He’d just received notification that the Imperial inspection party had finally docked. A full four days behind schedule. He’d been running round like an Ash Wulf making sure everything was presentable and they had the gall to turn up late! Typical of the bureaucracy of the Imperium, still, it had been extra time to get important things done.
Getting things done had been a major problem lately however. Supply of ‘Emperor’s Caress’ had dried up in the last week or so, none of his normal dealers were answering his pleas for more of the narcotic. He’d asked his senior staff that he knew indulged in the drug, only to be told that they too were unable to obtain any. He’d even resorted to performing a ‘search and seize’ operation in a desperate attempt to procure another fix. This had yielded but a dozen pills (even though he knew that at least 75% of his workforce were users). and he knew deep down that his façade of relentless authority was fooling no one. Deprived of the release granted by Emperor’s Caress, productivity was at an all time low. Narthley at large had gone from being sedated to utterly paralysed as the supply of the drug had dwindled. Manufactorums were quiescent, Administratums such as the one he was in had massive backlogs which he had elected to conceal rather than deal with.
And there was only so much that he could hide! He’d deleted, manipulated and concealed as many files and communiques as he could with varying levels of success. He cajoled, threatened and ordered as many complicit staff as he could. The Administratum operated with only the thinnest veneer of efficiency and decorum and Ralscon was terrified that the inspection team would penetrate the veil all too easily. He’d used the extra four days as best he could but he still feared the façade and his efforts would prove inefficient. Even as he looked about all he saw was sullen, lifeless workers in the throes of withdrawal. He was doomed.
He’d swallowed a couple of his last pills upon being informed that the lander had touched down, he had only another two left. Two more pills and therefore only one more lift. He toyed with these last pair in his pocket, nervously fidgeting as he awaited the team. He was running scenarios and ways he could shift blame through his brain, his weaselly survival instincts coming to the fore. He’d happily throw any of his subordinates under the wheels of the Imperial machine if it would cast suspicion somewhere other than on him. He nervously looked at the chronometer, it had already been ten minutes, the drugs would be wearing off soon, the lifts wore off much quicker these days.
Presently the doors opened and the two workers he had sent to ‘escort’ the inspection team returned . Ralscon could just about discern the automatic pistols they concealed, hopefully his guests were not so observant. It would be an act of utter stupidity and desperation but in a worst case scenario he was prepared to resort to violence to save his hide. He even had a small 'Snubstub' Revolver hidden in his waistband should the unthinkable happen. After all, the Imperium did not forgive mistakes or poor performance. The two men stepped to the side allowing their charges to pass. A wizened savant emerged from the shadows, stooped and muttering to himself, seemingly unaware of his surroundings. He was ancient and his face was lined and dusty. He wore a russet robe of roughly hewn fabric that looked horrendously itchy. Various attachments and accoutrements adorned his being, giving him the impression of a crustacean in it’s shell. Despite his obvious advanced age the Savant seemed vital and hale, just preoccupied.
Behind him was a tall woman, veiled yet with a bearing of pomp and distinction. She held herself regally and wore a corseted bodice and a long flowing cloak over a tunic with dark jodhpurs and knee high boots. Raslcon eyed her warily, she looked like she could spring into action at any moment. her poise was positively predatory. She said nothing and just stepped to the side as the last of the team stepped through the door.
Ralscon had to choke back a laugh and disguise it as clearing his throat. His close brush with impropriety could have been forgiven however, as one of the most ridiculous figures he had ever seen stepped through the portal. Wearing a short duster coat and flared slacks and sporting a wide brimmed hat, he was comically absurd to the extreme. He slouched with an insouciance which didn’t help his diminutive stature and oafish appearance. He glanced about himself casually before stuffing his hands in his pockets and leaning forward. A thin cheroot extruded from his lips.
"Well, he said, with a pronounced drawl", and Ralscon again had to choke back his mirth, "let’s get this show on the road shall we?"
Ralscon spent the next couple of hours showing the group around, he was deliberately superficial and vague during the tour and glossed over much, doing his best to make everything seem as normal and efficient as possible. For his part the Inspector didn’t seem all that bothered, though the Savant, who had introduced himself as Aurelius Leuker in a twittering and distracted introduction, took copious notes, stylus attachments writing simultaneously whilst the Savant himself tapped figures into a battered datapad. All the while the Savant was muttering to himself, seemingly oblivious to the actual people round him so absorbed was he in capturing information, not a single facet, an iota of input was missed. Ralscon privately feared the detail that was being recorded, hoping that nothing incriminatory was captured.
