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Post by Ilairon on Aug 20, 2005 16:25:34 GMT -5
The inner hive ranked of villainy and treacherousness; even on the elevated roadways, nearabouts middle altitude, people gathered on the sides of the streets to stare at this lone Arbites Judge patrolling the way.
Turcinna Rafise rode past them, revving th engine of the patrol bike menacingly. The spires of the hive loomed upwards, the tallest of which held the Imperial presence in the city. The Administratum, the spaceport, everything resided in that spire. There was a garrison complement of PDF; but Rafise knew who really was protecting this city, his own men. They were far better equipped to handle threats, and the Marshal Primus was a far wiser man than the bumbling Guard Captain, unfortunately his age and illness were the only things stopping him from bringing the fresh zeal of the Emperor to bear on his foes.
He raced into the portal looming ahead, the engine now echoing off the walls. He accelerated, the roadway began to bank left, inside the immense structure. It lifted upwards and into a helical spiral. It came to a stop shortly afterwards, in an open area, bustling with other vehicles. He got off the patrol bike, and reached into the stowage compartment, pulling out a plain brown coat. He put this on, doing his best to conceal his carapace armour from view. The reinforced seams of the inside pockets were strong enough to hold his shotgun, but he reasoned that he wouldn't need it anyway. A suspicious bulge was not a good thing, especially when out of his own jurisdiction, as he was when on board Naval vessels. He took off his helmet and proceed to the grav-lift.
A short journey later, past several floors of Imperial bureaucracy, Rafise reached the top of the spire, and the docking platform of the shuttles that removed the cargo modules from the ships. These shuttles, although gargantuan, were dwarfed by the cargo ship itself. He could see the ship in orbit, and a shuttle had just docked, the module it held was unloaded piece by piece. Once it was empty, the module was returned to the ship, and then it would fetch another. He walked over the foreman directing the unloading operation.
"I'll be looking around." Rafise flashed his badge from inside his coat. "Good ahead, your Honour."
"This the maintenance parts?"
"Yes, the Saint Ursunius up there, only a small ship, can't carry much."
"The silk arrived yet?"
"I don't think so. It'll be the next module though, once it's detatched from the ship-" A bleep interuptted the Arbiter's conversation.
"One moment, foreman. Yes?" The hollow echoing voice of Teresa came on the line. "Sir, the Truthseeker has asked me to warn you about inspecting the ship. He can feel a very strong resonance... He said he felt it earlier, when you came for the report. He did not say as he did not know its origin, nor could he pinpoint its exact location. He apologises for this discrepancy."
"So this psychic presence is aboard the Saint Ursunius, yes?"
"Er.. He says there are two. One very weak. The other..."
"Is he there with you?"
"Yes, but he'd rather not talk."
"Put him on anyway." A pause came across the commlink. Static buzzed at immeasurable speeds across the hive. "Yes?" A faltering voice emerged.
"Truthseeker, do you know who these.. signals are? Are they Abhorrations?"
"I believe so, I cannot be certain. There are many people with latent psychic ability within the Imperium. It could be Inquisitor's, but it its a cargo vessel, and..."
"Two is uncommon, especially with a much stronger signal."
"I wish to be frank with you, my Lord. I believe the stronger signal is a very high level psyker indeed."
"Truthseeker. I do not wish you to speak any longer than I have to, answer me quickly. I will ask one more question; Is this...high-level psyker a threat?"
"If this psyker is untrained, then Yes, my Lord, a threat indeed, even for one of your capabilities."
"Thankyou, Truthseeker."
"Marshal Secundus?" Teresa was back on the line. "Aseda, I want you at the docking platform with Delta patrol; there may be trouble."
"Sir."
"Out."
Rafise approached the foreman once more. "Foreman, I'm going to take the shuttle up to meet the ship before anymore movements take place. I don't want anything to happen, is that clear?" "But, your Honour..." "Nothing happens without my say so."
Rafise walked towards the shuttle, stepping onto the gangway. The winds that swept about this high position were flapping his coat into the air. The shuttle moved off shortly afterwards, the door closing behind him. If there was a psychic presence aboard the ship, Rafise would do his best to find it's source.
~Originally Posted by Beorn
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Post by Ilairon on Aug 20, 2005 16:26:08 GMT -5
Anubis looked restive sitting in his throne with his eyes half-closed. His arms lay on the crystal armrests of the throne, sitting limp as if frozen in place. His hair was no longer on end; instead, it fell flat and even. His breathing was low and steady, and his face was in no particular held no expression in particular.
But on the inside he was restless.
The hull of the ship groaned, and Anubis' hightened senses were aware of the daemons just outside the ship, raking at its shield. The journey itself was going smoothly and quickly, but there seemed to be more daemons following them. More than usual.
