cursed madness has infiltrated every part of Slawkenberg society, from aircar safety protocols to military tactics. And it seems to be spreading! My acolytes have perceived its name uttered and tenets followed by adepts, guardsmen, merchants and even tech-priests. All of them quite low-ranked, seemingly unimportant and inconspicuous, so we might not ever have discovered them without extensive searches. My interrogators are hard at work breaking them, but at first glance the conspiracy seems to extend across entire systems and over several generations!"
Lord Inquisitor Morteshadow leaned forward. "It is the quick and easy reward Chaos bestows upon its practitioners which makes the new creed so seductive. Only through pain and asceticism can we hope to halt its spread."
"It seems we are in agreement, then," Shayn concluded, "such a threat is beyond even our collective power. I will send word to the Lord High Inquisitor on Terra, and he will act accordingly. What of the grand heretic's claims about the Panacea and its STC?"
"A most marvelous finding" the grotesque form of Inquisitor Rotwang uttered, before switching into a binharic chant from sheer excitement. For an inquisitor of the Ordo Machinum, he always seemed to be a bit too close to the subject of his observations. "The purity of the holy device has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt. We must spread the holy knowledge far and wide to combat not only decay, but ignorance as well!" Overcome again by his emotions, he fell back into binharic, ignoring Shayn's advice to get his cerebral implants and emotive inhibitors checked.
Inquisitor Tannenburg disagreed: "That, my ... dear ... colleague, would be the height of folly! Have you forgotten the reveal of Cain's ambition? To have the Imperium Of Man fight the Lord Of Decay might seem a worthwhile goal, and the Panacea a weapon of unprecedented power, but do not believe for a second that he handed us that weapon out of the goodness of his shrivelled black heart. He might seek to cast down the god of despair, but remember that an empty throne yearns to be occupied!"
Again, Inquisitor Shayn led her fellows to their conclusion. "An arch-heretic such as this needs to be eliminated with extreme prejudice. With Karamazov, Orcs and Drukhari having failed, however, I believe only the full strength of a holy crusade can succeed in bringing Slawkenberg to heel. We must begin preparations now, weaken other fronts if necessary, so Cain might be cast down in a decade's time."
A few minutes later, Amberley Vail trudged through the softly falling snow towards her transport. With the Panacea STC held in stasis until the stars grew cold, a new and - in her opinion - senseless witchhunt underway on all planets of the sector, and multiple fronts stripped of reinforcements to build a crusade to conquer a single planet, she couldn't help but feel that they were all playing right into that damnable rogue Ciaphas Cain's hands.
From: Lord High Inquisitor Margrave
To: All inquisitorial conclaves
Priority: Vermillion
Clearance: Omega-Black - Purge Astropaths after transmission!
By order of our Undying Lord, the Immortal God-Emperor of Mankind,
and with the authority vested in us by the High Lords of Terra,
the Holy Ordos of the Inquisition declares "HERETICUS EXTREMIS" the foul and detestable creed known as
"Common Sense"
Any subject of the Golden Throne found speaking about, or engaging in, this most unholy practise shall be cleansed in holy fire, their bloodlines ended and their works torn down.
The planetary administrators are to be encouraged to intensify displays of public flagellation, for only through blood and tribulation can the temptation of heresy be held at bay.
In the line of your most solemn duty, always remember the core truth of our work: The Emperor will know His own.
- Thought for the day: Blessed be the mind too small for doubt -
End Transmission
All the while Ciaphas is relaxing with a glass of amasec, secure in the knowledge that the Imperium is stronger than ever and that, in due time, the Emperor will cut him some slack at his judgement.