The tall veiled woman had said nothing as she stalked, which perturbed Ralscon greatly, he could not get a bearing on her. She was inscrutable, was she a noble, an observer, a bodyguard? The uncertainty was in no way helped by her dogged silence. In contrast her cheroot toting colleague was garrulous to the extreme, though not particularly interrogative. Nonetheless, Ralscon actually had to check himself several times to stop from revealing information that he had intended to remain a secret. Sometimes the tentacles pulsed uncomfortably to warn him just in time, there was something unmistakably awry about all of this. .
After a general overview of the facilities during which some inane pleasantries platitudes and general enquiries were exchanged (and no doubt logged by the Savant) The group repaired to a conference lounge where refreshments and drinks were served. It was the most opulent room in the entire complex and Ralscon had made sure every comfort was available. Banal conversation (the veiled woman excepted) ensued and Ralscon found himself drifting off when the Inspector, who had eventually introduced himself as Simeon Garanthe, asked;
“well this ahl seems fhine and dhandy (The man’s drawled Low Gothic was beginning to rankle at Ralscon something fierce and he’d had to ask for repetition more than once) but what about that Carn fellow? We intercepted a transmission from him on the way here, he seemed mighty worried about something but the signal cut out. Now we hear he reappeared a while after? And all this after he was pronounced killed in a shuttle crash? I’d be obliged if you could clear things up for me. Just for the record of course”
Ralscon blinked a couple of times and leaned forward slowly. He was experiencing withdrawal from the Emperor's Caress and his responses were retarded. He pawed at the rune that activated the Hololith display in the middle of the table. With a judder the Hololith flickered into life, before settling into a crystal clear image showing the Aquila and Chain. Ralscon swallowed hard at the sight of the sigil before keying in the necessary commands to locate the file in question. The Tentacles pulsed a warning at him but he ignored them. He needed another lift! Everything was conspiring against him. Why now?
"Well," he began hesitantly, "we were initially informed that Prefect Alistae Carn was killed en-route to Endomaw Mine as part of a shuttle accident. He had been headed there to investigate circumstances surrounding Pallas Larkarsky, an Adept Second Class that had visited the mine previously. Larkarsky’s behaviour became.. aberrant following his visit and his reports were erratic".
He paused and took a sip of his drink, his mouth was growing dry, another symptom of withdrawal. His hands trembled slightly and he placed them on the surface of the table in front of him to steady them.
"Carn filed some basic reports and left. He stopped at Hyrk Asylum to interview Larkarsky again but the Adept turned out to already be dead by his own hand, an unfortunate result of his psychosis we believe. Carn was on his way to Endomaw when his shuttle was destroyed in a targeting accident. Apparently the shuttle pilot transmitted the incorrect identification signal and was erroneously identified as hostile. A search was made by authorities at Endowmaw but the shuttle was completely destroyed and no survivors were found. I filed Carn as deceased myself.
"Thirteen days later we received THIS", he thumbed a rune and the video sprang to life. The assembly watched the video in silence. The room darkened automatically for more comfortable viewing and the soft glow of the hololith cast a wan light on the features of those present. Ralscon glanced around occasionally to judge the reactions of the others; The Savant was utterly absorbed, mechandrites and styluses scribbling away furiously. Ralscon could not penetrate the veil the woman wore, he could barely make out any features at all let alone an expression, he was stuck again by her oddness, the sense of wrongness that emanated from her. It was unsettling. Garanthe seemed bored if anything, languidly chewing on something whilst slouched in his chair. He seemed to be paying the recording only the barest of attention and looked very much as if he would rather be somewhere else. Ralscon started to consider if he might be able to make some sort of deal to curtail the investigation.
Still the tentacles pulsed weakly, they were trying to warn him of something. Blinking, Ralscon realized the recording was nearing it's end. He frowned and activated a switch in front of him, summoning the two armed menials under the pretense of requesting more drinks. He hoped that no one noticed that one of them stayed behind. He was beginning to get a bad feeling about all of this, emphasized by the pressure from the tentacles. He moved one hand from the desk, slipping it into his pocket and toying with the two small yellow round pills, turning them over between thumb and forefinger, it was comforting, reassuring. He longed to take them, to feel the Caress once more. He suddenly noticed that the recording had stopped and that Garanthe had said something, he blinked, tried to focus, bring his mind back to the present. He'd drifted off, he attempted to clear his head. It was difficult. He just wanted to take the pills. Just one more lift.
