Junius. "If the Tarot led you to us Inquisitor; to what purpose?"
At this precise moment, Maegon's micro-bead sizzles when he receives a message from Nemus on their secured frequency.
"To bring you my help and get your help, by the Emperor's Will. A battle is raging outside Kasr hemshin, near a ship belonging to the abhorred Children of Fulgrim. I just learn that the Relictors are also implied."
The Justicar gives you a short nod. "Perhaps. We are on the hunt for Relictors. Perhaps your presence here is meant to lead us back to onto their trail..."
His voice trails off as a fifth Grey Knight - is there no end of them? - steps into view. Despite the thin air and biting cold he goes without a helmet, instead relying on a re-breather mask to supply his triple lungs with oxygenated air. Could he have lost it in battle? Or does he go without on purpose?
Junius: "Master Aquilus..."
Aquilus, using a mental sending even you can pick up: "Site Gamma has gone live. Class II warp incursion in progress. Get your men ready; we jump for Spire 12, level 697, north quadrant in fifteen seconds." Addressing you directly. "Inquisitor: If the Tarot guided you once, let it do it twice."
You watch as the Knights move as one, deftly checking themselves and each other as they hurtle towards the edge of a hive-side balcony. Aquilus is second last to go, followed by a heavy-weapons operator you hadn't spotted before - he must have been on-station on the balcony. Six Knights all told. Soon they are just little specks falling quickly down and away...
...with a start you realize what their target it. The site of the sorcerous incident your felt earlier in the neighboring spire.
Maegon utters a mental sigh of relief. He's still alive.
The Grey Knights haven't discovered my secrets.
Or did they ? And thought I was a lesser evil ?...
This "Master Aquilus"... Another powerful player in the game.The Inquisitor decides to tour the mansion that housed the Knights.
Just in case.
Six Grey Knights come in hard in Spire 12. Their jump units fire at the last possible instant - enough to cushion the fall, but not long enough for the enemy to react. Six seconds later the remaining thralls and cultists have been hacked to bloody bits by the fearsome force weapons wielded by the knights. Not a single shot is fired.
"Master: Anomaly contained, but the warp focus has escaped us..."
Maegon raises the head from the book and smile.
In the neighboring Spire, the Grey Knights severed several life strings in a few seconds.
Sweet melody...He closes the book and leaves the library.
No work of interest can be found here.
Another disturbance in the Immaterium draws his attention.
The Ship...Usher finds Azrael just as he is setting up a narrow-beam communications link with which to try and contact the Scouts.
"Is this really urgent, I am rather in the middle of something?"
"I felt I should tell you that the Relictors are excommunicate traitoris"
Azrael turned to regard Usher with a somewhat quizzical and bemused expression. When he repaired Usher's vox unit he installed a small relay such that, provided he was within a reasonable distance, he would hear any communications between Usher and the Inquisitor's forces in the Hive. As such he actually already knew why Usher was here, but he wasn't going to let Usher know that.
"I fail to see what that has to do with anything"
"They are traitors and heretics and knowingly aiding a traitor is to become one," responded Usher, a little taken aback.
Azrael's expression turned to amused and he raised an eyebrow, "Really Usher I would not have expected you to be so naive. Who exactly on this planet do you think has not been branded a traitor or a heretic by someone? I strongly suspect that though he may not admit it you, your Inquisitor is probably regarded as such by some people. I also doubt very much that he had anything to do with you coming to me did he?"
"No, the Inquisitor did not ask me to see you, but how dare you suggest that he is a traitor!"
"I did not suggest that Inquisitor Maegon is a traitor, I suggested that some people most likely consider him to be, I am not among them. These Relictors are most likely in the same situation, I have little time for the lackeys of Chaos, but these Marines do not look like Chaos-worshippers to me. And even if they were, in the present situation we can't be too picky about temporary allies," Azrael looked somewhat pointedly at Usher as he said the word 'temporary', "Feel free to talk to the Inquisitor about it later, but I feel that he will agree with me."
Usher looked slightly distraught, but acquiesced and turned and walked away.
While walking back to his men, the Caporal thinks about what the Magos said.
He's right... Nobody on Cadia survived the horrors of recent years by remaining pure as snow...