Anubis knew what could happen if the shield relented for even a second; thousands of daemons would tear at the ship with their sword-like talons and their razor-like claws, attempting to force their way in. Others might possess a member of the crew. The automatons were free from possession as well as mutation, and the sorcerers were trained well enough to avoid the attention of a daemon, but the crew were relatively knew, and there were many slaves on board as well, all of whom were likely cannidates for possession...if the shield gave way.
The ship continued on its journey, passing through the abyssmal Empyrean. Anubis could not see beyond the walls of the ship, only the navigator saw what was out there, waiting to consume the ship entire, and Anubis had no intentions on looking with his powers - that would certainly act as a beacon to draw the attention of countless additional daemons. So he sat, eyes opening, but glazing over as he stared at nothing in particular. The journey was often tedious, and the Sorcerer Lord had spent most of this one in his quarters, reading through manuscripts taken from Brandellas.
Suddenly the raking against the shield increased, and Anubis had to wonder what was drawing attention to the ship. Muttering a curse, he sat, still restive on the outside, still with eyes glazed over...and then he heard it...he heard him.
The daemon Anubis had sent back to the Warp, the daemon Maeshra, was outside, raking against the hull, speaking in a raspy voice in the dark tongue of his kin, "Anubis, Lord of the Lidless Eye, I will have my revenge on you. Do not think you can run from me, do not think you can hide. I will find you and I will hunt you. No where you go will you be safe. If I do not break through the barrier this time, I will the next, and in this, my home, I will defeat you and your pitiful defenses. And then I will drink the nectar of your soul, slowly, for all eternity should I decide, until there is nothing left, and you perish into the void."
Anubis thought about responding, but he realized it was a trick by the daemon. A bait to get the Lord to use his powers, thereby weakening the shields and drawing even more daemons. Anubis sat silently, smiling as he heard Maeshra's psychic scream of frustration. Anubis went to sleep on that scream as though it were a lullaby.
The Thousand Sons Sorcerer would deal with the daemon Maeshra in his own time, at the location of his choosing. And he would win, he was sure of that.
Their journey through the Empyrean was coming to a close, and soon the Sempri Prospero would cross into real space once again...
~Originally Posted by Ilairon
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Post by Ilairon on Aug 20, 2005 16:27:00 GMT -5
Kait lay there crying, warm in the silk and yet disturbed by herself. It was one of those moments when she wasn't in control, and they just took over. She knew what would happen next. She would die of cold, or something worse. Her thoughts were answered by a severe headache. The pain was random, not timed like a normal headache. The pain was tremendous, but she resisted it. She could almost feel the claws digging into her flesh. The claws were getting more desperate, and Kait was finding it harder to resist. Just as she was about to fail, a wave pushed her psychic head forward, and the daemons left.
Come daemons, the humans aboard this ship are your enemies. Unless you make them die here, they will escape and torment us further!
The daemons appeared to be following another daemon, who was attacking a ship. She hoped that whoever on the ship would remain safe. They had drawn the daemons away from her, but she had to get out of the cold storage rooms. Her powers would draw more, and she would be lucky if another ship passed with such a great following of daemons. Quickly, she decided her course of action, tears streaking down her face, she pried at the containers side, where she had gained access before.
She found it, her fingers warm, but she was not lighting up the container. She had found it in the dark, after little effort, and she found a ledge she could wrap her fingers around. She started to pull at the side, fresh tears scarring her cheeks. Her large pupils tried to gather as much light as they could, to see if the was a jam somewhere. It started to pull back, but it whipped back to the rim on the container. Letting out a soft cry, she collapsed back into the silk. Her breath was coming in short, fast gulps, her shoulders heaving. How would she get out?
Running her fingers over the edge, she cut her index finger on a sharp piece of metal jutting out. She pulled her hand away and stuck her finger in her mouth. She sucked the blood for a short time, making sure it stopped, and continued trying to find why the door wouldn't open. She carefully avoided the protruding metal, but a bit of blood dripped from her finger, staining the milky white silk.
At that moment, a ship blasted off from the surface of Surabi XI, and began making it's way to the Saint Ursunius.
~Originally Posted by Nightbringer
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Post by Ilairon on Aug 20, 2005 16:27:32 GMT -5
"Marcus" called Chaplain Mesarius. "I need to speak with you" Marcus nodded, indicating a smaller corner of the chapel. "How are you feeling, my old friend?" Marcus smiled and said "Purified, cleaner, better now that my armor is getting repaired". A distant look came across his eyes, as if he was reliving a recent battle.
"Marcus" said the Chaplain again. "You must put the past behind you, we are the Grey Knights. When we were inducted we all knew what duty we were required of. Valius was fulfilling the greatest part of that duty, and you know that." "Yes, I suppose, but if..." Marcus shook his head.