…om Prefect Carn?" Ralscon scowled, he'd missed the start of the question. His mind desperately rallied, attempted to re constitute the entire statement. He chewed his lip, pretending to consider the question. Sadly his mind came to the conclusion that it wasn't one that needed consideration and he flushed rudely.
"No, nothing at all. The words came in a torrent, trying to make up for his delay in answering. The shipment arrived two days ago and that is all we have had from Endomaw since the recording, Carn never arrived. I was going to contact them to let them know we had received the cargo."
And the shipment, what happened to it? Something had changed, his gaze was piercing, his manner less languid, the drawl practically gone. The gentle pressure from the Tentacles began to build, becoming a piercing pain. Something was terribly wrong. He winced, pulling his hand from his pocket to cradle his temples, barely managing to loosen the pills from his grasp in time. He reached for his drink, his hand shaking uncontrollably.
"I....I can't, I sent it on! I... It..." No, something was pressing against the Tentacles,. It hurt no less, but something else was definitely there, something was invading his mind! "I, no... I... NO!!!!"
He stood up, his actions not his own. He pulled the snub pistol from his belt but even as it cleared his waistband pain blossomed in his ample gut. He dropped the gun and looked down dumbly as red spread across his belly, sticky and wet. As he fell back off the seat to tumble painfully to the floor he saw the guard in the room toppling like a felled tree, a neat smoking hole in his forehead. The door slid open but no one entered. Another shot echoed and Ralscon knew that it had come from within the room not outside. It was the veiled woman, it had to be, he could see Garanthe totally motionless out of the corner of his eye.
A gloved hand reached down to pick up the crimson coated tablets. Rising again, Garanthe examined the pills with shrewd eyes. he prodded at them, smearing the sticky blood and taking note of the emblem emblazoned on the tablets. He addressed the veiled woman who's name was apparently Sefina, still sitting in the chair. she nodded slightly and stood, making her way round the table to where Ralscon lay. She touched a device on her arm and the veil shimmered and disappeared. Ralscon blanched. It was the same dark skinned woman that had contacted him about the rise in activity at Endomaw! He had seen her about, here and there, performing menial tasks, delivering reports. She was a spy, a mole! What was she doing here? What was going on? Ralscon started to suspect that he was in big trouble.
Sefina (Ralscon had no idea if that was the name she had been using originally - he had never bothered to find out) studied the pills in Garanthes's hand.
"That's them, she confirmed. They've all been taking them, it's rife." She said the last word with a dripping scorn dismissively gesturing outside the room.
"We'll take care of them shortly" Garanthe assured her, "I suspect the whole facility will be a loss. We need to find out just how far this canker has spread. Get him up."
Sefina stooped and hauled Ralscon to his feet, shoving him roughly into a chair . Ralscon yelped as he was jerked back to full wakefulness. Simeon Garanthe strode over, standing beside Sefina who sat demurely on the desk. Ralscon had never thought her a creature of grace but there was an undeniable elegance and poise in her repose.
"Now", he started, "I have some questions for you Supervisor Ralscon and I want you to think very carefully how you answer." Ralscon didn't reply, instead gazing dumbly at the hole in his abdomen. Garanthe leant forward and slapped Ralscon,across the face. Hard. "Pay attention sir! I would recommend that you measure my words, and yours, with great care."
"Oh shit indeed Supervisor Ralscon. As I'm sure you now understand, I am an agent of The Emperor's Holy Inquisition and you have fallen under my scrutiny. You will live to wish you never had. Now. These drugs. What are they? Where have they come from?"
Ralscon just blinked. His mind was fraying, and his addled brain was slowly but surely rejecting the reality around him. A swift jab from Garanthe to his wound bought him agonisingly back to the present.
"Aaagh! They just.... appeared." He mumbled brokenly. "I was approached by a Pilgrim outside the building, they were free. He said it was the Emperor's Caress, that it would bring us closer to Him. It felt good, like being touched by the Emperor Himself." The Tentacles pulsed, but they were losing their grip, he felt his mind clearing. Sefina's brow was furrowed and her eyes closed. Ralscon suspected that she was the cause of this sudden relief. A single tear slipped from his right eye as the tentacles finally let go and faded. Realisation and horror flooded in as Eagles Talons gripped tight in their place. But there was no pain, The pain was gone.
