Marshal Ciaphas Cain, HAND OF THE IMPERIUM!
I stared at the holo-map, desperate to find any escape from certain doom. That was the problem of being Marshall of the Adumbrian system (along with serveral others, as if I didn't already have enough of a workload), everyone expected me to enjoy jumping into the jaws of death.
The current miscreant was one of the ever rotten upper crust, Umbart Segundo of House Yosmarle. While threats to the Planetary Governor happened were worrying to the sole ruler of the world, it was usually not a concern for the Arbites. Much to many a Govenor's (usually final) shock, the Imperium did not care about who ruled the planets underneath the Imperium, only that they paid their tithes in full.
Umbart, however, made the fatal mistake of dealing in Chaos, which made it the Imperium's problem, which unfortunately made it MY problem. Umbart had locked himself in his noble household, guarded with an absurd amounts of traps and crazed cultists just itching to kill the Ciaphas Cain, Hand of the Imperium, as a sign to their foul gods. A frontal attack would be suicide, and yet that was what everyone expected me to do.
As I continued to stare at the map, a whining of servos informed me of my aide. I turned to Jurgen, whose mechanical implants, despite its prestigious quality afforded to a tech-priest, made it impossible to not hear him. I had saved the Lexmechanic among my first mission as a trooper and he had became my personal aide ever since. While the noise he made from every movement could get grating, he was one of the few people I trusted, as he had a dogged belief in his superiors that defied all logical sense. I turned towards the lexmechanic. "What is it, Jurgen?"
Jurgen used a mechadendrite to pull out a data-slate. "The data you have asked for, sir." Nodding I took it from him, reading it with growing dread. In it containted a list of House Yosmarle's finances, which just made it obvious what he was planning. From crates of ammunition to evidence of dealing with cold traders to get hands of forbidden artifacts, it just reinforced my idea that stepping through the House Gates was amount to signing my own death warrant.
"Wait, what are these purchases?" I pointed to a series of purchases to a Kyria Sejwek. Unlike everything else, nothing indicated what these purchases were for, and given how much money was spent here, that gave me pause.
A mechanical whine came from Jurgen's hands, causing everyone else in the room to grit their teeth. "Kyria Sejwek. Adumbrian Citizen. No official job. Suspected to be in the business where one pays to connect one's biological components together for pleasure." Ah, so a joy-girl stable.
I stared at the name a bit harder. As a Schola Progenium alumni, I was privy to things that most weren't. The amount of money spent made it highly suspicious already, combined in what this woman traded in...and I realized I found my out.
I turned toward Judge Hekwyn. "Take a look at this." I pointed to the purchases. "This is an absurd amount of money going to a simple whorehouse."
Judge Hekwyn nodded. "I agree, but what does this has to do with Umbart?"
"That much money had to be used for something, and it is imperative that we make sure she doesn't go to ground when we strike House Yosmarle. I want you to get the attack ready. Meanwhile I will swing on by here first and make sure none of these Chaos fools escape from our grasp."
Judge Hekyn blinked in surprise. "But wouldn't your place be leading the charge?"
I shook my head. "If she and other heretics realized the biggest threat is distracted, it would encourage them to go to ground during that period. I wish to catch them before we have to dig through the underhive. Judge Hekwyn, I leave you in charge. I will make sure these stragglers are arrested, and come join you. Knowing my reputation, we won't have even broken down the front door before I arrive." Not if I could help it. I planned on draggin this out as long as possible. After all, arresting a middle aged woman in a single modest house felt far safer than storming a fortress of nobility.
I should have known better, of course.
Something I think would be fun is seeing how Jurgen changes along with Cain. In this version, Jurgen was a Lexmachanic who unknowingly bonded with a rare STC mechandendrite that makes it impossible for him to be stealthy but also makes him impossible to kill with an accuracy that belies a man who has never touched a rifle before becoming Cain's aide.
Kasteen and Brooklaw are Judges while Sulla is a Proctor. They were a part of an Imperial Guard Regiment but due to an extreme mix up in the Adeptus Administratrum, got assigned to Cain's Precinct instead.