Mesarius replied "This is foolish, and you know that. Listen, the council has requested a debriefing of the purgation. They want you there at 0800 hours. You have 3 hours to gather your thoughts, meditate, and prepare yourself for this. Placing a hand over his chest Mesarius said “In his name Brother, in his name" echoed Marcus.
Striding down the hall he entered his sparse quarters to prepare and gather his thoughts.
~Originally Posted by Commander Signatus
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Post by Ilairon on Aug 20, 2005 16:28:04 GMT -5
The loading bay was tiny in comparison to the many hundreds Winifred had visited in his time as an Inquisitor. Rusty bulkheads stretched up roughly fifty feet, ending in an arched ceiling, much as one would expect from a cathedral. Winifred thought it out of place in a ship that served so common a purpose. A few ships in various states of repair- and disrepair- squatted around the bay, serviced by half-hearted technicians and their assistants.
An entire side of the bay was devoted to an airlock. The device was standard on Freighters. A set of outer doors created a barrier between the vacuum of space and the relative safety of the crew within. Yet another set of doors created a buffer zone to pressurize and depressurize incoming and outgoing shuttles.
A muffled thump from the doors indicated that the atmosphere had just explosively decompressed- an incoming shuttle was about to dock. “Be on your guard, Muller. Below us lies another hive world, and I believe we both know what the natives can be like.”
“Of course, Inquisitor.”
Winifred turned his attention to his entourage, gathered in the shadows beneath a docked shuttle off to one side. “Castus, Marius, Varus- get ready to move.” Meanwhile, the inner airlock groaned open, revealing a sleek white shuttle being drawn along by a ceiling-borne crane. The crane dragged its cargo into the center of the bay, wary technicians moving quickly out of its path, and a ramp extended from the shuttle’s flank. A door opened up in the side.
The Inquisitor motioned for his retinue to follow and strolled across the cargo bay to the shuttle. He took note of a black-armored figure in the open side of the vessel- an arbiter by the looks of him. Winifred gave the arbiter an amiable nod, met in return by a hard scowl, as he stepped into the interior.
“Pilot, I am commandeering this vessel as my personal transport.” A bearded man twisted in his seat to scrutinize the visitor, and Winifred flashed his inquisitorial badge. Eyes widened, the pilot immediately turned back around and sat glued to his seat, staring straight ahead, lips moving slightly as if in prayer. Winifred was used to such behavior; it both amused and disappointed him, but he had learned to quell those emotions quickly enough. He turned to the arbiter, still framed in the doorway as the retinue shuffled pas him.
“You there, Arbiter, I would appreciate some assistance on your part as well.”
~Originally Posted by Brother Mortes
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Post by Ilairon on Aug 20, 2005 16:28:56 GMT -5
"An Inquisitor. That bodes well for my investigation. I am Marshal Secundus Turcinna Rafise. I would like to know your name, servant of the God-Emperor." "Inquisitor Winifred, that is all you shall know."
Rafise flatly ignored the cold manner. He merely nodded, and turned to look away from the inquisitor, his voice neither mocking, nor commanding.
"This planet is under my precinct's jurisdiction, Inquisitor. Feel free to come and go as you please. Also, feel free to operate under your own Ordo's mandate. But do not, under any circumstances, break any Imperial Edicts while on this earth. My men will be watching. I know something - something strange - is afoot, and I'd rather it be contained."
The Arbiter left the shuttle, and made for the exit doors of the cargo bay, aware that the Inquisitor's stern eyes may be following him. He quickly made contact with the precinct. An indistinct voice came over the line.
"Sir?" "There is a guest of an Imperial order arriving in the central spire. See to it that he recieves the attention he deserves."
The officer on the end of the line would understand. Rafise always kept tight restraints on anything foreign to Surabi; especially when a psyker could be loosed upon the planet.
Turcinna prefered not to take chances.
~Originally Posted by Beorn
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Post by Ilairon on Aug 20, 2005 16:29:34 GMT -5
Kait was frustrated, the metal did not open, and she would soon freeze to death. She had to get out of the container area. Getting angry, Kait kicked the panel, which gave a slight reverberation in the partial vacuum. As the bulkheads strainded, a panel on the side of the ship came loose, and began drifting into space, opening up a hole in the ships side. Kait did not know what happened next. With a scrape, the containers were pulled to the wall. Her container jerked, and began careering towards the wall. With a loud clang, the container hit the wall, and the door popped open, the force of the impact freeing the contracted metal.
In the control room of the ship, a small alarm began to sound, as one of the rooms in the ship depressurised. The captain thought nothing of it, the container bay was known for that recently.
Kait had to think fast. Soon the cold in the room would be unbearable, and all the oxygen would be pulled out into the vacuum. Making a hasty decision, Kait made a run for it. Her bare feet peeled slightly off of the cold metal as she pelted for the door. She tried a code, the glimmering green buttons lighting up the door. However, due to the room's curent condition they would not open. Kait began to feel something in the back of her throat and began coughing. The air was slowly draining away.