The Inquisitor... His strange rituals, could they ?...Maegon explores the upper Hive, examining the tracks of the Grey Knights and searching for blessed or damned items.
There isn't much in the way of blessed or damned items, but there is a bit of mundane gear to be found. Your men could potentially ascend all the way up here and retrieve it, but you're not sure it will be worth the effort. Better to have them focus on what you found on the lower levels - more gear for less effort.
Dawn arrives early high up in the hive spire; the night rains have scoured the skies reasonably clear once again and the rays of the sun are able to pierce the remaining cloud cover with enough intensity to bathe the ruined hive in a multitude of red-tinged colours. The view form the hive-balcony is spectacular.
Taking stock of the situation you conclude that the powerful orbital communicator is the most interesting item. You've managed to access it using your Rosette's clearance codes. You've listened only briefly, but you've picked up multiple signals, some coming from the hive, others from the wastelands - and a few scraps filtering down from orbit. Would that you were better at this or had a savant or vox-servitor at hand.
Other than that you've located a crate of mundane bolter ammo, and some spare parts for power armour sub-systems. There are also some tools laying about that could come in handy for a tech-priest.
Maegon is satisfied with his discoveries.
All the time, he stayed in contact with Nemus, who stayed in contact with Usher.
The Interrogator was impressed by the story of the meeting between the Inquisitor and the Grey Knights.
"Listen to news from Caporal Usher and tell him about the orbital communicator. But don't give him information about the Grey Knights."
"Master ?"
"My last Tarot reading told me so."
Nemus doesn't need to ask more, he has full confidence in the judgment and foresight of his Master.
"We found a family, seven hungry civilians, hidden in an abandoned Schola. They survived with the reserves of the canteen, now empty...The father was the deputy director, while the mother was an art teacher. We are not sure that the five teenagers are their children, but it's all the same now. The group comprised thirteen children five years ago, but the diseases and malnutrition..."
"I understand. Treat them well."
Maegon goes out on the balcony, thinking about how to use the communicator at best. He can not reach full performance without a savant or a tech-priest, but he is almost certain that he can broadcast a message through the Hive.
From the balcony, he looks at the Ship through the augmentics eyes of his helmet. He sees forms moving around, but can not distinguish their identities.
The Inquisitor draws an imaginary circle on the ground and sits in, then lights a psycho-stimulant herb pipe. For an hour, he spits smoke to the clouds and thoughts through the Immaterium. Dreamers will make strange dreams before dawn breaks.
Exhausted, he falls asleep here.
Dawn has come. The violence has ended, both inside and outside the ship.
In the hive Maegon has found quite a bit of supplies. It will take his elites days to bring it all down to a breathable level, but once that has been accomplished he'll have advanced to Resources: 1 (meaning he'll a stockpile of stuff that will last for a while).
Maegon keeps sleeping, dreaming, smiling and shivering.
Meanwhile, the Stormtroopers take turns to recover the equipment that he discovered, while Nemus and Jethro supervise the civilians securing the base of operation.
Azrael inquires of Usher whether he had heard anything from the Inquisitor or his men in the hive. In particular when he had slept for a while earlier (the first time he had in some time, Mechanicus implants are quite useful for keeping one going beyond the limits of normal human endurance, though nowhere near as effective as a Space Marine's symbiotes), he had a somewhat odd dream involving Maegon. Of course Azrael still has the bug in Usher's vox unit, but this doesn't work when he is asleep.
"The Inquisitor found a powerful orbital communicator in the heights of the hive ! However, he won't be able to operate it alone..."
Maegon finally wakes up. It was a long time he did not sleep so much, but he still feels so exhausted...
He walks a bit on the balcony then sits again to read his Tarot.
The Reaper.
Eleven of Discordia. The Soulless.
Ace of Mandatio. The Savage.
Five of Excuteria. The Captain.
The Chariot.Holy Throne... The metallic Xenos will attack the Ship once more !Maegon takes his cards and rises precipitously.
Shadows of three dark fighters are visible above the clouds.
Usher receives a new message via his com-device.
"Emperor protects..."
He runs as fast as possible.
"Magos ! We'll be under attack soon !"
Azrael already knows.