What have I done? He gasped. Tears ran freely down his face as he sobbed. He started babbling then, telling of his meetings with shady figures, the favours they asked, what he had done to accommodate them. He confessed all. The Savant furiously scribbled throughout, recording his treason word for word. Ralscon divulged names, positions, secret file references, everything. It was as if a floodgate had been opened and he could not stop himself, even as his lifeblood oozed slowly from his ruptured gut. Sefina's eyes were no longer screwed shut but she was staring at him intently, her gaze boring into his soul. He knew he was being psychically coerced and he didn't care. He confessed, in detail and at length. Eventually he was done, drained and growing pale from blood loss. Garanthe looked at him and leant over till he was scant inches from Ralscon's face.
And the shipment? You haven't mentioned the shipment Supervisor Prime, what happened to it? Ralscon squirmed under the Inquisitor's scrutiny. he noticed that he couldn't feel his legs, that couldn't be good. Blood continued to leak from his belly, though the flow was weak. He whimpered pathetically.
"It's gone! I... I sent it on! Well, no, I did instruct them to open one first, the other has left, bound for Celias IV. But I instructed them to open one, I wanted to know what it was. What glory Carn was so excited by. It would have been released afterward! But I haven't heard back yet, they were...." His voice tailed off and his head slumped as he succumbed to unconsciousness.
Garanthe looked at Sefina and nodded. She leant forward and jammed an injector into Ralscon's gut. the flow of blood stopped and he started violently.
"What? Wh....?" His eyes focused and widened as realisation of his predicament hit him again, the stimulant granting him unwanted clarity.
"Your men are dead Supervisor Ralscon. You have allowed, through a mix of gross stupidity and ignorance, a Xenos threat most foul to take root here and those containers held something more deadly than you can possibly imagine, a creature unlike anything you have ever experienced. We shall have to hunt it down and kill it. The other container will need to be intercepted before it reaches Celias IV lest it reaches there and spreads its seed." He paused and entered instructions into a device on his wrist before continuing. "It is clear to me however that the source of the corruption is in Endomaw itself. I shall journey there immediately to investigate and cast the Emperor's light on that hellish pit of corruption. Still, something troubles me, something about....."
He whirled, and pointed at the Savant. "Replay the video, the final message from the Prefect, quickly, QUICKLY! "
The holovid duly flashed back into life and the recording played once more. Garanthe watched the entire playback silently with arms crossed his eyes narrowing in places. The recording ended and he paused, calculating something in his head. After a moment's further consideration he spoke;
"This is unexpected, most unexpected. It appears we now have a rescue mission to mount as well. Sefina, please make preparations, a small insertion team including Lt Luminak I think, we will need to be swift and silent. This will be an infiltration type Iota operation, in and out, securing one objective. Prefect Alistae Carn." He paused, "On second thoughts also utilise Asset Vermillion Angelus, some heavy presence might be required.
"I don't see anything Inquisitor, this is just a man in the thrall of the cult is he not? A loss, why would we risk exposure to save him?"
"Look closer Sefina," Garanthe gestured at the savant, "One more time if you would Aurelius?"
The playback started once more, Ganvan Seris presently stepped back and Carn started talking and toying with the Aquila charm, absent mindedly.
"There!" Garanthe exclaimed, "do you see it?"
Sefina did not and said as much. Garanthe grunted impatiently and pointed at the display;
"The flashes, the light on the charm he is manipulating, it forms a pattern, a sequence! Basic Imperial code! Throne above how can you not see it!? It's a message, he may not even know that he is sending it, but it is a message nonetheless. In high gothic to boot." He paused, catching his breath.
"Liberativ me Rex flava . Save me from the Yellow King. I know not what the Yellow King is, though I have my suspicions, but this is actually a brave and loyal servant of the Emperor and he cries for aid! We shall not shy from this request. He stood triumphantly, regally, a complete contrast to his appearance from earlier.
"Take this as my authority, do whatever you need to here. Tidy this mess up. Co-ordinate with the local authorities, purge those you need to, use those you can. Call in additional resources if required, whatever you need. Cast the Emperor's light upon this nest of Corruption, purge and purify it. I expect a vast improvement and detailed report by the time I return. Aurelius, come with me, I will need you to cogitate much of the data we have already uncovered. It appears that I have an appointment with the Yellow King and I'd hate to disappoint. Endomaw awaits."