The guards heard pounding at the door, and luckily for Kait, magaged to open it. She struggled through, and collapsed in a pile before realising she would have been caught. Quickly, pulling her clothes around her, she nervously looked up at the guard. He was slightly stunned by her eyes, and lowered his pistol. This was a mistake, and Kait grabbed a piece of scrap metal on the ground and hurled it at his face. She ran out of the room and on her way, lost. Since she had not been gunned down, she guessed she must have hurt the man pretty badly.
Running, still bear feet, Kait belted along a coridor, past many doors and on the way to no where.
~Originally Posted by Nightbringer
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Post by Ilairon on Aug 20, 2005 16:30:03 GMT -5
Signalling that the Sempri Prospero would make re-entry to real-space soon, klaxons rang throughout the ship, waking the sleeping Sorcerer Lord. Anubis stood, turned to Captain Prath, nodded his head in a consenting manner, and walked to and through a hexagonal door which led to a nine-sided corridor. Captain Prath could handle the bridge.
Walking with haste, Anubis found his quarters with ease; within them, he found his armor with ease; he changed into his new crystal facade with ease; his head was replaced by his jackal with ease; he left his quarters with ease; he reached the 'study,' or Librarium Oscales, with ease.
Manually opening the hexagonal door to Librarium Oscales, Anubis stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. He walked to the central throne, ignoring the throng of sorcerers in various statuesque positions. The chill of cool, refreshing, recycled air hovered throughout the room, closely clinging to the psychic warmth of the sorcerous bodies.
The klaxons silenced, and Anubis felt the change in atmosphere as the ship exited the Warp. With a suddeness that bespoke soldiered training, the sorcerers began chanting in a dark tongue, attuning their senses to the ship...and hiding it. Anubis' sinister voice led the chorus of chaotic syllables and cacophonous chords. The ship moved in orbit of a dead moon, using it as a veil against Imperial auspices; the continuous chant hid the mass psychic signature onboard the ship. The ship and its occupants were invisible, unless someone came close, and dead moons were not known for tourist attractions.
Soon, soon, thought Anubis.
~Originally Posted by Ilairon
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Post by Ilairon on Aug 20, 2005 16:30:31 GMT -5
Kait's hand was still bleeding, and it was leaving a trail behind her. As soon as she saw it she knew. The door at the end of the corridor was locked. She quickly ran a little way back up the corridor, consicous of the man fast approaching her. She tried many doors, but none were open. Finally, she gave up and sank to the floor. The man came up to her, panting. He held a gun to her head, while his friend called whoever was in charge. Kait had her face between her arms.
"Look up!" shouted the impatient guard.
Kait looked up. Her hair clung to her face in wet, sticky strands. She was used to running, but the ship was warm and she could not cool down. Obligingly, she looked up.
The guard stumbled back slightly, instantl noticing each eye was a diferent colour. Kait grimaced. She knew she was caught, but what would they do with her? At that moment, a powerful looking man strode through one of the doors she had been trying to open.
~Originally Posted by Nightbringer
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Post by mortes on Aug 23, 2005 9:54:34 GMT -5
Winifred cocked a thin eyebrow at the Judge’s retreating back. He studied the man with a well-practiced eye: the swagger in his step, the heavily-polished black knee-highs, the drawling speech – he would keep an eye on this one.
“Not one to be trifled with, this Rafise,” murmured the Inquisitor. “Or so he believes. Quite self-assured. Not many would presume to give an Inquisitor his permission to go about his own business.”
Muller twisted his head around and fixed Winifred with an intelligent stare. “Something to be turned to our advantage.”
Nodding slightly, Winifred turned on his heel and made his way back to the cockpit of the shuttle. The air was musty, reeking of sweat, rust, and dried vomit; the interior of the craft was quite cramped. The Inquisitor thought for a moment. On one hand, he could choose to hold the shuttle here and seek out the Alpha psyker as she hid in the cavernous holds of the freighter, pursuing her through the labyrinthine passageways in what could very well be a fruitless and never-ending search. She could conjure up apparitions that could easily fool even Winifred, a skilled and experienced operative of the Holy Inquisition. Alternatively, she could simply meet him head on and destroy him utterly, extinguishing him body and soul in the blink of an eye.
No – it was not worth the risk. It would be almost impossible to pinpoint the rogue psyker here as it was, thanks to the abundance of psykers always present on a starship. The fact that she had masked her signature did not help either. Better to corner her in the hive cities below, where she would be easier to track. Hive worlds were always ruthless in their efforts to destroy psykers, and she would be one of the only signatures there. Without others of her kind to mask her aura with their own, she would be an easy catch.
Winifred hailed the pilot. “Take us to the primary settlement on-world.”
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